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How was the day off?
Peaceful, contemplative... Huh, what was that? Dry? Ha, indeed, sounds like the perfect day at home. Couldn’t be any further from the truth for Kaveh! Everything that could possibly go wrong had indeed gone wrong....
Where to start? The heavy rains had continued through the morning, so the roads were a muddy slippery mess as Kaveh headed to a commission on the other side of the city. No time to linger over coffee at the breakfast table— not when the client was already waiting impatiently at the building site for progress updates— just a handful of tea leaves thrown into a thermos of hot water to steep as Kaveh looked all over the house for his current favorite pen, which turned up as an impromptu bookmark in one of the books that cluttered the living room.
...Honestly, they just tidied up last weekend; how are there already piles?
And then the site inspector never showed up, so Kaveh had to locate and schedule an alternate, even though the client was unhappy about the delay and the higher fee. Except that was when the first inspector managed to send over a message stating she was available as soon as she was able to get out the front door, which had valiantly held back a mudslide after last night’s storm... at the cost of refusing to open afterwards. By this point, the client’s project timeline was frankly not the biggest concern— though perhaps telling the client this out of frustration was not the right move...
But it all turned out: One emergency house evacuation later, the client got their desired site inspection report before the close of the business day, giving Kaveh enough time to assist with cleanup from the storm and restore function to two of the closest drains. There’s a work order already out for Corps of Thirty members to clear the rest before the week is over, and he personally submitted a sharply-worded report to the local Corps of Thirty Advisor about the woefully inadequate drainage systems in the area.
Yes, woeful is the word he used; just look at the state of his cloak! Bear in mind that this sorry condition is after he rinsed off the worst of the mud in the garden outside. If Kaveh has any luck, the stains will lift right out after a soak, which he’ll get to right after this shower. He wasn’t foolish enough to wear anything truly nice out in this weather, but if he does lose this cloak, he’s not blaming the weather... Nay, culpability lies on former Sage Emin for loosening the Kshahrewar code of civil engineering standards! Kaveh always tells his students: building codes are written in blood. Behind each and every regulation is a disaster that took lives that might have otherwise been avoided with better building practices. How could a Kshahrewar Sage have forgotten this fundamental insight? The hubris in believing present-day knowledge to be superior to centuries of wisdom must have been behind that bizarre conspiracy to replace an Archon. But in the end, Azar’s whole plot mostly just resulted in a whole lot of clean-up work for everyone else... Present company very much included, ha!
Speaking of clean-up, though, don’t for a moment think that Kaveh will be the only one mopping the floors after this disastrous escapade! Whose fault is it really that he didn’t have time to pack a spare change of clothes to the job site this morning? Because he could have been dry much earlier than now, if not for his pen mysteriously disappearing only to reappear in a book that he was not currently reading. Does Alhaitham have anything to say to defend himself?
Well, yes, Kaveh needed to bring a pen, and he wanted that pen in particular. Why shouldn’t he? It’s a great pen! Didn’t Alhaitham take a good look at it when he took it for himself as a bookmark? Mehrak, show Alhaitham the pen. See, notice how the barrel— Oh, fine, Kaveh will finish washing up first.
...
Thanks for washing the towels; they certainly were not in that state when Kaveh left this morning. How did Alhaitham predict that there would be an urgent need for fresh towels? Did enlightenment strike while pouring coffee from the cezve? Ha, true, it hardly requires an astrologist to notice that the skies did not portend a stop to the rains for the next few hours. But the weather is the weather; it occurs regardless of how convenient it is for Kaveh. Alhaitham’s unabashed thievery is not in the same category!
Although, if that pen is also Alhaitham’s favorite, Kaveh can place an order for more... No? Hmph, see to it that his possessions remain in his possession in the future then.
Come to think of it, has Alhaitham eaten yet?
No, Kaveh hasn’t either, but looks like someone put takeout containers in the kitchen. Ooh, is this... minty bean soup from Lambad’s? Alhaitham is fully forgiven for his crimes.
Not in perpetuity. Kaveh knows that Alhaitham’s been taking his keys. Defend himself all he likes, the number of times their keys have been “mixed up” is more than pure chance. But anyways, take this bowl over to the table. Does Alhaitham want wine tonight?
...
Ahh, how nice to finally sit down... Kaveh feels like he’s been on his feet all day! Here, try this. Good, right? Kaveh asked Lambad to add more padisarah to the biryani last time; looks like he remembered. Alhaitham prefers it like this, right? Okay, here, another bite.
Thanks for picking up dinner today, Haithoomi. Less dishes to wash, too, how thoughtful. He’ll clean up later...! For now, all he wants to do is lie down!
...Mmm, this wine was a good choice. Where did they get it? Right, Cyno brought it last week when they visited. Speaking of which... the books, they’re in piles already! How could this be possible when their home was company-ready last weekend? Tighnari and Cyno certainly didn’t ask to peruse their library back then, and Collei took home all the books she was given. So where hence did all these come from? Look, Kaveh can’t even put down his glass on the table without it being dangerously close to a book— Hey, that’s where his pen was this morning!
How exactly did it come to be that Kaveh’s pen was placed into Alhaitham’s current reading material? What book is it, anyway?
No, no more details; Kaveh is two volumes behind and doesn’t want spoilers... except maybe for Terfesse. Tell him that the shroomboar survives. Was that a ‘no’ to the survival, or to the plot spoiling? Fine, fine, Kaveh will have to catch up to find out. Won’t be too long; he's got a site visit out in Port Ormos late next week, so he can read the series on the ferry ride over.
No, he won't get motion-sick! Kaveh's been on more than enough boats in his lifetime that he can work on scale drawings on a moving ship.
Oh, Alhaitham wants to see him in action? Sure, why don't they make a weekend trip of it to Port Ormos in that case? Elham has a new cat... two actually; she can introduce them! Alhaitham should know one of them, that orange stray cat that wouldn’t leave him alone the last time they were there, remember?
Grab that blanket over there, please. No, Kaveh isn’t getting sick just from being out in the rain all day... It's a fact well known to both that he has cold hands! He’s just had a long day... Didn’t Kaveh just get finished telling Alhaitham about it?
And besides, blankets are great; not only do they add visual interest to an otherwise ordinary piece of furniture, but also they provide coziness for when one wants to cuddle up on the couch. Yes, like now! Here, he’ll share the blanket.
Kaveh doesn’t know how Alhaitham can bear to rest even more after relaxing at home all day, but he’s grateful all the same. Did he ever finish that volume on Enkanomiyan hagiography? Kaveh hasn’t seen that book since before Tighnari’s visit. Tell him what the author’s motive was for analysing such an esoteric civilisation. Okay, fine, tell him what the reader’s motive was then.
Huh, good point, Enkanomiya would have had several centuries of divergent language development from the rest of Teyvat after falling into the ocean. Are any of the runes recognisable at this point?
Mehrak, bring the pen— yes, that pen— and some paper over.
Fascinating... How did the author even find these records? Aren’t most of these tales passed down through oral tradition? New research... Someone managed to venture into the depths of the Dark Sea?!
Mehrak— uhh, nevermind. Alhaitham, tell Mehrak where exactly to get the reports. She’s been optimised to follow Kaveh’s organisational methods; there’s no hope that she would be able to find anything from Alhaitham’s side of the desk.
Of course, the Traveller is mentioned in the credits. Hmm... This writer is the same scholar that Alhaitham’s been corresponding with on Enkanomiyan scripts, right? They’re clearly not affiliated with the Akademiya— none of the sages would authorise this sort of expedition.
These photographs... The buildings are well-preserved even though the people who built them are long gone. Look at how all the pillars have the same slant— that’s definitely from seismic activity. Although... if Enkanomiya is entirely removed from Teyvat, would the ground shifting still be considered an “earthquake”? As this is a matter of semantics, Kaveh defers to the eminent Haravatat scholar in the household.
Mm hm, yes, Alhaitham is the expert here. Another head pat? Sure, sure. His hair’s getting longer; is he intending on keeping it like that? ...If he does, he can’t keep stealing Kaveh’s hairpins! But he’d look nice, yeah. How sad that such good looks are wasted on a man with no sense of style. Alhaitham is unaccountably handsome regardless.
Alhaitham! No, he’s not going to repeat himself! Alhaitham definitely heard him perfectly clear at this distance.
...Huh, what was that?
...Oops, looks like they crumpled the reports... Well, that’s enough of looking at unsanctioned research for Kaveh today. Anyway, that book Alhaitham was reading last week wasn’t about language development; it was on mythological figures in Enkanomiyan history. Tell Kaveh about the old legends...
Right, the Helios-Forger. Who’s that?
...
No, Kaveh’s not sleeping... He's listening, see? The Helios-Forger being locked up... that’s like what happened to Devi Kusanali... The leaders of a nation grow jealous of someone’s wisdom and think they can do better... History repeats itself, parallels and all that.
...
Keep going... Mmm hmm, not asleep. The child befriended a Drake and... together they overthrow an unjust tyrant. Like Mondstadt.... See? History repeats itself.
I just said that? No, I didn’t... What happens next?
...
“Good night, ya ruhi.“