[ His slight inebriation being what it is, Kaveh doesn't really process the scathing note in Alhaitham's tone until it's too late, until he's already brought the other man into the circle of scholars, drawn attention to him and included him in the conversation. He'll have to apologize later; for now, he hooks his fingers a little more firmly into the scribe's linen shirt, another little tug on the fabric trying on its own to communicate a hundred different things.
I'm sorry. I need to do this. Just put up with this for a little while. For me. I'll make it up to you later.
And it will take a lot of making up, he thinks, because Alhaitham's glower now is so pronounced that even the others are starting to notice it. In fact, he's just starting to wonder if it's a good idea to make an excuse and drag his boyfriend out of the group when Nasser clears his throat in an attempt to rescue their discussion.
(Nasser, who is one of the very same scholars who scorned his work in the past, dismissed art as nothing more than a flight of fancy, something not worthy of an academic's time; who in the wake of the changes sweeping the nation seems to have shifted his viewpoint in the same way that many of the others have. A hypocrite.
Honestly, it makes him appreciate the man next to him even moreβ His boyfriend's views may frustrate him beyond all belief, but at least he's consistent. Kaveh can respect someone like Alhaitham a lot more easily than he can someone like Nasser.)
It's perhaps due to these thoughts that unlike the scribe, he doesn't notice the fact that said scholar seems to be talking directly to him, the flirtatious tone of voice going somehow unnoticed by a man who otherwise considers himself to be sensitive to the feelings and intentions of others. If he did, there's no doubt he would do anything other than what he does next: meet the praise with a beaming smile, a shake of his head and a playful nudge of the man's side. ]
You flatter me! [ he says, and he's the very picture of modest and charming, a warmth in his ruby eyes that for all intents and purposes seems genuine, even if he's internally mocking the other man. ] I'm hardly the only decorated person among our company this evening. Didn't you yourself have a paper published just last month that changed your entire field?
[ There's a murmur of agreement over that one, a pleased-as-punch look on Nasser's face and an arm slung once more over Kaveh's shoulder as the architect drinks from his goblet. ]
no subject
I'm sorry. I need to do this. Just put up with this for a little while. For me. I'll make it up to you later.
And it will take a lot of making up, he thinks, because Alhaitham's glower now is so pronounced that even the others are starting to notice it. In fact, he's just starting to wonder if it's a good idea to make an excuse and drag his boyfriend out of the group when Nasser clears his throat in an attempt to rescue their discussion.
(Nasser, who is one of the very same scholars who scorned his work in the past, dismissed art as nothing more than a flight of fancy, something not worthy of an academic's time; who in the wake of the changes sweeping the nation seems to have shifted his viewpoint in the same way that many of the others have. A hypocrite.
Honestly, it makes him appreciate the man next to him even moreβ His boyfriend's views may frustrate him beyond all belief, but at least he's consistent. Kaveh can respect someone like Alhaitham a lot more easily than he can someone like Nasser.)
It's perhaps due to these thoughts that unlike the scribe, he doesn't notice the fact that said scholar seems to be talking directly to him, the flirtatious tone of voice going somehow unnoticed by a man who otherwise considers himself to be sensitive to the feelings and intentions of others. If he did, there's no doubt he would do anything other than what he does next: meet the praise with a beaming smile, a shake of his head and a playful nudge of the man's side. ]
You flatter me! [ he says, and he's the very picture of modest and charming, a warmth in his ruby eyes that for all intents and purposes seems genuine, even if he's internally mocking the other man. ] I'm hardly the only decorated person among our company this evening. Didn't you yourself have a paper published just last month that changed your entire field?
[ There's a murmur of agreement over that one, a pleased-as-punch look on Nasser's face and an arm slung once more over Kaveh's shoulder as the architect drinks from his goblet. ]