[ When Alhaitham's question comes, Kaveh feels his shoulders sag in relief. Even before the scribe's agreement, the blonde knows him well enough to recognize that it's coming; he nods his own acquiescence even as the other man turns away to fetch the first aid kit, and while the fox's antics are met with a frown by his lover, Kaveh finds himself having to hide a smile behind a hand— one that becomes impossible to hide when Alhaitham actually agrees, even adds the caveat that their new charges have to stay away from the books.

He laughs gently in the face of that devastating seriousness, leaning to press a sweet kiss to the corner of the scribe's mouth before his hand drifts to idly pat the fox curled up by his side. ]

Maybe this will teach you to pick them up off the floor, [ he teases, but then his expression softens. ] Thank you, Alhaitham.

[ Because all Kaveh can wonder, truthfully and honestly, is how he managed to get so lucky. Despite approaching things in all the wrong ways, nearly breaking them in two over and over, he's found himself with the person he loves, the one person whom, despite his grumbling, puts up with the intricacies of Kaveh's character. Someone whom, somehow, is just as lost without him as he is without them. ]

Maybe, [ he says, ] this is a good time to talk about that thing from before... about having a family.

[ Except that realistically, it's probably actually not a good time. He needs to be patched up, and there are three new charges in their life who need names, and probably training, and they have to work out what food is best for them to eat, and— and— and—

And now is the perfect time, Kaveh thinks, because it's him, and Alhaitham—

He blinks, slow and sure, and the fox at his side nips at his hand, a soft pain that draws him back into reality, into the moment and away from the cloudiness of the daydreams. ]

I'm a little woozy, [ he admits, as if he hadn't just proposed an important conversation. ]