Locked In || Kavetham/Haikaveh

Drink-fueled Passion

"-34 deaths, and 142 cases documented this week, and numbers are rising every day. Please remember to stay inside, to protect the citizens of Sumeru and to stop Ised from spreading any further. There is a risk of it spreading into other nations-"

The sound of the Grand Sage's voice cut out abruptly, causing Kaveh to finally look away from the patch of ceiling he had been staring at for the past ten minutes. Unsurprisingly, he saw Alhaitham standing next to where he lay on the couch, his Akasha Terminal in hand.

"You dick!" Kaveh burst out, quickly shuffling up into a sitting position as he glared at his roommate. "I was listening to that!"

"Why, though?" Alhaitham didn't even give Kaveh the satisfaction of looking at him, instead just looking down at the terminal he had in his hand.

With an annoyed shout, Kaveh reached out in an attempt to grab the terminal, failing miserably as Alhaitham moved his arm away, out of reach. "Because, unlike some people, I want to know what's going on in the world around me?"

"You're too emotional. Hearing about so many people dying would only upset you. You always think with your heart and not your brain, which, quite frankly, is why almost everything you have done in life has turned out badly in the end. Surely that is enough incentive to not listen to how many more people that you don't even know have died every single day? And don't try to argue otherwise; You've been doing this every morning for the past two weeks."

Ouch. As much as that stung, Kaveh knew it was true. Still, that didn't mean he was going to just agree with Alhaitham– He would rather die than do that. "Well.. Maybe you should think with your heart for once! Then, you might actually be bearable to be around!"

Alhaitham let out a sharp laugh, as if even the idea of what Kaveh suggested was ridiculous. "If I thought with my heart, I would make many bad decisions. Even if they seemed good at first, they would never work out in the long term."

"Worked out fine for me.." Kaveh couldn't help but say with a shrug, speaking half to himself.

"You live in my house."

That quickly shut Kaveh up. He looked away from Alhaitham, instead looking at a random patch of wall as they fell into an awkward silence. After only a minute, Kaveh had a sudden idea that was quite literally out of nowhere, and found himself turning back to look at his roommate. "Drink with me tonight."

For once, Alhaitham was caught off guard. Kaveh immediately noticed the telltale signs, such as how his eyes widened slightly for a second, before looking more confused, if anything. "Okay."

"What?" Now Kaveh was the one taken aback, genuinely surprised that Alhaitham had agreed so quickly. He wouldn't have been surprised if even after trying to persuade him for some time, he still ended up refusing, so the fact that he had said yes almost immediately definitely was not something Kaveh had expected.

"What?" Alhaitham said, mirroring Kaveh. "You asked if we could drink, I agreed. What's so surprising about that?"

"I just.." Kaveh hesitated, trying to decide what he should actually tell Alhaitham.. "..Nothing."

"Then there aren't any issues?"

"No."

"Good."

And so, Kaveh once again found himself being left alone in the living room, entirely confused about how the conversation had been switched around like that.

The rest of the day passed quickly. For some reason, Kaveh couldn't stop thinking about what was coming that night. He hadn't actually had one-on-one drinks with Alhaitham for a long time, and the last time they had done so, it had ended in a very heated argument. Though, Kaveh felt like he was at fault that time, as he had been intentionally provoking him.