[ To be entirely fair, Kaveh isn't sure what he's expecting Alhaitham to do— and yet he's not expecting to be lifted into the scribe's arms all of a sudden, one strong limb curled under his legs and the other supporting his back. The resultant response is something of a yelp, half-indignant and half-protesting, although once he finds himself actually embraced in the other man's hold, he's remarkably quick to settle, his body canting into the other's broad figure, his own fingers remaining linked at the back of his neck.

His face shifts to nuzzle itself into the space under Alhaitham's chin, a brush of lips against his larynx, down over the hollow of his neck, willfully inhaling the mingled scents of clean skin and musky cologne that embrace his senses.

There's no need for verbal clarification; even without asking, without looking up to see where they're going, he knows the layout of the house well enough to realize they're headed to the scribe's bedroom, not his own, and despite the taller man's words— Bed's the sensible place to be— Kaveh can't help the heat that stirs to life in his abdomen at the thought, the knowledge, that he's being taken to Alhaitham's bed.

And so he marks his disapproval of the scribe's words with a nip of his teeth against sensitive skin, just a hint sharper in action than he should be, a scolding without any real desire to hurt. ]

What if I want to take it as a suggestion, hm? You're allowed to clarify your meaning, but you know just as well as I do that I will ascribe my own understanding to the things you say, whether originally intended or not.

[ An academic argument by all counts, even if the reasoning behind it is far less scholastic. Alhaitham isn't the only one of them wanting to be selfish right now. ]