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One of Alhaitham's favourite places to read was on his bed. He could have whatever books he wished to peruse right next to him, and he had quick and easy access to his kitchen and bathroom. Above all else, however, was the seclusion his bedroom bestowed him. No students bothered him for answers they could put in their research papers. No scholars tried to convince him to join their projects. Here, he was alone. While he had a limited range of books compared to what was in the House of Daena, the benefits far outweighed this minor setback.
When his bedroom door creaked ajar, Alhaitham didn't bother looking up. It didn't sound like a push from the wind, and he doubted it was an intruder - despite how he had helped save Sumeru, many in this city still treated him like he could inflict Withering with just a look. Theoretically, the visitor could be his friend, Lumine, whose amiable reputation was the opposite of his. She could enter a stranger’s home uninvited with no one batting an eye, but usually Paimon would have called out by now. Instead, only the sound of paper rustling as Alhaitham turned the page of his book disturbed the silence.
More likely, the door had been opened by the sole other person who lived with Alhaitham. This being his partner, who only ever really posed a threat to a room's tranquillity in their home. Especially after he had been out drinking. As the door opened wider with a groan, Alhaitham noted the lack of stumbled footfalls, uneven breathing and slurred soliloquies about the customised display case Kaveh had designed for Cuilein-Anbar. So Kaveh was probably sober.
And so Alhaitham continued reading. He turned the page. Then again.
“I know you know I'm here,” grumbled Kaveh.
“And I know that you know I know you're here,” Alhaitham replied.
Kaveh huffed. Without looking away from his book, Alhaitham could visualise the other’s body language. Arms folded over his chest, hips pushed to one side. Lips pouting petulantly.
“Do you think you could garner the willpower to look up for a moment?” asked Kaveh. “Or do you find your book more captivating than your boyfriend?”
“Well, I haven’t read this book before, while I see you everyday,” responded Alhaitham.
What might have been perceived as an argument by others was a battle of wits to them. An intellectual game. In the past, he may have considered this bickering, but the pair had grown out of that. Mostly.
“And whose choice was that?” said Kaveh.
Alhaitham’s tongue caught on the back of his teeth as he made to answer. Though Kaveh had been the one to ask him to be in a relationship with him, Alhaitham had been the one to say yes. Much like how Alhaitham had offered Kaveh a place to live, with him, and Kaveh had accepted the proposal. From the day they met, their lives had been entwined. Even after they separated for a period after the incident with their shared project, they had found themselves looping back around to the other. Back together.
The pause between them drew out for too long - Kaveh had won this exchange. Alhaitham looked up. “You know I’m only messing with...”
He froze mid-sentence. While he had been correct on Kaveh’s stance, he had not expected Kaveh to look as he did. Typically, Kaveh wore a white shirt with a small diamond-shaped window of bare chest beneath his broach. Had a red cape trimmed with gold. Black trousers. White footwear. Flamboyant. Very him. But as he stood in their bedroom now, Kaveh donned a green sheer shawl and a short crimson skirt reminiscent of a mourning flower.
Nothing else.
With each second, the colour on Kaveh's face bloomed redder, almost the same as his skirt.
“W-Well? What do you have to say about this?” asked Kaveh.
Alhaitham swallowed as best he could with such a dry mouth. Kaveh was on a winning streak: Athaitham was still at a loss for words. Yet Kaveh didn’t flaunt the body language of a victor, instead hunching his shoulders. His fingers picked at the shawl.
“I look ridiculous, is that it?” asked Kaveh, quieter, eyes darting away as if searching for an exit route.
“No, not at all.” Alhaitham stirred. He sat up straighter and put his book down to one side. “It looks good on you.”
Understatement. The green cloth washed over Kaveh’s slim build like an ocean, translucent enough to still show his body definition. Then there was the skirt, that Alhaitham wondered if it felt like the petals it looked like. That filled his hands with an ache to not only run over the fabric, but Kaveh’s thighs as well, and what lay under the skirt...
“I'm just surprised,” said Alhaitham, his calm voice discordant with the pounding of his heartbeat. His eyes flickered. “When did you acquire this?”
“I had this specially made at a boutique in Fontaine. Lovely woman who runs it. Very straightforward and determined to bring my vision to life. We even went out for drinks with her girlfriend afterwards.”
Alhaitham quirked his brow. “You returned from that trip a month ago.”
The rest of what Kaveh had relayed didn't surprise him though. Especially the drinking part. Kaveh crossed over to the bed and hiked his knees up onto it. The mattress shifted slightly under his weight, but Alhaitham paid it little thought, focused on Kaveh crawling over.
“I was waiting for the perfect opportunity to show it to you,” explained Kaveh. When he reached Alhaitham's feet, Alhaitham spread his legs so Kaveh could kneel between them. “I thought we could have some fun tonight.”
For Alhaitham, ‘fun’ could be a game of chess. A riveting book. Winning an argument against Kaveh and making him sulk. But it could also be another thing that Alhaitham was all very familiar with by now. His eyes flicked down Kaveh’s chest before fixing on Kaveh's smirk.
“Oh?” went Alhaitham as Kaveh traced a finger up Alhaitham’s chest. With great restraint, Alhaitham kept his hands down by his sides. “I didn't realise we were booked for tonight.”
When it came to certain activities in the bedroom, Kaveh wasn’t one for spontaneity. He liked to know when they were going to be sexually intimate in advance. At the latest, he preferred knowing half a day before. That way, they could freshen up first. Make sure they didn’t have other plans going on that would conflict or fatigue them prior. According to Kaveh, the more meticulously they planned, the better the resulting experience and he refused to consider otherwise.
Until now, apparently. Perhaps Kaveh was drunk after all.
“Yes. Well.” Kaveh glided his hands up to cradle Alhaitham’s cheeks. “This time, I wanted to surprise you.”
That Kaveh did.
“You’ve said countless times how you thought it was silly we always schedule doing this, so... here I am,” Kaveh continued with a shrug. “While I was out drinking with Chiyori - the boutique owner, I made mention of how we always organise a date and time for this sort of thing, and she told me to my face how weird that was. It got me thinking... that maybe she was onto something. Maybe you were too. So now we can test your theory that it’s more pleasurable if we do it impulsively.”
Though Kaveh did his best to speak casually, the slight quaver in his voice gave him away. Rather than consider this an admission of victory, Alhaitham frowned. A shadow of some emotion cut across Kaveh’s face as he bit his lip and averted his gaze.
Alhaitham rested a hand over one of Kaveh’s. “I don’t care if anyone considers what we do and how we do it weird and you shouldn’t either, Kaveh. If it makes you happy, then I’m fine doing it as we already do. What bothers me is that it bothers you.”
Kaveh’s head twitched a bit in confusion.
“I understand why you do it this way. It’s the perfectionist in you,” Alhaitham carried on. “You want everything to be just right when we have sex. You want us both to enjoy it as much as possible. But you could give me the most subpar handjob known to Teyvat and so long as it was with you, I wouldn't change a thing about it.”
Silence sank in like a knife through butter as Kaveh reflected on what Alhaithaim had said. For a few seconds, Kaveh's mouth hung agape. Then he pursed his lips and huffed.
“Don't say things like that with such a straight face,” he grumbled.
“I'm aware how not straight what I said was. But I'm still being serious.”
As much as Kaveh tried to continue sulking, a giggle slipped past his lips, sounding almost like a snort. Even Alhaitham needed to fight back the smile wanting to tremor onto his face. Kaveh shuffled even closer, prompting Alhaitham to set his hands onto Kaveh's waist. Not over the shawl, but under it, his palms on Kaveh’s skin.
“You're insufferable. You know that, right?” said Kaveh, lowering his head.
“Yet here you still are,” replied Alhaitham, raising his chin. “Tell me... whose choice was that?”
Alhaitham glimpsed Kaveh rolling his eyes before shutting his own. Their lips connected, slow and soft and warm. Kaveh’s hands brushed over Alhaitham’s earpieces and buried in his hair. Breathing through his nose, Alhaitham pulled Kaveh closer. A groan vibrated in Kaveh's throat that Alhaitham not just heard but felt. It trickled into him, settling in his limbs. Making him want to recline onto his back with Kaveh on top, where Kaveh would flit his hands to all of Alhaitham’s nooks and crevices, wringing out groans no one else knew possible from Alhaitham. That was how it often went.
That was their usual routine.
Their lips kneaded together hungrily. Already, Kaveh’s presence dominated Alhaitham, consuming his thoughts, accelerating his heart rate. Spreading electricity through his body, to his extremities. To his crotch, throbbing between his legs. If he didn’t know better, he would have thought that Kaveh possessed an electro vision.
When Kaveh leaned into him more, trying to get Alhaitham to lie back, Alhaitham mustered his dwindling willpower to stay upright. He pried his mouth away from Kaveh’s, panting. Head spinning.
“Kaveh.” Alhaitham’s vision blurred for a second as he opened his eyes, with the first thing he focused on being Kaveh’s red irises. His lips tingled. “Let me...”
In place of elaboration, Althaitham reunited their lips as he guided Kaveh onto his back. He only broke away for a moment to gauge the location of Kaveh's hands, after which Alhaitham pinned Kaveh’s wrists to the bed and kissed him again, harder.
The only resistance Kaveh gave was an initial buck of his hips, born out of surprise. Very soon, however, Kaveh was a puddle underneath Alhaitham. His groans wetted Alhaitham's lips, rapping hot, needy breaths, until Alhaitham’s tongue emerged and Kaveh opened his mouth. Shudders coursed through both as they tasted each other, licking over teeth, tongue, gum and saliva.
Alhaitham submerged into the sensation like a warm bath. It was almost as wet too, but no less enjoyable. Kaveh tried to twitch his arms free, but with his wrists still rooted to the bed, he made do with grinding against Alhaitham, one leg hooked over. And Kaveh knew exactly how to rub their crotches together. Knew the optimal pressure to apply, how long to drag and when to push into Alhaitham. He could make Alhaitham grunt, shiver and moan, and choose which sound to elicit. And he chose all three.
Only Kaveh ever heard these sorts of noises leave Alhaitham, and it spurred Kaveh on to tease Alhatiham’s body further.
At this point, Kaveh must have been able to feel Alhaitham’s arousal straining against his dark green trousers. Alhaitham could certainly feel it. Kaveh’s tongue lulled to flickering as his attention turned to gyrating his hips against Alhaitham, still unable to remove his hands from Alhaitham’s grasp. A groan shook through Alhaitham at a long, hard press from Kaven’s crotch; Kaveh had definitely noticed Alhaitham’s arousal, much like Alhaitham could feel Kaveh’s. Not just by how hard he was, but by how Kaveh whimpered, trembled, became more frenzied with his movements. And how he tried to free his hands so he could touch Alhaitham or himself.
Normally, Alhaitham would be more than happy to oblige, but on this occasion, he wanted to lead. Wanted Kaveh to not overthink or take it upon himself to ensure they both enjoyed themselves to a high, self-imposed standard.
Alhaitham mumbled into his mouth, “Don't move.”
Not waiting for a reply, Alhaitham rose off Kaveh and removed his sash from his waist. With a few quick movements, he bound Kaveh's hands behind his back. A grin pulled on Alhaitham’s lips as he gazed down at the other man, whose face had turned bright pink.
“What are you doing?” asked Kaveh, wiggling. If he really wanted to, he could have broken free.
“I want you to relax.”
“So you tied my hands behind my back? Your idea of romance is killing me.”
“Tonight, let me bear the responsibility of pleasuring us.” Alhaitham rested a hand onto Kaveh's thigh. “Please, Kaveh.”
He felt Kaveh's leg quiver, but his eyes remained fixed on Kaveh's face. The pout that Kaveh gave made Alhaitham want to kiss him again, while the blond hair sticking to the sweat on Kaveh's cheeks caused Alhaitham’s hands to ache with the desire to brush it off. Tuck it behind Kaveh’s ears, then kiss him again.
Even when Kaveh was pulling a face, he was still incredibly handsome. It was almost infuriating, especially as Kaveh didn't seem to realise just how good-looking he was. Alhaitham gave his head a little shake. Focus. Patience.
“W-Well, fine. I'll allow it, seeing as you said ‘please,’” said Kaveh, unable to conceal how flustered he was.
As Alhaitham crawled over to their bedside drawer, his countenance stayed neutral, a mask that hid how his stomach swooped in excited anticipation. He pulled out a small bottle of lubricant then stood up, walking over to the foot of the bed.
Though Alhaitham didn't lick his lips like Kaveh did, he was equally eager. The twitch in Alhaitham’s groin concurred. Kaveh shuffled on his elbows and heels, bringing himself closer to Alhaitham and parting his legs wider. Not that Alhaitham needed visual confirmation by this point, but as well as Kaveh being erect, he wasn't wearing underwear either.
“I really do spoil you,” said Alhaitham as he squelched cool lubricant onto his hands. At the edge of his vision, he saw Kaveh open his mouth. “And before you say anything, I know that's my choice.”
Without a word, Kaveh shut his mouth. Another pout started to form on his lips but when Alhaitham reached between Kaveh's legs, a gasp shattered in Kaveh's throat. Though Kaveh knew how to manipulate Alhaitham’s body like putty, Alhaitham was equally expert on Kaveh's. He dragged his fist up to the head of Kaveh's length, keeping firm pressure on it. The skirt fell away into a pile of folds, a shimmering scarlet ocean around a flesh-coloured cliff.
Kaveh’s heat throbbed against Alhaitham’s palm as he started to slowly pump Kaveh. Within a few circuits of his length, Alhaitham could tell that Kaveh wanted him to speed up without Kaveh needing to say anything. The twitches in Kaveh’s legs were an obvious indicator, his toes curling slightly less so. Groans curdled behind Kaveh’s teeth as he grinded his backside into the bed. Despite this, Alhaitham maintained his pace. When Kaveh tried to buck his hips, Alhaitham pushed down on Kaveh’s lower stomach with his free hand.
“A-Alhaitham,” Kaveh huffed out as Alhaitham’s other hand arrived at his tip.
This time, Alhaitham kept it there. “Yes?”
“Don't answer me like I'm disturbing you while you're drinking a cup of tea,” said Kaveh. A bead of drool clung to a corner of his lips. It may have been Kaveh’s. May have been from Alhaitham. Most likely, it was an amalgamation of both.
“I'm not. You're far more delicious than that,” Alhaitham deadpanned.
If Kaveh’s wrists hadn't been bound behind his back, he probably would have buried his face in his hands with embarrassment. Instead, he twitched and whined and juddered his legs.
“That doesn't even make sense, Alhaitham. If you were giving fellatio, what you said could have some merit, but...”
Kaveh had not noticed Alhaitham’s free hand move to his backside until Alhaitham slid a lubricated finger inside of him. His eyes popped.
“... Oh,” Kaveh breathed. For a moment, his legs tensed up, then they dissolved into slight tremors. Alhaitham's smirk cut wire-thin as he felt Kaveh's inner ring of muscle hug his digit.
“Better?” asked Alhaitham. He crooked his finger, prompting Kaveh to roll his head back with a groan. “I didn't quite catch that.”
A glare brimmed in Kaveh's gaze, but before he could properly answer, Alhaitham resumed bobbing his fist in tandem with fingering him. Whatever Kaveh had intended to say, if anything, came out as a loud moan instead. Alhaitham shivered, his crotch twinging at the sight of Kaveh laid out in front of him, shawl creased, skirt crumpled.
While Alhaitham wasn't the most expressive of individuals, Kaveh had no qualms with letting his partner know how he was feeling. Kaveh mewled as Alhaitham jerked on his length, as Alhaitham kneaded Kaveh’s inner muscle with his finger. When Alhaitham reapplied lubricant to his hands and inserted two fingers this time, Kaveh jolted. Breathed louder. Stared feverishly, face flushed, as Alhaitham massaged inside of him, all the while tugging on Kaveh’s length with his other hand.
“P-Please, Alhaitham,” Kaveh managed. “Please - ”
Kaveh cut himself off with a groan as Alhaitham scissored his fingers in him. His inner muscle tightened against Alhaitham. Not impeding Alhaitham’s motions, but keeping Alhaitham in him. The pressure from Kaveh’s walls, akin to having his fingers being sucked, pooled pleasurably in Alhaitham’s lower body. He clenched his jaw, trying to keep himself steady, in control, but as he swiped a finger over Kaveh’s leaking slit, he could feel his hand shaking.
At the same time as he squeezed the head of Kaveh’s length, he breathed shakily and added a third finger. Alhaitham felt almost like the room was tilting, attempting to tip him onto Kaveh’s almost naked body. And that wouldn’t have necessarily been a bad thing.
Tempting though that was, Alhaitham had something else in mind. While his digits stretched Kaveh’s inner muscle, Alhaitham’s fist began to move faster against Kaveh’s length, firmer too. More clear liquid seeped out of Kaveh, which Alhaitham collected onto his palm and smeared down Kaveh’s length. Alhaitham did this a few more times between pumps before removing both his hands and unfastening his trousers.
Deprived of Alhaitham’s touch, Kaveh emitted a small whine. But that would be rectified soon.
“You ready?” asked Alhaitham.
“You’re really asking me that?” said Kaveh, sitting up slightly on his elbows. His gaze lowered to Alhaitham’s crotch. “Yes, I am, and I can see that you are too. So come on, big guy. Show me what you’ve got.”
A grin crescented Kaveh’s face, and Alhaitham felt the corners of his lips tick up. As before, Alhaitham squirted some gel onto his hands, but instead of returning his fingers into Kaveh, he rubbed a liberal amount around Kaveh’s entrance. Felt him twitch at the coolness. Alhaitham’s other hand, equally slick, stroked himself, coating his length in the lubricant. Once he was satisfied, he rested one hand onto Kaveh’s quivering thigh, held his own hard length in the other, and aligned himself, his tip against Kaveh’s hole.
Then he nudged forward, and the tip eased inside.
Kaveh gasped. His ring of muscle tightened, shooting pleasure through Alhaitham that made his legs quake almost as much as Kaveh’s did. After a few seconds, Alhaitham pushed forward, sheathing more of himself in Kaveh. Both men groaned, Kaveh pulsating against his throbbing length. Panting, Alhaitham drew his hips back a fraction before driving further in, shuddering as Kaveh continued to squeeze him.
Alhaitham didn’t rush as he slowly rocked into Kaveh, embedding a little more of himself each time his hips came forward. He hadn’t fully submerged himself yet when Kaveh hooked a leg around Alhaitham and tapped him with his heel, trying to coax Alhaitham to go faster. Despite this, Alhaitham kept his staggered tempo, staring at Kaveh’s glowing pink face as he worked his way in. Looking at how Kaveh bit his lip, fluttered his eyes. The sight almost made Alhaitham falter.
Alhaitham didn’t think he would ever tire of seeing Kaveh like this. No. Just Kaveh in general.
Feeling Kaveh’s heel rap against him again, he swallowed. Pressed on. Once Alhaitham’s length was fully inside Kaveh, he allowed himself to lurch his hips a bit faster. Kaveh let out a cry and arched his body, his heel bouncing against Alhaitham’s back. Not to spur Alhaitham on, not anymore, but as he was jostled by each thrust, as he tried to keep his leg hugged around Alhaitham.
The sound of skin clapping against skin rang through the room, Kaveh’s groans almost as loud. Alhaitham’s own noises were buried not only by them but the roar of his own heartbeat between his ears. And yet Alhaitham’s vocalisations seemed not to go unnoticed by Kaveh. His bright red eyes studied Alhaitham’s face intently, dancing between the other’s gaze and lips. A small smile surfaced onto Kaveh’s mouth when a louder than usual moan rippled out from Alhaitham. Something about the softness in Kaveh’s expression at that moment felt more intimate than the fact that Alhaitham was having sex with him.
Up to now, Alhaitham’s hands had been unoccupied, alternating between clenching into fists and groping air by his sides. He grabbed the bottle of lubricant and poured more gel onto Kaveh’s backside and his own hands. Then he gripped the base of Kaveh’s length, other hand settling onto Kaveh’s thigh, and shunted his hips forward again. As well as allowing Alhaitham to stimulate Kaveh’s length, he was provided with more stability now, letting him adjust his angle to reach the small gland in Kaveh that made Kaveh’s breath hitch the most.
Every tap against it had Kaveh writhing. Groaning. The sway of Alhaltham’s hips was slightly off sync with the bob of his hand, so as one wave of pleasure shot through Kaveh, another soon followed. Kaveh did his best to follow Alhaitham’s rhythm, bucking his hips into Alhaitham’s fist, ploughing back against Alhaitham’s thrusts. His inner muscle squeezed around Alhaitham, tightening the arousal coiling in Alhaitham’s core.
Sweat drenched Kaveh’s body. To Alhaitham, it was clear that Kaveh was nearing climax, from Kaveh’s laboured breathing and how his movements were becoming sloppier. He wasn’t the only one either. The strength in Alhaitham’s legs dwindled as he poured himself into Kaveh, into crashing his hips against him, into heaving his fist up and down his length. Not stopping, not slowing, working through the arousal fogging his brain, that twisted tighter and tighter in his groin.
With a shout, Kaveh convulsed, ropes of white spurting out of him. They splattered onto his shawl. Althaitham’s knees buckled, and after a few more thrusts, he cried out, shaking all over as the tension in body finally released. Kaveh’s eyes flitted to him as Alhaitham rode out the wave of pleasure coursing through him, hips shuddering uncontrollably. When Alhaitham was done, he pulled out, dripping fluid onto the bed. He flopped forward, landing next to Kaveh.
While Kaveh was on his back, Alhaitham had fallen onto his front.
“W-Well.” Kaveh was still catching his breath as he spoke. “This is nothing some soap and cold water can’t get out.”
Alhaitham didn’t turn to him, but he furrowed his brow. “Are you serious?”
“Yes. The fresher the stain, the easier it is to get out.”
“You can wash it later,” said Alhaitham, sitting up. He looked at the shawl streaked with white. Still frowning, he wiped his finger across it before bringing his digit to his mouth to suck on.
“Warm and slightly salty. Healthy,” said Alhaitham.
“H-Hey!” spluttered Kaveh. “Don’t be weird!”
“What? It’s not like we haven’t tasted each other before,” said Alhaitham. Personally, he thought it weirder that Kaveh’s icebreaker after sex had been about washing his shawl.
Kaveh pouted. His expression hadn’t changed by the time Alhaitham turned around so they were facing the same way, next to each other.
“So how did you enjoy our improvisation?” asked Alhaitham.
A thoughtful look clouded Kaveh’s face as he sat up. “I... really liked it, actually. Even though I took you by surprise with it, I hope you had fun as well.”
“I did,” confirmed Alhaitham. “I told you before. You don’t always need to have everything perfectly in place. If it makes you happier to organise it in advance, that’s fine so long as you don’t stress yourself needlessly over it. But I wanted to prove to you it doesn’t always have to be that way.”
Kaveh sighed, shoulders slumping.
“It pains me to say this, but I guess you’re right. So... how about we do this again, hm? Next week perhaps?” Kaveh suggested.
Alhaitham barely stopped himself from placing his forehead against his palm.
“The whole point of this is to not plan ahead. Otherwise it’s not impromptu. Next time, I will initiate it, and I won’t tell you in advance when it’s going to be.”
A crease formed in Kaveh’s brow. Evidently, he still had some doubts.
“It will be after I return from my trip to Fontaine, at least,” said Alhaitham. His cheeks warmed as he added, “And by the way... Do you have the address of that boutique you went to before?”
Kaveh perked up with a smile.