Chapter Text
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It was a normal day in sumeru. The sumpter beast and their handlers were taking their usual route through the city. The akademiya students were all huddled in their usual groups outside of the school. The usual crowd of shoppers in the grand bazaar were doing their weekly shop.
However , kaveh had this strange feeling… almost as if something was stuck inside of his throat. There was an uncomfortable itch that he couldn’t shake off no matter how hard he tried.
He thought that it would likely be a simple cold. It was coming up to the winter season after all. As the temperature lowered , he usually managed to pick up some sort of illness.
Kaveh had just bought some spices and meats for his dinners with Alhaitham. He was rather particular about which specific ingredients were needed, so he was always the one who insisted on buying them. Even with his tights budgets , kaveh managed to keep some money with him for food every week.
After paying for All of the food he picked up , kaveh started the regular walk back to his and Alhaitham’s shared house. No matter how much he complained about Alhaitham, he couldn’t help the thump of his heart every time his name is mentioned nor the way that his brain completely shuts down when he hears Alhaitham’s voice.
It’s not like Haitham would ever like him back. With his rational logic and way of thinking , there is no chance he would ever reciprocate any sort of romantic feelings. Kaveh is unsure Alhaitham even likes him as a whole… especially after everything that went down in the akademiya.
Before he knew it, kaveh had arrived back at the house. He opened the door , stepped inside and took his shoes off then slammed it shut behind him. It was almost like a loud announcement that he had returned.
Alhaitham didn’t even spare a glance. He kept his eyes straight down , locked onto his book.
Kaveh just rolled his eyes , some things never change, and his junior completely ignoring his existence was one of them.
Oh how kaveh wished that one day , Alhaitham would greet him with a hug or even just a hello…
Following that train of thought , his throat started to tighten. Kaveh let out a small cough , hoping that would be enough to clear out whatever was stuck.
It didn’t work
If anything , it just felt worse
His lungs started to scream for oxygen as his breaths became heavy and panicked
He ran through the house as fast as he could , hoping he could make it to his bedroom without overly concerning Alhaitham
His hand gripped the handle so hard his knuckles turned white , then he pulled the door close behind him.
He locked it just in time.
His legs then gave out as he collapsed to the floor
His coughing worsened. It sounded raspy and dry. He could barely breathe through it.
His vision clouded before going completely black
~———☆———~
He woke up , laying on the ground with his head to the door.
His breathing felt clearer now but…. He just couldn’t understand what happened last night
He’s never experienced anything like that before , especially not with the normal pre-winter cold.
Something clearly wasn’t right here.
He decided that he would at least make himself look presentable for the day before worrying about whatever’s up with his throat
Or at least that’s what he thought he was going to do.
When he placed his hands upon his cold , wooden flooring , he couldn’t just feel the grain. There was also a … liquid?
He took his hand up to his face , coming to the harsh realisation that he was laying in his own blood.
‘W-what in the world!’
His voice was shaky , he already knew that much , but when he spoke , he sounded so hoarse , it was almost unrecognisable as him.
As he looked down , he could see that he was covered with the crimson liquid , but it was accompanied by the petals of a mourning flower.
As if his situation wasn’t weird enough already-
Before kaveh had any time to process what happened the night prior , he heard footsteps echoing through the house.
shit
Alhaitham already should’ve left for work! What the fuck was he going to now?!
The sound of the footsteps stopped just outside of his door…
‘Kaveh’
Alhaitham stated
‘May I come in?’
Kaveh started to panic. If he said no , it would certainly arouse some suspicion!
So instead of denying the man , he quickly stood up and rushed to clean the floor.
He wiped away the blood with a spare shirt on the side, quickly threw a hoodie on top of the clothes he was wearing and hurriedly threw the petals in the bin.
I mean … everything looked tidy enough , surely Alhaitham wouldn’t notice the newly stained shirt and the bin that was overflowing with mourning flower petals , right?
‘Kaveh?’
Oh fuck! Kaveh hadn’t said anything
‘Umm, of course!’
He unlocked the door and let the taller man in.
Kaveh’s eyes locked onto Alhaitham’s , watching every precise movement.
‘What happened last night?’ he questioned
Kaveh didn’t think he noticed! What kind of explanation could he come up with that excused almost coughing his lungs out?!
‘Oh- I just , you know I usually get some sort of cold around this type of year…’
Alhaitham didn’t respond , although it was clear to kaveh that he wasn’t paying attention. Alhaitham wasn’t even looking at him! Instead , he was glancing towards the floor.
What could be so interesting about the floor?
And then it hit kaveh.
His gaze was directed at the bin in the corner of the room…
Alhaitham strode over to where his eyes pointed.he carefully knelt down besides the pile of blood stained petals , taking one into his grasp.
‘What’s this?’
‘Oh! That’s … I was just using some mourning flowers for a project! A client asked me to experiment with some things and , y’know , it didn’t go too well , so I just threw it away!’
That was the worst lie he has ever told.
Alhaitham’s stare grew stronger and colder than his usual one , but kaveh could see a hint of … worry?
‘Kaveh, tell me the truth’
Paired with the look in his eyes, this tone was also new. It was almost as if Alhaitham was commanding him to stop lying.
He wasn’t sure what else to do though! He barely knows what’s going on himself , how is he supposed to explain it to someone else?
His thoughts trailed off , the familiar itch returned to his throat.
Fuck
His breath hitched as he could feel the lump slowly rise through his neck.
There was nothing else he could do. There was no way he could hide from Alhaitham now.
He began to hack up whatever was stuck. It felt so much larger than last time, no air was able to reach his lungs.
His eyes began to blur so much that nothing around him was distinguishable anymore.
However , before he passed out , he could hear the faint noise of his name being called.
Maybe … this was the end…
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