Chapter Text
There were perhaps a few things that Alhaitham would have done differently today, had he known that it would have led up to this.
Firstly, he would not have agreed to meet Kaveh in the House of Daena to help him find a book. That was not part of his job as Scribe- they hired librarians for a reason. Kaveh would have doubtlessly made a fuss about Alhaitham's refusal for no reason, despite there being perfectly valid reasons, but that would have been tolerable instead of what had happened.
Secondly, he would have pulled Kaveh away the moment Kaveh recognised one of his Kshahrewar juniors. Unsurprisingly, the two had immediately started going into an in depth discussion on the latest developments in technology, completely forgetting Alhaitham's existence. But that was fine- Alhaitham just stood by the side and listened to the music on his headphones while leaning against a wall comfortably. That part was fine. The problem was what came after.
Kaveh's junior had invited Kaveh to have a look at his final year project, a machine that would allow telepathy between two individuals. That was not particularly revolutionary, given that the Akasha had those functions, but given that the Akasha had been down for months and this machine purportedly was not dependent on the Akasha's systems, it was a decent research project. That too was fine. But Alhaitham had allowed himself to be dragged (at Kaveh's insistence) along to view the project, to give some suggestions as a former Acting Grand Sage.
As though it was even under the Acting Grand Sage's purview, former or otherwise, to look at final year projects.
But whatever. That was the third mistake.
Alhaitham watched silently over Kaveh's shoulder as Kaveh examined the machine, asking questions about it which his junior eagerly answered. Alhaitham frowned. Even though he had not been from Kshahrewar, he had a rather decent knowledge of how such consciousness-related gadgets worked. That was how he had modified his Akasha terminal, after all. And something about it did not seem quite right.
His final mistake was not realising that Kaveh's finger had been dangerously close to the button.
"And so when you press the button," the junior was saying, "It will-"
"Which button?" Kaveh asked, moving his thumb ever so slightly and there was a click as his finger made contact.
As the machine combusted and Alhaitham felt his vision go white, he could only think- four mistakes. But hindsight was 20/20, and Alhaitham was no seer.
---
Alhaitham opened his eyes with a groan.
Well, for one thing, it was good that he was still alive.
It would have been rather unfortunate if he just died like that. Not that he had any ambitions or unfulfilled wishes in particular, but still, it would be a rather stupid way to die, and would put all his efforts to lead a not-stupid life all this time to waste.
He could hear the quiet beeping of a machine and could see a fan slowly spin overhead against cream green ceiling.
They must have been brought to Bimarstan.
Everything was so peaceful and quiet. That was nice. Usually without his headphones blaring music into his ears all day and night long, he would be overwhelmed with the sounds and chaos of his mind-
Wait.
It was too quiet.
Alhaitham frowned. Something was... off here.
He pushed himself up to a seating position, but for some reason he felt a lot weaker than usual- had the explosion taken more out of him than expected?
And that was when he looked down, and realised that he was wearing Kaveh's clothes.
Immediately, his mind came to life- what in Teyvat was happening here? There were close to no reasonable explanations for why he would be put in Kaveh's clothes-
As he shook his head, trying to clear his mind, he noticed a weight at a back of his head that he was unaccustomed to, something heavy hanging there.
Pursing his lips, Alhaitham reached for his fringe, brushing some of the hair to fall right in front of his eyes.
They were blond.
A very familiar shade of dirty blond.
"This... shouldn't be possible," Alhaitham murmured, and sure enough, it came out in Kaveh's voice.
Sucking in a deep breath, Alhaitham steadied himself and tried to be rational about this.
They (or Kaveh, more specifically) had been fiddling with a machine that was meant to enable telepathy.
The machine in question had exploded, releasing some sort of wave strong enough to instantly knock Alhaitham out.
And Alhaitham was now in Kaveh's body.
Conclusion: They must have swapped their consciousness, and were displaced from their own bodies.
Alhaitham sighed as he yanked the curtain separating the beds aside, revealing his own body lying on the neighbouring bed, as expected.
It was entirely surreal, to see his own body lying there. It was quite the out-of-body-experience.
With morbid curiosity, Alhaitham pushed himself off the bed and took a step closer to his own body.
Had he always been that tall? He had always known that he was tall, but he never really felt tall- he always felt normal-sized, because that was the only sample size he managed to experience, but looking at how his legs were almost hanging off the edge of the hospital bed, he seemed to be quite tall.
Fascinating.
Alhaitham took another step closer, when he caught sight of his vision hanging off his jacket.
It was... grey.
Alhaitham's eyes flew open in alarm, as he whirled around to check Kaveh's own vision which hung at his hip.
Kaveh's vision was lit.
Wait.
If Kaveh was not in his body, then... where was Kaveh?
Was Kaveh dead?
Surely not. It could not be. That was unthinkable, but how else could he explain this? The only logical explanation was that Kaveh was dead, but at the same time it could not be possible because Kaveh could not possibly be dead-
Archons above, stop panicking, I am not dead! Yet! But I will be if you hyperventilate and kill us both... Urgh, what's the point? You can't hear me anyway-
Alhaitham swallowed.
"Kaveh?" he called out quietly, into the empty space.
-can't believe this happened, how is this even possible? And now I'm stuck yelling into the void where no one can hear me-
"Kaveh?" Alhaitham repeated in disbelief.
Wait why are you calling out my name... Can you hear me?
"Yes," Alhaitham said, blinking.
Oh thank the archons. I have been trying to get your attention ever since we woke up! Kaveh's voice resounded in his mind.
Alhaitham quickly redid all the calculations in his head, looking between his own body and the greyed out vision. He let out a heavy sigh. "So now we're both stuck in your body," Alhaitham mused aloud, "But why is it that I am in control?"
I don't know. I've been trying to take control but it doesn't work , Kaveh muttered in his head. I can't believe this happened to us! What if we're stuck like this forever? I don't want to be stuck in my own head and only hear your annoying thoughts for the rest of my life-
"Calm down," Alhaitham said, lightly knocking himself in the temple twice with his fist. "Let me try relinquishing control."
Alhaitham lay back down on the bed and closed his eyes as tried to conjure up the sensation of floating, trying to disconnect and dissociate from this body's senses. His mind entered a nice peaceful lull, but when after awhile, he thought of wriggling his fingers, Kaveh's fingers still followed his will.
"It doesn't work," Alhaitham said, blinking his eyes open.
Oh archons, this is bad, what are we going to do...
"Obviously," Alhaitham said, raising an eyebrow, "We are going to go to the source of the problem. The machine."
Right, the machine! But it exploded, so how are we going to use it? Kaveh fretted.
"We will figure it out once we get there," Alhaitham said, "Maybe push the button again, even though it is ill-advised to press anything that has not been properly tested."
I did not press it on purpose! It was an accident, my hand slipped! Kaveh protested loudly in Alhaitham's mind. Or was it technically Kaveh's mind? To be more precise, perhaps it was their shared mind.
"It's still your fault," Alhaitham declared, walking over to the other bed. He regarded his body for a moment. This... might be difficult.
What are you planning to do?
"I will need to carry my body over too. We wouldn't want to displace my consciousness somewhere else when the machine explodes again," Alhaitham said, humming slightly to himself as he tried to figure out how the logistics of it would work.
A bridal carry? Or should he carry his body on Kaveh's back? Would Kaveh have the requisite arm or back strength for either options?
Why do you always assume that I'm not strong enough? That is offensive, Kaveh complained with a snort.
"I do not need to assume, I know," Alhaitham answered.
Also, if you keep answering aloud you're going to make me look like a lunatic. Can you try and answer me mentally instead? I can hear your thoughts, after all.
Very well. That was a fair request.
Alhaitham turned back to focus on the matter at hand. He decided to attempt a bridal carry first, since Kaveh was so confident of his arm strength.
I'm not, I just said it was offensive to assume-
Alhaitham leaned over and carefully positioned one of Kaveh's hands underneath his knees, and the other at his lower back, and tried to straighten up to a standing position.
Emphasis on tried, because his body did not budge at all.
Well.
It's not me, Kaveh responded with a self-righteous tone, You're just heavy.
Sure. If that was Kaveh wished to believe, they could go with that.
Alhaitham clenched his teeth as he tried to stand up again. This time, he managed to hover the body a few inches above the bed, but it felt like death.
Was this how Kaveh went through life? Without being able to carry anything?
I can carry things , Kaveh protested, Again, you're just heavy! Those muscles of yours carry weight, you know?
"At least those muscles would have been more useful in this situation," Alhaitham said through gritted teeth, as he tried to hold his own body up, but ultimately just set it back down with a heavy exhale. This was not going to work out. He was going to try the piggyback method.
Very carefully, Alhaitham draped his two lifeless hands over the shoulders of Kaveh's body which he currently occupied, and grabbed his body's thighs as he slowly stood up.
Oof.
That was... something.
But at least this was not as bad.
Alhaitham was still internally dying and externally wheezing from the weight on his back, but it was certainly better than the bridal carry attempt.
Kaveh really should work out more.
You are very welcome to go work out right now, I wouldn't mind-
"Kaveh? What... What are you doing?" a familiar voice called out.
Alhaitham raised his head slowly to meet Tighnari's extremely confused eyes.
Uh oh.
Damn it.
Should we tell him? Kaveh fretted.
Do you want to? Alhaitham thought.
"Are you supposed to be hauling an unconscious person around like that?" Tighnari continued, wrinkling his nose. "Like seriously, what are you doing?"
Just... make an excuse or something! It's too complicated to try and explain anyways, Kaveh decided. And it's embarassing too.
Alhaitham pursed his lips. I would like to remind you , Alhaitham thought grimly, this is all your fault.
Alhaitham set his own body back onto the bed, sighing heavily once the weight left his shoulders. With as much dignity he could muster, he straightened up and said, "I was carrying him."
"Yes, I can see that," Tighnari said faintly, nodding to himself. He took a step closer. "What happened? I heard there was an accident at the Akademiya, and the both of you became unconscious. I just spoke with your doctor, actually- he said that your vital signs are both fine, and it's just a matter of waking up."
"A research project exploded in our faces," Alhaitham said.
Tighnari waited expectantly.
Elaborate, Alhaitham, I always elaborate!
"It was a research project by a final year Kshahrewar student," Alhaitham added.
Not like that, Kaveh bemoaned, I would never describe things like that! You make it sound so clinical!
Alhaitham snorted aloud. I don't elaborate unless necessary, he thought.
Kaveh groaned loudly. But you're supposed to be me now, not you!
"Are you... alright, Kaveh?" Tighnari asked, his ears twitching slightly, "You are acting rather oddly right now. Should I be worried about a head injury?"
"I'm fine. Thank you for visiting, but I should be on my way now," Alhaitham said, moving to re-attempt to carry himself.
"I really don't think you should be moving Alhaitham around- Oh dear, what happened to his Vision?” Tighnari gasped, “Is he dead?"
"He is breathing," Alhaitham pointed out.
"Yes, but you know what dead visions mean!" Tighnari said, his eyes wide with concern. "How long has this been? Was his Vision lit just now before I entered? The doctor said he should be fine, though-"
"Then the doctor is an idiot for not noticing the dead vision from the moment we were admitted," Alhaitham said briskly, continuing to try and carry his body once more as Tighnari stood there, his hands at his mouth in shock.
Have some compassion, Alhaitham, he thinks you're dead! Kaveh said. Quick, think of something!
"I'll... I'll go call for the doctor again-"
"Not necessary," Alhaitham said sharply. This was not a biological issue that could be resolved with medicine- it was a problem created by technology that he would have to solve by technology. And the fewer unrelated people knew about this incident, the better. It would be a ton of paperwork if news of this ever got back to the Akademiya.
Tighnari gaped at him. "Alhaitham might be dead and you're just-"
"He’s fine,” Alhaitham said. He spoke as he always did, the flatness in his tone conveying firmness, but while it sounded normal for Alhaitham's voice it sounded entirely out of place with Kaveh's, making him sound unnaturally cold.
“How do you know for sure?” Tighnari asked, still distraught and so terribly confused, his eyes darting rapidly between Alhaitham, his body being held upright on the bed, and back at Alhaitham again.
I know what you're thinking, Alhaitham, don't do it, don't do it-
“It's because I am Alhaitham, and I am not dead," Alhaitham answered.