Incalescence

It was a few days away.

Maybe that's why Kaveh didn't pay it much notice yet. His heat came regularly ever since Alhaitham had sunk his teeth into the back of his neck, had set a claim there, but it shouldn't have shown for another few days and besides, the man himself was away at work now.

Kaveh didn't put thought into it. Not until he decided to take a break from fiddling with sketch pads, trying to put together a design for a villa not far from the city's outskirts, and head out into Treasures Street himself in search of lunch. After all, the Acting Grand Sage was unfortunately busy these days, and Kaveh had been shooed out by a secretary too many times to consider it again.

It made his blood boil, but who was he to say anything? If Alhaitham was too busy for him, so be it. He'd eat lunch in better company.

It wasn't hard to find a cheap stand and then head to the theater. Nilou was already on break and she smiled when she saw him approach, giving him a wave.

"Mr. Kaveh!" she greeted, walking over steadily. Behind her, a few actors were helping the set crew to put together the background for tonight's performance. "It's been a while!"

Kaveh smiled back, holding out a second portion he'd purchased just for her. With Alhaitham's tab, of course, but if he couldn't spare his time, he could at least spare the Mora. "It's been a hectic time," he agreed. "But do you have the time to spare now?"

And she did, of course. They made a bit of small talk whilst sitting on the steps of the theater, smiling amongst themselves and trying to make light of recent events. It always went well when it was with Nilou. Kaveh found it easy to talk to her, as light-hearted and optimistic as she was.

It always went well—at least until he felt something in his stomach lurch and his eyes widened as his face flushed a dark red.

Nilou paused, her lips pursing as she watched. "Mr. Kaveh...?"

He forced a smile. "I'm fine, Nilou, thank you. I think it's just time I got back to work. Good luck with the performance tonight!"

He stood up before she could respond and quickly made his exit, even though he could feel her eyes on him until he disappeared out of view.

It was almost a miracle Kaveh made it home without collapsing. He knew it wasn't his heat—not yet anyway—but it was close and messing up his head in all the wrong ways.

And Alhaitham wasn't even here.

Kaveh collapsed onto the couch with a groan, pulling a pillow to his chest and pressing himself into the corner as if to make himself appear smaller. Maybe that was the worst part. He could feel it all start to affect him in the worst way possible.

It was just that itch. That itch that he knew would turn into something impossible to bear within a few days.

He whined at the thought alone.

It wasn't a fire yet, but it'd turn into one slowly until it consumed him whole. That's how heats went. Nothing was ever enough during it, or at least it wasn't unless Alhaitham was here and he wasn't.

Kaveh sighed, trying to shift into a more comfortable position. At least the pillow smelled like him. And he could at least convince himself it was okay until later.

He'd come back later... And then maybe Kaveh could convince him not to leave. He... couldn't leave. Not when his omega was almost in heat—Kaveh didn't care how busy he might have been, but he couldn't just neglect him like that.

He sat on the couch for a while before his skin started to feel warmer and, albeit slowly, Kaveh managed to crawl into their shared room. The nest he made was mostly from Alhaitham's things—his blankets, a few stray shirts from the hamper, their pillows—and just that managed to wear him out.