Chapter Text
“Kaveh, are you really reading those old books again?”
The blonde in question looked up from his work desk at the familiar voice, eyes wide as he quickly snapped a rather large leather tome shut with a soft thud. Gone were the animated pictures of knights and princesses, disappearing in a small puff of glittery smoke that quickly dissipated into the dust floating around the room. Over his shoulder, a familiar figure just stared at him with a hint of mild disapproval in his gaze and his arms folded as if trying to look scolding.
This was their usual little routine, nothing new.
“Alhaitham, you know that this is how I get my creativity back. If this is about feeding the horses or cooking dinner, then do it yourself. I have a pretty large commission lined up from a noble in Kahln, this needs to be perfect.”
Even as his hands had a slight but noticeable tremble to them, Alhaitham only sighed and leaned over to help him take off his hat and cape. Again, this was their usual routine. It didn’t really matter if either of them disliked it, it was the best they had.
Alhaitham gently took the heavy red fabric and the pointed cap off of him, folding it neatly and setting it all aside on the nearest open spot of the wide work desk before immediately moving back to Kaveh’s side. For how large Kaveh’s room in this atelier was, it somehow always managed to be filled from wall to wall with clutter, schematics, paper, and empty ink bottles.
It didn’t help that Mehrak loved to dig around in said empty ink pots either, tracking the liquid all over the house. The little brushbug was already squealing happily too, her little stubby legs and her usually pristine white fur covered in splotches of the black substance as she moved across the work desk to snuggle up to Kaveh’s hands too.
“And yet we both know perfection will not come overnight. Just come down for lunch so I can check the wear and tear for you, and then you can get right back to your project. See? Even Mehrak agrees.”
Kaveh shot his companion a pointed look, but ultimately gave in with a few grumbled curse words and ink smears all over his arms and sleeves as Mehrak settled on his shoulder with a happy squeak.
That’s how they found themselves in the common area about ten minutes later, Kaveh nursing a cup of tea and a potato salad while Alhaitham was reading a book over a cup of coffee and a plate of crab-stuffed potatoes.
“I still don’t understand why we have to eat so many potatoes, you know.”
Alhaitham only glanced up over the rim of his cup, shrugging slightly in response.
“They’re a healthy and cheap vegetable with great nutritional value and minimum effort needed to grow them. If you don’t like it, we do have our transmutation circle in the kitchen to make it taste different.”
Kaveh’s eye twitched right as he was about to eat another spoonful.
“That’s not the point and you know it.”
Alhaitham’s eyes crinkled a little bit in amusement, only visible over the edge of his book. A book on vegetable transmutation, fitting. “What is the point then, senior? Potatoes are perfectly fine to eat.”
“Oh please, and you’re not addicted to crab. At least you have meat options to choose from because you can actually freely leave the house,” Kaveh immediately countered, choosing to forgo his most recent bite of food to instead offer it to a very ecstatic Mehrak. The little brush bug wasted no time in destroying the bit of potato salad, splattering sauce all over the table with a happy squeal.
Not that Alhaitham seemed to mind, quickly moving his book out of the splash zone with a small, halfhearted grumble before his eyes landed back on Kaveh. The man in question quickly lowered his gaze back to his plate as he shoveled down more bites of soggy potato salad at a slightly faster pace now.
“And I keep telling you, you can just come along. No one is stopping you, and I can pay for it.”
For a moment, Kaveh hesitated at the words with his spoon halfway up to his mouth. Something pulled at his expression, and Alhaitham’s own sobered up remarkably quickly as he spotted a tan hand unconsciously shoot up to trace the soft fabric of the choker around Kaveh’s neck. From where he sat, he could see that the bright red fabric was mostly fine and not fraying yet. That was the front though, and it was the back that required his attention. His fingers itched to set his book aside and reach out to trace the small strip of fabric, but that would be too much to ask right now. Kaveh seemed to think the same, his gaze lowering down to his plate where Mehrak was now throwing around bits of food as she ate.
“I think Mehrak is already happy with the potatoes, so it’s fine. I’ll stay here and look after the place while you head into town, as always.”
Neither of them mentioned the fact that Kaveh’s smile didn’t quite reach his eyes, the bright rubies boring into the table as if trying to burn a hole into the carved wood.
The only sound that broke the tense silence between them afterwards was a pretty deep sigh from Alhaitham, who finally snapped his book shut just as he also set down his now empty coffee cup. It made Kaveh jump at the sudden noise, dropping his spoon in a panic and leaving more food to salvage for a very excited Mehrak. Not that Alhaitham cared much, as the little brushbuddy was more attached to his roommate anyways. “I still need to check the counter seal. Do you mind?”
Kaveh blinked at the offer, but this was nothing new. They’ve already lived together like this for a year or so now, but Alhaitham always made sure to ask before touching him. After what happened that night they reunited… It was only fair, really. It’s why he nodded, carefully pushing his chair back and moving to gently pull his hair up with trembling hands while Alhaitham got up out of his own chair to move over to his side.
There was no need to confirm it in words. Alhaitham usually caught on just fine.
That’s why Kaveh only flinched for a moment when cool fingers brushed the back of his neck, carefully moving to untie the knot there that held the red fabric together over a small, round piece of wood. Alhaitham couldn’t see his expression from here, but the tension in the other man’s shoulder spoke volumes. He made sure to be extra careful this time, keeping the wooden piece pressed flush against skin as he quickly looked over the choker itself. The fabric was already starting to fray, some of the ink he had pressed into it to help ease the discomfort of everyday wear starting to fade and smear in places. It didn’t help much that this was one he’d made for Kaveh only last week. His eyes narrowed minutely in concern, keeping his grip on the fabric steady even as some of Kaveh’s hair slipped and fell over the area he needed to check.
“The fabric is wearing thin faster than I anticipated. I will have to head into town to get new fabric before tonight, then,” he hummed, trying to keep his tone even as Kaveh very carefully shifted so he could look back at the other with a stiff nod.
His hands were shaking pretty badly. They might turn to stone again soon.
“That’s alright, I will trust your judgment. As long as you bring back some food, of course.”
It was an attempt to keep the mood light, and they both knew it. After all, the next part of their examination would always be the worst no matter how many times they had to deal with it. Alhaitham only gave a small warning in the form of pressing the wooden piece into Kaveh’s neck a tiny bit more, before nodding.
“Fine, and I will buy you a few new ink pots to make up for it. This might get pretty bad, so brace yourself.”
He could see Kaveh’s small wince as his hands held his own hair more tightly, the soft click of his jaw tightening in anticipation all he needed to hear. Then, it was time for the worst part of the examination:
Taking off the counter sigil to check its wear.
Alhaitham only tapped his roommate on the shoulder as a last warning before taking the pressure off the wood, ripping it away from the skin of his neck as quickly as he could. It almost tore a strangled cry out of Kaveh’s lung at the motion, the spell circle it uncovered flaring to life now that it was no longer suppressed. The curse of the forbidden spell came flooding back almost instantly, the ink burning a blood red, and Alhaitham was only running on adrenaline as he quickly turned over the piece in his hands to look it over as his own blood pounded loudly in his ears.
The seal was fading. He would have to replace it soon, so it seemed his judgment had been right.
It was only Kaveh’s soft sobs that kept him grounded in the moment, quickly pressing the wood back against now trembling skin as he worked to quickly tie the choker back together over it. As soon as it was all back in place and secure, Kaveh all but slumped over in relief as all the tension bled out of his frame like snow melting in the sun. Alhaitham quickly moved around to help steady him, looking over his friend for any damage the short time window might have caused.
As suspected, both of Kaveh’s hands were affected. The patches of stone crawling up from the tips of his fingers stood out starkly against his tan skin, looking almost ugly in comparison. Aside from that, it seemed the legs were also somewhat affected as he spotted several large splotches of stone across Kaveh’s shins and near his ankles.
Worst of all though… there was a large patch all across Kaveh’s face, right under his left eye and having crawled up part way to the bridge of his nose. A few stone tears clattered to the floor, tiny pebbles, the sound harsh and hollow, and Alhaitham’s entire chest felt funny at the realisation.
Kaveh could have lost an eye. It made bile rise up in his throat at the idea alone.
Those bright ruby eyes were staring into his, and he had to resist the urge to choke on a sob of his own. Instead, he carefully held Kaveh close as the adrenaline slowly faded away, and, with it, the leaking effects of the curse. It was a mercy that this was the easiest part of the entire process- all they needed to do was to wait until stone turned back into skin and the pain ebbed away into a dull ache. It should not take long, but the effects could sometimes be seen for a few days after.
It was Alhaitham who broke the silence first, pulling Kaveh’s head to lean against the crook of his neck as he guided them both to sit more comfortably on the floor. The blonde was shaking against him pretty harshly, but it would be okay. They got through it every time, so today would be no different.
“It’s worse than I thought. I will have to look for sturdier fabric, this one wore down too fast and it affected the seal too. I will likely have to find a human tailor for this.”
Kaveh only managed a small shake of his head in return, but the movement alone spoke volumes. He shouldn’t push himself, especially so soon after one of these incidents. It probably meant his roommate would be stuck in bed for a few days and leave all the chores to Alhaitham.
They could manage.
“Just… don’t stay away for too long, okay? There should be a tailor in Kahln, but… it might be better to ask around. Just to be safe,” Kaveh wheezed out in return, burying his face against the cool skin of Alhaitham’s neck in a way they both by now labelled as his coping mechanism after an episode. The warm, almost tingly feeling of the stone patch turning back into soft skin was a welcome one.
“I won’t, I promise. I’d rather get deported back to the Great Hall by the Knights Moralis than to leave you alone for that long. Just get some rest, okay? Your projects can wait until you’ve recovered."
Kaveh seemed to look rather hesitant, one of his hands moving up to clutch onto his roommate’s own shirt as he nodded, a muffled sound of hesitant agreement slipping out between them.
They could manage, they already have for a year. No matter how many more it would take until the forbidden spell was finally gone, they would manage.
…
Kahln was the same as it always was, and that was not a good thing in Alhaitham’s humble opinion. It had a pretty nice view, even if it was just a small island town built around a single watchtower, but it was always so busy and loud and it just made his head hurt. Maybe asking Kaveh to come along may have been a better idea after all, but they’d already agreed on a specific time a few hours from now where Kaveh would open the window way- that is to say, the portal home- for him to get back with everything on their grocery list.
If only he bothered to remember where he could find most of this stuff.
Alhaitham looked over his list one more time as he stopped under a particular lamppost, squinting at his roommate’s frankly illegible handwriting. At this point he was trying to will away an oncoming headache with the amount of noise and people around him and passing him by. The handwriting has only gotten worse too, considering his hands were affected during the checkup. He had to hurry this up, or he would probably find more than just an angry Kaveh when he got back.
Sturdy fabric, new ink bottles, some specific contraption materials he asked for, stationary, and a book or two on fairytales for Kaveh. Cooking ingredients, some meat of his own choosing, a new stack of books from the market, and a new pen for himself.
It’s how his feet carried him down to the main market almost on their own, scanning the colourful blur of people and stalls for a specific head of black hair with large ears and a forest green pointed cap. After all, one of Kaveh’s friends should have a stall around here somewhere. Didn’t he own his own shop here in Kahln along with having an apprentice? Surely a man with fox ears couldn’t be that hard to spot-
“Alhaitham, good evening! I’m surprised you’re out and about at this hour.”
Speak of the devil.
He sighed and turned to the exact man he’d been looking for, who came to a stop next to him under the lamppost with his arms full of boxes. Who knows what could be in those, but he really wasn’t someone to pry. Everyone had their own trade secrets, and he really didn’t want to bother anyways. So he just nodded in greeting, holding up the grocery list with a small huff.
“Good evening to you too, Tighnari. Kaveh sent me to go buy some things because he wasn’t feeling well again. It’s kind of urgent, actually.”
Tighnari blinked a bit in surprise at the straightforward response, but could only sigh as his ears flicked rather dramatically. After all, it really wasn’t the first time something like this happened, nor would it be the last. “Really, again? At this point we might have to hire him an actual doctor if he keeps falling ill, I swear. Just let me see the list, I’ll see what I can do.”
Alhaitham could only shrug, handing the shorter witch the list to read as he angled the paper a bit in the lantern light. It was getting dark already, so that way they wouldn’t strain their eyes too much. As if he wasn’t already, considering all those colourful robes and coloured lights of the market were hurting his eyes.
“It’s mostly stationary from your shop that he requested, as well as some general things from the market. Though I suppose it can’t hurt to ask you for something more specific,” he muttered as the other man nudged the note back into his hands in favour of readjusting his grip on the stack of boxes. Were they really that heavy?
“That’s completely okay, I was on my way to the shop anyways now that most of the daytime bustle is dying down. I can have Collei brew you a potion for your headache if you’d like and we can continue this discussion there. Sound good?”
That is how they found themselves in a small back-alley shop a few minutes later, being greeted by a young girl with bright green messy hair and an even messier bright green apprentice uniform as soon as the door shut behind Alhaitham’s back. Even now, the shop was a very cosy one for where it was situated further away from the central market, the familiar smells of herbs, ink and old paper hanging in the air no matter how many times its owners likely tried to air out the place.
Witch ateliers always had something like that going on anyways, it’s what made them special in human eyes.
“Master Tighnari, you’re back! And mister Alhaitham, good evening!”
Tighnari only sighed deeply as he finally managed to set down his pile of boxes, immediately stretching his back a bit and flexing his shoulders to get rid of some of the strain. Seems like they really were heavy, who knew. Alhaitham just hung back, only greeting the apprentice with a flat “Good evening, Collei,” before making himself at home on one of the foyer couches with a book he fished out of the bookshelves along the way. Tighnari wouldn’t mind anyways.
“Alhaitham had something important to discuss with me, so why don’t you go make some tea? Add in a headache-relieving potion for Alhaitham’s cup. Then you can help sort these boxes and put their contents away. I will brief you on everything later.”
Alhaitham only looked up from his book- one on the handling and raising of pegasi, something Kaveh might be interested in- when there was some movement beyond the rim of the book and he noticed Tighnari sit down on the couch opposite him. Only then did he set the book down, marking the page he was on for later as he set it aside with a sigh. His friend was staring at him with that familiar look the entire time, one of curiosity but also mild suspicion. A common occurrence nowadays, which was why he tended to avoid going to Kahln unless it was an emergency.
“Well?”
Well, way to be blunt about it.
“It’s as I said, Kaveh has not been feeling well again lately and asked me to fetch him some things. Some of his newer commissions required a lot of material we don’t have at the atelier, and he wanted to get back to work as soon as he could get back out of bed.”
He immediately noticed his friend’s tail flick dangerously in agitation, and held up his hands placatingly. His tone remained completely deadpan, even if he was mentally trying not to laugh at the fact that Tighnari had the exact same thought process he had when it came to Kaveh and being a terrible patient. “And before you scold either me for not stopping him or him for not resting properly, I already tried. It’s an important commission that pays well, from a Kahln noble. Those people don’t accept excuses, so we have to push through it until the commission is finished.”
That seemed to do the trick. Tighnari all but slumped into the back rest with a rather dramatic sigh just as Collei came back with a tray of steaming herbal tea and a couple of teacups. She quickly set the pot and the cups down on the table between the couches next to Alhaitham’s discarded book, pouring both men a cup before quickly scurrying off with the tray to put it back and get to work on the boxes.
“Why is it always the nobles that commission him, I swear… Those people don’t even care about his effort and the amount of time and research he put into his projects, all they care about is flaunting his work because he’s a witch. That goes for all of us, actually.”
Alhaitham nodded along, his deadpan look dropping into a mildly concerned frown as he picked up his steaming cup of tea. A lavender and chamomile mix, the exact combination that would help with headaches and stress. He took a small sip of the brew as a test, and hummed softly when the hot liquid actually tasted pleasant on his tongue. Perhaps Kaveh would also like some of this if he got stressed again. He should ask Collei for the recipe.
“It’s why I did my best to stay away from the big cities and the Great Hall. Kaveh needs someone to look after him with his frankly terrible luck in clients, and I’d rather have a quiet place to live than a stressfully busy life. Unknowings- humans- really don’t care about us unless we’re useful to them anyways.”
“You can say that again,” Tighnari agreed almost immediately, his ears twitching rather furiously as he took a good long drink of his own cup of tea. “At this rate we might have to delay our monthly outing because Kaveh can’t make it again. What did you need to talk to me about anyways that concerned him?”
Ah, back to business then. Alhaitham sighed as he set the teacup back in its saucer, setting it down on the table a bit more gently as he fished his grocery list back out of his pocket. Tighnari had already seen it, but it wouldn’t hurt to have it as an extra explanation.
“Kaveh needed something that I have little to no knowledge of, so he sent me to find you and ask since you know most of the shop owners in Kahln on a first name basis. He needed some extra sturdy fabric for a specific commission, something preferably high quality but cheap,” he explained, before reading the list over again and mentally checking each one. Most of these he could get at the market, but some would require further travel and specialty shops. If he had any luck left today, hopefully he should have everything by the time the window way opened back up. Tighnari seemed to notice his focus at least, expression softening a tad. Not that their friend had to know that he was lying about the reason for the need for fabric. After all, Kaveh did still need it.
“A tailor? While I’m not going to question his choice in materials, I do know one who opened up a shop not far from here only a little while ago. Her fabrics and spell weaving are rather high quality, and she’s a hotspot for the local nobility. Just ask around for someone named Chiori, she should be pretty hard to miss. The shop should be near the market square, so that saves you some walking. Anything else specific you need help with?”
Alhaitham shrugged in response, picking the book back up to flip back to the page he’d left off on and going back to reading. Now that the headache was slowly ebbing away and giving him some room to breathe, he could actually focus on the words again. His attention remained on Tighnari still, so he just nodded along.
“He also needed some particular specialty shop items. Mostly metal pieces, gears and crystal chunks. From what he told me about the commission, it’s supposed to be a lighting piece for the noble’s estate. Something about mood lighting and him wanting to base it on the glow of fireflies.”
Tighnari raised an eyebrow at the description, but that was thankfully it. He took another sip of his drink, before quickly shuffling to the side to grab some paper and a pen. “In that case, I think a list of stores, stalls, and names might be more beneficial to you. They’re all located in the city centre, you just need to ask people for the names. It’s not much, but it’s all I could think of on short notice.”
With that, a small list of about ten people was shoved into his hands in favour of his rather interesting book, and Alhaitham could only groan.
For how insufferable needing to interact with people daily was, it was still his fairytale. As long as Kaveh was there with him, it would always be.