Chapter Text
“It doesn’t even fit.”
Kaveh swears he can hear a, ‘that’s not my problem’ from the other side of the wall. So, it’s not Kaveh’s fault that he answers that brutish and unwarranted response with a slam of his fist to the wallpaper. At least it doesn’t begin to peel.
Dejectedly, Kaveh stares at the twin mattress that is crowding most of the floorspace. What isn’t covered by it belongs to his drafting desk and briefcase. There’s a lamp now uncomfortably squished in the corner of the room, tilted sharply to the right given the mattress resting weightily on its base. Yeah, this sucks.
“Didn’t even have the courtesy of letting me have the bigger room,” mutters Kaveh as he flops down on the mattress.
And yeah, that sucks, too.
Staring holes in the wall, Kaveh tries not to dwell. It’s been three days now, since the breakup. Three very long days spent avoiding his ex who he used to share a bed and future with. Now, a terribly tacky wall separates the two of them and Kaveh has never hated his life more than he has now.
Kaveh knows it’s their shared pride that prevents either of them from crashing at one of their mutual friends’ apartments. Tighnari and Cyno don’t have the room, Collei is off traveling abroad, and who the hell knows what Baizhu is up to nowadays. Even if someone did have a spare couch or room, neither Kaveh nor Alhaitham would take it: this apartment was equally theirs, and moving out first would be admitting defeat.
Kaveh grabs the pillow and screams into it.
* * *
Six years together and all Kaveh has to show for it is a broken heart, fading bruises on his neck and thighs, and a new absolute hatred for gameshows.
“I didn’t even like them,” Kaveh had muttered to himself that first night when, instead of cozying up on the couch with his boyfriend to watch whatever trivia gameshow Alhaitham had dredged up from the archives, he was sprawled on a sleeping bag in the office, counting the water-stains on the ceiling.
Kaveh won’t think about the fight. It’s too fresh. He won’t go into painful detail of the reasons why they broke up - that’ll come months from now, when he’s sobbing over a tenth glass of wine and trying to forget how Alhaitham looks when he’s happy, when he’s sad, when he’s shoving his cock into Kaveh’s mouth —
Ah. Fuck.
This was going to be difficult.
* * *
Kaveh tries to search the answer on the search engine Seelie, first. As a type of researcher, he likes to gather information first before acting. Not so annoyingly like his roommate who gathers information, ponders on it, ponders some more, and then decides if acting is worth his energy or effort.
Seelie provides little to no help. Go figure. The best he can come up with is that ‘time heals all’ and ‘each person is different’ and ‘maybe you shouldn’t be living with your ex and dreaming about making up and making out.’
Yeah, he figured that last one, go fuck yourselves.
Kaveh screams louder into the pillow. If he hadn’t been between jobs, he would have insisted that he would take over the rent and that Alhaitham could move out. But as it stood, Kaveh was broke - he had spent most of the money from his big project at graduation on paying off his loans. A smart decision, at the time, but now, he was left without a single Mora to his name.
Which, at the time, had been fine, because his boyfriend was covering the bills with the understanding it all would equal out in the end.
(Kaveh had, foolishly, thought that meant Alhaitham intended on marrying him one day.
Good to know that was one of hundreds of misunderstandings.)
* * *
On day four, Kaveh waits until Alhaitham leaves to his office job to creep out into the kitchen. Every single nook and cranny of the apartment reminds Kaveh of something. Of a memory of Alhaitham, of them, together.
That time Kaveh set off the fire alarm when the pasta caught on fire; that time Alhaitham surprised Kaveh with flowers on their five-year anniversary, finally getting the hint that his boyfriend was a hopeless romantic and liked the over-the-top gestures; that time that Kaveh didn’t get the job offer for his dream job and Alhaitham stayed up with him all night looking for other opportunities; and that time, the day they first moved-in together after graduation, when Alhaitham turned to him in the kitchen and said, “I think I’m in love with you”.
Kaveh used to cry, a lot. Back when it was okay for children to cry over the little things. He stopped when he got a bloody nose and black-eyes from the upperclassmen.
So, he doesn’t cry. He just sniffles and ignores the pain in his chest as he goes to the fridge for a wine spritzer.
The whole damn thing is covered with sticky notes labeling what is Alhaitham’s. And for fuck’s sake, did he really just label the ketchup with his name? It’s a condiment! That’s so fucking petty…
Kaveh growls and slams the fridge shut. No longer hungry, or thirsty, he stomps into the living room to find his laptop. He needs a new job now so that he can move out and move on.
(Yeah, sounds easy. Great. He’ll get right on that.)
… An hour of mindlessly clicking around the internet leads him not to the a fantastic opportunity for young architects, but instead a website for ‘hot young singles in your area’. Kaveh snorts at the mere idea of it.
(Their single friends had toted the idea of online dating and hookup apps. Happily taken at the time, Kaveh hadn’t really paid attention to the particulars. Why would he? He was with the man of his actual dreams.)
Kaveh scrolls idly through the website. It links to a downloadable app for his phone. Kaveh considers it.
(What’s the harm? He’s single now. So why not embrace this so-called generational craze?)
Kaveh feels his gut churn as he downloads the app on his phone. It asks him to create a profile, as well as sexual preferences (not just gender) and that’s when red flags start going off. A few more scrolls around the app suggest that this isn’t just a ‘let’s meet for coffee and talk about our feelings’ type of app, but instead one a bit more salacious.
“This is for sex?!” Kaveh squawks, nearly dropping his phone.
Okay, one of those, then.
He just downloaded a hookup app. Splendid. Wonderful.
Kaveh peeks down between the gaps in his fingers as the menu page flashes up at him in pretty colors. He can’t possibly make an account, not when he’s actively searching for jobs. What if they found it? What if they realized he’s a kinky motherfucker who likes his hair pulled and that’s the most vanilla kink he can include?
No, he’ll just delete the thing. He can get over Alhaitham other ways, more productive ways, ways that won’t ruin his future.
… But he’s lonely. And he’s horny. Alhaitham was, surprisingly, the hornier of the two of them, but Kaveh had gotten used to a certain type of lifestyle where he was getting off three times a week, sometimes four, and now he was in a dry spell.
Sighing, Kaveh creates a profile under a fake name and uses a picture of a former classmate from when he was studying abroad in Fontaine. The guy won’t know, he’ll be fine, and Kaveh can keep his sterling reputation in the industry.
He only feels a little guilty.
“This is stupid,” Kaveh mutters as he starts to comb through the suggested matches. All of these guys have too much hair, or are making dumb faces, or just look like complete assholes. Are they really into men?
“Ugh,” Kaveh says even louder, swiping left on nearly a dozen before becoming a humanoid puddle on the couch. “This is terrible. My life is terrible. I’m going to die alone in a beautiful castle I one day make, with a bunch of cats,” Kaveh grouses to the ceiling. “I don’t even like cats. I mean, they’re fine, but… ah….”
He realizes in his pity party that he’s accidentally swiped right. His phone goes off, notifying him that he’s been matched with the guy.
Already? Seriously? It works that easily?
Hesitating, Kaveh opens the notification. The guy isn’t half bad — mostly just pictures of his chest, which is damned fine and with the correct amount of hair, thank you very much. There’s not many pictures of his face, obscured by the sun or weird angles, but he seems decent enough. Not like Kaveh really cares when he’s not going to be taking this too seriously.
“Okay, I’ll bite,” Kaveh murmurs and opens up the chat window.
- DendroDaddy
- How are you?
Today
Oh, a real casanova here. But Kaveh supposes it’s better than the stories he’s heard of people launching dick pics the second they match on these things. … Maybe that’s just his single friends. Maybe they just attract that weird sort of energy.
- You
- i’m fine, thank you for asking. how about yourself? doing fine?
Kaveh restlessly taps the edge of his phone, waiting for the dots to signal that the other is typing back. It doesn’t come immediately.
Did he … say something wrong? Did he type too much? Fuck, he needed to learn the ettiequte immediately.
- DendroDaddy
- At work. I will be slow at typing. But I am also fine.
- What do you do?
Kaveh wrinkles his nose. What does he do? Like sexually? A lot. He does a lot of things, willingly, and gladly. Kaveh gets the distinct sense, though, that is not what this man means to ask.
- You
- that’s a bit personal for a first conversation.
- let’s just say i’m a jack of many trades and am good with my hands :)
Kaveh cringes. It’s been so long since he had to flirt. With Alhaitham, it had come easily, with banter and teasing him. Now, Kaveh has to relearn strangers and the art of using emojis just enough to suggest interest without looking unhinged. … Kaveh oozes more on the couch, halfway off it at this point.
- DendroDaddy
- I see.
- That’s useful. I wouldn’t want to be doing all the work.
Kaveh perks up at the response. Oh, did it work? He’ll need to remember that. Smirking, Kaveh rolls his thumbs together before drafting back a perfectly-balanced response:
- You
- a shared effort usually is the best.
- but i won’t deny liking to be spoiled from time to time.
- does that work for you?
Kaveh regrets it instantly. Why on Teyvat did he type that? He just met the guy, he didn’t need a laundry list of Kaveh’s interests. This wasn’t Alhaitham he was typing to, that was interested in learning about Kaveh and all the things that made him tick.
It takes a few minutes for Kaveh to get an answer.
- DendroDaddy
- That’s cute.
- I don’t mind.
- If you’re good.
“Hoh?” Kaveh sputters aloud.
There’s a lance of heat that goes through him at the typed words. Well, this man just pinged one of his biggest kinks, thank you very much. Biting on his bottom lip, Kaveh tries to imagine this blurry man brushing a strong hand down the arch of his back, tracing over his ass, playing with his hole, leaning in to tell him to bend over and be a good boy. Holy fuck. Holy fuck, he needed a rebound, didn’t he?
- You
- you said you’re at work but you’re sending me that? naughty…
- do you work at an office? if you did, i’d gladly be under your desk in two seconds ;)
And he would, he absolutely would. He had joked about it once with Alhaitham who ignored the suggestion because he had zero interest in getting fired. But this was fantasy, and Kaveh was getting hard, and the idea of taking a cock into his mouth seemed splendid compared to the darker thoughts brewing.
Kaveh remains glued to his phone. Five minutes pass and Kaveh rises from the couch, pacing needlessly around. He wants to send more texts but he’s learned being too available is apparently a bad thing, even on hookups. He considers texting Tighnari for advice, but right now, he thinks his friends will think it’s ‘too soon’ and that he needs ‘time by himself’ after six years.
Well, yeah. He does. Truly. But his cock needs someone this instant.
Finally, Kaveh’s phone dings. “Oh thank archons,” he gasps as he opens the notification.
- DendroDaddy
- OK.
“Okay? He just said okay? To that genius?” Kaveh croaks, doubling over, shaking his head in utter dismay. “He can’t be serious. Where’s the…”
His phone dings again.
- DendroDaddy
- Could you take all of it? Will you gag?
Will he gag? Please. He’s sucked cock for six years straight, multiple times a week, with zero complaints. And Alhaitham isn’t a small man—
Fuck. He needs to stop thinking about Alhaitham.
- You
- i never gag.
- i’d gladly take all of you, inch by inch.
- no one has to know.
- unless you want them too 0:-)
-
DendroDaddy
- What is that?
- You
- huh?
- DendroDaddy
- Is that… a face?
- You
- seriously? omg it’s an emoji. come on, now.
-
DendroDaddy
- What face is it meant to be?
God, this is a boner-kill.
- You
- an angel. i was pretending to be — you know what. let’s go back to the part where i’m on my knees for you, okay?
- DendroDaddy
- I have a meeting.
- It was fun.
- Goodbye
What the fuck was that?
Kaveh screeches loudly, not needing a pillow this time. Angrily, he tosses his phone on the couch and pulls at his hair. Not only is he sexually frustrated again, but he’s also deeply offended at that terse goodbye. Who thinks that’s sexy? Who does that? Just take awhile to respond back, idiot!
Kaveh buries his face in his hands and takes a few quick breaths. Relax. It’s fine.
There are other men on the app. He can just dick around until he finds someone more his speed. Even though this was fun and admittedly checking off a lot of his boxes. Still, Kaveh doesn’t forgive easily, and if this ‘DendroDaddy’ - what a fucking absurd username, anyway - wants to get back in Kaveh’s metaphorical pants, he’ll need to try really, really hard.
Yeah. That’s the plan.
* * *
Kaveh gets a text around eleven that night.
It’s not words, but better, a picture of the man’s abs, covered in cum.
“… Okay, bet,” Kaveh whispers, lips tugging into a smile for the first time in hours having spent ignoring Alhaitham. “You’re on, daddy,” he whispers, snorting a laugh, as his hand goes into his sweatpants.
He had this under control.