Series: Genshin Impact Characters/Pairing: Kaveh x Al-Haitham, Mehrak Rating: T Tags: Valetine’s Day, White Day, Chocolates, Fluff and Humour, Established Relationship, Implied Sexual Content, Top Kaveh/Bottom Al-Haitham. Summary: Kaveh attempts a surprise; things go awry, and Al-Haitham is a tease. A/N: For Liz’s prompt: “Kaveh makes a chocolate puzzle box for Al-Haitham but it melts before he can give it to him.” I first wrote this as a short drabble for V-day last year, and then forgot about it till now because time is a social construct. So I decided to rewrite it and brush it up for posting this time.
“Oh no,” Kaveh said, dismay and disappointment articulated all too succinctly in just two syllables.
“Hm,” Al-Haitham supplied, almost as eloquently, arms folded across his chest and curiosity evident in his sharp gaze. “And this is…?”
“It’s a puzzle made of chocolate…”
Al-Haitham angled his head, arching a brow at the opened box on the coffee table once more.
“Or at least it was supposed to be,” Kaveh continued, one hand already massaging at the space between his eyes. “Miss Enteka was kind enough to let me use her kitchen two days ago so I could make it for you. I’d arranged for it to be delivered this afternoon, but I never expected the weather today to be so scorching that it’d melt the puzzle so quickly like this!”
Sumeru Archon Quest: Divorced never dated arc. Living together due to Kaveh’s financial difficulties and lingering sentimentality from Alhaitham’s part.
Alhaitham Story Quest: Warming up arc. Both of them are getting used to living together.
Parade of Providence event: Start of reconciliation arc. With Alhaitham’s help, Kaveh is starting to come to terms with his past regarding his deceased father. Both (but mostly Kaveh) starting to realize that their shared house are their home and the importance of each other’s presence in their life.
Kaveh Hangout Quest: Reconciliation arc. Kaveh contemplates his current life and comes to the realization of how important companionship is even if the two person can’t fully understand each other. Also starts to comes to terms with his past regarding his mother. We can observe how Alhaitham emotionally supports Kaveh from the background.
Kaveh’s birthday letter: Completed reconciliation arc. Kaveh has mostly embraced the idea of living with Alhaitham and sees their house as his “home.” Both are enjoying each other’s companionship. The relationship is noticeably lighter and softer compared to the beginning.
Cyno 2nd Story Quest: THEY’RE NEWLYWED YOUR HONOR arc. Honeymoon to Fontaine when? <-Currently here
(Update) 5.1 Sabzeruz Festival Event: The relationship has come full circle. Their friendship is restored to the point that it’s reminiscent of how it once was during their Akademiya days (Kaveh calling Alhaitham “my friend”), but something completely new and different. Also? Not only are they married, now Mehrak is placed in her rightful place as their construct daughter. <- Currently here
Kaveh, vexed, and being sarcastic in the midst of their usual bickering: Hmph, well someone’s a real comedian today. Al-Haitham, flattered, and actually perceiving himself as the funniest person he knows: Thanks for the compliment. I am indeed full of wit.
“We usually keep a few packs of coffee beans at home” They are so disgustingly domestic, they don’t even bother hiding it anymore lmfaoo
and AAJJSJAKDJSHS KAVETHAM COFFEE BEAN SHOPPING (HOUSE CHORES??) ROSTER… I guess that’s a shopping list Alhaitham is holding while he purchases the coffee beans from Puspa Cafe. I imagine Kaveh must have made a loooong list of requirements of the beans he thinks they would enjoy based on taste, smell, etc. He probably also included some other extra groceries he’d want Haitham to buy from the bazaar too. The fact that it’s somewhat implied they now take turns buying necessities for the house, and possibly also share the house chores together (as opposed to Kaveh wanting to shoulder all of it at first because he’d felt guilty and that he’d owed Alhaitham for taking him in at his lowest point in life)…. Something about these minute details of routine mundanity and the subtle shift in their dynamics to something more balanced and equal, that speaks volumes of their shared comfort and companionship really rejuvenates my dead fossil heart. I HATE/LOVE them lol.
And I absolutely love how Alhaitham can sass Kaveh for his late-night workaholic over-reliance on coffee while still being point-blank about their mundane domesticity and shared grocery-shopping duties in a single breath like it’s NO big deal… Just the Sumeroommies roommating….
I haven’t really checked, so I’m not too sure how the lines are written in CN/JP/KR since those languages can skip (obvious) pronouns altogether and the context would still be understood. But it’s nice to see the EN translators going with “We” and “home” here because it gives us yet another sense of the subtle changes in Kaveh and Alhaitham’s companionship now.
Alhaitham is a very strong-willed person who tends to favour the use of “I” and people’s individuality first, so seeing him explicitly use “We” and “home” now—which aligns with how Kaveh uses it often too when he refers to both of them together—just feels so heartwarming and so very earned :“)
Love the juxtaposition of these two scenes in the Sumeru AQ and the Parade of Providence event — Alhaitham pretending to be overwhelmed and corrupted by Forbidden Knowledge in the fake Divine Knowledge Capsule vs. Kaveh actuallybeing assaulted and nearly overcomed by Sachin’s consciousness and despairing despondency within the Diadem of Knowledge…
Something something about Kavetham being mirrors of each other; how they are one half of the perfect citrus sphere, two contrasting images of the same reflection; and how, essentially, the sum of all their individual traits and flaws still compliment one another in the unending pursuit of wisdom and enlightenment.
My garbage Kavetham brain is still consumed thinking about that five seconds where Alhaitham’s composure actually slipped, almost almost imperceptibly so, when he heard mentions about Kaveh’s ordeal in the desert; that he was even compelled to give Kaveh a quick glance over for injuries out of concern….
Also, the fact that they later had that offscreen heated argument about this very thing once they were home, which then got Alhaitham upset? vexed?? enough to storm off and leave the house…. says a lot. Without actually saying it. Lol. I have feels :__)
A/N: Written for Yuen, for the FandomTrumpsHate2024 charity event. Prompt was for a found family/friendship fic with some Kaveh and Faruzan moments where they bond over “loneliness” + losing family/friends they’d never see again, and with sprinkles of Kavetham throughout.
This piece became much more plot- and dialogue-heavy than I had initially expected. But thank you for your patience, Yuen, and I hope you’ll still enjoy reading it! :’)
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