Kaveh was just getting home after a few days in the desert. He'd been working long hours on a new project and was tired. He knew Alhaitham was likely already home and knew he'd get an earful about working himself to exhaustion just to please a client and meet deadlines. He suspected it was Alhaitham's way of showing concern, but it still annoyed him to no end.
He took a deep breath and unlocked the door. As soon as he stepped in, a voice called to him.
"Kaveh, you're just in time for dinner." Alhaitham said as he placed a dish for each of them.
Kaveh tilted his head, rooted to the spot. Dinner? Was that a smile on Haitham's face?
"You- you were cooking?" He said, crossing his arms, "You don't cook, you usually just go out to eat when I'm not here!"
Alhaitham laughed as he took Kaveh's bags and set them aside before guiding him by the shoulders to the table, "I can cook, I just prefer to use my time in other ways." He said.
Kaveh was speechless. Alhaitham laughing, smiling and making dinner was too weird and his tired mind was having trouble processing it.
"Well if you'd rather not cook, why did you?" Kaveh asked, still trying to understand.
"Because I knew you were probably too distracted to eat while you were away. You tend to become consumed by whatever you're working on and don't eat or drink properly. Have you not noticed?" Alhaitham said bluntly.
There was the matter-of-fact tone Kaveh had been looking for and he huffed indignantly, "Oh, and I suppose you are any better about it? I have to force you to stop reading just to eat sometimes!"
Alhaitham only raised an eyebrow and began eating.
Kaveh looked down at his meal. It looked good, but it was soup. Alhaitham wouldn't eat soup, it interfered with his reading. Of course, that was the same reason he didn't usually cook, yet here they were. It did look good.
"Is it poisoned?" He blurted out.
Alhaitham choked, then laughed. It was a hearty laugh that Kaveh had never heard before in all the years they had known each other. Then he looked like he was about to cry, something else he had never known him to do.
"Kaveh, I… is that really what you think, that I'd poison you? I just thought you might like a meal that you didn't have to make yourself after what must have been a tiring trip. I was only trying to help, that's why I cooked and cleaned." Alhaitham said as he waved a hand indicating the room.
Kaveh was confused. Why was Alhaitham this upset? Feelings weren't something the scribe did, feelings were Kaveh's job. He let his eyes wander around the room and realized that the house really was clean. No stacks of books, no dust, everything was organized.
Oh. Oh no. His eyes shot back to the scribe, who still had tears lingering on his lashes, "Alhaitham, are you DYING?!"
"Think about it Kaveh, if I were dying I certainly wouldn't be cooking or cleaning." He replied, back to his normal self and continued to eat his soup.
Kaveh blinked. Something was wrong, but Alhaitham obviously had no intention of telling him and he felt like he was going to get whiplash with the sudden personality changes. The scribe didn't seem ill or injured, so Kaveh decided to leave it for now.
"Thank you for dinner." He said as he began to eat, but his eyes remained glued to his friend the entire time.
They ate their dinner in silence.
Alhaitham sat quietly, reading a book after dinner. He wouldn't admit it, but he wasn't feeling well. Illness wasn't something he had issues with often, but when he did it would hit him hard. He could already feel the tell-tale signs, his body felt weak and dizzy. Normally he'd try to rest more, but tonight he was more worried about Kaveh.
He wasn't sure why the architect hadn't gone to bed, but he felt the need to keep an eye on him and make sure he eventually got some sleep. Kaveh was always energetic and it wasn't unusual for him to just keep going until he was exhausted and would fall asleep on the couch, at his drafting table or even at the table during breakfast after working all night. Now, it looked like he'd passed that point a couple of days ago, but had still refused to stop.
He watched as Kaveh tried to work on his designs, but couldn't seem to concentrate on any one thing. For a moment, his concern for Kaveh's safety became overwhelming and he buried his face behind his book, closed his watering eyes and took a few deep breaths.
A few minutes later, when he peeked over the top of his book again, Kaveh's head was laid on his arms over the table, his eyes closed and his breath even. Finally, sleep had overtaken his friend. He waited a while longer before he quietly stood, catching himself on the armrest for a moment as a sudden wave of dizziness swept over him, and draped a throw blanket over Kaveh. The sleeping man twitched and mumbled something inaudible.
As Alhaitham turned to go to his room several thoughts crossed his mind all at once and he stopped in his tracks, panic setting in. Should he try to move Kaveh to his bed? What if he gets a kink in his neck? What if he wakes up too soon and doesn't go back to sleep? What if his head falls off the table and hits the floor?! He ignored the sudden pain shooting through his head.
No, Kaveh would be fine where he is. Alhaitham always left him sleeping, not wanting to wake him before he'd rested enough and he'd never hurt himself before. He'd be alright this time, just like every other time.
Alhaitham quickly stepped into his room and shut the door, before he could change his mind again. As he tried to slow his breathing he had a little nagging feeling that something was different, something was wrong, but what could it be? Kaveh was quieter than normal, maybe something had happened to him while he was on his trip. He should have asked.
"Why didn't I ask?" He whispered to himself, tears welling up in his eyes again, "I'm a terrible friend! I should go ask him now. No- wait, I don't want to wake him up, I'll ask later- No, I-I'll ask…"
He ignored the stabbing headache as unshed tears began to fall and his chest felt so tight that breathing had become difficult. He tried to stumble to his bed, but only managed a couple of steps before he fell to his knees and hid his face in his hands, unable to stop the sobs forcing their way out.
He knew he needed to talk to Kaveh, it was important, but he couldn't remember why as his emotions quickly consumed him.
A noise startled Kaveh out of his sleep, but as he groggily came to, the house seemed silent. The couch where Alhaitham had been was now empty.
Kaveh rubbed at his eyes, a blanket dropping from his shoulders, "What a weird night."
After the dinner chores had been completed, and it was weird that Alhaitham had helped, Kaveh had stayed in the living area, regardless of his desperate need for sleep. He was worried, but he didn't even know where to begin to find out what had happened while he was gone. When he'd asked Alhaitham if anything had happened, the scribe had said "Nothing out of the ordinary." in that flat tone of his and not a word more about it.
It wasn't likely that anyone who may know was still at the Akademiya at this time of night, so he had sat on the floor at the coffee table and tried to look busy with sketches while he kept a discreet eye on his reading friend. Obviously he'd fallen asleep instead.
A cry caught his attention and he was outside of Alhaitham's door in an instant. He could hear it clearly now, muffled sobbing just on the other side.
He knocked softly on the door, waiting for a response that didn't come.
"Haitham," He called, "A-are you okay?"
With his question having gone unanswered, he pushed open the door.
Alhaitham huddled on the floor and crying was not something Kaveh thought he would ever see in his lifetime, nor had he wanted to. He approached his distraught friend and knelt beside him as he gently placed a hand on his shoulder. Alhaitham immediately leaned against Kaveh and wrapped his arms around him.
"What's wrong, are you hurt? Please, tell me how I can help you…" Kaveh begged.
After some time of Alhaitham not answering and Kaveh trying to calm him and coax him into speaking, the scribe finally began to settle, having exhausted himself.
Kaveh tried to pull Alhaitham's arms away from himself and began to stand, but Alhaitham wouldn't let go.
"I only want to help you to your bed. Can you do that for me?" He said.
Alhaitham nodded and let go, allowing Kaveh to help him to his feet. Kaveh had to catch his arm as he swayed. Alhaitham grabbed the sides of his head and grimaced in pain and began to shake.
"I don't- something's wrong? My h-head…" Alhaitham stuttered out.
As Kaveh worked to maneuver the scribe onto the bed, Alhaitham kept rambling in broken sentences.
"It-it's important. Help him. What- I don't know. I don't. Bad-"
"Shh, slow down." Kaveh said as he pulled the blanket over his shivering friend. He laid his hand against Alhaitham's forehead, he felt no fever. "Alhaitham, I need you to try and concentrate. Can you tell me what happened to you?"
Kaveh's heart ached as he watched more tears begin to fall. He felt helpless.
"I-I don't… remember." He sobbed as he grabbed Kaveh's hand. "I'm sorry! Sh-should -helped you!"
"Help me with what?" Kaveh asked patiently, trying not to panic.
"You- hurt!"
"You think I'm hurt? Haitham, I'm not hurt, I promise!" Kaveh said with the best smile he could muster, but Alhaitham seemed unconvinced. Kaveh held his arms wide, "Look at me, I'm just fine. Not a scratch on me, ok?"
Alhaitham stared at him, blinking tiredly. Kaveh sat against the headboard next to him and Alhaitham curled into his side.
"Close your eyes and rest." Kaveh soothed as he ran his fingers through silver hair and watched Alhaitham's eyes slide shut.
Kaveh sat and listened to his friend's breath slow, aside from hitching once in a while. This was all very wrong. To anyone who didn't know Alhaitham, it would seem like he was just overly emotional and had become worked up, much the same as Kaveh himself, who now sat there with tears silently streaming down his own face. No, this was the complete opposite for Alhaitham and Kaveh was truly frightened at this point. He wished Alhaitham would sit up and say it was all a horrible joke.
When Alhaitham hadn't moved for a time, Kaveh started to move away from him. It was a painstakingly slow process to pry his shirt out of the sleeping man's tight grasp without waking him, but Kaveh was determined. Now was likely his only chance to go find help and with it being well after midnight that was going to be difficult.
Finally free, Kaveh rushed to the front entry and grabbed his shoes only to yelp at a sudden knock on the door. He hesitated at first, who would be here at this hour of night, but he needed to leave sooner rather than later.
Opening the door a crack, he immediately saw long black and purple ears and a fluff of white hair.
"Cyno!" He exclaimed as he opened the door the rest of the way and hugged the general before he could think better of it and started babbling. "Something happened to Alhaitham. I have no idea what it was, but I- I need to go get help!"
Cyno patted Kaveh on the back before pulling himself away, "I know, Kaveh. I was playing Genius Invokation: TCG at the tavern when I heard some researchers talking about an incident involving the Acting Grand Sage. When I questioned them, they said there had been an accident in one of the alchemy labs. Apparently a researcher had tripped while carrying a potion that was meant to be used on plants and most of that potion landed on Alhaitham, who left and hasn't been seen since."
Kaveh motioned for Cyno to come inside, "A potion for plants?! Who knows what kind of side effects that could have on a human- and of course Alhaitham just walked off…" He trailed off as he ran a hand down his face.
Cyno nodded, "Tighnari is visiting me and already knows the situation. He's gone to question the researchers about the contents of the potion and should be here soon to help." He said and Kaveh let out a relieved sob. "You said you were getting help, you've noticed something wrong, then?"
"It's been such a strange evening. I got home from my project and Alhaitham had not only made dinner, but cleaned. He's been… emotional. At one point his mood was changing from sad to happy to normal faster than I could keep up! I asked him what had happened, but he wouldn't tell me. I was trying to keep an eye on him, but I fell asleep for a time." Kaveh said mournfully, "I woke up to him crying in his room, he couldn't even put together a sentence that made any sense! He's asleep now, but I've been so worried all night, Cyno." He finished shakily, slumping onto the sofa.
Cyno sat beside him and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Help is on the way. Let me tell you some jokes." He said.
"Ahhh, actually I'm going to go check on Alhaitham." Kaveh said, pulling himself back up and returning to the sleeping man's room.
Alhaitham was still shivering, but there was no fever. Perhaps it was the raw emotions that Alhaitham never let out, never let himself feel. Kaveh knew they were always there, but his friend was an expert at keeping them right where he wanted them, infuriatingly so. He could understand it being unbearable and overwhelming, possibly even dangerous, for someone like Alhaithem to suddenly be feeling so much at once and to such extremes.
As if in response, Alhaitham whimpered and reached out for Kaveh as he settled against the headboard next to the sleeping man again.
"Tighnari will be here soon. " Cyno repeated from the doorway. "Alhaitham will be fine."
Kaveh nodded. "Would you mind waiting for him?" He asked hopefully.
"Of course, I'm not going anywhere. You should rest, too." He said before returning to the living room.
Kaveh let his head rest against the headboard and closed his eyes.
Cyno sat in the living room, waiting for Tighnari.
Tighnari was renowned for his knowledge of plants and their effects, if anyone could help sort this out, it would be the forest watcher.
After hearing Kaveh's account of events that evening, Cyno was concerned for both of his friends. The few people closest to the scribe knew that the man wasn't unfeeling, however much he pretended to be, but he certainly kept his emotions in check at all times. Everyone handled their emotions differently, Alhaitham was no exception.
As for Kaveh, he would always be on the go until he had nothing left and Cyno suspected he'd passed that point some time ago, judging by the dark circles under his eyes and fine tremors he'd observed. He hoped the architect would fall asleep for a while. It wouldn't do anyone any good to make himself sick.
Cyno was brought out of his thoughts by a light knock on the door. As he opened it Tighnari rushed in and set his satchel on the coffee table and began pulling out dried ingredients, along with a mortar and pestle.
"I was given the list of ingredients in the plant solution," He quickly explained, "I can see why it would cause such a problem and I believe I can counteract most of the effects, but there are some ingredients that are deadly for humans to come into contact with. Honestly, it was so careless of them to let him leave and it was careless of him to have left without being checked out by a medical professional!"
Tighnari grumbled as he sorted the ingredients and started crushing some. "Could you boil some water for me? I'll need to make tea out of it."
Cyno watched Tighnari from the kitchen, listening to him rant about his friends not taking care of themselves. He had a bit of a temper about these things, but it came from his concern and it was best to let him get it out.
Cyno poured a cup of the hot water and Tighnari stirred in the herbs he'd mixed together.
"This has to steep at least five minutes before it's ready, it feels like it's taking forever tonight." He said as he looked down at his hands. "I'm… I'm worried about how long ago he was exposed and it sounds like his symptoms progressed quickly. At this point there's a chance this might not work. It might be too late!"
Cyno tried to give his friend a reassuring smile, "I have complete confidence that you'll be able to pull him through this. Alhaitham is strong and you are skilled." He said.
"You and your confidence." Tighnari sighed and shook his head as he checked on the tea. "Perfect color, let's get this into him."
Kaveh was aware of soft voices close-by. He knew those voices, but his tired mind couldn't quite put names or faces to them. He supposed he had no other choice but to open his eyes. The moment he took in Tighnari's dark ears he sat straight up.
"Oh, thank the Archons you're here! What's going on? How is he doing? Is he going to be ok?!" He asked all at once.
"Calm down, Kaveh. He's awake, but he won't talk to us. I was hoping that you might have more luck. He'll need to drink all of this." Said Tighnari. Holding up a mug, he silently begged Kaveh to try.
Kaveh nodded and looked down at the shaking man pressed into his side. He was shocked by the fear and pain he saw in the teal eyes. "Haitham, your friends are here to help you." He said as he rubbed comforting circles on Alhaitham's back.
Alhaitham shook his head as tears began to fall again. "I don't-want. I-I… Kaveh? Help?" His voice cracked before he whimpered in pain and squeezed his eyes shut.
Kaveh could feel his heart break. "I have something for you to drink, it'll help you feel better. Can you drink it for me? He tried.
Alhaitham didn't respond for a minute before nodding almost imperceptibly and struggled to sit up. Kaveh slid his other arm under Alhaitham's back and held him in a sitting position. Taking the mug from Tighnari, he placed it into shaking hands and wrapped his own hand around them to help. Alhaitham took a drink and made a face, but continued to down the substance.
Once the liquid was gone, Kaveh handed the mug back to Tighnari, who looked decidedly relieved, and helped Alhaitham lay back down.
They sat in silence as their friend slipped back to sleep and Tighnari began to speak again.
"I'm going to stay over for the next few days, if that's alright with you? I'd like to be close, just in case." Tighnari said as he stood from the side of the bed and resettled in the arm chair Cyno had brought.
"Thank you so much, Tighnari." Kaveh said, sounding nearly as tearful as Alhaitham. "Is he going to be ok?"
Tighnari tried not to let the sigh slip through. "He's got some recovering to do and it's going to take some time. The potion he came into contact with has some ingredients that will merely make him ill, but there is one ingredient that can be deadly if not treated properly and quickly."
"What?! Why would they even have something like that there? And the researchers must have known, why didn't they get him medical attention?" Kaveh asked.
"Apparently that's what Alhaitham was there to discuss with them. He'd gone over their research and wanted to know the outcome without the dangerous reagent as it's not practical to have something so dangerous to humans, yet humans would be handling it." Tighnari looked at the sleeping scribe. "They said that they tried to get him medical attention at the time, but Alhaitham had insisted he'd handle it and left. I have to wonder if he was already suffering from the side effects. By the time you came home he may not have even remembered the incident."
"Even when he's sick he's stubborn! What… what can we expect?"
"Well, in the next few hours he'll likely develop a fever, weakness, headaches, vomiting, more confusion and an extreme emotional state. I would expect this to go on for a few days. We'll be giving him this tea twice a day. It should help cut down on symptoms, including pain and help him sleep." Tighnari said. "I hope we caught it in time, but he'll need some help for a while. Now, unless you want to be in recovery too, I suggest you sleep. You look exhausted and the last thing you need is to get sick!"
Kaveh nodded softly and was asleep as soon as his eyes closed.
Alhaitham knew he was sick, but he couldn't recall it happening. He could hardly tell where he was, but Kaveh was there and that made him feel better, safer. Everything going on around him was confusing him, he couldn't grasp what people were saying, he couldn't understand the words. He couldn't even seem to form his own words, not that he knew what he'd want to say.
He had been able to focus on Kaveh a handful of times and knew his friend was trying his best to help him. Alhaitham trusted him and tried to do as he was asked. If he couldn't understand, Kaveh would gently show him.
He couldn't tell if he was hot or cold and painful tremors ran through his body. He couldn't control his sloshing stomach, frequently emptying its contents, and he couldn't stop the panic and tears that came when anything happened.
Alhaitham could feel that he was not in control of his mind or body and right now, at this point he couldn't think of a time when he had been. It was like a distant memory that wasn't quite there anymore.
That made him cry, too.
Just as Tighnari had said, it had been days, but more than a few. It had been six days and Kaveh was having trouble seeing any end to this.
Not long after Kaveh had fallen back to sleep on that first night, he'd been awoken by what felt like an inferno next to him. A panicking, Alhaitham sized inferno. His friend had been inconsolable, crying and sweating away all of the precious moisture his body needed to heal.
Kaveh had thought the panic was bad, until Alhaitham had grown too weak and stopped moving, aside from shaking, and had stopped trying to communicate at all. Kaveh found that terrifying. Tighnari tried to add some optimism by pointing out that they could at least get some fluids back into him, but Kaveh could still see the deep concern in the valuka shuna's eyes.
Kaveh worried that Alhaitham might not come through this. If he did, would he ever be the same annoying, arrogant, confident, aloof and infuriating scribe? How could a potion have caused all of this and if it had been this dangerous, how in Teyvat had there not been an accident before?
Kaveh was emotional and he certainly knew that, even grasped that part of his own personality, but this was not who Alhaitham is.
At some points, Kaveh had thought that he could see his friend in those teal eyes, but it was always gone in an instant, replaced by sorrow and confusion.
He was fairly certain that Alhaitham knew who Kaveh was, but he didn't respond much to other voices. Tighnari had stayed to help and Cyno had been back to visit with Nahida, but he seemed to stay more focused on only Kaveh.
Right now, Kaveh's exhausted thoughts were working their way into his own panic attack and he almost missed his name being whispered.
"Kaveh…"
He looked up at Tighnari, who was asleep in the chair next to the bed.
"K-Kaveh-" The quiet, raspy voice repeated.
Wide eyes flicked to Alhaitham's pale face. "Haitham?!"
His friend nodded back at him.
"Oh, thank the Archons!" Kaveh said, his eyes tearing up again.
Alhaitham huffed lightly and a flicker of a sarcastic smile passed over his lips. "Not… Archons."
Kaveh thought it was the best thing he'd ever heard and his smile spread from ear to ear. Movement caught his attention and he looked up to see Tighnari, now awake and also smiling, pouring a cup of water.
"Drink?" Tighnari asked.
"Please." Alhaitham responded, taking the cup with a shaky hand. He felt like he'd swallowed sandpaper.
Kaveh helped him steady his hands and drink. "Slowly, we don't want it to bother your stomach." He said and Alhaitham raised an eyebrow at him.
"How are you feeling?" Tighnari questioned as he checked over the scribe.
Alhaitham took a moment to think, "I feel like- like I was r-run over by a sumpter beast. I don't remember… What happened?"
Kaveh and Tighnari explained the events of the past several days and he felt tears begin to slowly slide down his face. He was annoyed, he'd missed so much time that he could have spent reading. He planned on shutting down the project as soon as he possibly could. He couldn't remember more than having the project file out to look over, but obviously his concerns had been valid.
He looked over his friends as they spoke. Tighnari looked frazzled, but that was common for him when he was caring for someone. Kaveh, on the other hand, looked like he hadn't slept in the past century. Apparently he was staring. The architect stopped mid-sentence, wiped Alhaitham's tears and crossed his arms.
"You- you need to be more careful, Haitham!" He said in that flustered tone Alhaitham enjoyed pulling out of him.
"You were -concerned about me, then?"
Kaveh huffed, "No, if you die then who will buy my drinks? OF COURSE I was concerned! That's what… not exactly friends do! Oh, both of you wipe those smirks off your faces!"
Alhaitham laid his head back and closed his eyes, listening to his friends- well, his friend and "not exactly friend" banter until Tighnari insisted that Kaveh sleep or he'd knock him out.
He knew he was difficult to be around, but he couldn't help the feeling of contentment at knowing he had people who cared anyway. Something he'd never confess to, of course.
He let himself drift off to sleep, feeling loved and safe.
Poor Alhaitham! Hope you enjoyed :)