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Kaveh knew what he was doing was silly. It had been almost 9 years since this started, and he no longer was no longer a student at the Academia. So yes, he was aware what he was doing was very childish in terms of the bigger picture.
But Kaveh still on some level enjoyed it.
The issue right now was that the letters he had been receiving were far less than what they were even 6 months ago.
He tapped his quill on his desk, trying to come up with something that will spark those conversations again. He missed them so much.
“What are you doing?” Kaveh didn't even bother pretending to be startled by Alhaitham, he was too down about the letters to even snap at his roommate.
“Writing a letter.” Kaveh muttered as he slumped on the table, he felt like he was a hydro slime as he puddled on the table.
“Ok? Does every letter turn you into a mopping mess?” Alhaitham asked, sitting across from him as he set his plate down.
Kaveh wondered if there were any leftovers he could snag, but he wasn't really hungry anyway so he stayed as his puddly self for the time being.
“No, just this one.” He muttered.
“Would you like some help? I am sure I could add in quite a bit if you are at a loss for words. Elegance has never been your first talent after all.” Alhaitham replied, and Kaveh knew it was an insult but honestly he didn't really care at the moment.
“Alhaitham, I am really not in the mood for our normal banter.” Kaveh said not looking at the younger.
Alhaitham snorted. “Alright then tell me what this letter is, and I will set aside the banter for a few minutes.”
Kaveh looked at him cautiously. “You're serious?”
“As much as it might surprise you, I enjoy our back and forth a great deal. And would like to go back to normal as soon as possible.” Alhaitham replied, taking a bit out of the pita pocket he had.
Kaveh narrowed his eyes. “You're going to make fun of me, so no.”
“Then go mope in your room. I do not wish for your mood to affect my day.” And with that he took out a book and ignored Kaveh.
Kaveh decided that the small amount he had wrote was enough and sealed it. “I'm going to the letter box. You have anything going out?”
Alhaitham eyed him over his book, but then nodded. “Two on the front table.”
Kaveh gave a small nod and picked up the two letters before making a show of grabbing his keys then stepped out.
As he walked he looked down at his own letter and sighed. Maybe he should cut ties with the unknown writer.
He didn't like the idea of that though. In the 9 years they had been talking like this he had in some way fallen in love with the other being. Somewhere along the lines he had thought about meeting them and having their conversations in person.
But he also didn't know if they were a man or a woman. He knew they lived in Sumeru City and worked at the academia. But even when he sent it off it was to a PO box with a number instead of a name.
Kaveh didn't want to let go of a relationship that he had for so long but at the same time, he knew things were not healthy. He didn't date because of the mystery person. He waited for the post to come everyday. He even redirected all his mail to whatever site he was working at if he was there longer than 2 days. All simply so he didn't miss a letter.
He dropped in Alhaitham's letters first, those he wouldn't hesitate on as they were probably letters about work or something like that. And as much as Kaveh did not necessarily enjoy Alhaitham, he would not hinder his work out of spite.
But Kaveh looked at his own. Maybe it was time to end things. He dropped the letter in the post box and dragged it back home. He had a feeling it was going to take him some time to write the letter to end things, so he might as well start now.
Kaveh dragged his feet as he made it to his room and pulled out the box of letters he had kept over the years. The ones that made him feel special and accepted even when the world was crashing down on him. The letters that kept him going through the hardest of times. The letter he helped encourage because his mystery writer was having a hard time.
“What is up with you and those letters today?” Alhaitham asked as he walked by. One of his ear phones hung on his shoulder. Meaning he was legitimately wondering what was going on with Kaveh.
Kaveh huffed, might as well get ridiculed for it now. It was probably over anyway.
“I have a pen pal.” Kaveh muttered. “For the last 9 years actually. But I think I'm going to end it. They don't seem as receptive as they used to be.”
“Ok? You look like a heart broken fool.” Alhaitham replied absently as he leaned against the door frame.
“Well I may have fallen in love with them.” Kaveh admitted, smally. He was not looking forward to Alhaitham using this as fuel for making fun of him. But it would probably help him get over his mystery writer.
“Have you ever met this person?” Kaveh shook his head.
“I don't even know if they are male or female. I send the letters to a box with a number instead of a name. We never shared our names, and the pen pal program was meant to be anonymous so we were all assigned numbers.” Kaveh explained.
“I know what the program was.” Alhaitham rolled his eyes but came in and slid down the wall to sit across from Kaveh.
“Where are you a part of it?” Kaveh asked.
Alhaitham shrugged. “It was a social experiment on my end. I wanted to see what truly anonymous conversation was like.”
Kaveh snorted. “Of course you did.”
“But they canceled that after its second year. I didn't know the PO boxes were still being maintained.”
“They aren't. We agreed to pay for them ourselves.” Kaveh replied, shrugging. “It's only 1 mora a week, so it's not that big of a deal, but it's losing that connection after so long.”
Alhaitham was quiet, then reached out and took one of the letters.
“Hey!” Kaveh tried to take it back but Alhaitham's long arms kept it out of reach. After a moment Kaveh signed and crumbled. So he didn't see the slight change in expression from his roommate. “Whatever. Keep it for all I care. Probably going to burn them anyway.”
Kaveh tossed the cover on the box and went to his desk, leaving his roommate to read whatever he liked. Probably going to regret it later but whatever. Right now Kaveh had a break up letter to write.
“I thought you said you were done.” Alhaitham said from behind him.
“Yes, well, I don't know how long it will take them to reply and I have a feeling this one will take a really long time to write. So can you just leave? Please?” Kaveh asked.
He really didn't want to start anything right now. He simply wanted to be left alone to his thoughts and misery for a while. Alhaitham can make fun of him later.
Alhaitham sighed but left after he set the box down on Kaveh’s desk.
Once this whole letter thing blew over, he was pretty confident that they would go back to normal. Till then though, Kaveh would have to not argue with Alhaitham.
In some regards he thought that would be fairly difficult, in others not so much.
He wrote out the first draft of many. This one was pretty formal. All polite and to the point.
By the fifth one it was more angry scribbles than words.
By number 10, more tears than ink made it to the page.
It was by the 20th attempt of the letter then he was face planted into his desk, when he realized how late it was.
Not wanting to start a fight, because he most certainly did not have the mental energy nor the physical energy for such things, he crawled into bed. Forgoing a bath.
He needed a spa, but Alhaitham had quite the bath set up despite his lack of care towards his own hygiene. 10 minute showers and one soap. Kaveh highly doubted that Alhaitham even cared enough to know the soap he used was body soap, though he probably used it for everything.
But Kaveh knew that if he ran a bath now, at this time, with Alhaitham’s new responsibilities and new schedule, there would most certainly be a fight.
So he curled around his pillow, the ruined letters forgotten for now as they lay strewn out on his desk till morning.
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Kaveh was moping. He knew he was moping.
But that was not helping his letter writing.
“You know reading could give you some ideas.” Alhaitham said absently from his spot on one of the seats.
Kaveh was currently face planted into the one across from him. Without turning his head, he spoke.
“I will not read romance books about this.” Except it was muffled and Kaveh probably sounded like a garbled mess.
“I can not understand you when you are talking to the pillows.” The swish of a page turning echoed the statement.
Kaveh turned to face his roommate. “If all your romance comes from books, it's no wonder you have no relationship status.”
“Why would I need another person to tell me how to live my life, when I have you nagging me everyday?” Alhaitham replied easily enough.
“I wouldn't nag if-!” He stopped and huffed. “Just forget it.” He flopped back down onto the couch and curled away from Alhathaim.
“How's your letter coming along? Or are you going to write the forest out of trees?” Clearly Alhaitham was trying to pick a fight.
But Kaveh really was not in the mood to fight with the younger man. So he stood and rolled his eyes. “I suppose I will.” And then he left. Just like that.
He slid back into his seat at his desk eyeing the bin full of discarded parchments. Tighnari would have a heart attack at the sight of it.
But Kaveh couldn't think about Tighnari and his perfect relationship that he never truly had to work for. Cyno most certainly did though. He huffed and started another letter and then stopped and pulled out a fresh page.
Maybe writing Tighnari was not such a bad idea. Perhaps he would have better ideas about how to handle the situation. Well at least better than Alhaitham that was for sure.
Once he was satisfied that he had explained the issue at hand in enough detail, he folded it up and stood.
“I'm going to the post box.” He called.
“There's a few letters I need to send out.” Alhaitham replied.
Kaveh often wondered if Alhaitham waited for Kaveh to send something out simply so he would not have to take the post out. It wasn't a far leap in judgment, however, Kaveh didn't mind too much. If it was important he wouldn't be allowed to touch it anyway.
So he dropped the letters and checked the post box for any deliveries. When he found none he decided to go to the sorting house and see if his letter needed to be sent out. If asking for Tighnari’s help was too late.
He sorted the incoming letter from his PO box and found nothing exciting, just a few customers. Which was fine, work was good and it had only been a day since he sent his last letter to his pen pal.
He shouldn’t be looking for a letter from them anyway, if it was say 3 years ago, sure. But now? A 24 hour turn around? Not likely. Next week would be more reasonable than at the moment.
Kaveh went back to the house and handed Alhaitham his letters. “Here.”
“You didn't look at them did you?” Kaveh was far more absorbed in letters from his clients to look through Alhaitham's mail.
His shoulders dropped in exasperation, and he sent a glare. “No, I never look through your letters. I do not care to see what letters you get. If it doesn't have my name on it I assume it's yours.”
He rolled his eyes and kept walking.
“Did you send a letter to your pen pal?”
“Not until they write back. And that won't be until at least next week.” Kaveh replied, grabbing a drink before going back to his room.
It wasn't until two days later that Kaveh started to notice something…off about Alhaitham.
At first he thought his eyes were just playing tricks on him, because there was no other reason. Then they became more apparent.
Alhaitham had bags under his eyes. He was by all terms definition twitchy. Even his hair looked unmaintained, which was concerning because he didn't really care for it all that much in the first place. Even his clothes were messy and crumbled.
If Kaveh would have to describe Alhaitham in one word, it would be stressed.
Which had never been a term used for the younger man. Alhaitham was always put together, clean and tidy. Sure he may leave books around when reading them, but he was by no means a messy person.
This all came to peak when a sudden smash was heard in the main room, making Kaveh jump in his own room.
He stood ready to call his claymore, as he walked out into the main room only to find Alhaitham leaning his back against the table. His head between his knees and his music player in pieces just a foot from his person.
Alhaitham literally never went anywhere without that thing. It was how he avoided people. Though annoying for those who wished to speak to him, they allowed him to focus on specific things.
“Alhaitham? You alright?” Kaveh asked concerned. Not wanting to get to close, incase the other was going to take out the same frustration out on Kaveh as he did the music player. Which was an odd turn. Alhaitham would die for that thing, Kaveh he would maybe take a paper scratch for.
“It stopped working.” Alhaitham muttered, not looking up. His ear pieces laid on the table, the cord haphazardly hanging down. “Why doesn't it work!?” He snarled suddenly reaching back to the head pieces probably to toss them.
But Kaveh moved quickly and saved them before they smashed against the far wall.
“Ok, not going to happen.” Kaveh muttered and set them far away from Alhaitham, just in case. “What is wrong?”
“It stopped working.” Alhaitham muttered again, gesturing to the music player.
“Right…so it deserved to be smashed?” Kaveh asked softly, as he kneeled down to look the device over. Hopefully he could repair it.
“I was angry.” He replied bitterly.
Ok a lot of emotion was rolling off the normally calm Alhaitham. He was first once acting his proper age. Actually throwing a tantrum.
“Ok, so what was wrong with it in the first place? And why didn't you take it to me? Like you normally do?” Kaveh asked, looking it over. He would probably have to pull it apart and repair it. Replacing some parts.
It wouldn't be the first time he fixed it. But it would be the first time he fixed it after Alhaitham smashed it himself.
Alhaitham didn't look at him, just dropped his head back on the table.
“Hey, I'm the dramatic one.” Kaveh said, smacking his foot. “Now what was wrong with it, before you smashed it?”
“Keep skipping.” Alhaitham replied grumpily.
Kaveh hummed. “Alright, I will see what I can do, alright? And,” He made a show of grabbing the ear phone, “I am taking these as well. I can not fix these if you smash them.”
Alhaitham hunted and Kaveh made sure to pick up every piece he could find before making his way back to his room.
A small tug was suddenly on his leg and he stopped, looking down to his junior.
“Did they write back yet?” Alhaitham asked.
“I haven't checked the post yet…why?” Kaveh eyed him suspiciously.
But his junior let him go and went back to his tantrum.
Of course he wasn't going to get answers. When did Alhaitham ever give straight answers without it literally being dragged out of him, never that's when.
But now that he mentioned it, might as well check.
He dropped the device, and when he walked back out he found Alhaitham had migrated to one of the couches.
“I'm going to check the post, and yes I have your letters.” He said picking up the small pile, before stepping out and placing them in the box. Their main post was empty which was nice, but he made his way to his PO and found that not to be empty.
His pen pal had written back.
He was giddy at first, but then remembered the letter he had finally finished and was ready to send out ending this.
Miserably, he walked back to the house. He was dreading what the letter might say and how it would affect his own letter. If it will change whether or not he actually sends the letter, or simply make him hold off a bit longer to send it.
It was the uncertainty of the letter that made him dread reading it when he entered the house.
Alhaitham was still curled up on the cushions but he was facing the door instead of his back. So Kaveh took that as a good sign.
“They wrote back.” Kaveh said as he held up the letter and sat on one of the other seats. He figured his roommate was far too involved at this point not to let him know.
“You are still going to fix my music player right?” Alhaitham asked, but it was in a small voice, so unlike what Kaveh was used to.
“In a bit, want to know what it says?” He offered.
Alhaitham’s eyes flickered to him before he scowled and looked away. “Fine. If it makes you stop moping.”
Kaveh hummed and opened it, instantly recognizing the handwriting front he had for the last 9 years and couldn't help but feel calm at the sight. Despite what it might say, the handwriting was still quite nice.
“Dear Friend,” He read aloud. “I am writing to you the last time.” Kaveh smiled, he was supposed to end this!
“I am writing you one last time. I would like to ask if after all these years we can meet in person. I do not require a response, however, I will be at Puspa Café in 3 days.” Kaveh’s eyes flicked to the date at the top of the page and saw 3 days from that date being tomorrow. “In the afternoon. I will have a Sumeru Rose on my table, if you wish to meet that is where I will be. If you do not show that is quite alright. Thank you for being a close friend and lending your ear and opinions over the years.”
Alhaitham sat up and looked at him. “So what are you going to do?”
Kaveh didn't really know how to respond to that. Because he wasn't sure he knew whether or not he wished to meet them so soon.
“Tomorrow afternoon, I…” Kaveh dropped his head into his hands. “I was about to drop them. And now they want to meet up? We have never spoke of it.”
Alhaitham sat up and hummed. “Maybe they want to end things like you do, and want to see you before fully disconnecting.”
“You think so?” Kaveh asked.
Alhaitham shrugged. “I don't know. I just know we can't argue till this is all over.” And with that Alhaitham got up and went to his room.
Kaveh huffed, this guy. All he cared about was whether or not he got his way. And why was he being so melodramatic? That was Kaveh’s part of their odd relationship. Alhaitham was supposed to be the cool and collective one, an asshole sure but cool and collective nonetheless.
In other words, Alhaitham was the logical one and Kaveh was the emotional one. It was like they were the left side or the brain and the right side. Trying to control one being and always being at odds with each other.
At times it was frustrating, but despite all that they were still good at bouncing things off one another. Which Kaveh appreciated, even if the way such things were said were in the most asshole sounding way possible.
Kaveh looked back down at the letter. Tomorrow afternoon huh? Maybe if they hit it off he would be able to move out of Alhaitham’s house and move in with someone he actually liked.
And if he didn't actually want to meet with them then he simply did not have to. So Kaveh stood and went to the small workshop where they kept small repair items. He picked out a number of tools he would probably need to repair the music player and then proceeded to work well into the night to fix it.
Losing himself in the mechanical makeup of the music player.
He knew everyone thought Alhaitham made this thing, and in some aspects that was true. He came up with the idea after locating a busted one on one of his many trips. But it was Kaveh’s hands that made it work, his patients that let him tinker around with it.
It was Alhaitham’s Dendro vision that powered it, but it was Kaveh who was able to find a way to do such a task.
Once he was satisfied with the music player he went to place it on Alhaitham’s table, just outside his room.
Alhaitham will tell him if he does not work in the morning. That much Kaveh was certain of.
But he went back to his room, and got ready for bed. He laid, staring at the ceiling, long after he was supposed to be asleep.
Kaveh though was wondering what changed, that his pen pal suddenly wanted to meet? And why did Alhaitham act so erratically?
Honestly, Kaveh could only deal with one type of drama at a time and now he has two for very different reasons.
It was very frustrating.
------------------------------
Kaveh looked at his tea cup with distaste.
Alhaitham had left early that morning to go do work, the heathen. And in the process had woken Kaveh up, the absolute monster.
Kaveh blamed it on Al Haitham for his lack of sleep but he had been up thinking till the sun creeped over the horizon. So he only got an hour, if that, of sleep last night. In reality it was his fault, but Alhaitham did not need to slam every door in the house on his way out this morning.
He looked at the drawing in front of him and sighed, maybe he should have gone to see Tighnari instead of writing to him. Tighnari always knew what to tell him and where to bring him to start a new inspiration, though his junior did not say or take any credit.
For now though he was on the edge of his seat.
One short walk and a Sumeru Rose was the difference between knowing who he had been talking to for the last 9 years. He wanted to know. Truly, but the mystery and completely unbiasedness of the letters was what fueled his passion to keep it up.
He knew for a fact that it had to either be someone in his class or the class below them. And not a staff member as they were to allow the students to run practically the entire thing. So he knew there were not many who he had as an option and there was not anyone who he truly hated.
Even Alhaitham was nothing more than a nagging bother half the time. Kaveh never really hated him, just had high distaste for the junior man.
Kaveh decided he would go, and if he did not like who he saw then he would simply leave. And not say anything. He was given full disclosure after all. He was given the ability to cut communications with the pen pal, on their own terms. It was simply up to him on whether or not he would participate in them.
So at noon time he brushed invisible dust off himself and made his way to the café. It was busy but not packed, as the lunch crowd was just getting ready to end till the late night rush came.
For this Kaveh was pleased about, but also a little uncertain. What if he couldn't find them, even when he was looking for the Sumeru Rose. What if he couldn't leave? What if a scene was made?
Ugh. He groaned and stepped in anyway.
Giving a quick glance he did spot one familiar head of hair, and groaned some more. He should have known it was a bad idea to tell Alhaitham about the letters, and he should have never ready the letter aloud.
Because there was Alhaitham sitting at the far end of the café, a book in hand, the window next to him shining light gracefully over his gray hair. Honestly if Kaveh didn't know his personality already he might actually call Alhaitham pretty. Unfortunately he knew the personality that laid beyond the looks.
He matched up to his room mate and huffed.
“Are you here to make a spectacle of me?” Kaveh asked, crossing his arms bitterly.
“I do not think you need help with that.” Alhaitham replied easily enough as he flipped a page in his book.
“And your music player?” Kaveh asked, eyeing the ear pieces resting in their normal place.
“Despite our arguments, I do trust your hand with it.” Alhaitham replied easily enough. Not even looking up at his senior.
“Ugh, why are you even here then? To make fun of me when this fails horribly? Or see it's going well and make a show to ruin it?” Kaveh hissed bitterly.
“No, nothing like that.” Alhaitham replied easily enough. “Have you spotted the Sumeru Rose yet?”
Kaveh grunted angrily, he hadn't really gotten the chance to look. So he looked and was half way through a more thorough search when the soft clinic of glass hitting the table was heard. He hadn't seen a drink on the table beforehand and turned to glare at Alhaitham for the distraction, only to spot a freshly picked, bright purple, Sumeru Rose.
The vase was simple but was iridescent green so much like Alhaitham’s own elemental abilities.
Then the chair across from Alhaitham was kicked out.
“Care to join me?” Alhaitham asked, this time looking up from his book.
“You-” Kaveh wanted to scream.
“And you said I was going to make a scene. It seems I am right.” Alhaitham gave a small smirk.
Normal Alhaitham was back, that terrible smirk revealed as much to Kaveh. Kaveh hissed again, and sat down.
“You are my pen pal?” He bit out quietly.
“Apparently so. I knew if you saw the Sumeru Rose first you would have left and said nothing. But I would like to go back to normal now, it's starting to affect my work at this point.” Alhaitham replied, setting his book down as a platter and two drinks were placed on the table. “I hope you don't mind, I ordered for you.”
Kaveh crossed his arms. “Why didn't you say anything? When did you figure it out? We never used names, and what names we did use we changed.”
“Actually, only recently. You pouted the other day, and when I read one of the letters I most certainly wrote, it only took a few more to realize the situation. And when you said you were not in the mood to argue over this, I knew I had to find a way to end this once and for all.” Alhaitham replied easily enough.
“You wanted to end a 9 year letter of correspondence over not being able to argue?!” Kaveh yelled, then took a deep breath. “That is the most ridiculous reasoning I have ever heard.”
“Well you're half right. I wanted to end it for a while now, I was hoping if I simply slowed the letters it would end on its own. If I am being completely honest-”
“Why hold back now?” Kaveh grumbled under his breath.
“-those letters were my only connection to any sort of real friendship.” Alhaitham swirled his cup around and sighed. “I did not wish to end a friendship, even one that was done through animosity, but I knew that it should be ended because no true friendship or even relationship can exist in such a way. At the same time there was something missing, in our letters I mean.”
“Oh and what could that possibly be?” Kaveh asked.
“Heat.” Alhaitham replied earnestly, looking up at the blonde.
“Heat?” Now Kaveh was well and truly lost.
“Correct. There was information and the ability to share ideas in a peaceful, no judgmental way. However, through living with you, I have some to find I enjoy our arguments and the heat that comes with them. I could not get that from the letters. And to be quite honest, once I got a taste of it, I could no longer exist in a friendship without it.” Alhaitham was being honest here, he always was honest, so there was no reason to doubt him.
But at the same time he was almost afraid. Kaveh had known Alhaitham long enough to pick up on certain ques and his twitching while talking, playing with something, giving full attention to the situation at hand, he was being serious. He wanted to be taken seriously right now.
So Kaveh decided that if Alhaitham could approach this calmly and without an argument, then Kaveh would give him that same respect.
“So you like that we argue?” Kaveh asked.
“I do. At first it was a bit of a nuances. But as time went on, it was a view of differences that made it rather intriguing to participate in. And as no one tries to argue with anymore, not even the sages or other members of the Academia, it is rather refreshing to be able to have an argument where the other person does not fold so easily.” Alhaitham pointed out.
And Kaveh could not deny the fact that for that reason, Alhaitham was correct. There were very few who were on the same intellectual wavelength as Kaveh, let alone Alhaitham. They had found a good group with Cyno and Tighnari. But outside of that, there were few who could match them in a debate.
So Kaveh conceded. “I understand. Is that why you have been so grumpy lately?”
Alhaithams jaw tightened as he looked away.
Kaveh laughed at that. “I did not realize it was because of our arguments that you stay so put together.”
“Nor did I.” Alhaitham admitted. “It was rather unpleasant to not be able to have a decent conversation for the last few days. I was not aware it was something I would miss. I was rather shocked at my own mental capabilities.”
Kaveh eyed him for a moment. “Are you going to stop nagging me about moving out?”
Alhaitham couldn't help the smirk that befell him as he sipped his drink. He looked up as he set the cup down before smirking. “Never. And I hope you never follow through with it.”