(Another long chapter for y'all since the last chapter was... 🙄)
-Alhaitham's POV-
It was the following morning, and despite drinking as much as I did last night, I was able to wake up early. Unfortunately though, my memories of last night hadn't vanished like I'd wished they would. I questioned what the reason was for what happened last night. It's as if whenever we get drunk, we can't stay away from each other.
Is it because we both know we have feelings for each other that we can't express when sober?
As much as I wanted to let him know that I had feelings for him, I didn't want to give him any hopes of being in a relationship. I knew that in the long run, it wouldn't be good for neither of us.
Brushing my thoughts aside, I left my room to get ready for the morning when I heard banging noises coming from Kaveh's room- and so I took a detour and went towards his room, cracking the door ajar to see him sitting on the floor surrounded by cardboard boxes, some full, some empty. But what stood out the most was the box that was in front of him. It was a rather large box, blue in colour with intricate golden designs and diamond shapes along the side. The box belonged to Kaveh, and he'd brought it with him when he'd moved in. I always wondered what was within it, since Kaveh never opened it, but now I was able to sneak a peek as the lid was off.
The contents only consisted of a few books and scrolls of paper, and resting in Kaveh's hand was a diary that was locked shut by what seemed to be a combination lock.
"You're packing already?" I asked him, prompting him to look up at me. He simply nodded and put the diary back into the box before shutting the lid. Then he slightly turned to his side and gathered a pile of books and after brushing the dust off of the covers, he shoved them into an empty box.
I had some things to say to him, seeing that he was really planning to leave.
And so, I kneeled down in front of him and got on his eye level, so as to not look down on him.
-Kaveh's POV-
I glanced at him, not knowing what his next move was.
The past few days were very confusing, and I had to admit that I'd never seen Alhaitham acting so strangely. It was as if he was alternating between his normal self and the side of him that wanted to show affection. He wasn't very good at showing affection, but I could tell he was trying somewhat, and I couldn't tell why. Didn't he want to distance himself from me after my confession?
"I'm sorry." He began. "For what happened last night."
I blinked a few times and just nodded as an approval of his apology, before going back to gathering the belongings I'd kept on the floor to pack. Yes, if you're wondering why I'm packing so early, it's because as soon as I get my hands on that prize money, I'm out of here.
"And I'm also sorry for hurting your feelings."
I looked back up at him, wondering if I'd misheard him. Alhaitham? Apologising for hurting my feelings? Well, that was new. It had happened only once or twice in the span of our whole friendship.
"Did you hit your head or something? Or is this because you don't want me to leave?" I laughed at him, but the expression on his face didn't shift. It was that same expression from a few days ago- not harsh but not soft either...just somewhere in the middle. He shook his head as a response to my question.
"I respect your decision as my senior." He slightly nodded.
"Well, thank you for being mature, at least. I'm glad we can end things off on good terms." I told him while continuing to pack.
"Kaveh."
He caught my attention and the tone of his voice forced me to look at him.
"I want you to know that everything I've said to you was from a place of genuine concern for your wellbeing. My words may have hurt you, but my only intention was to help keep you on the right track. I was worried that if I didn't try interfering in your matters and reminding you to remain realistic with your decisions, you'd end up in the same place as before- suffering more than you are now." The tone of his voice was soft and he was looking directly past my irises, into my soul. The morning sun's soft rays glowed through my window and fell on his face, highlighting his expressions.
"I know this sounds desperate on my part, but since you are planning to leave, I don't want you to leave with bitter feelings that may bother you later on." He added.
I put the book that I had in my hand down and slightly leaned towards him.
"Are you feeling ill? This is highly unusual behaviour from you..." I pressed the back of my hand against his forehead to check his temperature, causing him to hold my wrist and put my hand down.
"Kaveh. It may not seem like it, but as your friend, I care for you deeply, and I never meant to hurt you. I know me apologising now isn't going to reverse any of the damage, but it is the best I can do." He let go of my hand as he stood up. "Whether or not you accept my apology is solely up to you."
And then he left my room, shutting the door with a click behind him. I heard his footsteps fade away into the distance as he went to the kitchen to cook breakfast. I rubbed my eyes to make sure I wasn't dreaming. It was highly likely I was imagining all of this, after how much I'd drunk last night. But after pinching myself, I was able to clarify that this, in fact, was not a dream.
I couldn't help but smile. I felt like good luck was on my way. I wondered if I was being too hopeful, but considering that Alhaitham apologised to me, to my face? Means that there's still hope in the world.
I knew what he was like, since we've been friends for so long after all. I knew he wasn't good at expressing his feelings or emotions, since he thought they were completely irrelevant in the first place. He knows how to be nice, but chooses not to. Even if he means to do something nice, he won't sugarcoat anything to anybody, which was exactly what he would do with me. But that didn't mean I was going to put up with it.
I chose not to ponder over those things and continued packing the rest of my belongings. Once I'd finished, I looked around my room. I knew I was going to miss it, but I was happy by the thought of finally moving out and having a house of my own. Even if it meant I was going to be lonely just like before, I wanted to start...a new chapter in my life, without being a burden on anyone's shoulders.
And not only that, I wanted to achieve my father's dream of winning at the championships and gaining the diadem. I'll forever live with the guilt of persuading him to participate when I was a kid, because I'm sure he'd still be alive if I hadn't asked him to go...It was all my fault that he'd decided to participate, because that's what led to him getting lost in the desert and losing his life.
I felt tears filling my eyes but I quickly wiped them away and started getting dressed, as I had an appointment to look at the new property that I was planning to buy.
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-About a week passes, and it's the first day of the Interdarshan Championships-
(For those who may not be aware, this is a canon event that took place in the game, so I'll be following the canon story line for this, and will also be adding dialogues from the characters. I'll only be summarising what happened through Kaveh's POV, so if you haven't played through the event, you may get a lil confused but you always have YouTube to recap the story. I think it's pretty obvious who the winner is, but there's a...twist 🤨)
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-Kaveh's POV-
I laid on my bed and recollected all the events that occurred today- on the first day of the championship. I knew it was already past midnight by now and that the next round tomorrow would be in the desert and that I had to sleep early, but my mind just wouldn't stop wandering.
My first shock today was when I turned up to the venue and found out that...Alhaitham was one of the commentators. Not even a guest commentator- no, he was an actual commentator, meaning that he'd chosen to become one himself. We were living in the same house yet I had not a single idea that this was what he was up to.
It was beyond me why he'd go out of his way to do something like that considering he had no interest in social events. Let alone that, he never agreed to take on any extra work. Perhaps it was because Cyno, Tighnari and I, the representatives of our darshans were all participating- which was why he might've chosen to do so, to see how we'd perform, but my guess was as good as anyone's. Alhaitham was very difficult to read at times.
That aside, the objective of today's round was for us to catch three swiftflies among normal butterflies that had been released all over the city, and the first three contestants to catch them would be awarded points. I believe Tighnari came first, and Madam Faruzan came second...
Well, madam Faruzan and I decided to team up and hunt the swiftflies down together, and we'd done so successfully, but the problem arose when it came to who would get the points...I asked the commentators if splitting the points was a possible option, but of course, Alhaitham wanted to stick strictly by the rules. I suggested we add that as a new rule, but he oh so cleverly remarked that I'd have to send a proposal to the organising committee for that rule to be approved, which would take at least three whole days.
I was seriously starting to wonder if he joined as the commentator purposefully to stand in the way of my victory.
Anyways, madam Faruzan suggested that we draw lots to decide who gets the points, and of course, she won. I believed she deserved it, but I couldn't help but contemplate my own bad luck. Alhaitham even mentioned that it was odd for me to agree to draw lots despite my bad luck, but he shut up real quick after seeing how terrible my mood was.
In spite of that, I encouraged myself to keep going, as it was just the first round after all. It wasn't enough to determine the winner.
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-Next day, during the second round-
It felt like that day all over again, where I was just striding through the desert with one aim in mind. Except, my aim today wasn't to visit one of the ancient ruins, it was to find one of three leyline disruptors buried somewhere in the desert around Aaru village, which was the objective of today's round. Like yesterday, the first three contestants to find and deactivate the leyline disruptors would be awarded points. I was much more confident in myself today, as machines were one of my specialties, but travelling in the desert wasn't...
I took a swig of water from my waterskin, making sure to ration it as I looked out over the vast desert, thinking of any clue that would lead me to one of the disruptors. That's when I almost jumped after feeling something brush against my foot, but when I looked down, I realised that it was just a desert fox, and not one of those nasty scorpions. I smiled and bent down to pet it but that's when I realised there were two more.
They squeaked and jumped around me, brushing up against my sides as if they were cats. I couldn't help but laugh at how cute they were- so I opened up my bag of food and gave them only a bit, since I was allowed to bring only a limited amount of food. And immediately, they ate and finished all the bits I gave them, surprising me with their pace.
Those poor things, they were probably starving after not being able to find any prey. I dug my hand into my bag and pulled out a bit more food for them. Just a bit more wouldn't hurt, right?
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-After completing the objective-
Finally, I returned back to the venue with madam Faruzan where the commentators were in Aaru village. By pure coincidence, we'd ended up running into each other again right where the last leyline disruptor was, so we worked together to dig it up and deactivate it. I was exhausted and my skin was stinging from sunburns, so I wanted to get the point awarding stuff done with as soon as possible, but I knew that wasn't how it was going to be since madam Faruzan and I had completed the objective together once again, meaning we'd have to draw lots again.
Not to mention...I'd blacked out in the desert. And this time, it was because of just how exhausted I was. The desert foxes I'd fed kept following me even after I gave them all of my food, and that's when I realised they wouldn't be able to leave because the leyline disruptors were confusing them. I couldn't just leave those poor creatures on their own, could I? So I took them to an area where the environment wasn't being affected by the disruptions, and they were able to leave safely.
Nonetheless, when I reached the venue, I told the commentators about the tie between me and madam Faruzan, and that we'd like to draw lots again. That's when I saw Alhaitham perking up from the corner of my eye.
"You get caught up in some things so easily- like drawings lots." He started with an insufferable sigh.
"I'm not caught up in anything! Don't make it sound like I take pleasure in having bad luck!" I answered back, shooting a piercing glare at him. I knew he was just trying to get on my nerves now.
Thankfully, Nilou interrupted us and stopped us before an argument could break out, then she returned with a box and slips of paper for the lots.
And once they'd mixed up and drawn one of the slips, Nilou read out the name on the slip and my eyes widened as I heard her say my name. I cheered with madam Faruzan and Nilou as they congratulated me on my win.
"It looks like you've been rewarded for your tribulations in the desert. This round's points are yours!" Madam Faruzan pat me on the shoulder and smiled. I grinned back at her, trying to hide my nervousness as I stole a glance from Alhaitham, who seemed curious about what madam Faruzan had just said.
"Hm..." He hummed.
I cursed to myself, knowing that after getting home, he'd definitely bug me about it...
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Alhaitham left the venue much earlier than me, so he'd reached home earlier, meaning that when I walked into the house, I found him reading on the sofa, already in his home clothes. He looked up at me as I walked in and flopped down on the sofa across his, tilting my head back and closing my eyes.
Even the walk home had worn me out. Today was just too much. If it meant I was going to fall asleep on the sofa, that was going to be it, because I had no more strength to pick myself up. I was happy that I'd won, but travelling in the desert definitely took a toll on my body.
Even though my eyes were closed, I saw the blackness turn darker as a figure stood above me, blocking out the light coming from the chandelier above. I opened my eyes to see Haitham silently looking over me with narrowed eyes, as if he was checking something.
"Oh, please just...leave me alone for now." I pleaded and shut my eyes again.
I was thankful when I heard his footsteps trailing away from me and going towards the kitchen. Somehow, I was able to find the energy to undo my cape and put it aside before setting a pillow down and laying down on the sofa.
I felt myself almost drifting off to sleep when I felt the cushion of the sofa move down from a weight beside me.
"What is it Haitham...?" I sighed with frustration and peeked my eyes open to look at him.
That's when I noticed that he had a jar of what seemed to be a clear jelly in his hand. I read the label and realised that it was Aloe Vera.
"Take your shirt off, this needs to be applied to the sunburnt areas." He told me.
"Look, I appreciate your desire to help, but I can't be bothe--"
"Just do it before I take it off for you. We can't just leave the burns untreated."
I let out another sigh as I slightly sat up and pulled my shirt over my head before laying back down. He proceeded to open the jar and dip his fingers into the jelly before scooping a bit of it out and putting it on my body- The sunburnt area was pretty much just around the chest window on my shirt. A cool feeling soothed the stinging as he gently rubbed the aloe vera onto my skin.
"Did you pass out in the desert again? Did you not learn from your experience earlier...?" He sighed in disappointment.
"Look...there were these adorable little...desert foxes that were trapped because they were confused by the disruptions in the environment. I fed them and took them to a safe area and then I just...blacked out from the heat." I explained, finding it difficult to speak as I felt slumber creeping up on me.
"And you risked your own life to help those creatures? They would've eventually found a way out even without your help." He spoke softly while moving my hair away from my face.
My eyelids felt so heavy that I couldn't be bothered to force them open, so I just indulged in the relieving sensation of Haitham applying the jelly to my sunburnt face. I heard him saying something but it sounded like muffled gibberish to me.
-Alhaitham's POV-
It seemed that he hadn't only passed out in the desert, but had also gotten injured, since there were small cuts, scrapes and bruises on his torso and arms. He must've run into some enemies on his way, and I was going to ask him about it but realised that he'd fallen asleep.
He breathed softly through his slightly opened mouth, and his chest fell and rose slowly with the rhythm of his breaths. I made sure to be extra quiet as I returned with the first aid kit and began applying ointment to his injuries before covering them with small bandages.
As I looked at him, it reminded me of how worried I was when I sat, waiting at the venue the whole day. An entire day passed and he still hadn't returned. First it was Cyno who deactivated the disruptor, then Layla, but not a sign of Kaveh. And what I was dreading ended up happening, but I was glad to see him at the end of the day. Even though he'd passed out, he found the strength to find and deactivate the last disruptor then return to the venue. I was very impressed, yet simultaneously very disappointed in him.
I hoped the next round would go well for him.