✧*̥˚ {𝔊𝔢𝔫𝔰𝔥𝔦𝔫 ℑ𝔪𝔭𝔞𝔠𝔱 𝔒𝔫𝔢𝔰𝔥𝔬𝔱𝔰 & ℌ𝔢𝔞𝔡𝔠𝔞𝔫𝔬𝔫𝔰} *̥˚✧

𝕬𝖑𝖍𝖆𝖎𝖙𝖍𝖆𝖒 ꕥ

The house was quiet as I crept in—surprisingly so. It wasn't too late at night, so usually Kaveh would be awake making a ruckus, half the time begging Haithy for something or other. I didn't mind him—not at all. In fact, he was a good friend of mine—and a great source of entertainment.

I ventured further inside, closing the door to their apartment behind me with a soft click. It wasn't long before I saw Kaveh passed out on the couch. Well, that would explain the silence. He must've had a rough day.

Still... he wouldn't be the only person in this apartment—not when his keys were missing. Someone would've had to let him in. So where the heck was Haithy? Oh, my bad, that was just a nickname I used for Alhaitham. It absolutely peeved him—which was the sole reason I called him that.

I tossed Kaveh's keys to the apartment—which I had stolen from him earlier today so I could enter in the first place—next to him on the couch. He groaned and rolled over but continued in his slumber.

I stood in the middle of the room for a moment, thinking. If Alhaitham wasn't out, then he would likely be hiding in his room, probably studying. Ugh, just the thought bored me to tears. I couldn't imagine working or studying in the Akademiya, but he didn't seem to mind. That said, I did enjoy reading, which is how I connected with Haithy in the first place.

I walked a few more paces into the house before reaching his bedroom door. It was closed—and probably unlocked. Even with Kaveh asleep, there was no telling when he would awaken and barge in. I lifted my hand to knock, then decided against it and let myself in, using my Anemo Vision to unlock the door, bursting through the door with a bravado that would absolutely make Haithy irritated as heck.

Sure enough, he was sitting there with a single lantern lighting up his large and quite frankly boorish book. I had read it before—twice—and I just couldn't see the appeal. I guess it was no surprise Alhaitham took interest in it, though.

As I closed the door behind me with a slam, not caring if Kaveh woke up, and strode across the gap between us, I noticed Alhaitham hadn't lifted his gaze, not even questioning how I got in—his own way to retaliate when I annoyed him. Hah, so he wanted to play that game, huh?

I plopped myself on the bed beside him, throwing my arm over his shoulder and peering at the long long words on the page. "Rare to see you read anything that isn't academic."

Haithy stiffened at my sudden touch. "Incorrect. This book contains knowledge of ancient cultures within it."

I sighed. "And you're interested in that? You Akademiya folk are bizarre. They're hardly more than legends." I jerked my chin towards the page. "What part are you up to?"

"Why don't you read it and find out?"

I snatched the book from him and dangled it—carefully, so as not to damage the book as Haithy would probably damage my spine if I so much as creased a page—and said, "I have—twice. It's boring." I tossed the book—gently—onto the bed beside me. "I have better ones. You should stop being stubborn and read them with me. Our reading paces are similar, after all."

"I'd rather kill Kaveh."

"You'd gut Kaveh for fun. Come on," I whined. "Just one. Please." I held up a finger, forcing my bottom lip to wobble. "I won't force you to do anything else."

Haithy sighed. "If you'll leave me alone... Archons, you're almost as annoying as Kaveh."

I gave him a wild grin in response. "Thanks—consider it my own personal goal to annoy the absolute shite out of you." He huffed in exasperation and I chuckled. I stood, my index and thumb on my chin as I thought to myself. "Now... what book should I choose..?"