Chapter Text
the sound of children filling the streets of sumeru had gradually stirred kaveh from a lackluster sleep.
the beck and call of kids rushing around near his establishment meant it was late into the bolstering noon, bumbling along with their usual bursts of energy when the sun had reached its highest point in summer. a summer in sumeru, at least.
his fingers, splayed out atop his work desk like the rest of his upper body, minutely twitched to the disorientation of children's voices and their shoes scuffling the pavement just outside his window. his senses hadn't quite reached him just yet, as he stirred, ever so slowly, to wakefulness. not long after the children ran elsewhere to play he fully snapped back to life, only to groan in misery.
"ugh! why does my head hurt so much," kaveh whined, blearily cradling a hand to his head. The faint pulsing of a migraine caused him to grimace when it intensified to a knocking behind his eyelids.
working overtime again? he didn't even remember when he last dozed off. with the way his joints creaked as he slowly straightened himself in his seat, he was sure he had been doing away at his projects longer than necessary. that, he understood. this part of aching from falling asleep on his work desk, regretting the lull of sleep that tends to call for him to bed despite the afternoon sun, he understood.
him lightly knocking an empty booze bottle with his pinky when he grasped the edge of the table with his other hand to get up, that, he did not.
a jolt of surprise briefly flashes through his expression at the sight of the bottle, then a recollection of last night makes his eyebrows knot together and his migraine all the worse to bear. the confusion only ever lasted briefly, after all, when you remember the shameless fight with your housemate before they leave for a week-long expedition in the same breath.
"what the hell, that scribe..." kaveh grumbled, although more half-heartedly than usual. he'd almost forgotten why he drove himself to this point, blanking out drunk at his desk rather than focusing on said projects. which, he realised, as time and frustration sobered him from his daze, blueprints weren't splayed out before him at all.
'why was i so worked up about him again? his opinion doesn't matter to me- in fact! what he thinks about my ways doesn't even matter.' kaveh heaved a sigh, thinking it's too early yet too late for this.
the lazy trickling of the afternoon sun rays through his blinds beckoned him to crash and forget about everything, even just for a moment. instead, his sense of self-preservation managed to get him out of his room and into the shower.
he took his time fully sobering up under the scalding water, letting the steam run its course and crowd his vision. if he kept his eyes closed long enough, he could just barely ignore the pulsing beneath his eyelids.
oh how he managed to ridicule himself again merely a night before; he could only ever wish for someone to understand him and his views, keep him on his toes.
since moving in with that damned scribe, all he ever blamed his worsening alcoholic tendencies on were those turquoise eyes encased in their vermilion stare. half-sorts of truths and full-on lies, his brain dared not muster how different his life could be if he never agreed to live with alhaitham. kaveh could only bitterly recount all their quarrels, and how their most recent one was heated more than usual.
would he fix it if he could? what's there to fix? he doesn't care about what that man thinks of him, let alone his opinions on kaveh's life decisions.
or does he?
what does it matter? in the end he still owes alhaitham more than he can make. that thought alone got kaveh scrubbing harshly at his skin the more agitated he felt by that common revelation. he swore that alhaitham's perspective on anything kaveh-related didn't matter to him, and now he's sure as hell agitated by the constant reminder of his debts.
by the time kaveh got dressed and dried his hair, the last of the warmth of the late afternoon had seeped from the house's wooden walls to create a state of sullen cold. along it took the lively mosaic greens and blues splayed from his wide windows with it; in its stead, a nonchalant humming yellow of street lamps filtered in with the darkening of the sky.
the blonde gathered his house keys (remembering them, thank god), and mehrak from the living room before stepping out into the evening streets of the city. kaveh barely managed to lock the front door before his stomach growled in protest at him, reminding him he hadn't had anything to eat since last night.
he'd arrived home after researching at the house of daena to have his housemate's inquisitions immediately thrown into his face. their banter had made his ears ring unusually loud with his hunger. it bordered him on the line between worried and pissed off at the announcement alhaitham sprung on him amidst their argument.
confusing himself, asking why he would even worry about alhaitham leaving for a week. after the scribe carried his gear through the front door with a chaste bye, the booze had made sure kaveh became numb to the sensation of it all.
the architect grumbled to himself, "ugh, i'll go visit lambad's...what could hurt? it's alhaitham's money anyway." before he could let guilt consume him at that very reminder of the expenses he is abusing.
resolved, kaveh enthusiastically turned away from his home to seek the traffic of treasures street. he dearly longed for the familiar buzz of company, even if it was just the faces of strangers who know his name, before he suffocated from sheer loneliness and the effort of thought.
of his declining work, of his uncontrollable alcoholism and temper, of the sleep deprivation stained by the impassive words of a particular silver-haired man. he had projects begging for his time, yet he had no time to sit and let his brain wander when his soul was restless as such.
though, it wasn't very long before kaveh was stopped from walking to his location. he perked up, instinctively turning around to the sound of a child sobbing not far from where he was standing. it was faint, like the humming of the street lamps' yellow glow on his home, but it was there. it was deadly quiet, so it was near impossible to ignore.
"hello?" he called into the dark of his street, addled by worry. "is anyone there?"
kaveh let a beat or two pass when no one replied, save for the crickets and the wind threading through the leaves overhead. he took hasty steps back to the direction of his house, passing it when he figured the sobbing had come from further up around the corner.
in the crook of the suburb, where the lazy caress of the street lamps' guidance of light dared not reach. an involuntary shiver raced up his spine at the discovery. he never really noticed there were alleyways as dark as this near his home until now. he never really had a reason to take notice anyway.
"um. hello? is anyone there?" he tried, louder, when he finally reached the mouth of the alleyway, peering cautiously into the pitch-black throat of its slightly narrow walls. no sound greeted him from within. "hello?"
kaveh fidgeted on the spot, clutching mehrak closer by his side in an attempt to be brave. sure, it's dark and there's no one around as they're all in the busier parts of the divine tree for dinner and such, but his heart knows there was the cry of a child.
he can't overlook that just because of the way the hairs on his arms stood on end at the eerie sight of the alleyway's gaping maw. just because of the way his palms clammed up by his sides doesn't fare as an excuse to turn tail from someone that could be facing possible danger. let alone a child, of everything.
"are you- are you hurt? it's safe to come out. i can help you," kaveh made another effort to sound as harmless as he could, only to have silence persist in reply to his attempts. the cold chills down his spine failed to stop him from visibly shuddering in unease, and yet he was still standing here.
however, he only allowed himself one more beat of silence before making his move. "i'm coming to you, okay?"
again, no sound of confirmation that the sobbing had came from here answered him. he didn't understand why he was so sure the source of the noise came from this particular alleyway. he guessed it was just this deeply unsettled part of his core that told him there was nowhere else for a child to go; all alone, crying, quiet. or rather, the perfect spot for a child to be–
kaveh's legs acted on its own. with his fists clenched he forced his way into the dark, sensing the walls around him fade into an inky black that shunned his ability to see anything. mehrak's face emitted a soft green glow as he advanced into the depth, watching the bricks on either sides of him blur past in his haste.
"hello? anyone here?" he called once again, praying he would get a response sooner or later. he can't be mistaken, not with the dread pooling in his stomach like this. "i'm here to help!"
kaveh could almost taste his heartbeat leaping up his throat when his ears, straining for any sort of noise, picked up the unmistakeable sound of a sob. he wasn't wrong after all. and yet it didn't make him feel any better at the confirmation that there was someone here, helpless and hurt.
"i'm here, i'm here. hang on," kaveh hurriedly blurted out, willing himself to stride further into the alleyway to make contact with the owner of the voice.
he directed mehrak so light could help illuminate the path ahead of him, unsure of what he would find, but determined to find them. his heartbeat was raucous. then, in an instant he couldn't feel his heartbeat at all. the sight before him made his feet lurch in their last step, shocked into staying still.
because right before him, revealed in what little light mehrak could provide in the dark, was the shape and form of a woman.
no, what made him still so rigidly was the fact that he could identify her by the silken red cloth across her eyes and her gold-and-red attire, even in this dark and dingy lighting. he almost forgot how to react, when she suddenly bounced up from her sitting position on the floor akin to that of a victim's, and flashed him a wide, wide smile.
"oh sir, thank you for coming to save me!" she cheered, clasping her hands in front of her. there were no tears where her sobs had indicated so. "i was so so scared, i didn't know what to do."
kaveh couldn't understand why he didn't turn and run at that moment. the cold dread that dripped from the shivers up his spine clung to the sole of his shoes, rendering him frozen to the spot.
"wait. you weren't...?"
he tried to muster a grunt of confusion, tried to process his dumbfounded state. why he was reacting so slow even when he had identified the woman's clothing by now, realising how she seemed more threatening than the chance of a child being found in need of help.
"goodnight!" the lady's smile split from ear to ear as she tilted her head at him. her eyes unseen, yet kaveh felt spiders crawl down his back at how she seemed to see exactly straight through him.
apparently it was the last thing he could take in, as stunned as he was, with mehrak uselessly clutched in his hand in front of him. there was only a brief second of panic that begged his limbs to attempt to turn his body and run, before a sharp pain left him reeling- then gone like a light, in the dark of the alleyway.
mehrak cluttered heavily to the concrete floor.