Work Text:
Kaveh sighs at the amount that remains due on his medical debt.
He'd ended up with a broken leg shortly after graduating college, and it put a huge delay on truly starting his architectural career.
So now that he's finally recuperated, he's having to seek out another part-time job since his full-time one just barely covers his rent and general bills.
As Kaveh pours over the online postings, he quickly finds that none work with his schedule.
He's then making a last-ditch effort in looking at the latest ads in the newspaper. It's not until he reaches the last column on the page that he sees something potentially worthwhile.
Pool cleaner.
Needed once a week. Flexible schedule.
Weekly pay. $700.
Text: 687-928-2742
A pool cleaner? That was probably a fairly niche part-time job that many people wouldn't be clamoring after.
Luckily for him, Kaveh learned a lot about cleaning pools since his parent's had one. He's cleaned it plenty of times growing up, hell sometimes he'll still go there and clean it for them when he visits just to save his dad the trouble in his old age.
Kaveh quickly grabs his phone, typing in the number and trying to form his thoughts enough into a coherent text.
Good afternoon! I saw your job listing in the newspaper and am definitely interested if you're still looking for someone! I can stop by 1-2 days during the week and either Saturday or Sunday afternoon. I have ten years of experience. I'm happy to meet you somewhere to talk more as well. Thank you! - Kaveh
Less than five minutes pass before Kaveh's phone lights up with a response.
Alhaitham:
Hello, thank you for reaching out. I am still looking for someone. My schedule is fairly full during weekdays; however, a meeting was canceled so I am open today between 4:00-4:30pm. If this works for you we can meet at Lambad's Coffee on 8th. - Alhaitham
The favorable response has Kaveh excited.
Kaveh:
Yes that's great, I will be there!
Alhaitham:
I'll be in the front booth near the window. See you then.
Kaveh then sets his phone down. He instantly begins to wonder what type of person this 'Alhaitham' is.
He sounds straight to the point, so potentially a businessman of some sort, especially if he doesn't have time to clean his pool and well...easily having the money to drop $700 a week for someone else to do so.
Kaveh found out later that afternoon that his suspicions were correct.
After ordering his latte, he walks further back to see a man in the front booth dressed in a white, collared shirt, typing away on his laptop.
His entire demeanor screams expensive, even more so whenever Kaveh approaches the booth and sees the designer blazer carefully laid over his bag.
"Tell him he has until 5pm to give me an answer, otherwise the deal is off," Alhaitham states, not even waiting for any protests before ending the call. He removes his ear buds as Kaveh smiles at him.
"Hi I'm Kaveh, is now still a good time to talk?" He asks, a rush of nervousness overtaking him as soon as those teal eyes land on him.
"Yes please sit," Alhaitham closes his laptop, taking a sip of his own coffee as Kaveh gets comfortable. "I only have a few questions."
It's from then on that Alhaitham and Kaveh discuss experience, scheduling, and pay. Overall the conversation lasts about fifteen minutes.
"I also have someone else who cleans my house during the week. They might not always fall on the same days as you, but on the off-chance that you're both there at the same time, whoever is the first to leave needs to leave the house key on the kitchen counter for the other person to lock up once they're finished. It can then be replaced in the appropriate spot by the front door. I've already instructed them to do the same," Alhaitham pauses before adding. "I'm usually not home many weekdays, so you'll rarely see me."
"Okay all of that definitely sounds doable," Kaveh replies with a nervous smile. He's gauged that this is simply Alhaitham's overall demeanor so it's nothing personal, but his handsome features are still enough to have Kaveh overthinking every little thing he says. "When would you like for me to start?"
"This weekend if possible," Alhaitham folds his hands together. "The recent storm caused it to become quite filthy."
Hearing Alhaitham say 'filthy'...something about it sends a shiver down Kaveh's spine. He reigns himself in though.
"R-Right! I'm free all day tomorrow actually, so I can stop by in the morning if that's okay," Kaveh offers.
Once Alhaitham stands up, he grabs his blazer and bag, carefully packing away his laptop.
"That's great, thank you. I'll have your first payment ready then," Alhaitham grabs his phone, sending Kaveh a quick text. "That's my address. If anything changes just text me. I'm usually on too many calls to answer personal ones very often."
"I will, thank you so much," Kaveh replies, his heart skipping a beat at the hint of a smile showing on Alhaitham's lips.
"Well perhaps I will see you soon," Alhaitham leaves after that, immediately answering his phone on the way out the door.
Something about the entire exchange has Kaveh looking forward to the job, all because of the gorgeous businessman who is now his 'boss'.
The first day Kaveh arrives at Alhaitham's home, he finds the housekeeper is there to greet him.
"Why hello! I'm Aventurine, nice to meet you," The blond said, shaking Kaveh's hand before showing him around the main areas of the house he would need to access.
Once Kaveh ended up outside, he found the necessary items to clean the pool located in the well-maintained shed. Luckily he managed to clean the pool without much issue despite it being a while since he last did it.
By the time he's done it's nearing noon, and he heads back inside the house to find Aventurine talking with Alhaitham in the kitchen.
Aventurine's leaning back against the counter, a curious smile on his face.
"...Well you'll have to tell me how that goes later on then," He says with a wink, graciously taking the envelope from Alhaitham that has his cash payment.
Kaveh feels as if he's interrupted something he wasn't meant to hear. The implications of it have him pausing, looking at Alhaitham with a hint of uncertainty as Aventurine makes his exit.
"Hey, I wasn't expecting to see you today," Kaveh says, seeing how Alhaitham looks more relaxed in a pair of jeans and a plain black t-shirt.
"My flight got changed to tomorrow, so I'm here," Alhaitham walks over to the sliding glass door. "Want to take a quick walk with me?"
Kaveh nods and follows after him. They walk around the pool, and Alhaitham surveys how well Kaveh cleaned everything.
"This is great. I can tell you really know what you're doing," Alhaitham compliments him as they move back into a shaded area near the glass doors.
"Thank you. My dad was always such a perfectionist with this kind of stuff, so I picked up the habit," Kaveh says with a slight blush on his cheeks.
"I'm assuming this is a part-time job for you right? Do you mind if I ask if you have another job?"
"Ah well, I'm doing some architectural work for Epicles Enterprise," Kaveh replies, surprised to find that Alhaitham is interested in him enough to ask.
"Interesting. I actually know some of the executives there, including the president. Who knows, maybe I'll see you in passing there one day," Such a suggestion from Alhaitham has Kaveh's blush returning.
They head back inside after that. Alhaitham offers Kaveh some lemonade as they talk a little more, that is until Alhaitham's phone rings and pulls him back into the business-aspect of things.
Kaveh takes that as his cue to leave, but he's blushing for what feels like the hundredth time that day when he takes the envelope with his payment and finds an extra $100 was slipped in.
Kaveh can hear Alhaitham in his office, so he quietly leaves, carefully locking the door and replacing the key in its hiding spot.
He decides to send him a thank you text later on.
"You're finally home! I've got some shit to tell you--!"
Kaveh hangs his keys up on the lion hook by the door before shedding his coat. He can already hear his roommate, Childe, jumping over the back of the couch to meet him.
"Woah what's up?"
"You remember my client? The really hot one?" Childe starts talking a hundred miles a minute.
For a few months now, Childe’s been working as a personal chef for several clients. Most of them were older businessmen who were single or there were several rich families who could afford the help.
“Uhhh I mean...you’ve said that about at least half of them?” Kaveh heads into the kitchen to grab a soda from the fridge.
“No so like yeah I mean,” Childe waves it off while gathering his thoughts. “The older one, the professor.”
“Oh yeah, the one that you actually had a crush on in college,” Kaveh laughs.
“Yeah him! His name’s Zhongli.”
“Okay so what about him?”
“I fucked him,” Childe says causing Kaveh to nearly choke on his drink.
Kaveh has to fully set his soda aside as he grabs a napkin, trying to process what he just heard.
“Wait what - he’s like ten years older than you!!”
“Twelve actually,” Childe corrects him, clearly thoroughly amused by Kaveh’s reaction.
"Oh...oh my god..." Kaveh has to collect himself, seeing the shit-eating grin on Childe's face.
"Listen, he had a great meal and then what can I say - he wanted me for dessert," Childe crosses his arms, leaning back against the counter.
Kaveh full-on laughs at how ridiculous he sounds.
"You're so fucking smug, I can't stand you," He replies with a shake of his head. "So what are you two dating now?"
"No idea. If he wants to fuck again then I'm down. It's not like I fuck every client I have," Childe pauses. "Plus he's pretty enough that I'd consider keeping it a monogamous friends with benefits."
"So you mean...exclusively dating," Kaveh shakes his head yet again.
"Whatever. Who needs a label anyways?"
Kaveh clutches his head, grabbing his soda to leave the kitchen afterward.
"But where have you been? You're usually home disparaging over your work table at this time of day," Childe moves into the living room with Kaveh as they both lay back on the couch.
"I got a new part-time job, so I was doing that for the first time today," Kaveh says.
"Oh really? What's the job?"
"Don't laugh...it's a pool cleaner," Kaveh sees Childe smirking.
"You're gonna be a pretty pool boy for a rich guy? Is he hot?"
Kaveh wishes he hadn't said anything. "Ugggh why are you like this?"
"He's hot!" Childe yells excitedly.
"Shut up!" Kaveh throws a pillow at Childe in an effort to quiet him.
"You know I won't until you tell me everything--!" Childe continues.
This causes Kaveh to sigh and ultimately break down telling his friend more details about the arrangement, including perhaps how Alhaitham is handsome.
"Nice. So you've got a high-paying sugar daddy."
"Yes - no - did you listen to a word I said???"
"Please tell me you're going to wear a speedo every time you're cleaning."
"What? No!!!" Kaveh says in horror.
"I think you should try it once...consider it character growth," Childe encourages this, causing Kaveh to blush profusely and divert Childe's attention to gaming instead, otherwise he'll be relentless about the topic for hours.
Kaveh tries not to keep having the idea creep in his mind throughout the remainder of the day. It'd be completely out of character for him considering he'd only ever worn minor risqué items for previous partners in the past. Wearing something so revealing for someone on a whim felt strange but...
Would Alhaitham take a second look at him then?
Of course Kaveh wouldn't act on that curiosity. No, he'll shove it in the back of his mind never to let it see the light of day again.
At least, for a while that is.
The first few weeks of Kaveh's job are balanced precariously with his full time one.
He manages of course, trying to work in the pool cleaning at opportune times when he can give it proper attention. Most instances thus far have him doing the cleaning whenever Alhaitham is out of town, so he really hasn't seen the man much since their first two encounters.
That doesn't mean they're not still texting though.
Kaveh makes it a habit of sending Alhaitham a text when he's stopping by Alhaitham's home and then once he's done. He'll send him a picture as well showing the work so that Alhaitham has further confirmation it was completed. Alhaitham never requested this of course, Kaveh just likes to do it because he's thorough.
Alhaitham:
As prompt as ever
Kaveh:
Of course! I hope your trip is going well
Alhaitham:
I'll be happy once I'm back home
Some of these hotel beds are horrendous to sleep in
Kaveh:
😂
I bet
I'm always weird about that too, I have to use a very specific pillow or I don't sleep well
Alhaitham:
You and me both
Of course there's the lingering question Kaveh wishes he could ask: do you sleep alone or with someone else?
It's not his business to know that though.
Nearly a month into his part-time job, Kaveh arrives at Alhaitham's residence to actually find Alhaitham there today.
Kaveh enters the home, seeing that Aventurine isn't there. It's just the two of them.
"Alhaitham?" Kaveh says, hearing the sound of jazz music from a room nearby, potentially Alhaitham's study.
"...Yes?" Alhaitham's voice calls back out, and soon he's appearing from the room. He's got a hand resting in the pocket of his jeans.
Seeing Alhaitham dressed so casually again, the t-shirt leaving his biceps fully on display, it nearly short-circuits Kaveh's brain.
He's certainly stumbling over his words.
"H-Hi, I'm gonna clean the pool, if that's okay," Kaveh coughs afterward, trying to gather himself.
Alhaitham chuckles, "That's fine. I'll be working here if you need anything."
Kaveh's quick to turn and get to work after that. He needs the distraction quite badly.
It doesn't take too long for him to go about his normal routine of unloading the necessary items from the shed and cleaning the pool; however, about twenty minutes into his task he hears thunder rumbling faintly in the distance.
At first he simply ignores it. Yes there'd been a very low chance of precipitation in the afternoon but he figures he has time to...
Within minutes it's pouring rain.
Kaveh find it's raining so hard he can barely see. He drops the pool net, making his way back over to the door. The second he gets there, Alhaitham opens it, guiding Kaveh inside and wrapping a large towel around him.
"T-There was only a 15% chance of rain..." Kaveh tries to explain, feeling how Alhaitham rubs the towel along the side of his arms.
"Mmm the weather is unpredictable," Alhaitham smiles. "You can't go home like this. How about you take a shower and change into something of mine?"
"I ah...are you sure? I don't want to impose..."
"I'm sure. Here follow me," Alhaitham turns to head out of the kitchen.
They go up the staircase to the second floor, and Alhaitham's master bedroom is just to the right from there.
"Wow..." Kaveh can't hide the awe in his voice as he takes in how decadent Alhaitham's room is in comparison to his own.
A four-post bed with what must be expensive sheets that look all too comfortable. It's very minimalist overall though if Kaveh had to describe it. Simply dark gray sheets with matching furniture against white walls. Kaveh can't help but to imagine how else he might decorate the room since there's so much empty space to work with...
"Here you go," Alhaitham snaps Kaveh out of his thoughts by handing him what he's gathered.
It's a small stack with a fresh, fluffy towel, and a change of clothes.
"Ah thank you," Kaveh can't hide his blush. "I won't be long."
"Take your time," Alhaitham insists. "I don't want you leaving while it's storming anyways."
Once Alhaitham vacated the room, Kaveh heads to the just as impressive bathroom. Getting undressed and stepping into the warm shower has him feeling somewhat embarrassed. The simple notion of being naked in Alhaitham's home...mere rooms away too...it's a strange situation for sure.
What ends up throwing Kaveh into another flustered tizzy is whenever he has to change into Alhaitham's clothes.
It's a simple pair of boxers and sweatpants along with a t-shirt, one that's a little too big for Kaveh. Really all of its loose on Kaveh's lithe frame.
The subtle fragrance that's naturally clung to Alhaitham's belongings over time instantly fills Kaveh's senses as well. It's a scent that Kaveh finds to be comforting yet intoxicating all at once.
Eventually Kaveh finishes towel-drying his hair enough before heading back downstairs.
When he steps off the landing and into the living room, he finds Alhaitham's prepared some things that's set on the coffee table.
"I made some tea," Alhaitham pours some into the small cup. "It'll help warm you up more. I'm sure you don't want to catch a cold."
Kaveh's heart flutters from how Alhaitham shows such concern.
Kaveh gratefully sips on his tea, finding it to be a nice blend. He ends up sitting there talking with Alhaitham for far longer than he anticipated as well.
He listens to Alhaitham explain what he actually does as far as his job which is heading the financial operations for a publishing company that's prominent both locally and internationally. It's what requires him to travel so much and leaves him with hardly any time for upkeeping his home.
"That must be stressful, I mean, I can't imagine you have much personal time either then," Kaveh adds.
"Well yes and no. I'm good about shutting everything down when needed, but if you mean as far as socially then what I do for work is enough," Alhaitham replies, the choice of words still vague in regards to what Kaveh had been trying to figure out.
Kaveh sets the now-empty tea cup down on the tray before turning to look at Alhaitham again.
"Do you have any friends or uh anything like that though?" There's absolutely no eloquence in how Kaveh stumbles over those words.
Alhaitham chuckles. "I have a few friends who I go out with for drinks on occasion."
"That's good! You don't want to just be a workaholic you know."
"What about you?"
"Oh me? Well I mean I have friends too, and I try to see them as often as I can," Kaveh replies, finding it's difficult to outright say 'I'm single!!!', especially to a guy who is extremely out of his league.
"Are you cleaning pools for other people too?" Alhaitham asks, amusement in his voice, yet there's something else in his gaze that causes Kaveh's heart to beat faster.
"N-No, I could only manage one part-time job that fits into my schedule so..."
"So I was the lucky one," Alhaitham summarizes.
Kaveh's cheeks darken. "Looks that way."
Teal eyes never waver from Kaveh, taking in how cute he looks with tinted cheeks, all while wearing his clothes that are at least a size too big. Something becomes charged in the air between them, especially as Kaveh so obviously can't seem to keep meeting Alhaitham's gaze for long.
"..I can tell you want to ask me something, so just ask," Alhaitham finally says, and Kaveh's face goes completely red.
"Ah, ahaha what?" Kaveh stutters. "I-I've asked tons...!"
"Are you sure?"
It's evident Alhaitham is giving him an opening, and Kaveh almost manages to get the question out.
But then his phone ringing catches him off-guard.
Kaveh hears the obnoxious ringtone that Childe had purposefully picked playing in the room. He almost wants to ignore it, but then he doesn't on the off-chance that it's something serious, especially with it storming.
"Sorry one second..." Kaveh mumbles, moving off the couch to grab his phone from his bag.
The second he answers the phone, he is stuck answering a barrage of questions by Childe.
"Hey! Where are you? I thought you'd be home by now?"
"Sorry the storm's held me up," Kaveh replies sheepishly, looking over at Alhaitham.
It is technically still raining pretty hard outside.
"Damn, okay yeah well when you get back I've got my famous punch mixed up for us. Gotta tell you about my latest session with..." Childe starts rambling on a bit about his hook-up and Kaveh's inwardly grimacing.
"Right right, okay I'll try to get home soon-- yes I am, no I'm not talking about that now--!" Kaveh replies before quickly hanging up.
"Everything all right?" Alhaitham asks with a raised brow.
"Yeah sorry, that was my roommate," Kaveh explains as he sets his phone down on the table, sitting back on the couch again afterward.
"Ah, so you live with someone."
"He's been a friend since high school. We're really close, he's just a handful sometimes," Kaveh smiles. "In a good way at least."
"I shouldn't keep you for much longer then. I could always drive you home if the rain doesn't stop soon," Alhaitham offers.
"No it's okay! I've taken up enough of your time today really. If you need to work or something I can just hang out here for a little while."
"I was actually going to make dinner soon. Do you want to help?" Alhaitham rises to his feet, watching as Kaveh quickly does the same.
"S-Sure! I can't claim to be the best cook, but I can at least give you a hand."
Alhaitham actually proves to be extremely skilled at cooking, enough to even rival Childe.
Kaveh does his best as an assistant, handing Alhaitham whatever he needs, quickly becoming more familiar with everything in the kitchen based on his instructions. It's...an oddly domestic activity.
Granted, Kaveh cooked with Childe many times, but this has a much different feel to it.
Alhaitham and Kaveh's hands would occasionally brush, sometimes Alhaitham would even have Kaveh do some of the cooking, approaching him from behind to speak over his shoulder about what ingredients to add in first.
By the time they're finished, they have a meal that is worthy of being served in a restaurant.
Kaveh finds it's the most delicious thing he's ever eaten as well. He can't help smiling as he and Alhaitham eat next to each other at the kitchen bar.
After they've eaten, Alhaitham pulls Kaveh's clothes from the dryer, and it's at that point that the clouds seem to finally be clearing away just as it's nearing 7pm.
"I can't believe how long I ended up staying here..." Kaveh says as he's changed back into his normal clothes after they finished cleaning up the kitchen. He's grabbed his bag and phone, finally about to head back home for the day.
"A whole five hours give or take," Alhaitham chuckles. "I know it wasn't planned, but I had a good time."
"Oh yeah, me too! It was honestly a lot of fun," Kaveh replies with a blush. "Thanks again for letting me ride out the storm with you and for dinner."
"Anytime," Alhaitham says this, and the insinuation has Kaveh's blush darkening.
"Right, I'll remember that," Kaveh smiles. "Anyways, I'll see you later."
"Text me when you get home," Alhaitham says from the doorway.
"I will, thanks again," Kaveh feels that flutter in his heart as he sees Alhaitham smiling at him.
"So wait you practically had a date together and you're claiming his cooking is better than mine?!"
"It wasn't a date!"
"You talked for hours, then made dinner together, and you also wore his clothes?? Sounds like a date to me!"
Kaveh buries his face on the side of the couch.
"No he's basically like a second boss! There's nothing going on!"
"So you're saying you wouldn't let him bend you over the counter?"
"Well that's - debatable," Kaveh mumbles.
Childe stares Kaveh down, forcing him to admit his attraction to Alhaitham before he finally allows the conversation topic to change.
It doesn't matter though because even days after their impromptu 'date', Kaveh still finds himself thinking about it. He's also continuing to text Alhaitham much more often than before on things outside of just him stopping by his house to work.
They were friendly conversations...maybe sometimes veering more into flirting territory.
Kaveh couldn't really get full confirmation on that though, especially because he had yet to fully discern if Alhaitham is dating anyone.
One afternoon, Kaveh's realizing how today is the only day this week that he's going to have adequate time to stop by Alhaitham's house to clean the pool. He starts to panic a bit since none of the train schedules are working for him either, so he breaks down and asks Childe for a ride.
Of course the entire way there Childe's teasing him about it, trying to both hype Kaveh up and make him a flustered mess.
Meanwhile Kaveh sends Alhaitham a quick text saying he's on the way, much as he usually does.
He doesn't expect a response. With how short notice it is, he assumes Alhaitham probably isn't even at home today and is out of town on some trip or another.
When they pull up to the front of Alhaitham's home, Kaveh's making sure he has everything in his bag when Childe notices something.
"Woah, who's that?" Childe asks, causing Kaveh to look out the window.
It's Aventurine. He's in the midst of speaking with Alhaitham in the doorway, occasionally pointing to the mark on his neck that's so dark and visible on his fair-skin even from such a distance. There's a grin that shows on his lips, ones that are coated with lip-gloss, and something about the sight has Kaveh's stomach in knots.
"That's the guy who helps clean the house, Aventurine," As Kaveh explains, Childe whistles lowly.
"Damn. Wonder if he's offering something on the side too if that mark on his neck is any indication..."
"I mean, who knows? It's not my business- our business," Kaveh's rambling, clearly frazzled.
Childe notices it too because he's quickly trying to avert the subject to something else in an effort to calm Kaveh down. The door is quickly pushed open as Kaveh gets out. Aventurine's now leaving as well, causing Alhaitham to notice Kaveh's arrival.
"Hey listen, just call me and I'll come pick you up any time. We can go out and have some drinks together later, okay baby?" Childe says with a wink.
The offer has Kaveh blushing given Childe talks to him like this sometimes playfully in private when they're being stupid with one another. Never before has he said it in front of other people, much less the guy Kaveh has an obvious crush on!
"Hahahaha yeah okay," Kaveh responds, leaning in as he closes the door to mutter under his breath so that only Childe hears him. "Are you insane?"
Childe shrugs, a smug smile on his lips.
"Hey sorry about that," Kaveh offers a small smile, unsure of what else to say.
"It's fine," Alhaitham replies, seemingly guarding his emotions with how stoic he suddenly is in Kaveh's presence.
Upon entering the house, Kaveh finds it's as clean as ever since Aventurine already finished his tasks for the day. A darker part of his mind supplies worse scenarios along with it, but he distracts himself by focusing on getting his own work done.
He feels on edge the entire time though. Such an uncomfortable sensation weighs him down as he works, and even once he's done, he finds no solace with how Alhaitham's locked away in his study on a call.
Kaveh decides to simply leave for the day, and not having any sort of resolution for that strange feeling does him no favors.
Things are weird and tense with Alhaitham after that one afternoon.
He and Kaveh hardly text anymore. Kaveh continues to send his texts before his arrival and after he's done, but the responses are always very generic and leave no room for further conversation.
So needless to say, things are strained between them.
The misunderstanding continues, rapidly growing worse as Kaveh notices how the marks on Aventurine's neck never seem to stop being there. In fact, there seems to be more there every time he happens to see him while at Alhaitham's home.
Kaveh tries not to let it bother him. He does his best to finish his work and keep moving on with his life because it's become apparent that he and Alhaitham won't ever be anything.
That fleeting moment of chemistry and attraction seems to have vanished in an instant, all because of someone more enticing.
Not that Kaveh can really begrudge Aventurine. If Alhaitham ended up being more interested in someone else then that's his choice.
Still it hurts. Kaveh couldn't deny that he missed the routine text chains with Alhaitham, ones that happened so frequently that Kaveh looked forward to them every day.
"Have you two not talked about this yet??" Childe asks as Kaveh's visibly dreads heading to his part-time job that day.
"How am I supposed to talk about it? What can I even say? If he wants to fuck someone else then good for him," Kaveh replies, not able to completely hide the jealousy in his tone.
"I mean yes and no, but like, you won't really know until you ask him right? You're just going to keep agonizing until you know for sure so..."
Of course what Childe says makes sense, but Kaveh's too caught up in his feelings to even work up the energy to ask Alhaitham.
But...Childe being the best friend and diabolical mastermind that he is, decides to be the catalyst to give Kaveh the shove that he needs.
Before heading to Alhaitham's later that afternoon, Kaveh had to go by the office to be present for a pitch on one of his designs. Afterward he headed to Alhaitham's house.
In doing so he finds Aventurine is finishing up his tasks for the day while wearing a maid outfit of all things. This merely ruins Kaveh's already messed up mindset.
Given this is one of those rare times that he's stopping by Alhaitham's after his day job, he brought along a bag with a change of clothes, not wanting to clean a pool wearing his nice dress slacks and button-down. Usually it'll just be a pair of shorts and a t-shirt of some sort however...
"W-What the hell?!"
Kaveh stares at the only item in his bag...a fucking speedo.
Inside there's a scribbled sticky note laying on it that says ‘just giving you a little push ;)'
He sends a quick, nonsensical text to Childe.
Then he's staring down the speedo, realizing how he's not left with many options at this point. These are really nice clothes, probably one of the nicest things in his entire wardrobe since he wanted to look professional for the pitch today. The last thing he wants to do is wear them while cleaning a pool.
With a weary sigh, Kaveh decides to change into the speedo.
Kaveh can't hide the utter embarrassment that fills him once it's on. He's just thankful that Aventurine has left by now, and Alhaitham doesn't seem to be home.
As he slowly walks out of the downstairs bathroom, he sets his bag down in the living room, and his phone rings. It scares the living hell out of him, so he quickly fishes it out of his bag to find Childe is facetiming him.
"Ohohoho look at you--!"
"I'm going to kill you!"
"Come on now, don't be mad. Listen, you look so good, your peachy ass was made for a speedo!"
Kaveh glares at Childe who appears all too smug with himself.
"I don't even want to know why you bought a speedo in my size. Were you planning this?!"
"From the first week you got the job," Childe admits with a shrug.
Kaveh pinches the bridge of his nose with a sigh. He's getting a migraine now.
"For real though you look good," Childe says with a waggle of his eyebrows.
"I swear when I get home..." Kaveh starts only to cut himself off as he hears the front door opening behind him.
The door swings open, and he finds himself staring straight at Alhaitham's imposing figure.
"Looks like we'll talk when you get home. Make sure to keep the speedo on for me--"
Anything Childe might've said is quickly silenced as Kaveh ends the call.
Alhaitham still says nothing at first, he merely raises a brow at what Kaveh is wearing.
"Um, hi, I wasn't expecting you to be home today since you apparently left before I got here so..." Kaveh isn't even sure what to say.
"My flight got canceled," Alhaitham replies, finally making a move by closing and locking the door.
"Right. Well, I should get to cleaning then."
Kaveh is too embarrassed to do much else besides turning and walking through the kitchen to get to the backyard. He sets his phone on the counter near the house key on the way out.
The time it takes for him to clean the pool feels like a lifetime.
He is self-conscious every time he has to bend over to drag the leak skimmer through the water or pool brush on the walls. With the storms lately he has to take even more time to vacuum the bottom of the pool, then checking the pH levels.
After he finishes cleaning the filter and sanitizing everything, Kaveh hastily packs everything up in the shed again.
When he walks back inside the kitchen, he sees his phone blinking with multiple new messages.
Kaveh is almost certain he knows what it is, but it's further confirmed when Alhaitham walks into the kitchen.
"Seems like your boyfriend keeps texting you," Alhaitham comments as he goes to grab a mug from the cabinet.
The comment startles Kaveh enough to nearly drop his phone.
"What? He's not my boyfriend," Kaveh states in slight disbelief.
"Hm," Alhaitham gives a non-committal reply.
Seeing how Alhaitham clearly doesn't believe him seems to be the tipping point for the tension that's been rising for weeks.
Kaveh feels frustrated. It quickly gets the better of him too.
First he's stuck wearing this speedo, then he sees Aventurine in a maid outfit, and now Alhaitham doesn't believe him.
"Are you serious? What about you and Aventurine then?"
"What about us?" Alhaitham pauses in his movements of turning on the espresso machine to meet Kaveh's gaze.
"Do you fuck all of your hired help or just him?" Kaveh says with a biting tone.
"Is that what you think is going on?"
"What else is there to think?!" Kaveh shakes his head, a bitter laugh following before he averts his gaze. Doing so has him seeing how he accidentally left something on the poolside. "Never mind, forget it."
He turns to head back outside, intent on just putting the item back in the shed and leaving.
At this rate it's best if he just quit this job and finds something else.
Whenever Kaveh turns from the shed to walk back alongside the pool, he sees Alhaitham walking outside.
"No, how about we don't forget it," He says with such intense emotion in his voice that Kaveh's never heard before this point. "It's funny that you feel the need to accuse me whenever you clearly have something more going on with this roommate of yours."
"There's nothing going on with him!" Kaveh exclaims, suddenly going on the defensive as he doesn't stop walking in the direction of the door.
"He certainly talks to you like there's something more going on with him," Alhaitham doesn't relent.
Kaveh stops now just shy of the door, looking back over at Alhaitham.
"Why does Aventurine keep leaving your house with so many marks?" Kaveh swiftly changes the subject. "And he wore a maid outfit today? Did you get a quick fuck in with him too before leaving?"
"I'm not fucking him," Alhaitham firmly states with a step forward.
"What if I said I don't believe you?" Kaveh glares up at him as they're much closer.
"You should because I only want to fuck you."
Alhaitham saying this mere inches away has Kaveh suddenly realizing how very wrong he was about all of this.
"Then fuck me," Kaveh breathes out.
Every bit of frustration is lost in the way Alhaitham grabs on his waist and pulls him in, claiming his lips in a harsh kiss. Kaveh cups both sides of Alhaitham's face, keeping him locked in those kisses that are filled with moans, undeniable want felt as Alhaitham runs his tongue into Kaveh's mouth, further ruining his restraint.
It doesn't take long for Alhaitham's other hand to reach down and grope on Kaveh's ass. He firmly kneads over his peachy ass cheek, feeling how the touch has Kaveh moaning more into his mouth. When his fingertips push past the barrier of the speedo to dare a touch closer to his hole, Kaveh shivers and whispers a plea.
Neither of them seem to care about fucking out in the open.
The entire neighborhood seems to be their audience as Alhaitham lifts Kaveh onto the table, unable to hold back long enough to even make it back inside the house.
"I quite like the idea of you wearing little outfits for me..." Alhaitham mutters, quickly tugging the speedo off Kaveh's hips.
Traces of pre-cum are left glistening on his inner thighs as his cock is freed, curving up near his belly with more beads of pre-cum dripping down the full length of him.
"As long as I'm the only one wearing them for you," Kaveh says breathlessly, easily spreading his thighs more to let Alhaitham start tracing his fingers near his hole.
Alhaitham gets his fingertips slick with Kaveh's pre-cum, dragging his fingertips along the underside of Kaveh's cock and then down to his hole, teasing the rim. He licks and nips over Kaveh's lips, slowly pushing inside to start working him open.
"You're the only one I want," Alhaitham replies, a mix of want and possessiveness in his tone. "I've wanted to feel and taste you just like this ever since I first met you."
This merely ramps up Kaveh's desperation. He doesn't hold back as those sounds become filthier the longer Alhaitham buries his fingers inside his hole, curling and hitting his prostate to have Kaveh clinging to him and begging for his cock.
Alhaitham stares at those carmine eyes as he withdraws his fingers, instead unzipping his dress pants to pull out his cock. He strokes over himself, spreading pre-cum down the full length, and Kaveh's whining insistently for it.
He wraps his legs tightly around Alhaitham's waist, his fingers digging into Alhaitham's upper back the moment he finally gets what he wants.
Alhaitham keeps a firm grip on Kaveh's ass, seemingly obsessed with touching it, and that only turns Kaveh on more.
"I've been staring at your ass for too long, imagining fucked you just like this," Alhaitham mutters hotly as he fills Kaveh with every inch of his cock before starting to fuck deeply inside.
"A-Ah, I've w-wanted that too," Kaveh whimpers, his hole clenching greedily around him. "You're all I can think about when I t-touch myself."
"When you wore my clothes, fuck, I jerked off right after you left that night," Alhaitham confesses. He grinds harder into Kaveh, the rough smacks of their hips meeting growing louder.
"So did I, wish I could've w-worn it while you fucked me," Kaveh gasps as Alhaitham tightens his grip on his ass, rutting into him harder.
"You'll have to soon, but right now I want you to come all over my cock instead," As Alhaitham then shifts a hand around to grip onto Kaveh's cock, he strokes over him in time with those desperate, erratic thrusts.
After having touched himself so many times already to the very thought of that, it doesn't take Kaveh long to give Alhaitham what he wants.
Kaveh whimpers Alhaitham's name over his lips, staring at him closely as he comes.
The streaks of it cover Alhaitham's hand, and even then Alhaitham keeps jerks him off in the midst of those rough thrusts, breaking Kaveh entirely until he's shoving inside with one, last smack of their hips meeting to fills Kaveh with his cum.
As those hot spurts cover Kaveh's inner walls, dripping past the rim of his hole, Kaveh moans contently into the half-kisses that follow.
They remain that way for a while as Alhaitham makes sure he's given Kaveh his fill of what he wants, and also leaves his mark on him as much as possible with a dark, love bite blossoming on Kaveh's neck.
After that initial high passes, they manage to make their way back inside the house with Alhaitham carrying Kaveh all the way up to his bedroom. They shower and make-out more while doing so, eventually having Kaveh put on Alhaitham's clothes again, much to Alhaitham's liking.
Seeing as Kaveh's plans have now progressed into a full-on date with Alhaitham, they start preparing dinner in the kitchen. As this takes place, their conversations about everything regarding their new relationship and everything in between continues.
"...So seriously, what is up with Aventurine?" Kaveh asks while helping to cut some vegetables.
"A co-worker and friend, Ratio, suggested I hire someone to clean my home when I started traveling more in recent months. He passed along Aventurine's information. I didn't realize at the time that it was because Aventurine is his boyfriend, and he's trying to help fill his work schedule. Of course, Aventurine likes to see Ratio at random times, so that's why he shows up here sometimes with evidence of that."
"Oh wow," Kaveh blushes at the implications. "That's crazy."
"Yeah and Aventurine being as carefree as he is likes to joke about it sometimes," Alhaitham shakes his head with a chuckle. "He also could tell pretty immediately how much I liked you, so he would always make comments about it."
Kaveh blushes even more, "I feel...pretty lame now for overreacting. Sorry about that..."
Alhaitham sets the spatula down to walk over and wrap his arms around Kaveh from behind.
"Hey it's alright. The entire situation could easily be misinterpreted," He then kisses gently on Kaveh's neck.
Kaveh shivers, a smile forming on his lips. He sets the knife down in favor of leaning back more in Alhaitham's arms.
"Well...I could always take a page from Aventurine's book and wear a maid outfit one day..." He suggests, feeling how Alhaitham makes a low noise of approval right near his ear.
"I think I'd like that," Alhaitham chuckles. "I can even buy it for you. I'll leave it on my bed for you to change into so you can be all dressed up and ready for me."
"All right, it's a deal," Kaveh turns his head, meeting Alhaitham half-way for a kiss.