"Okay Paimon," I said as I waved her off, "meet back here soon!"
She waved excitedly as she headed into Sumeru City's bazaar while I headed towards the Academia. At Nahida's request, we needed to get the band back together, and it was my job to talk Alhaitham into it. 'Paimon's gonna give him an ugly nickname if she sees him again!' she said as an excuse to not come. In reality, she's scared of the death glare she would receive upon coming up with said ugly nickname.
I dragged my feet the whole way up the stairs towards the Academia, losing my breath even with the steady pace I was keeping. Who even adds this many levels to a city? It felt like I had climbed a mountain by the time I finally reached the front door. I took a moment to steady myself before pushing open the door and heading in to find Alhaitham.
"Excuse me?" I asked the first non busy person I saw, "is Alhaitham around?"
"Yea he should be on his lunch break in his office."
The scholar pointed me in the right direction before turning and walking away. Following the vague directions, I walked through the building until I finally came across a door with a plaque that simply read 'scribe' in fancy writing. This must be the place. I grabbed the handle and slowly opened the door, peaking inside to see if he was still here. But maybe I should've knocked...
Alhaitham was leaning against his desk with his back to the door, but even then, it was obvious what I had just walked in on. His coat was laid over the back of the chair in front of him and without it, I could clearly see the tensing of his muscles as his arm moved back and forth at a steady pace in his lap. His breathing came out in soft moans that could only be heard from inside the room. I just walked in on him masturbating...
In a panic, I tried to quickly close the door, but his head turned to the side before I could react.
"Huh? Who taught you manners? Don't you know it's rude not to knock?" He sighed and pushed himself off his desk while readjusting his pants.
"I'm so sorry! I thought you were just eating lunch so I didn't-!"
"Come in and close the door behind you," he commanded, crossing his arms.
My whole body felt tense, but I pushed through the anxiety and did as he said, keeping my head hung low in shame the entire time.
"Come, sit." He gestured to the chair in front of him, and upon further inspection of the room I noticed no other seating. I guess he really doesn't like having other people around...
I once again followed his instructions and crossed the room to sit down in front of him, never once lifting my head. My eyes remained trained on my shoes, even after sitting down.
"I'm gonna pace around the room a bit, don't mind me, just start talking," he said with a sigh of disappointment.
"Huh? Pace around the room? Why?"
"Unless you want to have a conversation like this?" He questioned, a tone of amusement evident in his voice. I looked up to see him use one hand to gesture between us before crossing his arms again. I swallowed a lump in my throat as I realised my face was almost level with his crotch. Oh no.
My eyes widened as I took in the sight. I couldn't seem to pull my gaze away from the bulge barely being held back by the fabric of his pants, and I felt myself squirm in my seat.
"Hey, eyes up here."
I snapped back into reality and quickly shook my head and averted my gaze. I chose to look to the side at the bookshelves against the wall, far too embarrassed to even consider looking Alhaitham in the eyes.
