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Room 1405, 1405, Sethos repeated within his mind as he investigated the corridors with a frown. Just where was this room? His first semester in college was meant to start off on the right foot, but now he was going to be late for his first-ever lecture.
History of King Deshret's Civlisation with Professor Thoth, eleven-ten on Monday morning, room 1405. It was a class open to all departments for some reason — perhaps the Akademiya was trying to increase access to desert studies now that the old, greying dean with the ugly monocle was replaced by a woman who looked much too young to be leading a university. Whatever the reason was, all Sethos knew was that he was going to miss out on any good seats if he was late.
Just as he expected: peeking into the correct room, he found that the only available spaces were in the far back or the very first row, where he was so ridiculously close to the board that he could probably touch the professor if he outstretched his arm.
Well, whatever, he was here to focus anyway. Picking a chair at the very front, he sat next to a blonde student who beamed at him in greeting.
"Hi," the student exclaimed, cheerfully. "Nice to meet you, I'm Kaveh."
"I'm Sethos," he replied, returning the smile. What a friendly guy. "Can I sit next to you?"
"Of course!"
In stark opposition to Kaveh sat another classmate on that same row, whose hair was a dull shade of grey and whose face seemed to be carved out of stone as judging by his impassiveness. The sheer contrast between the two would have made Sethos laugh if he wasn't worried about appearing rude.
Kaveh turned to the unblinking guy next to him with a glare, that enthusiasm glinting in his eyes now replaced by irritation. "You have to introduce yourself as well, idiot."
"You would have wasted less words simply saying this is Alhaitham."
"It's not my job to introduce your rude ass," Kaveh snapped.
"And if I didn't want to introduce myself at all?"
"This is why nobody likes you!"
They both crossed their arms in an almost identical movement, as if the two were opposite sides of a mirror, and Sethos didn't bite down a chuckle this time.
"Are you two also freshmen?"
"Oh, no, I'm a fourth-year and he’s a second year," Kaveh replied, an easygoing smile once more curving his lips. "Is this your first semester? You can talk to me anytime if you need any help, alright? I'm always available!"
"Don't talk to him," Alhaitham pitched in, raising an eyebrow. "He's already drowning in work because he decided to take many unnecessary extra classes. It's like he wants to burn out as quickly as possible."
"That's rich coming from—"
"Gentlemen," a voice above them called, and Sethos realised he had been so entertained by the performance before him that he hadn't noticed the professor standing right there. "I would like to begin my lecture."
"I'm really sorry," Kaveh murmured, looking painfully apologetic.
Alhaitham looked utterly unbothered.
When Sethos left the class, the two were arguing again, this time about which textbook would be best for the class. Their altercations hadn't really stopped at any moment, because every time Professor Thoth asked a question, Kaveh's hand shot up while Alhaitham leisurely raised his, and they each confronted each other's points in increasingly passive-aggressive language.
They hated each other's guts, and it was frankly hilarious. Why they sat right next to each other would remain a mystery, but Sethos guessed that it was probably to amp up the tension.
The first few weeks of the semester flew by, Sethos made a few friends, and Alhaitham and Kaveh continued to bicker religiously. It was impressive how the brightness of Kaveh's features was instantly distorted into a frown every time he turned towards Alhaitham, chin instinctively raising as if it were a natural physiological reaction to look at him with a withering glare. Really, it was extremely entertaining. Sethos started noting down the best lines he heard on the back of his notebook.
Did you even sleep at all last night? Interesting that you picked engineering as a career path considering that you can't even keep your own body standing, let alone a whole building.
You know Alhaitham, they say handwriting reflects personality, but I didn't know it could be such an accurate measure of character. Your letters are both unreadable and impressively ugly.
What did you think of my essay? immediately followed by It's well-done, but you forgot to include one key concept. Have you heard of 'grammar'?
And, Sethos' personal favourite:
You should stick to calculus, because history doesn't seem to be your forte, to which Kaveh immediately replied, Good point, I'm pretty good at maths. For example, I could graph the amount of friends you have with a single equation: y = 0.
"Wow," Collei murmured as she read through.
She was a first-year who shared several classes with Sethos, and though it had taken her a bit of a while to get out of her shell, they now had lunch together on most days.
"I also share a class with these two, actually," she added, returning the notebook to Sethos.
"What a coincidence. They're in different departments."
Collei chuckled. "I guess they take their rivalry so seriously that they match up their timetables. They're always comparing grades in my class, taking out a calculator to work out their averages and all. Kaveh was mocking Alhaitham over having a grade average higher than his by two hundredths of a point."
Sehots tipped his head back in a cackle. "The funniest part to me is that Kaveh is really nice to literally everyone, except for Alhaitham. He's rubbing that grade on Alhaitham's face, but I just saw him comforting a girl in the corridor the other day because she was failing a class."
"They've gotta have history to hate each other that much."
"Probably."
Final exams were coming up in a couple of weeks, and Sethos found himself unfortunately dragging his feet to the library every afternoon. Thankfully, it was large enough that he always found an available seat regardless of the time, even if it ended up taking him to some hidden nook behind dusty bookshelves.
"Oh, hi Alhaitham."
Alhaitham, who was busy removing books from a bag, didn't look up. "Hello."
Sethos was about to simply move past when he paused his steps. "That's senior Kaveh's bag."
"I'm aware."
Scratching his neck, Sethos considered what he should do. Was this theft? Could Alhaitham be taking this intense rivalry to new levels of hatred by sabotaging Kaveh's studies? That would be going too far. Just as Sethos was about to open his mouth about the matter, a voice erupted behind him.
"What do you think you're doing?" Kaveh marched all the way to where Alhaitham was standing, then jabbed a finger at his chest. "Hiding my things again? You know, pranks aren't funny the third time around, Alhaitham. You should have more respect for your upperclassmen."
"It was quite funny the last two times, so I beg to differ. You even agreed to saying I was smarter than you in exchange for getting your textbook back. If I could make a video my lock screen, that one would be my immediate choice."
"You're sadistic," Kaveh uttered, pursing his lips. "Your sense of humour is shit."
"As if someone who laughs at Cyno's jokes could be any authority on the matter."
"As if someone who's physically incapable of laughing could be any authority ever!"
Sethos snorted at how red Kaveh's face had flushed in a window of mere seconds, and the two turned towards him with blinking eyes.
"Oh, hi Sethos!" Kaveh exclaimed, instantly replacing his grimace with a sickly-sweet smile as his cheeks instantly returned to their original colour. "Do you need any help with studying?"
"Not from you," Alhaitham stated.
Kaveh bonked with his head with a notebook. "Guidance is what seniors are for, so don't hesitate to come to me if you need anything at all! I love to study in pairs and groups anyway, so I'm always available if you want a study buddy."
"Sure," he replied, stifling back laughter at the hilarious change in disposition on Kaveh's brightened face.
"Fun!"
And that was how he found himself saving Kaveh's contact number for a study meet.
Kaveh: i live 10min away from campus so if u wanna come over instead of going to the library, we can talk and discuss content instead of whispering all the time!
Kaveh: it's whatever u prefer!!
Poor Collei was sick the week before finals, so during lunchtime Sethos hunted down a classmate of his who always wore a hilariously oversized hat. He seemed to be allergic to socialising, so Sethos figured that he would be in the more deserted parts of campus.
As he strolled down the outdoor paths in between buildings that almost no one ever took, he remarked on how silent it was. Only a couple birds could be heard in the distance, but other than that, it was just a calming, soothing, quie—
Sethos stopped abruptly in his tracks as he heard something breathy and muffled. Stepping forwards slowly, the sound was closer now, and it sounded kind of like—
Two people making out. He laughed quietly, realising that there was probably plenty of that in the empty crannies of a university, and he didn't want to interrupt whatever was happening in the corner he had been about to turn. In fact, Sethos was in the middle of turning back when he heard a low murmur.
"Can't get enough of me?" came a muffled sound from the corner.
Sethos froze, because that was most definitely Alhaitham's voice. His jaw dropped to the floor. For some reason, despite his muscles and good looks, Alhaitham came off as the kind of guy who couldn't flirt to save his life, and who would probably say he was "too focused on school" to care about any kind of relationship. Well, that had evidently been an incorrect judgment.
Curiosity started to pull on Sethos' legs. What would Alhaitham's type be? He was almost always alone, except for when he and Kaveh were spitting venomous words at one another. Yet here he was, making out on campus like an enamoured teenager. If Sethos peeked just slightly over the next wall, he could see whoever it was that was covering Alhaitham in kisses.
Fine, okay, it wouldn't exactly be the most ethical act ever, but it was mostly harmless, right? Gossip was just as attractive to Sethos as it was to any other college student, which was very much so. It wasn't like he was necessarily going to tell anyone, he just wanted to know out of natural curiosity.
And so, carefully and quietly, he let only his eyes go past the threshold of the corner, and then his jaw dropped once more— this time, all the way to the floor.
Because right there, pressed against the wall by Alhaitham's chest and grappling Alhaitham's neck like his life depended on it, devouring Alhaitham's mouth with the same fervour with which he argued and pouring all his energy into the kiss was, of all people, Kaveh.
With a breathy grunt, Kaveh pushed Alhaitham away then pressed him against the wall instead. His hands groped the muscled chest in front of his while their mouths returned to one another once more, as if they were physically incapable of remaining apart for any time at all.
"This is my favourite way of making you shut up," Kaveh uttered against his lips.
"I wish your arguments were as strong as your grip on my skin," Alhaitham retorted, pulling Kaveh closer by the hair.
They apparently kissed just liked they argued.
Cheeks a brazen red and holding down ravenous laughter, Sethos stepped away from the corner, then ran off as quietly as he possibly could. God. So Alhaitham and Kaveh had found other ways to externalise their anger, huh? This had to be one of the juiciest pieces of gossip in the entire Akademiya, because who could have possibly thought that they were doing that when no one was around? This was evidently a very well-guarded secret.
Sethos wouldn't tell anyone: not Collei because she was too pure-hearted for gossip, and not Hat Guy because he would certainly spread the news to the entire student body in an instant. After all, Sethos didn't want to go public with some concealed sexual fantasy Alhaitham and Kaveh clearly wanted to keep hidden.
The day for the study session with Kaveh finally came, and they happened to both end their classes at the same time, so the two walked home together.
Kaveh was chatty and friendly as usual on the way there, and though Sethos kept quiet, he found it impossible to block out of his mind the memory from the previous week. This nice, good-natured, smiley guy could not be the same one who was snapping at Alhaitham while clutching onto his neck in some dark corner.
He would certainly be mortified if Sethos told him he knew their secret. Not that Sethos was judging: he could understand the homoerotic appeal of a rivalry after watching one too many TV shows with a similar premise, and everyone was human— even Alhaitham. That didn't make the ordeal any less funny.
Sethos, just to be a nuisance, was about to ask Kaveh if he happened to be dating anyone when they stopped in front of a front door.
"Excuse the mess," Kaveh said off-handedly as he turned his key in the lock. "My roommate is the laziest idiot in the world."
…And right there, standing near a bookshelf in what looked like pyjamas, was Alhaitham himself. Sethos' mind went blank as he watched Kaveh walk in unperturbed, stretching his arms out towards Alhaitham's face.
"I missed you, Haithoomi," he murmured softly, leaning in for a kiss.
Alhaitham held Kaveh's wrists back before his hands touched any skin. "You didn't wash your hands," he uttered, then replied with a sweet kiss to the lips. "How was class?"
"Fine! Too long as always."
Oh. Oh. Sethos was standing there like an idiot while the scene played out, cogs whirring in his brain at full speed.
"You two are…?"
Kaveh turned towards him with a cocked head. "A couple, yeah."
"Wasn't it obvious?" Alhaitham asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Don't be rude," Kaveh replied as he moved to wash his hands in the kitchen sink.
"It's very much not obvious," Sethos stated. "Dude, nobody knows about you two. I follow gossip very closely, so trust me."
Frowning, Alhaitham circled Kaveh's waist from behind with a careful arm. "We're always together."
"You're always arguing."
"Well, he's infuriating," Kaveh muttered, throwing drops of water at Alhaitham's face, but Sethos could now see that there was definitely a certain fondness in his eyes while he spoke. "We haven't been together for that long, I guess."
"Because you're the most oblivious individual I've ever met," Alhaitham added. "I'm surprised I managed to express my intentions in a way that you would understand, considering how many obvious hints you missed."
"Oh, you better stop talking before I make you sleep on the floor tonight!"
"You're too clingy for that," Alhaitham replied, kissing his shoulder. Kaveh slapped him lightly. "You'd come down to the floor with me in the middle of the night."
Wow. Sethos had to tell Hat Guy about this one. In less than twenty-four hours, even the dean herself would be aware of Alhaitham and Kaveh's secret relationship which apparently was never meant to be a secret at all.
"Uh," he started, clearing his throat as he looked around himself. "Well. Are we gonna study, or should I give you guys some privacy?"