Alhaitham was in the Academia when it hit. The ground rumbled, sending objects off of shelves, potted plants falling, vases smashing and dirt getting everywhere. Everything was in chaos as it wasn't often that such a thing would happen in Sumeru. But even as things crashed around him and scholars panicked, the one thing on his mind was Kaveh. He was still at home, projects likely spread out across the room, and multiple little bits of decor around, all able to fall over and hit him amongst this mess. So as soon as the strong quaking had come to an end, Alhaitham left his position under a desk, sprinting out of the building, ignoring every warning from the scholars around him not to. He could handle himself, he just needed to make sure his roommate was okay. Thoughts raced through his head as he ran, all the worst case scenarios playing out for him. But as he finally reached the house, his worries were ever so slightly eased. The house was still standing, whatever's happened inside should be at least somewhat alright. He still couldn't see Kaveh, but he slowed down, heavily breathing thanks to how much he'd been sprinting. Though as he slowly got closer, his worry once again increased, being able to spot a long, thin crack through the wall, and much less visible in the shingles, but in the roof too. However, before he could react, the door swung open, making a panicked Kaveh visible. He appeared unharmed, but clearly struggling to hold bits and pieces of projects. With the loud slam of the door though, the taller couldn't help pausing, eyes darting across to look at the cracks on the building, making sure nothing was happening. Though as his eyes flicked back to the doorway, the floor began to rumble again. An aftershock. They aren't supposed to come so quickly, right? Well whoopsies I guess, because it's happening. It resulted in Kaveh dropping multiple small bits and pieces, going after them thanks to the sudden shaking of the floor. Alhaitham himself couldn't help ducking to the floor, trying to keep stable. Though quite quickly he came to regret that decision, hearing a loud crunch, the building in front of him coming down. A shocked yelp sounded from the roommate he cared so much about before being cut off by a much louder crashing. If he hadn't been so worried about getting his projects out, he would have gotten to safety. If Alhaitham had been faster, he could have dragged the other out. If he hadn't stopped, hadn't slowed, everything could have been okay. Instead, right in front of his eyes, Kaveh was buried under their shared house. Even before the shaking had stopped, Alhaitham was struggling to his feel, covering his face with an arm to avoid dust and debris from the falling building from getting in his eyes. Fairly quickly though, everything settled, leaving Alhaitham covered in sweat and dust, panic spread across his face. He had to get Kaveh out of there. So he tore at the rubble with his bare hands, yanking out chunks of his house. Without even realising, tears had started spilling from his eyes, just trying to get to Kaveh. Surely he couldn't be far, he was just before the doorway. He had to be quick. If being hit by a house didn't kill Kaveh, suffocation would. So the moment he saw fabric, Alhaitham desperately tugged on it, managing to cause some extra little bits of debris to come loose around it. But ultimately, it was stuck, so the silver haired male pushed down lightly, checking that it was really attached to Kaveh, and yep, something much softer was underneath. So frantically, Alhaitham continued, he knew where his roommate was, just below the rubble. He had to get him out. He needed to. After another few moments of digging, blonde hair was peeking through. It brought a big feeling of relief from him, but he couldn't stop yet. Little blots of red were muddled into the blonde, just urging Alhaitham to keep going. Finally managing to uncover the head properly, he could see scarlet eyes flickering open, only very slightly, he'd been face down so the headphone wearing male had to support him, keeping his head up. His roommate seemed incredibly disoriented, and barely awake. Which like, fair, he just got hit by a building. Small injuries littered his face, cuts, bruises already beginning to form, but it was nothing serious. It'd be okay. He just needs to get the rest of him uncovered. It'll be okay. So, removing the fabric hanging down from his waist and shoulders to fold it into a makeshift pillow. Just something to try bring in the slightest form of comfort amidst the mess. Now he just has to get the rest of him free. So somewhat satisfied with his attempt at softening the ground, Alhaitham moved back down to focus on Kaveh's body again. Before he'd only gotten a shoulder out, so there was still a lot to do. After another few moments, he began to notice a much more concerning, still growing patch of red, seeping through the barely still white clothing. Now that was worrying. He picked up the pace, scraping away little bits carefully, just to find a fairly large chunk of, glass, likely from a painting hung on the wall, lodged into his side. How it had survived the crumbling building was a mystery, but it was there. So, to the best of his abilities, he avoided it, eventually managing to pull Kaveh out without noticing anything else major on the surface. Once out, Alhaitham cradled his roommate gently in his arms, sitting down further from the rubble to see what he could do about the glass. Kaveh was still just barely awake, but unable to move much more than his eyes. He just stared, eyes close to shut, slowly getting paler, looking more and more greyed as blood came out. It should have been fine, if the glass stayed still, but amongst being crushed, and getting dragged, it moved too much. The blood wasn't drying out and stopping. He was bleeding out. There was nothing that could be done anymore. Alhaitham just watched as the one he cared so much for became limp and lifeless. Unable to register his own emotions, tears fell from his eyes, as he just sat, unmoving, not knowing what to do.
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Collapse || Kavehtham Angst
FanfictionI dunno, just a random lil thing <3 Cover art by Pota-San @potasuki on twitter