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He finds Alhaitham sitting in his typical spot, arm extended over the back of the divan, with a book in hand.
Not unusual by any stretch, but the dark circles under his eyes are new.
When he pins Kaveh with that look, the one that positively screams hunger, something in the room shifts.
Kaveh drops his bookbag in the entryway, and Mehrak floats down the hall to his room. Presumably to shut down for the night.
Alhaitham snaps his book shut. His long, deft fingers skim teasingly over the spine, and Kaveh shudders when he imagines that same feeling running up his back. Alhaitham’s gaze is dark and wanting; a small, dangerous smile evident in the dim lamplight.
His roommate’s desire is plain as day, and it leaves Kaveh blushing and flustered.
“It’s not our typical night.” Kaveh says instead, watching the way Alhaitham languidly stands up. They had an agreement. Every week, midweek. No strings attached. A union of bodies strictly in a carnal sense.
It drives Kaveh mad. Mad, because he’s very much in love with Alhaitham. And has been for a long time.
But Alhaitham had never been one for matters of the heart.
His roommate stretches like a cat—far enough that his shirt rides up and exposes the happy trail the architect admires so much. Alhaitham gives him a onceover; a considering gaze that has Kaveh burning at the core.
“You look like you want to eat me.” Kaveh chuckles nervously.
“Mm.” Alhaitham makes a small noise, meeting the older man in the entryway. He approaches with even, relaxed steps, and reaches out to fiddle with Kaveh’s earrings. The red gems wink in the evening light, dancing in the reflection of Alhaitham’s irises.
The jewelry bobs against his neck as Alhaitham trails his fingers along the curve of his nape, coming to rest gently over Kaveh’s pulse point.
His heart races, and Alhaitham’s lips quirk ever so slightly.
“I didn’t think you’d be opposed to changing things up.” He explains, a lilt to his tone if Kaveh ever heard one. “Especially when you know I like the way you taste.”
Kaveh splutters, cheeks going crimson. “How can you say things so casually?!”
Alhaitham huffs something suspiciously close to a laugh, and Kaveh’s shoulders droop.
Book now long forgotten, Alhaitham pads back over to the divan and relaxes on the cushion. He spreads his legs, bottom lip between teeth as he does so, and beckons Kaveh over with a single finger.
Kaveh’s certain his brain short circuits. Alhaitham only ever had to glance at him to get him going—but this? This was dangerously close to seduction. Close to yearning. Kaveh nearly trips over his own feet, battling with his shoes, to get to him.
The tips of his ears burn, but Alhaitham is still regarding him with that smooth, measured stare. The lines in his face are less pronounced, and his eyes soften as he continues to observe Kaveh. It makes the architect swallow roughly. If he let himself read too deeply into the scene, he’d start to hope.
…Was he imagining a newfound tenderness?
“Kaveh,” Alhaitham murmurs, grasping his attention. “Come.”
Kaveh blinks, shoes still halfway off. He finagles with his cape, discarding it in a heap by the door. He pauses momentarily, waiting for Alhaitham’s usual scolding. But nothing is said.
Again, he notes the dark circles under the scribe’s eyes. He frowns slightly, crossing his arms over his chest as he stands between Alhaitham’s legs.
“Are you sure…? That you’re up for this, I mean.” Kaveh babbles, tongue loose with nerves. “You look a little tired.”
Alhaitham gives him a noncommittal noise, hands already inching over Kaveh’s hips to sit at his waist. His index fingers slip beneath the opening at the back of Kaveh’s shirt, stroking the heated skin that waits there, begging to be marked.
Kaveh’s hands fly down to cover Alhaitham’s.
“I am fine. I simply want you,” Alhaitham reassures, unashamed. “I wouldn’t have said anything otherwise. You know this.” His voice is low and controlled. Falsely patient, yet strangely affectionate. It pulls at the love that takes roost in Kaveh’s chest, unravelling it until it threatens to spill out of his pores.
Kaveh jerks in place, breath hitching. Heat laces up his spine and crowds his cheeks.
Alhaitham smoothes his hands under Kaveh’s shirt completely, pulling it up and over his head. He’s mindful of Kaveh’s adornments, and his hair. A soft, unnecessary, example of care that always leaves Kaveh spiralling in the moment—chasing fleeting affection before the weight of Alhaitham’s hands ground him.
Slowly, Alhaitham traces the dip of his waist, the line of his hipbones and the ridges of his spine. Kaveh shivers, waiting for his roommate to shove him to his knees and take, take, take, like usual, but the moment never arrives.
Alhaitham tugs him forward with practised ease. Spreads his thighs further apart, nestling Kaveh between his legs.
The first kiss on his abdomen makes him flinch in surprise. But Alhaitham’s large, warm, hands soothe him. Stroke his skin with an unnerving tenderness.
He tangles a hand in Alhaitham’s hair, listening to the scribe hum, lips still trailing up his stomach and to his chest.
Alhaitham catches a nipple with his teeth, playfully tugging at the bud. Kaveh’s hands flex in his hair, whining as Alhaitham lavishes his other nipple with attention.
“Always so sensitive.” His roommate remarks, voice hoarse. His tone is raw, disbelieving, as Kaveh curls around him.
“Stop teasing.” He pouts.
Alhaitham licks a thin stripe up his sternum, hands firmly on his waist, and bites.
“Ow!” Kaveh says, reflexively. Alhaitham pulls away only once, to raise a perfect brow at him. He rests his chin on Kaveh’s abdomen, drinking him in with a heavy gaze, as Kaveh clears his throat awkwardly.
He tugs on Alhaitham’s hair, as if telling him to get the show on the road.
Kaveh’s pert nipples, dusky like a rose, receive one last caress before Alhaitham is snapping the band of his trousers. The impact leaves a fine red line, one that the scribe traces with a displaced reverence, and all Kaveh can do is stare.
Alhaitham leans backwards, appraising. He tilts his head to the side, pupils so dilated the colour of his irises are lost.
Kaveh could drown in that gaze, if he let himself.
Alhaitham’s arm drapes across the back of the divan once more, silent. Still Kaveh stands, growing more self conscious by the minute.
This is unlike any of their previous…encounters. It is unlike their routine; that need for quick satisfaction, tearing each other’s clothes off and branding skin. Their pace was fast, rushed, as if the moment could slip away instantaneously. As if closing their eyes meant losing one another.
Their sessions always left Kaveh delirious and moaning for more, making a mess of their bodies before the evening wore out. It was embarrassing, just how perfectly Alhaitham filled him, how he pleased him, how he fucked him to a mind-shattering completion every time. So effortlessly it was nearly tragic.
But this is…slow. Deliberate. And there’s something in Alhaitham’s gaze that leaves him trembling.
“Beautiful.” Alhaitham murmurs quietly. “Undress for me.”
The breathy command makes Kaveh’s gut swoop. He meets his roommate’s heated look and holds it, searching for the metaphorical shoe to drop. But Alhaitham merely blinks at him lazily, like the overgrown housecat he is, in expectation.
“Oh.”
Alhaitham covers his mouth with a hand, evidently masking an amused expression. It leaves Kaveh tsking, his own hands flying down to unfurl his sash.
But a foot, brushing up against his calves, trailing up to nestle in between his thighs, has Kaveh gaping at his roommate.
Alhaitham’s gaze is still infuriatingly nonchalant, but the tips of his ears glow. “Why the rush?” he inquires, noting the way Kaveh bristles like a rishboland tiger. His foot presses gently up against the bulge in the older man’s pants.
He’s unsurprised when Kaveh snags his foot midair.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Kaveh hisses, eyes lidded and cheeks pink.
“Savouring my meal.” Alhaitham responds blithely. The answer has Kaveh groaning into the palm of his hand. “Well? Continue.”
“Continue, he says.” Kaveh mutters, throwing his sash to the ground. He grips the hem of his pants, ready to yank them down.
A hand on his wrist says otherwise.
“Slow down, Kaveh.” Alhaitham instructs, softly, indulgently. “Let me see you.”
“It sounds like you want a show,” Kaveh muses, raising his brows. Alhaitham settles back against the cushions, gesturing at his pants.
This time, Kaveh plays it up. He sways his hips, nearly snorting when Alhaitham props himself up on his elbow, chin in palm. Kaveh runs his hands down his chest, flicking at his rosy buds, before trailing lower.
He drifts teasingly over his ribcage, down to his stomach, nails raking gently over his hipbones in a way he knows Alhaitham appreciates. When he reaches the hem of his pants and underwear, he doesn’t pull them down in one go.
Inch, by inch, by agonizingly slow inch, Kaveh’s skin is revealed. The rush of undressing so intimately leaves him jittery, goosebumps preying on his tender flesh. Alhaitham hums lowly in the back of his throat.
“Good,” he rasps, “good boy.”
Kaveh shivers. That’s a new one. He stares wide eyed at Alhaitham, jaw hanging open. In shock, certainly, but mostly in mortification—because it’s mind-numbingly erotic and has his dick hardening in seconds.
His roommate quirks his head, studying him. The lift of his lips is subtle, but Kaveh knows it’s there. Alhaitham postures himself like he’s struck gold.
“Why are you surprised? You’ve always liked praise.”
Kaveh squawks at his teasing. When Alhaitham groans into his ear, telling him how tight he is, how warm he is, how good he feels while wrapped around his length—it’s electrifying. But this is not that. This is…
He rubs his legs together, cock pressed solidly between the meat of his thighs. Alhaitham stares at him like he’s a feast.
The scribe spreads his own legs again, eyes dipping down to where Kaveh still has a death grip on his pants. “Show me.” Alhaitham whispers.
With trembling hands, Kaveh slides his trousers down his thighs, fumbling as the fabric puts pressure on his shaft, and bends over slowly—fingers grazing his knees and calves as he steps out of his clothes.
His mind is getting fuzzy, like it does when he takes Alhaitham especially deep.
The cushion shifting on the divan clears his thoughts ever so slightly. Kaveh watches, enraptured, as Alhaitham reaches out to him, brushing his teasing fingers along his thighs and over the curve of his ass. Kaveh stifles a groan when Alhaitham squeezes his waist, tugging him impossibly closer.
He’s still seated, and Kaveh has to wonder what he’s up to.
Alhaitham leans forward, breath fanning the expanse of Kaveh’s cock. His legs tremble like a fawn’s just with the proximity, and he chokes out a gasp when Alhaitham takes his hand and buries it in his hair.
Kaveh gulps, getting lost in the way his elegant fingers disappear in the fine grey hair on Alhaitham’s head. He combs through it absently, pleased with the rumble he gets in response.
Alhaitham’s fingers dig into the flesh of his ass, skin spilling through the gaps in his grip as settles his forehead against Kaveh’s v-line, nuzzling into his warmth. He blows on Kaveh’s shaft for good measure, nosing it when it bobs.
“A-Alhaitham?” He didn’t usually go down on Kaveh. But that was mainly because Kaveh craved his dick so badly they’d jump straight to the fucking.
He’s been on his knees plenty of times for Alhaitham, though.
And now that his roommate’s face was nestled between his legs, lips pressing against his cock, Kaveh’s mind goes blank.
Gently, Alhaitham takes hold of his erection, lashes fluttering as he stares up at Kaveh. A single stroke is all it takes for him to bead with precum. Alhaitham laps it up greedily, and Kaveh is positive all his synapses have been pruned.
“You want to be good for me?” Alhaitham murmurs along the side of his cock. His voice seems to seep straight into Kaveh’s skin. “Stay still.”
With that, Alhaitham swallows Kaveh deep. His hand sits at the base of Kaveh’s shaft, brushing seamlessly over his balls, as he swirls his tongue up and over Kaveh’s slit.
The architect lets out a broken sound, hunching over Alhaitham with a trembling moan.
His roommate pulls back, lips swollen and spit slick. Kaveh is gripping Alhaitham’s hair with a vengeance, face on fire as he struggles to close his mouth.
The hand still squeezing his ass moves inward, towards his hole. Alhaitham’s searching finger prods at his entrance only once, before retreating entirely.
“Behave,” Alhaitham reminds him, voice hoarse. He watches Kaveh for a moment, sees the desperation in his eyes, before gliding his warm, wet, mouth over the head of his cock. It kicks weakly against his soft palate, echoing the tremor in Kaveh’s body as Alhaitham dips lower, pushing himself down towards thick blond curls.
Kaveh releases a strangled gasp, muscles bunching as Alhaitham bobs up and down, swallowing periodically around him. Alhaitham pulls back, just enough to keep the head of Kaveh’s cock nestled in his mouth, and slips his tongue underneath the foreskin. He circles once, massaging Kaveh’s balls as he does so, then takes him all in on go to the back of his throat.
Kaveh’s skin tingles like livewire. He bucks into Alhaitham’s mouth, unable to keep still as mumbles apologies, promising to be good, and tearfully attempts to keep his eyes open—gaze fixated on the way he disappears inside of Alhaitham’s throat.
The scribe merely perches on the divan, blinking up at him with soused lashes, keeping Kaveh warm in his perfect mouth. The weight of Kaveh’s dick against his tongue has him groaning out a sigh, one that tumbles from his lips and races up along the older man’s spine.
Kaveh’s cock throbs.
Alhaitham pulls off. He clamps his thumb and index finger around the base of Kaveh’s shaft, licking his lips. An obscene trail of spit connects the head of his cock to Alhaitham’s mouth, and Kaveh nearly crumbles from the visual.
“Sensitive.” The scribe reiterates, although there’s no heat behind the comment. Kaveh’s breath comes out in little puffs, and he twists his hand in Alhaitham’s hair. The sharp exhale of air his roommate gives in response runs straight to his straining erection.
“Fu—Alhaitha-mn!”
The scribe merely glances up at him before once more dipping below Kaveh’s waist, teasing his shaft with kitten licks. Alhaitham flicks his tongue over the head of Kaveh’s dick in warning as runs a finger up the architect’s perineum, then two, before spreading Kaveh’s cheeks apart with his hands.
His hole winks in the evening air, but Kaveh can’t even let a sound out before he’s being pulled into Alhaitham’s lap.
The architect lands with a muffled oomph, thighs spread impossibly wide over Alhaitham’s outstretched legs.
Alhaitham surges up, slotting his hot, yearning mouth over Kaveh’s. Kaveh stutters out a moan, pitched high and breathy, as he immediately returns the scalding kiss.
Their tongues dance, lips all consuming as they taste each other. Fire zips along Kaveh’s spine, stealing his breath. He can feel the way Alhaitham’s hairs stand up at the base of his neck when he makes a debauched noise, and grinds down with such intense need his mind blanks.
Kaveh can taste himself on Alhaitham’s tongue. He can taste the salt, the musk, and it has him trembling in the scribe’s hold.
Alhaitham’s hands knead at Kaveh’s bare waist, smoothing a hand over his ass before bringing his open palm down. The smack echoes through the living room and leaves Kaveh squirming. Alhaitham pulls at his cheeks, caressing his reddened skin with a tenderness that leaves him reeling.
Kaveh whines when Alhaitham shifts, temporarily pulling away from his lips. The scribe shushes him, reminds him to be a good boy, and reaches for a vial of oil they keep stashed away under the divan.
He has to dip forward to retrieve it, bending Kaveh forward with him as he does so. Alhaitham’s hand spreads across Kaveh’s lower back, his touch feverishly hot and powerful as he keeps them balanced.
Kaveh ruts against him as they sit back, mouth dropped open and eyes closed as Alhaitham lets him take. The friction of his roommate’s pants against his cock makes him mumble incoherently. He’s almost embarrassed at how quickly Alhaitham can get him to let go.
Almost.
If he couldn’t see the way the nape of Alhaitham’s neck turns cherry red in arousal, or feel the bulge of his aching cock fighting against the seam of his trousers.
Kaveh drips with precum, gliding his shaft alongside Alhaitham’s thigh.
“Desperate, are you?” He whispers by the shell of Kaveh’s ear. Lips a hair away from brushing it.
“Y-you’re one to talk,” Kaveh gasps out, trembling as Alhaitham pushes their hips together. The scribe pulls on the lobe of his ear with his teeth. He knows the argument is weak at best, especially seeing as how Alhaitham has yet to rid himself of clothes.
Alhaitham hums in thought. The vial uncorks in the next moment, and oil trickles over Kaveh’s lower back, slipping between his cheeks. The difference in temperature makes him flinch, but he’s grinding back down into Alhaitham’s lap seconds later as a lubed finger swirls around his entrance.
“You’re, ah, taking f-forever—!” Kaveh jolts in his hold, biting back a groan as Alhaitham sinks to the knuckle.
Alhaitham pulls him closer, presses Kaveh to his chest with a hand on his back, guiding Kaveh’s legs further apart with his knees until he’s spread helplessly over him. It exposes every inch of his most intimate places—it makes plucking him apart easy.
Alhaitham buries his face in the crook of Kaveh’s neck. He nibbles along Kaveh’s pulse, smattering kisses to his skin like freckles, as his finger probs deeper.
“Ahn-!” Kaveh cries out, clenching around him so beautifully. It has Alhaitham groaning, voice still raspy as he twists, adding another finger. He presses against that sensitive bit of skin inside of Kaveh and the architect moans, sinking further onto Alhaitham’s digits.
Alhaitham uses his free hand to cup Kaveh’s chin, tugging him towards his mouth. Kaveh’s eyes are screwed shut, mouth hanging open as pretty little sounds fall from his lips. Alhaitham swallows his broken wail, prying his mouth open even further with his tongue, flicking it teasingly over Kaveh’s palate.
He presses messy, uncoordinated, kisses to Kaveh’s jaw when he breaks away for air—Alhaitham’s own breath rattling in his lungs as his lust pitches ever higher.
Kaveh humps against him, hips mindless as they seek his touch. Sweat beads at his temples, hair sticking to his forehead as he pants into Alhaitham’s ear. This is torture, pure torture.
With another exclamation, Kaveh’s eyes roll into the back of his head. He stills immediately, afraid to cum without having the chance of being bent over and fucked.
And Alhaitham, the bastard, has the audacity to huff a laugh against Kaveh’s mouth, fingers scissoring him open so deliciously he can’t help but whine.
“Why are you, fuck,” the curse falls from Kaveh’s lips unbidden, so uncharacteristically so, that Alhaitham’s jaw drops open in a low moan, “why?” The architect whines, unable to finish his thought, dumb from the sound Alhaitham makes.
Kaveh’s hands curl, nails digging into Alhaitham’s shoulders.
Alhaitham retaliates by directly nudging his prostate.
Kaveh’s hips rock as he lets out a sob.
“You make the prettiest noises.” Alhaitham offers, fingers squelching with oil as they thrust into Kaveh’s hole. He’s stretched, prepared so tenderly, but Alhaitham adds a fourth finger. He licks at the seam of Kaveh’s lips, tugging on his bottom lip as the architect scrambles to keep up.
Kaveh messily noses at Alhaitham’s jaw, eyes dewy as he’s filled by Alhaitham. He knows Alhaitham is savouring every mewl and every groan as they rut against each other; bodies in perfect sync as they undulate and rise in their own unique rhythm.
Alhaitham pushes himself up, grinding into Kaveh’s heat, as he pulls the other man downward by the waist.
As Alhaitham continues to kiss Kaveh senseless, he sneaks a hand between their bodies, pulling at his belt. He shoves his pants down with little grace, far enough to allow his cock to spring free, and immediately gathers both their erections in his slick palm.
Kaveh chokes on a gasp, still rocking on the fingers buried in his ass.
Alhaitham nips at his jaw, then strokes.
They moan together, sharing a sigh that threatens to debone Kaveh. He slumps over, forehead landing on Alhaitham’s shoulder.
Alhaitham tugs; once, twice quickly, and then a third time—unforgivably slowly. He relishes in the way Kaveh throbs in his palm, shaft kicking and dribbling precum against his.
All while whimpering in need as he fucks himself back onto the scribe’s fingers.
“In me,” Kaveh begs. “In me, in me, archons--!”
Alhaitham lifts Kaveh up and delves into him in one fluid motion, right to the hilt.
Alhaitham’s lashes flutter, mouth forming a perfect ‘o’ at the sensation of the architect’s velvet heat around him.
Kaveh lets out a shrill cry, cock pulsing as he climaxes. He twitches, babbles, jerks with intense aftershocks as Alhaitham continues to push his hips upwards. His chin drips with Kaveh’s cum, but he can’t bring himself to care. Not when Kaveh clenches so wonderfully around him.
Alhaitham presses a hand to Kaveh’s lower belly as he buries himself inside again and again.
“Haiyi,” Kaveh is sobbing at a particularly inviting roll of his hips. With the call of his name falling from his senior’s lips, Alhaitham folds him in half.
Kaveh’s back hits the cushion of the divan with a dull thump. Alhaitham dives into him, gliding so wetly, so lewdly, as he pushes down on his thighs, that his vision spots. Kaveh reaches for him, curling his arms around Alhaitham’s neck, moulding himself to the fervor of their coupling.
Kaveh sucks on Alhaitham’s neck to mark, drags his teeth across the scribe’s racing pulse and up to the spot behind his ear—nibbling and licking as he bucks up into Alhaitham’s thrusts.
Alhaitham’s grip tightens to the point of bruising—and oh, would Kaveh wear those marks with pride.
Kaveh glances up, lashes clumped together with tears, drinking in the way sweat gathers along Alhaitham’s temples, the crease between his brows, and the way his mouth parts when Kaveh convulses around him.
His cock is achingly hard again, bouncing between their bodies as Alhaitham rocks into him with a vengeance. His balls smack against Kaveh’s ass with every thrust, hole squelching as Alhaitham’s shaft bullies his prostate in torturous fashion.
Oil spills down Kaveh’s thighs and pools beneath him. He cants his hips upwards, rutting against Alhaitham’s body. His breath comes in short gasps, lungs pinching, bent over as he is.
It makes him delirious.
The sensations are tenfold, this time. Heightened in a way they’ve never been.
Alhaitham’s hands come up to hold his cheeks. It startles Kaveh, momentarily—as the scribe’s hooded, softened, gaze contrasts his near animalistic fucking.
A finger swipes over Kaveh’s bottom lip, and Alhaitham lowers his head to render him speechless with another scorching kiss. He wraps his arms tight around Kaveh’s back, pressing the older man to his chest, arching his back in a way that has Kaveh seeing brilliant stars.
Alhaitham buries himself to the hilt, watching as Kaveh throws his head back, crying out as Alhaitham pistons into him. He doesn’t allow Kaveh to grow accustomed to his pace, and the quiet, strangled whispers of his name only serve to turn him on further.
“Fuck,” Alhaitham buries his nose in Kaveh’s neck, “you feel so good. Like you were made for me.” His breathing is ragged as he circles his arms around Kaveh even tighter, balls slapping against Kaveh’s skin in reckless abandon.
Every snap of his hips, every obscene schlick, makes Kaveh babble with ecstasy. Alhaitham’s deep, so deep that the weight of him becomes a beautiful sort of pleasure-pain, one that sets the architect’s nerves on fire.
Kaveh mouths at the man’s throat, whimpering and pleading without words. His toes curl. His body quivers and trembles, each throb of his cock and contraction of his ass wrenching an ah, ah, ah from his swollen lips.
“That’s it,” Alhaitham exhales, “come for me.”
Kaveh releases with a debauched moan, length spasming, painting his stomach white.
Alhaitham clenches his teeth at the pressure, hips staggering in pace as Kaveh starts to milk him. He sinks down impossibly deep, filling Kaveh whole. He ruts against Kaveh’s backside, cock swelling and kicking as he finally begins to spill into him.
A quiet, stuttered gasp breaks off into a moan, and Kaveh’s chest heaves as he consumes the way Alhaitham climaxes with unfiltered awe.
Alhaitham collapses against his chest, sticky and exhausted. He trembles like a leaf as Kaveh threads his fingers through his hair. Cum oozes out of his hole, around Alhaitham’s softening cock, but he can’t bring himself to care.
They lay there for a moment, tangled in each other’s embrace. Kaveh hums tiredly, stroking Alhaitham’s back in a soothing motion. Alhaitham’s fingers trace absent patterns on Kaveh’s chest.
Kaveh cups the back of his neck with a palm, tugging him towards his waiting lips. Alhaitham brushes up against his mouth gently, before slowly removing himself from Kaveh.
He lays to the side and rolls Kaveh over with a deft grip, folding him to his chest.
It’s quiet, for a while. As they regulate their breathing, as they hold each other in the aftermath.
“I can’t feel my legs.” Kaveh mutters, breaking the comfortable silence.
It catches Alhaitham off guard. He sits up, still in his stained shirt and rumpled pants, and hovers over Kaveh before breaking out into genuine laughter.
Kaveh’s jaw drops. “H-huh?! Why are you laughing?!”
Alhaitham runs a warm hand over Kaveh’s knees. “Habibi,” he says dryly, “your timing is impeccable.”
Kaveh’s eyes bulge out of his head, and he scrambles upwards.
“What…did you just call me?”
Alhaitham stills. Kaveh can physically see the walls being thrown up, defenses at an all time high.
“I was commenting on your ability to ruin the mood.” Alhaitham intones instead. He rubs his chest absently. His voice sounds thick, syrupy.
But Kaveh’s having none of it. “Alhaitham.” He can’t help that his voice is a little shrill.
The scribe clears his throat. “It was nothing, Kaveh.”
“Don’t lie to me.” Kaveh’s desperate. Desperate, and hopeful, and afraid because suddenly Alhaitham is hunched over, hand pressed against his mouth as his frame racks with a startling cough.
Kaveh’s hand stills from where it hovers over Alhaitham’s shoulder. “…Are you sick?”
Alhaitham’s mirthless grin haunts him.
“Haiyi—”
Alhaitham flinches as if Kaveh physically struck him. “Don’t.” He rasps, one hand still pressed to his chest, the other white-knuckling the sheets. “Don’t.”
“Wha—” A choked rasp, a gurgling, wet breath of air. One that struggles to find it’s way to Alhaitham’s lungs, cuts Kaveh off. He recoils in confusion.
“I’m—” Alhaitham wheezes, eyes widening as his body panics. He coughs, hacks, fingers shaking as he falls forward, hand buried in the fabric of his shirt.
Kaveh gets to his knees immediately. “Don’t you dare tell me you’re fine.” Kaveh’s hands tremble, coming to rest on Alhaitham’s back.
But Alhaitham is unable to respond. His throat spasms, muscles bunching as he fights for air. Kaveh watches in abject horror as petals begin to tumble from Alhaitham’s lips, then whole flowers, as his eyes water and nose drips with snot.
“Archons.” Kaveh whispers, listlessly. His mind comes to a screeching halt, gut dropping in sheer horror. Fear for Alhaitham, as he twists, in violent pain, on the sheets.
The attack eventually comes to a finale, leaving Alhaitham pale and haggard, dark circles frighteningly prominent. A pin could be heard in the silence afterwards.
Alhaitham wipes his bloodied lips, streaking red across his face. Kaveh stares. And stares. And stares. Until a broken sob drops into the already fragile air.
Alhaitham stares back, absorbing the sound Kaveh makes with his brows furrowed. The heaviness in his eyes—Kaveh can pinpoint it now. It’s grief.
“How—” Kaveh’s breath hitches, and he scrubs at his eyes. He cups Alhaitham’s chin with a tender hand, waiting for him to pull away. When he doesn’t, Kaveh gently rubs the stains from his skin, lips wobbling. “Who?” He’s breathless, angry. “Who?” He demands. “Who is making you suffer like this?”
Kaveh glances at the heap of blooms nestled on the bed. They’re an array of colours. An array of meanings. Red gol-e sorkh for love, yellow narges for longing, and purple sonbol for sorrow. Flowers representing an unrequited love. A single bough of gysophila lay stark against Kaveh’s knee.
He takes a minute to process.
Love everlasting.
Kaveh fights against his swell of emotions rather valiantly. Especially when Alhaitham watches him carefully, as if waiting for the moment he unravels.
He shakes his head. This isn’t about him. Whoever it is…whoever is making Alhaitham sick, whoever is killing him—!
“Azizam,” Kaveh’s voice trembles. He’s quiet, subdued. “Please. Who is it? How do I fix you? What can I do?”
Alhaitham blinks at him, hand midway to his face as if to stifle a cough. But it never comes. “What did you just say?”
What an ironic turn of events.
Kaveh jolts as Alhaitham grasps his wrist, too tightly for comfort, and yanks him forward. Their noses are close enough to touch.
“What…can I do?”
Alhaitham’s eyes flash dangerously as they share a breath.
“No.”
Kaveh stays silent, witnessing the way Alhaitham’s pupils dilate. He’s suddenly very aware that he’s still naked, with evidence of their intimacy still staining his skin.
“No?” Kaveh repeats. “You don’t want me to do anything?” His voice increases in volume. “I’m not about to sit here and watch you die, you arrogant bastard! I’m in love with you!” Kaveh flips the grip Alhaitham has on his wrist, pinning his hand to the bed instead. “Tell me who it is, for archons’ sake! I’ll drag them here myse—mf?!”
Alhaitham pulls away after silencing him with a kiss. Kaveh should be unnerved by the lingering taste of iron, but all he can register is Alhaitham’s blinding smile.
By the sages, he should do that more often.
Alhaitham cups his face with tender, worshipping, hands. His thumbs brush the tops of his cheeks, and Kaveh’s retort shrivels up on his tongue.
Alhaitham observes him like a devout follower. As if Kaveh has hung the stars and the moon and the sun, and breathed life into his lungs.
“This will be the only time I admit to my stupidity.” He muses. And Kaveh’s mind struggles to keep up with such an indifferent remark, because isn’t he dying? “All this time I thought…”
“…Huh?”
“Habibi,” Alhaitham murmurs, sincerity dripping from his tone. His voice is still hoarse, but no longer raw. As if the flowers in his chest were beginning to dissipate. “I love you, too.”
Epilogue:
If you were to tell Kaveh, just a few months ago, that Alhaitham desired him mind, body, and soul—he would have laughed you straight out of Lambad’s. Ordered you a drink, first, and then laughed you out of Lambad’s.
Even as he sits, wrapped in Alhaitham’s arms as the scribe reads a heavy tome aloud to him—he thinks he’s crazy.
The love that Kaveh had buried in his heart for years, was the very same that had almost taken Alhaitham from him.
“We really need to work on our communication.” Kaveh mutters darkly, interrupting him. “I can’t believe you were going to let yourself keel over rather than confess.”
Alhaitham raises a brow, amusement evident in the way the corners of his mouth tilt up. “I had things under control.”
Kaveh whirls on him, yanking him forward by his cape. “Moron.” He hisses. “Insufferable buffoon.”
Alhaitham’s fingers trail lazily across Kaveh’s temple, down to his lips. His gaze is soft in a way that Kaveh is still not used to. But it is a look he intimately craves.
Kaveh sighs, catching Alhaitham’s retreating hand and pressing a chaste kiss to his palm.
Alhaitham makes a small noise of consideration. “Yes, but I’m your buffoon.” Then, he tosses Kaveh off his lap. “Now get up, we’re going to be late.”
Kaveh squawks in irritation. “Do you have to be so difficult?!”
They continue to bicker as they head for the door. They’ve plans to meet with Cyno and Tighnari at the tavern for dinner.
“The sooner we get there, the sooner we can come home.” He states, infuriatingly casually.
Kaveh blushes. Home. Their home.
“You’re flushed. Are you having dirty thoughts?”
Kaveh shoves him out the door.