Affection Points || Alhaitham x Kaveh

Chapter 2: 1314 = Forever

Finally, it was the day Kaveh would be discharged from the hospital! Kaveh couldn't wait to get home and take a nice bath. Over the past week, Alhaitham's number just kept increasing. It was almost scary in a way. Now the number '880' sits pretty on his head—nevermind, it's'888' now.

Kaveh did have a conversation with the doctor about it but she just told him it was probably just a side effects and he wasn't showing any signs of being delusion so...

Alhaitham was here to pick him up, though Kaveh didn't understand why. He could make it back home perfectly fine. If Kaveh was being honest, Alhaitham was being very kind and caring. The whole sketchbook and art supplies thing wasn't even mentioned despite his attempts at bringing it up. Maybe the constant pop up texts had made Kaveh realize Alhaitham was much more thoughtful than he let on. He always visited him, even if only for a few minutes and bought him takeout or a homemade meal. Insisting that the hospital food was not "up to standards", whatever that meant.

Tighnari and Cyno also visited him. But what with Cyno's busy schedule and Tighnari having the forest watchers to deal with, it was rare. Kaveh remembered Tighnari brought Collei once, and some flowers. Thank the archons Cyno wasn't there or else they would have to suffer through the Collei puns again...

Kaveh remembered it because it was one of the only times Alhaitham's number went down. Everyone else's number was constant, occasionally changing while Alhaitham's just kept going up and up and up. He had no idea why though, it just went down as soon as he saw him!

He did press the question mark icon and read it but it didn't say much about what the numbers or the circle color represented. Instead it fed him a bunch of information about how hp works, the history and Sumeru and elemental abilities.

Kaveh took in a breath of fresh air, feeling the sun shine its warm beams at him. He opened his eyes and saw...

[+4]

...

"Kaveh. We should get going. Stop standing in the middle of the streets." Alhaitham told him.

Was his voice always that soft?

Kaveh wasn't sure what he was doing or what he was thinking. He grabbed Alhaitham's hand, shocking them both. It was warm, warm and it felt right.

[+26]

A theory sprouted from Kaveh's mind. What if the numbers stood for affection? He wanted to ask Alhaitham, that would be the easiest way after all, but the words died in his throat.

No. There is no way. Why would Alhaitham...wait, affection could just be in a platonic way. I mean, Tighnari had a pretty high score. Not as high as Alhaitham but that's probably because I live with Alhaitham. Yes, that's it!

"Kaveh? Is everything alright? Do we need to go back to the hospital?" Alhaitham asked.

"Huh?" Kaveh paused.

Wait, did I put the sketchbook in my bag?

"Uh yeah, I think I forgot something there."

Alhaitham showed him his other hand, which was holding a bag. "You mean this?"

"Yes! When did you...?" Kaveh took the bag.

"I can't believe you would carelessly forget my gift." Alhaitham almost smiled.

[+1]

Kaveh gave him a look, "Says the one who didn't even try to present this to me. You literally left this around and went home!"

[+3]

"Hmph. As ungrateful as ever I see."

"What—I AM NOT ungrateful!" Kaveh exclaimed, "I am very thankful for your gift! It was very thought out and—wait a minute. You just want compliments!"