(I'm very sorry for the very late upload guys, i was busy with life and not doing well mentally so thanks for being so patient :) this will also be the second last chapter, just so you know. Thanks for sticking around for so long! I appreciate every single one of you <3)
The two stared at each other wordlessly, neither of them daring to speak up first. Haitham on the other hand seemed to be deep in thought. He couldn't handle seeing Kaveh like this, so he was about to give up the little secret he had- but he just didn't know how to.
"That letter..." Kaveh began, wiping his own tears away with the back of his hand. "Just tell me, it's from a woman isn't it? If it was nothing suspicious, why would you be hiding it from me?! Just tell me if you're not interested in me anymore and I'll leave, I don't want to waste any of your or my time." Kaveh slightly pushed him away and freed himself from his grip and just when he was about to walk away, Haitham grabbed him by the wrist.
"I'll tell you everything."
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Haitham led Kaveh to his room and opened the drawer of his bedside table where the letter was, while Kaveh stood and watched in suspense. Why couldn't he just tell him straight up?
Once Haitham turned around, he pulled the letter out of its envelope and showed it to Kaveh, bringing his attention to the bottom of the page by pointing at it, which was when Kaveh couldn't help but rub his eyes in confusion, puzzled if this was reality or not.
He read the name and signature written in red ink at the bottom over and over again, wondering if his tears were blurring his vision and making him see things but no- it was really real.
The name read "Faranak".
Haitham watched as Kaveh looked back up at him with a look of realisation plastered on his face, tears forming at the rim of his eyes again as he grabbed Haitham and hugged him firmly, sobbing into his shoulder.
"Tell me this isn't a dream, Haitham..." He stuttered between shallow breaths as Haitham put the letter aside and hugged him back.
"No, Kaveh. I really have gotten into touch with your mother." Haitham whispered softly into his ear as he gently caressed Kaveh's back, attempting to calm him.
It had been several years since Kaveh had heard of his mother after she'd remarried and moved away. He didn't even know if she was still alive and well, but now all of this pretty much confirmed it. That explained why the paper the envelope was made of didn't seem to be from Sumeru, and the wax had the letter F stamped onto it. It all finally made sense and Kaveh's mind filled with a sense of relief, despite not knowing what the contents of the letter even contained.
He was just glad to hear from his mother at least one more time...But why was it Haitham that she'd gotten into touch with? Kaveh asked him that same question once he pulled away, to which Haitham averted his gaze for a second.
"I was actually the one who reached out to her, since I know it's been many years since you've talked to her." He responded. "I tried to keep all of this a secret because...Well, I was planning to take you to Fontaine to meet her. I wrote to her saying that and she wrote back saying that she'd be delighted to see you again."
Kaveh's sleepy, emotion-filled mind took a few seconds to process the words his lover had just said to him. He wouldn't have ever thought in a million years that Haitham was planning to do this...
"Thank you...Thank you so so much." Kaveh just responded and hugged him again, gripping onto his back tightly as if he never wanted to let go of him ever again.
"Anything for you, my love." Haitham planted a kiss on his forehead as he returned the hug once more.
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The two were now in Haitham's bed and despite how late it was into the night, Haitham stayed up listening to Kaveh going on about the tourist attractions he'd heard about in Fontaine and how much he wanted to visit all of them, along with studying the advanced technology and architecture. Haitham gave his usual response-- a subtle "hm." to everything Kaveh was saying, as his mind craved sleep but he still tried to remain conscious for him.
"Oh and-- we can't go to Fontaine looking like this! We need to get new suits tailored for us!" Kaveh exclaimed with stars in his eyes.
"Sure, we will go to the tailors tomorrow but now..." Haitham yawned, unable to finish his sentence. Kaveh let out a chuckle, realising just how long he'd been talking and decided to give Haitham's ears and mind a break, as he nestled into his arms and fell asleep not long after him.
Once the next morning came and they both had their off day, they headed out for the tailors following breakfast and once they walked into the shop, they were met with an endless selection of shalwar kameez, sarees and thobes among other traditional clothing, but that's not what they were looking for- so they had to make a special request to the tailor.
Kaveh walked up to the counter where the tailor was and began explaining what they were looking for, to which the tailor explained that he needed to take their measurements as he pulled out his measuring tape from underneath the countertop.
Haitham went first, and the tailor took the measurements of his shoulders, chest, waist and other parts of his body before messily scribbling them down onto his notepad. Once he was done, Haitham stepped aside and looked at some of the clothing they had on display, wondering if he should add some to his collection of home clothing. He was always looking for comfier clothing to wear at home despite their appearance, so he felt the fabric of each of the clothes with his fingers.
He turned to look at Kaveh which was when it came to his attention just how close the tailor had gotten to him: tightly wrapping his measuring tape around his chest, hips, thighs...He seemed to be taking longer for Kaveh than he did for him despite his stature being smaller than Haitham's. He couldn't help but furrow his eyebrows, as he held himself back from interfering even though a flame had sparked within him and was growing with every second the tailor took.
Kaveh did not seem to be bothered by any of this as he commented on what colour scheme would likely suit them.
"I'll stick with a white, gold, black and red colour scheme like my usual clothing and for you, Alhaitham, I think you should also stick with a black, silver and green colour scheme, what do you think?" Kaveh questioned, but Haitham's focus was on the tailor's hands, which were touching parts of Kaveh's body that his hands shouldn't have been anywhere near.
"Alhaitham?" Kaveh called out once more, finally snapping Haitham out of his thoughts.
"Sure." He answered without any particular enthusiasm, not even knowing what Kaveh had asked him.
After what felt like an eternity for Haitham, the tailor was finally done taking the measurements which he also noted down onto his notepad before he asked them to stay a little longer as he was going to make a rough sketch for what their suits would look like, and what material he'd be using.
Once Kaveh walked back up to the counter with the tailor, Haitham followed them this time and he stood flush by Kaveh's side, slithering his hand down to Kaveh's as he intertwined their fingers. This obviously caught Kaveh's attention, who looked up at him to see the expression of jealousy that was clearly written across his face. Since he usually never showed any emotion on on his face, it would be obvious to tell what he was feeling when he did show emotion, which made Kaveh chuckle.
Kaveh watched over as the tailor scribbled down a few designs and Kaveh added to the details, almost like he was giving more personality to their suits. He may have been an architect, but he was fond of fashion as well and had sufficient knowledge of it. And so, he chose the material for the clothing, making sure to choose a material that would be comfortable for Haitham to wear, knowing how fussy he'd get with certain textures.
"I have a similar suit to yours in the back, would you like to try it on to see how it might look on you?" The tailor asked as he placed his pencil on his ear and compiled the papers of designs.
Kaveh agreed and followed him to the back where the changing room also was.
"Oh yes, this does look similar to my design!" Kaveh held up the blazer and examined it. "I'll try it on." He added as he walked into the tiny dressing room and closed the curtain behind him.
Right as the tailor was about to walk out, he almost ran into Haitham, who looked down at him with an unpleasant expression across his face. Nevertheless, he walked past him and went towards the changing room, claiming to "Help Kaveh."
The tailor walked out as Haitham got into the changing room with Kaveh, which had barely enough space to fit two people, and he immediately pressed Kaveh against the mirror, with mere centimetres of space between them.
"Haitham, are you insane?!" Kaveh whisper-yelled as he gripped onto the blazer which he'd almost dropped. But Haitham ignored him as he grabbed onto his waist and pulled him in for a rough kiss, biting down on his lip and sliding his tongue across it before pressing it into his mouth, earning suppressed whimpers from Kaveh.
Kaveh tried his best to remain quiet, knowing the tailor was just outside and could probably hear everything.
"Let him hear. He needs to know that he can't just touch you like that when I'm the one who belongs to you." Haitham pulled away and muttered against his lips before moving down to his neck and began kissing and sucking along it.
"Stop acting so childish...! He was just taking my measurements." Kaveh whispered back as he gripped onto Haitham's hair, making a mess of it.
"That's not what it seemed like to me." Haitham's voice came out as a low rumble, expressing just how much anger he was feeling.
"Sir, are you done? I've got other customers here who are waiting to use the changing room." The tailor called out, making Kaveh jolt.
"See?! Now get out!" Kaveh whisper-yelled once again as he practically pushed Haitham out of the changing room.
Haitham wiped their saliva off his lips as he caught a glimpse of the tailor from his peripheral vision, which was when he turned to him and gave him his usual poker face. The tailor quickly left the room and went back to attending to his other customers.
Haitham smirked, knowing he'd gotten the message across.
~
Once they were done with all they needed to take care of, Haitham pulled out his wallet and paid for both of their suits, getting yet another suspicious look from the tailor, considering how Haitham was paying for the both of them.
It was as if at this point, it wasn't even a secret that these two were lovers. The city was just waiting for an announcement of their marriage.
"Your suits will be ready in about a week." The tailor informed them as they walked out of the store.
As soon as they got a little ways away from the store, Kaveh stopped and crossed his arms over his chest as he looked at Haitham with an expression that he wanted to look tough with-- but he just came across as pouty.
"You want drinks, I'm supposing." Haitham deadpanned.
"You're such an idiot, Haitham. Getting jealous over such little things." Kaveh rolled his eyes. "Do you really think I'd ever leave you for somebody else?"
Haitham reminisced on what had happened just last night, but decided not to bring it up.
"I hope not. But I'll make it up to you with drinks, in case you do decide to leave me after what I just did."
"Ugh..." Kaveh shook his head but cracked into laughter. He couldn't deny the generous offer, of course.