Chapter Text
The shamelessness of this man was shocking.
That was all Kaveh could think of as he looked at the slides and listened to the proposal of the man in front of him, Yasser, an important character from the G.U.S, Grand Union of the Sages.
It was unthinkable to even try to demolish the last park in the city, it would be disastrous, at this point it was obvious to anyone who entered Sumeru City that the air was nearly unbreathable. Taking down their last fresh air resource was scandalous, somehow this project passed the various safety procedures, and was given enough budget to get to him.
— Yassir, sorry to interrupt, but I'll have to deny this position — It was immoral, capitalistic, completely immoral, though he couldn't bring himself to say that to his face. He was brought back from his internal dispute by Yassirs voice.
— I have looked at your past record of jobs, I understand that you deny any job that you seem to see unfitting in your morals? — He started moving through the big conference room, which looked so empty with only the two men inside, until he got to the opposite side of the table, the side Kaveh sat on
— I don't believe that is the best strategy to implement for the better of your career mister Kaveh. Your work is immaculate, but I'm afraid that responsibility and flexibility are important factors in your line of work — It made him so disgusted to hear that, he wanted to scream at the man's face for his clear attempt to mock the architect
— I'm afraid that my designs are work I feel a great passion for, and my views are important for my drive to complete that work — he thought that his words would clearly convey his rejection to the offer he has proposed, clearly he thought wrong.
— Let me make this clear for you mister Kaveh, either you do it, or we will find someone else, this project will be completed whether its designed by you or by someone else, so why not do it yourself? —
— Well, if you put it like that, I guess you should start making a better power point to convince the next architect you show this to — he stood up from the chair and walked out of the room, doors closing behind him.
Once he stepped out of the room he marched out of the building as fast as a person could get out of a 20 floors high structure.
He walked through the city in auto pilot, noting small architectural mistakes throughout his path. The buildings seemed to go as high as the clouds, cold lights shined everywhere, and the big lights in the billboards strained your eyes as every single advertisement in the street was trying to catch your attention all at the same time. The sky was nearly impossible to see, covered by the buildings, and the thick air that was covering all the blue in the sky.
Before he knew it he was in the front of his flat. He rustled through his pockets and after a few seconds of searching he grew irritated. Alhaitham must have taken his keys. Again. Seriously, the man wasn't even able to keep track of what he took with him when he left?!Every time this happened they ended up fighting over who was to blame (which was clearly Alhaitham), but today he didn't feel the energy to fight, so he resigned himself to press the call button to their shared apartment and waited.
After some rings the light in the calling pad turned green and he looked at the camera. Without even speaking a word he heard the sound of the door being unlocked and he stepped into the lobby, got into the elevator and got out on floor number 3 and walked towards apartment number 3.
He stopped to knock on the door, but at the first hit the door opened on his own, clearly unlocked.
When he walked in it was like going into a different world, the carefully decorated living room greeted him, all the lights were warm toned, and the beige couch matched perfectly with the light brown carpet and wood floors. Kaveh worked really hard to make this apartment a little heaven, a resting place from the constant bright and neon lighting on the outside. Even the horrible paintings that Alhaitham decided to hang on the walls couldn't ruin his masterpiece.
He immediately crashed into the couch feeling drained. The meeting went horrible, he really just was unable to take a job so morally unjust to the people. He really needed the money, he had rent to pay, and materials don't come out of thin air. But it would have to be another job because that one was just out of the question.
Just as he was about to reach for the TV control, a hand came and snatched it before he could grab it. As he looked up he saw Alhaitham with his usual nonchalant expression — you forgot your keys again —.
After a while of receiving no answers he pushed Kavehs legs off the couch and sat down.
— ¡Hey!, you can't just push me around! you could have asked first, you know? —
he looked at him unimpressed and continued to aggravate him by saying
— Why would I need to ask you to get off the couch first if I paid for it? —
Kaveh looked at his roommate like he had just grown a second head
— it's called basic courtesy, though I doubt someone as stubborn and tactless as you would get it — with that he walked out of the living room towards his room and threw himself on the twin bed.
Before he knew it he fell asleep, which usually meant a dreamless night, it was like that every night, to every person in Sumeru. But today something changed.
One minute he was in his bed and the next he was standing in a white void of literal nothingness. He walked around for a while, but the space seemed to have no end. Until he heard it, a scream, it sounded muffled and far away, but he heard it. He turned around and ran towards the voice.
He felt like he had run for hours, but he finally saw it. It was a little girl with white hair, she was sitting in a weird chair with tubes strapped into her arms, legs and head. When she saw him her eyes changed with recognition and with a last plea for help he opened his eyes and heard his alarm clock ringing at his side.
He tried his best to go on with his day normally and to not think about that dream.
So he got out of his bed and tried to prepare a decent breakfast. He took his mondstat coffee maker, it was one of those old models that were used manually on the stove, and he fell into the motion of making breakfast easily, he was often the first one to wake up out of the two, so the responsibility often fell on him.
Once the toast and the coffee was ready and put on the dining table he took his mug and went back into his room, this time he sat down at his drawing table and put his coffee mug on the coaster next to him.
His mind started to wander, thinking about the dream. It was truly uncommon for someone in Sumeru City to have a peaceful sleep, even less to dream. It was the sort of theories one could only hear about in those weird dark corners of the akasha system. You would have to actively search for it to come across information like that.
He quickly grabbed a pencil and started to draw what he remembered about the dream. The little girl, her white hair that was long enough to reach the ground, and her green eyes looked distant, like there was too much going on in her head. The whole health factor of her was in shambles, she had dark circles, and he was sure that if he had managed to grab her hand he would have been able to feel her bones.
The place itself he couldn't remember but the wires connected to the metal chair the little girl was on seemed to trail back to the backrest.
All of a sudden an alarm started to sound on his head, and an akasha pop up appeared on his vision, it read “Greenhouse visit”, which meant that if he didn't start running out of the house right now he would get a severe scolding form Tighnari.
Gathering all of the greenhouse renovation blueprints he ran through the hall into the living room in which Alhaitham was already sitting down and finishing his breakfast while reading a book.
He looked up from what he was reading for a second and then kept reading as Kaveh ran past him through the door.
As he ran through the narrow streets, lightened up by the neon lights and the nearby shops. He had to make his way through the crowd while apologizing to those he pushed.
When he finally made it to the location he could only admire one of his masterpieces. The last greenhouse in sumeru, it was built at the top of a 10th floor building designed to catch as much light as possible, though it was only possible because it was located in a more rural area with lower buildings.
The design was one of the ones he enjoyed the most while making it, Tighnari was a good client, he was clear and concise about what he expected, but left enough leeway for him to add personal touches.
He entered the building and went up the elevator to the top floor. Once he got to the top he stepped out ant took in the sight, There were all kinds of plants in the garden, some gave fruits, others had flowers and some had none, they were well taken care of, and in between the leaves you could see a young man with lustrous dark green hair and a pair of fox ears.
When Tighnari turned around and saw Kaveh he smiled
— Kaveh!, I'm so glad you made it in time, you were taking so long that i got worried, I was nearly about to call Alhaitham to see if you had overslept — Kaveh walked over and hugged Tighnari
— Please don't, I already have him breathing over my shoulder about my sleeping schedule because i make quote-unquote too much noise at the the fuck am, I don't need him having more reasons to nag me about it — Tighnari dropped his smile, already knowing what was coming next, though that fact was left unnoticed by Kaveh as he kept on with his monologue
— I mean, there is no way that lofi music can wake someone up after 12 pm, he is truly unbearable, he actually had the audacity to criticize my coffee maker the other day, something about not liking how it made the coffee taste, if he didn't like the coffee he can start buying another brand, its not my fault he keeps buying the same fucking brand all the time, he is the one in charge of the grocery shopping. Anyways, where is the place you wanted me to see, show it to me and I'll be out of your hair before lunch — he smiled.
Tighnari frowned
— why don't you take a seat while I bring something to eat? — he motioned to an old gazebo placed in the middle of the garden.
Now it was Kaveh’s turn to frown
— Didn't you want to make some changes to the greenhouse? —.
— Well, yeah, but am I not allowed to want a chat with my friend too?, it's been ages since we sat down and talked, lately you tend to be so exhausted bay all the work your doing — Kaveh felt bad, because it was true, he was so focused on finishing his designs that he left most of his friends hanging, so he gave in
— okey, okey, what do you have to eat? —.
Tighnari smiled when hearing those words, and turned to start walking over to the small door at the corner of the greenhouse
— I'll go check out what I have in the kitchen, you wait here —.
So Kaveh did, he sat down at the gazebo and started to look out of the glass walls. He sat in silence for a while, thinking bout his friend, about how just after seeing him he realized how much he had missed him.
While waiting his mind couldn't help but wander back to the dream he had, and the little girl and the terrible image that was now engraved to his head, he may have never experienced a dream first hand before that one, but he was pretty sure that the memories of one didn't tend to remain in ones mind as long as this one.
The girl looked so small, and terrified, just thinking about it pulled at kaveh´s heart strings. Was that what dreams did?, were the dreams that past sumeru citizens used to have?, terrible images that made them dislike the idea of falling asleep?, if so he was glad for their extinction.
He was about to ask the akasha system for information when the sound of metal hitting stone made him re-focus on what was in front of him. Tighnari had just put down a metal tray on the table, i it was a bowl of fruit salad and to glasses of wine.
— Wine in the afternoon?, i thought you said it was "bad for the mind and the body" — said Kaveh as he picked up his glass.
As Tighnari sat down on the stone chair across from him he looked up and smiled — Yeah, well, seeing you so unfocused and on edge is bad for my heart and health, so I will allow it once —.
And with that they started discussing the renovations, among other important things, like the missing packages in kaveh´s building, and the newest update in the public post couple drama.