Chapter Text
The sound of metal coins clinking together with every step he took was a sound Kaveh had long been waiting to hear. He struggled with the weight of the large canvas bag full of mora in his hands, but he knew that once he handed it over, he would finally be free. Free of the debt, free of feeling like a fraud, free of hiding his shame, and, finally, free of Alhaitham.
Dori was standing at the entrance of The Palace of Alcazarzaray, waiting for him with her hands on her hips, expectantly.
“I’ve been waiting for you.” She said, sounding slightly annoyed.
“Yeah, sorry…” he huffed, “This amount of Mora all in one bag…*pant*...was a lot heavier than I was anticipating.”
“Why didn’t you just have Merak carry it for you? Or ask for one of my servants to help carry it? Better yet, why didn’t you just ask Alhaitham?”
“This debt… is my responsibility,” He threw the bag down at her feet and let out a deep breath. “No one else's.”
Dori shrugged. “Fair enough.”
The bag was almost as big as her, but she still managed to open it up and take a look inside. The sun shined directly down on the coins in the bag, making them shine an almost ethereal glow as Dori began taking out each coin one by one, meticulously counting them up.
“Thirty-one, thirty-two, thirty-three…” she spoke quietly to herself as she admired each coin independently.
Kaveh sighed and sat down on the ground as he expected a long wait. Eventually, he nodded off but was woken back up by the sound of Dori’s shrill voice shouting.
“Congratulations, my dear benefactor! Your debt has finally been repaid! Thank you so much for doing business with the Lord of Sangemah Bay, I hope to do business again with you in the future!”
She then walked away towards her palace with the bag of money dragging behind her. Kaveh watched as she disappeared into the distance, struggling to carry everything that he had been crying, sweating, and bleeding into obtaining, only for it to be quickly taken away from him.
But it’s okay. He had been preparing himself for this. In fact, he had saved enough not only to repay his debt but to buy his own place, as well. It was a small house outside of town in somewhat rough condition, but it was enough for him. Anything was better than spending another minute living with Alhaitham.
But before he could move into his new place he needed to pack his stuff up from Alhaitham’s place. He had yet to even tell Alhaitham that was even moving out, which was something that he had been dreading as soon as he bought his new place. Though, it’s not like he hasn’t been threatening to move out for a while now, so he probably won’t even take it seriously. But, on the other hand, once he sees Kaveh packing up all his stuff and moving his things out of the house, he’ll probably catch on pretty fast that his threat was real.
Kaveh finally made it back to the house and stood at the entrance for a while, staring blankly at the door. As he moved to put the key in the lock, the door opened.
“Forgot your key, again?” As the door swung open, it revealed Alhaitham’s smug grin as they locked eyes with each other.
His eyes then moved from Kaveh’s eyes down to the keys in his hand and his grin faded.
“Oh,” he spoke softly. “Nevermind. Guess you didn’t.”
Alhaitham then turned and walked back into the house leaving the door wide open for Kaveh to enter. Kaveh quickly and quietly closed the door behind him as he made a beeline towards his room. However, it seemed that Alhaitham was in a chattier mood than usual as he suddenly attempted to strike up a conversation while he lounged on the couch, book in hand.
“Can’t even spare me a hello? Or are you mad at me for something that I’m unaware of and instead of talking it out like adults you’ve chosen to give me the silent treatment?” He prodded.
“Thanks for giving me the benefit of the doubt,” Kaveh responded with a little bit of an edge to it. “I’m just…in a hurry right now. I have a lot of work to do.”
Alhaitham raised an eyebrow at his words as he noticed Kaveh collecting his things and placing them in boxes.
“What do you need all of that for when you’re heading off to go work on a project then?” He asked.
“Ugh, can’t you just stick your nose back into your book like you usually do and quit pestering me?”
“You’re finally moving out–is that it?”
Kaveh stopped dead in his tracks and gently placed the box that he was holding onto the coffee table, his eyes transfixed on the inside of it like the contents of the box were the most interesting thing in the world.
“...Yes,” he mumbled.
“I see.” Alhaitham closed his book and placed it on the coffee table beside Kaveh’s box. “I would have thought that you would be more than excited to tell me that you’re moving out. Why are you trying to hide it from me like this wasn’t going to happen all along? Does this mean that you’ve finally paid off your debt or have you just grown so sick of me that you managed to wear some poor sod down to the point where they’re letting you stay with them out of guilt?”
Kaveh looked up to face him, to see what emotion he was displaying on his face as he continued to badger him with these questions, but all he got was the same old stoic-looking expression that he usually wore for every situation he was in. Kaveh furrowed his brow.
“Yes, I paid back my debt. And I managed to save enough to get a place of my own, too. Can’t believe that you would think so little of me to think that I would guilt someone into letting me stay with them. I thought you knew me better than that.”
Alhaitham looked away, a flash of guilt appeared on his face, but it didn’t last for very long.
“Sorry, that was uncalled for, I’ll admit.” He rose from the couch, grabbed his book off the table, and started heading toward his room. “Best of luck to you in your new place. Goodbye, Kaveh.”
He waved his hand as a gesture of farewell but continued to face forward towards his room, not looking back to give Kaveh one last shit-eating grin. The sound of Alhaitham’s door closing brought him back to reality as he looked around the living room, finding himself all alone in packing up the past couple of years of his life.
It was jarring, packing everything up and seeing just how comfortable he had made himself in Alhaitham’s house. By the time that he had placed all of his things in boxes, he had realized just how much of an impact he had made on Alhaitham’s home. Half of the mugs in the cabinet were gone, all the art that was hanging on the wall had been taken down, all the pots that had flowers in them had been packed away, a quarter of the bookshelf was now empty, and a whole room was now vacant. The only thing that remained was Alhaitham’s butt ugly furniture that he had gotten specifically to piss him off. It looked…very desolate without his things scattered about that made the place feel more lively. It looked like it did when he had first moved in with him; very bare bones with little to no decor besides a plant or two on the window sill–just enough to get him by. He smiled when he remembered how upset he got at Alhaitham after seeing the state of his home and how Kaveh dragged him on a shopping spree to get more decorations and art to place around the house so it didn’t look so dead in there.
Kaveh then began to load the boxes onto a cart he had rented. As he was carrying the last box out to the cart, he turned around and looked back into the house one last time. A bittersweet feeling came over him as looked upon the now lifeless-looking living room, but the feeling quickly escaped him as he shut the door behind him and whispered “Good riddance.” to himself.
Kaveh stood out in front of his new home, anxious to get inside. He reached into his pocket and rummaged around until he found his keys. He goes to put it in the lock when he stops and looks down at the key in his hand. Wrong key. He forgot to give Alhaitham the key to his house back. He sighed, sticking his hand back into his pocket, fished out the correct set of keys, and unlocked the door.
It was dark and empty inside, which a new home should be as you enter it for the first time. But something about it made him feel unwelcomed. Maybe it was because he hadn’t placed anything in it yet, so the empty space looked daunting to him. A place all to himself…the thought of it made his chest tighten.
He quickly began unpacking and rearranging furniture until he felt content with how his small, yet humble house looked. It was a breath of fresh air to see his art not surrounded by the world’s most hideous furniture, drawing more attention to its ugliness than to his work. He smiled. His house was finally becoming a home.
However, as the day quickly turned to night, that same unwelcoming feeling began to rise in his chest again. Was he…lonely? Was that it? He never really noticed it before but Alhaitham’s constant presence certainly staved off any feelings of being alone, that was for certain. There were many nights where he had prayed to have a place to himself, yet now that he had it, it felt very isolating.
Now that he thought about it, he never had any relationships while living with Alhaitham, either. He was either too busy working or too tired to be compelled to find a partner, not to mention the fact that even if he wanted to bring someone home with him, he would have to risk Alhaitham finding out about it or worry about the person he brought home finding out that he lived with Alhaitham. All that was to say: he desired companionship.
He checked the clock which was still somewhat covered in a protective wrapping. Ten forty-nine, it read. He was tired. Too tired and drained to go out and meet someone right now. He slowly picked himself up off the couch and sluggishly made his way towards his bed. He tossed aside the empty boxes lying on the bed and crawled in under the covers, as he tried to make a cold bed feel warm.
That night, he had a dream: a dream where he was still in Alhaitham’s house, and moving out now seemed like an outlandish concept. He was in the kitchen, making breakfast for the two of them as he usually did. As he was finishing up and about ready to call for Alhaitham, he turned around and saw Alhaitham entering the kitchen.
“Oh, perfect timing! I was just about to call for you. Breakfast is–”
Kaveh's shock cut him off as Alhaitham wrapped his arms around him and pulled him into an embrace. Kaveh was at a loss for words. The only thing he could manage to do was to stand there and wait for some sort of explanation from Alhaitham as to why he was hugging him. After a while, he spoke.
“Thank you for making my life a little brighter, Kaveh,” Alhaitham spoke in a tone of voice that he had never heard from him before, an unguarded, vulnerable-sounding voice.
He let go of Kaveh and started heading towards the front door, acting as though nothing had just happened between them.
“What are you–What did you just…” Kaveh trailed off as he tried to puzzle it together in his head. Alhaitham turned around and gave him a strange look.
“What’s wrong? Are you okay?” he asked.
“Yeah, I’m just… never mind,” Kaveh replied, unsure of how to answer him.
Alhaitham smiled at him.
“Well, I have to get going, now. Save some food for me and I’ll eat it later. See you soon.”
The front door closed behind him before Kaveh responded to his farewell.
“Goodbye, Alhaitham.” He spoke softly to himself.
He reached out his hand towards the front door but was then quickly ripped from the sweet dream by a loud crash, startling him awake. He placed a hand over his pounding heart as he looked for the source of the loud noise. It was the lamp on his nightstand, shattered on the ground. He must have not been used to its new placement and had knocked it off during his dream.
Kaveh flopped back down onto his pillow and attempted to blow his stray hair off his face. That dream…how strange. Was his mind telling him that he wanted to return to Alhaitham’s place? Was this guilt about how he had failed to consider how Alhaitham must be feeling about him moving out and how it would affect him? Did he miss the domestic life he had back at his place?
No , he thought. He had had plenty of dreams in the past that didn’t hold any meaning and were just that–dreams. Unless, of course, that one dream he had where Tighnari and Cyno had both turned into fungi and were trying to start a fungi revolution held some sort of secret meaning that he was unaware of. He chalked it up to him worrying about how Alhaitham reacted to him moving out plus the anxiety of moving to a new place and simply pushed the dream out of his mind.
However, the feeling of loneliness persisted throughout the whole day as he continued to unpack all of the boxes that he had missed from yesterday. It started as just an annoying tingle in the back of his mind, but as the sun went down the tingle quickly turned into irritability. He tried working on his projects, painting, reading, and he even tried to redesign his living room two or three more times, but nothing worked. The irritable chill of something feeling off persisted like a bad mosquito bite.
He exhaled deeply. Maybe it was time to meet someone new.
She was the ideal partner. A beautiful woman with short brunette hair, who had a charming laugh and a perfectly sculpted face that made heads turn wherever she went. The fact that she even talked to Kaveh was a miracle in itself, but soon talking to her came naturally. She was kind, open-minded, and, most importantly, understood the importance of art and its beauty. The hours flew by and many drinks were had as they continued to talk well into the night, until the last call at the tavern was made.
After being kicked out of Lambad’s, Kaveh invited her back to his place, which she enthusiastically accepted. Maybe it was because he was drunk, or maybe it was the rush of connecting with a new person who you had an instant connection with, but his usual nervousness that would come in this type of situation had all but disappeared. Only a lingering feeling of anxiety remained, but he just chalked it up to having just moved into a new place that he wasn’t used to yet.
When they got back to Kaveh’s house, they continued their conversation from the tavern all the way to his couch, where they sat side by side with each other joyfully bantering. Eventually, when things began to wind down as everything must, she laid her head down on Kaveh’s shoulder. Kaveh remained still as a statue, afraid that the tiniest of movements might deter her from leaning on him. Her cheeks were a soft, rosy shade of pink and he determined that she was probably just as drunk as he was. He wondered if she was even conscious of what she was currently doing. Slowly she lifted her head back up from his shoulder and gazed at him warmly. A shiver went down his spine as she leaned in closer to his face and placed an equally warm kiss on his lips. She then went in for another kiss. Then another. And another until he could no longer tell each kiss apart as her lips remained attached to his. With each breath he took, he could feel himself growing warmer and his breathing more labored. Even as he took his clothes off, he could still feel his body heating up. She was even warmer as he slipped inside of her. He started slowly but sped up with each thrust. She seemed to be enjoying it, as her soft moans filled his empty feeling house. But for some reason, he just wasn’t feeling the same way–was this even how it was supposed to feel?
His pace slowed down as he tried to figure out why he couldn’t get into it. She noticed him slowing down and, in response, took one of his hands and placed it on her breast.
“What’s wrong? Don’t tell me–is this your first time?” She asked.
At this point, Kaveh had come to a complete stop with his movements as he sat and thought about her question. It was true; he was a virgin, but he didn’t want to admit it. At his age, it’s embarrassing to admit that you’ve never had sex with anyone–man or woman. He was just always too busy to notice or care about such trivial things, but now it’s come to bite him in the ass. He knew that everyone goes at these types of things at their own pace, but, for some reason, he still felt mortified to admit it.
She smiled at him.
“It’s okay. We can try a different position if you would like.” Even though Kaveh never answered her questions, she seemed to have already known the answers to them.
“...What other position did you have in mind?” Kaveh asked her, sheepishly.
She flipped over from her back onto her stomach and lifted herself up until she was on all fours.
“Maybe you prefer it from the back?” She mused.
This was turning out to be one hell of a first date…or maybe she saw this more as a one-night stand? He wasn’t sure. It was difficult to tell as he’s never had any past experiences to compare it to.
He took a breath and entered in from the back. From this angle, it was hard to tell who it was that he was even fucking. It could honestly be…anyone. Anyone at all.
Then, an invasive thought popped into his head: from this angle, it could be anyone … even Alhaitham.
Maybe it was because of that stupid dream that he had last night or maybe his brain just hated him, either way, for whatever reason, the thought had materialized in his mind regardless. He quickly shook the thought from his head, but it was too late–the thought had latched onto his mind like a blood-thirsty leech. He tried to suppress the thought, only for it to make the thoughts worse. As much as he tried to get rid of the thought from his mind, he couldn’t help but admit that something about it…excited him.
Eventually, after trying and failing to fight them off, he caved. He gave into the dirty thoughts about pounding his ex-roommate from the back. With his imagination now unshackled, Kaveh could feel himself growing in intensity and speed with every thrust.
So, this…is what it feels like… , he thought to himself as his eyes rolled back from the overwhelming new sensation of pleasure filling his body to the brim. He kept imagining what Alhaitham’s face would look like if he actually was dominating him. How he would love to fuck that stupid smug grin off his face…
The woman’s higher-pitched groans snapped him out of his fantasy as they both reached their climax. Kaveh collapsed down beside her, sweaty and out of breath. She wriggled her way into his arms and laid her head down on his chest.
“I guess we found your preference, huh?” She giggled.
Kaveh was silent for a beat before responding to her comment.
“...Yeah. I guess we did.”