Chapter Text
Kaveh sat alone, in his room. He gazed out the window, not longingly, he was just observing. All he had to do was ask and the emperor’s servants would take him outside. Then he’d come back and get scolded by Alhaitham himself, who would scoff, avert his gaze and let it happen again.
Kaveh didn’t mind his new life, he could draw, design and live in a way he couldn’t before. Not as the crown prince of Kshahrewar, not with all of his responsibilities. Cold wars weren’t supposed to make you feel warm, but Kaveh didn’t really mind. Alhaitham would never actually harm him.
“You’re early” he stated, his voice quiet. His eyes trailed a flying vulture, before his head was turned to meet the emperor’s gaze. The piercing green in his ‘captor’s’ eyes was something he’d never get used to. They sent a chill down his spine.
Alhaitham kept up his front for now, and Kaveh noticed his neglect. The door was still open. Kaveh sighed, escaping Alhaitham’s grip to close it himself. When he turned back, the younger man had stolen his chair and a book from his shelf. Kaveh scoffed, “must I do everything for you, dear junior?” he teased.
Alhaitham set down his book
-that was quick- Kaveh thought, not used to Alhaitham being so…efficient when it came to mannerisms.
”Why are you so happy to be confined? Why do you comply so easily? I thought you’d resist, but here you are just letting me control you”
Alhaitham was blunt, and Kaveh was not amused. He hushed the emperor, the man had spoken enough.
Kaveh enjoyed shutting up the other. It was a break from the typical captor and captive dynamic.
“Is it so hard to believe that I like that you treat me like your finest treasure?” that was how Kaveh replied.
Alhaitham was taken aback, he didn’t understand how kidnapping someone and using them as leverage in a cold war was anything that could be deemed as treating someone as treasure…
Kaveh would have to explain