Archive of Our Own

When Kaveh and Alhaitham became a couple, everyone thought they would break up within the month.

…And evreyone had been wrong, thank you very much. They survived a full year sharing a home, sharing a life, sharing a cat.

And really, Kaveh should consider one year and three months quite an achievement, given that this was Alhaitham he had been putting up with for all that time, with his absurd idiosyncrasies and infuriating jabs. It should have been obvious from the beginning that Kaveh would never be able to exchange wedding rings with someone with such an impressively awful eye for interior design.

Yes, sure, maybe he'd sobbed until his chest ached for a full week or something, watching his unending tears drip onto the floorboards of a house that didn't feel half as warm as the one Alhaitham was sleeping in, where the bed fit two grown men and all their shared intimacy. And, okay, he had crawled into Tighnari's lap while perhaps-a-little-too-drunk and mumbled, in a moment of heartwrenching weakness, that he missed 'Haitham's hugs.'

But that was just his sentimentality talking, obviously coupled with the effects of alcohol. He was fine now, and Alhaitham had been just a lapse. A lapse he'd spent several years pining over, but whatever. Time only moves forwards, after all.

He was determined to never converse with or even see the man again. His stress levels would probably improve without their constant bickering, anyway. It was just him and his cat in this nice new apartment whose light switches he was unfamiliar with and whose kitchen cupboards were not custom made for his comfort.

A buzz interrupted his thoughts.

Haithoomi — 2 new notifications

Kaveh's heart, treacherous bastard, tried to jump out of his chest and click on the messages by itself. But Kaveh held pride in his willpower, and turned the useless screen off before returning to the kitchen.

He waited a full half-hour before opening the phone — feet rapping on the floor feverishly while he stared at an annoyingly blank wall — because he had self-respect, of course. He wasn't going to inflate Alhaitham's already excessively humongous ego by acting as if his message was a priority.

Which, just for the record, Alhaitham's number only wasn't blocked because they were civil, mature individuals, and very much not because Kaveh held onto hope that Alhaitham would still beg for him to come back. And his name was only still saved as that because Kaveh had forgotten to edit it. Genuine, regular mistake. There had been a lot to pay attention to while moving into a new place and all, so it made complete sense that he wouldn't have noticed something as inconsequential as a contact name.

Haithoomi   Hello

Kaveh rolled his eyes, practically hearing the infuriating tone through the screen. What need did this man have to text him? They were supposed to never talk again.

Haithoomi   I request shared custody of Mehrak

…What? Kaveh re-read the text several times over in order to ensure his eyes weren't playing a trick on him. What was this ridiculous joke? 'Shared custody' of a cat? Was that even a legal term you could apply to felines? Damn Alhaitham and his patological lawyer-speak.

You   excuse you? i thought i told you to only text me if it was an emergency

Apparently, Alhaitham wasn't as successful at self-respect as Kaveh was, because his typing bubble instantly appeared on the screen. Kaveh pumped a metaphorical fist in the air at the evidence that he was better than him at this break-up thing.

Haithoomi   My relationship with my daughter qualifies as an emergency. I haven't seen her in over two weeks

As if she could somehow sense the spotlight being put on her fluffy self, Mehrak emerged from where she had been napping to leap gracefully onto the kitchen table. Peeking over the screen, she sniffed the messages.

With a smile curling his lips, Kaveh quickly opened the camera and snapped a selfie of her little face hovering over the phone. And then his fingers faltered before hitting 'send,' because this wasn't really the sort of thing exes sent each other.

You   [photo] here's a pic since u miss her so much. conversation over

Haithoomi   Adorable

Stupidly, Kaveh's heart once more reacted to the word even though it was very much not directed at him. It could have been, two weeks ago, when their chats were filled with stupid little heart emojis that apparently meant nothing. But now, Alhaitham was just interacting with him because of their cat.

Haithoomi   She belongs to me just as much as she does to you. I've been raising her for the past ten months. You took her without asking

Kaveh scoffed out loud.

You   no shit i took MY fucking cat without asking. i was the one who rescued her, i was the one who spent fckng hours convincing u to let us keep her, i was the one who bought all her shit with MY money thanks very much. u didn't even start regularly feeding her or cleaning her litterbox until she was 3 fckng months old. i'll take her wherever tf i like

Haithoomi   I warmed up to her. I've been a diligent father for seven months. She's used to napping with me and I remember quite clearly feeding her more often than you ever did, considering your awful memory for routine

You   oh just go fuck yourself

Haithoomi   Not sure who else I would be fucking since you decided to break up with me over stew

Kaveh's eye twitched, and he resisted the urge to throw the damn phone across the room. The nerve of the man. And Alhaitham knew how much it pissed Kaveh off when he distorted facts with his wording — as if Kaveh would have ruined the precious tether connecting their hearts over mere stew.

This was what actually happened, without Alhaitham's trivialising of Kaveh's emotions: Alhaitham had been nagging him incessantly for weeks, constantly disturbing his peace by lecturing him about how he had forgotten to brush his teeth (it only happened twice!) or impeding his workflow by constantly going into his study and shutting his laptop or pulling him away from the desk. A boyfriend was supposed to support him, not derail his train of thought.

And really, if Alhaitham had politely told him things like 'my darling, shouldn't you rest a little? It's getting late,' it would have been bearable — sweet, even. But Alhaitham was not that kind of loving partner. No, he would cross his arms at Kaveh in the morning and inform him that he had gone to bed at 3:17 AM. As if Kaveh wasn't aware.

Kaveh had explained, dozens of fucking times, that he was working on an important project with another architect, and the deadline was tight and the client was rich. But of course Alhaitham had to keep being a pain in the ass regardless, telling Kaveh exaggerated judgments like 'your incapability to take care of yourself even at this age is frankly astounding' and 'for all your intelligence, you still haven't come to the logical conclusion that you shouldn't sacrifice yourself to help others.'

And he loved snapping that kind of snarky comment when Kaveh was so stressed he was banging his head against the desk.

Of course, Kaveh would always retort something along the lines of 'and for all your perceptiveness, you fail to understand that I have to get the work done in order to keep my damn job,' but it was exhausting to hear the same taunts every single time from the man who was supposed to be alleviating his stress, not increasing it tenfold.

So the stew had been the last drop.

Kaveh had pulled an all-nighter (because it was necessary), and Alhaitham had chastised him for it before seven in the fucking morning. And then, the fucking client texted Kaveh before eight in the fucking morning to change something that had already taken him hours of work that were cramping his fingers. Only two hours later, Alhaitham had come in to ask him if he had had breakfast. Obviously fucking not was the answer, which Alhaitham already knew (so why the need to ask?), and his reponse had been a disapproving look that made Kaveh feel… well, it didn't matter how it made Kaveh feel anymore.

The point was that he was exhausted, and he was craving soup. He had expressed such a desire to his supposed beloved partner, who had nodded curtly at the request. And then, famished, head throbbing with a migraine and more stressed than the metal he was in the process of designing, Kaveh had sat down at their kitchen table.

Only to find the most horrendous sin against culinary arts ever conceived.

It was not, neither in strict terms nor loose ones, soup — nor 'stew,' as Alhaitham called it. In fact, it resembled soup just as much as a sumpter beast resembles a hair clip. Jaw dropping in horror, Kaveh had poked the thing with his fork, only to find that it was strangely crumbly like a pie, but not shaped like a pie. It was some incestuous combination of meals that should never have interacted in any realm.

And Alhaitham, who refused to admit that his culinary innovations usually failed, had insisted that this was much more 'practical' and 'optimised' than soup, and Kaveh had retorted that he had wanted some fucking soup, damn it.

Anyway. That had devolved into an argument over food, and that had somehow led to the topic of Kaveh's 'unhealthy' habits, and he couldn't bear for Alhaitham to keep lecturing him on this every single fucking day, and he had screamed at him to shut up, and Alhaitham had replied, 'what kind of boyfriend would that make me?' and then Kaveh had yelled 'then don't be my boyfriend at all!'

And then the kitchen had gone silent.

And Kaveh's heart had broken a little at how, instead of going desperate or sad, Alhaitham had simply hardened his eyes at the words.

You   if you think i broke up with u over stew, u understand me even less than i thought you did

This time, the response wasn't immediate. Kaveh started nibbling on his bottom lip as Mehrak meowed at him.

Haithoomi   Let's each have Mehrak for 2 weeks at a time. Co-parenting, 50/50

Kaveh looked up at Mehrak, who was swallowing him with those beady green eyes of hers that always made him coo.

The truth was, regrettably, that she did seem more dejected these days, sniffing around the new house and plopping sadly on the divan after lunchtime — having no one to nap with at her usual time anymore. It was likely that she missed Alhaitham, who had indeed played somewhat of a part in her upbringing, and it wasn't exactly fair of Kaveh to withhold one of her parents from her. He had to be mature about this break-up, after all.

Sighing, he started typing with heavy fingers. You're being a good dad, he told himself. Think of what's best for Mehrak.

You   fine

Haithoomi   Can we call to sort out the details?

You   no

Haithoomi   It's a lot more practical

You   i don't care

There was no way he was going to allow himself to hear Alhaitham's unfortunately beautiful voice right now, freshly out of their break-up. That would be counter-productive.

Haithoomi   I'll pick her up tomorrow. 9am?

That was actually perfect timing, which Alhaitham was aware of because they knew each other's schedules just as well as their own. But Kaveh hated to admit that, so he didn't.

You   can you do 10?

Haithoomi   No

You   fine then, 9 it is. pls be quick, i'm busy af

Haithoomi   When are you not

And Kaveh decided to leave that on read, because he was going to be mature and not fall for Alhaitham's bickering bait. He was going to become a better person who was not easily infuriated by mere words like some hormonal teenager.

"Fuck this!" he yelled, throwing the phone on the divan. It clattered off and onto the floor, and his eyes widened. Mehrak jumped at the sound, looking around with ears pulled back.

Kaveh sighed as he checked the screen, which was thankfully unharmed. "Your dad is gonna be the death of me," he grumbled to Mehrak.

At eight forty-nine, Kaveh was attempting to tame his curls with a myriad of hair clips, right after having changed three times to ensure he was dressed appropriately for the occasion. He couldn't see his ex while in pyjamas, obviously — they weren't domestic like that anymore (this thought made his eyes tear up, but it was probably from a speck of dust going in or something) — yet he also didn't want to properly dress up, after all, he didn't want Alhaitham to think he was trying to get them back together.

He and Alhaitham were simply inherently distinct at their very cores, and a romantic relationship between them could never have worked out. It would have been like two reflections across a mirror falling in love — their lips could be desperate to press against each other, but the glass would always be there. And so, it was futile to imagine a future by Alhaitham's side, even if he still fantasised about it every night (not that he did it every night), even if no one had ever enthralled him quite like Alhaitham had, even if there had never been anyone he'd wanted to get to know as deeply as the brilliant mind Alhaitham kept concealed under his adorable fluffy hair.

All this to say that Kaveh was not dressing up to look nice for his ex. He just had a meeting with a client in a couple hours, so it was practical to already dress for it so as to not have to change again.

"Hello," Alhaitham murmured as Kaveh opened the door — after waiting a good full minute from the moment he heard the knocking.

Even under the flimsy, cheap corridor lights, Alhaitham looked ethereal. The silver of his hair caught the stray rays of sunshine streaming in through the open window, highlighting the shape of his curls and bringing out the amber in his eyes. Eyes that, as always, were focused on Kaveh with all their dazzling intensity — a degree of perceptiveness that always made Kaveh feel strangely nude yet embarrassingly giddy. His cheeks were slightly flushed, presumably from the heat outside, and the colour seemed to soften his features.

Fuck. Kaveh already wanted to draw that pretty face again.

"Hello," Kaveh replied, civilly. His heart was stuttering, but Alhaitham had no way of knowing that. "Come in."

The welcoming sentiment was very much shared by Mehrak, who screeched a loud meow before leaping onto Alhaitham and gripping his shirt with her little claws. She sniffed his face as he wrapped his arms around her — a gentle smile curling his lips, not that Kaveh took note of that, obviously — before nuzzling her fluffy ears onto his skin and letting out a fond, reverberating purr.

Which did not warm Kaveh's heart in the slightest, nor did it urge his own lips to curl. His reaction to the scene was very mild, neutral even.

When he had said "come in," he meant come in to pick up Mehrak and her stuff, and not come in and snoop around my house like some rude asshole. But what was Alhaitham doing? Peeking into the bathroom and the bedroom as he leisurely strolled down the corridors that did not belong to him while holding and petting Kaveh's cat.

"I have a meeting soon, so I don't have the time for you to look around and admire my interior design choices," he muttered, even though this house still felt much too empty and much too white for his taste, even with all the furniture and decorations he'd brought over from thei— Alhaitham's house. "Though I will be glad if this inspires you to improve your own aesthetic eye."

Alhaitham let out something between a snort and a hum, and no, it was not cute in any way at all.

"How's the shower's water pressure here? Is the temperature easy to regulate?" Alhaitham asked.

Kaveh swallowed. He was very finicky about showers, always ranting about some hotel's badly designed bathroom when they had travelled together, so Alhaitham's random question made perfect sense, but only for someone who knew Kaveh to a domestic extent. It wasn't the sort of casual conversation starter that should be employed by an ex that Kaveh should be getting out of his mind.

Because Alhaitham hadn't fought for their relationship at all, so it was clear that Kaveh had wanted it much more than he did.

"It's fine," he replied, a little too late, a little too quietly.

The water pressure was acceptable. The temperature still took him a few tries to be able to regulate.

"I put all her stuff here," he added, pointing to a large shopping bag. "I want the toys back. And we're splitting every single cost fity-fifty. I don't care if it's a three-mora mouse plushie. And don't push back her feeding times, she needs her routine. I don't care if your ass doesn't want to get out of bed. "

Alhaitham raised a lazy eyebrow while leaning against the doorframe, still caressing Mehrak's fur with a slow hand. "Yes, sir," he murmured.

Which… did nothing to Kaveh's heart. The words certainly did not burn as they entered his ears and made their way to his fluttering gut, and that heat definitely did not find its way to his cheeks.

"You're excused," he muttered.

He swore he saw the hint of a devilish smile on Alhaitham's lips, but that could have always been a trick of light. Ignoring Kaveh's command — as always — he paced around the kitchen and peeked at the empty sink.

"Have you had breakfast?" Alhaitham asked. "If you're short on time, I can make you—"

"I don't know what you think this is, but you're just here to pick up the cat and leave," Kaveh interrupted. He crossed his arms while glancing away, willing his heart to calm down. "Please leave."

Alhaitham gave him a long, almost pathetic look with his eyes softening a little.

Or, well, that could have just been Kaveh's mind sabotaging him by seeing things that weren't there. After all, Alhaitham hadn't even cried when he moved out.

Wordlessly, Alhaitham put Mehrak in her carrier box, ignoring her pleading eyes that suspiciously resembled his. He closed the little door despite her complaining meows, then picked everything up and made his way to the door.

He looked back once, lips pursed. "See you in two weeks."

And then Kaveh closed the door, washed his face, and struggled to focus on his blueprints.

Kaveh had lived in the apartment Alhaitham had inherited from this grandmother for two years, and in the master bedroom for the last year and three months. Because it had originally belonged to a Kshahrewar scholar, and also because of Kaveh's own aesthetic additions, it was actually a gorgeous quiet refuge in the bustling center of Sumeru City. In being on a top floor and graced with thick walls, it was immune to the ruckus outside, and the tall windows exhibited a breathatking and vibrant view of the rainforest's canopy. Kaveh used to love brewing coffee on weekends then sharing breakfast with Alhaitham while looking outside, eyes crinkled at the sunlight.

Which, um, random memory popping in his mind, but totally irrelevant. Now, he was just here to get his cat and go home. No need to reminisce.

Except Mehrak seemed to have different ideas. After jumping onto him and curling into his lap, where he had squeezed her tightly to make up for their time apart, she had eyed the open carrier box and understood her destiny. With narrowed eyes, she had plopped back to Alhaitham's warmth and sunk her claws in.

"Looks like she has a favourite dad," Alhaitham observed off-handedly.

Kaveh had to clench his fists to not retort. He simply pulled on Mehrak's paws very carefully until she was in his arms again. And then she sank her claws into his clothes instead, and absolutely refused to enter the so-despised box.

"Perhaps we should give her a moment," Alhaitham suggested. "I have silced fruit. Do you want some?"

"No," Kaveh replied, even though he very much did.

"I also have freshly-pressed orange juice."

Pausing, Kaveh's damned hands faltered where they were scratching Mehrak's fluffy ears. Alhaitham didn't like juice half as much as Kaveh did, being of the opinion that it was not 'nutritiously optimised,' and he was generally too lazy to press it himself. It was something he only did once in a long while, when he wanted to do Kaveh a small kindness.

"I'm not thirsty," Kaveh said at last, voice slightly rough.

Alhaitham nodded slowly, understanding that the refusal had implied much more than just a glass of juice.

"I should go," he amended, turning around. "Mehrak, be a good kitty. Don't you want to go home and cuddle with me, baby?"

"This is her home," Alhaitham said quietly.

It made Kaveh's limbs still, and the warmth that had been building up in his chest solidified to something suffocating.

"She has two now," he replied simply, unfortunately aware of the edge to his voice as he closed the little door. "We'd better get used to it."

They didn't call him the Light of Kshahrewar for nothing — Kaveh was brilliant. He smiled while basking in his own intelligence, because he had thought out a strategy to decrease his interacting time with Alhaitham. When the knock sounded on the door, Mehrak was already in her carrier box, and his ex wouldn't even have to step into his house.

"Here," he chirped before Alhaitham could say 'hello' in his stupidly handsome voice with his soft lips and cute teeth. "Bye."

Raising an eyebrow, Alhaitham did not reach to take anything from Kaveh's hands. "We need to talk."

The words made something tighten in Kaveh's gut. Kaveh always associated the phrase with breaking up, but that was a stupid association when they were already broken up anyway.

"Is it extremely important?" he asked.

"Yes. It's about Mehrak."

Sighing, Kaveh set the box and the bag down. "Go on."

"May I come in?"

"Is it necessary?"

Alhaitham crossed his arms — damn him, he'd come in a sleeveless shirt today, potentially just to taunt Kaveh with those ridiculous bulging muscles of his — and looked at Kaveh as if his question wasn't even worth answering.

"If you have nothing to say," Kaveh said sourly, "perhaps you should be on your way."

"Kaveh." A modicum of emotion showed through Alhaitham's eyes, now frowning ever so slightly, and his arms dropped. Then, more softly, "Let's talk things out."

"Things? What things?" Kaveh scoffed as he crossed his own arms, and Mehrak meowed from within her prison. "Are you referring to my daughter as a 'thing'? Because you just said we have to talk about her."

Alhaitham narrowed his eyes, then cocked his head. "t's been over a month. Are you still angry?"

Kaveh bit down on his lip so forcefully that he was surprised it didn't draw blood. "This attitude is exactly why I'm still angry. Do you have something actually important to say or are you just going to keep making fun of my emotions forever?"

With a sigh, Alhaitham stepped in and closed the door behind himself. And then, unceremoniously, he sat on Kaveh's divan and removed a folded piece of paper from his pocket before placing it carefully on the coffee table.

"A… document?" Kaveh asked, squinting his eyes as he stepped closer.

"A contract," Alhaitham corrected. "Delineating the terms of our shared custody."

An eye roll so visceral it was dizzying erupted within Kaveh, and he gritted his teeth before snatching the paper away.

"You're always up to so much bullshit," he muttered while skimming through. "You… I'm not allowed to take her on a road trip without informing you? Who says I'm gonna inform my ex that I'm going on a road trip? That's a breach of privacy."

"It's not about where you go, it's about where she goes. She is my daughter."

Kaveh snorted. "I'm not signing this."

"We can discuss the terms and make edits," Alhaitham said calmly.

Kaveh leaned over him with a scrutinising glance. "Your little stunt to get us to talk isn't going to work, Alhaitham. We're exes. Exes don't talk."

Looking up at him with gentle eyes, Alhaitham took a moment to reply. Fuck, he looked so soft from this angle that Kaveh's tongue almost slipped out 'unless you…'

No. Alhaitham hadn't even tried to stop him from leaving, and was constantly proving time and time again how little he thought of Kaveh, the overworked idiot who couldn't take care of himself at almost thirty. Kaveh couldn't bear to hear his incessant mocking day in and day out for another full year, not from the mouth of someone he quietly admried so much.

Wordlessly, Alhaitham stood up and walked to the door. This time, he didn't look back.

"I just," Kaveh mumbled, right before hiccuping and wiping a tear away. "It's like he doesn't even care that we broke up."

"You must be joking," Cyno deadpanned. "I thought you were good at reading him."

"I am good at reading him!" he exclaimed. "Like, okay, he does care. But he's reacting the same way he reacts when our Wi-Fi stops working, or… or when he's forced to stay in later at work. I expected him to at least cry or something!"

"He did cry," Tighnari said off-handedly.

Blinking, Kaveh slammed his beer down on the counter, startling someone on a nearby table. "When? What?"

"Last week," Cyno replied. "We went out with him."

Kaveh squinted his eyes. "You went out with my ex? What good friends you are."

"We're a friend group," Tighnari retorted, in a tone that implied he was already in the mood for going home. "And it's only a matter of time until you get back together anyway."

Kaveh felt his cheeks heat up. "As if I'm letting that idiot into my life ever again. We don't work well together."

"You're desperate to get back with him," Cyno muttered. "Your love is paw-pable."

"Funny," Kaveh stated, before taking another swig. "I'm not desperate. I mean, obviously I like him, we just broke up. But it's just best for both of us that we're as far away as possible."

"And as far away as possible means seeing each other twice a month to take care of a cat?"

Shooting Tighnari a deadly glare, Kaveh raised his chin. "What's wrong with co-parenting Mehrak? She needs us both." He averted his eyes to focus on the wall. "Now go back to what you were saying about him crying."

"There's not much more to say," Tighnari replied, swooshing his wine glass around with uninterestd eyes. "He got drunk, started talking about how much he missed you, then started crying. We had to take him all the way into his apartment, that's how wasted he was."

"What?" Kaveh exclaimed, eyes widening as he stood up. "He got wasted?"

"I have photos," Cyno chirped, then sighed. "But Nari and I agreed we wouldn't show you until you two get back together."

"We're not getting back together," Kaveh slurred. "I can't believe I've taken him drinking one billion times and the one time he gets drunk is when we're broken up."

"Just talk to him," Tighnari said bluntly. "I don't know why that's always so hard with the two of you."

"Alhaitham is terrible at talking."

"Right, because you're the expert." Tighnari rolled his eyes. "I've never seen two adults so immature. Just have one single civil, honest conversation, and everything will be fine. You're head over heels for him. He's a pining mess for you. You're both suffering. The solution is extremely simple."

"He didn't even ask me to stay," Kaveh choked out, slumping over the table to hide the tears prickling his eyes. "Didn't even… apologise."

Cyno patted his shoulder while Tighnari simply continued to drink his wine. "You're just proving my point about your communication skills."

"Everything I do bothers him," Kaveh sniffled, now fully wallowing in his own misery as the alcohol curdled in his stomach. "Everything. He complains about all my habits, everyday, all the time."

"And you complain about his," Tighnari pointed out. "And you're still crazy in love with him. This isn't a matter of affection, it's a matter of communication."

"Then maybe we'll just never work out."

And then Kaveh was sobbing pathetically, hiding his face as his head started aching at all the tears and snot building up within him. How fucking cruel did destiny have to be to put such a barrier between him and the only person he'd ever wanted this passionately?

"Don't be stupid," Tighnari deadpanned. "This has nothing to do with destiny. It's a consequence of your joint stupidity."

When Kaveh arrived home, a little dizzy and extremely thirsty, he burst into tears once more upon finding Mehrak waiting for him by the door.

"Do you miss your other dad?" he asked brokenly, hiding his face in her warm tummy. She meowed in response. "I'm so sorry, baby. We used to— We used to be a family."

He cried, kneeling on the floor in his stupor. As if capable of understanding his silly situation, she simply blinked at his outburst.

"It's not your fault," he whispered, cradling her little face.

"Meow," she replied, as if saying I never thought it was.

Haithoomi   Hello

Kaveh thought distantly, from within the confines of his hangover, that he should have changed that contact name. But now was not the time. In fact, right now he was too weak to even wait half an hour before responding as usual, and simply opened the chat to stare at with his deep eyebags.

Haithoomi   Mehrak's birthday is next week. Let's celebrate together

Pursing his lips at the message, Kaveh reasoned that celebrating anything with his ex was not a good idea. However, he couldn't put his own issues above his poor daughter's wellbeing, and she would naturally want both her parents by her side on her birthday.

You   okay

You   i'll bring the treats

Haithoomi   My place, 19:30?

He almost typed out 'it's a date,' but his fingers still thankfully held onto some modicum of reason, because they managed to just react to the message with a thumbs-up. Making a mental note to himself to buy Mehrak's favourites, he marked the event down on his calendar.

Kaveh did not have dinner before going to Mehrak's birthday party. Not because he expected to have dinner with Alhaitham, of course — that would be weird — but simply because the celebration was bound to end quickly enough for him to be able to eat afterwards.

Apparently, Alhaitham's reasoning had reached the opposite conclusion.

As Kaveh stepped into the apartment, the fragrance of warm spices mingling together and fresh cream swirled through the air and tickled his nose deliciously, making his tummy rumble as if on command. Over the dinner table was a bottle of the Fontainian syrah he loved but always struggled to find in the bazaar, and two glasses were set out.

"Oh," he mumbled, flicking his gaze to Alhaitham.

Alhaitham, who was dressed for a night out rather than a casual evening at home, in fitted dress pants and — a button-up? What? He despised those, even though Kaveh had informed him that they objectively looked incredible on his frame (but then again, what doesn't look incredible on Alhaitham?). Even his hair was properly combed through and perhaps even oiled, although that adorable sprouty strand in the middle stuck up as always. Kaveh felt the annoying urge to pet his fluffy hair.

Looking down at his own self, he felt silly for not putting more effort into his outfit. He was in his usual white shirt and jewellery, but he would have worn something different if he had known Alhaitham would look like— that.

"Our daughter is one year old," Alhaitham murmured, picking up the cat. She yawned in his arms, letting her paws flop backwards.

"Aw." Kaveh looked down at her adoringly, then softly caressed her tummy. "I remember when she was so tiny she couldn't even climb onto my lap."

Humming, Alhaitham nodded. "And she would hide under the oven and it would drive you crazy."

Kaveh laughed. "I was so scared something might happen to her."

"But nothing did."

"Thank the Archons," Kaveh murmured.

Slowly, Alhaitham leaned down to kiss her fluffy forehead. Even so, his eyes were still locked onto Kaveh's as if spellbound, and their intensity was, as always, disorienting.

Kaveh silently wished that kiss was for him.

He cleared his throat while glancing away. "I, uh, didn't realise I'd be having dinner here."

"It's dinner time."

"Still." Kaveh bit his lip. "It's a bit… strange."

"It's fatteh," Alhaitham said, voice slightly softer. "And masala cheese balls."

Kaveh's favourite dish, Kaveh's favourite wine, Kaveh's favourite company, Kaveh's favourite place. His throat bobbed.

"Okay," he replied quietly.

Before making his way to the table, he paced around the living room he'd decorated himself, holding a sleepy Mehrak against his chest. The white walls needed a re-paint, and Kaveh almost added the chore to his mental to-do list before recalling that he'd moved out. The large bookshelf near the corridor, as always, held little scribbles on the side that had documented Alhaitham's growing height — this was, after all, his childhood home, and the thought of a little Alhaitham reaching for a book on the top shelf warmed Kaveh's heart.

They sat down together, and Mehrak sprawled her little body over the dinner table to be with her dads. They each fed her one treat before serving their own plates, still in silence.

"I miss you," Alhaitham spoke into the quiet.

Kaveh's hands faltered where they had been reaching for the cheese balls, and his heart faltered with them. Inhaling deeply, he straightened his posture.

"You didn't even say anything when I was leaving," he replied. "Didn't ask me to stay. Didn't cry. Didn't apologise."

"Apologise for what?" Alhaitham's tone wasn't bitter, but it did sound somewhat pained. "Trying to take care of you?"

With a sigh, Kaveh massaged his own temples. "For not giving me a moment to breathe."

Alhaitham looked at him as if he really didn't fully understand, and Tighnari's words rang in Kaveh's ears. They would never understand each other if they weren't honest.

"Look. I know we bicker, and I know we jab, and I know that's who we are, but I…" He trailed off, unsure of how to word his thoughts. Maybe they really were quite terrible at communication. "It just… I'm tired."

Alhaitham was paying close attention to him, and now that Kaveh allowed himself to properly look, his nervousness was palpable. His forehead glistened with a hint of sweat and his eyes were very minutely frowned; his lips were pursed and his back was stiffer than usual.

Kaveh wanted to massage the anxiety away, to hold him in his arms like usual.

"It's just exhausting to feel like you're always criticising me," he whispered, and gods, he couldn't cry right now. It would be too embarrassing. "I know I'm flawed. I know I have many issues. And… I know that must be exhausting for you too, so I understand that it frustrates you."

"You don't frustrate me," Alhaitham replied, voice rough. "I just worry about you."

Kaveh blinked, wiping the side of his eye where a tear had been budding. He despised being this vulnerable, letting his insecurities and imperfections bleed down his face.

"I don't want to exhaust you," Alhaitham added, and his throat bobbed. "Tell me how else to take care of you."

That was too much for Kaveh's heart, and he had to look away to not feel his chest melt in adorableness at the sight of Alhaitham's features looking at him so gently. He kept his lips shut so as to not hear his own voice crack.

"And I didn't ask you to stay because that was your decision to make," Alhaitham muttered. "My wish should be obvious. I wasn't the one who broke up with you."

Kaveh inhaled, running his hand through his hair. Broke up still sounded a bit foreign to his ears, even though it was the perfect description of what he had done. "What you feel is rarely ever obvious to me, Alhaitham."

It took him a while to reply. "I can relate to that feeling."

Mehrak yawned, and that was the only sound between them for a while.

"You already left once, all those years ago," Alhaitham added quietly. "I waited for you to come back. I'd wait again, but I'd prefer it if you just stayed."

Kaveh was glad to be seated, because the words would have weakened his knees to the point of stumbling if he had been standing. This sort of vulnerability was far from commonplace between them — though perhaps it was long overdue, considering everything they'd been through together.

"Maybe we can… work things out," he said at last, forcing his eyes to look back at Alhaitham's. "If we talk more. Talk… honestly."

Alhaitham's shoulders visibly slumped upon hearing that, and he let out a long-drawn exhale.

"I'll make real soup every week if you want it so badly," he said, tone lighter. "I had no idea you would despise my stew so much."

"Firstly, that thing should not be called a stew!" The edges of Kaveh's lips curled, and he hadn't felt this light in too many weeks. "But please. I'm still craving my soup you never made."

Alhaitham's eyes crinkled, and gods, he always looked beautiful like that.

"But I'm serious about the talking," Kaveh muttered. "I will break up with you again if we don't properly work things out. I want us to… to last." He felt his cheeks warm up at the admission. "I want to know how to— how to love you well. To be healthy for you."

The last part was pronounced very quietly, almost in a hush. If Alhaitham's ears were not so sensitive, he might not have heard. He seemed to capture the importance of the words however, because he didn't tease Kaveh for it; his only reaction was a subtle pink tint on his own cheeks.

"Me too," he murmured.

"Anyway, ha." Kaveh forced a chuckle out of his mouth while gesturing to the food. "Can't let this go cold."

"Your 'honest conversation' is already over?" Alhaitham raised an eyebrow. "You're not very good at this."

Kaveh narrowed his eyes at him. "I'm trying."

Gently, Alhaitham reached out a hand to press over Kaveh's, his touch hesitant. It should have been a usual gesture between couples, but it sent tingles of delicious warmth seeping into Kaveh's skin, because this wasn't usual anymore. He had hugged his own self too many times late at night these past few weeks, trying to simulate the soft feel of Alhaitham's skin that apparently was inherent to his touch and his touch only.

Kaveh really couldn't be away from him.

"If you need me to say it so you can believe that I don't want us to break up, I'm saying it now," Alhaitham murmured. "You know I love you."

Kaveh felt his cheeks heat up again, and though his eyes desperately wanted to scurry away, he forced them to hold Alhaitham's gaze. Those words shouldn't be so difficult to hear, but they were.

"I love you too," he whispered. "I want to move back in."

Mehrak, seemingly realising that her desires had just materialised into being, perked up.

"Next time," Alhaitham started, hand receding to take a forkful of fatteh, "tell me you want to talk instead of running away."

Kaveh scoffed. "I didn't run away."

Alhaitham raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe kind of," Kaveh admitted, busying himself with his food. "But it was not just my fault. You didn't try to properly talk to me either. You just drafted up a contract to have an excuse to interact with me."

Alhaitham pursed his lips while serving them the wine. "I can admit I… could have gone about things differently."

"You have such a way with words," Kaveh deadpanned. He then rested his feet over Alhaitham's under the table, hesitantly poking him with a toe. "I think we should…" He cleared his throat. "Apologise to each other."

Alhaitham swallowed down some wine. "Right."

They ate in silence for a long moment, drawing out the pause caused by their joint stubbornness. Sensing the atmosphere in the air, Mehrak pawed at Kaveh's shirt, then at Alhaitham's. She let out an exhausted meow.

Kaveh reasoned that, as this was her birthday, they should heed her wish for them to properly work things out.

"I'm… sorry," he managed through gritted teeth. "For not dealing with things very maturely."

Alhaitham inhaled. "I apologise too," he said quietly. "For all not being very… mature."

Satisfied, Mehrak sat back on her paws and began to lick her fluffy tummy.

"Can I, um…" Kaveh cleared his throat. "Can I sleep here tonight?"

"Please," Alhaitham replied quickly.

By mid-morning, Mehrak's golden fur was doused in glittering sunlight that poured in through the bedroom windows. She was slotted between Kaveh's and Alhaitham's legs, purring in her sleep and dreaming of climbing the curtains in an impressive feline feat while her dads gave her a standing ovation.

Yawning, Kaveh shuffled sideways to peek at Alhaitham's morning face.

Only to find that familiar pair of pretty eyes also drowsily blinking at him, half-covered by a fluffy grey lock.

"Morning," Alhaitham murmured, wrapping a half-hearted arm around Kaveh.

He melted easily into the touch, wondering how in the fuck he'd gone over two months without it. "Good morning."

Sleepily, Alhaitham nuzzled his forehead into the crook of Kaveh's neck. If the position allowed him to feel Kaveh's artery pulsing underneath, he probably noticed its elevated heart rate.

"I heard through the grapevine," Kaveh murmured, running a tender hand through the silver curls he'd missed so much, "that you drank a little too much and started sobbing at the bar."

Alhaitham instantly looked up with a glare, face reddening at the words.

"You broke up with me," he muttered.

Kaveh chuckled, though his gut was swooping with fondness. "I did the exact same thing, so I can't say much."

"Mm." Alhaitham shuffled even closer to Kaveh somehow, and he still smelled the same as he always had. "There's juice in the fridge. And I can slice up some fruit for you."

"And I'll make coffee," Kaveh murmured back.

Mehrak yawned, and Kaveh let his eyes flutter shut again. He wasn't sure they'd have breakfast anytime soon.