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#al haitham fics
kiryoutann · 1 year
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𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐍 ☆。*。☆ [ALHAITHAM X FEM! READER]
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Warning(s): suggestive content at the end (no smut, though).
Genre: romance, modern! au, university! au.
Word count: 5,5k.
Blurb:
It's not a secret that Alhaitham is the most competitive and has great pride. But, what happens when you start 'stealing' his precious first rank from him? Alhaitham comes up with a plan; he will approach you, make you helplessly in love with him, distract you and steal his first place. Who would have imagined, though, that it would backfire on him?
Inspired by this post.
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The clear sky stretches over the campus buildings. Birds were singing in appreciation of the cloudless and perfect weather. On the green grass of the park, college students chat while carrying the drinks they bought at a nearby kiosk. Everything about today said it was going to be a good day.
But not for Alhaitham.
The man was infamous for never smiling (though he believed they were all exaggerating since he had smiled once—when Kaveh slipped and fell into a pool of rainwater). His eyes always convey the impression that he is better to everyone, as evidenced by him usually occupying the top positions on every weekend exam. Usually.
No one would have believed that those eyes could be sharper than before while his lips were in deep gloom staring at the board where the ranking results were presented.
(Y/N) (L/N)
Alhaitham
His tongue clicked in annoyance. He has long known you’re a threat, proven when his professor also mentioned your name and the title of your research as 'good and well organized work’ in front of the class. However, Alhaitham didn't think you would actually succeed. Maybe he's been underestimating you all along.
A voice that sounded like a crowd of people talking and approaching made Alhaitham step aside, guessing whoever those people were going to look at the wall board. At first, he was going to keep standing there—with all his annoyance while staring at his name next to number two—but, one of them said something and made him freeze before turning his head.
“Hey, (Y/N)! You’re in first place!”
Pretty good way to sprinkle salt on the wound.
“Really?”
Enthusiasm is lacking in your voice, as if you had expected this—as if you had expected that Alhaitham would be number two, right below you. He stares at you reading the ranking results, then you turn to look at him, not intimidated.
The wind blows, your hair dances in the breeze, and Alhaitham is preoccupied figuring out what the smile on your lips means. While his rational mind says you're just trying to be friendly, his petty mind believes you're making fun of him. Alhaitham wasn’t going to believe the latter until you opened your mouth to say,
"Well, so we're now rivals?"
Rivals. Ha.
A scoff left his lips. “Funny." he started. "The last time I checked, for two people to be rivals, they have to be on the same level."
Instead of irritating you, his remarks widen your smile. "You're right." You glance at the board, your name is still emblazoned at the top. "Obviously we're not like that."
It was obvious you were mocking him, and plus, did you just boomerang his own words? Alhaitham inhaled through his nostrils. If it weren't for your friends waiting for you two to finish exchanging 'conversations', he would have continued this until you gave up having the last say.
“Enjoy it while it lasts.” Alhaitham said.
"Totally. We're going to a sushi restaurant after this. Wanna join?” The smirk on your face widens, or is it just him?
“You’re shameless.”
"And you’re still second."
Alhaitham refrained from continuing. "Have the day you deserve, (L/N)." He said, then turned to leave. If you're thinking about giving him another 'smart' comment, he sincerely hopes that you'll literally bite your tongue.
“I’ll be having a good one then, thanks!”
It takes all the patience inside of him not to turn back and get back at you. Alhaitham clenched his fists. Next week will be different, this must all just be down to your luck or he didn't take yesterday's test seriously. Alhaitham vowed not to let that happen again and was confident he would regain first place.
Next week was much the same.
The first thing Alhaitham did when he arrived on campus was walk quickly to the information board, where last week's exam rankings were displayed with a group of students reading them. He made his way through them to get a better look. There it is, first place with your damn name on it. He's still second. He is. Still. Second.
Something is definitely wrong. A small difference in score separates your rankings which frustrates him even more. He has been in first place for two years, and he doesn't need anyone to break that.
"Two weeks in a row, (Y/N)." Someone behind him commented.
Someone—you, he guessed—chuckled. “That study group really paid off.” You said.
Study group? He thought. Alhaitham was about to make his way out of the scene quietly to avoid you but, when a gasp escaped you, he knew you had found him.
“Alhaitham, hi!”
That's the most sickening hello. Alhaitham turned his head to look at you, who were beaming at him. It must be satisfying for you, watching him stand here in the same glum after reading the ranking results. He is still second and you know it too.
You looked back at your friends. “We’re going for fast food this time. Wanna join?” Alhaitham did nothing but glare at you. ".. Or do you want to join next week?"
You're pretty confident to say you'll still be first. This luck lasts only two weeks, and if it turns out to be more than that, Alhaitham will find a way to ruin it—just like you did to his first ranking streak. He really likes challenges, loves competition. But, it was now at a point where it was an embarrassment.
He chose to turn around instead of responding to you. He'll reclaim his first rank.
Next week has come with everything that makes his patience dripping off.
When Alhaitham opened his messaging app and downloaded the PDF a classmate had sent him, his stomach churned in uneasiness. He watched the loading circle complete then pressed it quickly with his thumb. Turquoise eyes swept across the title—something he had never done before but now he did to buy time before lowering his gaze on number one and—
“Damn it!”
The entire bus turned their heads to the grey-haired. They looked at him with judgmental eyes, some thinking he had lost his mind (like most college students do because of their endless assigments). Alhaitham paid no attention to any of that. He was too busy swearing mentally while rereading your full name.
What the hell is going on?
Alhaitham is desperate. He was desperate for an explanation as to why the first place had slipped out of his hands. These two years, everything was fine; then what made him 'fail' like this? He closed his group chat and turned off his cell phone while preparing to get off at his stop. However, the question kept repeating itself in the back of his mind.
At lunch time, he walked into the architecture department cafeteria—four buildings away from Alhaitham's. He wouldn't have bothered to approach Kaveh—who was sitting at one of the cafeteria tables with the cheapest meal he was about to eat—if he hadn't needed a second opinion. The second those red eyes landed on him, Alhaitham watched his face change as if.. he had lost his appetite?
Regardless, Alhaitham kept walking and sat in the chair across from him. The crease between Kaveh's brows deepened.
"What do you want?" Kaveh asked, grumpily.
"I need your opinion."
The blonde crossed his arms across his chest and leaned back in his chair. "What?" He gave Alhaitham a quick once-over before smirking. “Wow, never expected the day you would beg for my help."
“Opinion, not help. I'll decide if it's helpful or not later.”
Kaveh—not feeling like arguing today—still made sure to exhale loudly enough for him to hear. “Whatever that keeps you out of my face." He stuck his fork deep into his food hoping it was Alhaitham instead.
Alhaitham fell silent in his thoughts. He was stroking his imaginary beard while thinking of ways to say it without telling him straight that he was in despair. If Kaveh knew someone beat him in the rankings, he would make fun of this. He didn't need that added to his plate.
"Something was stolen from me." He said carefully.
Kaveh raised one eyebrow before digging back into his food. "That's your problem?" He watched Alhaitham nod. "Buy it again. Problem solved. Now get off my table.”
"This isn’t something that can be bought."
Kaveh rolled his eyes. “Aren't you supposed to be the smartest? You ruined my precious lunch time.” He held his tray before standing up, about to switch tables. “Just steal it back. Done! You're done, right? Don't bother me. I've a little time before dealing with that lovesick guy Childe."
Steal it back. Lovesick.
Alhaitham had heard how complicated love was—a blessing and a curse, say those who had. He doesn't really care about people, but he does meet a bunch of friends who don't show up for meetings because they're busy dating (he ends up crossing their names off assignments, don't worry).
Steal it back. Lovesick.. Something clicked in his brain. That's it!
A new determination ignited and burned. He stood up from the cafeteria table with a smile, a sharp contrast to the state he was in when he entered it. The birds were fluttering their wings under a clear sky. This time he would take that as a good sign.
Today will be the start of his grand plan to approach you, date you, and infatuate you to the point where you’re so distracted with him that you once again come in second, as it should be.
It started after the last class of the day.
Seconds after the professor picked up his laptop and documents stating that class was over, Alhaitham immediately moved to approach you (who luckily sat alone in the absence of your usual friends). He watched you tidy up your books, your notes and all the colorful highlighters. One rolls over to the edge of the table and he catches not only that but your attention.
“..Hey.” You say hello, giving him a skeptical look before looking back perhaps he's here for someone else. After confirming that it was just you, you proceeded to ask: "Can I help you?"
Right. You two aren't exactly on good terms, so his sudden approach will no doubt make you feel uneasy. Alhaitham took a silent breath, feeling the air fill his lungs before he opened his mouth to say, "We need to talk.”
What a wonderful choice of words. Your lips curved into a faint smile as you stuffed your books and notes into your bag.
“So demanding.” you comment. "Are you always like this?"
Alhaitham has always lived with the rational side of his brain, so it's not a problem for him to control his emotions even though he has many words to reply to your clever comments. He stares at you, having the chance to notice the color of the irises under those curled eyelashes this time; he probably would have liked the color if not for the rivalry between you two.
"The other day, I was rude to you." He started, his own words piercing his pride. "I'm here to apologize to you."
You hummed in response, "Hmm, then let me hear it.”
Alhaitham fumbled around in his pocket. You see him set a bar of chocolate down on the table. A wrinkle forms in the middle of your furrowed brow. Your eyes return to his turquoise one, it reminds you of the gemstone described in the textbook you read last night.
Even though it felt better to bite his lip than to say it, Alhaitham really had no choice but to speak it this time.
“I’m sorry.”
"What are you sorry for?"
Something flashed in his eyes before it disappeared. Alhaitham was making a best efforts to keep a straight face, but as soon as he noticed how your smile became wider, he realized you were using this as an opportunity to play him.
"For being rude."
You nodded, still looking dissatisfied. "And why were you being rude?" The laughter at the corner of your throat was harder to contain when you saw his lips starting to form a glum shape.
“Do you really need to ask that?” Alhaitham protested.
"I need to make sure you're sincere."
A sigh escaped his lips. "Haah.. fine," He then continued, "Perhaps I was irritated because I was one rank below you." His badly damaged dignity would require a lot of time to mend.
Luckily it’s enough for you. "So, is the chocolate for me?" You glanced at the table where the chocolate bar was still sitting. It's from a brand you love but, never had the chance to buy again because it's quite expensive. Either this is just a coincidence, or Alhaitham also likes it or he has done a background check on you.
“I'm just going to put it there. It's none of my business if you eat it or not." He said.
Alhaitham could have worded it more politely—more kindly. He regretted saying it in his way, thinking you would react negatively to that. However, when his ears catch the sound of someone's laughter—yours—his eyes widen as he stares at you taking the chocolate from the table.
"Has someone ever said you have a weird way of talking?"
Someone has. Kaveh.
You waved the chocolate bar in your hand. "Apology accepted, as well as the chocolate." When you smiled at him, he wasn't irritated by it this time.
"I'll see you around." You’re about to walk away.
“Wait.”
You stop walking. Turning to the gray-haired, you looked at him with curiosity. Alhaitham moved his gaze to you. From this angle, you can see why he's secretly loved by many. With sharp eyes, lips that never smile, and a defined jaw; you wonder why he never thought of becoming a model instead of coping with college life. Probably the same reason as you.
Alhaitham turned his back on you completely. "You haven't found a partner for Professor Aabid's observation assignment yet, have you?" he inquired.
You unconsciously nodded, "That's right." you said before reflecting about his question. “Why do you—“
"Be my partner."
“.. What?”
Alhaitham crossed his arms over his chest. "Is there a reason for you to refuse?" he asked.
"No, but why me?" You shake your head.
"Because I don't have one either." He answered casually before smiling faintly. "Besides, I think we'd be perfect pair, don't you think so?"
Perfect? You think 'hellish' is more appropriate. A few days ago, you two were at each other's throats fighting for the first place, and now what? You really can't believe Alhaitham labeled you both as ‘perfect’ partners. He's working on something under his sleeve you know.
Alhaitham saw your doubt. "Shouldn't that convince you?" He glanced at the chocolate bar.
You followed his gaze and chuckled. “So it turns out this is a bribe."
"It could be."
"Ha! You're up to something, I can feel it." For a second, you swear you saw his eyes widen and he turned pale, but it could have just been your imagination. "But whatever, I'm game."
Alhaitham had an arrogant grin on his face. “See you at Monday then.” He didn't even deny it, only then turned his shoes on walking towards the exit.
You didn't miss a single detail when you told this to your friends. See? It's not just you who feels weird about his sudden change in attitude. Your girls warned you to be careful with him, some told you to change partners—speculating that he might be trying to abduct or kill you, adding your tragedy to the long list of criminal cases that are made into documentaries on Netflix. You doubt it though.
Monday came like in the blink of an eye. Or maybe your weekend was so much fun that you forgot you partnered with Alhaitham.
The second he landed his eyes on you entering the room, Alhaitham cleared his throat. He had spent the weekend finishing ten romance books to find out what makes someone fall in love fast. Today was the day he put it all into practice. He will claim his first position soon.
Maintaining eye contact.
"Hey." You greet him, take a seat next to him, and place your bag at your feet. "How was your weekend?"
"It was fine." Alhaitham replied.
You give a brief nod. He's still looking at you, giving you a chance to take in more detail of his eyes. It not only had a turquoise color, an amber hue surrounded its pupils. College life has not left any traces on his flawless skin. You won't deny that he was given a gift in the form of handsome face.
Alhaitham was still staring at you, as if you were an alien. Feeling uncomfortable, you look straight ahead hoping he will do the same.
Fourteenth second and he's still at it, you're starting to think you have something in your face. You take out your phone, open the camera app and find nothing. Maybe he wanted to ask something? You return to Alhaitham to confirm.
"Do you have anything to say?" you ask.
Alhaitham blinked then replied, “Sure.”
Sure? You don't know how to respond to that. "What do you want to say?" You rest your cheek on your palm.
"Just.." Alhaitham tried to remember the next step.
2. Touch them more often.
Alhaitham stretched out his hand quickly. A second later you feel warmth slightly touching the skin of your ear. He just tucked a strand of your hair away from your face. Alhaitham just tucked a strand of your hair away from your face. Maybe he's a perfectionist, disliking messy things like your hair that you rush into ponytail for fear of missing the bus. But, you really didn't expect this at all.
"Uhh.. thanks." You force a smile, shifting slightly away from him.
Maybe it's true what your friends say about him planning to kidnap you.
Meanwhile in his mind, Alhaitham mistook your wary demeanor as shyness. He suppressed a smile. He had doubts about the usefulness of the romance books, yet they paid off. It won't take you long to slip into his trap.
Professor Aabid's classwork is more difficult than one might imagine. Fortunately, two weeks were given to complete it. You and Alhaitham often meet to discuss paper material, which later leads to visiting your house as a comfortable place to work on it. Weekends with your friends are replaced by being with him. Books and laptops are now preferred over late-night karaoke.
A pen was placed on the carpet. You take a deep breath before stretching, feeling relieved after relaxing the tense muscles caused by your sitting posture. Alhaitham approached the table and set two mugs on the floor table.
You smell the sweet scent. "What's this?" You take one.
"Hot chocolate." He replied, drinking his own.
One of your eyebrows is raised. "Not coffee? Are you sure this won't make us sleepier?” you ask.
Alhaitham put down his glass which is now half down. "The only way to get rid of exhaustion is to sleep. Just go to sleep if you're tired; I'll continue the next page.” He pulled the laptop closer to him.
 “Really? Are you saying that to sound nice or do you really mean it?”
"Stop asking stupid questions." He fixed his eyes on the laptop screen.
You straighten your sitting posture. “Oh, come on. Can't you just smile or laugh once?” you protest.
Alhaitham's fingers stopped typing. A line he remembered from one of those romance books flashed in his mind. The third step to make someone fall in love: smile more often.
You see him turn to you, lips curling into a smile. It complimented him well, really well. His hand stretched out. But this time he wasn't aiming for your strands or your ears. He placed his palm on the top of your head and ruffled it gently.
"Go to sleep. I’ll wake you up later.”
Yes, Alhaitham thought. This should be enough for her to fall—
His train of thought was interrupted when you took his hand and cupped it in front of your face. Thumb moved in a circular manner across his calloused fingertips. Compared to his, your skin is incredibly warm. Are you flirting with him? Before Alhaitham could have his answer, he watched as your lips curved into a smile wide enough to lift your cheeks.
"Okay." you answer. "Would you be fine alone?”
Alhaitham quickly and abruptly pulled his hand away. He immediately pretended to be focused on the laptop, his one free hand hiding his lips behind it and muttering: "I told you to stop asking stupid questions."
Another laugh from you and he doesn't like how his heart reacts to that. It was beating too fast, too different from normal. He knew he had no history of any illness, so why did his chest feel warm? He compared its warmth to your hands just now, and now he ends up thinking all about you.
You slept on the couch behind him. Alhaitham remained with his laptop and open book. Between you two is silence and a troubled heart.
The day before the deadline for submitting Professor Aabid's class assignments, the drizzling rain turned heavy. The usual clear sky was replaced with dark clouds that came in to block up the afternoon sun. Some students voiced their complaints, and others opened their umbrellas to flee. They concluded today would be a bad day.
Two people ran in an uneven pace beneath the man's black jacket. In the midst of the puddles that spread across the campus grounds, they no longer care if their shoes end up dirty later. You closely hold onto your freshly printed papers for fear that the rain will hit it and cause the ink to smear. Meanwhile, Alhaitham puts a hand on your shoulder guiding you to take shelter under the roof of one of the biology department buildings.
“Phew!” You let out a sigh of relief after checking your documents were safe.
Alhaitham glanced at you. "Are you alright?" He asked, worry was in his voice, but you failed to notice.
“Yeah,” You held up the brown envelope high. “the envelope got wet but, the rest was fine.”
"I asked about you, not the documents."
"Oh." After saying that, you let out a laugh—one that made Alhaitham hold his breath hoping it would stop the warmth that was seeping into his cheeks and chest. “It's just rain. The worst-case scenario is when I wash my shoes later."
Now that you mention it, those turquoise eyes can't help but steal a quick peek at your dirt-stained white shoes. He checked his and realized that it wasn't as awful as yours—possibly because the materials you two had were different. Not only that, he also realizes the size differences between your feet and his.
"We can always go to the shoe wash." Alhaitham suggested.
You seem interested in the idea. "And go for ice cream after?"
A smile automatically crawled onto his face after hearing that. He's been smiling a lot lately. "Sure." He replied, watching you squeal with joy.
The heavy raindrops were still falling onto the ground. Although the wind wasn't very strong, it was enough to cause shivers in people who had previously been drenched. Alhaitham noticed it in you. He swiftly wrung his black jacket and draped it over your shoulders.
"What about you?" you ask.
Alhaitham shook his head. "I can manage." The lie came out smooth. In reality, you catch him repeatedly rubbing his hands trying to keep himself warm.
So you took his hand, too suddenly and unexpectedly. He watched you bring it to your lips, felt the touch of your warm breath on his skin. His heart missed a beat. Something stirred in his stomach and Alhaitham didn't like one bit of it. He picks up a lot of details about you—from how your lips curl while you blow another warm air on his fingers to the strands of your wet hair tickling your cheeks.
The first step to make someone fall in love: maintain eye contact.
For some reason, he had a hard time doing it now. Every time he made an effort, his heart would continue to race and his hands would feel the need to have you beneath his touch—in his arms. His eyes will first go down your cheek, nose, and cupid's bow before settling on your lips. Shimmering lipgloss around your lips. Maybe one day he'll be able to taste it?
Alhaitham's thoughts stopped. What kind of desire just grew in his chest?
The smile that you’re now carving doesn't help the situation either. It came like a sea of roses, and Alhaitham didn't even like roses. But, if it looks like you—smells like you; then the thing he wanted to do was dive into it and never surface again.
Oh, now he understands.
Whole lines from the romance books he had read for his grand plan came back like boomerangs. Instead of making you fall in love, he fell in love. Instead of stealing back his ranking, he ended up being the one who got stolen.
This kind of feeling... he didn't know what to do with it.
Before Alhaitham could find the answer, the rain had died down. You turned around with a happy face, releasing his hand slowly (he wished he could still feel your skin on his). Your voice says about turning in assignments early, perhaps Professor Aabid will be kind enough to give you some extra credit. However, what Alhaitham can focus on is your figure stepping under the rays of the sun slowly coming out of the clouds that has finished its misery.
Alhaitham is conflicted about today. His feelings was left unspoken.
You did not show up to campus the next day. Alhaitham was at the front of the class when he received your message saying that you were sick and unable to attend class.
The old Alhaitham will take this opportunity to return to being the best in class and not give you any notes from the lecturer's explanation. The new Alhaitham has already started turning his shoes and sprinting towards the exit while he's fiddling with his cell phone sending you a message that he'll be here soon.
When he arrives at your apartment door, his index finger presses the bell button in agitation. Did you get sick from the rain?
When the door swings open, Alhaitham immediately scans you. Slightly messy hair, flushed face, hoarse voice as you call his name and ask why he’s here. It seems you were sleeping, so you didn't read his message. Regardless, Alhaitham made his way inside after closing the door.
"How are you feeling?" he asked.
"Shouldn't you be in class?"
"I left."
Your ears are deceiving you, right? If not, then what is the reason that made you hear Alhaitham say that he left the class? You glance at the digital clock not far from the kitchen and find it's too early for class to end.
"Wait.. did you just skip class?"
Alhaitham stopped fiddling with the medicines he bought after hearing your question. Silence fell between you. You think he'll never answer until he opens his mouth to say, "Maybe."
You sneeze before asking, "Are you serious?"
"I heard you got sick. So here I am."
Alhaitham answered too briefly for you to think he did this for no reason. After placing the meds on the counter, he rushes into your kitchen (as if he owns it). You were still standing there in silence—still unable to believe what was happening. He comes up to you with a glass of water.
"I bought you soup, in case you haven't eaten."
"So you're saying that you ditched class just to come here?" you ask.
A sigh escaped his lips as he turned around like he was avoiding something. "Still talking about that? Isn't my answer enough?" He replies too softly requiring you to concentrate a little more to hear him; your plugged ear doesn't help either.
"Yeah, I'm bringing that up because the Alhaitham I know will take this opportunity to beat me." You walk quickly towards him. "And you're acting weird right now, you know."
Alhaitham turned to you, and you swear your heart skipped a beat when you found something different in those turquoise eyes of his. You're not really sure what, though. The height difference makes you slightly look up to stare at him back. You don't know since when you took every detail of him, but you can't miss how his Adam's apple bobs when he swallows out of... nervousness?
Alhaitham? Nervous?
Whatever it is, it's starting to affect you as well.
Alhaitham stares at you, pausing at your lips before returning to your eyes. “Are you going to make me say it?” His voice was soft, as if he was reading a secret love letter.
Now it's your turn to swallow. “.. Say what?”
"That I like you."
In that second, your breath caught. Your eyes burn from not blinking, but you're too frozen in place to do that. Your jaw is slack. His words have a way of warming your heart, or is it the gaze he still gives you? Beautiful turquoise color.. which is now only focused on you as if you were the only thing ever made in the universe.
“.. What?”
“I like you.” He repeated without complaining.
Now that he has said it more clearly, you can't help but stare at his flushed cheeks. You know exactly yours aren’t much different from his. Did Alhaitham really just make a love confession? To you, out of all the people? Confusion has taken over your mind. You blink a few times to make sure you really aren't dreaming. Alhaitham just made a love confession. To you, out of all the people.
In contrast to the flushed cheeks and the awkward silence he maintained, Alhaitham stood with his usual stoic face. Your lips opened without a word coming out.
Alhaitham took a breath. "It wasn't planned." He took the opportunity to add. "I.. didn't expect it either."
So what he's trying to tell you is that falling in love with you wasn't part of his plan? You swallowed again, your throat quickly drying. It's as if he's saying that whatever it was you did to make him fall in love, it was enough for him to become lost in his own ambitions. Your chest is warm—ten times warmer than when the warm chocolate he made flows sweetly.
"Maybe I should give you an explanation. I don't want to cause any misunderstanding—no, I don't want you to misunderstand me.” Alhaitham sighed before continuing, “You must have realized from the beginning that I didn't approach you by chance or simply to apologize. Now that I've said it, you should be able to figure out what my failed plan was."
You smiled awkwardly, “.. My guess is you plan to make me fall in love with you and distract me for first place, but maybe it's just me too—”
"That's right. How did you know?"
His turquoise eyes were even more beautiful when they enlarged, as he was doing right now. Your laugh caused his cheeks to turn redder. “Well, those sweet gestures doesn't exactly fit your personality. And I swear I heard a few lines  similar to those in this one romance book I read."
Alhaitham smiled faintly. "Guess I shouldn't waste my time on all of that, huh?"
Another laugh escaped your lips. "Do you regret it now?" you ask.
"Regret what?"
“Do you regret falling in love with me?”
Alhaitham blinks, two seconds later gives you a shake of the head. "Oddly enough, no, I don't regret it." He shook his head again. "I don't regret it at all."
You take two steps forward. “Good,” you said, tiptoeing up to his face. From this distance, those turquoise eyes looked more beautiful. "Because I wouldn't be helping you with your pick-up lines if it weren't for me."
One push and your lips were on his. He kisses back, placing his big hand behind your head to deepen the kiss. Your fingers find a way to crawl on his broad chest covered in his tight shirt. Without breaking the kiss, he moved closer to press you against the kitchen counter.
You're the first to let go for a breath and say, “W-wait, I have a cold. What if you—"
A quick kiss to silence you. "Don't worry, I bought us a lot of medicine." He said, voice deep and husky.
Alhaitham took off his denim jacket, threw it carelessly and kissed you again—this time more passionately. He directed his lips to the crook of your neck. Your legs hooked around his waist as you feel his breath on your skin.
He plans to steal, but instead ends up getting stolen. But, that's fine. He will gladly let you steal whatever from him, so go ahead and do it.
Check out more of my post: WRITING COMMISION. GENSHIN IMPACT MASTERLIST.
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earthtooz · 8 months
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x : NOT JEALOUS ! :*+゚
in which: alhaitham isn't jealous, he doesn't get jealous, so what is this suffocating feeling in his chest that only happens when you're talking to another man that isn't him?
warnings: 5.4k words, jealous!alhaitham x gn!reader who has loads of rizz, university!au, fluff with angst but happy ending, pining!alhaitham who doesn't realise that he loves you, kaveh is there, mention of cyno, ooc at some bits?, swearing, alhaitham is a little bit of an asshole at some parts sawry. he's bad with feelings.
a/n: inspired by @danijaci's jealous jealous boy comic with alhaitham! hi dani if you're reading this pls don't perceive me... hides... but i hope you all like it :,)
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Alhaitham isn’t jealous. 
The uncomfortable feeling obstructing itself in his throat is just because he’s beginning to develop a sore throat- that’s all. It is flu season after all, who knows what kind of bacteria are in the air? Ones capable of lathing an uncomfortable oil that burns inside his chest, the smog crowding its way into his heart, sickening him to his core as Alhaitham can’t help but eavesdrop on the conversation happening beside him.
“I’m free friday,” a voice besides you confirms.
“Okay!” you cheer, sounding a little too happy for Alhaitham’s liking. After all, it’s 9 am, who has this much energy in the morning? “lets do Friday then!”
“Sounds good, I’ll see you then. Bye Y/n.”
“Bye, see you!” Alhaitham watches from the corner of his eye as you wave to the random stranger you’ve decided to associate yourself with before finally taking the seat beside him with a sigh. 
He doesn’t say anything to you, feeling your eyes glance at him expectantly as he stares stubbornly at the lecture board instead of acknowledging you or the jumble of feelings clogging up his diaphragm. 
“Hello, you,” You lean over slightly, careful to not invade his personal space whilst waving at him, hoping to catch his attention. He glances at you, nodding in greeting before returning to his book, the pages and rows of words only fuelling his unease he suddenly felt. He doesn’t even know where he left off, the book’s events a blur in Alhaitham’s mind.
How bothersome. What’s happening to him?
“Talkative today, aren’t you?” Your tone is playful despite his cold attitude and Alhaitham sneaks another look in your direction, noting the way your lips curve upwards. “So, how are you?” 
“I’m fine,” he murmurs, inserting a bookmark between the pages before slamming it shut, an indicator that you could keep conversing with him.
“Cool.” You tap your nails on the desks of the lecture hall. “Oh, I finished my essay the other day.”
“The one for your elective?”
You hum in agreement, “I hope I never get it back. Submitted it ten minutes before the due date.”
“You know you wouldn’t have been stressed over it if you just started it earlier-”
“I know, I know,” you huff, “spare your productivity lectures for another time, I’ll be needing them later in the semester.” The grey-haired shakes his head as you laugh, but his gaze returns to the front cover of his book as he solemnly thinks about the interaction you had with another man, right in front of him. 
(What right did he have to see you smiling so earnestly like that?)
“Who was that?” Alhaitham coughs out, barely choking down his pride in time to make space for the question.
You murmur some guy’s name that he doesn’t bother to remember. “He’s a friend of mine in the same discussion group for this course and we decided to do the assignment together. He bumped into me on the way in so we were just planning when to meet to do the research.”
“Oh.” Your answer doesn’t calm the churning in Alhaitham’s gut. Not even one bit, in fact, it makes it worse. 
But it’s not jealousy, Alhaitham doesn’t get jealous because he’s above petty feelings of inadequacy. He’s merely concerned for you, worried for your brainpower by the end of the project because your partner seems less-than-incompetent. If you’d picked someone like Alhaitham (or better yet, just picked Alhaitham), you would’ve aced the class without even blinking an eye. 
(The two of you are friends, so why didn’t you pick him? It’s literally been proven that the two of you are compatible working together since you were both executives of Sumeru’s Cultural Society, and amidst all of the activities the club has run, you’ve collaborated many times to make each event run flawlessly. So why not him? Why would you pick another man over him?)
“You know you could have picked me, I wouldn’t mind working on the assignment with you,” he grumbles, words soft but very clear.
Alhaitham misses the way your eyes widen in shock as apologies scramble out of your mouth. “I’m sorry! I automatically assumed that you wanted to work on it by yourself. Next time I’ll ask you.” 
The lecture begins before he could say anything in return and like a robot, he sets his thoughts aside and begins listening, notes document up and cursor blinking at the ready.
A mundane two hours pass by, one powerpoint slide after powerpoint slide before the lecture is finally over, much to your pleasure. Alhaitham notices the way you eagerly jump out of your seat to stretch, grabbing your bag. On the other hand, your grey-haired accomplice takes his time in packing up, forcing you to wait for him.
“Would you like to get some coffee before the meeting?” You ask.
“Sure, we can find a seat there and join it together,” he adds and you beam at him, expression bright and so enchanting that it makes him forget about all the perplexities he felt before the lecture. 
The two of you make your way to one of the many campus cafés where you practically wrestled Alhaitham to stop him from paying for both your orders (losing in the end) before sitting at a booth, your laptop set up with a pair of Alhaitham’s earphones shared between you. The meeting begins to fill up with almost all committee members, even Kaveh, who resides in his room of his and Alhaitham’s shared flat. Upon noticing him, you go to text him, with the grey-haired peeking over your shoulder from time to time to see your conversation- not that he cares that much.
(Perhaps if Kaveh glanced up from his phone, then he’d see how close Alhaitham had gotten with you, breaching the distance that he prefers to keep around others. He’d also notice the headphone sharing despite how he generally tends to keep them out of anyone else’s hands.)
You’re tasked with the role of taking notes for the meeting since Alhaitham, in your opinion, is not at all a reliable scribe. His notes tend to just include vital information and never what everyone else needs to know, yet each time you scold him for it, his unbothered expression never falters, waving your complaints off with a shrug. 
“Hey, Kaveh and I are going to go for lunch tomorrow after our classes. Care to join?” You ask, smiling at him hopefully as your messages with Kaveh sit open on your screen. Alhaitham doesn’t think twice before agreeing. 
── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──
“It looks like it’s about to rain,” you murmur, pulling out a chair as Alhaitham and Kaveh take their seats opposite you. 
“So it does,” Alhaitham notes, not caring to look too long out the window before returning his gaze to you. “You have an umbrella, right?”
“I, uh, didn’t think I needed one today.”
“Do you not check the weather before you leave?”
“Not everyone’s like you, Alhaitham.” Kaveh teases. “It’s no problem, Y/n, if it rains I can walk you back to your dorm.”
“Only if you are okay with it,” you insist, “I have no problem walking home in the rain. I love the rain.”
Alhaitham intervenes with a raise of his hand. “Nonsense, you’ll catch a cold. We’ll walk you home.”
A soft but genuine ‘thank you’ slips from your lips, neither of you wiser to the way Kaveh eyes his roommate suspiciously, not missing the use of ‘we’ in his sentence and the implications the collective pronoun has. For it meant that Alhaitham is willing to take precious time out of his day to perform an act for someone that he is not indebted to do. Not that Alhaitham is inherently selfish, per se, but he is a man of routine. He wakes up every morning and takes five minutes to scribble on his stupid whiteboard in the kitchen what he has to do for the day and strictly abides by it, not even straying two minutes off schedule.
Willingly volunteering his minutes? Kaveh finds that suspicious. 
“So, how’s your architecture assignment, Kaveh?” You ask, breaking the blond from his daze whilst Alhaitham pours glasses of water for the table, starting with your cup. 
“A nightmare,” he sighs, sinking into his chair. “I still have so much to do, you know my professor didn’t like my blueprint? How ridiculous! I hope that man steps in a puddle and wets his sock.”
The grey-haired pipes up with a remark. “I can’t wait for it to be done, our living room is a mess right now.” 
“Hey, I am the one that cleans that living room, thank you very much. Your bookshelf is still a mess even though I’ve asked you to clean it five times.”
“If it bothers you so much then why don’t you do it yourself?”
“I’m the only one who-”
“-I’m going to go to the bathroom,” you murmur, cutting the conversation before shuffling out of your chair, seemingly eager to do so.
Kaveh turns to the grey-haired again, “and you just scared away Y/n.”
“Sorry no one wants to hear about your architecture project.”
“Y/n literally asked, asshole.”
A rebuttal sits on the tip of Alhaitham’s tongue- as it always does when it comes to bickering with his roommate, but it dies out when an intruder comes to the table. “Excuse me, I hate to interrupt,” he begins, “but the person who just got up, is that your friend?”
“Yeah, why do you ask?”
“Oh, I just wanted to drop this off, mind passing it over for me?” The piece of paper he was holding lands in Kaveh’s hand. “Thanks, bro.” Is all he says before strolling away, out of sight but definitely not out of mind.
The blond does not hesitate to open it up, chuckling in amusement when reading the content. “’Hey you’re cute, here’s my number’ it says. What a bitch! You didn’t like his vibes either, right, Alhaitham?”
“Hold on, what does the note say?”
Grabbing (snatching) it from Kaveh, the grey-haired has half a mind to rip the note apart, a certain sense of distaste washing over him that intensifies the long he stares at the guy’s handwriting. His eye is twitching. Why is his eye twitching?
“Hey!” He hears Kaveh call. “Don’t scrunch it, that’s Y/n’s-“
Alhaitham stuffs the ball of paper into his bag where he’ll recycle it later even though something irrational within him tells him to burn it. “Y/n won’t miss it. You said it yourself, he’s a bitch.”
“Sure, but why are you doing-“
“Hey!” You interrupt, sliding back into your chair with a grin on your face. “So, what did I miss?”
“Nothing,” the grey-haired murmurs, assuming his crossed-arm position. Kaveh side eyes his roommate before agreeing with a hum. “Let’s order something now. We want to beat the rain, right?”
── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──
This meeting for the Sumeru Society might have been one of the most important ones of the year thus far, with almost every committee member expected to attend. After all, the annual ball was a big event that always had the largest turnout, and the amount of planning that goes into it to ensure its success is almost triple that of its other events.
So why weren’t you here?
“Why did you leave the meeting early on Friday?” Alhaitham asks as soon as he sees you.
You pause briefly, eyes widening and eyebrows raising. It must have been the way that Alhaitham’s voice raised a pitch towards the end of the question, demonstrating a nervous break in character that was not at all typical. Cool and collected would be the defining words to describe Alhaitham, as well as someone who does not care for the menial activities of others, so what is he doing asking you? And why does he care so much?
“I, uh, had dinner with someone,” you confess, continuing to grab your books and laptop, missing the way his features contort into something un-cool, and very un-Alhaitham.
“Whom?”
You murmur the name of some other guy, who he vaguely recalls to be your project partner.
“What?” Alhaitham snaps.
“I didn’t think missing out on some of the meeting would be a big deal! I got another committee member to explain what I missed,” you justified. “Besides, there’s no big events going on right now, so I thought-”
“-That you could abandon your tasks and go have fun with someone else?”
Alhaitham’s not really sure why he said that. He’s not angry that you skipped a meeting; there are larger things in the world to worry about, he’s angry because you spent time with another guy that wasn’t him.Why not go to dinner with him instead? He spends it every night with Kaveh, and you are far more favourable than Kaveh.  
“Is it really something to get mad over? I already told you, I got the meeting notes and everything-”
“-You’re an executive of the society, Y/n, more is expected from you.”
“Seriously?” you ask, “how come you didn’t bat an eye when the vice president wasn’t there the other day?”
“Because she was sick.” 
“Okay, fine! what about the subcommittee? they’re not always there either!” 
“They’re subcom. Whether they miss a meeting or not is not crucial.”
“So, it’s just my business that you care about?” You ask, eyebrows furrowed, disbelief clouding over your expression like a mask.
Again, Alhaitham doesn’t know where these punches are coming from and why he’s throwing them against you so viciously, but his heart is tightening defensively with a burning emotion that he’s been feeling more and more recently, and his first instinct is to lash out, to protect himself from it.
Perhaps it’s because foreign things that he can’t understand terrify him and you, all you ever do is make him feel things that he’s never felt before and he can’t understand why. 
“You’re not that special.”
A flash of hurt gleams in your eyes and Alhaitham knows now that he’s royally fucked up. “You’re an ass,” you grumble, about to walk away when he intercepts.
“Listen to me!”
“Fuck off!” 
“Y/n-”
You’re gone before he can get another word out, retreating figure stomping away whilst his chest weaves into knots; something that no amount of deep breathing can calm. It doesn’t help that the minute he returns home, Kaveh is onto him like some sort of parasite, curious over the tense air surrounding his normally-composed roommate. 
“Hey, welcome home- whoa, what’s gotten into you?” The blond asks.
“None of your business,” Alhaitham grumbles through gritted teeth, taking his shoes off and throwing them aside haphazardly. Kaveh doesn’t miss the way Alhaitham’s jaw is clenched, or the strain in his hand when he brings up a hand to run through his hair, or the very subtle and minute twitch in his cheek.
The blond ignores all signs that he wants to be left alone, and instead, follows the grey-haired to his room after he swung the door open. 
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on, let’s talk about this-”
“Talk about what?” Alhaitham growls.
“Who pissed in your black coffee today?” 
“No one. Now get lost.” 
“Aw, come on, you know what they say. Getting things off your chest is always beneficial.”
“There’s nothing on my chest, go away.”
“You sure? no stress, no deadlines, no love interest making you tear your hair out-”
“-No, no, none of those!”
“Then what?”
Alhaitham steadies himself by resting his elbows on his thighs, hands clasped together as he exhales loudly. “I got pissed and took it out on Y/n, who’s mad at me now.”
“Huh? Why so annoyed?”
“Because Y/n went to dinner with another man.”
It’s silent for a while. The sassy quip that he expects from Kaveh does not happen. Instead, the blond merely smiles, a satisfied, knowing grin that slightly irks him. “You know, I’ve been waiting for the day you realise you have feelings for Y/n.” 
“What? Where did you get that conclusion from?” Alhaitham sits up straighter. There are a lot of things he knows, and he knows for sure that he does not like you in any way beyond platonic. He doesn’t have any time to spare for love. There are scholarships he still needs to apply for, internships to be interviewed for, research projects to submit- nowhere amongst the minute hand of the clock is there space for love. 
“Oh come on,” Kaveh sits down on the bed beside his roommate, leaning back on his hands. “You’re not as smooth as you hope to be sometimes.”
“I’m serious, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Y’know the sooner you accept you have feelings for Y/n, the easier life will be.”
“Life is already easy and there is no sooner because I don’t like Y/n like that. Now get lost. I have stuff I need to finish.”
Kaveh shrugs, standing up with a soft ‘suit yourself’, taking seven steps before he’s out of the room. Alhaitham lets out a sigh that has lodged itself in his throat for too long, and the feeling of reprieve he gets is short-lived before he’s flooded with a certain tightness again. Maybe he did have a weight on his chest after all, not that he’d ever admit it to himself or Kaveh.
He gets up from his made bed with a grunt and decides to push aside all distractions. Time is unforgiving, and if doesn’t finish his assignment by this Friday then he’ll be a little less than pleased.
── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──
Alhaitham feels like he can’t breathe. 
You’re sitting alone at a library desk, all focused and concentrated on your laptop screen with your headphones on, blocking out any outside voice as you type away. He wonders if he should say hi, maybe try apologising for the way he acted last Monday- who is this guy that’s approaching you and why does he look so familiar? 
And why are you smiling so happily?
You beckon to the seat beside you and the guy readily complies, taking the chair beside you like he belonged there, like there weren’t other candidates that should be there instead (he’s not talking about himself. definitely not).
He hands you one of two coffee cups he’s holding. What kind of right does this guy have to give you a coffee? Does he even know your order?
He feels like a bit of creep keenly watching you interact with someone else from a balcony of the library, but the book and laptop in front of him lies forgotten, and in a rare moment of weakness, Alhaitham can’t find it in himself to return to his tasks, pursuit of knowledge momentarily forgotten. He can’t push aside the bile that threatens to rise, he can’t loosen his grip on the couch’s armrest, and he can’t blink for a second in fear of losing you from his sight.
(You’re laughing. Why are you laughing? How can you look so pretty laughing and why doesn’t he ever get to make you laugh like this?)
Alhaitham is losing his damn mind. So much so that the first thing he does when he sees you again is corner you. 
“You shouldn’t talk to that guy anymore.”
You’re backed against the brick walls of the time-worn building that your shared lecture always takes place in, and Alhaitham, spotting you like a hawk, put you in this precarious position as soon as the two hours were over. 
He can’t breathe. It’s been almost three weeks since you last spoke to him and you’re staring up at him like you’ve done nothing wrong, blinking once and twice at his uncharacteristic display of subtle aggression. 
“Who?” you mutter, shaking your head to try and grasp reality once again. you hug your laptop closer to your body. “What’s this about?”
“I said you shouldn’t talk to that guy anymore.” 
“What guy?” 
“Your project partner.”
“Really?” you mutter in disbelief.
He nods, teal eyes shining at you firmly. “Really. The project’s over, you don’t need to talk to him anymore.” 
“I don’t recall ever giving you the right to dictate who gets to be in my life or not, just like how you can’t tell me what to do with my time.” 
“I’m looking out for you, so stop trying to make me sound tyrannical.” 
Your mouth hangs open as you furrow your eyebrows, growing more and more frustrated with each second. So much for thinking that he wanted to resolve the awkwardness between the two of you. “I’m not even going to argue with you,” you murmur a quick ‘jerk’ under your breath before brushing past him. 
Alhaitham, however, is not willing to let you go as easily as you wish, quick to chase after you. Not that you go far anyways, turning around to face him again in the spaciousness of the vacant hallway. “Why do you care?” You ask, exasperated. “You’re Alhaitham, you don’t let trivial things like who I hangout with bother you, you’re cool and collected and rational, and I just don’t understand why you’re acting like this.”
He doesn’t understand either, not the erratic beating of his heart, the stubbornness of his mind, nor this undisputable urge to keep you all to himself. Is it normal to want to hide someone for selfish reasons?
Trailing off, Alhaitham is slightly humiliated that for the first time in his life, someone has witnessed him coming short of an answer. No logical conclusion, no explanation, not even a satisfying quip, just plain, suffocating silence.
“Right. When you do have an answer, let me know.” You walk away.
── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──
Your last rebuttal still weighs heavily on Alhaitham’s mind, even two days later as he and Kaveh are seated for a lecture in a shared course. His thoughts are scrambled like never before, the messiness of it all making him feel uneasy because for once, he doesn’t have an appropriate answer to a question.
Why was he acting like a temperamental teenager? What you did with your life was up to you, and indeed he has no right trying to change that. More importantly, why was it so hard to apologise for the stuff he said-
“So, how’s everything between you and Y/n?” 
Kaveh turns to him with widened eyes whilst Alhaitham’s poker face doesn’t move an inch, deceivingly apathetic.
“Good, we’ve been hanging out a lot more recently,” the other guy says, who Alhaitham quickly recognises to be your project partner and distaste rises in his stomach like bile. 
“Aye, good for you, man! So when are you going to ask Y/n out?”
“No way, bro, not yet. I’m such a wimp, but I hope I grow the balls to ask soon because I really like-”
“-looks like you got some competition!” The blond nudges Alhaitham, and if it were anyone else, they would not have glanced twice at the grey-haired who seemed unmoving and uninterested. However, Kaveh is not anyone else because he noticed the darkened look in Alhaitham’s eyes instantly, anger seeping into his composed gaze as his nose scrunches in disgust. 
── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──
“So, you and Alhaitham still aren’t talking?” Kaveh asks, leaning on the table of the restaurant with curious ears, hoping that he can grab some answers out of you as to why there was a stalemate between you and his roommate.
“Nope,” you sigh. 
“Why not?”
“I’m just-” you pinch the bridge of your nose, “I’m just waiting on an apology from him.”
“An apology? Why? What did he say?”
“He didn’t tell you?”
“You know how he is. Always insufferably secretive, so no, I don’t know anything that happened.” 
“Alhaitham just said some hurtful things to me, and he was being weird when I told him I was going to dinner with a friend of mine. Just kept being in my business.”
“Really?” The architecture student quirks a brow, confusion plastered on his face. “That’s not like Alhaitham at all.”
“I know, right? He kept trying to be like ‘don’t hang out with him’ and ridiculed me for not playing my part as an executive of the Sumeru society,” you complained, “like sorry I have other things I want to do.”
Kaveh nods in understanding as the conversation briefly stops when the waiter comes to drop off utensils at your table. As soon as they were gone, however, you begin again.
“And even though he was all up in my business, trying to tell me what not to do, he then said that I wasn’t special, which is so confusing because like-”
“-hold on. Alhaitham said that you weren’t special?” You nod at his parroted claim. “To him?” 
“Yeah. Stung like shit when he said that, especially since I thought we were friends but guess not,” you murmur sadly, fiddling with the fork.
Later that night, almost immediately after meeting you over dinner, Kaveh barges into his roommate’s room, not even changing out of his outside clothes. The sudden intrusion shocks Alhaitham who was busy typing on a document, textbook splayed open beneath him but momentarily forgotten as the blond takes a seat on the bed.
“What the- not even a hello?” The grey-haired asks, confused by this uncharacteristic silence of Kaveh’s. It’s pretty normal for the blond to barge into his room without notice, but it was not normal for him to be so quiet, practically brooding on the mattress. “Whatever. Where have you been? Have you eaten yet, because I made-”
“When will you just confess to Y/n?”
The mention of your name causes a spike in Alhaitham’s heartbeat and he swivels around instantly, attention fully directed towards his roommate. “Where is this coming from?”
“Y/n told me everything that happened between you two by the way-”
“-what, when?”
“Tonight, we just met for dinner.”
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“What would you have done if you knew? Showed up and made things worse?” He doesn’t say anything in retaliation, merely shutting his mouth and furrowing his eyebrows. “Why did you say that Y/n wasn’t special to you?” 
“I didn’t,” Alhaitham sighs, very loud and very perplexed. “I didn’t mean for it to come out the way it did.”
“Don’t you miss Y/n? You two used to hangout so often.”
“I do, of course I do!” He exclaims, burrowing his face in his hands. 
“So why aren’t you apologising?” 
“Because whenever I’m around Y/n, I’m not who I normally am,” he mutters, “especially everything whenever that project partner is around-”
“Jealous, much?”
“I’m not jealous.”
“Oh come on, you’re ridiculous. Stop pushing away your feelings and just be honest with yourself, Alhaitham! Y/n is not just a friend to you and you know it.”
“But, we are just friends-”
“So you mean to tell me that if I hung out with someone else- like if I hung out with Cyno, you would be pissed?”
“What? No, of course not.”
“Then why is it different with Y/n?” Once again, Alhaitham doesn’t have an answer to the question, sitting as still as a statue hunched over his desk. “Fine, I’ll spell it out to you. You like Y/n, more than just a friend!”
The silence leftover from Kaveh’s outburst is tense and full as the grey-haired lets the words sink in. 
“I’ll let you think about it,” the blond murmurs, voice softening dramatically as he stalks out of the room. Before he closes the door, however, he leaves a few final words. “Just- be honest with yourself, Alhaitham, and I wouldn’t delay trying to talk to Y/n.”
A sharp click rings through the room.
Alhaitham is no stranger to being alone, for who needs the company of others when you are happiest by yourself? Yet, in the weeks that you have not been speaking to him, a cardinal urge as been growing each and each day, wanting him to do something so atypical of him: to reach out and make the first move. Every passing day doesn’t lessen the thoughts that plague his mind, rather, they make him more and more impatient, because what if you get swept away by your project partner? 
(What if he’ll be too late? What if you won’t know of these powerful emotions that are steering through the storm in his heart? What if you won’t know just how badly he was been wanting you- wanting to see you, wanting to apologise, wanting to see you beam at him like you always would.
What if you won’t know that he adores you, especially now that he’s figured it out?).
── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──
A rain droplet falls and lands on your nose, another lands on your forehead, then another lands on your lip then more and more keep falling from the cloudy sky, falling through the leaves and landing on the bench you were currently sitting on. Goodness, you should have checked the weather before leaving your dorm. Why was it now out of all times that it had to rain, what would Alhaitham think after he finally decided to reach out to talk?
Taking your phone out to message the grey-haired about relocating, an umbrella is suddenly held over you, stopping the gentle drizzle from falling onto you. Looking up, you’re greeted by a familiar face that you have been missing too much recently.
“Hello, you,” you breathe, voice gentle and quiet and Alhaitham feels like he can finally breathe after so long, the scent of rain washing away all perplexion.
He nods at you in greeting before offering you the bouquet of flowers he was holding. A gorgeous arrangement of pink of white stare prettily at you and a man even more gorgeous expects you to accept it.
“For me?” You ask.
“For you.”
“Thank you, they’re so beautiful,” you take his gift with gentle hands, holding it close to your chest. 
“I want to apologise,” he firmly states, getting straight to the point; very Alhaitham of him. “For treating you the way I have been recently.”
You beam at him, so bright and so gorgeous that it renders him speechless, a feat pretty difficult when it comes to someone like Alhaitham who has a whole dictionary of words, in multiple languages too. Somehow, they all flock out of his mind the second you smile at him.  
“I accept your apology, thank you for reaching out, must have been hard for someone like you, huh?” You tease, standing up from the bench.
“Well, I had do for someone as special as you.” The grey-haired’s voice is deceivingly confident and assured, but you know better, especially when he looks away to hide his expression with his neatly styled bangs. 
“No need for the flattery, you know, I’ve already forgiven you.” There’s a moment of silence that occupies the air, caused by Alhaitham’s hesitation as he fishes his brain for the courage to ask you out. You speak before he can get a word out, however. “I got asked out the other day.”
“By your groupmate?”
“He has a name, you know, but, yeah. I rejected him, though,” you laugh awkwardly, almost like you were trying to cope with it by playing it off. “Did you know that he would do that?” 
“Yes. I did.”
“Is that why you were so adamant on me not hanging out with him?”
“I guess you could say that. We can talk more about it another time,” he tells you, voice gentle and caring to mask the subtle hit of jealousy he feels in his chest, scolding himself for letting someone else confess to you before him. However, it’s a minute sensation in comparison to the triumph Alhaitham feels knowing that you rejected the other party. 
“We have a lot to talk about, don’t we?”
“We do, but I want to ask you something first.” 
You nod, hugging the bouquet closer to your chest, anticipation heavy in the air as you spur him to continue. 
“If I asked you out, would you reject me too?”
A mere second passes by where you don’t respond, yet the second stretches out to what feels like eternity as Alhaitham’s stomach churns. Patience is something he doesn’t lack, but how can he be patient when his heart wants you so bad? 
Then, you take his hand, and the heavens sing at the feeling of your hand in his. “I wouldn’t, but are you asking me out?”
“Are you free right now?”
“I am. Why?”
“Let’s go out then. On a date.”
“I'd love to.” You rise up to place a lingering kiss on his cheek, one that has his heart racing with joy rather than frustration.
The smile you earn is gentle, shy, but says more than Alhaitham's words ever can.
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9K notes · View notes
chichikoi · 4 months
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jealousy, jealousy (?)
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synopsis: asking them for someone else's number. pairing: diluc, childe, al haitham, wriothesley x gn! reader fandom: genshin impact genre: fluff warnings: mentions of cheating, insecurity(?) a/n: my first smau :o definitely have something big planned, but this is me trying. hahehwehwjehjehe.
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bonus: kazuha !
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sixosix · 7 months
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(OFFICIALLY) SWEPT OFF YOUR FEET
i. summary in which everyone knew you were in a relationship, except for you.
ii. warnings wc 1.5k, profanity, reader will be angry: couple fight scene but not really, alhaitham is kinda dumb here, but he loves you and you love him and that's all that matters, ending is kinda lame... ft. tighnari and cyno
iii. written for my big sibling @earthtooz hope u like this one earf ily
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“Hey, Alhaitham?”
He hums noncommittally.
You nestle further in his arm that’s draped lazily over your shoulder, his other hand and his attention occupied by a book. He doesn’t respond again, but he does glance at you for a moment while you shift, adjusting his arm more comfortably.
“Tighnari sent me a letter the other day.”
“Hm.”
“And it was real sweet, you know. He sent over fruits and told me you have your share in my package. He didn’t want to send them to you because he said the fruits would have expired by the time you’d read the letter.” Alhaitham doesn’t deny it. “But I read something extremely strange in the letter that had me dropping the fruits out of pure shock.”
Alhaitham still doesn’t reply. But you know him well enough to know that he’s no longer reading—just keeping appearances.
“Did you read it?”
“...No.”
Obviously. “Ah, well. Let me quote it, as I feel the need to share it with you as well.” You sit up straight and push Alhaitham’s book away from his line of view. “He said, ‘For the insufferable, lovely couple. It’s been a while since you two have visited. How are you and Alhaitham doing? Write back soon.’ And then he taped a flower.”
Alhaitham’s mouth twitches into a half-smile. “You look miffed.”
You scowl. “Alhaitham, of course I’m miffed! Since when were we a lovely couple? And why are you not surprised? Were you the one to prank them?”
“No one’s trying to fool anyone,” he says smoothly, picking up his book once again. As if he just hasn’t caused your crisis. “Tighnari is simply being a good friend and looking for something to nag us about.”
“Alhaitham, since when were we a couple?” you demanded again, shaking his arm. “Did I miss something? Did I wake up one day and forget about being in a relationship with you?”
“Haven’t we always been in one?”
“No, we have not?”
Alhaitham casts you a glance. “You sound unsure.”
“Because you seem so sure of yourself for no reason,” you fume, itching with the urge to hurl the book at his face. “I didn’t even know you were even into me like that!”
“I let you kiss me on the cheek every night before you leave my house. Sometimes, you don’t even leave my house, so we sleep on the same bed.” As if that explains anything. And did he fling out these reasons to Tighnari, too?
“Well, I do it because I’ve been doing it since we were, like, six. And you never told me to stop. Plus, it’s just a cheek kiss—that’s way different from an actual kiss actual couples do,” you say, getting increasingly infuriated with each word that’s coming out your mouth. Why do you have to explain how relationships work to Alhaitham? Surely he’s read a guide about love in the millions of books he’s touched?
“I don’t see why you wouldn’t start kissing me the way couples do, then.”
Oh, this bitch. “So you knew that I liked you?” Your voice wavers, and you feel a little pathetic. “And that’s what prompted you to start spreading lies to everyone? Is this some joke to you?”
Immediately, his expression is swept off of amusement. “Y/N,” he says as you feel your lips tremble. “Y/N, that’s not—”
“Shut up,” you say. “How long has this been going on? Since when have I been outside of the biggest inside joke, huh?”
“It’s not like that. I thought—”
“Oh, you thought, didn’t you? Yet you didn’t think I don’t want my feelings to be played like—like—” You can’t even bring yourself to say this. You know that Alhaitham can be mean when he wants to be, but making a joke out of the feelings you’ve desperately hidden for years?
“I need to leave.” You’re not sure why you feel the need to announce it. Was it because you rarely even leave his place? Each step feels wrong. You don’t want to be mad at Alhaitham to this extent but you’re hurt.
You ignore Alhaitham’s hurried, “Where are you going?” because you don’t have an answer to that. Wherever you go, you always end up in Alhaitham’s arms.
You forcefully push the door open and march off, head spinning, humiliated. You hear Alhaitham’s steps fall into place after yours. It’s pissing you off even more that Alhaitham doesn’t even look the slightest bit frazzled, as if you impulsively sprinting off is just a walk in the block for him.
Then you spot Cyno in the middle of a street. He catches your wrist before you can avoid him.
He blinks, mildly surprised to see it’s just you and not some food stall thief. “Y/N.” Cyno tilts his head slightly to acknowledge the man a few feet away from you. “Alhaitham. Is something the matter?”
“It’s nothing!” You don’t question why or how Cyno is here, shoving him aside—which proved to be a little difficult given how he’s pretty strong for such a tiny man.
“You’re crying,” Cyno points out as you try to push him away as if you aren’t aware of how your face feels uncomfortably hot and how tears are sliding off your cheeks.
“It’s a marital dispute,” Alhaitham says, directly behind you.
His voice makes you scowl. So infuriatingly sexy, and you’re mad at it. “We’re not married!”
Cyno nods, serious. “Yes, I only heard about the engagement.” At your stunned silence and Alhaitham’s reluctant stillness, Cyno clears his throat and steps aside. “I suppose I’ll leave you two to it. I don’t know how relationships work.”
You groan as Cyno walks off, “Great, so even Cyno thinks we’re a couple. Who’s next, Lesser Lord Kusanali?”
Alhaitham looks away. “Well—”
“Oh, fuck off.”
Your wrist seems keen on being dragged around by men today, it seems. Alhaitham firmly tugs at your arm, pulling you close to his chest, his gaze intensely searching yours. But all he would be able to see is your scowl. And all you can see is his handsome face.
“Y/N,” Alhaitham says, your name in his voice a sweet murmur. “I’m sorry I upset you. I didn’t think you would react that way.”
“What, you think I’d just roll with it?” you spit with dripping bitterness.
“Yes.” You're taken aback as you gaze at him and find his expression to be entirely genuine and open. “We fell into a friendship so easily. I fell in love with you the same way: naturally. I thought…” And then his usually blank face twists into something unpleasant. “Forgive me.”
“Alhaitham, you idiot. You bastard. Do you have any idea how relationships work?”
“No. All I know is how to be with you.” He wipes a tear off your cheek. “But it appears I’m not even doing that right.”
“Fuck you.” You bat his hand away. His face falls. “You don’t get to act all sweet to me like that. I spent years thinking you would never see me that way, and you get to decide one morning that we’re in a relationship, just like that?”
“You’ve liked me for years?” Alhaitham’s eyes are a bit wide, totally missing the point.
“Alhaitham.”
“I ask you out every dinner. And you say yes each time.”
“I didn’t think you meant it like that!”
“I did mean it like that,” Alhaitham says, and again with that ‘so sure of myself’ personality. You hate it. You love it. “And I meant everything I’ve ever said to you like that. I didn’t tell anyone anything; they just assumed on their own, and only then did I realize how it did seem that way. It was my selfishness that didn’t try to deny their assumptions.”
Alhaitham’s usually so difficult to speak to, especially when it comes to expressing his true emotions. You often find yourself filling the silence, and he seems content with it. However, he appears desperate at this moment, as though you’re planning on leaving if he doesn’t give you a reason to stay.
You are too weak. “So you like me.”
“I do.”
“…And you want to… be in a relationship with me.” Alhaitham nods. You're beginning to feel flustered as the realization sets in that the man you've always dreamt of is holding you intimately in the middle of nowhere, and also confessing that he feels the same way. “Ask me out properly, then.”
Alhaitham looks at you incredulously. Did he think it was over?
“Do it, Alhaitham. Woo me. Win me over. Sweep me off my feet.”
“...Y/N,” he hesitates, his face tinted pink, vaguely embarrassed. “Go out with me. In that way.”
It sounds demanding and clumsy, but it’s perfectly Alhaitham, so your heart beats out of your chest and your face splits into a grin all the same.
You wrap your arms around his neck. “If you’re gonna be my boyfriend, you’re going to do it right, you hear me? You won’t just let me do anything. And you will start—officially—tomorrow by telling everyone that we are not engaged nor married.”
Alhaitham dips his head down, your chin trapped by his fingers. “We will be, eventually, though. And I can just start now. Officially.”
Your confusion doesn’t last for even a second when his lips meet yours in a kiss. You’ve been wooed. Won over. Swept off your feet.
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earth i hope u know it took me months to find a good plot for your man this was a feat in itself. also i copy pasted your tags love u.
also if u caught the title while it was called swept over your feet shut up…. Please. this didnt have a title originally 🙁
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blueparadis · 1 year
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❝ HONEY D[R]IPS ❞ + AL-HAITHAM
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+. CWs —» fem!sub!reader x service dom!al-haitham; virginity kink, size kink, praising,edging, orgasm denial, overstimulation, marking, oral act. word count — 1kish.
+. PRECIS —» al-haitham never imagined he can be tamed by a fragile creature like you.
+. NOTES —» there is a little bit of kaveh x reader & also al-haitham x kaveh cuz i refuse to seperate them. I'm in love their ‘chaos in the calm’ dynamic. totally not losing mind over him && you can read my works via NAVIGATION LINKS.
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Fragile; that was the word that flashed through his mind when al-haitham first laid his eyes on you as you walked into his life like a dashing wave on a lonely shore wrecking havoc in his mind, body, and soul.
Al-haitham hated it; the unknown feeling amongst his ribcage that made him hear his heartbeats loud and clear, even in the hubbub of a crowd. He is a man of few words unless Kaveh isn't around. Somehow Kaveh manages to create ripples of annoyance in his peaceful mind and it weathers his patience, day by day.
On the other hand, Kaveh tries his best to avoid getting so worked up upon Al-haitham's stimulation yet he can not seem to turn a blind eye to the fact that al-haitham is undeniably quiet in her presence, in your presence. Kaveh was delighted to find out that at least once, he could have the upper hand if al-haitham were to really disrespect him, or hurt his feelings. It did not turn out as he thought it would be.
When Kaveh noticed that Al-haitham's emerald eyes were not on the book's rusty pages but peeking through the book's frame, lips twisting and occasionally turning whenever you are about to leave his sight he knew he could not use this as his wild card but watching him like this is more agonizing than getting yelled at by him. 
“Quit staring. it’s creepy.”, Kaveh uttered slamming the book on the table to gain his roommate’s attention. Al-haitham’s eyes shifted from her to his senior, as he whispered, “I wasn’t”, like a lovesick fool. At that moment, Kaveh knew he was hopeless. Not only he flat-out denied his fondness for her but also refused to act. “Guess it’s the other way ‘round”, he hisses before beckoning her in his direction shouting her name from the bottom of his lungs in the library. What an incredible idea to get her attention!
Al-haitham thinks his life hasn’t been livelier before. Watching you talk with his not-so-cool senior, and hearing your giggles, complaints, and tantrums was more than he could ask for. It did not bother him how you were always like a blooming flower around Kaveh. As for Kaveh, he would not go that far as having you as Al-haitham wants. He is satisfied just getting al-haitham worked up once in a while but after a few attempts, Al-haitham got used to it.
What he was not used to is you, your innocence around him, the unalloyed conscience. It drove him insane so much so that he started to observe you more, thinking about the minute details about you like would there be any mole like the one near her chin? Does she always wear light-colored clothes? Is her nipples same the color as her lips? how would she look underneath him, naked and . . .
It has been days since he started to think of you, in a very particular way, thought of getting close to you, and discarded the habit of staring at you through the frame of the book. He was tempted to touch himself, to relieve himself from this ache but he wanted to be over once and for all, not in installments, not in the dead of night jacking off in the bathroom.
And now, here you were underneath him, just like he imagined. 
Beads of perspiration sedimented at the lining of his forehead, fingertips being rigid, heart beating like drums, and all because his cock would not fit in your pussy. He has eaten you out for hours, tasted you to the very core, fondled your boobs till you were moaning loudly, shamelessly, sucked and bit your pebbled nipples until they were bruised and yet it was not enough. 
every time you were screaming, telling him to stop fingering you he would not. “You’re about to cum angel.”, he mentioned, eyes focused on ready to pull out the moment your legs give up to hold them apart again that are craving to shut close as to submerge in the euphoric high; so that he would have you creaming on his cock rather than his fingers. 
Tears like raindrops accumulate at the corner of your eyes as he tries to push his fat cock inside you and then retreats thinking he might hurt you as you lay blanking out, reflexively playing with your boobs, biting your bottom lip, whimpering, “so..sorry.”, as he brushes the tip of his cock up and down, over your pussy lips.
He shushes, leaning to kiss those bruised swollen lips murmuring, “shhh…shhsh angel. Just relax for me, yea? Can you do that?” you nod anticipating what is going to happen next, curling your arms around his shoulders as he adds in further, “tell me if it hurts. i’ll  stop ‘kay?”
“Um-hm”
He aligns the cock to your entrance and as he had your eyes on him, he pushes his cock in with a single broad thrust making your arms instantly fly back over your head gripping the edge of the pillow, wincing in pain, and gasping at the feeling of being full. He grits his teeth feeling the warmth of your gummy walls and sheathing his cock, halfway through.
“It..hu..hurts…”, you blurt out, eyes squeezing shut, body arching and suddenly feeling more full than before. 
“Want me to … to pull out?”, he asks exhaustively grazing the tip of his nose against your neckline. You pull him into a kiss bucking your hips up trying to take him all in and then gasping as the tip of his cock kisses your cervix.
Al-haitham watches you meticulously: eyes rolling white you squirm underneath him sensing a knot in your belly button that is slowly building up its moment as you adjust to his girth. “Yo’r so good for me, angel.”, starting to kiss along your glistening neckline. He is relishing the feeling of being inside you. Finally, he is fucking that pussy that has been driving him crazy for days. How can it be over just a few minutes? 
@tokyometronetwork.
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aha-chuu · 1 year
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Al Haitham story quest confirms:
Kaveh does the house work, Al Haitham is the messy one
Kaveh is a light weight and drunkenly told half of Sumeru that he's broke and living with Al Haitham
Al Haitham is a sugar daddy but a very reluctant one (even though he's not saying no)
Kaveh does care about Al Haitham and asks if he's okay
Kaveh is very upset that Al Haitham keeps going furniture shopping without him, Al Haitham seems into retail therapy so long as it pisses Kaveh off
If you check what Al Haitham is thinking with Nahida after the quest, he is thinking about cleaning up the books that Kaveh told him to put away - so he does take what Kaveh tells him to do into account
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archonsabyss · 3 months
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╰─..✶. [ Desire for Simplicity ]
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❒ pairing: al haitham x fem!reader
❒ genre: domestic! slice of life w minor angst w comfort? smut [nsfw 18+]
❒ warnings: fingering! vaginal sex ! teasing! biting! hickies! desk fucking! unprotected sex! nudity! showering together! aftercare!
❒ word count: 5.5k
─❒ authors note: guess who's finally clearing out her drafts🙄 couldn't possibly be me. but also I'm like superly- giddily proud of this one heh especially towards the end. i'm finally trying to work on my smut skills too so there's that. truly envy and appreciate all those smut writers ✨
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For a man averse to exceeding his expected workload, you were certain the corridors of the Akademiya saw your lover more often than the walls of your home did, and initially, you were fine with it considering you understood that was the duties and responsibilities of his work, acknowledging that life demanded such commitments, but as the days unfolded it became increasingly challenging to suppress your missing of his presence.
The bed felt cold when you drifted off to sleep, with only a fleeting warmth lingering in the morning. Al Haitham would often slip into bed during the late hours of the night to lie with you. He'd hold you close against his chest before having to rise and depart for work once again, and on both occasions you seldom seized the opportunity to greet him, always succumbing to sleep. Even breakfast passed in unusual silence, accompanied only by the chirping of birds outside. Then came lunch, where boredom crept in and led you to experiment and explore the making of dishes from a diversity of cultures to fill the void of passing time, and when evening descended, you dedicated yourself to catching up on work and completing your studies as those were the designated hours of the day you set out for it.
There were times when making dinner seemed futile as you were home alone more often than not, and with your lack of appetite and constantly visiting laziness, one could argue that dinner was unnecessary when there were leftovers from lunch. Nonetheless, without fail, you ensured that a plate of food awaited Al Haitham in the fridge upon his return every day. If not for the little note left behind on your bedside table expressing his gratitude for the meal, and the empty dish drying on the rack, you would have been left uncertain about whether he had eaten or not, and that would make for a continuous worry.
With every day that passed and you encountered him less frequently despite living together, you held onto the hope that these busy days would soon die down and he'd return home in the afternoon with a subtle smirk playing on his lips as he assured you of his newfound availability.
You were convinced that Al Haitham also felt the absence of your presence, evident in the increasing number of notes he left behind and the bouquet of flowers sent every other week. Additionally, his unrefuted companion Kaveh had begrudgingly visited regularly at Al Haitham's insistence to provide you with company. Though Kaveh expressed annoyance at feeling like a servant at Al Haitham's beck and call, what he wouldn't admit was that he understood and perhaps even felt a hint of sympathy for the man. Moreover, if it were up to him, he would do anything for you, keep you company if you could stomach his endless ranting. Kaveh just simply disliked that Al Haitham had to be the one making the request, making his visits feel like fulfilling the latter's directives.
As the middle of the second month in this monotonous routine approached, you found yourself running out of ways to stay occupied. Work and studies were up to date, projects were completed in advance, and you actively sought hands-on experience through practicals. Life had indeed slowed down, and while grateful for the break, one unsettling aspect remained – your partner did not share the same sentiment.
One afternoon, after a day spent in the forest with Tighnari, you returned home with a content smile, anticipating a relaxing bath and the rest of the day unwinding. However, upon entering the house a sense of unease gripped you. As you surveyed the living room for clues, the puzzle started to unravel when you approached the bedroom nearing Al Haitham's home office positioned just before it.
The closer you got the more the distinct sound of papers being crunched and flipped caught your attention, prompting you to peek through the door and witness the unexpected sight of your formally absent lover home earlier than you expected. He was immersed in a sea of papers at his desk, focused intently until your call reached him, the evident smile in your voice. His gaze lifted and you found yourself captivated by the glow of his green eyes, encircled by a subtle twinkle of orange, radiating with a touch of ecstasy.
"You're home" You exclaimed, a broad smile impossible to restrain making its way onto your lips.
"Indeed, I am," He replied, a hint of guilt evident in his dismissal. His tone lowered, and signs of stress appeared in his body language, yet it all seemed to diminish as soon as you entered.
Pushing his seat back and setting aside his papers, he motioned for you to come closer.
He grasps your hand, guiding you to sit on his lap.
As you settle comfortably on his lap, Al Haitham immediately nestles his face into the area between your ear and shoulder, and he breathes in your scent fulfilling a long-desired longing.
A deep sigh of contentment escapes him as it envelops his senses.
"How long have you been home?"
"A couple of hours. I was hoping to catch you, but I didn't know you'd be out," He murmurs, his head resting on your shoulder.
"Yeah, Nari invited me for brunch. He needed assistance gathering some herbs and brewing remedies. Figured it would be nice to step out and dust off my skills, they were getting a bit rusty."
"They see you more frequently than I do lately," Al Haitham remarks wearily, planting kisses on the same spot on your neck.
"Can't be helped, my love," You replied, running your fingers through his hair.
"This is precisely why I declined the position of grand sage from the beginning. I was content with how my life was; comfortable, and with ample time to spend with you."
You couldn't argue with his perspective; you empathized with the burdens on his shoulders. Feeling the tension beneath your fingertips as you massaged his knots, you understood his stress. Al Haitham's arms enveloped you, his body gradually relaxing under your touch, indicating that it was effective.
"Are you alright?" You asked softly, concern evident on your face as you noticed his eyebrows furrow in response to the pressure applied to relieve the knots in his tense muscles.
"I'm fine, princess." Or at least, I will be
However, he wasn't. In the context of missing you, he was far from fine. Previously, he couldn't have imagined what people sought in relationships. While he grasped the concept of loneliness and the desire for companionship, recognizing physical touch as a form of expression, his understanding was largely confined to the knowledge recorded in countless scripts. Though remarkably clever, his emotional aloofness became apparent when he entered a relationship with you.
He came to realize that the everyday acts of service he had carried out throughout his life held more significance than he had initially envisioned.
How could a simple gesture like holding a door open for you, elicit such a appreciative smile?
What did it signify that the unspoken deeds he performed, seeking no recognition, held weight in portraying him as a decent and well-mannered individual?
He had done these things without much thought. However, you made him realize that these acts were integral in fulfilling human desires for care, love, attention, and affection.
But it makes sense, he thought to himself, 'no wonder he received admiring glances when he held the door open to the Cafe for a girl and what he presumed to be her friends'.
This is what human desires encompassed— their hunger for power and attention, their seeking of approval and validation, and their longing for love and affection.
Through you and the bond you forged with him, Al Haitham slowly started comprehending human concepts, as if he weren't a mortal made of flesh and bone just like them. He gained a better understanding of love and the yearning for emotional connection, realizing that these were things he desperately needed after weeks consumed by work. So, he embraced you, holding you tightly against him. At that moment, he thought to himself, finally, you were within his grasp, compelling him to relax and savour the present.
His hands moulded to the curves of your hips as you tilted your head to deepen the kiss, maintaining a steady pressure that kept you securely in place against him.
"Can I get a kiss?" You inquired with a smile, growing more empathetic as you observed him letting go of tension and in response, Al Haitham lifted his head from your shoulder, tilting it slightly to allow you to take the initiative and claim what you asked for.
His gaze locked onto yours, time standing still as he anticipated the gradual descent of your lips; and when they finally met, he couldn't help but release a contented moan, sinking deeper into the chair while pulling you closer in a tight embrace.
"Have you eaten yet?" You asked after you pulled away.
"No, but I could work up an appetite if you'll let me" He suggests with a lazy smirk, subtly adjusting beneath you, letting you feel the tension building and restraining against his pants.
It's not like you were going to deny him considering it's been a while since you've had him present, needy, and all to yourself, but your worry for his well-being took priority, especially upon noticing the dark circles beneath his calculating eyes and the paleness of his skin. Your fingers danced across his cheeks; observing the features of his face that you feared were slipping from memory and traced over them with precise attention, swallowing harshly when you felt the hardness of his erection momentarily distract you from what was meant to be your sweet moment.
Al Haitham was slowly losing his control under the weight of your attention whether he wanted to or not, but it was happening regardless.
"Yes, no? I'm going to need a verbal answer from you, baby" The playful tone in his voice snaps you out of your trance-like gaze and you blink several times before looking down at him.
You nod, a hint of shyness showing— it's been a while, and if your urgency wasn't clear in your eyes it certainly was in the way you were clenching.
Al Haitham lifted himself from the chair, cradling you in his arms. Your legs instinctively wrapped around his waist and he placed his hand beneath you for added support. He positions you on his desk, paying no mind to the papers scattered across the oak surface. His obligations to his reports are completely forgotten as your arms wrap around his neck and pull him down to meet you halfway. Your pupils dilate with desire when he sweetly captures your mouth in heart fluttering kiss.
"Answer, need an answer..." He reminds you firmly, pulling back only enough for you to reply. He's unwilling to proceed without your clear consent and you have to admit it only turns you on even more. The way his fingers tap against your thigh with an itch to insert themselves within you; the way his eyes fixed unwaveringly on yours, masking the struggle to restrain; and the way he attempts to quiet his breaths knowing you saw right through it.
With a sly expression, you purse your lips and shift your gaze to focus on his hips.
"I'm not trying to-"
Al Haitham exhales, resting his hands on the desk on each side of your legs and tilting his face to align with yours.
“You’re in no position to tease baby" He says, swiftly gliding one hand along your thigh until the warmth of his touch cups your colds through your pants eliciting a sharp inhale from you as your eyes meet his gaze.
"Fair enough" He cuts you off sharply, "If you want to play, I'll play" He steps back and your eyes widen at the abrupt separation and departure of his warmth. Al Haitham brushes a hand through his hair and it leaves you shaken at the sight that remains— a tousled mess of grey hair falling haphazardly over his eyes that reconnect with yours in an instant.
"You're adding to my workload," He chuckles, "And here I thought showing up early would grant me unfettered access without a formal request"
"I didn't say a word," You find yourself compelled to defend, your lower lip on the verge of protruding in a pout.
"Exactly, sweetheart. You haven't said anything yet" With a teasing smile, he tilts his head and flicks your forehead. "And what's with the shyness? Can't bring yourself to say you want me? Or has my absence dulled your attraction to me?"
"Get back on your high horse, will you" You snort, seizing his hand and yanking him back firmly between your legs. "You know that's impossible! Rather, your absence has made me realize just how incredibly attracted to you I am. I've missed you"
"Oh really, has your pussy missed me too?"
"Al Haitham..."
"Don't Al Haitham me. If it weren't for this sudden shyness, my fingers would be buried in you right now."
"No one's stopping you"
"You're not giving me permission" He insists, "Need you to use your words and that pretty mouth of yours to say you want me to fuck you"
You do want to say them but they can't find their way out of your mouth.
Al Haitham, a patient man, traces your neckline with soft almost imperceptible kisses, giving you the time and space to gather the courage to confess the words both he and you needed for release. "It's just a few simple words" He mutters, kissing your jaw with a recurring motion until it reddens. When he's satisfied, he shifts to another spot and repeats the process. He's aware it pulls you deeper into a haze of desire, but, above all, he understands it instils a bit more confidence into your soul. Al Haitham has taken note that in his absence, the efforts he invested in boosting your confidence and boldness with him seem to have gradually faded, and now, he's once again determined to restore them, just as he did before.
His thumb lingers on the pulse of your neck, his kisses never ceasing as he leaves behind a mark of his missing for you with his lips. But when a needy whimper slips from you, he stops, a fox-like smirk appearing.
"Al Haitham," Your gentle voice whispers. "Please"
"Almost there" He encourages, "Use your words"
You comply, your knees trembling and your heart sinking as the ache pulsates painfully between your legs. "I want you"
You want him like you've never wanted him before, and the profound satisfaction that envelopes him is inexplicable as his eyes darken with the emergence of his lust washing over him like a tidal wave. Without warning, he tugs you closer to the edge of the desk and drives his tongue into your mouth whilst his fingers slip past the waistband of your pants, ushering both that and your panties down in one swift motion.
There's no time to wait, not an ounce of restraint left in him. He has you and he has your permission and he sees nothing but fucking you right in his mind.
It is but a single finger that teases your entrance, tracing the contours before gradually slipping in entirely drawing forth a gasp as another is added. His fingers begin to work at your clit expertly and your cunt clenches pathetically at the feeling. Al Haitham lowers your back onto his desk, causing papers to crumple and scatter but he could care less. Right now it's you, and only you.
The noises that escape your throat are embarrassingly guttural but you couldn't care less when the pleasure is so intensely gratifying that it transports you to blissful heights. You spread your legs further for him and he's satisfied with your actions enough to add a third finger.
"Missed this" He mumbles with furrowed brows, deeply concentrated, savouring the way your legs tremble because of him. "I've been neglecting you, haven't I?"
You struggle to discern his words as your body instinctively rises from the desk, responding to the touch of his finger as it finds your clit and gently presses against the pulsating, hardened bud.
"Rarely get to see you when I return home. And this damned job has me leaving for work before I can hold you and kiss you goodbye in the mornings"He exhales deeply, his breaths heavy, frustration evident in the movement of his fingers within your core, creating a wet, loud, and lewd squelching sound.
"Al Haitham!!" You gasped loudly as you cum hard, a screech echoing as your arms wrap around his shoulders seeking support. Your nails dig into his shoulder with a sensation that is palpable even beneath his shirt and the leg you have draped around his waist stiffens. His hand cradles your thigh, keeping you close as you descend from your initial climax. Cupping the side of your face with his clean hand, he leans down, pressing a kiss to your fatigued, parted lips.
Al Haitham withdraws his fingers from your core, maintaining eye contact with your lidded eyes as he brings his fingers to his mouth and licks them clean.
"Is your back okay?" He asks attentively, helping you to sit up. "Do you want to move to the bedroom?"
"Please, if that's okay with you" You mumbled with a weak smile, the remainder of pleasure coursing through your veins like a potent drug rendering your sanity momentarily lost. Al Haitham acknowledges with a nod and lifts you off the desk bridal style, kicking his chair aside before carrying you towards your bedroom with ease and your head drops, finding a resting place against his chest, listening to the irregular beat of his heart.
"I really missed you"
Al Haitham glances down at you with a smile, "I've missed you more" He gently places you on the mattress, and you audibly moan at the softness beneath you, appreciating the slight cold chill of the blankets compared to the hard wooden desk in his office.
"Keep moaning like that and you'll find yourself unable to walk for the rest of the week"
"No objections" You yawned, "but you've been gone long enough Haitham, and I just had a longed awaited and deserved orgasm on a hard as fuck desk, let me moan over the softness of our bed in peace"
"Moan for me then" He says your name in such a seductive manner you feel inclined to close your exposed legs but of course he's not having any of it as he forces them back open with his hand.
Without breaking eye contact, Al Haitham proceeds to toy with the ends of his shirt before deftly pulling it over his head, tossing it aside, and revealing the sight of clenched muscles that ripple along the expanse of his abdomen. Once more, it seems like an eternity since you've witnessed him in this way, and you can't resist seizing the opportunity to revel in the view. Both of your hands rest on his shoulders, gliding down his arms to explore the well-defined bulge of his biceps. Al Haitham deems it's your turn next and starts to unbutton your shirt. Buttons pop one by one until only your bra remains.
Wrapping his other arm around you, he yanks your body against his and crashes his lips onto yours. His hands roamed all over your body with vitality until they lastly gripped onto your hips.
"This has to go" He smirks, playfully pulling at your bra, and as you lean up, he swiftly unclasps it and flings it onto the floor.
As he crawls over you, his eyes lock onto your breasts and with a sudden force he snakes your hips to pull you against his erection, and you moan at the pressure it applies. "You're taking too long" You sighed, fanning your cheeks to cool down as sweat accumulated on your forehead. No further words were necessary as he discarded his pants and swiftly positioned himself at your entrance. Upon your request to hurry things along, he mumbled something almost inaudible before thrusting his entire length into your cunt, and you're singing his praises and calling his name as tears well in your eyes, the sting of taking him whole without easing into it lingering as he buries himself between your walls.
The pleasure derived from his movements overwhelms you, they compel your hand to grasp the back of his head, fingers tangling into his hair to provide a sense of grounding while the other clutches the sheets unyielding. Your body arches in reaction, your pelvis raising to meet his every thrust.
A sharp, almost pained breath echoed from him as he closed his eyes to savour the feeling. "Fuck" He curses aloud, a moan amplifying as he hums with pleasure at your tightness and you tremble against him. you hadn't anticipated the need to readjust to having him, and without a gradual entry, you were even more astonished by the sudden sense of fullness.
Al Haitham angles his hips to perfectly reach your pleasure point, dragging the head of his cock over your g-spot. He rolls his cock all the way and pounds your cervix without mercy.
"I can't"
"Al Haitham," You exclaim amidst a mix of moans and groans as your head throws back against the pillows.
"Slow down, please"
It's a miracle the words emerge comprehensible but your beloved partner is unabashed, accelerating the pace and panting as he pursues euphoria.
"Yes, you can" He pants, eyes pinching together as you clench down on him hard. He shoves your hips down onto the mattress and thrusts into you relentlessly. With each press of his body against yours, your moans grow louder and you squirm in an attempt to evade the fevor in each of his movements, wanting a moment to catch your breath, but he persists and pushes in and out repetitively, his pace and sense of rhythm reinforcing after every stride.
"Can't hold on-" He grunts, his eyes rolling back.
His muscles are taut, and his biceps bulging as he looms above you. "Want me to pull out?" He feels compelled to ask despite having trouble breathing and feeling as though he might collapse.
Tears fill your eyes and run down your face as you urgently shake your head. "In me" You plead, "In me, please. Missed you enough, Haitham.." He clenches his teeth, responding to your pleas with thrusts – once, twice, a third time – and on the fourth thrust, he releases, his climax flowing into you. Your orgasm follows seconds later with a wild cry, and your cum gushes out more and more, blending with his, like the exchanged saliva and mingled sweat. Together, with a gasp your bodies cave. “Breathe baby, breathe. I’m right here.” He coaxed as your arousal seeped out and coated his balls, some escaping the embrace and staining the bed sheets.
You slump against the bed, your thighs weary and pleading for reprieve. Al Haitham reluctantly withdraws from you, forced to do so when his arms threaten to surrender, and so to avoid the risk of crushing you he slips out with a grumble and collapses flat on the bed beside you.
"That felt good" He exhales in relief, arm resting behind his head as he looks at the ceiling and you agree. Your chest rises and falls, marked by the aftermath of two orgasms and the happiness of having him with you at this moment. You tilt your head to the side and Al Haitham does the same to meet your gaze, you exchange a smile and extend your hand for him to hold. He clasps your hand in his and brings it to his lips, planting a kiss on your knuckles.
The moment is sweeteningly blissful and would have remained that way for a while longer had the rumble of his stomach not shaken the room causing you to stifle a laugh as he glares at you playfully.
"Hungry?"
"No"
"You sure?" You giggled, lifting yourself into a seated position with difficulty.
"No" He shifts onto his side, propping himself up on his forearm as he gazes at you.
"Well─ I didn't cook today because I was out, assuming you wouldn't be home, but I can—"
"But nothing," He interrupts with a languid smile, "I can cook tonight. All I ask of you is your undivided attention, that okay?"
You hesitate to agree, and Al Haitham understands your silence well enough to recognize your contemplation. Your reluctance arises from your fondness for tending to him, especially as it has been a while since you shared a meal. But as you think a little more, you begin to feel a numbing sensation creeping up your leg making you realize you're probably not in the best condition to safely enter the kitchen. Thus, you give in and let him have his way, at least for tonight.
Your sigh and hesitant nod signal you're finally complying. "Good girl. Let's get you cleaned up first" Al Haitham praises as he propels himself onto his elbows to gently peck your lips before rising from the bed. Scooping you into his arms once more, he plants yet another kiss on your forehead this time and continues to carry you to the bathroom, eager to lavish you with all his attention to compensate for the time he's missed.
Al Haitham settles you back onto your feet once in the bathroom with a hand on your lower back for support. Once you assure him you can manage to stand for a few minutes on your own, he instructs you to pee while he fetches a fresh pair of towels for both of you and makes a second trip after that to fetch the dirty sheets and shove them into the laundry basket to have cleaned tomorrow.
"You holding up?" He asked amidst the droning sound of the flushed chain, his voice nearly drowned out entirely but fortunately you caught it and hummed cheerfully, "Better than ever. And you?" He makes his way to you and you loop your arms around his neck as he effortlessly lifts you off the basin countertop. Together─ in his arms, you step into the perfectly heated shower.
"Perfect" He admits with an oddly loud contented sigh, gently lathering your body with a mesh body scrub that moves in circular motions around your breasts, over your stomach, along your back, and down and between your legs, combined with the warmth of the water and the evaporating steam, you notice your congested nose gradually clearing and your tense, aching muscles starting to relax. He is constantly mindful of the pressure he applies while cleaning your body, aware of its sensitivity and you're grateful for such an attentive partner as it only motivates you to reciprocate with even more care for him.
The process of cleansing each other unfolds in tranquillity, the soothing white noise of water pattering from the shower head calming your senses. Al Haitham washes your body, and then you return the favour, repeating the same with your hair until you both finish and then takes the towel and wraps it around your body first before tying another around his lower half. This time, instead of carrying you, you insist on walking as the discomfort between your legs has lessened enough after the shower, making it feel less like they might give in at any given moment.
Al Haitham is amused by your stubbornness and plays along, his hand falling onto your waist as he guides you to sit on the edge of the bed.
"It's a bit hot" He mutters to himself, sliding your panties up your legs as you hold onto his bare shoulder. "I wasn't sure if you wanted to wear pants to bed or not, so I didn't take any out."
"It's okay, Haitham," You chuckle, picking up on his attention to even the smallest details.
"Your shirt will suffice," You slip your arms through the holes of the sleep shirt he laid out for you, noting that it was specifically his.
"If you don't mind me asking, what exactly has been keeping you so occupied at the Akademiya?"
Once you're mostly taken care of, Al Haitham crosses the room to rummage through his drawers for a pair of pants, throwing them on before searching through another set for a golden tub of ointment to soothe the scratches adorning his back from your hands.
He practically skips back to you with a towel in hand, "Haven't done your hair yet, but could you dry mine for me first so I can start on dinner?"
It's adorable how his eagerness doesn't show on his face, but in the way he doesn't exactly wait for a reply, shifting you upper onto the bed and settling between your legs.
"You tend to forget that this is the typical nature of most humans, Dear" You smile with amusement, noting the hint of irritation when he looks at you with an expression that distinctly conveys 'I know, but still', as he rises from the floor and flops onto the bed ready for you to apply the ointment to the faint red marks that were slowly deepening in color.
"Well- there was an unexpected disagreement among a group of scholars which caused a stir at the Akademiya. People, being naturally nosy were easily drawn away from their duties for some time and inevitably I was dragged in as the situation demanded 'careful mediation', as they put it, even though I was inclined to simply ignore it and exit the room leaving them to hash out their differences" He emphasized with an undertone of annoyance, and while he converses, you attentively listen, simultaneously twisting the towel around his hair and gently dabbing and squeezing until most of the water is absorbed.
"Pray tell, what purpose lies in dragging out a trivial dispute for weeks on end and then taking an additional week to resolve it? Does it truly bring any advantages? If anything, it has significantly set me back in handling a majority of reports and applications."
"It's not particularly new or surprising considering that our entire existence is moulded by our emotions, including— perhaps mostly—the negative aspects. Our love for dramatics and our inclination to involve ourselves in other's affairs. Living a simplistic life is not hard at all but shedding these negative aspects and common flaws are where the challenge lies. Consequently, we often end up causing a disturbance for everyone involved" Your words are laced with experience from observations made over the years of dealing with people.
"Either way, I despise it" He grumbled, burying his face into the clean sheets while your fingers glide smoothly over your handiwork. "Don't want to talk anymore about work"
His irritation is so endearing that you can't resist running your hands through his hair and giving him a soothing scalp massage.
"You're home for now," You said, "Focus just on that, mhm?"
"Yeah... Shit... Forgot about dinner" He mutters, suddenly recollecting, and then he pushes himself up to leave the bed.
"Haitham..." He glances at you through the corner of his eyes and your arms are open waiting for his embrace. He abandons his objective of leaving the room to cook and walks into your embrace.
You know because he wasn't home much he wanted to do the cooking and look after you for a change, but seeing the sudden decline in his mood, you refused to leave him to fall into the shell of which his burdens threatened to crush.
"We can prepare dinner together, and then tomorrow, you're going to stay home and take a proper rest."
He doesn't protest. There are no inquiries or remarks about how the Akademiya requires him urgently, especially with the impending entrance exams for new applicants, or the fact that they are mere weeks away from hosting an exposition at newly discovered ruins – a questionable idea in his opinion. Allowing the locals to be present around the sacred remnants of the old didn't sit well with him, but with the majority in favour, Al Haitham felt compelled to let them proceed. Instead, your beloved nods, burying his head into your shoulder, expressing his gratitude for your existence, your love, and your constant unwavering care.
It may no longer be the simplistic life he desires, but maybe this life, with all its challenges and complexities, isn't entirely unfavourable when he always has you behind him, beside him, and waiting for him.
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☣ copyright @archonsabyss all rights reserved // do not copy; steal; plagiarize; reword or repost my works to any other platform! No translations!! All credits to original owners of characters/anime/pictures that are not my own!
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lovely-rubeum · 1 year
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affirming word.
your first argument with al haitham is one you are sure you’ll never forget. not because of his piercing words and the cold way he stares back at you, but because of his desperate reassurance. the soft way he held you as apologies were uttered, and the gentle way he cared for every tear you shed.
a/n: waah this is my first fic on this account !! cheers ^^
w/c: ~1.5k
warnings: not proof read (im lazy my bad) mentions of arguments, insecurities. hurt/comfort
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al haitham has been in maybe, one relationship before this one, you gather. there’s a certain coarseness to the way he approaches love and being in love with you that bleeds with lack of experience. it is not a slight against him, in fact, you’d consider it the furthest from that. you are honored to have been so cherished by someone who claims to not have time for trivial things. if al haitham is good at one thing, beyond mathematics or research or memorization, it is making you feel like you are not and will never be “trivial” to him. he remembers every date, he recalls every small detail, and he does everything he can, even in his busy schedule to make time for you. because you are the one he chose, and you are beyond his preconceptions about the usefulness and reason for “falling in love,” or other trifling activities.
so, when he calls you just that -- useless and pointless and trivial, it stings. and it stings for more than an hour, after the silence has settled in your shared living space and dinner has gone cold. it stings every time he looks at you, unable to control his cold and calculating frustration. even by the time said frustration is no longer directed at you but at himself for getting caught up -- for the escalation to petty insults rather than progress towards a natural solution. even as you both stand up and say you’re sorry for hurting each other and promise to listen and care. you are still left stinging. you ache all over, even as you lie in bed with him, his warm arms pulling your form close as you both whisper declarations of retreat, compromise, and love. you close your eyes and take in his scent, woody, almost a bit musky and just a twinge reminiscent of a well kept library. you would find solace here, but you cannot help but ache. your eyes sting with salt and self-admonishment as you sleep, feeling as though the two of you are left further apart than you were before.
it’s been several days now. the sounds of the bustling streets and the near silence of the akademia’s halls do nothing to comfort your still stirring heart. you see al haitham every day, you tell him you love him every day (because you do, and you’ll be damned before the aftermath of a finished argument tells you that you do not). he echoes the same, but still you think
trivial? were you nothing but pointless and foolish? did your beloved boyfriend, in times of distress, think of you as the very things he swore not to make you feel you were? it hurts to feel distant from him, but you’re sure he hasn’t noticed. in fact, you think it’s better that he hasn’t noticed. he’s a busy, busy man. and, really, he shouldn't be worried about something as frivolous as the way you feel about a pain that’s passed silently for days. you’ll get over it, because you’ve already talked and you love him and that should be enough.
but you forget, that al haitham, while not a fool, is foolishly in love with you. he is a man that gets what he needs and what he wants and when there are obstacles in his path he devises clear plans to avoid them. the only thing he would readily admit to making mistakes over is you. you and your smile that lights up his entire world, you and the way you care for him and challenge his mind in the most electrifying way. you who holds him as he sinks into the depths of his mind, and you who promises him eternity, irrational as that may be. so when you distance yourself, drowning in your own hurt, al haitham is planning. your wounds are like aching scars on his back. prickling with pain and a reminder of his failing, not to himself, but his failing to provide you with the world as you deserve. he sits in his office, stiff and cautious. what on earth could it be that has sent you away from him? what sort of thorns have coated your heart and how should he cut through them to get to you? 
you don’t think much of it, when you’re called into al haitham’s office today. you expect nothing more than an update about his findings. you’ll walk in, say hello, chat for a time until you realize you’ve veered off course and then you’ll depart with timid “i love you”s and you’ll stare into the silence as you hope for the short moment to lift your heart the way it had before it was wounded. you do not expect to see him staring anxiously at the door as you enter. you do not expect him to run a hand through his pretty gray hair and quietly ask you a question.
“could you lock the door?” you do, but you’re holding your breath. dread floods your veins and you cannot help but feel intimidated as he stands and approaches you. in an attempt to flee from your racing mind and heart, you change the subject.
“hi, dear. did you need something? i should have given you the report from—” you’re silenced by the worried look on his face. it’s a foreign expression, one where his shining, always focused eyes dart around you with a mixture of something like fear and hurt, and one where his built arms hang awkwardly at his sides as he figures out what to say first.
“there’s something wrong,” he starts. your breath hitches and you’re forced to break eye contact. al haitham frowns. “please don’t do that. please look at me.” the plea hurts your chest, but you can’t bring yourself to do just that. you try to wave it off.
“there’s nothing—” but the shake in your voice betrays you. he waits for you to open up. for you to take the first step, because your comfort is his priority, but you can tell with the tension in the air that he will cut through if you do not. al haitham gets what he needs, and what he needs more than life is your happiness. you’re sure of that now, as you look back at his expression, endlessly full of concern for you. you can’t bring yourself to lie anymore. “okay, maybe there is something.”
“may i inquire?” he says it so timidly you’d think he’s another person. you can’t stop yourself from sighing. 
“i just… it’s stupid. i don’t think it’s worth making a big deal. i’ll be over it soon.” the deadpan look on his face says otherwise.
“you have been… apart from your usual self. for longer than three nights. i’m worried about you.” al haitham’s admission is shaking, but resolute. his soothing voice quakes just the slightest bit, but he refuses to back down. you cave at his look, just as you always do.
“i‘m just… still hurt. over what you said, when we argued? i didn’t want you to feel bad since we already moved on from the problem but i keep thinking about it and hearing it in my head. you called me trivial.” al haitham pauses, as if recounting the event. you continue. “i know you probably didn’t mean it, but i can’t help but think that maybe…”
“stop,” he says with a gentleness reserved only for you. he places his hands gently on your shoulders while silently asking for permission in his gaze to pull you close. you nod, and suddenly his hand is patting the back of your head softly, as if you’re the most cherished being in the universe itself.
“i’m sorry. i’m so sorry.” you feel your eyes welling up with tears as he holds you close and admits fault. he pulls away slightly, but only to dry your tears with his thumb.
“you are everything to me. and it was only foolish of me to have allowed things to progress to this point. i would move mountains and slay the worst of foes just to see you happy. i have taken away part of your smile, even for a second. and for that i am so sorry.”
there is a tenderness in his eyes. you couldn’t imagine a more beautiful expression if you tried, and it is then that you realize he is not used to wearing this expression. he is clumsy in the way he squeezes you, and although he is intelligent, he is also inept in maintaining his usual aloofness as he reassures you that you will never be a waste of his time. it is then too, that you notice the fear squandering his composure as he promises to love you for what may be the millionth time.
you relax and while you cry in his arms, you allow al haitham’s affirming word into your heart, never to be shaken again.
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astralstarlight · 3 months
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falling asleep on you !
w/ al haitham, wanderer, diluc, tartaglia/childe
a/n: under the cut because they got really long omg
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al haitham likes to rest his head on your shoulder whenever he's tired. when it's in a more private setting, he'll lay his head in your lap instead. a loud, satisfied sigh will leave his lips once he's in this position. it's almost as though all the tenseness in his body simply dissipates once you start running your fingers through his hair. he rarely drifts off for a nap, but he looks close enough to peace when he's lying down like that.
it's the closest you'll ever get to having him be needy or clingy in any way. he tends to lean his whole weight onto you without explicit warning, so it's taken some practice to make sure you don't fall over on to one side — helplessly squashed.
there are signs to look out for.
you'll notice him staring at you out of the corner of his eye, making sure you're comfortable with how you're sitting before he places his head on your shoulder. sometimes he'll even mention that it's very "quiet and peaceful" before nearly knocking you over with a heavy slump.
when he's been kept up late for too many nights, he really will drift off to sleep. he's heavy and he makes your entire body ache from trying to hold him up, but you can't really bear to move him, especially not when he smiles in his sleep after you brush your fingers over his cheek.
he won't tell you that he always wakes from your sudden touch.
and with how cute he thinks you are when you're trying not to wake him, he doubts he ever will.
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"i don't need sleep." wanderer announces proudly. it takes him exactly nine minutes to pass out after you promise that you'll keep watch while he's resting. you even make sure that he's asleep by waving your hands in front of his face to see whether his eyes twitch. nothing.
he doesn't even breathe.
his arms stay crossed over his chest and his hair falls onto one side. completely at rest.
still, this is the last thing you were expecting would happen. you resist the urge to touch his face. you haven't gotten that far with him yet.
unfortunately, you end up falling asleep beside him instead of keeping watch. there's something so comforting about his weight on yours, that you lean back into him, just to close your eyes for a few minutes.
the next time you wake is with the morning sun, and with a blanket haphazardly thrown over you. you fight with it for a bit, tangling your arms even further.
"oh good, you're up," comes the familiar, haughty voice. you expect to be berated for falling asleep, but he says something different instead. "thank you."
"huh?" you murmur intelligently. it's not fair that he does this when you're still groggy from sleeping.
he turns away, pretending he said nothing else. you smile at his back. guess he's still full of surprises.
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diluc's very gentle with you. he's always been the one to beckon you over once he notices you yawning or when you look a little down. the way he caresses you while wrapping you in his arms is enough to send you straight to sleep. it's cozy.
but you've never seen him asleep before you. he's always been the one to creep back into your shared bed at the crack of dawn, when you're just awake enough to know that he's there.
this time, you're the one late.
he's already sleep — legs stretched out and turned onto one side. you take a single step forward and jump as he snores, disturbing the silence.
you crawl into the bed, facing the outline of his back. you reach out for him just to hesitate before actually touching him. what if he wakes up if you try to cuddle him? what if he has a really busy day tomorrow and he'll be frustrated with not getting enough sleep?
he answers the myriad of questions for you. just your presence must be enough for him to know you're there in his sleep. he ends up turning over to face you and bundling you up in his arms, letting out a huff. on the other hand, you're tense, unsure if you've accidentally awoken him or not.
"diluc?" you mumble.
the only answer is his steady breathing.
hope you're ready to stay squished in that same position for the whole night.
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tartaglia pesters you with affection. he shows up at your door in the middle of the night sometimes, claiming he has "no where else to go right now". on certain nights, he'll be covered in blood that's definitely not his with a fiery look in his eyes as though he's set alight from the inside. he's not really there on those nights.
more often, he shows up with a cheery look on his face that disappears once you start to clean him up. you don't need to look at him to know that he's already staring at you.
tartaglia is always quiet in both types of nights; an unsettled nature or a calm energy. you're never sure what you're going to get.
but you know this: he would always show up after long periods of disappearing, even if it was just the smallest scrape. just to see you.
he'll be the one tucking himself in between your legs on the couch, no matter how many times you tell him that his legs are too long and he's way too heavy to lean back on you like that. but he does it. somehow.
when you start to grow tired from listening to his shenanigans, he becomes so gentle with you. he'll carry you to bed and hold you until you sleep.
he's gone in the morning, or maybe he leaves once he's sure that you've been lulled to sleep. either way, you know he was here. even if he tries to disappear without a trace.
he's always here on the nights that you sleep the best after all.
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starz222 · 1 year
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cw not proofread, wrote this w/ writers block, first time writing angst
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“god, why did i have to fall for you?” al haitham slams his book down on the hardwood table in the living room. he ruffles his own hair with nothing short of a frown on his face. 
“what?” 
you stare at him from across the room. your eyes darted to his figure, and your breathing became even more shallow when you saw the disappointed look on his face. and when he looked up and stared daggers at you, followed by him immediately reverting his gaze.
“look, i didn’t mean that.” he scoffs and shifts his weight. despite his words, the way he says it completely breaks you. he barely puts any effort into his words, his voice is shallow and entirely monotone. al haitham treated you like a burden, a block in his path that he needed to get rid of immediately.
you take a deep breath before speaking. you knew your voice would tremble and your tears would start to flow once you opened your mouth, so you tried to stay calm. 
“...you did.” you speak in a brittle voice, your sight becoming blurry and your nose feeling stuffy. you gulp and furrow your brows. “i was only trying to help you—” you manage to choke out despite your sobs, “this isn’t fair. you’re not being fair.” your words tie at your throat, trying not to tear up. you can barely see anything other than the sobs causing your eyes to be unfocused, making your eyelashes burn.
“i didn’t ask for your help.” his hand reaches up to his headphones and turns them on, cancelling any noise that would come up. that action makes you blind with anger, hurt, and frustration. everything feels so suffocating, too many emotions hit you at once, and you don’t know what to do. 
“you’re impossible, al haitham.” you finally let your tears stream down your face and storm out the door. you slam the door behind you and just run. without a care where you’re going. as long as it’s not where he is. 
al haitham falls to his knees, and puts his headphones down.
he didn’t want to shout at you. he knew that you were only trying to help, but he only let things get worse. you haven’t been able to see him because of all the stress and the burdens al haitham carries as the acting grand sage. being so, the time he could spend with you ended up lessening, and lessening. 
he hadn’t seen you in so long, and he missed you opening the door of his office with a large grin on your face. all of the work and responsibilities on his shoulders rendered him tired and drained. 
he was working late at the akademiya, finishing up some paperwork. that was until you opened the door, and attempted to help him. you didn’t think that it would end up in you ruining the piles of paperwork he’s finished. 
al haitham gets up, and wastes no more time to go find you.
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note this is so barf | part 2 here !
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hikari3601 · 11 months
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We’ll be a Fine Line
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Pairing | Al Haitham x Reader
Author’s Note | I’m really sorry for the super long wait.
CW/TW | Al Haitham’s mean :(
Synopsis | Flinching away from him during an argument.
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The line between distance and disregard is a fine one, something that Al Haitham seemed to have overlooked. The Scribe -who lives off of rationality as if it were air, found that space seemed to be the most efficient means towards a peaceful resolution during conflict, yet it all turned sour somewhere down the line and worst of all, its toxicity was so steadily progressive that it only became noticeable when it was nigh impossible to ignore it.
Several arguments had passed without any form of resolution and with every person in the Academia five seconds away from an aneurysm, as Acting Grand, Sage Al Haitham was not in the best of moods.
~~
“Haitham.” You called from behind the door, patiently waiting with his lunch in hand, yet silence was all that ensued in the following moments, thus you called again, a little louder this time…still nothing.
Deciding to try your luck at entering you turned the handle, perhaps he had an errand to run and was out for a bit, you thought.
Fortunately, the door was unlocked, and lo and behold sat Al Haitham at his desk, hair slightly tousled and his cape laying on the couch. He looked up at you questioningly. “Can I help you Y/N?”
“I knocked to see if you were in.” You explained, “I guess you didn’t hear me.”
He remained unmoving for several seconds, his eyes trained on the papers in front of him and after he placed the page down he allowed his gaze to briefly flicker towards you. “I heard it.”
Taking a few steps towards into the office, you took note of the cold atmosphere surrounding him but decided against commenting. “Why didn’t you answer?” You asked instead, placing his favourite meal on his desk.
“I was busy.” He deadpanned, eyes glued on the new page in front of him.
Your gaze drifted across his large frame, “When was the last time you slept?” You inquired, noting the dark circles on the skin surrounding his turquoise eyes.
“I took a little nap some few hours ago.”
A frown took form on your lips. “A nap in your office doesn’t count. When was the last time you got over five hours of sleep in your bed.” You urged, your frustration growing at his dismissive attitude.
He sighed, laying his papers on his desk with a loud ‘slap’ and looking up at you with a slight glare. “What is it you came for Y/N, unlike you I’m busy.”
“I’m here to check up on you Al Haitham.” You felt your aggravation grow in spite of your efforts to remain level-headed. “You’ve been working non stop and I’m worried about you.”
“Well, as you can see Y/N I’m perfectly well. Now, if you would kindly leave my office—“
“Why are you being like this?” You finally sighed, your patience beginning to waver.
“Because I have work to do. I don’t have time to laze around with you.”
“Laze around with me?” You echoed. “I may not be the Acting Grand Sage, Al Haitham, but that doesn’t mean I’m not working. I stop what I’m doing every day just to see if you’re alright…because Archons know that if I don’t, you’d be skipping meals daily!”
“I’m not some child Y/N, I don’t need you to look after me, now if you would please leave my office, I’m wasting time with this discussion.”
“How on earth do you think it’s right to treat people like this?” You snapped, the festering heat in your chest reaching its peak. “I’m worried about you because I care!”
“If you really cared…” He rose from his seat, approaching you with a steadiness that left you uneasy. “you would have left Y/N instead of wasting my time!”
His last words echoed throughout the room, but what was truly deafening to the man was your reaction —the way you stepped away from him as if preparing to flee.
Groaning at his actions, he lifted a hand to his already dishevelled hair in a poor attempt to calm his racing mind but watched in horror as you flinched.
Disgust soon washed over him like a tidal wave.
You thought he would hurt you?
Archons, he did hurt you… though not physically. It dawned on him that he had been treating you abrasively for the last few months, yet you still remained nothing short of kind and patient towards him.
He didn’t deserve you, he thought, yet a part of him selfishly feared that you’d leave him after today.
“I’m sorry.” He sighed, and although his voice had grown soft, his eyes trembled with unspoken words of guilt and regret, the sight stubbornly pulling at your heart until you bridged the gap between the two of you and quietly took him into your arms.
He hesitated to reciprocate, worried that he’d cause you more alarm, but all it took was you tightening your hold around his torso for him to wrap his arms around you, settling his head against the crook of your neck.
“I didn’t mean it, I swear. I’m sorry.”
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earthtooz · 7 months
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in which: alhaitham resorts to lying on top of you in order to get you speaking to him again.
quick alhaitham thought i needed to get off my mind, making out at the end lol, potentially ooc
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there were a lot of things you didn’t expect when entering a relationship with alhaitham. you didn't expect him to have kaveh as a roommate, you didn’t expect him to overthrow the government, and you didn’t expect him to resort to pettiness in order to end the silent treatment you were giving him.
it’s suffocating beneath him, squished into his soft mattress with his body weight, muscles wrapped around you like a python whilst one arm is extended outwards, balancing a book. you wonder if he’s actually reading it, but you can tell he’s enjoying himself regardless, evident through the way he often turns his head to place a kiss on your exposed collarbone, burying his face into your warmth from here to there. 
for the umpteenth time, you grunt, losing your mind just a little. his body warmth was getting too much, and you’ve been lying here for who knows how long, just staring at the ceiling of his bedroom.
you want to protest, berate him for flattening you before shoving him off, but that would mean surrendering, and this time, you want alhaitham to be the one to give up first. 
as if hearing your thoughts, your grey-haired lover then glances up at you, sleepy gaze filtered through messy strands of hair that have fallen in front of his eyes. you almost cave at the domesticity of it all, only just stopping yourself from brushing his bangs away. 
“still upset?” he murmurs, putting his book face-down to wrap his arms tighter around your torso. “fine. have it your way, i’m going to nap.”
“no-” he perks up at the sound of your voice, raising an eyebrow as a mask of smugness gleams over his face. you shut your mouth immediately, cursing at yourself to slip up so easily, but you really needed to stretch out your legs and the other discomforts of lying like an unmoving plank beneath alhaitham. 
“what was that?” challenges your boyfriend. you don’t answer him, merely staring him down as he sits back, grabbing your wrists. “oh come on, i know you want to say something, out with it.” 
shaking your head, he scoffs at your stubbornness as if his isn’t just as frustrating, and gently caresses your hand. his touch is tantalising, urging you to give in, and paired with that lidded look of his, it’s practically impossible not to.
not many people get to see alhaitham like this, you realise. most know him as an indifferent, closed off, and unapproachable scribe, turned grand sage, turned scribe, yet you get the honour of seeing him as this. “talk to me already,” he demands gently, not letting his grip waver even as you keep trying to pull your hands away, only slipping away so far before he’s holding you again.
there aren’t many battles you can win against him, you know that, and one of them was a battle of strength. as he holds your wrists tight to your sides, his face so close to yours, you feel his earlier playfulness melting into something sincere. 
“are you still mad?” asks alhaitham, furrowing his eyebrows slightly as a pout appears along his lips. the response you give him is a petulant turn of your head. he sighs through his nose. “i’m sorry, okay? i was out of line, i should have listened to you, alright?”
his tone is uncharacteristically kind and warm, warm enough for you to give in to his pleas.
“you mean it?” you tease, grinning widely at him. in the blink of an eye, the tension from alhaitham’s shoulder seeps away like sand, and he sighs with relief before agreeing, a solid ‘yes’ slipping through his mouth. “then i accept your apology.”
“you minx, enjoying the sight of me like this, aren't you-” he murmurs, and you swallow his brewing snide remarks with a kiss, closing the gap by firmly pressing your lips against his. alhaitham is not surprised by your sudden affection. rather, he welcomes it, melts into you wholly as a hand holds the back of your neck to keep you against him. you're warm and precious and everything he could ever desire, so he can't help but let his hands wander, searching for more.
as your mouths slot together, there’s a delicate exchange of apologies that words cannot express; ironic, since alhaitham knows of several ways to apologise in a multitude of languages. nevertheless, he thinks that this is the best method.
with the way you move in sync with him, he can tell that this is your favourite too. 
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© EARTHTOOZ 2023, do not steal, translate, repost my fics and do not recommend my fics onto any other site.
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saetoru · 1 year
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al-haitham’s the kind of guy who tilts his head slightly for a kiss before you even lean in to give him one. he just knows it’s coming. expects it. trusts it’ll happen.
he’s yawning when he sits at the table for breakfast, hair slightly disheveled from sleep. he sits down and when you place the mug of coffee in front of him, his head angles a little for that kiss you place on his cheek.
he’s drowned in endless paperwork at the akademiya when you stop by to visit, chuckling when he gives you that look of despair at the all the work he has to do. you don’t even manage to walk up to him fully before he’s leaning in and waiting for the kiss to the top of his head.
he’s shirtless in the bathroom, brushing his teeth at night when you walk in to brush yours too, bumping hips with his as you giggle. you don’t even have to turn before he’s tilting his head so he’s exposed and ready for that gentle peck you leave at his jaw.
“have you ever noticed how demanding you are for these,” you chuckle one day, pressing a kiss to his cheek to prove your point.
he grunts, leaning in and burying his head into your neck as you greet him at the door after a long day. “what makes you say that,” he mumbles.
“you’re ready for one before i’ve even come close,” you grin, “what if one day i don’t kiss you?”
“you’d stop kissing me?” he asks, squeezing your hips as he nuzzles into your neck. something tells you he already knows your answer.
and he’s warm. he’s close. he’s here and he’s everything all at once. he’s all you need and everything you’ve ever wanted. he’s the messy hair of your mornings and the pouty lips of your afternoons and that shirtless back of every night. he meets you halfway—maybe even takes the first step so you don’t have to.
he leans in for that kiss before you do. because he needs you, wants you, loves you—and he never lets you forget it. so you turn your head, press your lips against the side of his head and run your fingers through his hair as he sighs in content.
“no,” you hum, falling in love all over again, “no i’d never stop kissing you.”
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nymphiria · 1 year
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HOUSEMATES — GENSHIN IMPACT
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♱ ∿ feat: KAVEH & ALHAITHAM
༉ — fem!reader, voyeurism, dubcon, rough sex, masturbation, peeping, jealousy, nasty kaveh, breeding kink, insinuation of threesome
a/n: wrote this in one go ♡ unedited
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of course he’s not jealous.
why would he have any need to feel jealous? especially of someone so cold and stoic like alhaitham — a virtually friendless person, a walking blizzard. hell, he can count the people in sumeru that like him on one hand. how he tolerates alhaitham is a housemate is a mystery that maybe not even the god of wisdom can solve. it’s a joke to think that a man as princely as kaveh would be envious of the great scribe of the akademiya.
which is why he thinks something must be wrong with you.
the first time that alhaitham brought you to their shared home it was like he saw a ghost. if someone told him earlier in the day that his housemate had a girlfriend, he would’ve laughed in their face. in kaveh’s mind, seeing a dog shoot a bow was more believable than alhaitham coming home with a woman. if the smug look on the scribe’s face said anything at all, it was that he knew exactly what was going through kaveh’s head. what a lucky bastard.
you’re so sweet with him, too. more often than not you’re at their home visiting your boyfriend. it’s adorable how you always come with something in mind; you bring him dinner, deliver extra parchment, or drop by just to spend time with him. kaveh sees how you look up at alhaitham with so much adoration in your eyes when you both think no one’s around to witness your private kisses. even though he doesn’t reciprocate your affections in public, you never seem to waver in your insistence.
even now as alhaitham is brutalizing your pussy, you take all he has to give you and even ask for more.
‘her back must hurt’, kaveh thinks to himself as he peers inside the ajar door. the harsh arch that he has you bent into can’t be comfortable for you; it’s a wonder you’re still breathing with your head being forced into the blankets. as much as alhaitham claims he loves you, it sure wouldn’t look like it from the outside based on how hard he was fucking you. the grip he had on your hips was sure to leave bruises in the morning; your poor scalp probably had it worse with the cruel tugs on your hair.
you weren’t supposed to be here. at this time of day, alhaitham was always at the akademiya or on duty somewhere that kaveh had no interest in knowing about. the scribe was renowned for taking his duties seriously; how would it look if the scholars knew that he was skipping out on work to blow his lovers back out?
his cock strained against his trousers as he watched the scene with eager eyes. it was tempting — you took his friends cock so well that it would’ve been a crime to look away. kaveh drooled at the sound of your soaked pussy being fucked so deliciously but he decided to leave after a few minutes. he’d indulge himself just a little longer then pretend he never saw it happen. but once alhaitham pulled your head up from the bed, he almost wished he kept you there.
kaveh had never seen you look so… debauched. fat tears ran down tour flushed cheeks and ruined the pretty makeup you took your time to put on everyday. god, it was a sight for sore eyes. alhaitham’s cock must’ve been truly something if it could reduce you to such a brainless little thing, just one step above a sex doll. kaveh didn’t know how long he had been stroking his cock in time with alhaitham’s thrusts. he had only taken himself out of his pants for a relief of the pressure, not to pleasure himself. maybe it was the need to get rid of his erection, maybe it was the eroticism of the situation.
or maybe it was the need to imagine how you would feel wrapped around him.
how would you look when he pushed you back into his bed? when he stripped you bare and kissed every inch of your body? absolutely perfect, he bets. you were already so gorgeous when taking alhaitham; you’d be heavenly when his cock slipped inside of you for the first time. unlike his roommate, kaveh would worship your body like the goddess you are. he’d breed your little pussy until you couldn’t hold anymore cum inside of you. even when the milky white drips down your thighs, he’d dutifully clean you up like the loving boyfriend he wanted to be.
yes, boyfriend. alhaitham didn’t deserve to have such a devoted girl by his side, one that didn’t receive the love she craved for outside of the four walls of the bedroom. kaveh would make sure to shower you in gifts and his adoration. once his debt was cleared, he would vow to build a palace more opulent than the palace of alcazarzaray in your honor — a temple as testament to your beauty and grace. your gift would be the crown jewel of sumeru, his magnum opus.
he was so caught up in his daydreams and desire to cum that he didn’t notice the verdant stare being sent his way. even as he watched kaveh stroke himself from the sliver of the doorway, his thrusts never faltered. if it were anyone else, he wouldn’t have care enough to pull his attention away from you. but this wasn’t just anyone else, it was kaveh. archons know he would never pass up on an opportunity to humiliate him.
“if you’re going to get off on this, at least make yourself useful and fill her mouth.”
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silkjade · 7 months
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alhaitham x mermaid! reader (5) / epilogue
⤀ warnings: fem!reader, no pronouns mentioned, reader has hair long enough to be pinned, kissing ! a/n: recommended to read the previous parts first, since this is a direct continuation. tiny reference to a sumeru hidden quest prev ノ series masterlist ⋆.ೃ࿔*:・𓇼
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For the first time in months, alhaitham returns to the little cove out by the waters of port ormos. He tosses a chunk of crystal ore, testing the weight—once, twice—before catching it again in the palm of his hand. It skips thrice before sinking below the surface, and internally, he's quite pleased with this exceptional display of muscle memory.
The cyan stone sinks, further and further down into the darkness of the midnight sea, until it lands softly into the palms of your hands, weightless. Despite the long pause in your correspondence, you've never forgotten how the waves shift in response to his disturbance. So when you had sensed that familiar movement rippling through the water, you swam towards the source, smiling because you knew.
“Drown anyone in my absence?”
���No, but that can change depending on what you’ve brought for me today.”
Emerging from the shallows, you sit yourself atop a nearby rock. The water droplets clinging to your skin and tail catch like crystals in the moonlight, and alhaitham has half a mind to pinch himself and confirm that you’re neither a dream, nor another desert mirage.
“Zaytun peaches. Your favorite,” he begins, “and golden roses from aaru village.”
You brush the tip of your finger along the flower’s velvet petals, so brilliantly gold, as if he’d stolen the sun right out of the sky.
“The desert was too harsh an environment for sumeru roses to grow, so an amurta researcher set about cultivating one that could.”
Voice softening, alhaitham continues as his hands unfurl to reveal the hairpin he had once gifted you. “As promised…”
You can feel the lingering warmth of his touch on the metal as you wrap delicate fingers around the piece, re-admiring the florid craftsmanship. It's still as beautiful as you remember, maybe even more so, considering how you've longed for this moment to come.
You brush your thumb over the mysterious symbols carved on the centermost gem, pulsing with a soft ember's glow.
“It’s a protective rune I discovered in the desert. As long as you wear it, you won’t have to worry about needing to return to the sea.”
Perhaps that would explain why it somehow feels sturdier. Or why the nagadus emeralds appear to shine brighter, and more vibrant. You purse your lips in an attempt to quell the thrumming in your chest. He really did it. He really found a solution to something so seemingly impossible.
Alhaitham clears his throat, snapping you from your thoughts. "May I...?"
Nodding, you turn around as he takes the accessory, shifting his fingers through your hair before pinning it in place, a vast improvement from his very first attempt.
"Well, how does it look?"
"It’s beautiful on you.”
Heat blooms in your cheeks, taken aback my his forwardness. His reply hadn’t missed a single beat, answering as if he’d stated a fact rather than an opinion. Sure, you had expected some sort of witty remark tossed into his words, but rarely did he ever outright compliment you so directly.
Turning your head, you successfully avert your gaze; it's the only way you know how to deal with this sudden bout of bashfulness, but his fingers brush your chin, and you follow as he leads you back to him. Alhaitham closes a large hand over your own—his grip steady like his heartbeat, firm like his resolve.
Teal eyes bore into yours, shifting only to linger on your lips for far longer than he should've. How he longs for another taste... The faint glow of a blush dusts across his cheeks and onto the tips of his ears. He must pull himself together before his mind has the chance to stray further.
“Stay with me,” he murmurs, leaning in.
Your breaths mingle in the little space between your face and his, but you pull away at the last minute—just the slightest bit—so that his lips catch the air instead.
“Why should I?”
Alhaitham straightens, taking in your look of feigned apathy, clearly given away by that playful layer of expectancy brocaded in your expression. Of course you want to hear him say it; he's made you wait long enough.
The corners of his mouth lift into that phantom of a smile, one you’ve come to adore so much: small and sly, daring and charming in a way unique only to him.
“Because I love you.”
“And I’m yours, if you’ll still have me,” he adds, confidence unwavering.
There's no hiding the delight and relief that breaks across your features. Your heart soars, and the single breath exhaled during this time-frozen lull, lifts it to impossible heights. Finally.
You don't shy away this time when he comes in to kiss you, grinning at how right it feels. His hands grab at your waist, pulling you closer, eager to deepen the kiss. He's missed you, missed your touch, and of how you taste so sweet, like nectar from the garden of the gods... but you break away.
"Can you say it again?" Your soft laughter rings through the air, and alhaitham rolls his eyes, indulging you nonetheless.
"I love you," he repeats, stealing another kiss in the process. And then once more, for good measure, during the quick moment of air between his barrage of kisses, interrupted only by your yelp of surprise, as he scoops you up into his arms.
“Well?” He looks at you expectantly, a brow raised and a smirk dancing on his lips. You giggle as your hand curves along the side of his face, guiding his mouth to yours once again.
“I love you too, haitham.”
a/n2: the golden rose is actually a reference to a hidden quest in aaru village! i thought it was a cool metaphor hehe ^^ it’s a super easy quest chain + u get a pretty teapot decoration at the end :D
a/n3: and that’s a wrap ! i hope you’ve enjoyed this lil series as much as i’ve enjoyed writing it hehe tbh i was a bit nervous since the last part flopped, but in the end it doesn’t rlly matter ^^;; cus i read every single one of your comments / rb tags and i rlly appreciate them all so so much (இ﹏இ`。) && while this is the end of this story, my ask is always open for more brainrots ‘n whatnot ! who knows i may write xtras lol ANYWAYS tysm for reading & sticking around ‘til the end ♡
© silkjade — do not steal, plagiarize, translate or repost any content onto any other platform
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hiraya-rawr · 1 year
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everywhere, everything – alhaitham
synopsis !! somehow, you find yourself stuck in a broom closet with your academic rival, alhaitham— and oh? is that a mistletoe?
contains !! 2.4k wc , gn reader, enemies to lovers? fluffy drama! dialogue-centric post, some intimacy (obviously)— lots of fluffy love. flustered things, alhaitham can't hold back okay- FOR SOME REASON IM NERVOUS ABOUT POSTING THIS IDK the outline was way longer than I thought, hence the late Christmas post
note !! i joined my first christmas collab event by @dustofthedailylife ! aaaaah and im also practicing scenario events where the setting is restricted (like a broom closet heheh)
11:46 PM, Christmas Eve
You shouldn't have listened to Kaveh. It's his party, in his (shared) house, yet you nodded along when he told you to grab a broom from the closet. It sounded simple enough—
Walking over to the broom closet at the end of the hall, away from the bustling party in the livingroom. Grabbing the handle, pulling it open, almost shrieking when you spotted the actual homeowner standing with the most irked expression on his face, then—
There are hands on your back, shoving you in as the closet door slams, the bang muffled by loud music. Your breath catches in surprise. Your face plants firmly on the forbidden chest. There are clicking noises outside the door handle.
In front of you, Alhaitham scowls and you can practically feel the anger radiating off of him.
"Did- did Kaveh just—" You stutter, still confused from the whirlwind of events that happened within seconds.
"Yes. He did. That bastard, I swear I'll-"
You drown out the insults and threats spewing from his mouth as you turn to look around. The closet is small, very small, the type that shouldn't have people in it in the first place.
The door is firmly on your back and you can feel that Alhaitham's own back is up against the shelves. Next to you stand a broom and mop, taking up the remaining space in the room. It's dark and you could barely tell what's in front of you (this firm thing. . . it is his chest, right?).
"How long have you been here?" You wonder out loud.
"5 wasted minutes. After he knocked over a bowl of chips and told me to get a broom. Honestly, that imbecile–"
"He told me to get a broom for the chips too! What the heck. This was premeditated!"
"Doesn't take a genius to figure that one out."
Your eyes narrow at his comment, glaring at what you suppose was his face.
"If you're so genius, you could have escaped the second he opened up that door."
"Ha, I could have if it weren't for a certain someone getting shoved into me."
"I'm not a wrecking ball, Scribe Haitham." You scoff, shifting to face him better. Of all the people to get pranked with, it just had to be your academic rival —from the day you received second place in the akademiya entrance exams to the day you both proposed the exact same thesis topic— he was always a step ahead and that infuriated you.
5 years ago, Entrance Exam Results Day
Of course, it wasn’t that he’s a smidge better than you that you hate him; rather, it’s because he acts like he’s so much better than anyone else that you hated him — from staring you down the day you tried to congratulate him on getting first place, to refusing to cooperate together despite having the same thesis topic — you believe your reasons for hating him are quite valid.
“You’re Alhaitham, right? Congratulations on receiving first place on the exams!” You greet cheerfully, a hand extended for him to shake. It was the first day commemorating the start of your academic life and you figured you might as well surround yourself with the right crowd.
Yet, he stays frozen, an odd squint in his eyes and you wonder if you should keep your hand out longer.
“It was to be expected.” He states simply, lightly shrugging, before returning to the book he was reading.
To be expected? First place? In Teyvat’s most prestigious academic institution? The one you toiled day and night in, consuming mountain loads of information, just to deserve your rank? Internally, you decided that you didn’t like him and that he’s an arrogant piece of sh– no, good thoughts (Name), you should befriend your schoolmates.
“Hahaha is that so? I guess you really must be smart,” You force a laugh, retrieving your hand, “If you don’t know yet, I’m–“
“I know you. You’re the one who received second on the exams.”
Okay. It’s official. He’s an arrogant piece of shit.
You grit your teeth, smiling, “. . . It was nice meeting you, Alhaitham. See you when lectures start.”
11:53 PM, Christmas Eve
". . . Stop moving." He tells you.
"What?"
"I said stop moving."
"I'm literally just breathing here, do you want me to stop that too?"
"You're squirming like a worm. Do you want to knock over chemicals off their shelves?”
Oh yeah, this was a broom closet.
"I can't help it when you're taking up all the space!" You huff in his direction, trying to get a clearer view of him with squinted eyes in the dark.
"Unless you want to kiss me, I suggest you stop trying to shove your face into mine as well."
You feel your face heat up, a stutter evident in your voice, "W-what? Why on Teyvat would I ever want that!"
"It's a statement, I never said you wanted it." He scoffs. It was getting warmer in the room, the inescapable warmth of him spreading to you and you wonder if your heartbeat was always this loud. You shuffle uncomfortably, how could he even insinuate that? This arrogant guy!
Maybe it was the small space getting to you, or the tension of being so close to someone you clearly feel contempt for, but you couldn’t stop the next words you say.
“Maybe you’re the one who wants to kiss me! How would I know you didn’t plan this with your roommate?” You jibe back, “Honestly, what kind of homeowner gets trapped in their own broom closet!”
“First of all, we both know -as Kaveh’s mutual friend- that he’s a bastard with his mind in the gutters. This is all his mastermind plan. Secondly, if you want to kiss me that badly, you don't even have to provoke me. by starting a fight.” Before you could even respond to that (or manage to comprehend it), you feel him shuffling back, his muscular torso moving to the whims of his arm as it presses against your own chest.
You unknowingly hold your own breath. Thump, thump, thump– is that his heart or yours?
A sound of a chain, metal clinking, reaches your ears.
“H-hold on, what are you doing?!” You panic, flustered.
“I’m trying to grab the pull-switch for a light, what do you think I’m doing?” He all but hisses back, “Now hold still—”
Light floods the room at the clicking sound, blinding you temporarily.
"—Oh, how convenient, there's a mistletoe above us. Now here's your chance to kiss me." You hear him say and you freeze, quickly glancing up at the bright bulb to see the unmistakable mistletoe hanging next to it. Your jaw drops slightly.
"I— I am not kissing you! I told you that!" You exclaim, hands trying to shove him away for what little space you could muster. Kaveh is dead once you get out of here, you think to yourself.
You hear him scoff, "Again, I was only teasing you-"
"Then I suggest you stop!"
"-but I'd rather not reject tradition."
"W-what?"
5 years ago, Entrance Exam Results Day
Alhaitham believes in love. He understands everything about it– from the chemical compositions to the process. He understands the build up of love.
Naturally, it began when he saw your name only second to his first rank. It wasn't anything particularly special, you were a few points below the prodigy and he found it curious how someone managed to keep up with his wits.
“You’re Alhaitham, right? Congratulations on receiving first place on the exams!”
He's frozen. He knows he's staring. There's a hand outstretched for him yet he hasn't willed his own to take it. It's only for a second but internally, he recognizes the lapse in his act. Say something, Alhaitham, say it now–
“It was to be expected.” He states simply, lightly shrugging, before returning to the book he was reading. It lays flat on his hand and he rereads the same sentence, conscious of your presence next to him. He tries to rationalize– he finds you attractive, you seem to be his type, and it's natural for a man such as himself to eventually feel such things and react this way. Not even he, as logical as he is, could be an independent variable for love.
“Hahaha is that so? I guess you really must be smart,” You laugh and he finds the sound pleasant but forced as you retrieve your hand. “If you don’t know yet, I’m–“
He knows you. He saw your name and looked up the basic credentials already, it's natural as the soon-to-be-top student of your batch.
“I know you. You’re the one who received second on the exams.”
“. . . It was nice meeting you, Alhaitham. See you when lectures start.”
It seems he didn't make a good first impression; but that's fine, logically, he has no plans to act on his feelings anyway. As the elders would say– studies first before lovers.
5 years ago, Thesis Proposal Day
Logic was harder to act on when love was the opponent –as Alhaitham later realized– because, Archons, were you difficult to get rid of.
He notices you– everywhere. This shouldn't be surprising considering your similar academic strands and ranks, but that was exactly the issue! He was hyperaware of everything you did and what you would next do.
Alhaitham believes in love. He knows of all the ridiculous tropes, unable to escape the concept of it as it floats around even in one of the most highly rational spaces in Teyvat. He had no plans of pursuing love, it isn't something he wanted to fit into his intricate schedule,
Yet, he feels pulled by it.
He sees you in class, the seat next to you empty, and he wants to take it but he doesn't.
He bumps into you in the halls, your hands carrying stacks of research materials, but you could handle yourself as he glances the other way.
You ask him, almost hesitantly, shyly, if he would like to pair up for one of the most important thesis projects in your lives and– he flat out refuses, because -archons forbid- the remnants of his discipline and self-control be lost over sleepless nights with you next to him, working on something you both proposed.
No, he would not have that. It's not a part of his life plan (you aren't part of his life plan).
Yet, as he passes out papers in class, people's hands brushing against his, he can't help but compare yours– your hand, your fingers brushing on his, skin on skin, he feels it in his nerve receptors, electric despite not electrifying– yours is felt so much more than how he felt the others and he can't describe how.
12:00 AM, Christmas Day
And he feels it again now. The hyperawareness of you on him, like the day your fingers brushed– this illogical, subtle, uncontrollable feeling.
It must be love, he tells himself. He understands love and everything about it and it infuriates him.
But the closet is too small, you're much too close, he wants to do something. Then– he remembers. A mistletoe. Kaveh hung a mistletoe in the broom closet. Mentally, he knew this all along, but now it was becoming increasingly obvious that a mistletoe existed above him (Above you. Above you and him).
Thump, thump, thump– it's his heart beating. He shuffles to reach a chain, he needs to see it to believe it (that a mistletoe is there) but what good would that do? Is it to simply show you? To see how you'd react? A chance for him to act on these frantic feelings?
Love is illogical, it's breaking the bottle he so carefully closed.
“H-hold on, what are you doing?!” You panic, flustered.
“I’m trying to grab the pull-switch for a light, what do you think I’m doing?” He replies and he hopes he doesn't sound too rushed, “Now hold still—”
Light floods the room at the clicking sound, and it blinds him temporarily, but he feels everything– you being there, your clothes brushing against his and your skin on his, everything and everything–
–and the mistletoe, there.
"Oh, how convenient, there's a mistletoe above us. Now here's your chance to kiss me." He says and time unmistakably slows for him. His heart is steady, as if acting on his feelings were the only way to calm his fight with himself.
You look up at him frantically, "I— I am not kissing you! I told you that!" You exclaim, hands trying to shove him away for what little space you could muster.
He scoffs, "Again, I was only teasing you-"
"Then I suggest you stop!"
"-but I'd rather not reject tradition."
"W-what?"
You freeze as he tests the waters. He understands love, he understands all the tropes, the build-up, the chemicals, but -holy dendro archon- is he taking risks.
"I'm asking if I could kiss you."
"Wha-what!"
"You're repeating your words now. Would you like me to ask again or should I give you time to clear your ears?"
Under the warm light, he sees you visibly gulp. He can't help the way he leans in closer, an arm resting on the door beside your head.
"I don't need to clear my ears! I just- I thought you, well, hated me," You hurriedly reply, looking away from his own gaze. The floor is way more interesting, it seems.
"Hated you? Whoever said that?"
"W-well, you acted as though you did. Always avoiding me, always pulling away–"
"I'm not pulling away now, am I?" As if to prove his point, he leans closer, slipping his fingers under your chin to face him directly, "But it seems like you're the one shying away."
You're sure you stopped breathing at some point.
"To be fair, I was trying to avoid you back then. But not in the way that you think." His thumb brushes over your lower lip, "It was never because I hated you. In fact, it's quite the opposite."
Silence lingers in the air at his subtle confession. At the lack of a reply, Alhaitham sighs, "If I'm making you uncomfortable, we can break this door down and yo-"
"I'm not uncomfortable!" You blurt out, "I- I just didn't think you- you felt this way."
"Then may I?"
"May you?" You repeat questioningly.
"Mistletoe." He states and stiffly, he feels the slightest nod of your head on his fingers and–
The door swings open.
"MERRY CHRISTMAS, LOVEBIRDS! How are we doing? Is my dear housemate finally getting some action in his bleak life?"
"KAVEH!!!"
prompt !! "oh, how convenient, there's a mistletoe above us."
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