summary - kaveh and alhaitham wonder where their friendship went, and they discover that it's because they were meant to be more than friends
"hey, alhaitham? can i ask you a question?"
kaveh looks at the taller man with bright, crimson eyes, waiting for a reply. alhaitham looked up from his book.
"about what?" he replied. kaveh got up and plopped down next to him.
"why don't you ever talk to me?"
alhaitham was caught off guard by that question.
"i'm talking to you right now, aren't i?" he said, his eyes dropping right back to his book.
kaveh groaned in frustration. "you know that's not what i meant. stop being such a smartass and close that book. look at me," he pleaded, tugging on the scribe's sleeve.
alhaitham only sighed softly in response, placing a bookmark in between the pages and shutting the book. he reluctantly meets the senior's crimson eyes with his teal ones.
"what?"
"we've never actually conversed. we even live in the same house but you're always either working or have your face buried in a book. i've lived with you for years. years!" kaveh exclaimed, making an exasperated face. "i barely know anything about you nowadays. what the hell changed? we used to be friends."
the last sentence hit alhaitham hard. used to? are they not friends anymore? "perhaps we both got occupied with our jobs," he responded nonchalantly, much to kaveh's annoyance.
"but does our long relationship not mean anything to you?" the senior pushed, his eyes glittering. alhaitham hesitated. what was he supposed to say in this situation? was he supposed to comfort his roommate?
"our relationship means a lot to me, kaveh," he decided, not breaking eye contact.
"you mean a lot to me."
little did the scribe know that his words changed kaveh's world. alhaitham had no idea of the real meaning of what he just said.
the architect's face gained a new shade of rosy pink and he stammered, staring down at his feet. kaveh was frustrated that alhaitham won the conversation, and confused why or how he would mean that much to the scribe.
he got up from his seat, walked up to the front door with an irritated, flustered look on his face, and told alhaitham without turning to look at him, "i'm going to go get a drink."
and with that, he simply walked out the door, closing it loudly behind him.
alhaitham wondered why kaveh's reaction was the way that it was, but he was too devoid of emotional knowledge to find out why. he simply picked up his book again, flipping to the page with the bookmark in it, and continued reading.
much later that night, kaveh stumbled into the house, his face flushed from the alcohol. he muttered to himself as he clumsily shut the door behind him.
alhaitham was in his office, still working for some unknown reason, when he heard the door slam shut. he poked his head out of the doorway of his office just in time to watch kaveh almost trip on the 'welcome' mat at the doorstep.
the junior sighed, leaving his office and grabbing his drunk friend's arm gently. "hey!" kaveh protested, trying to yank his arm away from alhaitham's grip, but too weak to do so. alhaitham picked up kaveh up bridal-style, and began to carry him to his bedroom.
kaveh squirmed in his friend's arms, protesting and pushing him lightly. he kicked his legs but to no avail, as alhaitham wore the same listless expression he always did.
he successfully made it to kaveh's bedroom and gently kicked open the door, walking to the bedside and placing kaveh on his bed. at this point, kaveh was too tired, or drunk, or both, to care so he let himself be lay down, pouting at his roommate.
"go to sleep," alhaitham orders, pulling the blanket over the architect's body. he turned to leave, but then a hand grabbed his arm.
"...wait," kaveh's tired voice came from behind him. alhaitham turned around again, confused.
"what?" he asked as kaveh let go of him. the senior's face was slightly red still. maybe it was the alcohol, alhaitham thought. kaveh pouted again before looking away.
"can you stay?" he said quietly, barely loud enough for alhaitham to hear.
the junior tilted his head slightly. "why?" he asked. kaveh looked at him again, his eyes silently begging the scribe. alhaitham sighed. "fine. but you might regret it in the morning."
he went to the other side of the bed and crawled in, mildly surprised at how comfortable his roommate's bed was.
kaveh immediately scooted towards him, burying his flushed face into the crook of alhaitham's neck. the scribe decided not to say anything, instead trying to make kaveh comfortable.
he wrapped his arms around the smaller man's body, stroking his fluffy golden hair until it lulled him to sleep. he stayed up for quite a while longer, wondering why kaveh asked him to stay with him.
he thought about this as kaveh slept peacefully in his arms, his breathing providing a soothing white noise to alhaitham as he comtemplated.
-
"hey! wake the fuck up! let me go!"
kaveh's irritated voice woke alhaitham up in an instant. the senior was wiggling around in his arms, trying to free himself. alhaitham made a surprised noice and let him go. kaveh hopped out of bed, glaring at him.
the sunlight illuminated the outline of his figure, which would make him look stunning if he wasn't glaring at alhaitham so angrily. his face was red and the junior wasn't so sure it was from the alcohol anymore. kaveh glared down at him as his eyes adjusted to the light.
"why were you holding me like that while i was sleeping???" he said in a frustrated tone of voice. alhaitham sat up rubbing his eyes.
"you came home drunk," he explained, "and you almost fell so i had to carry you to your bed. when i turned to leave, you asked me to stay, so i fulfilled your request."
kaveh internally groaned. "why didn't you refuse?" he asked, slightly annoyed.
"why would i refuse?" alhaitham replied, yawning softly. the architect sighed at another one of his countless defeats.
"next time, if i'm drunk, just let me go to bed by myself. do me a favor, will you?"
alhaitham couldn't wrap his head around how kaveh would be able to go to bed by himself when he's such a lightweight when it came to drinks, but it seemed unwise for him to say anything else so he just gave a small nod, slipping out of kaveh's bed.
"wait, one more thing," the senior suddenly said, stopping alhaitham in his tracks. "do i really mean that much to you?"
the scribe hesitated, not daring to turn around. "...if you didn't," he started after a seemingly eternal moment of silence, "then you wouldn't be living in my house rent-free. i also wouldn't have stayed with you last night, no matter how drunk you were. is it so strange that i care about you?"
kaveh stood still behind him, unsure of what to say to that. before he could properly formulate words, alhaitham had already left the bedroom. the senior stared at the empty space in front of him, thoughts swirling around in his head.
why is it like this?
