Work Text:
Kaveh is crying.
It's quite a routine for him. When his heart is full of emotions (usually negative), and he can't find any other way to express them, those emotions turn into tears and flow out of his eyes. He's not exactly a 'crybaby', but crying is an activity he does at least once a week.
Kaveh usually never cries outside of his room. Whenever he feels like crying and can no longer hold back his emotions, he will excuse himself under the guise of working and will lock himself in his room, where he can cry in private.
As he sits on the divan in the living room, studying the sketch in his hand, his eyes fill with tears. His vision is blurred, drops fall onto the sketch, and he sniffles noisily. He is so lost in thought that he doesn't even attempt to go to his room.
"You are crying," says Alhaitham, as if the tears in his eyes are not enough to prove that.
"So what?" Kaveh blurts out, in a much harsher tone than he intended.
"Hmph, nothing."
The strange sound, almost like a laugh, that escapes Alhaitham's lips does not escape from Kaveh's ears.
"Was that a laugh?" He drops the paper, already crumpled from being squeezed between his hands, onto the table in annoyance. Fortunately, nothing on the table falls to the floor. "Did you just laugh at me?"
"I wouldn't call it a laugh. I just couldn't control myself because it was," the corners of Alhaitham's lips turn up slightly. "amusing."
Kaveh stares at the ceiling for a moment, trying to stop the tears that continue to flow senselessly from his eyes, quickly wiping his wet cheeks with the back of his hand. Alhaitham's upturned lips, which is crystal clear despite his blurry sight, irritate him even more. "What is amusing, exactly? Me being in despair and trying to find a solution to fix this stupid design?"
Alhaitham shrugs. "You stared at the same paper for thirty minutes without moving an inch and suddenly started crying. That's what I laughed." He closes the cover of the book in his hand, a sign that he is paying attention, even if he seems disinterested. "And you're still crying."
"Ugh, it's stopped already!" Kaveh says, rubbing his eyes. "Don't talk like you never cry. You talk like that here, but I'm sure you cry like a baby in your room!"
"I don't cry."
As if Kaveh would believe that. "Everyone cries! Even a stone-faced man like you is surely crying, you can't fool me."
Alhaitham's earlier sarcasm and the curl of his lips is gone. He repeats confidently. "I don't cry."
Kaveh remembers the reason why they started talking about crying (because Alhaitham made fun of him). He feels himself getting angry again. His sore eyes, which are caused by tears, are fueling his anger, making him even more aggressive.
"Cry or don't, I don't care. I'm going to my room to fix this design." Kaveh picks up the large piece of paper he had just thrown on the table and stands up. With quick steps, he makes his way to the room.
"Hey, Kavehー"
He isn't concerned about his roommate's call for him, or the regret in his voice, and closes the door loudly to make sure he shows his anger properly. When the noise echoes throughout the house, he turns the key and locks himself. He will not leave until his work is done.
-----
Even though they had a fight in the morning, two people living under the same roof can't stay angry for a long time. Moreover, when Alhaitham brings Kaveh shawarma wraps for dinner on his way back from the Akademiya, he loses all of his anger toward him.
So they pretend that the incident in the morning never happened, just like they always do after each of their bickering. This suits Kaveh, he wants his crying face to vanish from Alhaitham's mind as soon as possible.
"So you don't cry?" Kaveh tries to confirm as he takes a bite of his food. He wipes the sauce from the corner of his lips with the tip of his finger, studying Alhaitham's face to get an answer.
Yeah, Alhaitham certainly doesn't look like someone who cries every night, no one would ever think of such a possibility. But is it possible for a person to never cry?
"I don't."
"Like, never?" Kaveh insists.
"I don't think you understand me." Alhaitham wipes the sauce from his lips with one of the napkins. "I physically can't cry."
From the look on his face, Alhaitham is not lying. He has no reason to lie in a casual conversation anyway.
"This sounds... unusual. Haven't you ever wondered why?"
"I did, but even when I searched, I couldn't find a disease that resembles my problem." Alhaitham crosses his legs, picks up the book he had stopped reading to eat, and opens it. "I suppose it's better this way. I don't have to force myself to hold back tears like you do."
"I don't force myself. I also don't cry as much as you think, this morning was just an exception!" Kaveh lies, even though he knows crying is not something embarrassing or humiliating. Besides, Alhaitham is the abnormal one in this situation, not him.
He can't understand how Alhaitham can be so uncaring about his issue. Not being able to cry sounds horrible. If it had happened to Kaveh, he would have visited all the doctors in Bimarstan, worrying about whether he had a terminal illness.
"You do know how unhealthy it is, right? Both physically and psychologically."
Alhaitham explains without looking up from the book. "I don't have any reason to cry in the first place. I don't suppress my emotions as you think, so mentally there is nothing wrong with me. My body has also accompanied my life in a very healthy way until this age. I just can't cry. That's all."
"Yeah... that makes sense," Kaveh mumbles. "Your life is great, after all."
But despite Alhaitham's convincing and logical answers, Kaveh is not convinced.
Could it be that Alhaitham has unconsciously developed the ability of not crying while attempting to project an image of a strong and cold person to others? If this is not the case, what could be the reason for a person to never cry? Why does he not experience emotions as intensely as others and cry out of sadness, anger, or happiness?
Kaveh wants to prove that this cannot be true, that Alhaitham can cry just like any other human being. That's why he gets quiet while he eats his meal, making plans in his mind.
-----
When Kaveh thinks of ways to make Alhaitham cry, he strongly refuses to hurt him, thinking it is too much just to see him cry. After all, Alhaitham has feelings just like Kaveh and can be hurt, even if he doesn't show it openly. Dealing with sadness must be difficult for him, too.
He definitely can't make Alhaitham cry with happiness. When Alhaitham is happy, his lips only slightly curl upwards, making it impossible for anyone who isn't paying close attention to notice. It's hard to imagine a situation in which he would be brought to tears of joy.
The only option left is annoying him enough to make him cry, that's something Kaveh is quite good at.
He tries everything to make him cry, for a week.
On the day that it's Kaveh's turn to cook, he makes a soup for dinner that Alhaitham doesn't like. To make things worse, Kaveh also adds an excessive amount of salt to Alhaitham's bowl. Although It hurts him a little to see such a good meal will be wasted, he reminds himself that he has to make some sacrifices in order to carry out his plan.
After Kaveh brings the bowls, they both take their places at the table. Kaveh doesn't start eating and watches as Alhaitham slowly brings the spoon dipped in the soup to his mouth.
When the spoon finally reaches his mouth, Alhaitham's gaze lifts from the bowl to Kaveh. He grimaces, yet does not spit out and swallows with difficulty. Then lifts the glass of water and gulps it down, trying to get rid of the salty taste in his mouth.
He takes it quite calmly, only makes a brief remark about Kaveh's inability to cook, gets up from the table with his bowl, and heads for the kitchen.
Kaveh follows him quickly, feeling guilty. Although he wants to apologize, he can't, because he would have to confess his plan about making him cry. So instead he just tells a stupid but believable lie about accidentally putting too much salt in his bowl and makes him leave the kitchen after taking the bowl from him.
Then he takes a new bowl from the cupboard and fills it with soup, this time without the horrible salt.
-----
When he sees that Alhaitham's reactions to food are not as extreme as he expected, he looks for other ways to annoy him.
He secretly removes the bookmark from the book he's reading so he can't find the page he's on. Before doing this, he checks which page Alhaitham is on so he can continue reading the book from the page he left off, after crying.
But when Alhaitham opens the book, he doesn't even notice the bookmark is missing. He quickly finds the page number by turning the pages and starts reading his book without saying anything. This raises questions in Kaveh's mind. If he remembers the page so well, why is he using bookmarks?
Kaveh tries other ways. Since they live in the same house, it is easy to set small and harmless 'traps' for him. But each time Alhaitham surprises Kaveh more and more, handling the situation like a saint. He doesn't react at all, and if he does, it's not as extreme as Kaveh expects.
Kaveh already knows he is a person who doesn't act in anger, yet can't help but be surprised. How does a person never get angry, and never lose patience?
If Alhaitham had done half of what Kaveh did to him, Kaveh would be furious by now. He would be shouting at him, wondering why he was trying to mess with him. He would also be upset and believe that Alhaitham hates him. All the while, there would be tears in his eyes.
Kaveh is sure this time his plan will anger Alhaitham. He doesn't even want to make him cry anymore, just wants to see the emotions beneath that patient mask.
The next day, he quietly enters the study to put his plan into action, his soft footsteps leading him to the front of the large and tall bookcase. He looks up and sees how neatly and orderly the books are arranged on the shelves. Kaveh is the one who maintains most of this order; Alhaitham usually leaves the books on the table or elsewhere instead of putting them away.
How would he react if this order, which Kaveh has always maintained, is disrupted, and he can't find the books he is looking for because they have all been moved? Reading books has become a routine in his life, and since he values books the most, he would be distraught when he suddenly sees the books have been moved, right? Maybe he will try to rearrange his books from the beginning to restore the order he is used to, all the while crying.
Kaveh rests his hand on his chin, his neck still craned up, watching the books on the shelves. He thinks about which book he should start by moving first.
On a shelf that is more than his height, a dusty and worn-out book placed between two hardcovers catches his eye. He reaches out and touches the book, his fingers getting dusty. When was the last time this place was cleaned? Perhaps Kaveh should dust the shelves when he moves the books, maybe even air them out.
Kaveh, distracted by cleaning, must not have grasped the book properly. The moment he pulls it between two thick books, it slips out of his hand, falls, and hits the floor with a noise that a book would not normally cause. For a second his body freezes from the shock of the explosion-like sound he hears, unable to move, watching the book fall near his feet.
He hopes that Alhaitham did not hear that sound. The last time he saw him, he was wearing his headphones. His soundproof headphones must have prevented his ears from hearing this sound, right?
But his thoughts are quickly proven wrong.
"What was that noise?" He hears Alhaitham's voice coming from the living room, getting closer by the second, and holds his breath. "Did something fall?"
"Oh, that's..." Kaveh does the first thing that comes to his mind, stands in front of the book and tries to hide it. "Nothing. It was nothing."
Alhaitham looks sharply at him and at the book, which he is trying to hide in a ridiculous effort but is in plain sight, clearly not believing him.
He steps forward and puts his hand on Kaveh's shoulder, but Kaveh insists on standing still like a statue. The hand on his shoulder then gently pushes Kaveh aside, revealing the fallen book.
As Alhaitham bends down and picks up the book, Kaveh can clearly see the damage he has unintentionally done to the book. The book's hardcover is cracked and bent in the upper right corner, the emerald-colored leather is torn, all from the hard impact of the fall. It must be a very old and fragile book to have suffered so much damage just by falling off the shelves, perhaps a valuable antique by a famous author.
If it is an antique as Kaveh thinks, he doesn't know where he'll get the money to pay for the damage. He is already struggling to pay off his debts, and this additional expense would be a heavy burden. He realizes how foolish his recent actions and plans were.
He swallows in horror, watching Alhaitham out of the corner of his eye to gauge his reaction.
Alhaitham's head is bowed just enough to hide the expression on his face, his fingers hovering over the broken corner of the book. His hand, which moves over the torn leather with a delicacy not expected from his large hands, is clearly trembling. Kaveh feels his own body begin to tremble with fear as he watches Alhaitham's hands move.
Is he really... that angry? His intention all along was to make him angry, yes, but deep down he always knew his plans would fail. That's why he didn't expect to meet an angry Alhaitham. Come to think of it, he had never seen him genuinely angry before.
"So this is your last plan?" asks Alhaitham, in a frighteningly low voice. "Harming my properties?"
His voice, sharp as a knife, makes cold sweat run down on Kaveh's back. He knows he is the guilty one. He also knows the only right thing to do is apologize and pay for the damage he has caused. But at the same time, he feels the need to defend himself, because it was never his intention to damage Alhaitham's belongings. On the contrary, he has been trying to make the house more habitable ever since he moved in.
"IーI didn't do it on purpose." He can't get his words together, accidentally stuttering, panic reflected in his voice. "I was just trying toー"
"Trying what, exactly?" Kaveh can hear the quaver in Alhaitham's voice, and knows he is trying so hard to stay calm. So he bites his lip and remains silent, waiting for Alhaitham to finish his words. "Making me cry? You couldn't let it go, could you?"
Ah, so Alhaitham knew his intentions all along. No wonder. After all, Kaveh is not good at sneaking around, and nothing escapes from Alhaitham's watchful eyes.
"I just... wanted to..." Kaveh's voice sounds hopeless as he tries to rationalize his foolishness. "prove that every person can..."
Kaveh was planning to face turquoise eyes burning with anger. But when Alhaitham raises his head, what he finds is far from what he expected.
There is no expression on his face, just as Kaveh had said days ago, he is a stone-faced man. His eyes are not burning with anger but shining... with tears. Tears trickle slowly down his cheeks, yet there is no sign of sadness.
Blinking his eyes once and noticing the tears, Alhaitham's face is briefly puzzled, his eyes widen slightly. But his face soon returns to its expressionless state. Looking straight into Kaveh's scarlet eyes, he asks. "Are you satisfied now?"
Kaveh cannot look away from Alhaitham's gaze, has no time to study his tear-stained face. Alhaitham turns around and places the book firmly on the table, causing the plate of fruit to jump and fall to the floor. Although the plate doesn't break, the fruits scatter all over the floor, and one of them even rolls over and hits Kaveh's foot.
Kaveh watches open-mouthed as Alhaitham walks away, then turns to see the book on the table and the fruits on the floor.
After standing there for a long time, he comes out of his shock and takes careful steps towards the table, trying to make sure he doesn't crush any fruits on the floor. With each step, the book looks more and more familiar to him.
Finally, his cold hands, weakened by mixed emotions, touch the leather of the book's cover. He opens it. There is an elegant handwriting on the first page, clearly written with a pen held by a trembling hand.
'May my child Alhaitham lead a peaceful life.'
A cold shiver runs down his spine.
He can now understand why Alhaitham, who is usually in control of his emotions, suddenly breaks down and reacts so strongly. The book that Kaveh accidentally damaged out of childish spite belonged to Alhaitham's late grandmother.
-----
That morning, Kaveh takes the damaged book and walks down the streets in a panic. He purchases all the necessary materials to repair the cover, including strong cardboard that won't break easily, waterproof emerald-colored leather, strong glue to hold the pieces together, and a few small things for the finishing touches.
When he arrives home, he doesn't see Alhaitham in the living room and heads straight to his own room. He cleans up the mess on his desk, arranges all the things he needs, sits down, and turns on the table lamp.
First, he separates the cover from the pages, his hands slightly shaking as he does so, wondering if it is appropriate to do this without asking Alhaitham's permission. But since he has already started, it is his responsibility to fix it.
After removing the cover, he sets the book upright with the spine facing upwards. To prevent it from falling, he props thick encyclopedias on both sides. He then carefully removes the already discolored glue residue from the spine. Using a small cutter, he cuts off the parts he cannot remove.
He measures the book, cuts the cardboard and leather accordingly. After cutting, he glues the leather to the cardboard and waits for it to dry. He then applies glue to the spine and makes sure the newly prepared cover fits properly before gluing it to the book. Once the gluing is done, he lays the book horizontally on the table and places two encyclopedias on top to ensure that the cover sticks well.
After about an hour, he removes the encyclopedias and looks at the emerald-colored cover, which looks rather plain compared to the previous one. It doesn't sit right with him. The content of the book may be important, but its appearance is as important as its content.
Kaveh takes his fine-tipped brush and opens the gold leather paint he bought. He looks at the old cover, dips his brush into the gold paint, and carefully tries to copy the patterns drawn on the old cover on the new one.
When he is finished with the book, Kaveh wipes off the glue and paint residue on his hand with a handkerchief. Then he raises his arms in the air, trying to relax his aching back from bending over the table. His eyes are burning from looking too closely at the book.
He cranes his neck to the side and looks out of the window, partially covered by the curtain, and meets the orange sky. He doesn't know how long he's been trying to repair the book, but it must have been a long time, the sky was blue when he started working.
Even though such a long time has passed... Alhaitham's anger must be still fresh. On days when he doesn't work, he usually calls Kaveh into the living room for coffee. And if Kaveh doesn't answer because he is busy with his work, Alhaitham brings the coffee to his room. But today he has not brought any coffee.
He knows he must apologize to Alhaitham as soon as possible, for what he has done today and this week. So he picks up the book and checks to see if he has missed any details. Once he is sure that everything is complete, he leaves the room.
A few steps are enough for him to reach Alhaitham's room. Clutching the book with one hand, he lifts the other to knock. But his hand stops in mid-air as fear fills him once more. What if Alhaitham gets angry at him for changing the cover, what if Kaveh has ruined this precious memory of his grandmother? What if he shouts at him, scolds him, and even kicks him out of the house?
Being kicked out is not the problem. Yes, Kaveh won't easily find a place to stay if he is kicked out now, but... The possibility of Alhaitham never forgiving him is even scarier than being homeless.
Kaveh closes his eyes, his raised hand gently knocking twice on the door. Instead of running away, Kaveh should face him like an adult, at least try to make up for his mistake.
The door opens, and once again Alhaitham is different from what Kaveh had expected.
His eyes are red and swollen, and his cheeks are streaked with the traces of tears that have already fallen. He looks more tired than ever before, his gaze not even fully focused on Kaveh's face. Who knows how long he has been crying silently in his room.
Kaveh's heart aches, his earlier confidence slipping away. He asks in a low voice that doesn't even reach his own ears. "May I come in?"
Alhaitham doesn't look at him much, even averts his gaze. Just when Kaveh was waiting for the door to be shut in his face, Alhaitham moves out of the way, and lets him in.
Kaveh steps into the room, hiding the book timidly behind his back, trying to anticipate his reaction by watching him. But Alhaitham just crosses his arms over his chest and stares at him, not a trace of emotion in his eyes.
Kaveh hands him the book without prolonging the conversation. "This... this was all I could do."
Alhaitham looks at the book for a moment, his arms still crossed over his chest, and Kaveh can see his gaze soften. His lips part very, very slightly, and he slowly takes the book from his hand. His fingers run over the new leather like a curious child. "You repaired it."
Judging by his reaction, Alhaitham has no intention of yelling at him. His voice is much quieter than he expected, in a good way.
"I apologize for this morning. I know how much that book means to you and... I would never, ever intentionally harm it." Kaveh bows his head under the weight of his guilt, looking down at his fingers, where the golden paint still hasn't quite wiped off. "I don't know what I was thinking. I just wanted to show you that you can cry too, but I overstepped my bounds. I know this new cover is not enough but... I tried my best to repair it. I will not bother you any further."
Kaveh was about to leave the room, until hearing Alhaitham taking a shaky breath.
His body freezes, just like it did this morning when he argued with Alhaitham. He slowly lifts his head, meeting turquoise eyes filled with tears.
"No. It was interesting to see that I can also cry under certain circumstances." Alhaitham tilts his head to look at the book again, the tears in his eyes dripping onto the cover. "After all, this is just a book. I may have overreacted."
"I don'tー I don't think you overreacted." Kaveh takes a deep breath, feeling his lungs burn. Tears well up in his eyes, but unlike Alhaitham, he tries to hold them back.
He never thought seeing Alhaitham cry would affect him so deeply. Knowing that he caused those tears makes him feel more and more guilty. Although he went to such lengths to make him cry, he is now not happy with the outcome and regrets everything he has done. Who would want to deliberately make someone they care about cry?
"I think you should be mad at me." Kaveh continues, trying to alleviate some of the guilt he feels. Alhaitham should make Kaveh cry too, so they can be even.
But Alhaitham is not the kind of man to seek such childish revenge.
"I wasn't angry from the beginning." When he looks up, Kaveh can see the tears filling his eyes, slipping through his lashes, sliding down his cheeks, reaching his chin, and dripping onto the floor. "I was just overwhelmed. I know you didn't do it on purpose."
With a huge sigh of relief, Kaveh can't help but ask. "Is this really the first time you have ever cried?"
"The first time I can remember," Alhaitham corrects him. "My grandmother said I cried a lot when I was a baby."
"Your grandmother..." Kaveh tries to imagine the woman who had such a big impact on Alhaitham's life, the one who made him cry for the first time with just a book. And Kaveh... has destroyed a precious memory of her.
"You must like her a lot. Did you not cry when she..." Kaveh tries to ask, but can't bring himself to finish the question.
He is ashamed of himself for asking Alhaitham about crying as if he were conducting an experiment. All he has to do is stop talking about it, apologize again sincerely, and leave him alone to rest.
But, at the same time, he wants to listen to Alhaitham's problems and see more of this side of him that he hides from everyone. It would be cruel to leave him alone at such an intimate and sensitive moment. And since Kaveh is the reason things have come to this, apologizing and leaving would be like running away.
Unlike Kaveh, Alhaitham talks about his grandmother with ease and without rambling. Despite the years that have passed since her death, Kaveh believes that Alhaitham's grief is still very raw. After all, his grandmother was the most important person in his life.
"She would die eventually, I was prepared. And I didn't have any time to cry."
How could anyone not have any time to cry, Kaveh thinks. But then he remembers how Alhaitham lost his grandmother when he was just a teenager, how he had to live in a lonely house with no one to take care of him.
Life must have forced him to grow up early, as every unfortunate child experiences. He likely had to take care of many responsibilities on his own, especially his grandmother's funeral, leaving him no time to cry, as he says. As a result, those unshed tears have built up inside him, until today.
Alhaitham lets the tears roll slowly down his cheeks. He doesn't try to hide his face, as people usually do, nor does he pretend not to cry by wiping away his tears with the back of his hand. He doesn't feel ashamed of his tears, only trying to get used to this feeling.
It feels wrong to stand there and watch.
Kaveh suddenly finds his hands stretched out in front of Alhaitham's face, even he is surprised by this gesture.
Alhaitham looks at Kaveh's hands with a puzzled expression but doesn't back away, perhaps just trying to understand their purpose. He has never experienced crying before, so he has no knowledge of what it feels like to be comforted by someone while crying.
"Can I?" Kaveh asks as he takes a step towards him. Alhaitham keeps looking at his hands, trying to understand what exactly he is asking permission for. But it doesn't take him long to understand.
He bows his head slightly, offering him a silent answer, leaning his face against Kaveh's warm palms.
Kaveh's palms get wet with tears from his eyes. He lifts his thumbs, gently caressing Alhaitham's reddened under-eyes. He then reaches a little higher, trying to brush the tears from his wet eyelashes. Alhaitham blinks and tickles Kaveh's fingertips.
"My eyes are burning," Alhaitham murmurs, closing his eyes. He puts his face completely into Kaveh's hands, trusting him to guide him through something he has never experienced before. He includes Kaveh in this intimate moment.
Kaveh tries to comfort him. "It's normal, don't worry."
"It feels like sweat."
"It's not sweat though."
Alhaitham's eyes open, his turquoise eyes shining through the tears like a sunny sky. "I don't know how to stop crying."
Kaveh chuckles at the way Alhaitham talks, thinking he looks cute when he is confused. Alhaitham is usually knowledgeable about most subjects, so it's rare to see him so lost. "That's also normal. Don't force yourself, just let them flow."
But Alhaitham continues to complain. "My chest hurts too. Along with my stomach."
Kaveh wipes his wet eyelashes again and looks regretfully into his swollen eyes, which are clearly in pain. He thinks about how to ease his pain, while promising himself that he will never make Alhaitham cry again. "Hugging may help."
He realizes what he has just said in the heat of the moment and quickly tries to make it less awkward. "I meanー"
"Let's try then," Alhaitham says as he lifts his head from his hands. He continues to speak as Kaveh looks at him dumbfounded. "If it will help."
He puts the book down on the table, walks back to Kaveh, and waits.
When Kaveh comes to his senses and opens his arms, Alhaitham slowly approaches him. Their chests touch, bodies almost merging with the last step Alhaitham takes.
Alhaitham wraps his strong, warm arms around Kaveh, starting with a gentle embrace before holding him tightly. He rests his head on Kaveh's shoulder. His body trembles slightly, and Kaveh can feel the hard beating of Alhaitham's heart against his chest, as well as the tears that keep flowing and soaking his white shirt.
Kaveh doesn't mind that; his arms, which had been just floating in the air, finally move. One hand finds his broad back, the other in his soft silver hair. Wanting to comfort him, he moves his hand gently up and down his back, applying a little more force to the hand on the back of his head so Alhaitham's head rests firmly in the hollow of his neck.
As he feels the warmth of Alhaitham's tears on his neck, Kaveh's own eyes well up and a few tears roll down his cheeks. Alhaitham can't see them, and Kaveh doesn't want him to. At that moment, he wants to help him deal with these unfamiliar feelings, not burden him with his own.
After several minutes of standing still, the trembling in Alhaitham's body subsides. Kaveh no longer feels the tears on his neck; Alhaitham must have stopped crying.
Kaveh asks as he loosens his grip a little. "Are you feeling better?"
The arms around Kaveh's body tighten, with enough force to almost break his bones. "I suppose I need some more time to get better."
Kaveh smiles and continues to stroke his back, feeling the body under his hands loosen as time passes. Maybe they really should stay like this for a while. Just to help Alhaitham feel better, of course. There is no other reason.