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pokemonispain · 1 year

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waking up on the wrong side of the bed-Alhaitham/Kaveh

Summary: In which the moment Kaveh wakes up he can tell that today is not his day.

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It's the aching in his joints and the sharp pain dancing along his skin, the jittery buzzing burn that sits just below his skin that lets Kaveh know that today just isn’t his day when he opens his eyes that morning.

He groans softly, grimacing at the dull ache that streaks across his eyes when the sunlight filtering in from between the curtains feels far too bright.

As Kaveh lies there hoping to drift back off to sleep he slowly becomes more and more aware of a few more things.

For one his head hurts, a slight dull ache settled at the base of his skull as well as his right temple. It’s not horrific but it definitely is slightly noticeable and annoying.

The next thing he notices is that his body feels heavy, especially in his limbs as if a small weight were tied to each.

There’s a slight ache in his stomach as well, not exactly painful but definitely uncomfortable, and he scowled as he shakily placed a hand on his stomach. His scowl only deepens when he finds that his stomach is bloated ever so slightly.

The final thing is the burning sting dancing across his skin, that make even the blankets laying across him feel uncomfortable.

It’s all these things alongside the jittery, almost feverish feeling settled in his body that lets Kaveh know that he’s having a flare-up.

Kaveh was someone who’d been chronically ill since he was a child although he did his best to hide it as he got older, especially when he was studying at the Akademiya.

This often meant him pushing through the pain, the horrible fevers, and nausea, no matter what whenever he was in class or around others, only to return to his dorm room and collapse in bed barely able to move.

Once in bed, he would reach out taking the sketchbook and pencil he kept on his nightstand, and simply sketch. Random doodles, impossible yet wondrous architecture that no human could reliably replicate.

Sketching random doodles like that was one of the few things that let him ignore the world around him.

More often than not he would fall asleep soon afterwards, his quill still clutched in his hand.

The illness wasn’t life-threatening truthfully but that didn’t stop Kaveh from feeling as if it were whenever the flare-ups were at their worst.

Not only that but alongside the regular symptoms Kaveh also often found himself susceptible to getting sick frequently which was rather annoying.

Honestly, he’d felt the oncoming signs of a flare-up all week, the slight nagging queasiness in his stomach that made quite a lot of food seem unappetizing.

The heaviness that lingered in his body each morning which he’d just chalked up to the work he’d been doing the night before.

The dull ache that had settled in his skull which he’d chalked up to eye strain.

Remembering the signs that he’d ignored and brushed off, Kaveh groans loudly his hands covering his face, “Idiot!”

A second later he scowls, pausing for a moment to try and listen intently in the hopes that Alhaitham hadn’t heard his near scream of frustration.

He’d been living with Alhaitham for a little while now, with the younger man extending the offer for Kaveh to live with him a while ago.

Although they’d been rather close during their time studying at the Akademiya together, despite the fact that they attended under different years and different

Darshans.

Kaveh was Alhaitham’s senior however the two had grown rather close forming something of an odd friendship, this friendship had drifted apart due to their differences, but eventually when they’d met once more later into their adulthood, and began living together.

They bickered and argued rather frequently, pushing each other’s buttons and responding in kind to the point where Kaveh wouldn’t have been surprised if all of Sumeru city were aware of it.

Alhaitham could often read Kaveh like an open book, something that the younger man used to his advantage to irritate Kaveh.

That is also why Kaveh often did his best to hide his illness thoroughly. The medications he often took to ease and calm the flare-ups were hidden in a lockbox in the lowest cabinet of the nightstand.

Admittedly Kaveh did occasionally overwork himself but it had been a while since he had a flare up thankfully. The last thing he wanted was for Alhaitham to find out about his illness for multiple reasons, the main one being Kaveh’s pride more than anything else.

Kaveh was someone who deeply valued his self-image, the way people saw him especially. He hated people pitying him like he was just some poor fool who didn’t know any better.

Having grown up the way he had, he had heard many comments such as this. Although it was in the Akaidemyia was where the hushed whispers were the worst, it wasn’t as if he didn’t have friends but even when the ‘eccentric weirdo’ became the genius and light of the Kshahrewar those hushed whispers never stopped.

Kaveh hated people pitying him, and although he knew when to swallow his pride when backed into a corner that didn’t make the feeling any less bitter. Hell, when Alhaitham had offered to allow him to move in with him it had taken a bit of contemplation.

It had been his only option at the time when he’d gotten into debt. The hushed whispers of people gossiping had seemed overbearing at that time.

Kaveh bites his lip lightly as his eyes glance over to his bedroom door nervously. The flare-up was annoying at the moment and slightly painful but the pain hadn’t reached crippling levels this time. Hopefully, he could keep Alhaitham from finding out until it passed.

Taking a deep breath Kaveh slowly sits up so that he can get ready for the day. Almost instantly a wave of dizziness washes over him at the movement, as the dull ache that had been throbbing in his skull seems to dart along the side of it.

Kaveh brings a hand to his head with a soft groan as he closes his eyes, his ears are filled with a loud ringing noise drowning out every other sound.

His other hand goes to his stomach when nausea stirs in the pit of it, still groaning and feeling as if the room is spinning around him he lightly rubs at his stomach noting the low growl that came from it.

Kaveh takes a few deep breaths through gritted teeth. Careful, all he had to do was be careful and maybe just maybe Alhaitham wouldn’t find out. It takes Kaveh a few deep breaths before he could open his eyes without feeling as if he were going to pass out.

It takes him another moment to shakily get to his feet, the normally soft sensation of shifting blankets feeling as if they were scraping against his too-sensitive skin.

His body feels far too slow and heavy as if filled with lead, each brush of clothing against his skin sending a sharp burning sting spiderwebbing across his body. When he’s finally finished getting dressed Kaveh feels worse than when he woke up.

Exhaustion covers him like a large blanket, tugging a yawn free from his lips. His head is pounding in time with his heartbeat, the sunlight filtering in through the curtains feeling as if it’s trying to stab him through the eye.

Kaveh feels uncomfortably warm as well as though he’d gotten a full workout from simply getting dressed. Each ragged breath he takes makes his chest and backache, that burn darting and dancing across the expanse of the skin there.

He feels a bit dizzy, the queasiness settled in his stomach becoming a bit more noticeable as if on cue he could hear the soft clang of pots and pans in the kitchen letting him know that Alhaitham was awake and fixing himself breakfast.

Tonight would be Kaveh’s turn to cook dinner, although they often switched this one specific chore due to Kaveh complaining that it was unfair that he should be stuck cooking each day for the two of them. Especially considering how messy Alhaitham already left the house.

Kaveh looked over towards his bed for a moment, he knows he should just climb back in bed and rest until this passed especially considering how exhausted he felt at the moment as if his energy had been drained.

And yet he doesn’t, his gaze going to the unfinished designs sitting on his worktable still on the planning stage, then going to the door where he could hear Alhaitham still moving around the kitchen.

“It’ll be fine. I just need to hold it together for a bit,” Kaveh tried to convince himself before he stands up straight, takes a deep breath, and stretched ignoring the ache that darts across his skin.

Once he believes that he looks presentable Kaveh leaves his bedroom and ventures into the kitchen.

~~~

Alhaitham senses Kaveh’s familiar presence in the kitchen rather than heads him at first, although soon enough he can just faintly hear Kaveh’s usual grumbling through the noise cancellation function of his headphones.

After cooking breakfast Alhaitham had chosen to read as he ate considering he had free time before work as usual.

Kaveh huffed looking at Alhaitham with narrow eyes when the younger man doesn’t answer his question in regards to the banging of pots and pans Kaveh had heard this morning.

“Of course, you’re ignoring me again, you and your books,” Kaveh grumbled as he walked over to where the freshly made pot of coffee sat.

The rich scent of coffee and heavy scent of spice drifted through the house almost lazily, filling it with a familiar cozy warmth.

Normally Kaveh didn’t mind the scent and even found it comforting after living with Alhaitham for a while, but at the moment it felt far far too harsh.

The queasiness in his stomach seems to stir a bit more, as pain darts across his skull. His nerves feel as if they’re completely fried, sitting on a razor’s edge, he can only hope that Alhaitham thinks that the heaviness in his steps is due to him just waking up.

Kaveh is so focused on grumbling under his breath as he’s fixing his plate of food that he doesn’t notice Alhaitham reach up and turn off the noise-canceling function of his headphones.

“Honestly making so much noise so early in the morning I swear,” Kaveh huffed as he sat down across from Alhaitham with his plate of food.

Kaveh is just picking up his fork when Alhaitham finally speaks, making him freeze.

A soft snort leaves Alhaitham’s mouth, “Racket? I don’t want to hear that from the person who spends all night usually hammering away at nonsense. Besides, this is my house in the first place.”

As Kaveh looked at him with narrowed eyes, irritation clearly appearing on his face, Alhaitham couldn’t help noticing that Kaveh looked slightly pale.

Kaveh was truthfully always a bit pale, which Alhaitham chalked up to many things for one Kaveh’s erratic work schedule and sleepless nights.

Even last night Kaveh had been working away in an effort to meet a deadline, obviously sacrificing his sleep as usual in an effort to get it done.

Alhaitham looked at Kaveh briefly, turquoise meeting carmine. Kaveh as usual doesn’t have a hair seemingly out of place, although Alhaitham does note the faint circles beneath his eyes which pointed to Kaveh clearly not getting enough sleep lately.

And yet despite him finding nothing particularly out of place, Alhaitham can’t help but feel as if something is off for some reason.

“I was not hammering away on nonsense! I was working on my project not to mention fixing up your horrible excuse of decor,” Kaveh snapped, an all too familiar scowl tugging at his lips. “Honestly I thought I told you not to go furniture shopping without me.”

Kaveh quickly takes a sip of his coffee once he stops speaking, feeling that familiar irritating tickle flaring to life in the back of his throat alongside that familiar soreness.

It helps just a tiny bit although it does nothing but make the nausea lurking in the pit of his stomach intensify for a moment, and Kaveh swallows thickly from behind his mug still raised to his lips.

He tries to ignore the way his clothes feel far too rough on his skin. Abnormally scratchy, each movement no matter how small had a sharp sting dancing along his skin.

Kaveh glances down at his food, unsurprisingly it looks unappetizing to him at the moment. Even though he had only tentatively sipped on his coffee this morning his stomach feels far too full.

Kaveh hadn’t realized he’d zoned out, his mind wandering as he stared at the food trying his best to prepare himself but when he eventually does look up he finds Alhaitham looking at him as if waiting for Kaveh’s response.

“What is it Haitham,” Kaveh asked with a slight scowl. He resisted the urge to fidget beneath Alhaitham’s gaze, although that doesn’t stop the fear and nervousness from writhing in his chest.

Did Alhaitham notice something that Kaveh missed when getting ready today? Did he know Kaveh was sick?

So many of these questions circled Kaveh’s exhausted mind at such a speed it almost feels as if they were making the dizziness worse.

Eventually, Alhaitham speaks, dragging Kaveh out of his swirling thoughts. “If you plan on going out, be sure to lock the door,” Alhaitham told him.

Kaveh gave a soft huff. “You better not take my key,” the words are grumbled under his breath as he picked up his fork.

While Alhaitham was used to Kaveh zoning out from time to time, it is the fact that Kaveh is strangely quiet only occasionally speaking up rather than aimlessly chatting and complaining to fill the silence that has Alhaitham taking a bit more notice.

Kaveh was someone who wasn’t a quiet person, whether it be working on his projects, complaining, or merely talking about whatever random thought that popped into his head, Kaveh was never quiet.

He was always talking, his eyes bright with excitement. For Kaveh to be quiet…well Alhaitham found it rather odd.

When Kaveh picks up his fork and begins eating is when Alhaitham notices that Kaveh’s usually steady hand had the slightest tremble to it. Kaveh didn’t seem to even be aware of it himself either.

For a few moments, it’s quiet, allowing Kaveh to focus on doing his best to force down the food, each bite sitting heavily like a weight in his already sore stomach. He has to repeatedly bite the inside of his cheek to keep from grimacing as cramps twist at his stomach.

This was fine, not good but it wasn’t anything he hadn’t experienced before.

Suddenly Alhaitham speaks, causing Kaveh to look up at the other man.

“You should try and see if you can get an extension for-“

Alhaitham is cut off suddenly when a rather loud growl comes from Kaveh’s stomach, causing both of them to jump slightly.

Kaveh freezes his eyes wide as his face flushed red, and he catches sight of the slightest hint of surprise on Alhaitham’s face if only for a second.

“Stop staring at me,” Kaveh huffed as he glanced away feeling almost pinned under Alhaitham’s gaze at the moment.

It felt a bit oppressive honestly, Alhaitham had very piercing eyes which always seemed to scrutinize whatever subject he laid them on. So it was no surprise that whenever he directed that gaze towards Kaveh, that Kaveh couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous.

The familiarity they had with each other rarely made it any better either, if anything Kaveh felt as if Alhaitham could see every chink in his metaphorical armor.

Did Alhaitham know something was wrong? After all, before Kaveh’s stomach had interrupted Alhaitham he’d seemingly been about to say something about Kaveh getting an extension.

“How can I not stare when you’re clearly making a spectacle of yourself,” Alhaitham said drawing Kaveh out of his swirling thoughts.

Between the fog blanketing his mind and the pounding headache, it takes him a moment or two to process Alhaitham’s words, but when he does as usual irritation wells up within him.

His eyes narrowed once more as he glared at Alhaitham eventually Kaveh looked away though, clicking his tongue and he mumbled soft curses under his breath.

Alhaitham finishes eating first, getting to his feet as he glanced at the nearby clock. He can hear Kaveh muttering something under his breath, although Alhaitham can’t understand the language due to it not being in the Sumerian tongue he does recognize the usual tone Kaveh usually has when he’s throwing a fit.

The language Kaveh was using was the language of the desert dwellers, with the other man having told Alhaitham that he grew up there for a bit as a child.

Alhaitham had heard Kaveh speak it many times, sometimes purposely during an argument or when drunk, or discreetly when he didn’t realize Alhaitham was present.

“Make sure you lock the door if you leave the house,” Alhaitham said as he grabbed his key off of the hook beside the door.

“Just don’t take my key,” Kaveh called out.

It is only when Kaveh hears the front door close shut, letting him know that Alhaitham had left for work that he slumped forward in his chair. Resting his head down for a moment as his hand went to his stomach, cringing when he feels it gurgling and shifting with each cramp that twisted at it.

Now that he’s allowed himself to relax, the nausea and dizziness slams into him with such ferocity that it leaves him breathless and panting.

A grimace tugs at his lips as pain blossoms along his entire body, a horrible weight settling in his arms, back, and chest.

A sharp stinging burn dancing across the surface of his skin leaving a buzzing jitteriness in its wake, as if he were being subjected to a constant electro attack.

His clothes feel far too rough on his skin, almost as if they were made of sandpaper.

For a few moments all Kaveh can do is sit there, his arms wrapped around his stomach cursing every archon he can think of as well as Celestia itself as he does his best to ride out the waves of pain and nausea.

It takes him a good few minutes of taking shuddering breaths in through his mouth, his eyes squeezed shut as they sting with tears.

Slowly but surely the pain and nausea slowly begins to dull bit by bit till it’s settled as something of a background annoyance.

Sniffling and lifting his head Kaveh wipes at his eyes with trembling hands, he truly really does hate this. “Fuck…”

Kaveh glances at his plate of half-finished food but glances away when his stomach makes a loud gurgling noise as if warning him to not even entertain the idea of trying to eat any more of it.

Kaveh really hated wasting food, something that he'd learned and had been practically drilled into him as a child. Food in the desert could be hard to come by although many desert dwellers did their damnedest to scrape by to survive not everyone was so lucky.

Which often made times like this when the flare-ups made it difficult for him to eat that irritated Kaveh more than anything.

“Pisses me off,” he huffed under his breath as he got to his feet and quickly put the leftovers inside the mist flower box.

It would keep the food cool and somewhat preserved for a day or so at least.

With that taken care of, and a small apology whispered to Lesser Lord Kusanali, Kaveh returned to his room, his hand lingering on his stomach which was practically throwing a tantrum at the moment. The dull cramps leave him feeling as if someone was pinching his insides.

His steps are heavy with exhaustion and yet he doesn’t lay down to take a nap and stay in bed like he should truthfully.

He had some work to do and designs to go over, he was just thankful that he wouldn’t need to leave the house today because just the thought of doing so has his head spinning.

It wasn’t Kaveh’s first time working through a flare-up, and as he goes over the all too familiar tools on his workstation he’s reminded of his time in the Akademiya.

And despite the pain tugging at every inch of his body Kaveh can’t help the small smile that crawls across his face as he picks up one of the nearby pencils.

His hands are still trembling ever so slightly as they had been when he’d been eating earlier, however, it doesn’t bother him after all Kaveh is used to it.

As Kaveh works, he can’t help but find his mind turning to his time as a student. The many long sleepless nights he’d spend studying, gathering references for his classes, going to the tavern with friends occasionally, simply sitting somewhere and sketching.

Kaveh also finds his mind wandering to when he and Alhaitham had been closer when younger. The times Kaveh would find himself sick due to lack of sleep and Alhaitham would come by to see him after class, carrying a book or three in hand as usual.

He’d chastise Kaveh openly all while keeping him company, although even back then Alhaitham had been blunt, his words had lacked the almost vicious bite they’d gained in later years after he and Kaveh’s falling out.

Surprisingly while he’d had flare-ups more frequently back then he was always able to keep Alhaitham from finding out, just as he did now.

Making sure his medicine was hidden out of sight of Alhaitham’s critical eye. Never speaking a word about the doctors appointments to anyone.

He was nearly living a double life at this point. Which again wasn’t anything he wasn’t used to.

Time seems to pass in a blur as Kaveh worked and for a little while he was able to ignore everything, the pain, the nausea, the fever, all of it.

As frustrating and infuriating as it could be sometimes Kaveh would be dead in the ground before he admitted that he truly hated art.

Placing his quill and ink aside for a moment Kaveh scrutinized his progress with a careful eye.

Perhaps it was due to the fact that he was no longer focused, that his concentration had been broken to some extent that suddenly everything seemed to hit him all at once.

Kaveh slumped forward slightly with a groan, bringing a hand to his face. It felt as if someone was trying to crack his skull open, his vision wavering as pain sparked and lashed across his skin.

“Need…to lay down…” Kaveh murmured to himself his words slurring slightly whether it was the exhaustion or the dizziness he wasn’t sure.

He shakily gets to his feet, honestly though trying to walk at all in his current state is a mistake. The moment he stands up the room seems to rapidly sway and tilt before his eyes, wave after wave of dizzying nausea churning in his stomach and pulling a sickly-sounding hiccup from his lips.

Kaveh attempts to take a step, in what he thinks is the direction of the bed but he doesn’t make it, the ground feels as if it disappears from beneath his feet and Kaveh is unconscious before he hits the ground.

~~~

Alhaitham arrives home early having taken the first opportunity offered to him to head home. Surprisingly the house is quiet as he opens the door and at first he believes Kaveh has left the house and gone out considering it wasn’t unusual.

However, he quickly disregards that thought when he notices Kaveh’s key on the hook by the front door.

It wouldn’t have been the first time Kaveh had forgotten his key and gone out though, which was a habit Alhaitham found annoying.

At the moment though he only finds himself comfortable embracing the silence and temporary calm in the house.

Alhaitham makes his way through the house, stretching ever so slightly when he noticed that his shoulders felt a bit stiff from sitting down at his desk most of the day going over paperwork, just as usual.

He almost reaches his room, passing by the door to Kaveh’s room when he hears a loud crash from inside, as if someone had tripped over something and fallen.

At the noise Alhaitham pauses, sighing. And just like that, his chance to embrace the peaceful silence in the house had disappeared.

It wasn’t uncommon for Kaveh to trip over things, after all his room was a mess of scarcely organized chaos something Alhaitham never failed to bring up whenever Kaveh threw a fit over him leaving his books out.

For a moment Alhaitham finds himself waiting, listening to see if he would hear the usual sounds of Kaveh scrambling to get up or even soft cursing in the Sumerian tongue or the desert dweller's language.

And yet, there’s nothing. Just more silence…

Sighing softly, Alhaitham turns to Kaveh’s door and knocks.

“Kaveh?”

He listens again for a moment, adjusting his headphones slightly so that he could keep an open ear.

Alhaitham had rather sensitive hearing, and wearing the headphones helped ease that alongside the fact that they were soundproof and had a noise-canceling function.

For a moment the house is almost eerily silent as if it were holding its breath in anticipation. Then Alhaitham hears something, a weak groan followed by a whimper of pain.

“Kaveh,” he called out again as he placed his hand on the doorknob, it turned slightly beneath his hand and he scowled, noting that it was unlocked.

Alhaitham opens the door and in the next moment freezes when he sees Kaveh collapsed on the floor, curled into a ball.

It wasn’t the first time Alhaitham had found Kaveh collapsed seemingly due to lack of sleep from overworking himself, he should be well acquainted with it considering it was a sight he’d even seen in the Akademiya, it was logical really.

And yet that familiarity does not stop him from rushing to Kaveh’s side, his eyes wide, nor does that stop the uncomfortable, almost painful twisting sensation in his chest.

He drops down to his knees beside Kaveh, now that he was closer he could see that Kaveh was writhing weakly in pain soft almost inaudible whimpers leaving his lips. His skin was worryingly pale, and his clothes were soaked with sweat.

There was blood trickling from beneath his nose, another thing Alhaitham had seen before when Kaveh had collapsed due to overworking himself while sick.

And yet it makes the current situation no less frightening and… infuriating .

Alhaitham quickly reaches out but pauses when Kaveh groans loudly, his body jolting with a soft yet wet-sounding hiccup.

“Kaveh,” Alhaitham said when he saw Kaveh’s eyes flutter open slightly.

Kaveh groans again, murmuring something that Alhaitham struggles to understand as his words slur between a mix of broken Sumerian and desert dweller's tongue.

Another hiccup jolts Kaveh’s body, sounding absolutely nauseating, in the very next moment his body shudders as a rumbling gurgling noise pries itself free of his throat right alongside a surge of pale greenish slightly watery vomit.

The slimy sludge-like mixture poured from his mouth almost lazily with a consistency of oil paint.

Kaveh coughed and spluttered harshly, his eyes going wide as more awareness crept into them. He whimpers loudly, a pathetic noise of misery right before another surge of pale vomit gurgles up his throat, the food that had been sitting so heavily in his stomach earlier coming up only semi-digested.

It has an almost slimy paste-like consistency as it congeals and cools on the hardwood floor.

“Easy, now. Just let it out," Alhaitham whispered quietly, as he brushed Kaveh’s hair back from his face, noting that Kaveh’s skin felt more than a little warm.

As Kaveh chokes up another wave of lumpy semi-digested vomit onto the floor, Alhaitham glances up towards Kaveh’s workstation from the looks of things Kaveh had been working on before he collapsed.

It takes a moment for Kaveh’s retching to taper off, threads of bile and drool dripping from his lips into the mess almost lazily, as he lays there panting soft hiccups and weak empty gags leaving his lips.

Kaveh whimpered as he blinked slowly in an effort to clear the tears from his eyes. Everything hurts, every inch of his skin feels as if it’s stinging and burning, his head is throbbing viscously to the point that he wouldn’t be surprised if he’d cracked it open when he’d fallen to the floor.

Cramps continue to twist at his stomach despite the fact that he’s sure he’s brought up every single bit of his breakfast.

Tears continue to well in his eyes despite his best efforts to blink them away, each ragged breath he takes makes his chest ache.

“Are you finished,” Alhaitham asked as he tried to ignore the way his heart seemed to twist uncomfortably at Kaveh’s current state.

Kaveh’s nose had stopped bleeding soon after he’d stopped retching, leaving a trail of red to stand out on his far too-pale skin.

Although he seemed awake and aware his eyes were glazed over and glistening with tears.

Instead of responding to Alhaitham he simply lays there trembling which is even more worrying if Alhaitham was honest.

Kaveh typically acted one of two ways when he was sick, either he would whine and complain as Alhaitham tended to him sometimes being rather dramatic about it or he would be strangely quiet and docile, often simply wanting to sleep and wordlessly cling to Alhaitham.

The latter was more worrying because from what Alhaitham knew about Kaveh alongside the times he tended to him when sick, Kaveh only became quiet and docile when his fever was incredibly high.

But strangely enough, while Kaveh definitely had a fever, it wasn’t enough where his behavior would be altered like it was at the moment.

“Let’s get you up, and then I’ll contact Tighnari,” Alhaitham said as he laid a hand on Kaveh’s back.

However, the moment he does Kaveh screeches in pain causing Alhaitham to jump back slightly startled.

For a moment he can only sit there with his eyes wide, perhaps if Kaveh wasn’t feeling like his body was trying to destroy him, he may have chuckled or laughed telling Alhaitham that he looked like a startled cat.

After a moment or two Alhaitham eventually speaks glancing towards the door then the bed, and makes a decision.

“Okay, alright I’ll take you to the Bimarstan,” he said quickly.

That has Kaveh jolting into awareness and he grits his teeth when he feels Alhaitham’s hands hesitantly touch him once more clearly worried about hurting him, and yet that does nothing to stop Kaveh from flinching at the sting that dances along his skin where Alhaitham lays his hands.

Kaveh’s thoughts seem as if they’re swirling in a panic. He couldn’t go to the Bimarstan, this wasn’t good.

“No,” Kaveh all but manages to shout, as he flinches away from Alhaitham’s touch.

“No,” Alhaitham echoed as he froze for a moment, and even through his pain and nausea-fueled haze, Kaveh can hear the incredulous tone coating his voice.

Kaveh cracks one eye open slightly, his breath shuddering as he swallowed thickly. “N-No hospital, d-don’t need one,” he told him, his voice a trembling, rasp.

“You’re delirious,” Alhaitham said almost immediately as he moved to grab Kaveh.

Kaveh speaks again and it’s the weak, pleading tone that his voice has that makes Alhaitham pause. “T-there’s medicine…in the nightstand. A lock box…please Haitham.”

For a few seconds, Alhaitham is silent, his teeth clenched as Kaveh’s words dawned on him.

Kaveh can just about make out the realization, in Alhaitham’s gaze and so he closes his own eyes to spare himself the sight of all his hard work and careful preparation he’d done over the years going down the drain in an instant.

If Kaveh wasn’t already crying from the pain he’d be wailing in frustration truthfully.

He feels Alhaitham’s hands on him after a few moments, they’re soft, containing very few callouses, but most importantly they’re cold and feel amazing on his too-hot skin and he doesn’t even realize he’s leaned into his touch until he whimpers softly.

“Bare with me.” He hears Alhaitham murmur although Kaveh still says nothing even as he feels himself being lifted up into Alhaitham’s arms.

He bites his lip doing his best to keep from crying out, he’d already made such a fool of himself. It was just his luck truthfully that Alhaitham of all people would see him like this, he didn’t know if it was the flare-up making his face feel as if it were burning or the sheer shame and embarrassment.

He feels Alhaitham carrying him across the room, before eventually feeling the familiar sensation of the bed beneath him.

Kaveh shakily places his arm over his eyes, doing his best to keep his breath under control. The last thing he needed was a panic attack on top of everything thing else going wrong at the moment.

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

He can hear the sound of Alhaitham retrieving the medicine in the lockbox, the soft familiar clip of the lock being opened.

The soft rattle of the pill bottles being removed and the soft thump as they’re placed down on the nightstand. Kaveh hears it all until suddenly there’s silence.

Kaveh can feel Alhaitham staring at him, and hear those gears turning in his head.

“How long has this been going on Kaveh?”

Alhaitham’s voice sounded nearly as monotone as usual, however, Kaveh does catch the familiar edge to Alhaitham’s voice. A mingling mix of frustration, worry, and surprise.

The faintest hint of a tired smile tugs at Kaveh’s lips, he truly was at the end of his rope if he thought Alhaitham was worried about him. Or perhaps Kaveh just truly looked that horrible enough that Alhaitham pitied him.

Both options left a sour taste in his mouth. A blow to his pride that he despised.

The nervousness and fear is doing nothing for his still churning stomach, and he can’t help but give a soft hiccup, swallowing thickly before he answers. “Since…a little while before I entered the Akademiya,” he murmured hesitantly, glancing at Alhaitham.

He quickly glanced away, however, his face burning with shame beneath Alhaitham’s critical gaze.

For once Alhaitham’s expression isn’t blank, a deep scowl on his face as he crossed his arms staring at Kaveh. A multitude of questions springing to the forefront of his mind as he remembered the many times Kaveh had been sick during their Akademiya years.

It was something that Alhaitham always chalked up to Kaveh overworking himself, in combination with not getting enough sleep and skipping meals. It was a habit that Kaveh had even now.

Alhaitham had never thought to question it truthfully, especially as it would get dismissed by Kaveh as just a cold or the flu.

Now though he realizes he should’ve been more thorough in regards to this matter.

Alhaitham paused, pursing his lips as he closed his eyes as though he were steeling himself and Kaveh has a good idea of what Alhaitham may be about to ask.

Alhaitham took a few deep breaths, and finally, he asked, as he slowly opened his eyes, “Is it eleazar?”

While eleazar was technically eliminated by Lesser Lord Kusanali alongside the Traveler rather recently that didn’t mean that the toll it took on a person simply disappeared.

Kaveh gives him a look of confusion but shakes his head. His flinches in the next moment, curling into a ball as a whimper slips from between his lips.

“N-not eleazar…just a bad flare up…” Kaveh forced out his words slurring between the desert dweller’s tongue and Sumerian.

Kaveh squeezes his eyes shut, his nails practically digging into the skin of his upper arm as he tries to ride out the unrelenting waves of pain.

The room feels as if it’s spinning around him, despite the fact that he knows that he’s pretty much laying completely still and Kaveh can’t help but cringe when his stomach makes a low gurgling noise.

A harsh cramp twisting at his stomach has him cringing as a wave of nausea rolls over him. Despite the fact that he was pretty sure he’d brought up the entirety of the breakfast he’d forced down earlier, his stomach still felt too tight and heavy.

Exhaustion sits heavily in his body like a weight, and he doesn’t even realize that he was beginning to drift off to sleep until he felt Alhaitham’s hand on his shoulder.

It’s a strange feeling truthfully, Alhaitham’s touches being so featherlight and hesitant. Clearly worried about hurting Kaveh and making him feel worse.

It was always like this between the two of them, despite the fact that they argued and bickered frequently, the actions they performed for each other always spoke the loudest.

“Here, wake up and take the medication or I’ll have to take you to the Bimarstan,” Alhaitham told Kaveh as the other man looked at him with slightly glazed-over eyes.

That brings more awareness to Kaveh’s eyes, and he huffed softly as Alhaitham handed him the medicine. “Fine, fine,” Kaveh mumbled, knowing by Alhaitham’s tone that the word ‘no’ wasn’t an option. Kaveh had pleaded with him after all.

It takes Kaveh a moment to actually take the medicine, but that’s simply because of the nausea licking at the back of his throat making the thought of putting anything in his stomach an unpleasant one.

Once Alhaitham is sure that Kaveh has taken the medicine he turns his attention to the mess on the floor. He’s making a mental checklist of the cleaning supplies he needs to grab as well as anything Kaveh may need when Kaveh suddenly speaks.

“S…sorry bout the floor…Haitham,” he said his words slurring heavily with exhaustion.

“It’s fine. The cleanup will be simple really,” Alhaitham reassured him. He turned to Kaveh, noting that the other man was staring at him with half-lidded eyes, clearly trying to stay awake for a few moments more. “Get some rest for now. You’re exhausted and sick.”

Kaveh gives a soft hum scowling. "Sorry..for making you...do all this... take care of me and stuff..." Kaveh mumbled his words slurring as his mind drifts in and out of

consciousness. It’s a struggle to make sure he’s still talking in the Sumerian language.

Kaveh feels Alhaitham’s hand on his forehead for a moment, likely checking to see if Kaveh’s fever had risen at all.

He hears Alhaitham speak just before he falls asleep.

“If you have time to feel guilty, then use it to focus on getting better and taking better care of yourself.”

As Alhaitham gently strokes Kaveh’s hair until the man drifted off to sleep he can’t help but notice the fact that his hand is trembling slightly. A testament to just how worried he’d been and still was.

Whenever Alhaitham and Kaveh interacted, many things seemed to fly out the window. Each invisible rule they had for themselves being torn down by the other with an often irritating ease.

Whenever they were around one another Alhaitham made new discoveries about himself. The one he has now though as he stares at Kaveh’s face as he sleeps is well…

“What an annoying discovery,” Alhaitham murmured.

Love truly was a strange thing.

~~~

Alhaitham can’t help but stare at Kaveh as he sleeps instead of reading his book like he’d intended to, finding that it was rather hard to focus.

Kaveh has been asleep for a few hours truthfully, his exhausted body doing its best to catch up on the rest it’d missed and desperately needed.

Kaveh surprisingly doesn’t snore in his sleep, although he does occasionally sleep-talk soft murmurs in the desert dweller language that Alhaitham can’t understand. But he can recognize the tone Kaveh is using, pleading.

Despite being from Haravatat, learning the desert dweller language was a difficult task, with many different dialects to the point where even someone native to the desert could become confused.

Kaveh often reminded Alhaitham of the very sandstorms that swirled through the desert honestly. Loud and chaotic, never giving Alhaitham a moment's peace even when they weren’t in the same place, either occupying his mind in some facet or coming to bother him.

And yet Alhaitham had at some point once more gotten used to the way Kaveh intruded into his life again. Just as he had when they’d grown close during their time at the Akademiya.

He’d never know peace when in Kaveh’s vicinity.

Alhaitham gets to his feet when Kaveh begins to stir in his sleep, his eyes flutter open and he flinches, squeezing them tight for a moment with a soft hiss, letting Alhaitham know that his head was still hurting.

Kaveh’s eyes open a bit more hesitantly this time, and he slowly looks around, tired red eyes roving around the room confused.

As Alhaitham calmly waits for him he pours a glass of water from the pitcher he placed on the nightstand earlier.

Eventually, Kaveh gives a soft humorless chuckle. “It would seem like what happened wasn’t just a horrifying nightmare.”

Kaveh runs a hand over his face ignoring the aches and pains dancing along his skin.

“Here. Can you drink this,” Alhaitham asked as he held out the glass of water for Kaveh to take.

Kaveh glances at him and then at the water, the sight of it has a slight queasiness stirring in his still aching stomach. However the fact that his throat feels as dry as the desert wins out.

“Hmmm,” Kaveh murmured as he sipped on the water. It is only when he’d moved and sat up ever so slightly that he realized that he was wearing different clothes.

“Did you…did you change my clothes Haitham,” Kaveh spluttered only to wince when pain rippled across his chest.

Alhaitham sighed, crossing his arms, “Who else would have done it Kaveh? Besides, you were a mess.”

“I think I can be forgiven for not looking my best when I’m sick,” he snapped with a soft huff and as he glanced away he missed the slightest hint of a smile on Alhaitham’s face.

If Kaveh was arguing back and putting up his usual fight this was good, it meant he was probably feeling a bit better.

“You need to eat something,” Alhaitham said as took the cup when Kaveh had finished with it.

Kaveh scowled at Alhaitham’s words, the thought of eating anything made his stomach churn as cramps continued to twist at it relentlessly.

A low growl coming from it as the water sloshed slightly in his gut. As a wave of nausea rolled over him Kaveh laid back down with a sigh. “I don’t think I can,” he told Alhaitham, glancing away his cheeks flushing a slight pink with embarrassment when his stomach gave another growl.

Kaveh closes his eyes for a few moments taking slow careful breaths in an attempt to calm it.

A moment or two later Kaveh feels the bed dip ever so slightly as Alhaitham sits down on the edge of it.

Kaveh can’t help but jump slightly, the motion sending his stomach sloshing and sending an acidic hiccup bubbling up his throat when Alhaitham places a careful hand on his stomach.

Alhaitham frowns as his hand moves carefully along the expanse of Kaveh’s stomach, and truthfully he isn’t surprised that Kaveh feels as hesitant to eat as he was.

Alhaitham can feel Kaveh’s stomach cramping and twisting beneath his hand, the upset organ writhing like a ball of snakes beneath Alhaitham’s fingers as low gurgling noises came from it.

Kaveh flinched, whimpering and burying his face in his arms slightly when a low, almost liquidy-sounding growl comes from his stomach, and Alhaitham feels the faint rumbling beneath his fingertips.

Another hiccup jolts Kaveh’s body slightly, followed by a soft groan. Kaveh mumbles something that Alhaitham can’t make out due to Kaveh’s words slurring together.

“What is it,” Alhaitham asked as he tilted his head a bit in an attempt to see Kaveh’s face. “Did you want something to drink?”

Kaveh took a deep shuddering breath, shaking his head slightly although he doesn’t look up, his face still buried in his arm. “N-no…it’s the water…” Kaveh said, swallowing thickly in between his shuddering breathing. “It-it’s…not sitting well. It hurts.”

Alhaitham couldn’t help but cringe slightly when he felt a particular bad cramp ripple through Kaveh’s stomach eliciting a low whine from the blonde.

“Do you think you can keep it down,” Alhaitham asked quickly as he looked over to where the trashcan was, in the area where he left it when he’d finished cleaning.

Kaveh curled further into a ball as he gave a trembling shake of his head, practically panting at this point. Kaveh gives an audible swallow before speaking his voice barely above a trembling whisper, “No.”

A wet, sickly gurgling belch rumbles up Kaveh’s throat in the very next second sending a surge of bile-tinged water splattering onto the blankets sounding like rainfall on a tarp.

Kaveh shakily raises his head, his eyes burning with tears as a violent retch rakes its way across his already sore throat.

As the gush of water tapers off, Kaveh is left coughing and sniffling, doing his best to force back his retching and gagging.

He absolutely despised this, these flare-ups, getting sick like this, he absolutely hated it and as he feels Alhaitham’s hand on his back carefully rubbing it he can’t help the sob that leaves his mouth.

Kaveh was so used to suffering through these flare-ups alone so just Alhaitham’s presence is something that Kaveh is thankful for.

“Let it out Kaveh, holding it in like that’ll hurt worse,” Alhaitham told him as his hand ran carefully along Kaveh’s back.

Kaveh whines loudly but does open his mouth, squeezing his eyes shut and panting, tears welling up on his eyelashes as a thread of drool drips almost lazily from his lips.

Thankfully Kaveh doesn’t need to wait long a wet, hiccup has a small trickle of water tinged cloudy with bile splattering onto the mess already soaking into the sheets.

As his gagging tapers off, Kaveh is left sobbing from the exhaustion, frustration, and pain.

Alhaitham continues to rub his back, gently shushing the man. “It’s fine, the blankets are easy to wash after all. You can sleep in my bed for now.”

Under any other circumstances, Kaveh may have protested, may have turned Alhaitham down. But after today Kaveh wants nothing more than to climb into bed and sleep, hopefully through the duration of this flare-up.

#emetophilia #My writing #emeto fic #Genshin emeto #genshin sickfic #sickfic #anime whump #male whump #Who wants a character study in the form of a sickfic #Kaveh is a mess #hurt/comfort #Kaveh has chronic pain hc #caretaking #Alhaitham genshin impact #genshin impact kaveh #alhaitham/kaveh #The hold these two have on me is insane I hate them

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