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A distant sound of melodic whistling was the first thing that reached Alhaitham's dormant conscience that morning. The gentle whistle did not disturb his peaceful sleep, entering and complementing the calm and pleasant darkness, void of dreams.
And yet, the faraway melody felt strangely familiar. Alhaitham could probably recall the lyrics if he tried hard enough.
Gradually, the whistling got closer and clearer, alternating with the metallic sound of scissors opening and closing, and the crackle of dry twigs. A gust of wind brought an intense green scent of cedars and freshly cut grass from outside, finally waking him up.
He immediately felt the overwhelming urge to slam the window shut. But instead, he sat straight up in the bed, reaching lazily for a neatly folded stack of clothes piled on a chair beside the window.
Kaveh didn't exactly have a lot in the way of personal possessions, which made the recent move easier. Once he finished unpacking, Alhaitham made sure to confiscate and hide his wooden ney flute in a false bottom drawer right next to his collection of illegal knowledge capsules, in hopes of stopping Kaveh from interrupting his work. There was, however, one factor he didn't fully account for: Kaveh's constant need for self-expression.
Without any instruments to play, he quickly turned to singing. And when he couldn't sing, he would whistle, tap his leg, snap his fingers or do another million annoying little things that irritated Alhaitham to no end.
Besides, despite his tendency to drink into the wee hours of the morning, somehow Kaveh would always end up being the first one to wake up. Only Lesser Lord Kusanali could truly know for sure how he managed to do both at once.
A few weeks into their cohabitation another issue appeared: Kaveh was struck by the brilliant idea of renovating the old rose garden surrounding Alhaitham's house. The walled garden had run wild while unattended since its previous owner, a sweet old lady, had departed.
Personally, Alhaitham would prefer that he concentrate on work and finding his own place to live. But alas, when he told Kaveh about it, the latter actually got offended and claimed that Alhaitham had no idea how lucky he was to have Teyvat's most famous architect willing to tend to his stupid disorderly garden overgrown with genista shrubs and stinging nettles. In turn, Alhaitham suggested Teyvat's most famous architect make an aesthetically-pleasing straw hut for himself outside the city wall. They refused to talk to each other for another three days after that.
He put on his plain black shalwar kameez with an embroidered shoulder cloth and opened the heavy curtains. Hot summer air brushed his face, a breeze from outside.
Kaveh had already put away his pruning shears, standing next to one of the rose bushes with a huge bag of sand in his hands and carefully pouring coarse white sand on the soil around the roots. His sweaty bare neck was glistering in the yellowish morning light, a red scarf tied around his head blocked Alhaitham's view of his face.
He quietly closed the window and turned around, leaving the bedroom.
A linen tea towel covered the table in the middle of a cool, white kitchen. Alhaitham cautiously lifted the cloth, taking a quick look under it. Then he took it off, uncovering a variety of dishes and ceramic piala bowls.
The shakshuka in a spicy tomato gravy had already gotten cold, but golden triangular sangak bread sprinkled with sesame seeds was still radiating warmth and good taste: Kaveh must have gone to the local bazaar early in the morning. Alhaitham put a slice of freshly cut cucumber in his mouth. He couldn't help but wonder if all of this meant that Kaveh had finally got paid for one of his previous projects.
From the hallway, he heard the sound of the wooden front door opening and shutting, heavily, so that the noise echoed through the house. Kaveh appeared in the kitchen, carrying a round cloth sack. Alhaitham's eyes immediately darted toward his feet, checking if he took off his shoes before entering the house.
“Good morning!” Kaveh said (a bit too enthusiastically), stepping into the room. “Did you sleep well?”
“Hardly, thanks to you,” Alhaitham answered, pouring tea in a tall glass cup and sipping it carefully. He frowned, recognizing the floral taste of bergamot leaves. Archonts, Kaveh really bought a blended mix instead of pure black tea again. Did this man seriously consider himself to be better adapted to day-to-day life?
“Happy to hear,” Kaveh put the cotton sack on the floor, trying to untie the top knot. “By the way, a couple of messengers from Akademiya came looking for you earlier this morning, while you were still asleep.”
“Oh really?” Alhaitham arched his brow. “Did they have anything for me?”
“Nope, they just said they'd be back later.”
He finally managed to untie the sack, unfolding the fabric to uncover a tall pile of freshly cut roses and padisarahs.
“What is that.” Alhaitham demanded. His hand paused as it was bringing his teacup to his mouth.
“Come on, I just want to make some herbal tea and rose water,” Kaveh explained amicably, singsong, sitting down cross legged.
“...There'd better not be a single blade of grass left on the floor after you're done.”
“Sure thing.” He nodded readily, effortlessly cutting short thorns off a rose stem with a knife.
Alhaitham let out a small sigh and nipped away a small piece of sangak, dipping it into a bowl filled with clear honey. The flavor was smoky, yet yeasty, it tasted much better than the damp flatbread they served at Akademiya headquarters.
He couldn't help watching Kaveh's hands, while he was sorting pink and purple petals into separate piles. Occasionally Kaveh would shake his head slightly, trying to brush aside his thin golden braid with a round bead on the end. All to no avail, it seemed.
After a short while Alhaitham suddenly realized that Kaveh had stopped cutting flowers and was looking straight back at him with unmistakable interest in his eyes.
“Wanna try it yourself?” he offered, handing him the knife handle first.
“No thanks,” Alhaitham declined quickly, wiping his mouth with a napkin. “I really need to get to work.”
'Unlike a certain someone.' were the words left unsaid.
Kaveh shrugged dramatically, putting the knife aside, then got up and stood up straight. He picked a fresh rose blossom unceremoniously pulling Alhaitham's hair to the side, and carefully tucked the flower behind his ear.
“Sometimes I wonder, y'know,” Kaveh murmured thoughtfully, gently running the pad of his thumb across Alhaithams jawline, “Why, of all the Archons, was it Lesser Lord Kusanali who gifted you your Vision, keeping in mind this cold attitude of yours...”
Alhaitham was going to tell him to stop him or, at the very least, wash his hands before touching him. But all of these thoughts instantly vanished the moment Kaveh leaned over to kiss him on the lips. Alhaitham flinched, digging fingers into his shoulder, while Kaveh was peppering his closed lips with small, feathery kisses. Soon enough, he gave up and opened his mouth, his own tongue touching Kaveh's. Without breaking off the kiss, Kaveh grinned, kissing him deeply and stroking his strong forearms with sheer appreciation.
“...But then I remember” Kaveh breathed out, finishing his sentence, when they finally broke away from the kiss, their breath hard and ragged. He moved over, enthusiastically continuing to kiss down from Alhaitham's jawline to his neck.
“Again.” Alhaitham complained, lacing his fingers into Kaveh's golden hair “You're doing it again. In the middle of the day.”
“Next time I'll make sure to send you an official three day notice with the Kshahrewar seal, I promise,” Kaveh traced a path over his thin linen shirt to cradle the fullness of his chest. “Why? You don't want to?”
Alhaitham shut his eyes. His upper lip lifted almost subconsciously, baring his teeth. Archons.
Good thing he didn't bother making the bed.
***
'Why is he like this?' is the question Alhaitham asked himself over and over from the very first time they met. How could such virtuous and noble qualities combined make up a person this insufferable? How come that this charming flame of his, which had always attracted people and made him stand out among all of the others, was almost impossible to be around, hot, and scorching?
He'd lie if he said that he'd ever managed to find a single reasonable answer to that, even after all these years. Instead, Alhaitham turned his attention to the more important and pressing issue.
The issue being: why, despite all of their differences and their ambivalence toward one another, could he not (and what's worse, didn't want to) look away?
“I feel like I'm going crazy every time you get cute and pliant like this.” Kaveh's hot breath whispered against Alhaitham's ear as he tucked a lock of hair behind his ear. The loose end of Kaveh's braid tickled his sensitive neck.
Alhaitham had to practically force Kaveh into going to the shower with him, absolutely refusing to go to bed without washing up first. He also rejected all of his attempts to have sex right on the marble bathroom tiles. By the time they entered the bedroom Kaveh ran out of patience, simply pushing him onto bed, confident, but careful, and climbing on top of him. The weight of his body pressed Alhaitham into the mattress.
“For Archons' sake, just keep your mouth shut,” Alhaitham said, humming lowly as Kaveh spread his legs wider, pressing close between them.
“And what if I don't?”
“Have fun sleeping outside.”
“Right.”
Kaveh slid the hand down his abdomen, tickling the sensitive thin trail of hair. Alhaitham shuddered, barely stopping himself from pushing him off on pure instinct.
The flame burned high and calm, like a candle, radiating warm light.
Kaveh concentrated on his nipples, squeezing and twisting them routhly, as if trying to really make him feel it. He dropped his head, giving one of them a gentle lick before sucking it into his mouth and teasing the very tip with his teeth. Alhaitham shivered, his palms instinctively pushed against Kaveh's chest. After a second, he reconsidered and wrapped his hands around him, running the nails down Kaveh's back with more force than necessary. Kaveh let out a short laugh, biting him again.
A loud double knock at the front door startled them both. They stopped, a little breathless, looking at each other with big rounded eyes.
“That's got to be the Akademiya messenger,” Kaveh whispered, grinning and propping himself up on one elbow, voice full of inappropriate excitement, “Should I meet them at the door?”
“Silence!” Alhaitham hissed quietly but with a chilling edge, grabbing him by the hair. Kaveh yelped, awkwardly falling on top of him. “Not a single sound.”
Completely ignoring his warnings, Kaveh gently blew into Alhaitham's ear and rocked his hips forward, reaching between their bodies to give a squeeze to his fully hard cock.
“It turns you on,” he said affirmatively, a warm look of adoration and desire in his eyes. Clenching his jaw in humiliation, Alhaitham glared and kicked him in the side.
“Khawaja Alhaitham!” A voice called from outside, “Are you home?”
Unable to take anymore, Alhaitham covered his face with his hands, closing his eyes. With impassive practicality, Kaveh picked up a small bottle of rose oil from the night table and pushed his knees open. Alhaitham whimpered, when he stroked two slick fingertips over his rim, slipping them in.
After waiting on the porch for a few minutes, the messenger gave up and headed away with a quick rustling of gravel under their feet.
“Look at me,” Kaveh called calmly.
Very slowly, Alhaitham took the palms away from his burning red face. Kaveh was slicking himself with oil, looking down at him with dark, dangerous eyes.
“I really hate it when you do that,” Alhaitham spoke at last, looking to the side.
“Do what?”
“Push me too far.”
Oddly enough, Kaveh understood him. He leaned in close and placed a soft kiss on his cheek, stroking his chest with the clean hand.
“I'm sorry. I really just thought it'd turn you on.”
“It's not that it didn't,” Alhaitham glanced at him, quickly looking away again. “It was, however, a bit... excessive.”
“Oh yeah?” Kaveh perked up with rekindled enthusiasm, tentatively tracing his fingertips over his side.
Carefully, he put his hand a bit lower. And then, lower.
Not even two minutes after, they were kissing passionately, eyes closed, noses touching, and bodies pressed against one another.
After another five, Kaveh hooked his arm under Alhaitham's knee and slowly thrusted inside.
The clear and bright morning was turning into a scorching hot day. Exhaling heavily and wiping his forehead, Alhaitham tried to hold on to Kaveh's sweaty shoulders, feeling the slippery sheets slide against the skin. Kaveh was thrusting into him hungrily, hard and fast, all while covering Alhaitham's lips, cheeks and exposed neck with wet kisses, and tugging at his sore nipples affectionately.
“I love you,” Kaveh kept whispering in his ear, graciously letting him avoid making direct eye contact, “I love you.”
Alhaitham shivered and whimpered under him, grinding his teeth together and reminding himself not to believe him, again, and again, and again, and aga-
...But, in the end, what was the point of avoiding and fearing something that had most definitely already happened?
Alhaitham came with a shudder, sighing quietly and pulling Kaveh close. Kaveh's hands tightened on his ass, pinning him in place as he slammed inside, hurriedly reaching his own climax.
Once he was done, Alhaitham lazily pushed him off, not being able to stand the heat. Kaveh slid off of him without protest, propping himself up on the elbows and absentmindedly playing with a strand of hair on top of Alhaitham's head. After a while, Kaveh reached for the carafe on the night table and poured himself a glass of water.
“You want some?” Alhaitham opened one eye and silently took the offered glass, sitting up straight and taking a sip. Kaveh tilted his head to the side, curious, as he watched his Adam's apple move. “If you don't mind me asking, Khawaja Alhaitham, what the hell did you do? Got to be something big, with all the messengers knocking at your door all day round.”
“How am I supposed to know?” he shrugged one shoulder. “I'm just a humble researcher doing his job.”
“The humblest, truly” Kaveh nodded eagerly, taking the glass from him. “Just a simple scientist with an agent network all over the continent.”
“Or a personal network of useful acquaintances, as I like to call it,” Alhaitham corrected him. “Now that you mention it, isn't odd that Teyvat's most famous architect doesn't have one, too?”
Kaveh immediately slapped his thigh, giving him the nastiest look.
Ah. Alhaitham knew full well where this was going. Kaveh surely would take it out on him tonight.
Not that he particularly minded.