[ Archons, he hates this. He hates how Alhaitham can look so calm, so impassive, so unaffected by any of this, while Kaveh's desperately trying to keep his legs from giving out underneath him. There's a horrific kind of finality about it, about the way the other speaks, and Kaveh suddenly knows with devastating clarity that this isn't just about him moving out, that they're breaking up, that he's somehow screwed up the one good thing he had in this world. ]
Alright, then... then... [ Propriety would dictate that he say thank you or something equally trite, but he can't make his lips even start to form the words. Before they found themselves together, thanking Alhaitham was hard, sometimes impossible— somehow now it feels beyond that.
(Besides, he doesn't want to thank him— he wants to cry, to scream, to ask what he did wrong, tell him he doesn't want this—) ]
So I'll... I'll stay with Tighnari for a few days while I get my things in order. And I'll— once I find a place, I'll come move my stuff out—
[ The panic is starting to well in his gut. He's going to be sick. He's going to lose control over his emotions and start to sob. He swallows hard, locks his fingers into a tight grip on his leggings, sucks in a sharp breath as he tries to keep himself steady. Fuck— ]
I'll see you later, Alhaitham.
[ Faltering steps take him out of the office, back through the wending rooms of the Akademiya. There are tears on his cheeks, there are people staring, but he doesn't notice any of them. And the second he's outside, Kaveh staggers into the nearest bush and promptly throws up. ] [ A few days turns into four, then five, and soon a week has passed without Kaveh really being aware of it. Living with the most well-adjusted couple in Teyvat is an exercise in torture for one so miserable. He finds himself unable to focus on work, offering excuses of sickness and promising to get back to work as soon as he can manage it, even if he feels as if he'll never be able to bring himself to work again.
It will get better, Tighnari tells him, and Cyno tries to make jokes, but they don't help. Nor does finding himself in the bottom of a bottle.
Kaveh has experienced heartbreak, but never like this.
But he can only wear out his welcome for so long, and a week into his moping, Kaveh decides he has to do something. So he takes his bags, empties them of what few things he brought with him here, and heads back into the city, shoulders straight and key in hand. It's a weekday, so Alhaitham should be at work— all he has to is get in, pack his bags, get out.
But the house is dark when he walks in, the caustic smell of alcohol burning his nostrils, and the few steps he ventures forward bring him face to face with a sight he never expected to see. ]
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[ Archons, he hates this. He hates how Alhaitham can look so calm, so impassive, so unaffected by any of this, while Kaveh's desperately trying to keep his legs from giving out underneath him. There's a horrific kind of finality about it, about the way the other speaks, and Kaveh suddenly knows with devastating clarity that this isn't just about him moving out, that they're breaking up, that he's somehow screwed up the one good thing he had in this world. ]
Alright, then... then... [ Propriety would dictate that he say thank you or something equally trite, but he can't make his lips even start to form the words. Before they found themselves together, thanking Alhaitham was hard, sometimes impossible— somehow now it feels beyond that.
(Besides, he doesn't want to thank him— he wants to cry, to scream, to ask what he did wrong, tell him he doesn't want this—) ]
So I'll... I'll stay with Tighnari for a few days while I get my things in order. And I'll— once I find a place, I'll come move my stuff out—
[ The panic is starting to well in his gut. He's going to be sick. He's going to lose control over his emotions and start to sob. He swallows hard, locks his fingers into a tight grip on his leggings, sucks in a sharp breath as he tries to keep himself steady. Fuck— ]
I'll see you later, Alhaitham.
[ Faltering steps take him out of the office, back through the wending rooms of the Akademiya. There are tears on his cheeks, there are people staring, but he doesn't notice any of them. And the second he's outside, Kaveh staggers into the nearest bush and promptly throws up. ]
[ A few days turns into four, then five, and soon a week has passed without Kaveh really being aware of it. Living with the most well-adjusted couple in Teyvat is an exercise in torture for one so miserable. He finds himself unable to focus on work, offering excuses of sickness and promising to get back to work as soon as he can manage it, even if he feels as if he'll never be able to bring himself to work again.
It will get better, Tighnari tells him, and Cyno tries to make jokes, but they don't help. Nor does finding himself in the bottom of a bottle.
Kaveh has experienced heartbreak, but never like this.
But he can only wear out his welcome for so long, and a week into his moping, Kaveh decides he has to do something. So he takes his bags, empties them of what few things he brought with him here, and heads back into the city, shoulders straight and key in hand. It's a weekday, so Alhaitham should be at work— all he has to is get in, pack his bags, get out.
But the house is dark when he walks in, the caustic smell of alcohol burning his nostrils, and the few steps he ventures forward bring him face to face with a sight he never expected to see. ]
...Alhaitham?