See you in another life [Kaveh x Alhaitham]

Chapter 1

       Alhaitham had been busy all day, staying at the Akademiya with his face buried in a book, and a pile of files in the corner of his desk. It wasn't until late at night that he finally returns home. As usual, Kaveh is still awake, the light in his room seeping through the cracks of the door. He walks past Kaveh's room as he heads to his own room when he hears faint coughing and frowns. Kaveh has been coughing a lot for the past few months and it has only been getting worse. He had asked Kaveh about it before and told him to get it checked out but all he said was, "I did. It's none of your business anyways." To which Alhaitham replied back with, "I believe it is my business when you are coughing and spreading germs everywhere in my house. I don't want to get sick as well." Kaveh had only rolled his eyes before widening them and rushing to the washroom. Not surprisingly, Alhaitham heard another coughing fit. 

     Alhaitham had felt that maybe it was something serious and had gone to Tighnari without Kaveh's knowledge. Unfortunately, all he could tell Tighnari was that Kaveh was coughing and it seemed to be getting worse. Tighnari wasn't able to diagnose it properly without examining the patient as coughing is a common symptom but when Alhaitham brought it up to Kaveh, he got mad and persistently said that it was nothing serious and that he was getting better, which was obviously a lie. But Alhaitham had let it go, annoyed.

     Now he knew that he should have been more persistent. As Alhaitham wakes up and starts getting ready to leave, he hears a thump. He frowns, wanders out of his room, and sees Kaveh unconscious in the living room. Surrounding his mouth is a bunch of blood and flower petals. At a further glance, he realizes the petals belonged to a Kalpalata Lotus. To say that Alhaitham is confused and worried is an understatement. He quickly lifts Kaveh and heads towards his bedroom. He's about to put him on the bed when he realizes that Kaveh's shirt is soaked with blood and that if he didn't change, the blood would probably be dried by the time he woke up, making it harder to wash off. And it would get the bed dirty. He is pretty sure Kaveh wouldn't want to change his bed sheets and he sure as hell wasn't going to do it. 

     That left one option. Alhaitham stalks towards Kaveh's wardrobe and picks out a similar-looking shirt. He quickly removes the foiled shirt and is about to put on the clean one when he stops. Alhaitham furrows his brows. Kaveh has always eaten well and been well-built so what was this? Kaveh has clearly lost a lot of weight and muscle. After all, without a shirt on, it is quite obvious but now that Alhaitham thinks about it, he hasn't gotten a clear look at Kaveh for months. He was always holed up in his room, working, or at a bar, and sometimes didn't come home until the morning. Alhaitham continues to stare at Kaveh's frail body, looking for any other changes that he has missed. 

     It's only when Kaveh shifts does Alhaitham realize how awkward it would look if Kaveh were to wake up shirtless with Alhaitham staring at him. He quickly slips the extra shirt on and goes to wash the dirtied one. Then he cleans the blood off the living room floor, picking up the flower. He is about to throw the flower away but pauses and thinks better of it. The bloodied Kalpalata Lotus was one of the biggest and most vibrant ones he had seen and maybe this would be enough for Tighnari to figure out what was wrong. Kaveh still has not woken yet so Alhaitham decides to quickly cook some pita pockets for both of them. After all, they had both not eaten breakfast yet and it was already almost time for lunch.

     Alhaitham just finishes cooking and is about to check on Kaveh again when he hears the door open and sees Kaveh walking towards him. He watches as Kaveh stops at the entrance to the kitchen. "You're awake," Alhaitham comments. He then points at the food he had just finished making. "Eat."

Alhaitham raises an eyebrow in question when Kaveh doesn't move. 

Kaveh opens his mouth but not to eat. "What happened," he says instead, ignoring the food. It was more of a demand than a question.

"That's what I should be asking you. I found you lying on the floor with blood and flower petals everywhere. I think I deserve an explanation. It was a pain to clean up."

Alhaitham isn't sure if Kaveh is going to answer as they both stay silent, staring at each other. He knows it is something important but Kaveh had been quite touchy about it and hasn't been willing to share anything.

"Could... Could you come with me to the Sabzeruz Festival tomorrow...?"

Alhaitham furrows his eyebrows. "What?"

"Just... Please." Kaveh stares at the ground. " I'll tell you everything...after."

Alhaitham crosses his arms. What does the Sabzeruz Festival have to do with anything? "That useless festival? What does that have anything to do with what we're talking about? Plus, I have work. I'm already missing out on a bunch because of the mess you made."

In an instant, Kaveh goes from a frail-looking stranger back to his usual self. "Useless? What would you know about it?" He takes a deep breath, holding back a cough. "Never mind, I shouldn't have asked you. Forget it."

Kaveh starts to turn around when Alhaitham stops him. "Wait. Eat first."

"I'm not hungry."

"Eat. And... I'll think about it."

"No. Nevermind. I don't want to go anymore. I'm going back to my room."

Kaveh quickly scurries back to his room, leaving Alhaithaim perplexed by his actions. It almost feels as if Kaveh is trying to avoid him, more than usual. Is the sickness contagious? No. If it is, he definitely would have told me or moved out. What isn't he telling me? Is it terminal...? That would explain why he isn't telling me, the coughing worsening, and the blood. But... No. There must be something else. Terminal disease? That's impossible.

Right..?

Right.

He's fine.

"He's fine. Let's just eat. The food's getting cold."

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ANDDDDD... THAT'S A WRAP FOR CHAPTER 1!!!! 

Angst. yum.