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“Before playing your second to last card, you must say Sumer-uno,” Alhaitham recites.
“I did!” Kaveh protests, flinging his arm wide and nearly knocking over his goblet of wine. “Don't you dare try to sabotage me when I'm about to win!”
“You did not,” Alhaitham presses. He turns the page of his book, not even looking at his cards. “You always forget. That's why you never win.”
“Your noise suppression must be turned up too high,” Kaveh accuses, jabbing a vicious finger at Alhaitham's headset. “Judge? Ruling!”
Cyno shakes his head slowly. “I didn't hear it, Kaveh. Draw four.”
“Nariii, they're ganging up on me again,” Kaveh whines, tugging at Tighnari's elbow. “Do something!”
Tighnari chuckles, his smile fond as his tail swishes in a lazy rhythm. “What do you expect me to do? Those are the rules, Kaveh.”
Kaveh glowers at Alhaitham as he draws four cards, then downs his wine in one gulp.
The four partners sit around the cozy table, indulging in games and drinks at the end of the week, as they do every week they can.
It takes effort to carve time out of their busy lives to see each other, but they manage. Tighnari left Collei in charge of patrol duties for the evening, with the assistance of Amir and the dogs. He's only a dusk bird message away should a medical emergency arise. Cyno completed his leg of the case he's investigating, and his junior Nabil is capable of cataloging and filing the evidence he left him with. Kaveh is between projects at the moment, which is why he's thrown himself so passionately into the antique card game Madam Faruzan graced him with. He needs a win the most, although the others aren't going to make it easy for him.
Alhaitham is the only one with a consistent weekend, since he refuses to work a single minute of overtime, even as Acting Grand Sage. Game nights happen on his schedule, at his house, and they end precisely when he decides it's time to go to bed. Everything must follow routine, and he refuses to change it for anyone.
“It's no use kicking me underneath the table,” Alhaitham comments as he plays his next card. “I did not write the rulebook, nor did I impede your ability to adhere to it. In fact, I thought this game to be less complicated than Genius Invokation, Theater Mechanicus, Liyue Millennial, Inazuman Go, Sumepoly–”
“I despise game nights at Alhaitham's,” Kaveh complains loudly, drowning out Alhaitham's droning. “He's so insufferably pedantic about the rules! It's the absolute worst! Cyno, darling, when your turn is up, can you fetch me another bottle from his pantry? Mine is fresh out, and I simply cannot deal with this man sober!”
“Oh, if you're going that way anyway,” Tighnari adds, pushing his plate gently into Cyno's waiting hands, “Can you grab us some more snacks?”
Cyno makes a small noise of assent. Dutifully, he rises from his seat and pads barefoot into the kitchen.
“I don't have any Dendro,” Tighnari clucks his tongue, drawing a fresh card from the pile. “Oh, Elemental Reaction! Alright, let's change the element to... Pyro!”
“Bastard,” Kaveh seethes, turning his ire on Tighnari. “You know I don't have any Pyro cards.”
Tighnari's smile turns smug as he settles his chin in his palm, and points to the deck. “Well, guess you're gonna have to draw one, then, aren't you?”
A flustered Kaveh mutters a string of colorful curses under his breath as he draws another card.
And another.
And another.
Cyno returns to his seat and plunks a full wine bottle next to Kaveh's empty goblet, and a plate of fried panipuri with the dipping sauce between himself and Tighnari. He raises an eyebrow at Kaveh's growing frustration, then glances at Tighnari and Alhaitham's matching smirks.
“Ah,” is all Cyno says.
He moves to refill Kaveh's cup, but a tipsy Kaveh snatches the bottle from Cyno's hands and takes a direct swig.
“Come on, come on, give me a Pyro already,” Kaveh demands as he wipes his mouth on his sleeve, watching his hand of cards grow ever-larger. “Wh– Seriously, still?”
Alhaitham snorts.
“I don't want to hear it from you!” Kaveh screeches. “There, finally, a Pyro! I'm in last place now, are you not entertained by my suffering? Does my fall from grace not bring sadistic joy to your shriveled, miserable heart?”
“You can still make a comeback, at least,” Tighnari offers, popping a ball of panipuri into his mouth. “It's never too late.”
“Well,” Alhaitham remarks, playing his Reverse card. “A dramatic turnabout seems unlikely at this juncture. Also: Sumer-uno.”
He returns to his book, unconcerned with the outcome of the game. He usually wins, anyway.
“I'm going to kill him,” Kaveh says serenely, staring down at the discard pile. “Cyno, I don't care if you arrest me afterward for assassinating the de facto leader of our nation. I want the gratification of ending this man. Don't try and stop me.”
“Been there,” Cyno replies with mild amusement, faint smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “However, I believe it's your turn. Again. The Reverse card reverses the direction of play, so you must–”
“Yes, thank you,” Kaveh grits out, beginning the hateful process of drawing cards. “Contrary to popular belief, I am aware of the rules of the game! You needn't remind me!”
Alhaitham leans back in his chair, satisfaction written in the relaxed lines of his posture. He touches a finger to his headset, preemptively raising the volume to take the edge off the unholy noise Kaveh is about to make.
“Then you should have said Sumer-uno when you had the chance.”
Later that evening, hours after the table has been flipped upright again and Madam Faruzan's cards collected and put away, Alhaitham lays awake under his covers and replays the night's events in his mind. Cyno has thrown a possessive arm around Alhaitham's waist, hugging him close in his sleep. Kaveh is sprawled out on his other side, long legs tangled up in Alhaitham's as he moves restlessly in the throes of a dream. The press of their bodies is too warm, but Alhaitham does not move.
Tighnari pads into the darkness of the room with a pitcher of water and four drinking glasses, which he leaves on the nightstand for anyone who needs them. His knowing eyes gleam in the shadows as he finds Alhaitham.
“On or off?” Tighnari whispers.
Alhaitham considers. “Off,” he decides solemnly, allowing Tighnari to remove his noise canceling headphones and place them within his reach on the stand.
“See you in the morning, then,” Tighnari murmurs. With a creak of the mattress, he crawls under the covers to nestle against Kaveh's side, then curls his bushy tail over all four of them. “Good night.”
Alhaitham closes his eyes and listens to the peaceful rise and fall of his partners' breathing. Most nights he sleeps alone, comfortable and quiet, or with the steady rush of white noise drowning out ambient sounds. It is a routine only disrupted on those nights when the trio stay over. They can be loud and vibrant, and they take up too much space, and Alhaitham knows he is unlikely to sleep at all.
Still, Alhaitham does not complain about their company. This, too, is a part of his life that he refuses to change.