Seems like a fool's errand for me to investigate it when a perfectly decent architect lives here. Sounds like a good chore to add to the list whenever your hangover wears off, doesn't it?

[ kaveh's reactions don't escape the scribe's watchful gaze as he draws back a couple of inches to face the other again. once more, those artistic fingers are dancing across his bare skin and slinking up into his now-dry hair, the touch making him want to shiver despite the room becoming stuffy from the trapped heat of the midday sun. he's not used to people touching him in general, but to weather kaveh's touch without breaking?

it's a challenge. ]

I don't lie. [ a beat, deadpan. ] And the house can be replaced.

[ - is his simple response to the recollection of his words from the previous night, because he has nothing to recant or defend. alhaitham isn't familiar to fury, but he knows the taste of it - which is less than he can say for jealousy or insecurity. whatever he had said last night was stated fact and nothing less, something that's only ramified by the quiet, deep swell of his heart as he watches the blonde quietly laugh.

oh, this would cause problems.

then kaveh says he can't figure him out, which puzzles alhaitham because it's quite the contrary - it feels like despite their polar opposites and misaligned points of view, only kaveh had ever come close. or perhaps he'd only come close because he'd been the only one who'd given enough of a shit to deal with an attitude that only ever put others off.

either way, the final comment throws him for a second because the scribe is genuinely at a loss as to whether he should be flattered or insulted. his expression is bemused as he looks down at kaveh, the pad of his thumb reaching to brush over the blonde's bottom lip - but there's a hint of amusement buried in there. ]

I'm on top of you pouring my heart out and you compare me to a swamp dweller? Unbelievable.