nota valedictionis (third's time a charm) || GENSHIN IMPACT [ENG]

memoriae architecti

A/N

Before anyone jumps me, sorry for any potential mischaracterization and wrong descriptions of heavy stuff (including drug use, state of mind etc etc). I'm no professional, and personally I've never was in a mental crisis, nor under any substance addiction; please do correct me if something requires it. I do not condone any morally wrong behavior presented in the fic.

Last quick note, I'm not a native English user, let me know if you find any typos or grammar mistakes!

***

If Kaveh was asked to pinpoint a time and place that started this whole journey which led to this, he wouldn't be able to. He would have a few guesses, but wouldn't be able to confirm which one was more accurate; the first falling out, the reunion, or the second falling out. All of these were possible options, but in all technicality and logic more sense would have a point somewhere between the last two.

Before the reunion Kaveh was miserable; yes, that is a fact. Drinking away his sorrows at Lambad's, occasional smoke here and there, but that's about it. His increasing debt did nothing to help him, and slowly his stays at the tavern were reduced to just that — a stay; to keep warm, to have a roof above your head.

When it was particularly colder, Lambad made him tea on the house. Kaveh sometimes helped with cleaning or decorating, as customary of his expertise. A fair deal, he thought. If people's traffic was small and Lambad felt generous that day, Kaveh could even get his hands on a glass of wine.

Most of his days were spent on literal streets; wandering about, looking for clients interested in his architectural experience, people taking him for a beggar, giving him a pathetic sum of Mora or a pathetic piece of bread. If Kaveh was lucky, he spent the nights in the cheapest inns he found. If not, he searched for some generosity in public libraries, taverns, hospitals. Sometimes people were kind enough to let him in, but Kaveh understood if they didn't; he was a stranger after all.

Long story short, Kaveh was struggling, real struggling to get an ounce of a normal life. Walk around the city aimlessly, visit a tavern, find an inn, repeat; this was his routine since Kaveh finished building his magnum opus, the Palace of Alcazarzaray. Although if he was given a choice between never going with that commission, thus living a normal life, and designing the Palace once again, he'd choose the latter, no questions asked. That was his joy and pride, one thing the next generations could remember him for.

Kaveh sighed, breathing in the dusty and alcoholic air of Alhaitham's basement, which Kaveh turned from some lame storage into his own personal abode. Of course, he still had his own room in the main area of the house, but after yet another falling out (it was set in stone; they weren't meant to be) Kaveh spent less and less time up there.

He took a sip out of the wine bottle in his hand. When Alhaitham took him in under his roof, Kaveh deeply questioned his motives. What could possibly be the reason? A few years together in the Akademiya, a decade or so apart, and then another years together again; yet Kaveh still wouldn't be able to say why Alhaitham decided to allow him to live in one house.

One thing was for sure: Kaveh's life literally fell apart after the argument that made their relationship devolve a decade back.

In hindsight, their first argument was a pretty stupid thing and he's surprised that either of them was affected so badly; they were barely adults, just out of their teenage years, and a fight over ideals should be an enlightening moment for both of them instead of what actually happened. If Kaveh from back then would hear that, he would get a stroke and die on the spot. But Kaveh from the present can in all honesty say it was all due to their pettiness and stubbornness showing off in their own ways. Unfortunately, with the same honesty, he could tell that their relationship after that last argument was completely beyond repair. One more sip of wine, Kaveh was laid out on the broken sofa he somehow managed to get there.