Chapter Text
Kaveh presses his hands against his face, trying and failing to cover the flush spreading over his cheeks.
He peeks through his fingers. Alhaitham is just sitting there his posture ridiculously rigid for someone lounging on the sofa. He’s just a foot away, engorged in his book, close enough to touch if Kaveh just reaches his arm out.
There’s nothing unusual about that, really. Except now Kaveh is acutely aware his roommate has a dick.
This in itself is not a new observation either – they've lived together long enough that Kaveh has stumbled across Alhaitham bathing a time or two. It's a very nice dick, as far as Kaveh can tell, even if until today he’s had very limited knowledge of dicks apart from his own.
It’s only that with the ridiculously tight getup he prefers, it's hard to forget about the fine specimen at all. Especially now that Kaveh’s brain is determined to remind him just how good it could feel to have it up his ass.
Kaveh bites the inside of his cheek, his head full of images of all the possible positions a man can lie with another. It’s unsettling, how vividly he can recall the pleasure of something he’s never done.
He really should have known better than to use a suspicious knowledge capsule. Much less one called The Arts of Men: Advanced Techniques Vol. 1. What was he thinking?
“What's wrong with you now?” Alhaitham’s voice cuts through Kaveh’s increasingly incoherent and dick-filled thoughts.
“What-” Kaveh splutters, jumping in his seat from the shock of being
“You're never this quiet. So something must be wrong,” Alhaitham continues, barely glancing up from the page.
Kaveh sighs, waving his hand in a disregarding manner. “Nothing.”
Damn Alhaitham, for getting perceptive on the worst possible moment. How could he possibly explain what’s wrong, Kaveh thinks, already going through the best ways to explain his situation to his roommate in his mind.
“I see,” Alhaitham says, turning back to his book without a pause.
Kaveh stares at him in incomprehension. “Wait - you're just gonna drop the subject?” he says. “For a moment there I thought you actually cared.”
It hurts a little, that Alhaitham would brush away the situation so easily, without pushing back at all. That’s always been Kaveh’s least favorite part of Alhaitham, the way he sometimes seems blind to emotional cues. It throws Kaveh off-balance, unable to determine how he should react in turn.
Alhaitham frowns. “You said there was nothing wrong. Repeating the question when you clearly heard it the first time would simply be wasting my time.”
“That's- you're impossible.”
“Incorrect. I am clearly not incapable of being.”
Kaveh throws a pillow at him. Alhaitham ducks with practiced ease, the cushion thudding harmlessly against the wall behind him before sliding back on the sofa.
“So, I take it, you do want to talk about whatever happened,” Alhaitham says.
Kaveh opens his mouth. Then closes it again.
There’s no use beating around the bush when talking to his roommate, is there? And besides, his little problem is related to Alhaitham’s field of research.
Kaveh sucks in a breath before speaking. “Is there any way to remove knowledge gained from a capsule?”
Finally, Alhaitham looks up from his book for real, his intense gaze zeroing on Kaveh. “You used a knowledge capsule?” he says, raising one eyebrow. “What was it about?”
Kaveh groans, hiding his face in another pillow, “Nevermind that,” he says, already chastising himself inside his head. That look never bodes well. He really shouldn’t have said anything to Alhaitham. “Let’s just say it wasn’t what I thought it would be.”
Alhaitham’s lips quirk up at the corners. “Heh, did you pick a naughty one?”
The cushion stays firmly pressed against Kaveh’s face as he grumbles something incomprehensible against the fabric.
“You did, didn’t you? There’s no need to be ashamed, there’s a lot of those in the market,” Alhaitham says. “Did you get scammed? Was the capsule not to your satisfaction?”
Kaveh pushes his face up from the pillow, clutching it instead against his chest like a shield. “I didn’t know what it was!” he exclaims, red as a beet. “It was called The Arts of Men: Advanced Techniques. How was I supposed to know it wasn’t about art?”
Alhaitham shakes his head, amused or annoyed, Kaveh can’t tell. “Tsk. You really are too naive for your own good,” he says.
“Like you’re one to talk!” Kaveh bristles. “How many times have I saved your sorry ass from a fight when you’ve taken something you shouldn’t literally!” He presses his palms against his eyes. “Ugh, I just can't stop thinking about it. Does it really feel - nice?”
“Does what feel nice?”
“Being with a man.” Kaveh makes a crude gesture with his hands. “It sounds so unhygienic.”
“Hm. Always so fussy with appearances,” Alhaitham says, crossing his arms across his chest. “To answer your earlier question, unfortunately, there’s no way to get rid of the information once it’s in your head. You just need to learn to ignore it. Or you can always try to provide enough opposite information to counter it.”
“If you need a hand in some empirical testing, I have some basic knowledge on the subject.”
“Wha - what?” Kaveh almost chokes on nothing. “Seriously? You??”
Untouchable Alhaitham who never showed any interest in dating, parties, or the opposite sex in all their Akademiya years, never even kissed anyone as far as Kaveh could tell. And they are best friends, living in each other’s pockets for most of their years in the Akademiya. He would know.
He’s never shown any interest in men either, and certainly not in Kaveh. He’s caught Kaveh in all kinds of compromising positions over the years, naked in the bath, even jerking off on one memorable occasion, and hauled his drunk ass away from enough parties and tucked him back in his own bed, safe and sound.
Not that Kaveh himself has thought about it much, either. Just a few times when he’s been particularly pent up and after seeing Alhaitham in all his naked glory. Never anything like the capsule had shown him, mind – just how it would feel for Alhaitham to lend him a hand. How it would feel to have another man’s hands curling around his cock, calloused from his sword, and what it would feel like to return the favor, nothing more.
There’s nothing wrong in admiring his roommate’s physique in an aesthetic way anyway. It’s not a secret the man is built like a classical Fontainese statue.
Of course, that image is unfortunately broken anytime Alhaitham opens his big mouth - like now:
“Of course. I like to stay on top of every subject. You never know what general knowledge will become useful.”
Something shrivels in Kaveh’s chest. So this has nothing to do with attraction, just academic interest.
Figures. Typical Alhaitham.
Kaveh doesn’t answer, the silence stretching between them. Finally, Alhaitham breaks it, tapping a finger against his book, “So, do you want a demonstration or not? I have a book to finish.”
Kaveh pinches the bridge of his nose, unsure of what to do.
Although, if enough information opposite to the capsule will help him, there’s probably no better partner than Alhaitham.
What’s he got to lose, anyway?
“Okay,” he finally says with a sigh. “Do your worst.”
—
There's a shamefully rigorous cleaning operation Kaveh would rather forget, with Alhaitham narrating in the background.
Somehow it ends with both of them in a bath. To save time as Alhaitham had said. They’re both naked, in a tub that is clearly too small for them both. With Alhaitham’s gorgeous pecs just – there – on display, almost at eye-level to Kaveh’s dismay.
Kaveh bites the inside of his cheek looking at anything except at his companion, painfully aware that the close proximity is already making his cock stir.
Alhaitham seems frustratingly unaffected, treating this as just another task to get done. When he deems them both clean enough, he ushers Kaveh out of the bath and throws him a towel, grabbing a bottle of lotion before walking briskly out of the bathroom.
When he opens the door to his own bedroom and not Kaveh’s, Kaveh quirks an eyebrow at him.
“Your room is too messy,” Alhaitham says matter-of-factly.
Before Kaveh can tell him off – his room is artistic, not messy, how dare he – Alhaitham continues, “How do you want to do this? On your back? Or front?”
Kaveh makes a face at him, coming to a halt at the end of the bed. “How would I know? You’re the one that’s supposed to be experienced.”
“Tsk. Making me do all the work as usual. You leech.”
“Now look here–”
Kaveh tries to turn just as Alhaitham tries to move and somehow they end up sprawled on the bed, tangled together, with Kaveh on top, blushing furiously.
Alhaitham looks smug. “This position works fine, too,” he says, crawling up the bed to rest against a few pillows.
In the end, they end up with Alhaitham half-sitting and Kaveh sitting on his knees spread across his lap, supported by Alhaitham’s hands on his hips.
There’s an awkward pause, both of them frozen in place
“Ready?” Alhaitham asks.
Kaveh nods silently, not looking at him, staring intently at the colorful cushions surrounding them.
“Alright then.”
Kaveh can hear Alhaitham uncork the little bottle. Cold, oily fingers trail across the cleft of Kaveh’s ass, settling to trace the rim of his hole.
Alhaitham's technique is, well, methodical. He approaches Kaveh like a problem he needs to assess, to solve. It isn't exactly what Kaveh would call passionate. Just fingers feeling him out, coating his entrance with lotion, with a determined expression on Alhaitham's face, as he lets Kaveh get used to the feeling before the first finger pushes in.
It feels – odd. Not unpleasant, but not quite what Kaveh expected.
“Unh," he lets out a small sound before he can think any better.
Kaveh's mind is telling him Alhaitham’s fingers should sink inside him with little resistance. Instead, he finds himself clenching around just one finger barely halfway in, trying and failing to adjust.
"Just relax," Alhaitham shushes him. “Take your time.”
“Shut up!” Kaveh grunts. “I– I can take it!”
“Heh. Always so impatient –”
The bastard has the audacity to look smug.
Kaveh kisses him, then, just to shut him up and wipe the annoying smile off his face. Anything to stop that infuriating mouth from blabbering nonsense.
When he realizes just what he’s done, Kaveh goes rigid, blinking rapidly, because, what the hell, it’s Haitham. He’s really kissing Alhaitham.
His lips are still pressed against Alhaitham’s. Alhaitham freezes for a moment, too, and then, to Kaveh's surprise, he kisses back. And he’s a surprisingly good kisser, too, as he works Kaveh’s mouth open, deepening the kiss.
As they break apart, Kaveh’s eyes are half-lidded and he can feel the flush on his cheeks.
Alhaitham, on the other hand, hardly seems affected. “Adequate,” he says, the word accompanied by a minute nod of approval.
“You-” Kaveh half-growls at the impossible man before he’s kissing Alhaitham again. Just to show him he’s far better than adequate.
This time when they pull apart Alhaitham looks sufficiently out of breath.
His finger, however, never stops moving, slowly circling around, pushing in deeper, until he’s rubbing against something inside Kaveh in a way that makes him shiver.
"There you go," Alhaitam says, “Can you take another one?”
Kaveh nods vigorously and takes in a shuddering breath. Of course, I can take another, he wants to scream but it wouldn’t be quite right, even if his head is still insisting he’d be far better of with something – ahem – more substantial.
Alhaitham obliges him somewhat. A second finger joins the first, gliding in and out together.
It’s too much and at the same time, far, far too little.
“Ngh–" Kaveh moans, grinding against Alhaitham’s crotch, feeling the bulge that greets him there. That damn capsule is still feeding him promises of just what Alhaitham could do with that to make him come apart. “Need more– Fuck me–”
He could ride Alhaitham, Kaveh thinks. Maybe that would shut him up. Or maybe Alhaitham could grab him and toss him on the bed, and rail him to an inch of his life. No matter how he calls himself a feeble scholar, Kaveh knows there’s enough strength in those arms to lift him up with ease and somehow that thought excites him.
But Haitham doesn’t seem eager to oblige him. "Hm. Rash as ever. That’s way too ambitious for your first try," he says. “Let me see.”
“Haitham – ahh –” Kaveh says and squirms. If he could just get some more friction – “Do something.
Something slides against the underside of his leaking cock, then. When he looks down, Alhaiham’s dick is pushing against his, fully erect, the head peaking out of his sheath as Alhaitham curls his hand around them both.
“Will that do?” he asks.
Kaveh’s brain is short-circuiting. “Mm.”
Alhaitham’s stupid face is right in front of him and for once he seems to have lost a bit of his composure. His face is flushed, his bangs askew, his lips parted and bitten. It’s a good look on him, Kaveh thinks. He buries his hands in Alhaitham’s hair, messing it up more just because he can, before leaning forward to kiss him again, slipping his tongue into Alhaitham’s mouth to meet his.
“Oh, oh, oh,” Kaveh pants against Alhaitham’s lips as the other starts pumping his hand in rhythm to his fingers still pushing inside Kaveh, their dicks rubbing against each other and his palm. Kaveh’s thighs quiver as Alhaitham’s fingers tease him mercilessly inside and out.
It doesn't take long before his release coils free from deep inside his belly, impossible to hold back. He doesn't think he's ever come as hard as when he spills all over Alhaitham’s glorious abs with a groan, spare droplets splashing all the way to his chest.
Alhaitham’s hand tightens around their cocks, pumping them through all through Kaveh’s orgasm. Kaveh’s hand joins his, thumbing against the head of Alhaitham’s dick until he, too, comes apart with barely a sigh, making even more of a mess of himself.
Kaveh slumps against him, then, enjoying the contact of skin against skin, sweaty and messy as it may be. He likes Haitham like this, he thinks, perfect composure broken, messy with their combined come. Really likes him. And maybe he likes him other times too: even when he’s perfectly put together, not a hair out of place, his eyes bright as he’s talking about a topic that excites him,
“Wow– that was–” Kaveh says and laughs, searching for the right words. “I didn’t expect that.” Drifting in the pleasant afterglow, he’s half-contemplating kissing Haitham again.
Alhaitham gives him one of his far too smug half-smiles. “Heh. What did you expect? You skipped the basics straight to the advanced techniques. Of course, your technique is lacking.”
“I was complimenting you, you dolt,” Kaveh hisses. “Wha– wait a second. How would you even know that?”
Haitham just shrugs. “The Courtesan's Starter Pack, which your capsule is a part of, is one of the most replicated knowledge capsule series in all of Sumeru. Of course, I know it,” he says. “Where do you think my knowledge on the subject came from?”
Kaveh does a double take, hardly believing what he’s hearing. “Y–you–”
“I can take you through the entire series if you’d like. It’s very thorough. But not now,” Alhaitham says before throwing a towel right at Kaveh’s face. “I’m going to have another bath and you should, too. Don’t dirty my bed any more than you already have.”
“Mprgh,” Kaveh grumbles, peeling the towel from his face. When the room is again visible, Alhaitham is already gone.
With no one there to witness, Kaveh presses the towel against his nose, inhaling deeply as he slumps back on his back on the bed. The towel smells of Alhaitham, as does the bedding.
Impossible man. How can he drop a bomb like that and just leave? Even when he’s absent, he manages to mess with Kaveh’s head.
He nuzzles his face into the pillow. Maybe he can make it smell a little like himself, too. Just to spite Alhaitham, of course. His eyelids feel heavy. Just a little nap, Kaveh tells himself before he drifts off to sleep. Alhaitham will probably throw him off the bed when he’s done with his bath, anyway.
—
Kaveh wakes up the next morning, beneath the blanket, tucked neatly in Alhaitham’s bed.