Chapter Text
It’s late.
Kaveh peeled off his shoes, trying his hardest to be no louder than the house.
Alhaitham had long been asleep. Thankfully, Kaveh remembered to get his keys from him earlier so that he could come home in his own time. When he finally got back it was well past midnight, and with that guy sticking to his usual 9-5… well Kaveh didn’t want to wake him.
Especially not tonight, the state he was in. No one else at the bar could make it till the end, so he was left to the uncomfortable embrace of his own thoughts. Though that wasn't really true, since the bartender probably heard more of his inner monologue than Kaveh did. How many glasses was it… 7? 8?
He gently prodded the half empty wine glass on the desk he was now sat at. Half empty… or half full? No matter. Before him, next to the glass, was one of his least appropriate guilty pleasures, a drunk Kaveh’s worst temptation. In all fairness, he did live with the most acclaimed scribe in Sumeru Akademiya’s current history… what harm could it do to skim his day journal.
As he flipped through to his mentally bookmarked page, Kaveh let out a deep sigh. He did feel a pang of guilt invading his privacy like this, since he was admittedly living off of Alhaitham after all. However, guilt was for the version of Kaveh who’d empty half a glass of wine before going to sleep himself. This version of Kaveh sighed not for the guilt, but for a truth that only this version of him could accept… this was no diary. This was scripture.
Alhaithams writing flowed like a barely monotonous hum. It read like his voice in every sense. Each emphasis echoing his tone precisely. Kaveh could imagine him sitting beside him, reading aloud every word in that low and thoughtful way he’d speak when they were alone, on the rare occasion they conversed about some shared interest or mystery.
Sometimes he would mention Kaveh... more than sometimes. Kaveh just liked the way he wrote his name. He liked it so much that he paid far less attention to what his old friend actually had to say about him. He tried not to look so closely, but sometimes...
Here it was again. “…On another note, it happens that me and Kaveh are both home today, due to unforeseen circumstances and canceled plans. I believe he slept late into the morning, for his hair is all out of sorts but his skin is clear. He's been coming home later these days, and he’s quieter too. I wonder what he’s thinking about. I could theorize, but Kaveh…”
He might as well have been murmuring right beside Kaveh's face, his breath warm against his cheeks. He’d smell good too, like he always did.
Alhaitham curled the first letter in such a classical manner. So unlike how he wrote the names of others, perfectly printed calligraphy suddenly interrupted by an extravagant swirl. Kaveh couldn’t help but laugh at himself. What was he doing? He only wished he could be so put together. Not helplessly owing all his friends instead of treating them to grand nights out.
It was quite poetic really. He, a walking disaster, the single anomaly in an almost perfect man’s life. The perfect man was really so annoying, sleeping so blissfully while Kaveh was here, miserably drinking and snooping through his things…
He closed the book. After contemplating whether or not to finish his drink, swirling it around a few times in his fingers… he placed it down. He carefully placed Alhaitham’s book back where he’d found it and wandered slowly to bed.
It was better he left the glass half full, he couldn't have Alhaitham worry he'd fallen completely off the deep end… He had no plans tomorrow. He ought to wake early and make breakfast.
I swear one day I’ll build that fool a glorious house, funded entirely through myself. Then he’ll be begging me to come live with him.