Work Text:
The life of a scribe was an agreeable one. No matter how much his superiors pleaded and begged him to aim higher, Alhaitham was perfectly happy in his comfortable job and his comfortable home. There were few things Alhaitham tolerated that interfered with his lifestyle, and his roommate was certainly one of them.
Though, perhaps tolerate was too strong of a word - or perhaps it wasn’t strong enough.
Kaveh lived with him now. That had become a fact of his life. The pair of them had become comfortable in each other’s existences - to an extent - and Kaveh had a wonderful (terrible) habit of throwing up new and ridiculous situations for him to wade through.
Said roommate one day approached him with a proposition.
“I’d like to offer an alternative means of paying my rent this month,” he stated.
Alhaitham raised an eyebrow and lowered his book.
“Oh? Strike me intrigued,” he replied.
Kaveh’s meagre confidence seemed to disintegrate on the spot.
“Y-yes, well, as you know I am not of… financial means,” he started.
“Evidently.”
Kaveh flustered, “A-and I may have made some decisions that have affected my finances this month…”
“What a surprise,” Alhaitham retorted without a trace of emotion.
“So, on the basis of that, I’d like to offer my services to you for the remainder of this month in exchange for the rent.”
Alhaitham closed his book and placed it on the table. “You already clean for me, what else could you possibly offer?”
“Anything!”
Alhaitham’s lips quirked upwards into the slightest smile, “Anything?”
“Yes,” Kaveh enthused, “I will do anything you ask of me for the remainder of the month.”
“Kaveh, yet again I would remind you to be cautious of your wording. The scope of ‘anything’ is remarkably wide. You imply you would do anything I ask, but have given yourself no recourse. What if I asked you to do something illegal? Or something you disagreed with? What if I asked you to give me your remaining mora on the spot? You’d have no standing to refuse me.”
“Ah, I see. I suppose you’re right.”
“Before you can change the terms of this agreement I accept.”
Kaveh spluttered, “Now wait just a second Alhaitham!”
“Too late. You’ll do anything I ask in exchange for rent this month. No holds barred.”
Kaveh’s hands balled into fists and his cheeks turned a fascinating shade of red.
“Now that is not fair! Alhaitham! Alhaitham please, be reasonable!”
“I am being reasonable,” he replied smoothly, “You are at my mercy for the remainder of the month. Get me a glass of fruit juice out of the kitchen would you?”
Despite all his grumbling Kaveh obediently retreated into the kitchen and returned with his drink. Alhaitham savoured the taste as he took a measured sip. Oh, this would be fun.
-----------
Kaveh was an anxious wreck for the rest of the week, and Alhaitham would be lying if he said he didn’t enjoy watching him squirm. People as a collective tended not to interest him, but Kaveh was the exception to that rule. Kaveh was fascinating, Kaveh intrigued him, he enjoyed all the little ways he could prod and poke the man until he got a variety of amusing responses in return.
He also enjoyed teaching Kaveh the weaknesses of his worldview. Frankly, Kaveh should have thanked him, he’d taken the time out of his busy schedule to deliver a personal lesson in the pitfalls of having loose lips.
For the most part Alhaitham asked him to do menial jobs - stuff he simply hadn’t the patience to do. Send his mail, pick up groceries, retrieve scrolls from his colleagues. Kaveh followed his instructions diligently, albeit with a few choice words, and Alhaitham quite enjoyed the luxury of having a little helper during the day.
Too bad he couldn’t corral him into doing this regularly - but knowing Kaveh’s temperament he didn’t doubt he’d end up in the same situation at some point in the near future.
Begrudgingly that day, Alhaitham had been given work he couldn’t offload onto Kaveh. He was left with a mountain of paperwork to complete before the day’s end, detailing some of the latest information concerns uploaded into the Akasha. He’d spent his entire day toiling over his desk, barely stopping for water or food. This did not go unnoticed by his roommate.
“You’ve been sitting hunched over like that all day, you’re going to hurt your back,” Kaveh complained, “I’ve brought you drinks and you haven’t touched them. You’re going to make yourself unwell if you don’t eat.”
“Mmm.”
“Are you listening to me? Alhaitham you will make yourself sick working like that, I’m going to make you some food, I’ll be back soon.”
True to his word Kaveh returned twenty minutes later with an omelette of sorts.
“Sustenance, eat up.”
“I’m busy,” Alhaitham replied.
“I don’t care if you’re busy, I’ve made you fresh hot food, you’re going to eat it. What on earth has gotten into you? Since when did you care so much about work?”
“Don’t mistake my focus for dedication, if I complete this work tonight it leaves me free for the rest of the week.”
“Oh of course, of course you wouldn’t put in hard work without ulterior motive,” Kaveh snapped, “Well, could you take some time out of your oh so diligent schedule to perform normal human functions and eat some food?”
Alhaitham’s hand’s never ceased working over the scrolls of parchment. He was keenly aware of Kaveh’s intense stare at the back of his neck, and it made irritation creep along the pebbles of his spine.
“Feed me if you’re so concerned,” he said.
Kaveh squawked. “Feed you? Feed you!? I think not -”
“You’re in my debt this month, remember?”
Kaveh fell satisfyingly quiet. Before he could press him further, a plate clattered beside him and Kaveh was slicing into the omelette.
“Honestly your laziness is remarkable, to think I’m having to hand-feed you as if you were some sort of child -”
He lifted the fork to his mouth and Alhaitham’s lips parted. Salty food slid into the back of his throat and he swallowed.
“Ngh.”
Kaveh seemed to be fidgeting, Alhaitham didn’t miss the way his hand started to tremble as he cut another slice of food.
The fork was brought up to his lips again and Alhaitham swallowed it down.
“This is… ridiculous…” Kaveh huffed.
Alhaitham was keenly aware of Kaveh’s discomfort, obviously he was embarrassed about the situation, but he could tell there was something else brimming under the surface. What was it? Pride? Disgust? Fury? Was it - ah. He suddenly had a theory about the source of Kaveh’s embarrassment. Excellent. A proper scholar should test their theories no?
The next time Kaveh lifted the fork to his mouth, Alhaitham’s gaze flickered over to settle on his. Keeping eye contact, he opened his mouth slowly, and languidly drew his lips across the cutlery.
The results were instantaneous. Kaveh’s face immediately blotched with red.
“Y-you!” he choked out.
“Yes?”
“Don’t look at me, it's embarrassing!”
Trying to save face, Kaveh cut another sliver of food and brought it to him. Alhaitham parted his mouth and extended his tongue, Kaveh looked as if he had sucker-punched him in the gut.
Somehow his work became little more than a background irritation to him.
They continued playing the game, Kaveh tried to still his shaking hands and brought the food to Alhaitham’s lips and Alhaitham bit into it with poised sensuality. He never cared for the art of seduction, or those primitive desires that seemed to drive men crazy, but somehow this - this was riveting. Kaveh was a man who was easy to manipulate and easy to predict, and it gave him immense satisfaction to have him wrapped around his fingers. It was his own form of desire perhaps, he liked toying with his strings and threading him through his fingers. He wanted Kaveh to himself, and he wanted all the many ways he could make Kaveh fluster.
“Would you stop doing that?” Kaveh complained.
“Doing what?”
“You know what you’re doing! Keep your face still, must you be so infuriating?” Kaveh reached forward and took his cheeks in hand with thumb and forefinger. He promptly brought the fork to his mouth and shoved it in. “Much better!”
Alhaitham relaxed his face and opened his mouth obediently. Kaveh seemed to falter, but eventually the last of the meal disappeared down into his throat and Kaveh stepped backwards with a troubled expression on his face. The fingers on his cheeks fell away almost hesitantly.
“You remember the agreement we made when I first moved in here, don’t you?” Kaveh asked cautiously.
“Move in with you? Is this some kind of sick joke?” Kaveh snapped.
Alhaitham barely moved an eyebrow. “What other choice do you have?”
“What other choice do I have? Plenty! Plenty that are far better choices than to confine myself in a home with you!”
Alhaitham brought a hand to his drink and swirled the contents absentmindedly. He knew the idea wouldn’t be palpable to Kaveh, but it was the most logical action. Kaveh had partial claim to his home, and Kaveh was homeless. It made sense in the grand scheme of things.
“Alright, so I assume you’re prepared to share the intimate details of your financial losses with our colleagues and your future employers then,” he challenged, “I’m sure that will go down a treat.”
A look of dawning realisation seemed to grow on Kaveh’s face. He swallowed, then swallowed his drink, and buried himself in his hands for a good few minutes. Alhaitham was fine with the silence, it gave him the peace to think.
“I-I’ll stay with you, if you’ll have me…” Kaveh conceded in a tiny voice, “But I have one condition if I move in.”
“And that is?”
Kaveh lifted his head and met his eyes.
“What happened between us cannot happen again.”
Alhaitham scarcely reacted. What an interesting turn of events.
“I see.”
“We’ll be roommates,” Kaveh expressed, “Just roommates. Only roommates. Do you understand?”
Alhaitham understood, but it didn’t mean he necessarily abided by Kaveh’s rule. He stayed true to his word and did not cross the line of their boundaries (though he sometimes toed that line, and very much enjoyed exploring the limits of said metaphysical boundary). He would be patient, because frankly he knew if anyone was going to crack, it would be Kaveh.
If Alhaitham pushed things, Kaveh would blame him for it. If Kaveh pushed things, then Kaveh would have no one to blame but himself. (And so what if he was the one pushing Kaveh into doing the pushing?)
Alhaitham met his expression with his usual stoic demeanour and nodded. “I remember our agreement.”
“Good,” Kaveh replied - still noticeably flustered. “I’m going to bed now, don’t stay up too late.”
Alhaitham watched him leave, and settled himself back into his work.
-------
It was a few days later. He didn’t know if Kaveh was doing it on purpose, but frankly it all felt like some petty retaliation that the man had decided tonight, of all nights, to start work on his next design project. Tomorrow Alhaitham had a full day of meetings at the Akademiya. He needed to be well-rested, this was giving him anything but.
He knew he could have walked in there and ordered Kaveh to stop, but then he would be infringing on his work, and that was one line he didn’t quite want to cross. He hated sleeping with his headphones on, and Kaveh knew that. Whatever, Kaveh would tire himself out eventually. Alhaitham shut his eyes and tried to catch some sleep.
It was a pattern, he would sleep for a while, perhaps an hour or so, and then he’d be woken up again by the sound of hammering. He stood up and made his way to Kaveh’s door,
“Are you going to be continuing with that racket for much longer? Try to keep it down,” he said.
Kaveh yelled something illegible in reply. He returned to bed, and closed his eyes, and drifted off, and then -
BANG BANG BANG.
He did manage to nod off into sleep, but eventually he’d be woken up again. And again. And again. And when he had finally had enough and opted to lift himself from his bed to give Kaveh a piece of his mind, he realised that sunlight was streaming in through his curtains and the day had already started.
Ridiculous.
When he left his room Kaveh looked to be retiring for the night - or should that be day. He yawned obliviously, and stretched his arms. His fingers were marked and ruddy with scratches and paint, his cheek was stained with plaster, and he wore a red apron that fastened tightly around his waist.
Alhaitham watched him with furious intensity - which Kaveh likely couldn’t discern from his normal resting expression.
“Morning Haitham, when did it get so late…” he muttered.
“You kept me awake,” Alhaitham replied.
“Did I? My apologies if that was the case.”
How on earth did he not realise the time?
Kaveh sleepily rubbed at his eyes and made for his room. Really? Did he really think he could just sleep away the consequences of his actions?
“When I come home tonight I expect you to have prepared my favourite meal,” Alhaitham declared.
“I can do that.”
“And you can wear that apron.”
Kaveh tilted his head. “I suppose… If cleanliness is your concern I assure you I’m far more organised in the kitchen than I am -”
“Only the apron.”
Kaveh’s mouth dropped open.
“Absolutely not! No way! I refuse!”
Alhaitham ignored his protests and made for the front door.
“Your choice, the apron, or your rent. I expect either one when I walk back through this door.”
The dismayed expression on Kaveh’s face made his terrible fatigue just that little bit lighter.
For the most part the day grated on. The sounds of moving chairs grated, the shuffling of paper grated, and people’s voices were like a stone that rubbed right against his temple. Could he get away with switching his soundproof headphones halfway through a meeting?
The only thing that got him through was the thought of what he’d come back home to. He half wondered if he’d taken too much of a gamble and he’d open the door to an empty abode. Where would Kaveh go anyway? He’d have no choice, he’d either humiliate himself, or get his act and his mora together. Win win.
A rare glimmer of anticipation brimmed inside of him when he lifted a hand to the door knob. He twisted it, and entered, and there was Kaveh completely in the nude - bar the apron - hurrying over steaming pots in the kitchen.
He enjoyed the sight, similar to how one could enjoy impressive pieces of art. His long slender legs trailed up towards his ample behind, and his blonde hair brushed against the sinew of his neck. Alhaitham was suddenly consumed by a peculiar kind of sensation that wanted him to press Kaveh against the countertop and taste the curves of his shoulders.
He observed Kaveh for a while, until Kaveh turned his head and promptly let out a terrified squeak.
“Would you - Don’t sneak up on me like that, what is wrong with you!?” Kaveh snapped, “I could have burnt myself! Don’t you know how risky it is cooking half-naked? I’ve been trying to avoid oil splashes for the past hour!”
Alhaitham ignored his complaining, moreso he was unsure what to do about the urges he was contending with. Kaveh in just an apron… On closer reflection perhaps it wasn’t as good an idea as he had first anticipated. When Kaveh turned to him he noted the way the lines of the fabric barely concealed the plush of his chest. His pink nipple occasionally peeked from behind the apron.
Hm. That created a predicament.
“Stop staring,” Kaveh said with a blush, “It’s rude.”
“Red’s your colour,” he offered, and retreated to the living room when Kaveh exploded in response.
Eventually, after some furious clattering from the kitchen, Kaveh appeared before him holding a plate in his hands. With a flush he dropped the food in front of him and immediately turned to exit the room. His pert cheeks came back into view.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Alhaitham asked.
Kaveh (disappointingly) turned back around.
“To get changed!”
“I’d like it if you stayed,” he replied, “And I certainly didn’t say you could change out of that apron.”
Kaveh’s scarlet eyes narrowed.
“Let me guess, you’re now regretting your actions,” Alhaitham said, “Maybe you should think long and hard about whether you should be so flippant with your autonomy in future.”
“You really think I would just let anyone order me about like this?” Kaveh seethed, “What do you take me for?”
“A fool,” he retorted - taking a bite out of his meal, “But I’m glad to know I’m the only one you’d willingly give over your freedoms to.”
Kaveh’s cheeks turned red, “Oh, is that what you think is it? Maybe I’ll go outside right this instant and find another man to sell myself to, what do you think about that?”
“You wouldn’t. You’re many things but deranged isn’t one of them. Also I wouldn’t let you.”
“You wouldn’t let me? You don’t get a choice! You are a control-freak and a narcissist, I cannot believe I thought living with you would be a good idea! You don’t respect me, you constantly hurt my feelings, you treat me like I’m your housewife --”
Kaveh immediately cut himself off and the colour in his face deepened. He placed a palm atop his head in embarrassment.
“F-forget I said that!”
Alhaitham, of course, wouldn’t. A wry smile pulled over his lips.
“You’re my housewife, are you?” he chuckled, “I have to say you certainly look the part.”
“I told you to drop it!”
Lust disgusted him, he saw it in the taverns, in the streets. Men and women getting their disgusting sleeze over anything that interested them, occasionally him, more often Kaveh. He was loath to call this lust, but something inside of him yearned to tear Kaveh open and feast on the inside of him. His skin in his mouth, his scent in his nostrils, the intimate spaces of his body beneath his hands. He ached with something alien. Something odd and unique.
It was something that made him act somewhat out of character, and the sensation of it was always disarming.
“Come here,” he ordered, and surprisingly Kaveh did.
Before Kaveh could recoil, he scooped an arm around his knees and pulled him into his lap.
“Alhaitham!”
He pressed his nose against the crook of his neck and inhaled. He smelled good. Kaveh’s voice caught just beneath his lips.
“We had an agreement!” he protested.
“Is this breaching our agreement?”
“Of course it is, you’re making me…”
Alhaitham raised an eyebrow. “Making you what?”
Kaveh’s mouth tightened shut. Alhaitham resolved to fix that matter by riding a hand up along the back of his knee right up to his ass. Kaveh’s mouth opened with a shuddering gasp.
“T-this isn’t fair!”
“If I asked you to be my housewife for the month, would that breach the terms of our agreement? After all, you’d be fulfilling one of my tasks to pay for your rent.”
“I-I don’t -” For once Kaveh was tongue-tied. He struggled to keep it together as Alhaitham mapped out the curves and lines of his body. He could feel his cock stiffen between his legs, and he wondered if he slotted a hand between Kaveh’s thighs he’d feel hard flesh against his palm.
“Alhaitham please.”
“Your protests are pointless, you are clearly aroused.”
Kaveh shuddered atop him, hesitant hands placed themselves on his shoulders and the architect leaned in. His lips were mere centimetres from his, and Kaveh seemed lost in his spell. Closer and closer and closer, Alhaitham enjoyed the closeness of him, of everything that Kaveh was rushing through his senses.
“Alhaitham,” Kaveh breathed - conflict flitted through his expression and it was akin to watching sunlight dance through shards of stained glass. “I can’t.”
Alhaitham didn’t respond to this, he instead bit into the curve of neck and shoulder and Kaveh trembled beneath his hands.
“I mean it!” he gasped out, “We can’t keep doing this. All you do is hurt my feelings!”
“Our idea of what constitutes as ‘hurtful’ differs. Frankly I struggle to understand what you’re so upset about.”
“That’s exactly it,” Kaveh said. He pushed against Alhaitham’s chest to create some distance. “You don’t get it, and that’s the very reason why we can’t possibly be together.”
“But we are together, you’re living in my home, with me.”
“I know I am, but that’s different, that’s…”
Kaveh sighed and pressed a palm against his forehead. He looked off into the distance, visibly trying to mesh together his thoughts into something coherent. He seemed to struggle with whatever it was he wanted to say, he bit his lip, knitted his brows, and let out a deep deep sigh.
“How do you feel about me Alhaitham?” he asked quietly.
Soulful eyes locked onto his, and Alhaitham was held in place by his stare.
“I find you insufferable.”
Kaveh groaned and moved to slide off his lap.
Alhaitham continued, “You are far too trusting, you romanticise the world around you and that in turn leads to your demise. Yet despite your shortcomings I find your differences to be fascinating, there is a degree of enjoyment in having you around. You are smart, and clearly talented in your profession, I respect you as a fellow scholar.”
Kaveh looked at him with a peculiar emotion, he at first struggled to place it.
Disappointment. Kaveh was disappointed in his answer.
“You know, I don’t know why I expected any different,” he muttered, “You’re never going to change Alhaitham, and neither am I.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to.”
“And I’m the fool hoping that you might.”
Kaveh slid off him, and Alhaitham was loath to admit he missed the warmth.
“Just once, I hoped you wouldn’t look at me like I’m one of your projects. I’m not a thing you can study Alhaitham, I’m not willing to be played with until you figure out what you want to do with me, neither am I willing to let you fool about until you lose your interest. If you’re not capable of even understanding that, then there really is no hope for us.”
Alhaitham watched him silently as he retreated to his room and shut the door with a resounding BANG.
Well, that could have gone better. His erection departed soon after as well.
Alhaitham never beat around the bush in regards to his words, and that was a fact he reminded Kaveh of constantly. He was not prepared to blunt his words nor console after their impact, if his roommate couldn’t handle that, then that simply wasn’t his problem.
He couldn’t help the feeling that something was wrong however, that maybe, just maybe, he had made the incorrect decision. Alhaitham truthfully didn’t know how he felt about Kaveh, emotions and the behaviours they elicited were hard to quantify. One could pull together a common denominator of responses to particular stimuli, but it was impossible to fully predict how one individual would behave in any given situation. Emotions were a messy business, and one he hadn’t much interest in, but begrudgingly he knew if he didn’t dabble in the subject he’d risk losing Kaveh entirely.
He didn’t want to lose Kaveh - there was an emotion there, probably.
After some contemplation he stopped by Kaveh’s room and knocked on the door with the edge of his knuckles.
“I’ve been asked to compile information for a literature review tomorrow, I’d like for you to accompany me,” he said.
Kaveh did not respond.
“I breached the terms of our agreement, therefore I will handle my fee. I can pay for drinks at the tavern afterwards if that’s to your liking.”
Kaveh’s heavy and mournful voice muffled through the door - had he been crying? “You can’t just ply me with drinks to make up for the fact you’re an unfeeling bastard.”
Ugh, this was giving him a headache already.
“You’re seeking heartfelt words from me when you know that’s not something I can provide. What exactly is it you’re expecting from me Kaveh?”
“I don’t know! Maybe I like to be wined and dined before you try to get into my pants! Maybe I’d like to hear you actually care about me before you stick your dick inside of me! Is that too much to ask, hm? Are those words too much for the great mighty scribe’s great mighty brain?”
“I care about you,” Alhaitham replied flatly, “Can you let me in now?”
“No!” Kaveh yelled, “I have an idea, why don’t you sit down and have a long hard think about how you actually feel about me, and then finally do the right thing and give me some closure. Our agreement still stands, leave me alone.”
Alhaitham sighed and stepped away from the door. Sure, he could do that. Really he had to give Kaveh more credit where it was due, he had expected him to have given in already.
Thoughts of the day quickly ebbed away when he sunk into his bedsheets. Alhaitham shut his eyes and tasted the faint vestiges of Kaveh’s scent as he drifted off.
------------------
“Alhaitham!”
Alhaitham was never the friendly type, it wasn’t that he disliked having friends, it was more so people couldn’t tolerate his personality long enough for them to form any semblance of a friendship. Instead, he often had a variety of relationships that ranged from ‘pleasant acquaintance’, to ‘one-sided rivalry’. Never friends. It seemed he did not quite have the constitution for that type of socialisation.
Kaveh surprised him, despite his demeanour the young scholar would always chase after him with a gleam in his eye and a smile on his face.
Even when the rest of their classmates began to succumb to the pressure of their project, Kaveh always showed up in the morning, and stayed until the very end of the day. When the most stalwart of his peers eventually left the group, Kaveh remained.
It was an ambitious project, sure, perhaps too ambitious, but there was something in the way he got to see Kaveh’s bright crimson eyes and lilting boisterous voice that kept him coming back.
At this point, was it even about the project anymore? Alhaitham would state an opinion, and Kaveh would counter it with his own completely opposite view. It was remarkable how little they agreed on and how little they had in common, but that in itself was a source of great fascination.
Kaveh was his polar opposite, in every sense. Theoretically he should have hated the man, and perhaps in his own way he did, but Alhaitham found himself becoming attached to the distant parts of themselves. Kaveh was everything he wasn’t, his other half. How could one not develop some strange sense of obsession?
They had started arguing - a frequently more common occurrence - and Kaveh prowled towards him as they bickered. Hands beside his hips, knees sliding between his legs, and Kaveh’s hot breath misting across his cheeks like the feather touch of fingertips across his skin.
“Housing is more than just a place to live in Alhaitham. It’s not enough to provide four walls. Our lives are reflected through our private spaces, how can people possibly feel happy with no way to make their homes their own?”
“You’re letting emotion cloud your judgement, while I do see the merits of a pleasant home, frankly I would prioritise giving those without shelter to begin with.”
“It would be akin to putting people in prison cells, a home is more than just a building, I won’t continue down this line of thought. I refuse to put my name to it!” Kaveh argued.
Alhaitham sighed, “Won’t you? Need I remind you how long we’ve spent on a project that should have only lasted a couple of weeks.”
“When it comes to the people of Sumeru, I will gladly wait several weeks more!”
“Naive.” Alhaitham replied.
“Obtuse!” Kaveh retorted.
They were nose to nose now, and Alhaitham found himself suddenly blindsided by the intoxication of having Kaveh in his personal space - which was ridiculous, because why would anyone enjoy having the heavy weight of someone else’s body on their thighs and the obnoxious heave of their breathing whistling by their ears?
Whatever unusual spell had been placed upon him seemed to be affecting Kaveh as well, because his eyes dropped to his lips and the architect suddenly looked very nervous. What terrible magic was this? They locked eyes again and suddenly Kaveh’s mouth was on his.
He should have pushed him away, but he didn’t. Instead he found his hands sliding through the strands of his blonde hair and burying themselves into the heat of his skin. Kaveh moaned against him, and the sound sent a rush of desire through his body. Desire, was he truly experiencing desire towards someone like him? His body answered for him, he pressed Kaveh against the deep red of the cushions and raked his hands down his chest. He was rewarded with a throaty groan.
Kaveh took pause to throw his shirt off, and promptly dragged Alhaitham back to the ground with him.
He didn’t really know what he was doing, but it seemed the base instinct in all humans was present even in him, he pressed a hand flat against Kaveh’s warm skin and dragged down until he reached between his legs where he was hard and wanting.
A squeeze and Kaveh shivered beneath his arms, oh, this was all too addicting.
He wanted to claim every inch of this man’s skin -
Kaveh was waiting for him beside the front door when he finally awoke. His eyes looked puffy and red - presumably he’d been crying all night - and perhaps deep deep down inside of himself, Alhaitham felt just a little bit guilty.
“Shall we go?” he asked. Kaveh nodded without a word, and the two departed from their home.
The streets of Sumeru were as vibrant as ever, and it seemed that day in particular was busier than ever. A travelling market had set up shop along the main street and the area was abuzz with people and laughter. He noticed Kaveh’s attention being drawn to the stalls of coloured glass and beads and he had to slow his steps more than once to avoid losing him in the crowds.
“Kaveh,” he said, “Stay close.”
Kaveh did not pay him much attention, and he eventually slowed to a halt at a particular stall offering bracelets with striking colours.
He could predict the words that were on his lips, ‘How much?’, and before he could make another silly financial decision he grabbed Kaveh by the hand and yanked him back into the crowds.
“What are you -”
“Hold my hand. That’s a request,” Alhaitham declared.
Kaveh’s palm slotted perfectly inside his. Like two halves of a whole. Kaveh didn’t seem particularly enthused about holding Alhaitham’s hand in public, but the slight tinge of red on his cheeks suggested he didn’t particularly hate it either.
They arrived at the Akademiya not long after and their hands separated. Alhaitham led him into the bowels of the library and dumped a brief onto one of the vacant desks. For the most part the Akademiya at this time was bare, not a single soul seemed to exist in the lower floors and that was largely the reason he’d opted to arrive at that time of day.
He turned to face Kaveh and slid over a slip of paper.
“Get to work, I need your opinion on the following documents.”
Kaveh peered at the paper and frowned. “Structural Principles - A Guide, The Merits of Healthy Spaces, The Art of Beauty - These are all design documents, what project are you working on?”
“I’ve been asked to prepare a case for improvements to public-facing Akademiya buildings, I thought this would be something I could rely on your input for,” Alhaitham explained.
Kaveh didn’t seem particularly happy.
“If you’re asking me to get involved in another project with you, the answer is no.”
“Not what I’m asking, I’m asking for your professional opinion on the literature I’ve put forward,” he stated.
Kaveh sighed melodramatically and cast another eye on the paper, “I would remove The Art of Beauty and replace it with something a little more grounded, like Aesthetics in Architecture. The Art of Beauty is something that is rather abstract and I think you’re looking for more practical applications…”
With that Kaveh began to roam across the many many shelves that spiralled across the walls. He seemed in his element and the woes of the previous night were long forgotten. He pivoted on his foot and reached out for a book. He returned with its spine split open, passing it for Alhaitham’s perusal.
“See? It outlines the various considerations for the development of buildings. Definitely gives you more to work with,” Kaveh said.
Alhaitham looked over the book, “But don’t you think it’s a little broad? This implies the reader is well-versed in different aesthetics, but as a starting point we need to know which direction to head.”
“Ah, well in that case I recommend pairing it with Sumeru Designs Across the Ages - definitely gives you some concrete concepts to work with and…”
Kaveh trailed off and a troubled expression fell over his face.
“I can’t do this,” he announced.
“What’s the matter?”
“This, us, I see what you’re doing, you’re trying to emulate our first encounter at the Akademiya,” Kaveh accused, “I want no part in it!”
“You’re paranoid,” Alhaitham replied.
“Am I? Or do I know you well enough at this point to know when you’re trying to manipulate me?”
Alhaitham rolled his eyes. “Please, if I wanted to manipulate you I’d make sure you wouldn’t even notice it. If anything I’m being overt. I asked you to help me today because I would be willing to compensate you for your consultation on this matter, enough to cover your rent this month in fact.”
Kaveh’s eyes widened. At last, had he finally got the memo?
“I see… you’re giving me an out!”
He had indeed grasped Alhaitham’s intentions.
“Well I do not need your sympathy, I got myself into this mess and I’ll get myself out. No thank you!”
Nevermind, he was a buffoon regardless.
“Are you stupid?” Alhaitham asked.
“No! I see what’s happening here, you think you can occasionally be a decent person for once and get back in my good books, well it’s not going to happen! I see right through you Alhaitham, you can’t just be nice to me and expect me to open my legs!”
“Is that what you think this is about? That I’m trying to sleep with you? Unlike you I can keep my urges in check. The only one mentioning sex in this situation is you.”
“I can keep my sexual urges in check, thank you very much!” he yelled - and promptly slapped a hand over his mouth when the sound echoed. He instead resorted to furious whispering. “You’ve been trying to entice me ever since I moved in! Walking around with your shirt off, sitting with your legs wide open, looking at me with those sultry eyes, well it hasn’t worked on me! Not in the slightest!”
Alhaitham hadn’t known he was doing any of those things, but it spoke volumes for Kaveh’s mental state.
“Alright…” Alhaitham began - prowling in towards Kaveh as if he were a cat cornering a mouse, “If you’re so resistant to my seduction, then kiss me.”
Kaveh baulked. “N-nice try!”
“I’m being serious. If you don’t think of me that way, then kiss me. If nothing happens between us, then that is that. We can put an end to this chapter of our lives.”
“Y-you - You really think I would fall for such an obvious trick?”
“Yes.”
Kaveh dropped his head, then promptly raised his chin and faced him with a defiant gleam in his eye. If Alhaitham was the type to laugh he’d be snickering at Kaveh’s pointless bravado, instead he watched it with muted impatience.
Kaveh approached him, closing the gap between them. He took a look around the lower floor of the library for any others in the vicinity, then turned back to stare directly at Alhaitham. His resolve immediately began to crack, his eyes darted to the side, his tongue dipped out to wet his dry lips, and the ends of his fingers began to tremble.
He leaned in, the cherry pink of his lips ghosting against his own - just a hair away - then stepped back.
“I can’t…” Kaveh conceded.
“You can’t?”
“N-no…”
“Not even if I ordered you to?”
Kaveh’s chest fluttered.
“I…”
Oh to the hell of it, Alhaitham shoved his mouth upon Kaveh’s and slammed him against the bookshelves. He knew Kaveh would have been broken down eventually, but frankly, Alhaitham was impatient.
He swallowed the throaty gasp from Kaveh’s lips and slid a tongue into the heat of his mouth. A similar, addicting noise arose from his throat - Alhaitham wanted to pluck litanies out of it until his voice was raw.
“You asked me to think about how I feel about you, I’m afraid I cannot give you an answer that’s coherent,” Alhaitham husked in between kisses, “You infuriate me and yet I cannot bring myself to dislike you. You are my opposite, my other half. I want to make you cry and beg, I want you to mess with your thoughts until you can’t think of anything but me.”
Kaveh responded with a shuddering moan - good. The man was more amenable when fucked out of his mind. He shoved a hand into the tempting slit of his open shirt and kissed him hard.
“Alhaitham, wait…” Kaveh weakly protested - that was interesting, he didn’t expect Kaveh to have any resolve. “Not here…”
Ah, he understood. He pulled back and drank in the sight of Kaveh’s spit-damp lips and blushing cheeks. It was hard to resist the urge to gloat, that despite all Kaveh’s rebuttals, he still could not stop the innate way his body yielded to him.
“Head home, I’ll finish up my work here and we can continue this shortly,” Alhaitham said.
Kaveh folded his arms indignantly but began to walk to the exit regardless. His pompous air looked ridiculous considering how dishevelled he currently was. “You don’t get to order me about any more, I supplied you with my professional opinion did I not? Therefore I’ve paid up.”
“No you haven’t, if you use that feeble brain of yours you’ll distinctly remember you refused the fee for your consultation. Therefore you still owe rent.”
“W-wh -” Kaveh spluttered, “Alhaitham you cannot be serious!”
“Go home, you can pay off the rent with your body.”
“You are the most infuriating, selfish, unfeeling, cruel, terrible, ignorant man I have ever had the displeasure to sleep with!”
“Would you like to add any more adjectives to that?” Alhaitham chided, “Let’s see if you have that attitude still by the time I get home.”
“Hah! Who even says I’ll be home, hm?” Kaveh’s voice grew fainter as he headed out. “Maybe along the way I’ll find a mysterious financier who will whisk me far away from you!”
Kaveh continued ranting as he left the building. What a fool. Regardless, he could not wait to get him behind closed doors.
-------------
The sky was amber by the time he left the Akademiya. Begrudgingly his search for academic papers to add to the review had taken him a little longer than he had hoped. He almost wanted to jump straight into his bed and be blissfully lost in sleep the moment he stepped foot home, but he knew he had pressing matters to contend with on his arrival.
Sure enough when he opened the front door to his home, the aroma of Kaveh breached his senses. Kaveh stood in the kitchen again, completely nude again, and wearing nothing but an apron (again).
Alhaitham was beset by surprise for a few moments, then immediately pressed himself up against the bare skin of Kaveh’s back and bit into his shoulder.
“Alhaitham,” Kaveh breathed. He was halfway through washing up a few pots and his forearms were submerged in water. “You couldn’t have waited for me to finish up?”
“Why should I? You’ve dressed like this to provoke me, therefore I’m responding in kind,” he rumbled against the curve of his neck.
“That’s very presumptuous of you,” Kaveh said with an uneven lilt.
Alhaitham looked down and saw that the colour of his apron was different than usual, it was also… frilly.
“What is this?” he asked.
Kaveh flushed, “Well, um, you seemed to like it last time, so I bought something a little more alluring on the way home, I was told this was a direct import from Fontaine and -”
The desire to chide Kaveh for his terrible financial decisions was overridden by the desire to bend him over the counter. He bit hard into the plush of Kaveh’s neck and slid his hands underneath the fabric to grab at his chest. Kaveh gasped and dropped the plate he was holding into the water.
“Would you - Just let me finish up before you make me break the expensive crockery you brute, I - ah! Hmph!”
Alhaitham rubbed and tugged at his nipples and Kaveh grew unsteady on his feet.
“You’re… horrible…”
“That’s a ridiculous thing to say when you’re the one moaning like a cat in heat,” Alhaitham replied.
“Even when we’re having sex you can’t help but insult me, just once you could treat me kindly?” Kaveh said.
Alhaitham paused his roaming hands and tilted towards Kaveh’s ear.
“Open your mouth for me.”
Kaveh obeyed. Alhaitham shoved two fingers into his mouth and reached around to pull at the erection jutting out into the pink fabric.
Kaveh was blindsided by both intrusions, he spluttered against the fingers in his mouth but conversely melted at the feel of Alhaitham’s hand fisting over his cock.
“Suck,” Alhaitham rumbled into his ear, and he followed the command. He was sure to get some flak for it later, but right now he could enjoy Kaveh for all that he was without his incessant whining in his ear. He ground his crotch against his rear and tugged at his dick tightly, using his precum to lubricate his hand. He fell apart, just like clockwork, whatever grievances Kaveh had against him were usually wiped away when his mind was overloaded with pleasure.
“It’s clear your body still remembers me, I haven’t had the pleasure of seeing you so agreeable,” Alhaitham hummed, “How desperate have you been for this?”
Kaveh angrily grunted something against his fingers, thankfully Alhaitham couldn’t make any sense of it.
“Quit trying to argue back, I’ll release your mouth if you play nice - how does that sound?”
Kaveh’s shoulders raised, but after a few seconds he meekly nodded. Alhaitham’s fingers left the wet heat of his mouth and Kaveh let out a shuddering breath.
“You don’t have to be so rough with me, you know?” Kaveh said.
“But you like rough.”
Kaveh’s ears tinged with red.
“You’re making assumptions, if anything I’ve been asking you to treat me kindly.”
“Kindly?” Alhaitham pressed a kiss against his shoulder and lathed a tongue across his skin. Kaveh’s voice hitched and he followed after the sound by dragging his lips across the bare expanse of his back. Dropping down, down, down, until he was low on the floor.
“Hnngh~ ” Kaveh gasped, “Oh!”
His hand lingered down to rest upon his hips, before raking his index finger down between the supple cheeks of his ass. He pressed in and was met with warm wet slick and a lax hole. The feel of it took him aback for a second.
“You prepared yourself,” he said - resting upon his knees.
“Don’t you always complain about having to open me up? You should be thanking me, I saved you a job -- ahngh!”
Alhaitham slid a finger inside his hole and curled his fingers. He played with the sensation of flesh swallowing him in, before pulling the finger out and pressing in with another. Kaveh’s legs trembled as Alhaitham worked his body, he ground the tips of his fingers along his walls, and plunged back in. Slowly, languidly, sensually, he could feel the tension winding up in him and even pressing a chaste kiss against his thigh was enough to have Kaveh gasping.
He pulled his fingers out completely, observed the sight of him for a few moments, then slid his tongue inside of him.
“What are you - Oh!”
Kaveh’s grip on the kitchen counter became iron-tight as Alhaitham pressed his face into his rear and undulated his tongue. He didn’t particularly enjoy the sensation, but he did enjoy the way Kaveh struggled to string more than a few syllables together. He was loud, each jab of his tongue had Kaveh spitting out expletives and his eyes grew wide. A stupid, silly, moaning mess - Alhaitham felt a little guilty for reducing a man of such intellect into a drooling buffoon.
Guilt was just one emotion however, because frankly he enjoyed the sight of Kaveh cock-hungry and mindless.
He pulled out from Kaveh’s body and stood up, looking over the way he hunched over the counter and how his rear presented itself to him as if he were an animal in heat. It was hard keeping his composure, Kaveh had that unpleasant effect on him, Kaveh wrenched those unpleasant parts of himself to the surface.
He moulded the front of his body to Kaveh’s back and pressed his nose against the fringes of his hair. Living with Kaveh meant his scent was never absent from his life, but being this close the aroma of him was concentrated - it made his head swim. He wrapped his hands around his middle and gave his leaking cock another tug. Kaveh moaned in reply.
“Alhaitham,” Kaveh pleaded, “Alhaitham inside of me, please. I - I need it.”
At last, honesty.
He lifted his head from the crook of his neck and peered down at the gap between their bodies. He unzipped his trousers and noted the way Kaveh’s breath caught at the feeling of his hard cock nudging against the soft plush of his thighs.
“You’ll fuck me gently, won’t you?” Kaveh asked, “Make love to me, slowly, softly - ngh!”
Kavehs willing body swallowed him in, his cock pushed through the giving band of muscle and into the humid tight heat of him. Alhaitham could scarcely keep himself in check, how long had he waited for this? How long had Kaveh been withholding him? They were designed to slot together, like two halves of a whole, and his body sang with the euphoria of finding its place.
He grunted as he slid into him as far as he could go, both hands either side of his hips to guide the way. His stomach met Kaveh’s behind, and Kaveh all but trembled.
“So… so deep…” Kaveh shuddered.
Alhaitham pulled his hips back and snapped into him - Kaveh juddered forwards.
“Gently! Kindly!” he chastised.
Alhaitham paused, and began to set a slow and deliberate pace. He took enjoyment in standing back and watching the way his cock sunk into Kaveh’s hole - in, and out, in and out. He made a point of grinding himself up - seeking his prostate - and relishing the delirious gasp from Kaveh’s lips.
Each heavy push into Kaveh’s body had him lurching forwards, the pretty long shapes of his legs stretching as he pivoted on his toes to avoid knocking his knees into the counter. The frilly pink ribbons of his apron knotted across his back and Alhaitham took advantage of the loose hanging fabric on his front to run his hands along the soft muscle of his chest.
“See? You are capable of behaving yourself - ah! If you treated me - ngh - like this more often I’d be more willing to sleep with you,” Kaveh stuttered.
Kaveh presumably thought he had him wrapped around his little finger - but unbeknownst to him they were both playing a game of wits, and Alhaitham had already laid out his strategy. He fucked into him languidly and noted the relaxed loose feeling in the body beneath his hands.
“Is that so?” Alhaitham replied nonchalantly, “As you say, I am not one for being well behaved but as someone who still owes me rent, don’t you think you’re the one who should be a little more agreeable?”
“Y-you’re really going to mention the rent at a time like this?”
“You presented yourself to me on arrival, how can I not interpret this as being a purely transactional affair? I did say you can pay off the rent with your body.”
“That’s not what I meant -”
“Therefore, as someone with claim over your autonomy, I have full rights to do as I please.”
“What are you trying to say -”
He did not let him finish the sentence, he grabbed a firm grip on his hips and began to ram himself inside of him. Kaveh immediately crumbled, he cried out, he fumbled against the kitchen counter and struggled to keep himself in place. Alhaitham’s pace was blistering and the sound of slapping skin filled the room.
“You idiot!” Kaveh gasped, “You bastard! You fool! You beast!”
Despite all his protests Alhaitham could hear the pitiful wavering in his tone and the way it hitched higher and higher. His voice became no longer legible, he groaned and moaned and sobbed and whined. Alhaitham barely let up, he became frantic in the chase of his own pleasure - the blissful hot flesh that yielded to him, the way Kaveh shook and clenched with the build of orgasm.
He pushed a fist into the long strands of Kaveh’s hair and wrenched his head back. An aesthetically pleasing bow, the sensual curve of throat and spine - he wondered if Kaveh would see the beauty of it. Kaveh was beautiful, he was fair and soft and winsome, surely it was not a selfish act to keep beautiful things to yourself?
Kaveh let out a throaty gasp and his legs struggled to stay upright.
“Alhaitham, I’m going to - I - I can’t - I -”
Alhaitham slowed his motions, and Kaveh spluttered in furious indignation - despite the way he crumpled over at the knee.
“I didn’t say you could stop!”
“Just earlier you were complaining about me being rough, so which is it?”
Kaveh turned his face away from him and slid to the floor.
“Can we continue this in the bedroom?” he said weakly - and after a long pause added, “Please.”
“Wow, well when you’re being so polite to me how could I possibly refuse?” Alhaitham replied sarcastically.
Before Kaveh could bite back another retort Alhaitham knelt down and scooped Kaveh up into his arms. Of course that also earned him another complaint, but Alhaitham noted the arms winding around his neck and how Kaveh seemed to settle against his chest.
He brought them to the bedroom, and unceremoniously dumped Kaveh onto the bed.
“Does romance mean anything to you!?” Kaveh squawked.
Alhaitham climbed onto the mattress himself and edged towards him. Kaveh was on his back with either leg splayed to the side of him, and that ridiculous frilly apron - now stained with damp - hid his intimate parts from view. He took in the sight for a few moments, before crawling over and nudging his legs further apart.
“Hold your legs for me,” he said. Kaveh looked at him with an air of confusion, then took each knee in hand.
“That’s it, open them wide.”
Kaveh’s lips thinned, “T-this is embarrassing…”
“Now lay back, and pull your legs towards you.”
In this sort of position Kaveh was completely on show for him - indeed he did not miss the attention. His thighs jittered, his cock jumped, and the rose red of his entrance seemed to entice him back in.
“Is this alright?” Kaveh asked nervously.
“Perfect,” Alhaitham breathed - and the compliment did not go unnoticed.
“That’s the nicest thing you’ve said to me all day.”
“I’m not here to give you airy lofty words, you know you’ll only get honesty from me.”
“Well then -” Kaveh murmured as Alhaitham leaned in and slotted his hands either side his chest. “What other peals of honesty can you give me?”
Alhaitham paused - he always loath to give Kaveh exactly what he wanted, but when Kaveh looked up at him with those big bright crimson eyes, how could he refuse?
“...you’re beautiful, like this,” he said, and Kaveh sucked in a sharp breath.
“Yeah? And what else?”
Alhaitham lined himself up and gasped when he pushed into Kaveh’s tight heat.
“I find it satisfying how desperately your body swallows me in.”
“Yes, well it’s… it’s been a while since…”
Alhaitham rocked his hips and Kaveh whined.
“It has,” Alhaitham continued for him, “And you’re a fool to have kept yourself chaste and wanting.”
“Ngh! How could I not? You are the most irritating man I have ever had the misfortune to meet, and I feel as if I don’t stand my ground you’d swallow me whole!”
“Swallow you whole? That’s a perplexing metaphor.”
“It’s true, you have no idea how overwhelming you are, do you? Even when I wanted to keep my distance you butted yourself back in regardless.”
Alhaitham drew his cock out and snapped back inside - Kaveh’s body bounced with the motion of it.
“I’m aware of how ‘overwhelming’ I am,” he spoke, “And I won’t stop on your account. I hope you realise that I plan to make the remainder of this month a living nightmare for you - consider it an unconventional way of showing my affection.”
“Y-you wouldn’t!” Kaveh spluttered with wide eyes.
“Mmm, maybe I’ll make you wear that silly little apron of yours every night, and I’d expect you to have yourself prepared for me when I return home. I hear that there are a selection of uncouth sexual apparatus on supply in the black market - maybe I’ll experiment on yourself. How long can a man hold off orgasm? We can find out. The possibilities are endless after all.”
“No!” Kaveh thrashed - despite the fact his cock was leaking, “You wouldn’t dare!”
“You don’t seem particularly disturbed by the idea considering how hard you’re clenching against me. Since you can’t be truthful with your mouth I’ll instead have to pay attention to your body.”
Kaveh could barely get a few words in before Alhaitham began aggressively fucking into him. Kaveh’s head tilted back and his eyes widened - he could feel the legs either side his body jerk against the empty air.
“Alhaitham,” Kaveh sobbed in pleasure, “You’re the worst!”
Alhaitham could hardly stop the mean smile on his lips - instead he pressed them against Kaveh’s and swallowed down the sounds of his delight as Kaveh wailed and came against his mouth. Perfect.
Despite the fact they walked in completely different worlds, somehow, in the dark spaces of their intimacy, they seemed to meld together in harmony.
Alhaitham could scarcely stop the breathless noises that left his throat as he jerked inside of him and that dizzing pleasure coiled around and around in his stomach. He pressed his tongue inside Kaveh’s mouth and snapped his hips against him - pressing harder, deeper, as he spilled out into the confines of Kaveh’s insides. It seemed endless, his cock jumped again and again with fresh offerings, and when he finally pulled out his semen leaked out all over the bedsheets.
“I keep telling you to not come inside, and yet you do so anyway!” Kaveh huffed.
Alhaitham laid beside him and slotted himself into the crook of Kaveh’s neck. Warm, soft, Kaveh. The post-coital bliss made it easier to blot out his incessant whining.
“Consider it an experiment, with enough application of seminal fluid can a man get pregnant? It’s my new hypothesis.”
“You know damn well I can’t get pregnant!”
“Who says? Science is advancing at an astronomical rate.”
Despite Kaveh’s grumbling he too tilted over to his side and wrapped his hands around Alhaitham’s waist. The silence was heavenly, and if only the two of them felt comfortable dwelling in it for more than a few moments.
Predictably, Kaveh broke it not long after.
“All those things you mentioned earlier, that was just in the heat of the moment right? You’re not actually going to sexually terrorize me for a month are you?” Kaveh asked.
“Who can say?”
“B-but it’ll be tiring right?” Kaveh pleaded nervously, “Do you really want to expend all your energy on something like that?”
“Depends on how creative I’m feeling.”
Kaveh became silent once more and Alhaitham could feel the anxiety radiating from his body.
“By the way, I have something for you,” Alhaitham said.
Kaveh’s eyebrows raised. Alhaitham took hold of one of his forearms and pressed a soft kiss against his wrist, he followed up by pulling a string of beads from his pocket and sliding them over it.
“I’m not particualrly interested in exploiting people for free labour, so consider it payment for your assistance today.”
Kaveh tilted his arm in the weak light in the moon, beads of brightly coloured glass sparkled. He stared at it, awestruck, and Alhaitham swore he could almost see tears brimming in his eyes.
“That’s…” Kaveh uttered, “Alhaitham… thank you…”
“Don’t mention it.” And with that, Alhaitham turned to his side.
Kaveh however, seemed to have other ideas. He clambered on top of him and began trying to remove his clothes.
“F-fine! I suppose I can go another round -”
“Who says I want to go another round?”
There were few things Alhaitham tolerated that interfered with his lifestyle, and his roommate was certainly one of them.