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“Mr. Kaveh over here!”
“This way!”
The lights were nearly blinding Kaveh as the paparazzi tried to get the best shot despite thirty others attempting the same with the same angles. Journalists were thrusting their microphones as far as they could past the velvet red ropes holding them back. The buzz of the post-premiere press tour hummed through the air.
It was disorienting for the rookie actor, who had just made his debut starring as the lead role, Kamran, in Tower of Betrayal. The film had instantly become a blockbuster hit that resonated with the masses.
Kaveh pulled his best smile and gave a few poses, pretending that there weren't black floaty spots in his vision or how his maroon suit was a little scratchy. Just a few more hours until he could relax at his apartment.
A hand on his waist startled him and he jerked to see Alhaitham standing behind him.
Alhaitham hadn’t touched him since…
The ghost light casted a soft glow through the empty stage, creating back-lit warmth to the two bodies who were swallowed by the shadow. The effect left an outline of their intertwined bodies against the velvet drape of the curtains.
Kaveh’s heart thrummed against his chest, the adrenaline from his second to last Akademiya performance still coursing through him. Now it was Alhaitham’s touch that commanded his second performance, utterly taken by arousal.
The Haravatat scholar’s lips captured the lower part of Kaveh’s neck in quick succession, sucking and bruising as he wished. Alhaitham nipped at the column of his neck, pausing every so often to savor the way Kaveh’s breath would hitch in response.
His hand slid higher up Kaveh’s thigh, twisting ever so slightly so that the back of Alhaitham’s hand was nestled against his cock.
“Alhaitham,” Kaveh gasped, arching into his partner’s hold against his waist, desperate for more. He was met only with a smirk pressed against his skin. The bastard knew what he was doing. Loved how his slow, deliberate touch made Kaveh melt.
Kaveh’s fingers twisted into the curtain fabric behind him to anchor himself, but there was only so much he could do. He felt too good to care about the damage he’s causing from his skin oils.
There would be a bigger bodily fluid issue soon if Alhaitham didn’t move them.
Ruin me, Kaveh wanted to beg, but pride clung to his tongue.
Ruin me. His mind echoed as they made love in the empty auditorium.
Ruin me Alhaitham. He cried out as Alhaitham thrusted into him.
I love you. His soul yearned as he came in Alhaitham’s hold.
What they didn’t know was that there would be another argument one night later, just after Kaveh’s last performance. Alhaitham hadn’t gone.
They’ve had their share of disagreements before. But this time, words were sharper. Meaner. Laced with brutal love that neither were ready to hear.
With tears in his eyes, Kaveh slammed the door and didn’t turn back.
There was no formal end that night. No closure. Neither had ended the relationship. Just nothing.
Kaveh’s stubbornness, usually praised for its beneficial, hard-working qualities and earning him the title of Light of Kshahrewar, had turned into inaction that overstayed its welcome.
Before he could realize it, Kaveh graduated and left before he could ever manage to apologize to the scholar. Years would go by, wondering why he would let go of the best thing that had ever happened to him.
“Breathe Kaveh.”
Alhaitham’s low voice murmured in his ear. Kaveh hadn’t even realized the air stuck in his throat and took a deep breath to take back some semblance of control. Alhaitham’s presence had a grounding effect on him that calmed him down. Like before.
By now, Alhaitham was standing in front of Kaveh’s views of the cameras, meaning that they didn’t see him get overwhelmed either. He sighed in relief. Even if they weren’t on good terms, Alhaitham still remained professional with his work.
Right, Alhaitham cared because it was his job to care. Nothing personal.
For a moment, they just stood there, gazing into each other's eyes. Alhaitham’s looked as if he were searching for something, it made Kaveh raise a brow. In response, Alhaitham just shook his head and motioned for Kaveh to start walking.
Not too far away, a red-haired woman wearing a cerulean, sparkling gown and holding a microphone was waiting for him. Kaveh’s definitely seen her online, Nilou was a famous interviewer at these sorts of events. After years of watching Nilou’s interviews, he was finally meeting her in person.
She spotted his gaze and waved him over faster with a smile. He matched her bubbly energy, shaking off the memory of before, and walked over, Alhaitham in tow. The cameras were already rolling so questions began pouring out the minute he reached the frame.
“Kaveh! It’s nice to finally meet you! Congrats on your debut role in Tower of Betrayal! What was it like working with such a legendary director, Furina de Fontaine?” Nilou asked eagerly, leaning in closer with genuine curiosity and passing the mic to him.
“Oh it was just magical.” Kaveh gushed, his eyes lighting up as he turned to Nilou, then to the camera. His hand gestures were animated as he spoke, “I didn’t think I would be the one to land the role, nor did I think Towers of Betrayal would be such a hit. I mean, of course the cast is amazing and the screenwriters went above and beyond to bring the movie’s themes to light so I knew it would do well in my heart.”
Kaveh nodded confidently. Alhaitham, who was just outside of the camera's view, busied himself by scanning around the crowd. It didn’t seem that he was too interested in the conversation so Kaveh tried to keep his eyes off of him as well.
“Furina truly brought everyone together for a film we can all be proud of. I’m so thankful for her guidance as my first experience in the industry.” Kaveh finished his gushing. “It was hard work but worth it.”
Nilou nodded along with him, “it sounds like you really fell in love with the craft. Was acting your first love?”
Ah.. hah.
The question was simple, should have been at least. However the answer was confusing, messy, and far too real to expose. Still too raw after years. He couldn’t let the media and new fans have this, for they would have a field day.
Alhaitham was the one who convinced him to change his study focus from architecture to acting. He was the catalyst that created the life he has now.
Nilou was waiting patiently for him to reply. His media training kicked back in and perhaps so too his self-preservation.
“Yes,” Kaveh spoke slowly but still in a cheerful tone, in fear that he would trip up. “Acting has always been something I loved and thought of pursuing, though I’m far more familiar with a live-stage theater production than the cameras.”
A half truth… yeah, he could live with a half truth.
Kaveh couldn’t help the way his eyes flickered to Alhaitham again. The man shifted his stance so that now he was with his arms crossed and head slightly tilted. He just knew Alhaitham wanted to interject. He missed the way that Nilou’s brow raised when he stared for a tad bit too long.
“Oh, speaking of,” Nilou added, trying to reel him back in, “Towers of Betrayal was adapted from the play of the same name, yes? How did that influence preparing for your role?”
Kaveh’s eyes lit up from the question, always enthusiastic to talk about the arts (and to divert the topic in another direction). He was just glad that Nilou had the same personal interest that he could connect with.
“I wanted to understand the original play’s nuances and bring them forth to the big screen. It was a daunting task at first, for this is the first adaptation of its kind.” Kaveh, in the midst of answering, noticed Alhaitham let out a subtle huff and the downturn of his lips.
“I immersed myself in old manuscripts and studied historic performances to create my own vision of Kamran.” Kaveh wrapped up with a flush starting to bloom on his face.
Why did he still care about what Alhaitham thought about him?
Before he could stop himself, he gave Nilou back the microphone and turned fully with his back to the camera. “What? Is there something wrong with my answer?”
Alhaitham merely arched a brow at the sudden interrogation, “not at all.”
“Then what?”
“You exhausted yourself for the role. If you want to glamorize your terrible work-life balance to easily-influenced fans, then by all means go ahead.”
Kaveh bristled from annoyance and embarrassment. “My work-life balance is just fine thank you,” he retorted, crossing his arms. “It’s about passion and respect for the role, Alhaitham.”
“And where’s that respect for yourself? It certainly doesn’t justify you working yourself to death preparing for the role.”
“You– ugh why did they have to hire you out of everyone.” Why did Alhaitham always have to read him like one of his books?
“Because I’m the only one who doesn’t indulge your theatrics.”
“That quite literally is my career!” Kaveh’s face burned red. Oh my god my career! He totally forgot that the cameras were rolling.
Kaveh immediately spun around to face Nilou, who was busy chatting with her camerawoman. How mortifying. His career is probably over. Fans would speculate Kaveh is mean to his bodyguard and he’d be canceled. He’d be blacklisted and removed from the company. He’d be back to nothing.
He’d be alone again.
“I’m so sorry about all that,” Kaveh rushed to apologize for the unprofessionalism. “He knows perfectly well how to appear friendly and likeable to others, he just doesn’t want to for some reason. If it’s not too much trouble-.”
“No need to worry, Mr. Kaveh, we stopped rolling a while ago,” Nilou giggled. “You two seem quite close to be able to bicker like that.”
So no one saw, Kaveh let out a sigh of relief.
“To be honest with you, we knew each other before he got hired to be my bodyguard.”
“Oh? How did you two–”
Alhaitham cleared his throat pointedly, “Kaveh, you have other things on your schedule now.”
Thank archons for Alhaitham’s intervention. He briefly apologized to Nilou again before heading off with his bodyguard.
Archons, he needed a drink.
[ ▶︎ ]
“You’re drunk,” Alhaitham sighed.
After the press tour, Kaveh had insisted on celebrating the movie’s success by drinking at home in his nice red-silk robe and comfy couch. As Kaveh’s twenty-four seven surveillance bodyguard who now shared a place with him once again, Alhaitham naturally came home with him.
Kaveh’s apartment was small, but it was close to his agency in the city. However, in meeting recently with Kaveh, the actor’s management team has been in talks about him moving to a more private apartment due to his rapid stardom.
“Nooo.” Kaveh slurred into the empty wine glass. “Just tipsy. And you drank too!”
Alhaitham watched Kaveh eye the wine glass as if considering another refill. Alhaitham deftly tried to pluck the cup out of his grasp, pulling Kaveh with it and inadvertently spilling Kaveh over his lap.
“Bordering drunk,” Alhaitham repeated through an inhale. “Unlike you, I only had a glass.”
Against his better judgement, Alhaitham looked down at Kaveh to find those pretty crimson eyes staring up at him in a tipsy haze. Long lashes fluttered against his flush-red cheeks as he pouted. A new spread of freckles dusted his nose along with the old ones he used to trace with a finger before they had parted.
Devastatingly pretty and Alhaitham couldn’t look away.
Pathetic.
Alhaitham’s hands hovered around Kaveh, muscle memory caught between pushing him away and holding him close. His arms knew the weight of Kaveh, felt the warmth that Kaveh radiated. Now Kaveh was here, digging his fingers into his lap with the same possessiveness and stability it once brought him before their fallout, before to when it was just the two of them.
His common sense yelled at him that Kaveh wasn’t his anymore. At the rate Kaveh was going, no one would be able to reach him.
“Nuh uh, I can prove it.” Kaveh insisted and lifted a finger to jab softly at Alhaitham’s chest.
“Oh?” Alhaitham exhaled, deciding to do nothing in the end. Didn’t have to as Kaveh ungracefully pushed himself upright but still bumping shoulders.
“I can recite the entire monologue during the final scene of Towers of Betrayal.” Kaveh let out a triumphant hmph, as if it were a grand challenge that he was proposing. If Kaveh wasn't overthinking it, which he was prone to do, then Alhaitham would leave it.
“Mm, but isn’t that cheating, senior? You already have that script memorized. It would come far too naturally for you.” Alhaitham teased. “Charming, but try again.”
He watched Kaveh look around the room with a tipsy frown on his face, determined to think of something that would have Kaveh gain the upper hand. His eyes brightened as he found what he was looking for.
“If you don’t like that script, then we can use,” Kaveh reached out to the coffee table for a few loose papers, “this one.” He waved the papers in front of Alhaitham’s face. From the angle, Alhaitham could see it was a script. Kaveh and his team had mentioned an upcoming movie audition later in the week.
“What do you want to do exactly?”
“Since you think it’s cheating for me to use a script I know well, I will use one I just got yesterday and memorized. You will be my partner in the scene.”
Alhaitham looked away and sighed into his palm. I want you to be my partner again. It was my fault, I messed up.
“Your partner? I don’t act.” He tried the same excuse he used to use back then, back when Kaveh used to ask him to help with rehearsals.
“But you read,” Kaveh countered, also the same reasoning as back then. Alhaitham wondered if he remembered or if it was just a coincidence.
Kaveh stood up and motioned for Alhaitham as well. “Just read the other character’s lines. If I nail it, then you have to say that I was right.”
“Hm. Well, go on then,”
Alhaitham watched in amusement as Kaveh dramatically closed his eyes to get into character. After a brief moment, Kaveh stumbled forward, grabbing onto Alhaitham’s arm, the one that wasn’t holding the script.
“Where have you been?”
“Everywhere you failed to look.” He read monotonously, practically cringing at the script’s cringey dialogue.
Kaveh huffed at his lack of performance. “Alhaitham, take this seriously. You don’t want me to fail this audition and run you out of a job you know.” Right like this was real practice for the role, Alhaitham wanted to retort.
“Exactly, I’m your bodyguard, not your co-star.”
Kaveh gave him a look before continuing. “Failed to look?” Kaveh scoffed and closed his eyes in disbelief, “I’ve looked everywhere for you, for years.”
“You left first.”
Kaveh’s eyes snapped open, looking at him with a desperate intensity that Alhaitham wasn’t expecting in his state. His voice raised.
“I-”
Alhaitham braced for more of the drunken theatrics he had been going along with the entire night.
“I loved you.”
Kaveh’s breath hitched as he delivered the line. The words sounded more genuine, more raw, than anything he had said previously.
Alhaitham’s mouth opened then closed in surprise, composure faltering. The script was now a confession he wasn’t sure if he could play along anymore.
This is all an act, just read. He glanced down to look at his line.
“Loved?” He echoed softly.
Real and fiction were blending.
Kaveh blinked, swaying from his tipsy state. “Loved… because now… I don’t know what we are now.” Kaveh curled his arms around himself and looked away in false shame. “You don’t talk to me anymore.”
Ouch, that sounded far too familiar to that night and their relationship now. Alhaitham’s fingers tightened onto the script, crumbling the corner of the page.
Kaveh continued, “you’re the one who shut me out first. I may have left but you were gone long before that. What happened to us?” All Alhaitham saw was buried memories coming to light.
“How could I?” Alhaitham’s voice came out harsher than expected, unfair to the blond. “You were too busy doing everything for everyone, running yourself to the ground trying to chase your dream.”
Kaveh froze, and Alhaitham could tell the words sobered him up. The tension in the air was stifling. Both were unsure how to proceed. This wasn’t a fun challenge anymore.
“The scene’s over Kaveh. I.. I can’t do this.” His empty voice left no room for argument. He tossed the script behind him on the couch without care, preparing to hide away in his guest room until morning.
“So what, you’re just going to shut me out again?” This time, there was a quiet but real bitterness in his voice. “Just like last time?”
Alhaitham stopped in his tracks, shoulders tensing in guilt. He didn’t want to lose Kaveh again, even if they weren’t together now. “I’m not shutting you out, Kaveh. I’m… protecting myself.”
“Protecting yourself from what? Me?” Kaveh’s chuckle was full of hurt, hurt that Alhaitham had caused.
“From this,” Alhaitham gestured between the two of them. Raw vulnerability was seeping from Alhaitham’s voice. His eyebrows were furrowed in pain from past memories. “From us bringing up the past that you don’t want anymore.”
Both were silent for a moment, taking it all in.
Alhaitham finally spoke up again, voice full of grief. “I can talk to management tomorrow and have them assign someone else to you.”
“You’re a coward. I don’t want anyone else, I want you! You don’t get it, Alhaitham, I love you!” Kaveh exclaimed with tears in his eyes.
“Love?” Alhaitham echoed softly. Present tense. “Do you mean that?”
“Archons, yes, I-” Kaveh paused to think about his words. “Can we just talk?”
The pair moved to the balcony overlooking Sumeru City. The moon lit their faces and their breaths mingled, each waiting for the other person to start talking.
“My grandmother passed away the night I missed your last Akademiya performance.” The confession was devastating in its simplicity.
Alhaitham had wanted to invite her to see Kaveh’s last performance so he could introduce her to Kaveh after. She would have loved Kaveh dearly. It never was able to happen though, and that was one of his regrets. One that he’s carried alone for a long time.
Kaveh’s breath caught in his throat and quickly spun to face him in distress. “Oh my god, Alhaitham. Why didn’t you tell me?”
Alhaitham kept his gaze on the city’s blinking lights, using the banister to lean on. “I couldn’t,” his voice fractured, “I didn’t want to worry, especially before your last performance.
Kaveh’s hand reached over, laying atop of his for comfort. When he finally faced Kaveh, Kaveh gasped. A few tears trickled down Alhaitham’s cheek.
“I would have been there for you. Always.” Kaveh’s voice cracked. His other hand went to Alhaitham’s face, using his thumb to wipe away the tears. His palm cupped his cheek and rested there.
“I know,” Alhaitham admitted, almost nuzzling into Kaveh’s palm. “I couldn’t tell you because you would have dropped everything. Your dreams, your opportunities… just to hold my hand while I grieved.”
Kaveh’s firm grip on his hand tightened around him. “And that would have been a bad thing?” Well, when Kaveh said it like that, it sounded quite foolish.
“I didn’t want to be the reason you missed your moment.” Alhaitham sighed weakly, knowing the argument was lost.
“You’re such an idiot. I was so concerned for weeks before the fight.” Kaveh laughed miserably. His grandmother was sick for weeks before her passing. “I just thought you were being meaner than usual and I couldn’t figure out why.”
Kaveh swallowed back some of his own tears and started to explain his own side. “I’m… prone to saying hurtful things when I feel I have been hurt. It’s unfair, and I’m better about it now but,” Kaveh sighed. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have just left without saying anything. That really sucked.”
“I’m sorry too.” Alhaitham apologized. He had already forgiven Kaveh years ago, Kaveh didn’t know. It was his own guilt that had to be forgiven.
“We are both idiots.” Kaveh sniffled a laugh and Alhaitham joined. He couldn’t remember the last time he laughed so freely like this. The tension dissipated after years of misunderstanding hung between them. For the first time, it felt lighter.
Alhaitham startled Kaveh by pulling him into an embrace. He smiled softly when he felt the arms wrap back around him.
“I missed you.”
“I missed you too.”
“Let me remind you,” Alhaitham suddenly spoke and pulled back enough to see Kaveh’s face.
“What?” Kaveh, confused, tilted his head in question.
“Let me remind you what we are to each other.” He whispered and pressed his lips to Kaveh’s. Kaveh was soft and warm. The gentle kiss was a tentative reunion to familiarize themselves after years apart.
Neither wanted to escalate the kiss, they just wanted to stay in the moment forever with their bodies pressed together under the moonlight. Their foreheads pressed together as they parted, overlooking the city.
“A lot has changed.”
“And some things stay the same.” Alhaitham kissed Kaveh again with a smile.
A gasp and a flash. They pulled back quickly and looked down at the street. Three teens were standing there with their phones out.
“I told you it was Kaveh! We’re big fans!!” The one who took the picture called out.
“Kaveh has a partner!”
“And it’s his bodyguard?!”
“Oh for archons’ sake,” Alhaitham pinched the bridge of his nose. Kaveh ran a hand through his hair, “management is gonna kill us. I hope you’re ready for fame, Alhaitham.”
Alhaitham gave the three a deadpan stare while Kaveh sheepishly waved. “Thanks for supporting Kaveh but please give him privacy,” He called out. The trio squealed, already typing away at their screens.
“What are you doing?!”.
“Damage control,” Alhaitham hummed, “you’re stuck with me now by the way.”
“You’re insufferable.”
“But you love me,”
“Unfortunately,” Kaveh smiled.
Alhaitham pulled Kaveh back into the home away from the prying cameras. They’ll deal with it tomorrow. For now, they had years to make up.