Chapter Text
Soundtrack - Fallin’ (Why Don’t We)
“But you haven’t heard the best part!” Cyno laughs, spreading his arms, beer nearly sloshing from his glass. “Then he goes, ‘you’re friends with them, right? I saw them at the tavern once. And another time at the cafe. Actually, I think I saw them once at the Grand Bazaar, too. The architect guy, he's always talking in a hushed tone — I guess he doesn't want people to hear, but uh… Do you think they might be dating, Cyno?’”
Sitting next to him, Tighnari begins wheezing. Kaveh can’t help himself but stare at Cyno with an open mouth, eyes wide in disbelief. “Are you kidding me?”
“I know right?” Cyno pinches the bridge of his nose. “Seriously, sometimes I wonder what goes on in that kid's brain.”
Alhaitham turns the page of his book. “Is he even still a kid? I thought he was the leader of the Temple of Silence.”
Cyno shrugs. “If Sethos starts asking after the relationship of one of the most prominent couples of Sumeru like it’s some kept secret, yes, I start treating him like a kid.”
“So what did you say?” Kaveh inquires, leaning in.
The smirk on Cyno’s face confirms his suspicions. “I acted all shocked of course. Pretended to have no clue what he was talking about.”
Alhaitham huffs out a laugh through his nose, Tighnari once again falling into a fit of silent laughter. Kaveh just smiles, observing their little group with a hint of pride.
It’s been a journey to get here, all of them comfortably together, but he feels like they really got it now. Even Alhaitham seems to look forward to the evenings out with the other couple, a trust established between them Kaveh doesn’t think could ever be broken.
Cyno reaches for his bag. “A round of TCG anyone?”
“Wow,” Alhaitham’s voice is dry. “You really can’t let a single silence fall without filling it with that game, can you?”
Kaveh doesn’t hesitate to shove an elbow in Alhaitham’s side. “Ignore him. He’s just pissy Nahida rejected his resignation again.”
Cyno, fortunately, does not seem to take the quip to heart, taking a sip from his beer. “I don’t think you’ll ever be rid of the position, Alhaitham.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” the former scribe grumbles, closing his book with a soft snap. “The longer I stay, the more likely the position is to become permanent. A year is long enough, I’m done.”
“Then what’s the holdup?” Tighnari questions, swirling his wine in his glass.
The groan Alhaitham lets out seems to come from somewhere very deep within. “In the beginning, stability. The Akademiya couldn’t handle another shift that soon. But right now, we can’t find a suitable replacement. Nahida has been walking the dreams of the candidates, and she hasn’t liked what she found.”
When he doesn’t tack anything else on, Kaveh laughs. “What he’s not saying is that he’s suspicious that Nahida just doesn’t like the candidates because she prefers having Alhaitham at her beck and call.”
Cyno laughs. Alhaitham just glares at him. “Say it louder, why don’t you? It would be great if all of Sumeru City is gossiping about the Acting Grand Sage not trusting the Archon.”
Kaveh glares right back. “You’re the one who just said that, not me. What if anybody heard you?”
“I’m not the one talking loud enough for anybody to listen in on.”
“Oh, you absolute fucki—”
“Okay,” Tighnari interrupts sharply. “The last thing we need is you two at each other’s throats.”
Kaveh blinks, looking up at the other couple. Frankly, he would not call the interaction they just had ‘at each other’s throats’. He’d hardly call it bickering. But it seems that, even after nearly a year, Tighnari and Cyno still aren’t quite used to the fact that this is just how he and Alhaitham interact.
He sighs, splaying his hands onto the table placatingly. “Fine. I’ll drop it. How about that game of TCG, Cyno? I’ll play you.”
He’ll certainly lose, but that doesn’t matter. Tighnari sends him a grateful smile and Alhaitham sighs, pushing his chair back. “I need some more wine for this.” After all, they all know he won’t be able to help himself once he sees Kaveh’s piss poor strategies and will wind up helping him out.
By the time he returns, drinks for all of them in hand, Kaveh is already one card down and unsure of how to proceed. Alhaitham holds out fairly well but still gives him pointers from time to time, chatting quietly with Tighnari all the while.
It’s a mere ten minutes later that Kaveh loses dramatically and has to get up to buy Cyno another drink in victory, even if the one Alhaitham got him is only half down. It’s when he gets back that he notices the book still on the table.
Alhaitham, unlike any other time they’ve been here before, hasn’t picked it back up, still fully engrossed in the conversation.
Kaveh smiles.
Nearly a year down the line, things seem quite the same at first glance. But for those who know where to look, everything has changed.
And he happens to quite like the direction they’re going in.
➹➷➹➷➹➷
“Lift your arms for me.”
With a sigh, Kaveh does as asked, frowning at Tighnari. “Do you really plan doing this for every one of our ruts, Nari? Isn’t it Collei’s dorm moving day today?”
Tighnari tosses him a sharp look, tracing his fingers over the faint scratches on Kaveh’s sides. They’re not any worse than they usually are, seeing as Alhaitham had purposefully clipped his nails before his rut began. “I will as long as you guys remain dumb enough to spend your ruts together.”
Alhaitham, also only in his underwear, leans against the kitchen counter with his arms crossed. Tighnari had checked him first. “How do you even differentiate between what are normal and abnormal marks? We have a tendency to mark each other all the time.”
That earns him an eye roll. “Oh, I know, because you two assholes have a habit of showing your bites and bruises off like it’s some type of possession game. Which is also why I precisely know what that usually looks like.” His eyes focus back on Kaveh. “Any unusual soreness? Pain anywhere?”
“Nari, I’m fine,” Kaveh says, pitching his voice down. “You spend Cyno’s ruts with him, don’t you?”
“I’m a beta,” Tighnari drones like he’s explaining something so obvious it shouldn’t need to be said. “I’m biologically wired to be unobtrusive, unnoticed. My presence doesn’t trigger any instinctual reactions.”
“Neither does mine! Our instincts are really fine with each other.” Kaveh flails his hands. “There really is nothing dangerous about spending our ruts together.”
Tighnari looks at him like he’s a child who got caught doing something stupid. “Are you telling me that the time when, biologically , an alpha’s aggression levels are raised towards other alphas is not dangerous for you to willingly insert yourself in? No pun intended.”
“Not towards other alphas,” Alhaitham calmly corrects. “Towards threats. And my instincts do not consider Kaveh a threat.”
“As your doctor, your semantics are not comforting, Alhaitham,” Tighnari replies, clipped. “So yes, Kaveh, as your friend, I’m going to inspect you both every time.”
It seems he means to end the conversation there, but Alhaitham doesn’t let him. “Maybe you’ve found in your experience that Cyno becomes more aggressive in his ruts, but neither me nor Kaveh have ever been that intense. It’s been four cycles and we’ve never triggered true instinctual aggression towards each other.”
Tighnari’s top lip peels back into a snarl, eyes flashing dangerously. “Do not use this argument to make a dig at my boyfriend, Grand Sage.”
“I did not mean to,” Alhaitham placates. “I was merely stating a hypothesis. Perhaps Cyno, who, in general, is used to more physical activity, is simply a little more physical during his ruts than us. Again, neither me nor Kaveh are ever truly aggressive.”
“Bullshit.” Though Tighnari’s shoulders have lowered, his tone remains equally sharp. “Have you seen how either of you responds when your other half is being flirted with by a stranger?”
“That’s possessive, not aggressive.”
Tighnari’s hand curls into a fist, likely to stop himself from slapping Alhaitham across the face. “Again, fucking semantics.”
“Okay, okay,” Kaveh inserts himself before this can truly evolve into an argument. “I think we’re thoroughly getting off track here. Nari, I’m fine. Alhaitham didn’t hurt me. And the only reason we’re bringing all of this up is because we care about you. You should be with Cyno and Collei right now, helping her move into her dorm, not with us.”
His best friend sighs. “You, I get that.” He points a finger towards Alhaitham. “Him, he’s just arguing with me because he doesn’t like people in his space.”
At that, Kaveh lets out a laugh. If Alhaitham didn’t want Tighnari here, he’d have long since kicked him out. Hell, two years ago, he would have done precisely that. “Trust me, it’s not. This is exactly how he also argues with me when he thinks I’m doing something incredibly stupid.”
“I don’t know if that is reassuring or whether that just makes me more worried about your relationship.”
There is a beat of silence, after which Alhaitham heaves a precise breath. “Nari, I’m not being petty.”
Kaveh can spot Tighnari’s ear twitch at the fact that this is the first time ever Alhaitham has used that nickname for him. Alhaitham continues. “I genuinely appreciate the fact that you’re taking time out of your day to check up on us like this. But I implore you to trust me, trust Kaveh, to know what we’re doing. And trust that if anything ever does go wrong, you will be the first person we inform. And then you can yell at us all you want and you won’t hear a peep of protest.”
Gods, Kaveh knows that utterly surprised stare Tighnari is giving Alhaitham. It is exactly how he felt, the first time Alhaitham started showing genuine concern for him after their reconciliation. It’s a powerful feeling, to have someone as upfront and honest as Alhaitham directly state his care and intentions.
Tighnari’s ears twitch once, twice, and then his shoulders lower. “Okay.”
Alhaitham’s intense gaze remains on the Valuka Shuna. “Thank you.”
Kaveh helps him gather his equipment, Alhaitham shrugging on a shirt. All packed and ready, Tighnari’s two-toned eyes flicker worriedly between the two of them. “I still don’t like this.”
“I know,” Kaveh sighs, wrapping his arms around his best friend in what he hopes is a consolidation. “But thank you for trusting us.”
“Promise me that if something ever does go wrong, you’ll call upon me immediately.”
Kaveh grins. “Like I’ve ever been able to keep anything from you.”
Tighnari’s nose wrinkles at the thought of all the secrets Kaveh, drunk or sober, has accidentally told him. “True. You two are still coming to Collei’s celebration tonight, right?”
To Kaveh’s surprise, it’s Alhaitham who nods first. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
They say their goodbyes after which Tighnari hurriedly leaves. It seems that, now that his concern for his friends is abated, he can’t wait another second before he runs towards Collei. Kaveh sighs as the door falls shut.
“He worries too much.”
Surprising him for the second time in a handful of minutes, Alhaitham shrugs. “I think it’s nice.”
For a moment, Kaveh stares at him blankly before bursting into a smile, Voice teasing, he prods his fingers against Alhaitham’s chest. “Did you just say Tighnari’s pestering is nice? Who are you and what have you done with Alhaitham?”
“Shut up.” With a slight glare, Alhaitham knocks his hand aside. “I know you’ve had friendships like this all your life, but this is a first for me, okay? Other than you, I’ve never had friends care about me like this, it’s nice.”
If Kaveh were a little less observant, he’d have continued to tease him. Maybe he’d say something about this being the first time Alhaitham has referred to either Cyno or Tighanri as his friend too, rather than Kaveh’s friends. But when he spots the soft, pensive shadow overcasting Alhaitham’s eyes, he says no such thing, instead wrapping his arms affectionately around Alhaitham’s waist.
“Yeah. It is nice.”
➹➷➹➷➹➷
Alhaitham has had a rough day.
Not only did Nahida once again reject his resignation note, claiming that the replacement he’d picked by far wasn’t up to standard — which, frankly, is entirely true but Alhaitham is so damn done with this job he’s stopped caring — but his assistant Ameya was out sick with the flu and her replacement by far wasn’t as adept at keeping all the insistent scholars out.
And then, to top it all off, he came to realise that, in the process of tumbling into bed with Kaveh the night prior, he forgot to charge the battery of his headphones.
They miserably die on him during his last meeting, and he spends the last twenty minutes trying to read the lips of sages who have their faces half turned away from him, trying not to get immensely overstimulated by all the noise coming at him at once.
By the time he gets home, he’s in a piss poor mood. Kaveh is in the kitchen, fluttering about the stove, four plates set out on the table. For a moment, he stares at it in confusion before it clicks that, right, Cyno and Tighnari are coming over tonight.
Nearly here actually, he realises as he looks at the clock. He’s quite a bit later than usual, his meeting having ran late.
“Haitham?”
At least their house is quiet, the words not getting lost in a sea of noise. His hearing is shaky at best right now, and Kaveh shouldn’t move from the kitchen to the living room, but it’s good enough to understand what’s being said.
“What are you holding your headphones for?”
Alhaitham looks down at the device dangling from his fingertips. “The battery died.”
He sees the wince on Kaveh’s face and understands why it occurs. With having guests tonight, the likelihood of the noise becoming too much for him without the noise filtering is significant.
However, he thinks to himself, these are not just any guests. This is Cyno and Tighnari. And somehow, that makes it a lot less terrible.
Kaveh is still talking. “—can send them a note to come a little later?”
Alhaitham laughs. “And have it arrive when they’re three streets away from here?” It’s not ideal, but it’ll be fine. He smiles at Kaveh, heart warming at the concern he finds bleeding into him. “I’ll be okay. Tighnari and Cyno are understanding people. They’re not too loud and know to look at me when they talk. I’ll manage without for a bit.”
He doesn’t have to charge them all the way anyway. Just enough to make it through the evening.
He drops the headphones off to charge in the bedroom and ducks into the bathroom to have a quick shower. By the time he re-emerges, feeling a little less unsettled now that he’s washed and wearing fresh clothes, the strong scent of cactus blossoms, lined lightly by the more gentle smell of lemongrass, drifts through the house.
They’re here.
By now, it’s not odd to have the house smelling like the four of them. Long gone are the days that Alhaitham, intentionally or not, purged the entire house of Cyno’s scent, so used to it now that it hardly bothers him anymore. It would be rather inconvenient if he did; they spend about as much time here as they do at Lambad’s or at Tighnari’s house.
He heads back towards the kitchen, their voices blending together into a wall of sound. He grits his teeth, wondering if perhaps he’s overestimated his own ability to make it through this without the headphones.
When he rounds the corner, Cyno immediately turns to him and says something Alhaitham can’t quite catch. From the way the General Mahamatra smiles right after and Tighnari’s pronounced eye roll, he supposes it was some shitty joke.
“Sorry, I can’t quite hear you at the moment.” He gestures to his ears and the distinct lack of headphones. “The battery died a little while ago.”
‘Oh, I didn’t notice,’ he can see Cyno say, eyes flickering between him and Kaveh — used to Kaveh providing a sign language translation for Alhaitham. Kaveh quirks an eyebrow at him, a silent question of whether or not he needs translating. Alhaitham shakes his head with a soft laugh.
“It’ll be charged in approximately thirty minutes,” he says out loud. “In the meantime just don’t mind m—”
The words die in his throat. Because in the middle of his sentence, Cyno has turned towards him and, with a look of utmost concentration, begins to sign something.
His fingers are clumsy, the shapes and movements imprecise and not quite accurate, but Alhaitham can read it all the same.
“Hello. How are you today?”
Something explodes inside his chest, warm and surprised and sudden. It shakes him with the force of it, an affection towards a friend who very clearly learned something that can only be of benefit towards Alhaitham.
For the first time in a long while, Alhaitham finds himself speechless.
Kaveh makes up for it by letting out a violent noise that is nearly a screech. “Cyno, was that what I think it was?”
A flush quickly builds on Cyno’s face, looking away. He brings up a hand to scratch at the back of his neck. “I think so? If I did it correctly?” He’s looking at Alhaitham when asking, and Alhaitham hears him speak slowly, trying to enunciate well enough that he can read along.
Something about it feels so considerate that his heart is thudding out of his chest. He can’t remember the last time someone other than Kaveh has attempted to accommodate him and his disability like this. Next to Cyno, Tighnari is looking on with a proud smile and, when he notices Alhaitham’s attention on him, signs, “Hello, my name is Tighnari.”
“Holy shit you guys,” Kaveh blurts. “What— when did you learn…?”
“We started recently,” Tighnari explains. “We figured it would be nice Alhaitham wouldn’t need to rely on you to translate if it gets too loud at Lambad’s.”
Cyno’s eyes flicker over towards him quickly before turns to his boyfriend with a slight frown, face disappearing from Alhaitham’s line of sight. All the same, they’re still close enough that he can hear it faintly when he says, “He’s not saying anything though, do you think he’s mad?”
Kaveh’s gaze slides over to him, and he seems to be asking a question. A question that Alhaitham is thinking of too, and before he can stop himself, he’s saying quietly, “I’m not mad. Not at all. Just pleasantly surprised.”
Cyno freezes. Tighnari’s eyes narrow in suspicion at Kaveh. “Did you…?”
“I didn’t do a thing,” Kaveh replies blithely. The look he shoots Alhaitham is infinitesimally proud. “That was all Haitham.”
“What,” Cyno starts but doesn’t continue.
Turning away, Tighnari angles his body so he’s just out of Alhaitham’s vision. His hand comes up in a thinking gesture, but Alhaitham knows he only does so to obscure his mouth. “Are you implying he heard us, Kaveh?”
Alhaitham sighs. “It’s not implying if I’m spelling it out for you, Tighnari.” It should, by all accounts, be more daunting to spill his longest kept secret like this, but it’s not.
“You can hear?” Cyno asks, excitement rising in his voice. “Since when? Why didn’t you tell us?”
He’s nearly shouting the last part, and it’s too much, too loud. Alhaitham can’t quite stop the full-body wince as it all blurs together in a sharp sting. “Not well. And not if you shout like that.”
Cyno’s face crumbles, just a little. “Sorry.”
It’s hard not to laugh at the way he overcorrects now, dropping to a whisper so low he certainly needs to read his lips to be sure of what he said. Alhaitham finally moves from his spot in the doorway and says with a chuckle, “Just speak normally, Cyno, I’ll catch most of it.”
“So you’ve been able to hear the whole time?” Tighnari’s voice is clipped, almost disappointed. “What was the point of all that then?” He gestures with his hand, a perfect emulation of the sign for ‘idiocy’. Somehow, Alhaitham isn’t surprised that that particular sign is the one he knows by heart.
Surprisingly, he finds he doesn’t like the idea of having disappointed the forest watcher, and he quickly shakes his head. “Like I said, not well. Only when it’s as quiet as it is now, and even then not for a long time. It gets too much or too loud very quickly. Which is why I didn’t even bother before Kaveh’s hearing aids. As for why I kept it a secret, people accommodate you easier when they think something is simply not possible. Not to mention it helps to be underestimated sometimes.”
Tighnari seemed ready to reply while he was speaking, but now he whirls onto Kaveh, eyebrow arched. “You made those headphones?”
Kaveh barks out a surprised laugh. “Uh, yeah? What, did you think they’d just come falling out of the ether?”
“But, Alhaitham had them in school.” Those two-toned eyes narrow with an emotion Alhaitham can’t quite place. “Are you telling me you made functional disability aids while you were still in school and didn’t fucking tell anybody?”
“Oh.” Kaveh awkwardly scratches the back of his neck awkwardly. “I guess so? Is that weird?”
Tighnari looks like he’s choking on something, face constipated. “Weird? I can’t— Kaveh, you could have been fucking rich with that patented. Could still be if you wanted to.”
The blush on Kaveh’s face darkens. Alhaitham laughs, thinking about several other inventions, like the quads, that the architect also never thought to patent. “Don’t start with him, he never patents anything.”
“Can we get back to the point?” Cyno asks, quietly but still mostly audible. “Alhaitham’s not fully deaf? That’s un heard of!”
Kaveh rolls his eyes, Alhaitham just quietly sighing. Tighnari reaches around the architect to deliver a rough shove to his shoulder. “One more pun like that and he’s going to wish he was deaf. I know I sure wish I was sometimes.”
“Oh come on.” It’s nearly a whine. “That one was pretty good. It was deaf- initely better than my previous ones.”
A long groan drags from Kaveh’s throat. “Kill me now.”
Cyno grins, bringing up his hands. Proudly, he signs, “I’m not sorry.”
It shouldn’t be charming. Alhaitham should stay annoyed at the terrible jokes. But seeing him sign like that, adept enough to adjust to the situation, washes the irritation away all at once.
His friends had bothered to learn sign language just for him.
How can he stay mad at that?
➹➷➹➷➹➷
With a loud groan, Kaveh tips himself backwards onto the bed, stretching his arms out above his head. After the day he’s had, being able to lay down feels like a dream.
“Ah, that is nice.”
Alhaitham, lingering by the bathroom door, towel slung around his waist, gives him a small grin. “You’re home.”
“Fucking finally, I am,” Kaveh agrees. “You’re the Grand Sage, can’t you sign off on some decree that the Light of Kshahrewar is not to be used as the showpony of the Darshan every time a foreign dignitary is in the city?”
It is, frankly, starting to become a little exhausting. At least once every month, he’s being drummed up to give the same endless tour around Sumeru, showing off his projects like most of them weren’t actively opposed by the Akademiya until they became successful.
Alhaitham snorts softly, padding over to the wardrobe and pulling on some shorts. Shame. Kaveh would have liked a longer look at his naked ass, even if he’s too exhausted to do anything about it. “Alternatively, you could just say no.”
“To the Kshahrewar Sage?” Kaveh slings an arm over his eyes, burying his face in the crook of his elbow. “I might as well rob a bank. It’ll harm my career less than saying no.”
The bed dips beside him, large warm hands deftly undoing the clips of his cloak and pushing it off his shoulders. “I could indeed forbid it.” Fingers, undoing his belt buckle. Something about the steadiness of the motion, in combination with not being able to see it, stirs some interest in Kaveh despite the tiredness. “But that would only work as long as I am actually the Grand Sage.”
“And you’ve been trying to resign for months, I know.”
Those wicked hands are undoing the button of his pants now, and, okay, if this goes on any longer, Kaveh is actually going to get hard and he does not have the energy right now. With a noise low in his throat, he hauls himself up and around, maneuvering Alhaitham until he’s laying on his back, Kaveh’s head resting on his bare chest.
Alhaitham undergoes the repositioning without protest, simply humming, “That bad?” His hands come up to card through Kaveh’s hair, plucking out the clips and dropping them on the nightstand The architect sighs, going limp under the ministrations.
“It could have been worse. I’m just tired, really. At least I ensured we had a lunch break in Gandharva Ville, so I got to spend some time with Tighnari.”
“Ah.” Alhaitham doesn’t sound surprised in the least, likely because Kaveh did the same thing the last two times. “How is he?”
“Annoyed,” Kaveh laughs, burying his face deeper into Alhaitham’s chest. He smells like Kaveh’s lavender soap and his instincts give a content rumble in the back of his head. “It’s Collei’s birthday next week and he was supposed to come spend it here in the City with her. He was supposed to sleep over at Cyno’s place but a pipe burst, so neither of them can stay there.” Kaveh shrugs. “Now, he and Cyno both need to decide if they can manage to make the walk back to Gandharva and function with that little sleep the next day, but they’re both very busy at the moment.”
For a fraction of a moment, Alhaitham freezes, before a low grumble shakes his chest. “Well, you can always invite them to sleep here.”
It takes approximately three seconds for the meaning of those words to sink into his brain before Kaveh shoots up. “What?”
Alhaitham’s brows knot up into a frown. “I’m just saying, we have a guest room free now that we always sleep together. If it’s just for the night of Collei’s birthday, it should be fine.”
Kaveh can’t help but gape at him. “No, I get that. I’d thought of the same thing.” Honestly, the offer had been on the tip of his tongue when he talked to Tighnari. But he hadn’t, for the sole reason that now sits in front of him, looking back at him like Kaveh is the one acting weird.
Hands flat against the mattress, arms stretched, he leans over Alhaitham, studying his face. “You hate having people around, and you especially hate having them invade your routine.”
Alhaitham’s lips silently form the word ‘oh’, like he’s finally catching onto what Kaveh means. And then, to Kaveh’s utter surprise, he laughs a little shakily and brings a hand to rub at the back of his neck. “Well, you’re right, but… I think Cyno and Tighnari should be fine.”
Something about the way he says it, hesitant like he’s only just figuring this out himself, has Kaveh tilt his head with a soft smile. “Are you sure?”
“I think so?” Alhaitham sighs. “I wouldn’t extend the offer to anybody else, but them? They know me by now, and I feel like I can trust that they’ll know what I would and would not appreciate when they’re around. And I think that that, in turn, makes that I also will get less irritated by anything they do.”
Gods, Alhaitham looks ethereal like this, shirtless underneath him, teal eyes hesitant but trusting. Kaveh can’t help but feel so damn proud of him and how far he’s come from that antisocial kid he used to be at the Akademiya.
He loves this man so dearly that his heart nearly explodes out of his chest.
Kaveh leans in to press a soft kiss to the crown of Alhaitham’s head, just because he can. “They’re just different, aren’t they?” With a huff, Alhaitham yanks him down onto him and Kaveh goes easily, laughing into the crook of his neck. “I noticed you stopped bringing a book when we hang out with them.”
Clearly done with the vulnerable side of this conversation, Alhaitham makes a tired noise. “They stopped boring me.”
A likely story, but there is more than that gets said. Because for people to stop boring Alhaitham, he first needs to let them in, pay enough attention for them to catch his interest in the first place. Cyno and Tighnari, for better or for worse, have managed to grab his mind and his trust in a way that very few people outside of Kaveh ever seemed to have done before.
Kaveh supposes it only takes one coup to lay the foundations of a good friendship. And he’s rather glad that Alhaitham has decided not to let those foundations go to waste.
Pressing a soft kiss to the crux of Alhaitham’s neck, he smiles. “I’ll send Tighnari a message tomorrow. I’m sure he’ll be glad to hear you’re inviting them here.”
Alhaitham’s grin turns a little violent, reminiscent of the look he always has when he’s arguing with Tighnari. “He better be.”
➹➷➹➷➹➷
“Kaveh, please,” Alhaitham’s voice is a little unsteady. “This is cruel.”
Smirking softly, Kaveh trails his fingers over the broad expanse of a back splayed out in front of him. The thick bundles of muscles, usually a masterpiece he can’t quite look away from, are all drawn together, shoulder blades touching, courtesy of the velvet tie wrapped around his wrists.
“Cruel?” he croons. “Are you saying I’m not giving you exactly what you wanted?”
In response, Alhaitham clenches down around Kaveh’s cock in a way that Kaveh doubts was on purpose. He remains where he is, pushed all the way in and unmoving, gentle fingers softly tugging at the restraint that holds his hands. “Hm?”
Alhaitham doesn’t deny it, likely because he can’t. He’d been a menace all day, starting from the moment they woke up really. Aborted heated kisses, far too many brushing touches to be accidental, repeatedly touching the tie Kaveh had to wear for a meeting. Heavy glances, suggestive wordplays. It had been clear Alhaitham had been goading him into something, working Kaveh up and then pulling it away at the last second — and it had been successful. That is not to say, however, that Kaveh will just give him what he wants without making him work for it.
They’ve learned many things about each other over the last ten months, including how to spice up their sex life and adapt to bottoming for each other.
Kaveh, similar to his giving nature, likes to fall into submission from time to time. He enjoys being fucked thouroughly enough that he goes a little stupid with it, until all he cares about is his partner’s pleasure. He likes being made to blow Alhaitham while he works or have Alhaitham work him through several orgasms without rest occasionally.
Alhaitham, however, does not like to submit like Kaveh sometimes does. He’s tried, but found that his mind won’t let him sink into that kind of state even if he wanted to. Which, of course, is entirely fine to Kaveh, sex does not have to include someone submitting, and bottoming can absolutely still be enjoyable without. But what they did discover is that Alhaitham sometimes wants Kaveh to force him out of control.
To tie him up or restrain him otherwise so that he has no choice but let Kaveh do what he wants.
Hence how Kaveh finds himself balls deep in Alhaitham right now, the Acting Grand Scribe face down over the kitchen island, restrained by the very tie he used to tease Kaveh with.
Underneath him, Alhaitham trembles, forehead pressed against the granite of the counter, fingers flexing uselessly. “Please just fuck me.”
Kaveh rocks his hips ever so slightly, only doing so because he knows the movement will press him more firmly against Alhaitham’s prostate. Alhaitham lets out a guttural moan that’s so deep it’s nearly a growl and, archons, Kaveh is on the verge of losing it himself. Still, he forces an admonishing tone to his voice as he bends himself over Alhaitham’s back and says, “Oh, so now you use your words.”
He snakes a hand under Alhaitham, curving it around his neck and adding the slightest hint of pressure. Alhaitham twitches violently. “You know what you need to say.”
For a moment longer, Alhaitham holds out. Kaveh knows that he might sound impatient when begging him to move, but secretly he really enjoys the glacial pace, the building tease that will make the final pleasure so much more intense.
Kaveh grinds against his prostate even harder. Alhaitham’s breath stutters. “Fuck, senior — please.” Kaveh only clicks his tongue and Alhaitham keens. “Fine, I’m sorry. Next time, uh, I’ll just ask you to fuck me. Happy?”
Burrowing his face into the back of Alhaitham’s neck, Kaveh sinks his teeth into his skin. “Ecstatic.”
He holds out for two seconds longer before he breaks and begins to piston his hips in rapid succession, finally able to enjoy the soft wet slide that clamps down around him just right. He doesn’t remove his mouth from Alhaitham’s neck, kissing and biting wherever he can reach.
That’s another thing they’ve found they both really enjoy; marking each other up. For the most part, true to what they said to Tighnari a few weeks ago, their instincts barely get involved in their relationship, only rearing their heads a little during their mating cycle. But the possessiveness lingers, and like a dragon hoarding their treasure, they both feel an instinct to make everybody aware of their property.
The thought has Kaveh’s muscles tensing, fingers digging into the side of Alhaitham’s hips. “All fucking mine,” he can’t help but stutter out and Alhaitham’s head lolls sideways in response.
“All yours.”
They finish a handful of minutes later, Kaveh coming deep inside of Alhaitham and reaching around to jack him to completion too. When Alhaitham comes, it’s with a hoarse shout and cum spilling all against the kitchen drawers.
For a moment, they both remain sprawled out over the counter, Alhaitham resting his cheek against the stone and Kaveh pressing his forehead in between Alhaitham’s shoulder blades, panting hard. Ejeculate slowly starts to drip down Alhaitham’s thighs despite Kaveh still being buried deep in him.
Kavhe huffs a soft laugh, head remaining where it is but snaking a hand in between them to undo the restraints holding Alhaitham’s wrists. “This might be one of the very few reasons I’m sad I can’t knot you.”
Alhaitham’s responding laugh sounds breathless. “You want to keep me stuffed with it?”
He sounds like he can’t quite believe that to be true and Kaveh snorts. “More like we’re dirtying the floor right now.”
“Oh well, the cabinets and drawers are soiled too anyway.” Alhaitham rolls his hips a little, Kaveh’s rapidly softening dick beginning to slide out. “How long do we have?”
Kaveh groans as he looks at the clock and drops his head back onto Alhaitham’s shoulders with a defeated sigh. “We should have been there like ten minutes ago.”
➹➷➹➷➹➷
All in all, they’re not that late to the planned hangout with Nilou, Dehya, Candace and Sethos. It helps that Dehya and Sethos are chronically late themselves, so by the time they arrive, Dehya is still in the process of taking her coat off and Sethos is nowhere to be seen.
Still, Nilou waves them over with a delighted smile and a knowing look. “You’re here! We were starting to get worried when you guys weren’t the first to have arrived.”
It is true that, especially since dating Alhaitham, Kaveh has the tendency to arrive early to appointments and agreed upon times. He feels like Alhaitham has taken a bit of the chaos out of his head, allowing him to operate in a little more organised manner.
He grins, taking the seat across from her. “Sorry, something came up.”
Alhaitham folds his cloak onto the chair next to him and lingers a hand on Kaveh’s shoulder. “A spiced coffee?”
Kaveh smiles up at him. “Yes, please.”
Candace and Dehya were exchanging greetings of their own, but go quiet the second Alhaitham turns to order at the counter. Both their gaze are stuck to the back of Alhaitham’s neck, no longer covered by the collar of his cloak.
Candace huffs out a low, amused laugh. “Well, that answers the question of what you guys were getting up to before coming here.”
“I’m not confirming or denying anything,” Kaveh replies with a smirk, not even remotely bothered by the teasing. They have a habit of marking each other in visible places, he’s gotten used to people’s responses to it over the last ten months.
Dehya narrows her eyes at the purpling bruise visible all the way across the café. “Archons, Kaveh, what are you, a Rishboland Tiger? That thing is huge.”
That pulls a laugh from Kaveh. “You think that’s huge?” With a huff, he strips off his own cloak and furiously shoves his sleeve up to reveal the perfect oval indentation of Alhaitham’s teeth on his bicep. The marks are red and aggressive enough that he can still count the individual incisors. “This is from two weeks ago! It still hasn’t faded. I swear, he’s worse than I am.”
Nilou muffles a laugh behind her hand, Candace staring at the mark in fascination. Dehya’s eyes, however, are angled somewhere over his shoulder, but before Kaveh can turn to look, a new voice is already joining the conversation.
“Who is this ‘he’, hm? Someone we know?”
There is a teasing note to Sethos’ voice that implies he has his own thoughts about who Kaveh might mean. Remembering the other man’s inquiry to Cyno, Kaveh makes a show of blanking his face and shoving down his sleeve. “None of your business.”
Sethos’ green eyes are wide as he takes up the final seat. “Come now, you’re in friendly company, no? You can share it if you’ve finally found someone to spend your time with.”
Frankly, it’s hilarious how Sethos can even remotely think Kaveh has not been consistently dating someone, the amount of times he’s shown up covered in hickeys innumerable. Across the table, Dehya’s eyes sparkle in a way that makes Kaveh surmise Cyno likely told her too. And what Dehya knows, Candace knows, the warrior furiously whispering something in a confused looking Nilou’s ear.
Kaveh folds his hands under his chin. “Why do I have a feeling you’re trying to get at something here, Sethos?”
“I’m not trying anything,” Sethos answers back, equally quippy. The scent of warm spices flares lightly, an intensity typical for a beta. “All I’m saying is that I’m wondering if perhaps you and Alhaitham recently took some steps towards a future together?”
Across, Dehya rolls her eyes like she expected a more forward question out of Sethos’ mind. Kaveh just angles his head to look at the approaching ink and old books scent. “Let's ask him, shall we?”
Alhaitham gingerly places two porcelain cups on the table, looking up with a raised eyebrow when Kaveh’s scent flares a little. Kaveh smiles blithely, reaching out to trace the bruises on his neck with delicate fingers. “Haitham, Sethos is wondering when we’re getting married.”
Nilou sputters a laugh around a mouth full of her herbal tea, Sethos going red in the face. Alhaitham, possibly having read along with the ongoing conversation but certainly used to Kaveh’s antics when it comes to dealing with pesky questions, smiles languidly.
“I thought we’d agreed we’d wait a bit, aziz.” He leans in to drop a sweet kiss on Kaveh’s cheek. “But if you’d like me to propose now instead of during our three-year anniversary, I can go home and get the ring right now.”
On the other side of the table, Sethos is wildly gesturing for the rest of the group as if to ask if they’re seeing this too. Their other friends, however, remain broadly impassive, Nilou even going as far as to innocently ask, “Are you okay, Seth?”
Alhaitham places an arm around the back of Kaveh’s chair, raising an observational eyebrow. “You’re looking a bit pale.”
“Wha—” Sethos stutters, clearly confused. “Isn’t this big news?”
Kaveh just laughs. “Next time you have a question about our relationship, Sethos, how about you ask one of us directly instead of going to Cyno?” He gives the other man a saccharine look. “Since we’re notable figures, you could also have picked up any Sumeran Daily or Teyvat Times of the last year and likely found something written about us in either of those too.”
“Or you could have just hung out around the Akademiya.” Alhaitham has dug out a book from somewhere , now flipping to the bookmarked page. “Those damn scholars spend more time gossiping than actually doing their job.”
Dehya laughs. “They’d likely stop gossiping, Acting Grand Sage, if your boyfriend didn’t come at least once a week to spend an hour-long lunch with you behind a locked door.”
Kaveh can see Sethos mouthing the word ‘boyfriend’ and smirks, ignoring the bow-user all together. “Nothing wrong with a nice long lunch.” His tone implies something wholly other than eating food and Nilou rolls her eyes.
“Yes, yes, we all know you and Alhaitham regularly satisfy your libido, no need to discuss that any further.” Her eyes flicker to Alhaitham’s neck. “You both show up with evidence of it often enough.”
Once again, Kaveh laughs and waves a dismissive hand. “Fine, fine, we’ll shelve the conversation.” He relaxes in his chair and looks at his friends with a soft smile. “Tell me, what’s new in your lives?”
➹➷➹➷➹➷
There is a soft knock at Alhaitham’s office door, a familiar pattern of a single tap followed by two rapid ones. Before he can even answer it, the door already swings open.
“General Mahamatra,” Alhaitham says cooly, raising an eyebrow. “Don’t you need a warrant to come in unasked?”
Cyno laughs, crossing his arms and leaning against the entryway. “I’m off duty, so technically it would be breaking and entering now.”
It confirms what Alhaitham had already suspected. Off the clock, Cyno is out of his usual uniform and dressed in more casual clothing; a loose sleeveless linen shirt and comfortable pants, his banded tattoo on his left arm still on display. Alhaitham tilts his head.
“Then to what do I owe this law-breaking?”
Cyno lets the door fall shut behind him, nearing Alhaitham’s desk. “Just pestering a friend, really. You can’t just sit around all day, it’s bad for your health.”
“Agreed,” Alhaitham concedes easily. “But I have little choice. There is too much work to get done before I go home at five.”
That draws a laugh from the other man. “Kaveh said as much. It’s unfortunate, I was really hoping you would have some time to spare to spar with me. I could do with a switch up of training partners.”
“That would have been nice,” Alhaitham says, surprised to find that he means it. A year ago, he was actively dodging Cyno so he wouldn’t even have to be in the same training room with him, but now, the idea of clashing with him is kind of exciting. “How about this weekend though? We can fight before our dinner on Saturday.”
“Deal,” Cyno grins. “Now get up. You need to stretch your legs at least a little.”
Alhaitham rolls his eyes but does actually get up from behind his desk. “Well, if my General Mahamatra commands it.”
Cyno seems far too pleased with himself, Alhaitham notes, almost like he hadn’t expected Alhaitham to listen. Archons, Alhaitham himself hadn’t expected to listen. He sighs, trying to draw the attention away from that fact.
“Busy day?”
“Quite.” Cyno sighs with a kind of weariness that answers the question all by itself. “We finally tracked down that guy who’s been committing all those robberies lately. Turns out, he had a crew of five street children working in his basement to smelt all the gold down, it was horrible.”
Alhaitham frowns, wondering why this has not shown up on his desk yet. Cyno waves a hand dismissively. “You’ll get the report tomorrow, it all went rather fast. We had to roll up his operation, find a place for the kids to stay and convince them they were safe, which wasn’t really easy.”
“It doesn’t sound like the most pleasant thing indeed.”
“Hm, the worst part was trying to convince those kids to go to bed, really. They were really resisting a-rest.” He follows up the pun by splaying his fingers and wiggling them in a ‘ta-da’ kind of movement, looking far too proud of himself.
The joke is terrible, and yet the noise it coaxes out of Alhaitham startles the both of them.
For a moment, they stand frozen, glee spreading over Cyno’s face as Alhaitham begins to understand that perhaps he’s made a mistake. A gigantic mistake he’s likely never going to live down.
“Alhaitham,” Cyno crows, putting a delighted emphasis on the second syllable of his name. “Did you just laugh?”
Alhaitham looks away from the finger probing against his chest. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You did.” Cyno downright cackles, a sound so rich it fills the room. He pokes his nail against Alhaitham’s pendant once again. “Oh, I can’t wait to tell Nari and Kaveh about this, this is amazing.”
Oh, Alhaitham really fucking hopes he doesn’t. If so, he’s never going to hear the end of this, especially not from Kaveh’s side.
“I’ll deny it,” he grumbles, even if he’s unable to keep the smile of his own face. Using the few inches he has on Cyno, he towers over him in the hopes of coming across a little intimidating. “You have no proof.”
Cyno just tilts his head back with a wide grin, eyes glittering. His breath is warm against Alhaitham’s skin. “I don’t need proof. Who do you think they’ll believe, hm? Your adamant denial does nothing.”
Something in Alhaitham’s gut pulls tight. There is a tension that lingers around them, Cyno’s hand firmly pressed up against his chest in this position, and the touch sears into him like hot embers. He’s painfully aware of how little space separates them now, but he can’t bring himself to step back.
Instead, all he does is observe Cyno and the way he’s looking back at him. The General Mahamatra is not making any attempt to put distance between them either, a remnant of that glee still clinging to his features. Alhaitham’s eyes dip down to Cyno’s lips, which part slightly when he does, and suddenly he wants.
There is a hunger in him that’s hard to explain, a violence that is not just the result of being this close to another alpha. The desert wind scent rages against his own almost playfully in a way that he shouldn’t find pleasant but he does.
Cyno’s expression is hazy, but his eyes hold Alhaitham’s steadily. He looks a bit like he’s issuing a challenge, a bit like he’s beckoning Alhaitham closer and a bit like he’s unsure of what’s happening.
Alhaitham feels the same.
Slowly, hesitantly, he brings up a hand, intending to fit it around Cyno’s jaw like he’s done a thousand times before with Kaveh, and dip in for a—
Holy shit, Kaveh.
What the fuck is he doing?
He stumbles back a few steps, far less graceful than he’s ever been in Cyno’s presence. What the hell was that? Since when has he ever been tempted to kiss anybody that isn’t Kaveh? Since when has he been interested in kissing Cyno?
For quite a bit now, a little voice in the back of his brain whispers and that only serves to make him feel worse.
He’s such a fucking asshole.
Something in Cyno’s face collapses, the lust-addled expression making way for sheer panic. It’s only then that Alhaitham realises this wasn’t only a slight to Kaveh, but to Tighnari too. This didn’t just fuck with one relationship, it fucked with two.
Holy shit, they’re both such assholes.
Cyno hurriedly walks backwards to the door. “I— I’m gonna go.”
Alhaitham doesn’t reply, but it doesn’t even matter because Cyno is gone from his office before he can even properly blink. Then it’s just him, alone, standing with the shattered shards of this great life he’d built for himself and knows that he’s really, really, fucked up this time.