The Vulture and the Paradisaea (Alhaitham x Kaveh)

S1 C4 - Night Terrors

Alhaitham inhaled deeply, sitting up on his bed. It had been a couple of minutes since he had said goodnight to Kaveh. Why did he say those things to Kaveh? He told himself to distance from people. They lied, cheated, smuggled, you couldn't trust many people. Kaveh was trustable, but on the other hand pretty gullible, whatever he knew could easily be extracted from him. Besides, getting too close to Kaveh gave him a weakness. Too close meant he would mean he would act reckless. He couldn't allow himself to do that. So why did he admit that he missed their old relationship?

Maybe even more importantly, what did Kaveh mean when he said that he needed those words? Was he feeling a bit more...unhappy than usual? Kaveh sounded a bit dull. He was usually hyper and energetic, but last night was different. So different. He had changed, not externally, but internally. Something had broken within him. Alhaitham heaved. It was too late at night to think about this. It was time to get some shut-eye. He turned off his bedside lamp and went to sleep.

-Time Skip-

Alhaitham woke to wailing. He quickly got out of bed and grabbed his sword. The voice was recognizable. Kaveh. He was screaming bloody murder.

Alhaitham ran over to Kaveh's room and tried to open the door. It was locked. Alhaitham swore under his breath. "Shit, shit, shit! Kaveh, let me in! What's happening in there!?" He heard heavy breathing in the room, then some shuffling.

Kaveh's voice responded a couple of seconds later. "Don't worry, I'm fine. Just had a... disturbing nightmare. I'm okay though. I actually woke up a couple times this night because of the dreams, this time I screamed because it seemed too real. If this continues, I'll ask Tignari to hook me up with a prescription of some sort. I'll be fine, Haitham." Alhaitham froze. Kaveh hadn't called him that in a long time.

Alhaitham hesitated before he asked, "Kaveh? Are you doing alright? You don't usually act like this... Did something happen when you went to Kar- the man who you worked for's house?"

There was complete silence for a beat, but then he answered, "Even if I told you what happened, you wouldn't be able to help." So something had happened.

Alhaitham said, "Kaveh, I want to help you. This isn't about your debt, I can tell. It's affecting you badly. If you don't tell me what that person did to you, then I can't help you be yourself again. Please, just open up."

"That's funny. You never open up to anyone. Why am I pushed to tell?" Alhaitham held in a swear. That was not the same thing.

"That's different. You got hurt, and might suffer from long term effects if you don't tell people. I haven't gotten hurt. I just don't like having friends." There was dead silence. "Listen, whatever happened, I will make sure that person gets their punishment. You know I'm not the sort of person to let a criminal walk the streets."

Kaveh was silent for a few moments, but then he whispered softly, "There was this man named Karim who walked up to me during my break. He gave me a good assignment, and I accepted. I arrived at his house at 21:00, and... I had left my weapon by the door, so I couldn't fight back. He forced himself on me. I felt so fucking tired afterwards, I couldn't stop him from taking some photos of me, completely naked. He will reveal those photos if I don't listen to his demands. The Akademiya and the Corps of Thirty are powerless, because he told me he has shit on them too." Alhaitham became more and more aggravated as Kaveh went on. That man... He had done more crimes like that before. Alhaitham had to stop him, not just for Kaveh, but for Sumeru as well.

Alhaitham soothingly said, "Don't worry. He won't touch you again, I promise on Lesser Lord Kusanali. Stay home for today. Don't push yourself too hard. I may not see you in the morning, so goodnight," he paused before continuing, "Senior Kaveh. Get some sleep."

Kaveh laughed lightly. It was a beautiful sound, so bright and warm. "Goodnight, Haitham. Sweet dreams, if you have any." Alhaitham heard shuffling and then the recognizable creak of the floor just next to Kaveh's bed. Once there was only the sound of Kaveh breathing, he headed toward his room and sat down at his desk. He smiled slightly as he started to plan out how to catch Karim, but that wasn't the reason he was smiling. As much as he'd like to forget it, that laugh was beautiful. It was nice, having this moment. He continued to smile as the night went by.