Chapter Text
Puspa Cafe, Afternoon
“I’m not quite sure how this is supposed to go,” Kaveh said, as they sat on the opposite sides of a table at Puspa Cafe, each with a cup of iced lemon tea in front of them.
The right corner of Alhaitham’s lips twitched upwards in a smirk. “We’ve done this a million times, Kaveh, I don’t see why you’re suddenly having a problem now,” he said, leaning forward and resting his arms at the centre of the table as he grinned at Kaveh.
Kaveh bit his lip as he felt his cheeks burn just from the increased proximity. Having Alhaitham so close to him, so openly affectionate, was still... difficult to reconcile sometimes. Averting his eyes, Kaveh murmured, “We’re in public, behave.”
Alhaitham drew back with a snort. “You never had a problem when Adler did it, and we weren’t even properly on a date back then.”
Kaveh gaped with faux offence. “Are you seriously becoming jealous of yourself, Alhaitham? Do I need to remind you whose fault it was that-”
“You’ve already reminded me exactly eight times this morning, no need to do it again,” Alhaitham cut in with a pained smile. He took a sip of his tea. “But yes. If it helps, you can pretend you’re talking to Adler.”
“I can’t,” Kaveh said with a small whine, pouting. “When I see your face all I can see is you.”
Alhaitham chuckled. “Perhaps let me be of some assistance then,” he said, still smirking. And then he blinked, and his scarlet-green eyes suddenly sparkled, and that smirk melted into a wide, bright smile, and he said coquettishly, “Senior Kaveh, how are you feeling today?”
“Oh archons above, please don’t,” Kaveh said, burying his face in his hands in mortification. “I will never be able to unsee that.”
“Well, it was worth a try,” Alhaitham said, warm mirth in his voice.
Kaveh dared to peek out from between his fingers. Thankfully, Alhaitham had dropped the whole exaggerated Adler-shtick, and was now looking back at him with a smile that was more natural. Alhaitham’s eyes still twinkled though, and Kaveh paused for a moment as he considered how he felt about it.
He concluded that he liked it.
As he lowered his hands, Kaveh said, “That was incredibly disturbing.”
Alhaitham raised an eyebrow in response. “But you liked it.”
Kaveh gasped. “I did not!”
“On this I am fairly certain I am right,” Alhaitham said, then paused deliberately for a moment before adding, “Senior Kaveh.”
“Oh archons,” Kaveh said, his face burning hot. Since when had Puspa Cafe turned this stuffy? He really needed a word with the owner of the cafe.
Alhaitham was laughing now. And oh, that was such a beautiful sound that sent Kaveh’s heart all aflutter. “You are always too easy to fluster, Kaveh,” he said, chuckling to himself, looking entirely too self-satisfied, “You’re making things too fun for me.”
Kaveh pouted, grabbing his drink and ignoring the straw to drink a large gulp of the iced tea. “You always like making fun of me. Not cool.”
“But it worked, right? You were feeling uncertain on how to go about... this,” Alhaitham pointed out.
“And now I’m uncertain on how much I want to throttle you,” Kaveh answered pleasantly.
Alhaitham’s lips twitched again. Seriously, Kaveh had never seen Alhaitham smile this much in a day before. “You wouldn’t,” Alhaitham said, his eyes bright, “You like me too much for that.”
“You’re right,” Kaveh acknowledged, and Alhaitham’s eyebrows raised minutely, surprised that he would concede this point.
Of course, now that they were in a relationship, things would be a little different. Some things would need to change. They would need to learn how they fit together. And while it would certainly be difficult to unlearn the habit of keeping his affection for Alhaitham wound closely to his heart, hidden away from the rest of the world, he had to start somewhere. And it was nice to acknowledge it aloud. To be able to admit his adoration for Alhaitham, and in turn receive Alhaitham’s multitudes of smiles at Kaveh’s every word.
“I hold great affection for you too,” Alhaitham said suddenly, seemingly reading his mind.
“I know,” Kaveh said with a laugh.
“I am aware that you do, but there are some things that should be said aloud, more than once. And this is one of them,” Alhaitham said, the look in his green eyes suddenly more serious, intense, and piercing, and Kaveh had to press his lips together to hold back the smile that threatened to form on his lips in response, when he remembered that he no longer had to, so he let the smile blossom on his lips freely.
“Suddenly so sweet, Alhaitham, should I be concerned that you’ve been replaced by Cyno again?” Kaveh teased playfully.
Alhaitham’s lips parted slightly in surprise. “How did you know it was Cyno?”
“You’re not the only one who graduated with top honors from the Akademiya,” Kaveh reminded. After all, Cyno was the only one who made sense- it all added up- the timeline between ‘Adler’ meeting Cyno, and the dinner being the next immediate day, as well as the conversation the two had at dinner-
“Right, I had forgotten I have a highly intelligent boyfriend,” Alhaitham said, looking pleased, “How could I have neglected to accord the proper respect due to the most esteemed Light of Kshahrewar, titleholder of Sumeru’s Most Eligible Bachelor for two seasons straight, and-”
“Now you’re just making fun of me again.”
Alhaitham shrugged. “You started it,” he said, a devious smile resting on his face. “But seriously, don’t blame Cyno, I was the one who talked him into it.”
“Don’t worry, I am aware that you can be very persuasive when it suits you,” Kaveh said, shaking his head. “Where was all that persuasion when it came to your job? How are you seriously still stuck as the Acting Grand Sage? How scary is our archon?”
“Oh, she is absolutely terrifying. The most scary there is,” Alhaitham said very seriously.
“Cyno says she’s an absolute sweetheart. And isn’t she like, five?”
“Try five hundred,” Alhaitham said, nodding to himself, “But yes. I am continuing to work under duress.”
“Bullshit. As though anyone could ever duress you.”
“‘Put you in a state of duress’,” Alhaitham corrected.
“I wasn’t aware I was attending a language class.”
“You can’t just use a noun like a verb like that and expect me not to point that out. I would like to remind you that I am still from Haravatat,” Alhaitham said.
“Fine, put you under duress,” Kaveh said, rolling his eyes. “You get what I’m trying to say, though. I highly suspect that you’re continuing your role as Acting Grand Sage because, despite all evidence to the contrary, you have a heart and you’re fond of our apparently very sweet archon.”
“How dare you accuse me of having a heart,” Alhaitham deadpanned, taking another sip of his drink.
“I see you’re not denying the allegation of being fond of her,” Kaveh said triumphantly. “I do want to meet her some day, though. She seems like the best. Though I also strongly suspect that she might be behind this whole ‘Adler’ situation, because I cannot imagine you agreeing to do it under normal circumstances.”
“It’s not her fault, I’m the one who made unwise decisions,” Alhaitham said automatically.
“Yep, you’re absolutely fond of her,” Kaveh said.
“You’ll like her too. She thinks highly of you.”
“She does?” Kaveh said, unable to hide the delight in his voice. “You must have said many good things about me.”
“She’s the Goddess of Wisdom and Sumeru’s archon, she knows everyone,” Alhaitham pointed out in his usual matter-of-fact manner. Nonetheless, with a slight softening of his voice, he added, “But yes. I did.”
Kaveh felt a well of affection suddenly surge within him for the man in front of him. “I don’t know what I’d do without you,” Kaveh found himself saying.
“Well, I know what I’m planning to do with you later,” Alhaitham said, his eyes glittering. “After you finish your drink, I’m going to bring you to the marketplace, save you from a bunch of bad deals, and then we’re going to go home and I’m going to cook you your favourite food, and then tonight we’re going to open a bottle of your favourite wine and bicker about a bunch of inconsequential things.”
“If you’re going to do all that, what am I going to do?” Kaveh asked petulantly.
“You just need to be there,” Alhaitham said.
“No, let me correct you there- After I finish my drink, we are going to the marketplace, I’m going to save you from your nonexistent aesthetic taste, and then when we go home I’ll cook you your favourite food, and then we are going to drink a bottle of your favourite wine and bicker about a bunch of inconsequential things.”
“It looks like we have reached an impasse,” Alhaitham said thoughtfully.
“Indeed,” Kaveh said.
“Well,” Alhaitham said, a small grin forming on his face, “I guess we’ll have to do all of it together then. Cook together, and open two bottles of wine. Does that arrangement sound agreeable to you?”
“That is something I can get behind,” Kaveh said, his own lips cracking into a smile. He picked up his glass of iced tea and rapidly drained the cup.
“So eager, Kaveh, what’s the rush?” Alhaitham laughed.
Kaveh grabbed a napkin and dabbed at the side of his lips. “I just can’t wait to get started.”
So many years ago, Alhaitham swept into Kaveh’s life under the eaves of the House of Daena, and found his way into Kaveh’s heart and set up a permanent residence there.
And then suddenly Adler came into Kaveh’s life one day, like a whirlwind and a bright sun on a warm spring day.
Kaveh had questioned if his love had been merely transitory. He wondered if the underlying ache of longing that he had held for so long that had already become a part of who he was could possibly shift to someone else.
But he was wrong.
Because while Adler had been smart, funny and charming, most importantly he had been Alhaitham.
And no matter whether Alhaitham had grey or dark blond hair, whether he wore a smile or a frown as his resting expression-
Kaveh would fall for him, in every single way.