#and how the project with kaveh was the ONLY TIME alhaitham joined a group project!!!!!!!!

[cerealmonster15]

im looking at this bit in alhaithams lore again. the mirror thing that gets me every time. !!!!

familiar faces with NO family around and opposites. another genius but in an opposite way. his mirror that helps him see and understand things in this world that he otherwise wouldnt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! "things that may have otherwise been unfathomable"!!!!!!!!!!! kaveh being in his life. helps him study and understand different people and concepts in ways he would not understand if he didnt have kaveh in his life to study like a bug under a microscope lol!!!!!!!!!!

[writing-with-gremworm]

Books and Butterflies part 2

The second part written for Kaveh and Alhaitham. Notes: - Comforting Alhaitham - Silly but carrying Kaveh

“Ah, Alhaitham. It’s been a while since you joined us.” Cyno says, gesturing to Alhaitham to take a seat.

“We were just talking about you. Have you been well?” Tighnari asks warmly.

“I’ve been busy,” Alhaitham replies simply.

“Ah right, you’re the acting Grand Master.” Cyno acknowledges.

“The acting Grand Master? This is the first time I’ve heard of this. Wait, if you’re the acting grand master, what about the funding for my project?” Kaveh asks a bit baffled.

“You need to rewrite your proposal,” Alhaitham states simply.

“Eugh, really? What did I miss?” Kaveh groans.

“I’ve detailed it in the return file, you should receive it in a few days at the latest,” Alhaitham replies.

“Oh joy, I get to see what corrections you want me to make,” Kaveh grumbles.

“I’m sure you’ll have a grand time mastering the proposal,” Cyno says with a small self-congratulatory laugh.

“Cyno, that was so bad,” Tighnari grumbles.

“Anyway. You said you were talking about me?” Alhaitham asks.

“Only good things I assure you,” Kaveh assures him.

“Yes, only good things. How are things at the Akedemiya now?” Tighnari asks. They converse about the Akedemiya and how there was a plan for restructuring the Academic hierarchy to add a system of checks and balances to reduce the likelihood of something similar to the Sages scheme happening again.

After the politics of the Akedemiya were discussed, they switched to a few rounds of a card game.

“And with that, Diluc deals 32 damage to your Mona and I win,” Cyno states proudly.

“How did you get to 32 damage?” Kaveh asks, stunned. Cyno explains in great detail the order of cards and how over a series of turns he set up the perfect final move to finish off Kaveh’s Mona card.

“I- didn’t catch any of that. But you certainly know these cards.” Kaveh admits with a sigh of defeat.

“That was a close game, well fought,” Tighnari says, shaking Alhaitham’s hand and clearing the table they were playing at.

“Well that was fun, but it’s getting late. Should we do this again soon?” Kaveh asks.

“Yes, that sounds like a wonderful proposition. I’ll contact you when I’m in Sumeru city again.” Tighnari replies. Cyno and Alhaitham nod in agreement as well before the group splits up. Cyno and Tighnari head out first.

“Are you alright?” Kaveh asks, sitting across from Alhaitham.

“I’m just tired,” Alhaitham states simply.

“You’re always tired. This is different. So, something must have happened.” Kaveh states, leaning on his hand and observing Alhaitham with concern.

“Let’s head back first,” Alhaitham suggests, standing up and pushing in his chair.

“Okay, but talk to me when we get back,” Kaveh says with a small sigh.

They walk back home in silence. Alhaitham opened the door with his key and walked into the living room after placing his keys on the key holder.

“You’re not flaunting my keys today. Something must be really wrong.” Kaveh mumbles. Alhaitham walks to his room and sits on the bed. Kaveh follows him and leans on the doorframe.

“You don’t want to talk about it right?” He asks, his voice softer than before.

“No,” Alhaitham states.

“Alright, then. Do you want me to stay with you?”

“… Later. For the moment, I need some time to myself.” Alhaitham says quietly in response.

“I understand. I love you. I’ll be back later.” Kaveh promises, carefully closing the door and heading to his work desk, “Alright, let’s think of something.” Kaveh mumbles, looking through old sketches.

“A-ha!” Kaveh stops on a page and points to an old sketch of a butterfly.

“I can make him something nice.” Kaveh gathers some materials and starts crafting paper butterflies and a paper flower. He makes a bouquet of butterflies with a single flower in the center. After looking at the time he decides to make Alhaitham something to eat too.

“It has to be something light, so I’ll make a simple soup.” Kaveh rationalizes, making some soup to offer Alhaitham. He finds a tray and sets a bowl of soup, some bread, and a glass of water on it. He knocks on Alhaithams door.

“Alhaitham? Are you still awake?” He asks. Alhaitham opens the door and looks a little surprised to see that Kaveh was carrying a tray of food with him.

“I see that you made dinner. Thank you.” Alhaitham replies, the tiredness drenching his voice. Kaveh smiles a bit and hands him the tray.

“One moment! I have something else too!” He says before running off to grab the bouquet. Alhaitham sets the tray of food down on his desk in the meantime.

“Oh! Close your eyes for a moment!” Kaveh shouts from across the house. Alhaitham chuckles slightly and complies, “Are your eyes closed?!” Kaveh asks before peeking into the room and sighing in relief. He walks in front of Alhaitham and holds out the bouquet.

“Okay, you can open your eyes now.” He says with a smile. Alhaitham opens his eyes and smiles softly.

“You have quite the memory for these things.” Alhaitham mutters, “This is the first flower I gave you. Isn’t it?”

“Of course, I remember it well since you gave it to me. My heart was fluttering like these butterflies and I didn’t know what to do with myself.” Kaveh states proudly. Alhaitham laughs.

“I appreciate it,” Alhaitham states, holding the bouquet and admiring the craftsmanship, “Would you stay with me tonight?” He asks.

“Of course, I will,” Kaveh says, sitting on the bed with Alhaitham. Alhaitham eats quietly before laying his head on Kaveh’s lap. Kaveh runs his fingers through Alhaitham's hair and he falls asleep.

“You always tell me I can talk to you, but you keep things to yourself so often. At least I can do this much for you.” Kaveh mutters, closing his eyes and thinking back to when they exchanged flowers when attending the Akedemiya.

[cerealmonster15]

haikaveh... save me haikaveh...

i KNOW it's been talked about to death but. the haikaveh research project. it literally haunts my mind. i cannot get over the implications. alhaitham going through his school life as someone that most people dont even really know about because he keeps to himself and doesn't socialize, with kaveh being the one exception to that, finding his way into his life as his Best Friend, and then leading to alhaithams one and only time he participated in a research topic. his bio says he only ever did ONE joint project!!! one!!! the one with kaveh his best friend and i think also his only friend at the time!!!! and then it ended in not only the project falling apart but also alhaithams only friendship. kavehs best friendship. they were each others closest person. they had no family around - alhaithams parents having died when he was young and his grandmother dying before he joined the akademiya, and kaveh's dad dying when he was young and his mom having moved to fontaine. like even if you dont look at it through a romantic lens it's still undeniable how important they were [and are] to each other..........

i'm getting off track but my point is very specifically for alhaitham, the one time he got close to someone, made a friend, even agreed to join one(1) group project ever, it ended in disaster. it led him into a fight so bad that his one and only friend said he regretted that friendship!!!! it was so bad alhaitham left the project and he and kaveh didnt speak for ages until they just happened to run into each other again at the tavern!!!!! like obviously it has to be incredibly awful for both of them but i just think how this probably had alhaitham in the cynical mindset that friendships and collaborations like that might just never work out for him because the one time he let someone into his life, it blew up on him and he was all alone again. even though alhaitham never seems to care much if people dont like him, that clearly cant still apply to someone he was exceptionally close to. like if he didnt care he woudlnt have been the one to take his name off the project and mutually not speak to kaveh...... kavehs words are the ones that hit the most significantly to alhaitham.......... kaveh is said/implied to have had at least some other friends while at school / people knew who he was, but not so much alhaitham. people didnt know him and the ones that did just knew he didnt socialize/he was not easy to get along with. he only had kaveh and then, for a while, he lost him too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!