In Silence, Only the Memory of You Remains. [Haikaveh]

CHAPTER ONE

Placing a hand on his forehead, Alhaitham squinted up at the sky, the harsh sunlight forcing his eyes to narrow into slits. The sun glared down at the sand with an intensity that was impossible to ignore, and a quick assessment of its position revealed that they were already around an hour behind schedule.

It wasn't ideal, but it wasn't unexpected either. With a slight frown, Alhaitham dismissed the thought, knowing there was no point in dwelling on it. Delays were just variables to be accounted for, nothing more.

Or at least they were supposed to be.

"Kaveh, Are you done yet?"

Nearby, he caught a faint hum in response, though the scribe couldn't tell if the blonde had actually heard him or was just pretending to. With the architect's usual obliviousness on display, Alhaitham found himself wondering if he should have brought another book along with him—for the sake of his own sanity.

With a grimace, he pulled his cloak tighter around his arms and stared at the ground, sighing. He wasn't exactly a fan of the desert. To say it was unpleasant would be an understatement.

The dessert was an unforgiving place, harsh and relentless. The weather was unyielding for those who were not used to it, and the skin burned through the layers of clothing. It was a difficult environment to deal with, but it was especially annoying of course, when you were accompanied by someone like Kaveh.

"Move a little to the left, Alhaitham. You are blocking the view!"

The blonde, blissfully unaware of how long the scribe had been waiting, was a few meters behind, meticulously sketching the entrance of a building. His briefcase hovered at his side, scanning the area and capturing every detail of their surroundings.

He seemed to handle the scorching heat with surprising ease, kneeling on the sand with a soft smile on his face. Alhaitham watched as Kaveh drew delicate lines in his notebook, feeling his own irritation ebb slightly. The blonde's golden hair, usually held up with clips, was now arranged in a makeshift style that somehow suited him, as expected.

Kaveh's hands paused for a moment as he glanced at the structure, then at Alhaitham, back to the structure, and down to his notebook again. He was so engrossed in his work that he didn't even notice the scribe's growing impatience.

Suddenly, the blonde looked up from his drawing and met his gaze. He smiled at him teasingly from where he was, motioning with his hands for him to move away. Alhaitham looked at him bitterly, but silently obeyed, moving from the center of the entrance.

"Just let me do a raw sketch, it will only take a few minutes!" is what he said, and the scribe knew that he shouldn't have accepted his whim. This was the fifth delay so far.

They'd been interrupted by mercenaries, Eremites, merchant travelers, and even tiny foxes that kept following the architect around, hoping for food. Alhaitham tried to avoid getting involved, but Kaveh was always quicker to jump in and offer help. After being dragged along by the arm and threatened with a warning glare, the scribe had little choice but to go along with it. Kaveh, noticing Alhaitham's reluctant cooperation, silently thanked him for the effort.

He could still see the little foxes that, having followed him all the way, seemed to be waiting cautiously for the architect's return. Kaveh didn't seem to have noticed them, and if he did, he was trying very hard to pretend that he hadn't.

As the minutes passed, and he continued waiting in the sun, Alhaitham became increasingly upset. Having already wasted so much time of the day was wearing out his patience, and the architect seemed to be having a wonderful time ignoring his presence.