Thread by @_sweetangle89_

🏛️🌱
#kavetham
jealous kaveh. kaveh hasn't heard alhaitham laugh for nearly ten years.
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Kaveh hasn't heard Alhaitham laugh in nearly ten years, so when he hears the deep, low chuckle from behind him, he nearly thinks he's dreaming.

Kaveh stares at the pencil in his hand. He's working on a project, not at all involved in the conversation on the other side of the room. That chuckle, that soft sound, is not directed at Kaveh. Haitham isn't laughing because of anything Kaveh has said or done. He's laughing at—

Kaveh turns his head just slightly. And there they are, that blonde and their floating friend.

Alhaitham had received his guests some time ago. Kaveh had heard their conversation from the study. And then Haitham had brought them into the room,

walking right by Kaveh like he was furniture, and went to the bookcase—presumably to find some book or reference or something-or-other. It is not the first time the Traveler has come to this house for information. They are one of the house's few regular visitors.

They are, in fact, the house's only regular visitor.

Once upon a time, Kaveh was no stranger to the sound of Alhaitham's laughter. He was no stranger to the sight of Haitham smiling. It used to be... not a game, nothing with Haitham is or has ever been a game, but like a—prize.

Not for Kaveh. But for Haitham. Because Alhaitham, Kaveh thought, deserved the world. And that meant making Haitham smile, and laugh, and look at him with bright, glittering eyes.

Kaveh had always been so desperate to make Haitham happy.

Because he was Haitham's senior, he'd thought back then. It was his—it was his /responsibility/, that was what it was.

Haitham had been shorter than him, in those long-lost student days. Had had large, alexandrite eyes set in a delicate face, and thin shoulders, and every time Kaveh won a laugh from him it had felt as if a star had fallen from the sky right into his hands.

And now, someone else is plucking the stars from the sky. Someone else has the privilege of making Alhaitham laugh.

Kaveh looks at Alhaitham now. He's bigger. Broader. Taller than Kaveh, which still pisses him off. He's grown into those eyes of his, with the corners upturned just so, just enough to make his usual gaze as piercing as an eagle's. A strong jaw, a straight nose...

every bit of his countenance screams solemnity. But now—

He's smiling, and though it is subtle, although his laughter is soft and subdued, it transforms him entirely. Softens the sharp edges of him, turns the sharp planes of his face warm. And who's the one smiling back at him?

That Traveler and their friend. "Thank you, Alhaitham," they say.

"You're welcome." That's right. Haitham likes being praised.

"We'll see you tomorrow!" says Paimon, easy as anything. As if she is /obligated/ to Alhaitham's precious time. Isn't tomorrow Haitham's day off?

Doesn't he usually have to be dragged, cajoled, threatened, to leave his home when he's on leave?

Apparently not, because Alhaitham nods and says, "See you tomorrow." And he even sees the Traveler and Paimon off. The study door closes behind them.

Kaveh refocuses his attention on the draft before him, but none of the lines and letters and measurements make a bit of sense.

He should be happy that Alhaitham has a friend. Friends. Friendly acquaintances, at the very least. Alhaitham came back from saving Sumeru with a whole unlikely group of them. Wasn't that the one thing Kaveh was always haranguing him about? Get to know more people.

Be less of a loner. It will help you, not hinder you, if you only trust in people.

Well, now Alhaitham's doing just that. (Although Kaveh doubts it was because of /him/.) And Kaveh...

... Kaveh hates it, and he hates that about himself.