[ turquoise eyes maintain an even gaze on the blonde, that familiar, neutral guard firmly back up as kaveh floats the question to him he'd hoped he wouldn't ask. if the unspoken rules of their agreement were different, perhaps he'd agree - if he wasn't due back at the akademiya as soon as possible, if he could trust that further investment in this relationship without definition wouldn't result in disaster. but alhaitham is decidedly hesitant to dive into situations he's lacking context for, where he's unable to see all the moving parts and boundaries.

the more unrestrained part of his soul which repeatedly writhed its way out when he saw kaveh like this would love nothing more than to curse the sages' schedule to hell; to climb on top of the architect and take him in a way that he'd never be able to forget, that none of his nameless lovers would ever be able to live up to; to take him up on the offer to relieve the, frankly, quite distracting arousal he'd essentially cursed himself with.

but: alhaitham couldn't. for many reasons, he couldn't.

with a short sigh, the scribe shakes his head. ]

I was never included as part of this suggestion; only that I was interested in assisting you as per the needs you mentioned last time we discussed this.

[ and he thinks this is a very reasonable reply, because after all, this should demonstrate his willingness to give, correct? especially when it was something obviously causing kaveh some distress. ]

You don't need to be concerned for me. I'm due back at the Akademiya presently, anyway.

[ even though it is a very reasonable reply, he's surprised it's so hard to say. ]