A Padisarah Amongst the Roses

Chapter 5: A Home

Kaveh POV

Nothing was coming to mind. I couldn't just drag Alhaitham back up the cliff. After all, it was my fault he had a broken leg and he was hurt like this. It was just us two and we didn't have any form of communication with the outside world. Other than the Akasha, there was really nothing to help. I gave it a shot.

"Haitham, do your headphones send signals to your work or house?"

He shook his head. "No, but I need to go back fast. I'm losing blood quickly."

I didn't think of that. Now that was a problem, too. "Ah, that. Can't Tighnari talk to the plants or something?" He chuckled. "Ha, no. He has perfect grades in all classes, especially botany, but he can't talk to plants." "That's stupid." I pouted and crossed my arms like a kid would. "What about your teleporting thing?" Alhaitham seemed to perk up at that thought. "Yeah, that could work. See those little edges on the cliff side?" I watched as he pointed to an area of the rock that was protruding from the side. They looked big enough for the both of us. But there was one thing. "Kaveh, you're going to have to operate them. I have a broken leg and if one thing goes wrong, we could both die."

Alhaitham bit his lower lip. He looks nice when he does that, a voice in that back of my mind said quietly. When I asked him if he would let me hold him on the way up, he said yes. He agreed entirely, and even stated that he "would do anything to get out of the damn hole." That caused me to stifle a laugh. Nevertheless, we did have to get out of here, so I had to put on the headphones. They were soft and comfy, not what I had thought they were. I fiddled with them, flicking the noise canceling switch on and off. "Kaveh, please focus." Ah, he noticed.

"Alhaitham, come on," I chided. This man never knew how to have fun. "Alright, just pick me up already Kaveh."

I lifted the surprisingly lightweight Alhaitham into my arms and looked up at the cliff. Immediately I thought- how would I operate the headphones? Well, the kind and sweet Alhaitham reached up to my face and pressed a button on the device.

"Kaveh, listen carefully. The button I just pressed turns on the teleportation system. The one next to it activates it. Press that button and focus your sight on the place you want to go, okay?"

He instructed me through the process, and we began. But as soon as I stepped near the foot of the cliff, I began to sweat. What if we fell? It would be my fault. Apparently Alhaitham noticed my nervousness and he held my shoulder tighter. "It's fine, Kaveh. Don't be scared." He reassured. Of course, I had to shoot back a sarcastic comment because that was the norm for us. "Oh my, that cliff looks so frightening," I deadpanned with a smirk. Alhaitham huffed. "Just do it. Teleport already." I rolled my eyes as he held the activation button for me.

Focusing on the first area to land, I felt a jolt. In a blink, I was on the ledge. 'Wow' was the only thing that ran through my mind. It felt surreal. I felt a small grin grow on my face. There was a warmth pressed against my chest, and I soon realized it was Alhaitham's head; he had gripped me tighter and held me closer. My grin grew into a full smile and my face got redder. One thing was for sure- we were close now. Quite literally. We teleported a few more times until the top was near. I held my breath when I stepped on solid ground once more. Finally. The pain was over.

                                                            ***

I laid Alhaitham down, planting a kiss on his forehead. We were finally up the cliff and back where this all began. It was funny how I was so tired that my knees collapsed the moment I stepped on the grass. I accepted it for now and heaved out a sigh of relief. "Alhaitham, we made it.." Thankfully, his wounds had half-stopped bleeding on the way up; it wasn't serious enough to kill him. Notwithstanding, his leg was bruised and couldn't hold weight, so I had to carry him the rest of the way to the hospital. I figured that would be a burden, but okay. I didn't care. If I could scale a mountain with Alhaitham in my arms, I could certainly walk a bit.

"Kaveh, I can try to walk-"

I quickly reacted, not giving him even a second to talk. "Ah ah, Alhaitham. No. I'm carrying you. You have a broken leg, remember?"

He grumbled. Honestly, that made me laugh. On normal days where both his legs functioned, he was seen as a strong man. But actually, I could pick him up easily. I guess the hours of sketching designs at the crack of dawn and waking up to Alhaitham's tired eyes looking down at me made me gain a little muscle somehow.

"Fine. Go ahead and carry your princess, my prince." He mocked, blushing.

"Ha."

See? Alhaitham had a broken sense of humor. Anyway, I slung him over my shoulder and let him hang upside down for a few seconds- I thought it was funny to listen to him screaming and yelling curses at me in such a state. Until he kicked my face with his good leg. "Ow, what the hell, Alhaitham?!" "Shut up, you're the one who likes to torture people!"

I gasped theatrically. "Oh, my! My princess doesn't like being hung over my shoulder?"

"Shut up!"

Out of the both of us, I was the comedian, it was obvious. Alhaitham was a serious man. That was something that I liked to take advantage of.

One time, Cyno and I teamed up to pull a prank on him. We set up a system of ropes on his front door, and within a minute, it became a trap that splashed the person who opened the door with ice-cold water. The moment the door cracked open, in the blink of an eye, I was in Alhaitham's place. He wasn't a man to screw around with, either.

Looking back to the situation on the cliff, Alhaitham was in my arms just like when we teleported a few minutes ago. His face was a dark shade of red. "So... are we going home?" He asked, his eyes avoiding mine. I nodded half-listening. I was obviously too busy "flashbacking" to answer. "Kaveh?" That snapped me out of it. "Mhm? Oh, yeah. When we do, I'm going to call Tighnari and Cyno over to help get you to a doctor, okay?" Alhaitham didn't respond. Going back to what he said earlier, one word stuck when the rest went through my other ear. Home. It was our home now. Our home. Truly, I was happy. It seemed as if Alhaitham noticed that he had said 'home' and was subtly smiling.