Whether or not they are directly linked, or the characters know each other, I think of my stories as all having happened within the same little world! In my stories. I frequently mention things that have happened in others I have written, but most of them should be able to be read stand alone without issues.
As always, thank you for reading, I hope everyone enjoys it!
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Alhaithamcitis
Alhaitham watched Kaveh disappear down the road, headed to a job site. His architect wouldn't be back for two days. The blonde going off alone on his jobs still made Alhaitham nervous, but if Kaveh was ready, he knew he needed to let go. Besides, he and Cyno were still checking out every single one of Kaveh's clients.
Once the blue feather was out of sight, he turned to make his own way to work. He felt sluggish today, just a bit off, a little shaky, but he shrugged it off as nerves. He hadn't slept well the night before, either, the sheets stuck to him, and he couldn't get comfortable. Laying on his left side would make a pinching feeling just to the right of his belly button, and laying on his right side was the same, but worse. He was thankful that Kaveh could sometimes sleep like there was no world around him.
Alhaitham paused on the path to the Akademiya, speaking of the crick in his side, it was making itself well-known. It didn't matter, he didn't plan on doing much other than his scribe duties for the day, and he truly was enjoying not having the responsibilities of Grand Sage anymore.
He carefully sat himself down in his chair, and got to work. His concentration was waning through most of the morning, but he managed to keep trudging through the stack of papers, and opted to skip lunch in favor of moving less. He wasn't hungry anyway.
Alhaitham hadn't noticed he had a visitor until Cyno sat in the chair on the other side of the desk and tapped the edge. He looked up and blinked at him before simply going back to work, it was his usual greeting, for anyone but Kaveh.
"You didn't show up." Cyno crossed his arms.
"To?"
"You were supposed to come to Lambad's at noon so you, Tighnari and I could discuss our plans for Kaveh's birthday party. You said it was the best time, since he was out of town."
The scribe paused his writing mid-sentence, internally wincing that he forgot something that important.
"I'm very busy."
Cyno raised an eyebrow, "Swamped with scribe duties? I wouldn't have thought you'd put that above Kaveh's birthday."
"I lost track of time." Alhaitham said, taking a deep breath and instantly regretted it, "I need to get back to this. Come by my house later, and we'll go over our plans."
Cyno sat silently as the scribe started writing again, "What's wrong?"
Alhaitham didn't feel like dealing with this, that's what was wrong, "As I said, I'm busy."
"You should stop to eat something, you look pale."
"I had a large breakfast." Actually, breakfast hadn't been appealing and he'd skipped it.
"You're sitting weird. Are you hurt?"
Alhaitham sighed, very carefully and slowly. It was difficult to hide anything from the General's eyes. It was his job to notice when things were wrong, after all.
"I pulled something in my side last night. It's nothing, I'm fine." He dismissed.
A sly smile spread across Cyno's lips, "It must have been quite the send-off-"
"Stop. I need to get back to work. I'll see you both tonight. Six is fine."
Cyno finally moved to leave, still smiling, "I'll let Nari know. Eat something, Scribe." He called over his shoulder as he closed the door.
Alhaitham rolled his eyes. His relationship with Cyno had come a long way recently, and he knew the man was only looking out for him, but Alhaitham had been taking care of himself for a long time.
He tried to work for a while longer, but gave up after another hour, deciding to take the rest of the afternoon off to go home and sleep. He wasn't getting anything done like this. As Alhaitham stood, his breath caught when it pulled at his side. He lowered himself back down slowly and wrote a note of absence for that afternoon and the next day, he needed to rest for his strained muscles to get better. The handwriting was shakier than normal, but he labeled the envelope and put it into the outbound stack.
Again, he stood, much slower this time, and made his way around the desk, leaving one hand on it for support. Every move felt like someone jabbing a knife into him. All he had to do was get home. It was downhill from here, not that far.
Alhaitham pulled his cloak to cover his shoulders as soon as he set foot outside. As chilly as it was inside the normally stuffy building, the breeze made him shiver. It took a while to get home. He had to stop at a few trees, and people were staring at him, but eventually, he made it.
He didn't bother to go to his bedroom, he carefully sat on the couch, grabbed the closest blanket, and laid down. It was still as uncomfortable as the night before, but if he laid on his back, it pulled less. Even with as much as he wanted to curl up on his side, his logical side kept him right where he was.
It was when Kaveh's noises turned to a knocking sound instead that Alhaitham figured out he was dreaming. He'd much rather hear Kaveh, but he had disappeared into nothing as Alhaitham was pulled back to the land of the waking. He sat up carefully, and rubbed his face, and was surprised to find that the pinch in his side was no more than a dull ache now.
The knocking turned a little more frantic, and his friends' voices calling his name, worried when he didn't answer.
"Hold on." He dragged himself off the couch, careful not to aggravate his side.
Upon opening the door, Tighnari's eyes immediately narrowed at him, taking in every little detail. Cyno had probably told the other. Alhaitham simply gestured to the couch, and closed the door behind them, trying his best not to limp or seem overly sore. His friend wasn't here to play doctor, not that Tighnari would agree.
The Valuka Shuna sat, crossed his arms and gave Alhaitham "the look" as the scribe made his way back to his seat. The scribe ignored it as he lowered himself, stubbornly making sure to keep his face neutral, and ignoring the urge to pull the blanket back over himself.
The questions began anyway, "You seem sore, and you're pale. Have you eaten today? Your cheeks are flushed, are you running a fever?"
Yes, maybe, no and… maybe. "What did you have in mind for Kaveh's birthday?"
Tighnari's disdain at his questions being ignored earned him another look, plus one from Cyno this time. Alhaitham ignored those, too. The Forest Ranger huffed, but started describing his ideas, and Alhaitham added his own thoughts.
Cyno had disappeared to the kitchen, and brought back tea. Alhaitham could admit -to himself- that it was nice to have friends that he felt comfortable enough for them to help themselves in his home. He trusted these people.
A couple of hours later, they had their plans, and Alhaitham wanted to go back to sleep. His side was steadily becoming sore again, and the slightly hunched way he was sitting didn't go unnoticed.
"Alhaitham," Tighnari began, moving to sit next to the scribe, "If you want to tell me what's wrong, I can help."
"I already told Cyno, I pulled a muscle last night. It already feels better. I just need some rest, which I'll be doing soon."
Tighnari's hand twitched, but he kept it to himself and sighed, "Alright, but if you need any help, just send for me. Have you considered taking a day off from work tomorrow?"
Alhaitham nodded, "I already have. Are you appeased?"
"Hm, I'm not sure if I would go as far as to say appeased, but I'm glad that you decided to rest instead of your usual feeble scholar activities." Tighnari got up to leave, "I would also recommend no extra physical activities when Kaveh returns. Not until the pain is completely gone."
"Did you hear about the man at the sea-side dance? He pulled a muscle." Cyno looked between Alhaitham and Tighnari, "Get it? Because mussel are a type of sea creature, but also a part of the body, and the dance was by the sea, which resulted in the man-"
"We get it!" The scribe and ranger said together. Cyno crossed his arms, looking pleased with himself.
Tighnari shook his head, "We'll be going, so you can rest. I'm serious, if you need anything, just let me know."
Alhaitham nodded.
"Goodnight!"
Just like that, Alhaitham was alone again, he let out a relieved sigh. He didn't mind visits from friends, but after a few hours, the noise of others grated on his nerves and left an anxiety in the pit of his stomach. He was really only comfortable with Kaveh's constant babbling and ruckus. It was different, somehow more acceptable. He found that missed these things when the blonde was gone.
He looked around the quiet room, his eyes landed on the book he'd left on the coffee table. Reading would certainly be an option tonight. It was only early evening, no one was around to interrupt him, and he'd already taken the next day off, but there were times that even he didn't feel up for consuming the information his books had to offer. All he wanted tonight was to sleep.
Alhaitham braced his hand against the armrest and pushed himself up, but didn't quite straighten his back all the way. The pain that had been steadily coming back quickly made its presence known again. Very carefully, he made it to the front door to lock it, then to the hallway, leaning partly on the wall for support.
His side ached as he finally laid down on the bed, pulled the blanket over himself, and closed his eyes. He'd felt better after sleeping earlier, surely more rest was what he needed. He would relax, and heal, and be all set when Kaveh got home.
One of the problems with pain and sleeping is if you do manage to fall asleep, it can make for some less than savory dreams. Things like your insides being eaten while you're still alive, or your beloved cutting you open to "get a better look at what might be causing the problem".
Alhaitham woke in a daze, each sharp inhale sending another ache through his side. The angle of the light coming in through the window told him it was probably close to noon. He had only stumbled out of bed once in the night to get some water.
Speaking of, he gingerly sat up enough to grab the glass off the end stand without spilling it, and sipped at it. It all sat heavily at the bottom of his stomach, making him nauseous. Even the thought of eating had nearly sent him over the edge a few hours earlier, and there was no way he'd make it to the toilet right now.
He laid back down, and tried to catch his breath again. His cheeks burned, but he was chilly and felt drained of energy. Tighnari might have been right about him having a bit of a fever. Surely he wasn't getting sick, too? He really didn't need that right now.
It wasn't long before Alhaitham found himself drifting back to sleep. He woke a few more times throughout the day, feeling worse each time. He thought he heard knocking at some point, but he ignored it. The pain in his side had gone from a stabbing ache to a worse stabbing ache that now extended the rest of the way to the right. He finally gave in and curled up onto his left side, it didn't matter which position he was in now, it all hurt too much anyway. It was enough to bring tears to his eyes now.
He wanted Kaveh.
~xxxxxxxxxx~
Kaveh was excited that things had gone so well with the preparations of the new work site, it meant he got to come home a few hours early. He wondered if Alhaitham would be excited, or annoyed that his intimate time with his books was being interrupted before the planned time. Really, ever since the incident that brought them together, Kaveh knew that Alhaitham had never actually considered the blonde to be an interruption. The scribe was more likely to jump him like a predator. Oh, the things people didn't know about the anti-social, non-expressive, ex- Acting Grand Master. Things that only Kaveh got to see.
When he approached the house, he was a little surprised that it was completely dark. Had Alhaitham gone out? Hah, where had that thought even come from? Of course Alhaitham wouldn't go out. But… did that mean he had gone out on one of his little adventures? He didn't think the scribe would have gone anywhere far, he knew Kaveh wasn't going to be gone all that long.
Kaveh swallowed and fumbled for his key. What if Alhaitham had gone and gotten himself hurt, and hadn't been able to return?
"Haitham?" He rushed inside and turned on the lights.
Alhaitham wasn't in the living area, Kaveh headed straight for the bedroom. Relief flooded him when he saw a lump under the blanket. Wait, was he… crying?
"Alhaitham?…" A small, wounded noise came from the lump, he moved closer, "Haitham, are you alright?"
Kaveh pulled the blanket back. Alhaitham was curled up on his side, arms wrapped around his center. He was shivering, but his hair was sticking to his skin with sweat, and he was pale. Kaveh put his hand across the scribe's forehead, he had a fever, but it didn't seem too high. Not to the point of this response.
Another pained noise came from the man, Kaveh put a hand on his shoulder and carefully pulled him back a little, he needed to see what was wrong. Alhaitham gasped, grit his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut even tighter. Ok, he was definitely in pain.
"I need you to tell me what's wrong, Alhaitham." Kaveh tried again, no response, "Can you show me?"
He didn't think he'd get a response, until Alhaitham opened his hand in a silent request for Kaveh's. He pulled the hand down to his right side and set it there, making another noise at the touch.
"It hurts here?"
Alhaitham gave a small nod, "Y-yes."
"Haitham, we need to get you-"
"Hello?" A voice came from the living room.
"Tighnari! In here!" Kaveh was so relieved.
The Valuka Shuna peeked from around the door frame, before coming fully into the room, "Kaveh? The door was wide open, I was coming to check on Alhaitham…"
"He says he has pain here." Kaveh hovered his hand over the spot Alhaitham had shown him, and stepped back for Tighnari, "It seems to be sore to the touch. He has a fever, but I haven't been able to get him to talk to me."
"Hey, Alhaitham. I think it's more than a pulled muscle, hm? I'm going to take a quick look at your side, okay?"
Tighnari didn't wait for a response, and gently tried to get the scribe to move onto his back. This time, Alhaitham let himself be moved, but he let out something more like a sob. Tighnari quickly moved his fingers to the lower right side, barely pressing before Alhaitham let out a yelp, and tried to pull away.
Kaveh sat next to Alhaitham's head and stroked his fingers through the silvery strands of his hair, trying to comfort him.
"Judging by the symptoms, I'd say it's appendicitis, and I think it's very, very close to rupturing. We need to get him to Bimarstan." Tighnari looked down at the scribe, "I don't know if he's up for walking. Maybe between the two of us we can…"
"I… uh… I'll carry him."
Tighnari looked at him like he was trying to find a way to let him down easy, and even Alhaitham managed to make a disbelieving noise.
Kaveh crossed his arms, insulted, "What?! I can do it! I work with heavy materials all the time and I wield a claymore, I'm sure I can carry around a- a human-sized sculpture of a god!" He really wasn't sure he could, but he'd sure try for Alhaitham. How much could all those muscles weigh anyway?
Turns out they weigh a lot. Kaveh was struggling a little, but doing alright, determined to get the scribe to the hospital as careful and as quickly as he could. Other than a few pained noises from being jostled around, Alhaitham remained very quiet, just staring at up at the blonde part of the time. Kaveh, on the other hand, was rambling the entire way.
He wasn't sure if he was trying to distract Alhaitham or himself more, because he was very much so panicking. The only thing keeping him from losing it was the fact that Alhaitham needed him, and Tighnari's gentle comments, and sometimes a reassuring touch to his arm.
As soon as they were close to Bimarstan, Tighnari ran ahead. A gurney was waiting as soon as he entered and doctors and nurses already swarming them to take care of the new patient. Kaveh set Alhaitham down, and tried to get out of the way, but Alhaitham grabbed his hand before he could step away.
"Haitham, they have to take care of you. I'll be right here when everything is done, but I can't go in with you. I promise I'll be with you when you wake up." Kaveh said, giving his hand a light squeeze.
"We need to take him," A nurse told Kaveh, gently pushing him back, and Alhaitham was taken away into a back room somewhere.
~xxxxxxxxxx~
Kaveh paced back and forth, asking Tighnari, who was sitting patiently, if they were done. Every few minutes, for nearly two hours.
"Are they done yet?"
"It takes some time, Kaveh."
"Well how much time could it possibly take?"
"Enough to make sure it was done right."
"It's been a lot of time, then. When can I see him?"
"Kaveh, you need to sit."
His friend really could be patient when he wanted, Kaveh wasn't quite as good with patience in some situations, like ones where Alhaitham was hurt. In this case, ill and in surgery. Everyone was doing their best, he knew that. It would take some time, he knew that. Alhaitham would be fine, he hoped that. No, he knew it.
"I- I know! He just looked so… sick…"
Tighnari stepped right in front of the blonde to stop his pacing, "And he's going to be fine. Appendicitis isn't uncommon, and we caught it in time. He's going to be fine! Now, stop pacing before you drive both of us insane?" He took Kaveh's arm and led him to a seat.
Kaveh sat and fidgeted, knee bouncing up and down. Hands inspecting seams on his clothes, playing with his fingernails, running through his hair, until Tighnari took them both and held onto them.
"Kaveh?"
"Hm?" He didn't look at his friend.
"Would you like me to check on him?"
"Yes! Please? Could you?!"
Tighnari gave Kaveh's hands a pat, told him to stay, and disappeared behind the same doors Alhaitham had been taken through. He wasn't gone for more than a couple of minutes, smiling as he came back over to the nervous architect.
"They are almost done, it won't be long. It hadn't ruptured, but it seems that was only out of pure luck. If you hadn't shown up when you did, Alhaitham would have been… in serious trouble."
Kaveh could read between the lines, Alhaitham could have died, alone in that bed. No, no, he couldn't think about that. The stubborn man was going to be fine and extra annoying in no time.
"They'll let you in when he's set up in post-op. Not too much longer, alright?"
Kaveh nodded and put his face in his hands. It was nice to know Alhaitham was nearly out of surgery, but he couldn't really believe he was okay until he could see him for himself.
It was still a while before Kaveh was allowed in the room. Alhaitham didn't really look any better than he had before. Kaveh reached out and grabbed his hand, it felt cold, but he was alive and breathing.
"Haitham, why didn't you tell anyone?" Kaveh asked the unconscious man, "You don't have to be so stubborn all the time, and you even have friends who can help you."
"Actually, Cyno and I saw him yesterday. He thought it was a pulled muscle. He wouldn't let me check on it, though." Tighnari huffed from the door.
"Hah-Of course he didn't. And he'll probably still find a way to say he was right not to."
Tighnari nodded just as Cyno popped into the doorway.
"I only just heard he was here, what happened?" He turned to Kaveh, "He wasn't supposed to participate in anything strenuous until he was better. Did he not tell you?"
"Strenuous?" Kaveh asked, throwing a confused look at Tighnari.
"Yes. Nari said no intercou-"
"What?!" Kaveh cut Cyno off, his eyes wide and entire face red, "I- We didn't- That's not why he's here!"
The General looked surprised, "Oh, so you weren't too rough on him during-"
"Archons help us." Tighnari interrupted this time, "He had appendicitis, Cyno. That's why his side hurt, and the stubborn fool ignored the symptoms."
"I think that's the best way I've heard it put, yet." Kaveh said, and turned back to Alhaitham. He looked so peaceful, and not even the slightest bit arrogant.
Cyno brought a seat over for each of them, putting Kaveh's close enough that he didn't have to let go of the scribe's hand. Kaveh ran his fingers through Alhaitham's hair, comforting himself more than Haitham, he realized. Eventually, the man started to open his eyes. He didn't seem to take in where he was, but he did focus on Kaveh, a dopey smile passing over his lips, and he fell back to sleep.
After that, he tended to be a little confused. When he would fall back asleep for a minute, he'd start flailing for Kaveh's hand, thinking he'd let go.
"Kaveh?"
"Hey, I told you I'd be here." Kaveh smiled, relieved to hear Alhaitham's voice, even if it was scratchy.
"Pretty nurse." He said, looking at the blonde.
Kaveh was a little hurt, but he couldn't blame Alhaitham, he was still fairly out of it, "I, um… Well, I hadn't noticed her…"
"Hm. You."
"Yes, I didn't notice the nurse, Haitham." They had been in and out, but they weren't who Kaveh was looking at.
"No, you are."
Tighnari and Cyno tried to hold back their laughter, Kaveh didn't understand what was so funny.
Cyno cleared his throat at the glare the architect sent his way, "He thinks you make a pretty nurse, Kaveh."
Oh. Well that made more sense. Unfortunately, by the time he'd turned back to Alhaitham, the man was asleep again, and stayed that way for several hours.
~xxxxxxxxxx~
When Alhaitham woke, he was mildly surprised that he wasn't in his room, or even in his own home. He knew that tiled ceiling, he was at the hospital. The snoring blob of blonde hair drooling on his hand helped him recall, Kaveh had come home, and taken Alhaitham to Bimarstan. His side had started hurting worse, and he could hardly move. He vaguely recalled Tighnari's voice saying something about appendicitis. The pain was gone now, replaced by a more of a mild ache, the type brought on by surgery and dulled by pain medication.
Alhaitham was pulled out of his thoughts by Cyno's voice, but he sounded different, a little slurred. Was the General drunk? Alhaitham lifted his head to find where the sound was coming from. Cyno and Tighnari were asleep in chairs, right next to the door. Did they not have homes they could return to? He supposed normal people preferred to stay nearby when a friend was ill, he recalled his grandmother telling him that.
"Hass s-s-spine… no bonesss?" The white haired man mumbled.
Telling jokes in his sleep. Alhaitham couldn't say he was surprised by this. Books have a spine, but no bones, Cyno.
He had been trying to ignore the need to cough that had settled in his chest, but he couldn't do it forever. It woke the three sleeping people in the room. Kaveh went straight from asleep, to leaping up and looking around the room like he was going to fend off an attack. It took a moment for him to get his bearings.
"Haitham?" The blonde asked as he quickly poured a drink. Alhaitham winced as Kaveh helped him sit up, "Hey, here. How are you feeling?"
The water felt so good on his throat, but sat heavily in his stomach, "I'm fine." He replied as evenly as he could.
"Fine, eh? You call ignoring a life-threatening health issue fine?" Kaveh asked, but his tone wasn't harsh, or sharp, it was soft and worried.
Alhaitham took Kaveh's hand, and looked him in the eyes, "I really thought I had simply pulled a muscle in my abdomen. I would have sought medical aid if I had even the slightest inkling that it was something else."
"Hm, that doesn't change the fact that I can't seem to leave you alone for two minutes before you end up back in this place."
Alhaitham pulled Kaveh towards himself with the architect's hand he'd been holding, "At least I'll have a pretty nurse to help me recover…" He whispered, not caring about the other company in the room.
However, the other company could hear very well, one with those large ears, and the other trained to pick up any sound around him, and did care, "We'll be leaving now. See you tomorrow!" Tighnari said, practically pulling Cyno out of his seat.
"So it wasn't just a drugged thing." Cyno said as he was dragged out of the room.
Alhaitham watched his friends' hasty retreat, then looked back at Kaveh, "Drugged thing?"
The blonde batted his eyelashes at him, smiling from ear to ear, "Oh, while you were still all drugged up you called me a pretty nurse. Turns out you do have at least some eye for beauty after all."
"Of course I do, I noticed you from the beginning." He said smugly.
Kaveh's face turned red, and he stuttered, "I- You! Do you have any idea how heavy you are?!"
It was different when Kaveh said it himself, but he had serious problems accepting a compliment. Alhaitham ignored the weight jab, and took this round as a win. He kissed the back of Kaveh's hand and let his head lay back, his eyes closing.
"Haitham?" He could feel Kaveh's breath on his face.
"Hm?"
"Don't scare me like that anymore." The blonde said as he pressed a kiss to Alhaitham's forehead.
It wasn't really something that was in his control, but he realized it was some peace of mind Kaveh was looking for.
"I'll try my best."
With that, Kaveh settled into the chair next to him, and Alhaitham fell into dreams… of Kaveh being his nurse.
