The Other Side of Our Hearts

Yet I'll Walk This Path With You

A/N: Okay lovelies, I JUST played Cyno's quest in 4.6 and now I gotta advise that the secret place that I mentioned earlier was made up for this BEFORE that. So for this fic, its only for Haikaveh. 

T/W: Nothing bad this time but it's gonna get a little spicy near the end.

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ONE MONTH BEFORE THE INTERDARSHAN COMPETITION

Kaveh never thought he knew what calm could be. He had forgotten for the longest time what it was like to have his thoughts not shout so loudly about the negative parts of his past and life. He wondered in the past if he would ever feel happy with his situation or life in general. But in what was now his present, he had all of those things and for the first time felt comfortable with everything.

Because he had no rent to pay and his commissions were completed with success much sooner, he was able to pay a good amount of Mora to Dori for his debt. It was exhilarating to finally see the finish line on the weight of owing funds to bring his ambitions to reality. And on the subject of commissions, work was steady. He made sure not to take on too much and ensured deadlines were reasonable to meet so he could avoid the stressors that afflicted him previously.

And while other aspects of his life were mostly normal, what he found to be the most pleasant change was his relationship with Alhaitham. The discussion they had the day they confessed to each other gave him so much comfort. He liked the idea of their having a second chance to succeed and was so happy that it was mutual. And that happiness allowed Kaveh to fall into a more comfortable relationship that felt devoid of so many previous barriers that existed. 

The first week together was the only one that was any kind of awkward. Kaveh needed to get used to an Alhaitham that actually did communicate openly and offer touches and other such romantic gestures, where it had been Kaveh who made any attempts at the latter and found difficulty in seeing them reciprocated. But once they passed that wall it was smooth sailing in the weeks following weeks afterward.  

Occasionally he would find a quiet, nagging voice questioning things in the back of his mind. 

But he ignored it. He couldn't believe that he could actually ignore it.

He was finally happy. And he finally wasn't scared it would disappear. 

"I asked if you'd devolve into what?!"

"A fungus!" Kaveh felt so fluttery as he watched Alhaitham sputter and release a loud belly laugh. "And I bit back and said 'At least I'd be a fungus with empathy.'! But Lumine and Paimon were around so it felt like enough for the time being." 

"It still sounds like something you'd say in retort."

"It would seem." 

Arms reached up toward the sun and stretched before falling back to Kaveh's sides. Work had finished for the day, with Alhaitham miraculously finishing at the same time as he had used to when he was simply a scribe. It also happen to coincide with their weekly hangout for TCG at Lambad's with Cyno and Tighnari, since the four would have begun to gather as such after the fall of the sages. It became much easier once Alhaitham was able to formally resign as the Acting Grand Sage and return to his duties as Grand Scribe.

As his arms relaxed again, he found a warm touch against his fingers. He looked down to see that Alhaitham had grasped at the hand and intertwined their fingers together. Kaveh smiled and lightly blushed, as while he was becoming more accustomed to the affectionate gestures, there was still the adjustment of said gestures occurring out in public. It made him happy that the scribe was more open to them, as he squeezed back lightly.