Your eyes widened as you got closer and recognized the familiar mop of blonde hair that jumped up from behind the plant, holding his hands out in defense.
"KAVEH??" you yelled, reaching out to stop Azrul just before he would've slashed Kaveh's head clean off. You stared at Kaveh, too confused to even speak.
10 minutes earlier
Kaveh stepped out of Matriarch Babel's tent, guilt still weighing him down after you scolded him just moments ago.
'She looked really mad...' he thought, pushing aside the curtain only to come face to face with Azrul as he towered over Kaveh once more with a smug look on his face.
"Nice job, messing everything up," he sneered, crossing his arms.
Kaveh felt rage burning inside of him, but clenched his fists and restrained himself. He couldn't bear to see you mad at him again, or worse, disappointed.
Without taking another look at Azrul, Kaveh began making his way over to the pyramids you told him about.
"We're only staying here for one day, I'll just hold out until then," he thought, before looking up at the grand pyramid before him.
He was struck with awe at the grand structure and couldn't help but admire all the sculptures that surrounded the tall entrance. He took a step inside and was instantly reminded of the day he was trapped in a pyramid much like this with you. The fear he saw in your eyes when the doors shut, the joy that lit up your face when you found the exit, and the care in your voice when you did everything you could to protect him...
Every moment with you was engraved in his head.
He shook himself out of his thoughts, looking around at the walls to distract himself instead. They were covered in decades of history and he could marvel at this art for hours on end. This was the kind of art he had dreamed of seeing almost everyday when he was a student. But now that he was here, there was something else on his mind.
You.
He tried to close his eyes to forget but only pictured your face instead - clear as day.
'What is wrong with me'
He could practically hear your laughter ringing through his head and turned to realize he wasn't hallucinating it. He saw you talking to Azrul outside the Matriarch's tent with a bright smile on your face.
A smile that stung Kaveh once he realized it wasn't directed at him.
'What am I doing, it's none of my business,'
Kaveh turned and stared at the empty room in front of him. It was probably full of murals that most scholars at the Akademiya couldn't even see. But for some reason he couldn't bring himself to move forward.
The thought of seeing you instead appealed to him much more.
He swiftly turned and ran past the guards out of the pyramids, stopping to catch his breath and look around frantically for any sign of you. He sighed in relief just as he spotted you turn the corner and ran after you.
Once he caught up, he watched as you walked beside Azrul next to the oasis, the two of you laughing with each other. He wanted to run over to you, but stopped himself after remembering the smile on your face as you read Azrul's letter.
'I can't interrupt them,'
He instead watched you both from a distance, straining his eyes and ears to catch a glimpse - even a whisper of what you two were chatting about.
He felt his heart sink as he watched you playfully nudge Azrul, smiling shyly at what he said.
'What is he doing?!'
He watched as Azrul placed a hand on your shoulder and how you teased him afterwards, and the pit in Kaveh's stomach grew deeper as each second passed.
He couldn't control his curiosity any longer and slowly started inching closer to both of you, taking caution to stay hidden and not make any noise.
One second Kaveh was watching you talk to Azrul and the next second he jumped out from behind the cactus as you both came charging towards him with your weapons drawn.
"Kaveh?! What are you doing here...I thought you went to the pyramids??" you asked, putting your sword away.
Kaveh stared at you, trying to come up with a reason for his sudden appearance but drew a blank and his confusion was evident on his face.
"What happened, is something wrong??" you asked, worried.
"No I...I just didn't want to leave you alone with him," Kaveh murmured, still puzzled at his own actions.
"What? What do you mean??" you asked.
"It means he doesn't like me. I knew it, those city folk are all the same," Azrul said, interrupting before Kaveh had a chance to reply. "They put on an act to like us but just think of us as desert scum. Trust me, Y/N, I speak from experience,"
"What? No, I never thought anything like that!!" Kaveh exclaimed in denial, his heart sinking as he saw hurt flash across your face.
"Then why did you follow us?" you asked, wanting to trust Kaveh more than anything.
"Because...I..." Kaveh couldn't bring himself to finish his sentence. There was no way he could tell you about his strange desire to be with you, or how you occupied his mind even when he tried to think of anything else. That was no way for a client to behave.
He absolutely could not bring himself to admit he was afraid you'd leave him - for he himself still didn't know that fear existed.
"Well?" you asked, desperate for him to give you a reason to trust him. However the only thing you received was his apologetic stare, directed at you, tinged with sorrow, only confirming your worst fears. You looked intently at him, begging him to say something - anything that would save your stupid heart from being torn apart. The stupid heart that had ignored all the signs of caution your head screamed, and decided to trust an outsider anyway.
"I told you, they're all the same. We only have each other to lean on," Azrul said, pulling you into a hug. Normally you would've moved away but you were too distraught to object.
Kaveh watched as Azrul embraced you and saw his pitiful expression morph into a smug smirk that mocked Kaveh behind your back. He mouthed a horrid insult with a condescending look in his eye that flooded Kaveh with rage.
Without taking even a moment to think, Kaveh pushed Azrul away from you before punching him square in the jaw.
"Kaveh?!" you yelled, holding his arm before he could do anything else, and the look of horror in your eyes was enough to make Kaveh regret what he'd done a thousand times over.
A stream of apologies poured out Kaveh's mouth but Azrul's warnings were the only things ringing through your head.
"Let's get out of here, Y/N," Azrul said, taking your hand and walking away. You paused for a moment to turn and look back, hoping you would've been stopped by Kaveh instead. He stood far behind, unable to even look you in the eye.
.
.
.
The sun started to disappear behind the sand dunes, painting the sky with orange and purple streaks as the sky slowly turned dark. You ran through the settlement, searching for Kaveh frantically before the sun completely disappeared.
You placed your hands on your knees to catch your breath, about to give up when you spotted an unmistakable head of blonde hair sitting by the lake, watching the crocodiles lazily swim about.
You walked over and sat next to Kaveh, startling him.
"Y/N??" he exclaimed, before looking away with his head hung in shame. "Look I know you don't want to see me again, but just let me apologize for what I di-"
"I know, it's not your fault," you interrupted him, placing a hand on his shoulder and chuckled as you saw his eyes widened.
"I think I owe you an apology first. On behalf of Azrul," you said as your eyes wandered across the lake before meeting Kaveh's gaze again. "He told me about what he did behind my back,"
"Ah I see...but still, I shouldn't have followed you in the first place. Besides, he was just trying to protect you, right? I can tell he cares for you a lot," he admitted, looking down.
"Yea, he's like a little brother to me after all. Sometimes he can come off as a little intense though, but I gave him a nice scolding so don't worry," you said, tracing lines in the sand.
"So wait...he's like a little brother to you? That's it?" he asked, sitting up straight.
"Yes...I told you that already, didn't I??" you replied, tilting your head in confusion.
"So you don't...have feelings for him..or anything?" Kaveh asked, slowly.
"Feelings??" you said as your face twisted into disgust. "Archons no, I could never. How many times do I have to tell you, he's like my little brother," you emphasized.
All the worry seemed to drain from Kaveh's face as what you said really sunk in. You watched as he tilted his head back and let out a laugh. "So I was worried for nothing," he murmured.
"Huh? Worried about what??"
"It's nothing, it's nothing," Kaveh said as a smile spread across his face. You looked at him puzzled as he stood up and stretched his arms, grinning and reaching down to pet a nearby crocodile. Even the poor animal was too confused to attack him. "Well it's been a long day and I'm getting tired, let's head back!" he said with a new determined expression as he eagerly set off back to Sumeru city.
'Did he hit his head somewhere...' you thought before springing up and following him.
- x -
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