Taking over the Abyss

53- A Sudden Proposal

For a moment, absolutely nothing happened. You took a step back from the door, waiting patiently while your brain began to run a mile a minute. What if he wasn't actually home right now? What if you looked super weird, just standing here like this? What if Cyno just trolled you and brought you to the wrong place? As you prepared to gracefully retreat and bury yourself back under the covers in your bed back in Enkanomiya, you were stopped by the muffled noises of footsteps from inside the house.

The door opened, revealing an intensely attractive man with silvery gray hair and turquoise eyes, clad in black and various shades of green. He seemed vaguely annoyed by your mere existence, "Who are you?"

"Are you Al-Haitham?" You asked. Realizing you'd just answered a question with another question, you rushed to explain yourself, "Sorry, I have an invitation to meet him."

The man's eyes narrowed slightly, as he leaned against the door and crossed his arms over his chest, "Who's asking?"

...

Well he kinda confirmed his identity by saying that, so you guessed you had the right guy.

"Here," you pulled out the card you'd received and showed it to him. He took it from you with more force than necessary and inspected it thoroughly. After confirming that it was real, he let out a little hum and handed it back to you.

"Come in," he said, moving away from the door so you could enter. You hesitated for a moment before stepping in, Al-Haitham closing the door behind you. You wandered into his kitchen before turning around to face him, silently asking him where to go next. He merely walked passed you, expecting you to follow, "We can do this in my room, I have equipment in there."

Knowing you could easily beat the shit out of him should anything go wrong, you followed him into his room. As soon as you stepped in, you couldn't help but immediately look around. His room seemed pretty basic, a few shelves filled with books strung up on the walls, a basic desk with various objects neatly placed around, and a green bed shoved in the corner. Everything looked neat and in order- even the covers on his bed were perfectly smooth, not so much as a singular wrinkle present.

Al-Haitham sat down at his desk's chair before pulling up another one for you with his leg, gesturing you take a seat. Sitting down, you realized it was one of those rigid, wooden ones that forced you to sit perfectly straight. Al-Haitham pulled a notebook out from the top of a stack of books and flipped open to a fresh page.

"I wasn't expecting for you to show up to my house," he said after a moment of quiet, slowly looking over to you, "How did you find out where I live?"

"I had help from somebody named Cyno," you replied. Al-Haitham's eyebrows furrowed slightly.

"Cyno, huh?" He huffed, moving on before you could question if the two had any beef with each other, "I apologize for not specifying any date or location on my card. If I had, I might've been able to make you more comfortable."

"No, no this is fine," it was the thought that counted. In the corner, you could see a small pack of luggage that you'd missed before, "I hope I'm not interrupting you or anything."

"You're not," he assured, reaching over his desk for a feather pen. He began to scribble something down, but glanced over to you for a second, "I'm leaving for Port Ormos in a few days. I figured that I'd prepare early."

"I see," you nodded, feigning more interest than you actually felt, "Are you going on a vacation?"

"Study trip," he answered. He stayed quiet for another moment, finishing his writing before putting his pen down. He turned to face you, "Let's get started. First off, what exactly is your position?"