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Kaveh unloops his grappling hook from around his waist, unfastening the paperclip that serves as the anchor before taking aim. The sharp end sinks into the wood of the counter, and Kaveh gives the string a tug to make sure it will hold his weight.
It’s stable. He begins the climb carefully, his gaze flicking between the string under his hands and the vast emptiness of the human house around him. There’s only one human living there now, a boy a year or two younger than Kaveh who spends all his time with his nose buried in a book. Even though he stays up late into the night reading, Kaveh has found that it’s easy enough to sneak past him. He never looks up.
Kaveh is a borrower, a being who dwells within the houses of humans, ‘borrowing’ from them what he needs to survive. Given he barely reaches the height of a human ankle and humans seem to dislike ankle-sized or smaller creatures scurrying around their houses (if the hostility with which they treat rats and large bugs is any indication), it is also important that no matter what, no human sees him.
Tonight, his search is for food, something that’s been harder and harder to find as of late. The older human used to leave crumbs on the counter ‘for the aranara’, as she’d always say, but now that she’s gone the younger one seems to find her previous habit impractical.
Kaveh has had to get creative. The walls of his dwelling are filled with blueprints scratched out into scraps of paper, various experimental inventions meant to help him open heavy cabinet doors and sneak into pantries.
They… haven’t always worked, and worse, are often a pain to carry around. Kaveh is borrowing with only his grappling hook tonight, and so far, he seems unlikely to find anything.
He’s forced to abandon his search after hearing the thunder of massive footsteps. Kaveh quickly retreats behind a bowl of fruit – too risky to borrow, since his mother always said that leaving holes in human food would result in them setting up dangerous traps or getting a cat.
The ground trembles as the human arrives, searching through cabinets and shelves until he finds whatever it is he was searching for. Kaveh breathes a sigh of relief when he leaves.
The young human is easy enough to avoid. He moves with purpose, making it easy to predict where he plans to search – usually the bookshelves – and Kaveh finds it easy enough to ignore his presence.
It’s a lot harder to ignore his crying.
Ever since the elderly human’s gentle voice stopped echoing through the walls, Kaveh has heard the boy’s rattling breaths, occasionally seen the way he wipes away his tears as he reads.
He wants to do something to help – reach out, comfort him – but Kaveh knows all too well what happens when borrowers reveal themselves to humans.
When he was younger, Kaveh had asked his father for some foolish human item their house didn’t have. He doesn’t even remember what it was, only what happened after – his father had gone to another house and never returned, and it was Kaveh’s fault he was gone.
His mother is gone too, now, having told him the house was too painful to live in and Kaveh was old enough to survive and borrow on his own.
If barely eighteen is considered “old enough.”
It’s only been a month since she left. Long enough that Kaveh no longer considers the empty, silent hole in the wall ‘home’, yet short enough that he still catches himself talking to the emptiness.
There’s a strange sort of ache that comes with missing a comfort that used to be there.
(He understands how alone the human boy must feel.)
<><><>
Two nights later, and Kaveh’s borrowing has taken him to the human’s room. The kitchen has been empty of crumbs for a while, but he knows that sometimes the human likes to take food with him back to his room, and so Kaveh is hoping there'll be something left in there.
He’s taking a risk, but the alternative is finding nothing to eat, and Kaveh is starving. He’d even go for the stalest of crumbs right now.
Throwing his grappling hook onto the nightstand, Kaveh climbs his way up, only to discover that all that’s there is an empty glass and a stack of books. No food.
Behind him, he hears the shuffle of blankets, and Kaveh turns.
Shoot! He needs to leave, now, before the human wakes up. Before he’s spotted. It was already too much of a risk in coming here, and–
The human whispers something that sounds like teta, and Kaveh realizes he’s still asleep, only dreaming. There’s a strange wetness near the corners of his eyes, glimmering in the soft light from the moon. ‘Teta’ was what he used to call the older human, wasn’t it?
Is he… dreaming about her?
“You can’t leave,” the human whispers. “Teta. Please.”
His voice breaks at the last word, and Kaveh feels something in him shatter, even though he hardly knows the human.
Momentarily ignoring just how much danger he’s in, Kaveh jumps down onto the bed – it’s a soft landing, at least – and walks up to the sleeping human, placing a tiny hand over his like that will somehow provide any comfort.
He wishes there was more he could do. The human is clearly lonely and grieving and Kaveh is just… living in his house, borrowing things from him to survive.
Kaveh puts his other hand on the human’s, even though it barely covers the pad of his finger. “I’m sorry,” he whispers, like it will mean anything to the sleeping human. He’d offer a hug, if he could. Not like the human would be able to feel it, anyway.
He fails to notice that the human’s eyes are now open. Or that his other hand is now creeping behind Kaveh, reaching for something on the bedside table.
Something large comes down over Kaveh’s head, and he yelps.
The sound echoes in the space he’s now trapped in. It’s too small, too cramped, forcing Kaveh into an awkward half-kneel against the blankets. His eyes are closed tight, and Kaveh curls in on himself instinctively, as if that will protect him from anything now that the human has caught him.
“...you’re not a spider.”
The human’s voice echoes above him, smooth and with a curious lilt to it. Kaveh slowly opens his eyes, blinking both the sudden light – a lamp seems to have been turned on, filling the room with a soft golden light – and how distorted everything around him looks. His shoulders knock into something solid and cold.
Glass, Kaveh realizes, bringing a palm up to trace the clear walls around him. His breath quickens. He’s trapped under glass.
No no no no no–
Of course he was found. What was Kaveh thinking, getting this close to the human!? He’s honestly lucky that the human’s first reaction was to trap rather than squash him!
But how is he going to get out of this?
“Are you able to understand me?” the human asks. Through his glass prison, Kaveh sees his head tilt to the side, like Kaveh is a fly caught in the web of a spider.
“Let me out!” Kaveh yelps, adrenaline spiking as a low buzz hums in his ears. His voice echoes off the glass, and Kaveh recoils. “I’m– I’m not edible!”
The human blinks. “You’re very loud for someone so tiny.”
Kaveh flushes. “I’m not tiny!” he protests. “You’re just gigantic! Try–” he kicks at the glass, only managing to injure his foot– “thinking outside your own perspective! Ow!”
“You’re a borrower.”
It sounds odd through the glass, muffled, but the awe in the human’s voice is clear. How does he know about borrowers? He shouldn’t know. They’ve kept their existence a secret for so long–
And then Kaveh remembers that he is still trapped under a glass, and moreover, trapped on the bed itself with no time to set up his grappling hook to get him down, meaning even if the human were to lift the glass and Kaveh were to make a run for it, he would be unlikely to get far.
“Listen,” he says, trying desperately to think of a way out. “If you let me go and promise to not hurt me, I’ll answer your questions, okay?”
The human tilts his head again. “That doesn’t seem like a fair trade.”
Kaveh scrambles back, once more bumping against the glass. A stab of pain shoots through his shoulder, something that will definitely bruise later if Kaveh survives this encounter.
Which it is currently looking more and more like he won’t.
“What do you mean?” he cries, legs shaking. “This whole situation isn’t fair!! I’m trapped under a glass and you’re massive! Are you seriously insinuating that you want to hurt me? What else do you want from me? I just– I don’t have anything valuable, okay?”
Shaking his head, the human laughs softly, a quick huff of breath that Kaveh is only protected from by the glass around him. “I don’t want to hurt you. Which is exactly why I said it wasn’t a fair trade. Why should you offer me something in exchange for something I was already planning to do?”
His hand approaches the glass again, and Kaveh freezes before the human shakes his head. “I’m going to lift up the glass now,” he says. “I would prefer it if you didn’t run. I am still curious about you, after all.”
Kaveh huffs. “I’m not– argh! I have every reason to run from you! You trapped me!”
“Because I assumed you were a particularly large spider,” the human says smoothly. “My intention was to release you outside before I saw you were a borrower. I’m not going to stop you from fleeing if that’s what you choose to do, but I don’t mean you any harm.”
“Okay,” Kaveh breathes, trying to calm himself. The human seems to be telling the truth, but it’s not like Kaveh has any other choice but to trust him.
And besides… the human’s curiosity isn’t exactly one-sided. Kaveh’s always been fascinated by humans, and he’d be lying if he said there wasn’t a part of him that was excited at the potential to get some of his questions answered.
“I won’t run,” he promises. “Let me out of here. Please.”
The human nods, and suddenly the glass prison is lifted away from him, moved to somewhere in the distance. He still looms over Kaveh, sitting cross-legged in front of him and peering down curiously.
“I’m Alhaitham,” he says, the sound rumbling through the air. The enormity of his voice alone is nerve-wracking, but the tone is still light, almost pleasant. Slowly, he lowers his hand down in front of Kaveh, palm up as if offering something.
Taking a step back, Kaveh eyes the massive hand warily. It’s large enough to crush him if the human – Alhaitham – wanted to, but… Kaveh doesn’t think he’s going to do that. If he wanted to hurt Kaveh, he would have already.
But what does he expect Kaveh to do with his hand? Shake it? That would be nearly impossible, given the difference in size. Unless…
Oh.
“Are you asking to hold me?” Kaveh asks indignantly. “You– you can’t do that!”
Alhaitham huffs softly. “If you would prefer to talk to me from all the way down there, feel free to. I was attempting to offer a more dignified solution.”
Right. More dignified. Like climbing onto a giant hand is dignified in any way.
At the very least, it means Kaveh won’t feel like he’s talking to a mountain anymore.
Hesitantly, he climbs onto Alhaitham’s hand, bracing himself as the human raises it up to be level with his chin. He’s… surprisingly gentle, clearly taking great care to make sure Kaveh doesn’t fall or lose his balance.
He’s close enough now to see the color of Alhaitham’s eyes, a strange teal fading to red in the center. Alhaitham eyes him curiously.
“You still haven’t told me your name.”
Right. Kaveh shuffles his feet, trying to figure out how best to stand before eventually deciding to mirror Alhaitham’s cross-legged sit, plopping down onto his palm. “I’m Kaveh,” he says hesitantly, eyeing the human warily. “And, er, you’re right about me. I’m a borrower. I live here, but I promise I’m not doing anything bad!!” He waves his hands rapidly, trying to emphasize his point. “I just take what I need to survive from your house, that’s all.”
Now that he’s been discovered, though, he should probably find another house to borrow from. The thought of abandoning all he’s built up hurts, though, and Kaveh finds himself desperately hoping Alhaitham will let him stay.
Alhaitham hums. “Your… smallness seems scientifically impossible.”
Kaveh grits his teeth, scrambling to his feet to jab a finger in Alhaitham’s direction. “I already told you! I’m not small, you’re just massive! You’re– argh! You’re impossible!”
The palm below him shifts unsteadily as Alhaitham huffs another laugh, and Kaveh catches himself clinging to his thumb to stay upright. Alhaitham’s other hand comes up to cup him between his palms, strangely gentle despite his size.
“Don’t do that!” Kaveh hisses, his heart pounding. “You have no idea how terrifying this is!”
“You’re right,” Alhaitham says. “I don’t. You’re free to offer your perspective, since I have expressed my curiosity on borrowers. My grandmother used to tell me stories about you. She claimed she knew a borrower. I was skeptical, but evidently you’re real.”
Huh. Kaveh supposes that explains Alhaitham’s vague knowledge on borrowers. “Interesting. I wonder if it could have been one of my family members? As far as I know, we’re the only borrowers who lived in this house.”
Alhaitham hums. “Is there a reason you were in my room in the first place?”
“You looked… lonely,” Kaveh admits, lowering his head. “I wanted to talk to you, but I also didn’t know what you would do if you saw me. Borrowers aren’t supposed to reveal themselves.”
Alhaitham frowns. “I’m not lonely.”
He says it too quickly for it to be true, though.
The two of them are silent for a moment, Kaveh adjusting his position on Alhaitham’s hand in an awkward attempt to get more comfortable in a rather uncomfortable situation. Alhaitham yawns, and Kaveh remembers he had woken the human up from his slumber.
“I’m going back to sleep,” Alhaitham announces, blinking sleepily. “If you wish to return in the morning and continue our conversation, you may. I live alone, so no one else will see you.”
Kaveh glances around nervously. “I… guess? I should get back to my–”
It’s not a home anymore, he remembers. But he doesn’t know what else to call it. “It’s a long trip,” he says instead, adjusting the grappling hook around his waist. With a shrug, Alhaitham places Kaveh back onto the bed.
“No need to waste your energy making the journey. If it would be acceptable to you, I can set up some sort of sleeping arrangement on the nightstand.”
Kaveh… doesn’t want to accept. The offer is probably motivated by Alhaitham’s worry that he’ll run off and vanish, after all. But he can feel how soft the blanket is beneath his feet, and the journey back to his dwelling is a long one.
“That’s okay, I suppose,” he says instead, trying to keep the tremor out of his voice. It’s still weird being faced with a being so large, yet one who has no intention of hurting him.
The ‘sleeping arrangements’ Alhaitham offered ends up being a teal, circular hat, stuffed with soft cloth to form a sort of improvised mattress. When Alhaitham places it in front of him, he steps into it carefully, instantly sinking into the fabric.
“Does this work?”
Kaveh nods. He can already tell that it’s far more comfortable than his own bed, a thin piece of fabric stuffed with some old cotton balls that’s in dire need of replacement. “Er, thanks.”
“I’m going to lift you again,” Alhaitham warns. “I’m going to put you and the hat on the nightstand.”
Kaveh’s stomach drops as the hat is lifted, and he quickly lowers himself to avoid toppling over. It’s one thing to travel around the house using his grappling hook, but it’s completely different to have one’s current position be at the whims of someone else.
Alhaitham certainly isn’t what he was expecting. But Kaveh has to admit… he’s not that bad, either.
<><><>
When Kaveh wakes, he realizes quickly that he is definitely not in his regular dwelling. The surface he’s on is far too soft and comfortable for that.
He blinks slowly, opening his eyes to be met with vast emptiness. The space he’s in is huge. Did he fall asleep in the open? Is he–
Kaveh scrambles to his feet, tripping over the fabrics underneath him as he tries to find an exit. What was he thinking, sleeping out in the open like this? Why did he just expose himself to a human?
He has to hide. Now.
Alhaitham is stirring, and Kaveh crawls out of the hat as fast as he can, searching for somewhere to hide behind. He had completely forgotten his original mission: find food. And unfortunately, it’s this (and the loud growl of his stomach) that does him in.
Kaveh’s stomach flips as a shadow moves over him, steadily drawing closer.
And then he’s being scooped up by two large hands, and Kaveh screams.
“You’re still loud,” Alhaitham says with a frown, wincing as if the noise had hurt his ears. His thumb is wrapped around Kaveh’s torso, holding him in place as if he fears Kaveh will attempt to break free.
(He will not. Kaveh can see how far of a drop the ground is from here, thank you very much.)
Still, he doesn’t appreciate being trapped like this again.
He wriggles against this new restraint, glaring at Alhaitham. “Don’t grab me!” he hisses. “It’s – not very nice of you!”
“Sorry,” Alhaitham says casually, then places Kaveh in his pocket and starts walking.
At the very least, the pocket is roomy and far less rigid than the glass or Alhaitham’s hand, and Kaveh is able to cling to the edges to poke his head out as Alhaitham takes massive strides towards the kitchen. “Where are we going?” he shouts, the pocket shaking with each of Alhaitham’s steps. “Alhaitham, you have to let me know before you do something like this!”
Alhaitham looks down, frowning. “I wanted to save time. But I’ll warn you in the future. As for where we’re going, I’m hungry and need to make breakfast. I can make some for you as well. How does khubz tannour and leftover shakshuka sound?”
Kaveh’s stomach grumbles again. Right, he’s still starving.
“Amazing,” he says, trying to lean out of the pocket to get a better view of the wide space around him. This is the first time he’s been able to get a good look at the house in broad daylight, with all the lights on, and it’s gorgeous. Green and gold light filters through stained glass windows, and every surface is covered with piles of books, writing utensils, or little statuettes that are ugly in a strangely adorable way.
How much of it belonged to Alhaitham’s grandmother, and how much of it is his? Either way, the house feels lived in.
Like a home.
Alhaitham places him down on the counter while he takes out a container that Kaveh assumes is the leftover shakshuka, along with a piece of flatbread. He works in silence, occasionally glancing over at Kaveh as if to check if he’s still there.
“How old are you?” Kaveh asks, studying Alhaitham. He fiddles with his grappling hook nervously, still made hesitant by the human’s gigantic presence. “You look a bit younger than me. Surely you’re not old enough to be living on your own?”
Alhaitham stiffens. “I’m sixteen. And I’m doing just fine living on my own.”
It feels weird to know that Kaveh is nearly two years older than the massive human. Humans and borrowers age similarly, he’s pretty sure, but still, the difference in size makes Kaveh feel like he’s the junior between the two of them.
“You seem to be living on your own, too,” Alhaitham adds, sounding somewhat petulant. Kaveh huffs, crossing his arms.
“That’s different! I– you’re impossible.”
He swears he can hear Alhaitham’s smirk. “And how is it different, exactly?”
‘You’re old enough to live on your own, Kaveh.’
‘The house reminds me too much of him. I can’t stay here any longer.’
‘You’ll be okay. I know you will, my light.’
Kaveh turns away, shame creeping over his face. “It’s my own fault I live alone,” he mutters. “So it makes sense that I should bear any of the responsibilities associated with it. Are you almost done heating up the food?”
If Alhaitham notices the change in topic, he doesn’t say anything, instead tearing off a corner of the flatbread and handing it to Kaveh. “It’s unlikely I have a dish small enough to give you any shakshuka,” he notes. “I assume a thimble would work in its place?”
Kaveh nods gratefully, still unsure how to receive the human’s casual kindness. It’s probably almost nothing to Alhaitham, but he’s offering Kaveh a full meal. A warm meal, on top of that.
He takes a bite of the flatbread as Alhaitham searches for a thimble. It’s delicious, nothing like the stale crumbs he’s used to borrowing. It feels wrong to be accepting this without offering anything in return, not that Kaveh actually has anything of value to offer Alhaitham. All his belongings were borrowed from Alhaitham’s house in the first place, anyway.
When Alhaitham offers his hand again – this time stating that he wishes to move Kaveh to the table – Kaveh climbs on more readily, trusting the human’s intentions a bit more than he did when they first met.
Alhaitham falls silent again as they eat, flipping the pages of a book more than twice the height of Kaveh.
“You’re going to get shakshuka on the pages,” Kaveh points out. He’s currently attempting to scoop his own shakshuka out of the thimble using pieces of flatbread, a process that takes a considerable amount of focus and involves a lot of failure. “Shouldn’t you not read while eating?”
Alhaitham glances down at him, frowning. “I prefer to read while I eat. And I plan to modify the recipe so it won’t be as messy. For now, I have to take the risk if I want to enjoy my book.”
Losing another scrap of flatbread to his thimble of shakshuka, Kaveh frowns. “Why do you read while eating anyway? Don’t most humans talk while they eat?”
Alhaitham only blinks. “There’s been no one here to talk to until you showed up.”
“There was another human, right?” Kaveh asks. Is that the ‘teta’ Alhaitham had referred to in his sleep?
“My grandmother,” Alhaitham says quietly. His breath rattles softly. “She died.”
His tone is blunt, but there’s an undercurrent of hurt to it that leaves Kaveh hurting, too. “I’m sorry,” he whispers. “I shouldn’t have brought it up.”
Alhaitham shakes his head, turning back to his book. “There’s no need to dance around emotions. Knowing you’ve been in this house for a while, you were bound to ask the question sooner or later. I’ve said already that I’m doing fine, so I would appreciate it if you stopped looking at me like that.”
Kaveh finishes his food in silence while Alhaitham reads. How was he looking at Alhaitham? Was he not supposed to be looking at Alhaitham? It’s kind of impossible to not, given how much of Kaveh’s field of view he takes up.
He turns his attention instead back towards his meal – it’s the first warm meal he’s had in his life, and it’s amazing. It isn’t long before Kaveh is scraping the last remains of shakshuka from the thimble, desperately trying to get every last taste. It’s insane to think that Alhaitham must get to eat like this all the time.
Alhaitham chuckles. “I’m going to assume you enjoyed that?”
“It was delicious!” Kaveh exclaims. “Most of the scraps I’m able to borrow are stale and cold. This— this is the best meal I’ve had in years.”
Alhaitham hums, tilting his head. “If that’s the case, you’re free to join me for meals in the future, provided you don’t make too much noise while I’m reading. I don’t see any harm in setting aside some of my food for you, given it would be such a small amount.”
“You mean you’re letting me stay here?” Kaveh asks, hoping the excitement doesn’t show too obviously in his voice. “Most borrowers flee to another house when discovered. It’s too risky for us.”
Strangely, Alhaitham seems vaguely amused, his head still tilted as he looks down at Kaveh. “Is there a reason I wouldn’t let you stay here? Again, as I’ve pointed out, it hardly costs me anything. Frankly, it would take more effort to get rid of you.”
Heat creeps over Kaveh’s face as he crosses his arms. “You– don’t talk about getting rid of me like I’m some sort of pest!”
Alhaitham huffs. “My intention was to state that you could stay here.”
Slowly, Kaveh uncrosses his arms, fixing Alhaitham with a glare. “Learn to state your intentions more clearly, then! I thought you were kicking me out!”
Almost playfully, Alhaitham pokes at Kaveh’s shoulder, nearly toppling him over. “Maybe you could pay more attention to what I’m saying.”
Kaveh swats his finger away, yet finds himself fighting a smile all the same.
<><><>
After breakfast, Alhaitham offers to take Kaveh back to his dwelling, something Kaveh refuses. While Alhaitham has said he has no intention of removing Kaveh from his house, he still feels weird about the human knowing where he lives.
“I’ll set aside some food for you at dinner,” Alhaitham says. “I’m going to the Akademiya now. I assume you’ll be fine?”
Kaveh nods. “Again, I can’t thank you enough for sharing your food with me. I know it’s such a small amount to you, but–”
It’s more kindness than Kaveh ever expected from a human.
(It’s a lot more than he deserves, honestly, given how little he’s able to offer in return.)
As Alhaitham leaves, Kaveh makes the journey back to his dwelling, scaling several shelves and walls before arriving at the crevice tucked behind one of the bookshelves that marks the entrance to his dwelling.
He ducks inside. It still feels empty, the room his parents used to use gathering dust and the sound of their laughter long, long gone.
Walking to the corner, Kaveh sits down on the floor, pressing his back to the wall and bringing his knees to his chest.
There’s a part of him that wants to show Alhaitham – anyone, really – everything he’s built up. All his blueprints on the walls, the furniture he’s crafted from scraps, the single tiny light he managed to set up through a lot of experimentation and several accidental electrocutions.
It’s… probably fine if he keeps talking to Alhaitham, right? Even though he’s a bit odd, he clearly has no intention of hurting Kaveh, and besides, Kaveh is lonely.
How selfish he is, to crave companionship after killing his father and driving his mother away.
He glances at the entrance. At the very least, Alhaitham is too big to be harmed by whatever tiny misfortune Kaveh seems to attract. And… Alhaitham’s lonely too, even if he won’t admit it directly.
Maybe they could both use a friend.
<><><>
Kaveh’s attempt at a nap is interrupted by a very large face looming at the entrance to his dwelling.
Alhaitham’s teal and red eye is visible through the gap, and Kaveh nearly panics before he remembers that Alhaitham had repeatedly said he had no intention of removing Kaveh from his house.
Still, how did Alhaitham find his dwelling?
“I thought you were going to wait for me!” Kaveh yelps. “Not… not search for my dwelling! What if you damaged it?”
Alhaitham backs away from the entrance, head shifting in a way that might indicate a shrug. “I was careful. And I was bored. Searching for the house of a tiny human seemed more engaging than waiting for you to arrive.”
“Again, I am not tiny!” Kaveh fumes. “Well, since you’re here now and you’re clearly not going to just forget you ever found my house, at the very least I can give you a tour. If you’re going to get to see this place, then I want you to be admiring all the hard work I put into it.”
“You made all the furniture?” Alhaitham asks. “It’s very detailed.”
Kaveh grins, excitement quickly replacing the previous panic. “Most of it, yes! My mother made a few of the pieces. There used to be a lot more of hers, but I had to replace many of them. Er– there’s some more pieces in my own room, which you might be able to see if you tilt your head a bit – yeah, like that – that’s my bed, and I repaired that cracked teacup your grandmother discarded and turned it into a bathtub.”
Alhaitham blinks. “And why not take a new teacup?”
“I wouldn’t–” Kaveh worries at the fabric of his shirt. “I don’t take items that look like things you’re using or need. All my furniture is built from items you’ve discarded or lost. If we see you’ve lost something valuable or important looking, though, we usually just try to drag it somewhere where you’ll see it the next day.”
Alhaitham’s face vanishes from the entrance, a moment later replaced with his hand. A ring is held between his fingers, something Kaveh recognizes from one of his borrowing trips.
“You returned this to me,” Alhaitham says. “Didn’t you? It fell behind the stove a week ago. There was no way for it to end up on the counter the next morning.”
Kaveh nods, then realizes Alhaitham can’t see him anymore. “Er– yes,” he adds. “Was it important?”
Alhaitham’s voice softens, rumbling through Kaveh’s dwelling as he speaks. “It was my grandmother’s.”
“Oh.”
His eye returns to the entrance a moment later. Kaveh can see the dampness around its edges, but doesn’t comment on it. Alhaitham hums.
“Tell me about your drawings.”
“They’re my blueprints,” Kaveh says, grabbing the whittled-down toothpick he keeps on the wall for this purpose. “I draw them using this! I make ink with some of the things I borrow. Not all of them work very well, and it’s hard to get materials for them, but my grappling hook and a portable lever-pully system have been my most successful ones! The latter is how I got the teacup up here.”
There’s genuine admiration in Alhaitham’s voice when he next speaks. “You’re basically a tiny engineer.”
Kaveh isn’t sure whether to beam or scowl at that. “I’m going to take that as a compliment? Anyway, I’m not tiny. You’re just–”
“I know,” Alhaitham says, smirk evident in his tone. “From my perspective, you’re quite tiny.”
Kaveh huffs. “I’m still older than you, I’ll remind you!”
“A little under two years hardly means anything when you’re only slightly taller than my index finger.”
As if to demonstrate, Alhaitham’s hand is offered next, and Kaveh steps onto it with another huff. His stomach churns as Alhaitham brings his hand to his chest, cupping his other hand around Kaveh like a fence. So he doesn’t fall, Kaveh realizes. Terrifying, but considerate.
This close, he can feel the warmth of Alhaitham’s body radiating outward, and when Kaveh looks up, he can see the glimmer of fascination in Alhaitham’s eyes.
“You’re very interesting,” Alhaitham says, and provides no further elaboration.
Kaveh balks. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Alhaitham, being the menace that he is, does not reply.
<><><>
Over the next few days, Kaveh shares breakfast and dinner with Alhaitham and spends the time in between sleeping, as borrowers usually do during the day. During the night, he tries to help out in whatever way he can, cleaning the dust and grime from behind areas Alhaitham is too large to reach. Alhaitham sometimes returns to the house seeming tired, but doesn’t talk much about the Akademiya other than to say he’s studying language and doesn’t care much for the company of the other students.
“And why am I different?” Kaveh asks one morning, nibbling on Alhaitham’s newest culinary creation, something that appears to be an… un-souped(?) soup. Alhaitham blinks, looking away from his book.
“You just are. Talking to you is interesting. It’s like solving a puzzle.”
Kaveh frowns. “Is it because of my personality, or because I’m a borrower?”
Alhaitham shrugs. “Both. I suppose you find me interesting to talk to as well because I’m a human. It has to do with the difference in perspectives you love to bring up so much. You can offer a perspective none of my classmates can, while being far less dull than them.”
He takes a bit of his food, humming softly. “Though, speaking of my classmates, I thankfully won’t be seeing them today. Given it’s the weekend, I won’t be going to the Akademiya.”
“What are you going to do instead?” Kaveh asks.
He sees a faint smile creep over Alhaitham’s face. “Sit in my room and read. The weekends are the perfect time to do nothing. They’re peaceful.”
Kaveh frowns. “Do most humans read on the weekends?”
Another shrug from Alhaitham, his hand coming to rest on the table next to where Kaveh stands. Palm up, like he’s waiting for Kaveh to get on. “I don’t tend to be very interested in what other humans do. As I’ve already said, most of them are uninteresting.”
And yet you seem to want company all the same.
“Are other humans…” Kaveh hesitates, climbing onto Alhaitham’s palm. “Mean?”
Alhaitham shakes his head, a frown tugging at the corners of his lips as he lifts Kaveh up. “They’re like… a language I can’t decipher. Talking to them is frustrating and often fruitless. A book doesn’t judge you when you read it. I prefer those.”
They’re moving to Alhaitham’s room now, Alhaitham sitting down on his bed and grabbing a book off the top of the stack at his nightstand. Kaveh scrambles onto Alhaitham’s shoulder, leaning against his neck and glancing down at the strange symbols on the pages. They look like borrower script, only fancier.
“Can you read?” Alhaitham asks. Kaveh nods.
“Yeah, er, but not this script. Borrowers use a simplified script that’s easier to scratch out messages with. Could you read it to me?”
Alhaitham hums in agreement. “Mhm. It’s about architecture. I figured you would find it interesting.”
Pressed against Alhaitham’s neck, Kaveh can feel the rumble of his voice in his bones whenever the human speaks. His voice is strangely soothing, and it isn’t long before sleep starts to drag at the corners of Kaveh’s mind. Dimly, he remembers it’s getting to be the time of day when he’s usually out cold.
Alhaitham’s voice is trailing off now, fading into the distance as Kaveh’s eyes slip shut. He registers the warmth of a hand propped against him, gently guiding him to a soft bundle of fabrics.
It’s the hat again, the one Kaveh slept in the first time he met Alhaitham. Alhaitham’s hand stays curled around him like a warm blanket, and he swears he can faintly hear the breathy huff of the human’s laughter.
“...my hand is going to fall asleep, Kaveh,” Alhaitham murmurs at some point, yet makes no attempt to remove it.
Kaveh remembers snorting softly, and then sinking into the welcoming arms of sleep.
<><><>
It’s… nice, not being alone anymore. Alhaitham’s presence in Kaveh's life is a new and comforting constant, something he comes to look forward to each day. He’s trying to adjust to sleeping during the night now, since he no longer has to restrict his hours to the times Alhaitham is asleep.
Best of all, Alhaitham provides him with the materials Kaveh needs for his creations, allowing Kaveh to build a series of ramps, bridges, and ladders around the pathways he tends to travel through the house, something he never could do in the days where he always had to hide his creations before Alhaitham or his grandmother woke up.
Today, Alhaitham is holding a collection of bright, soft objects he calls flowers, and he seems sadder than usual. His expressions are always subtle, but Kaveh likes to think that he’s gotten good at figuring Alhaitham out.
“Are you okay?” he asks. Alhaitham doesn’t answer.
“Do borrowers believe in an afterlife?” he asks instead, staring intently at his ‘flowers’. His grip tightens around their stems.
Kaveh steps a bit closer, trying to figure out if he should put a hand on Alhaitham’s sleeve or not. “I don’t know,” he admits. “My dad always said we went somewhere. He said that outside the houses, there were things in the sky called stars, and that’s where we went when we died. My mom thought he was crazy.”
Alhaitham tilts his head. “You’ve never been outside the house?”
“It isn’t safe,” Kaveh says. “We only leave the house if there’s an emergency. Or…”
Or if a selfish borrower child wanted something he should never have asked for, Kaveh thinks. He bites his lip and falls silent.
“I need to go outside today,” Alhaitham says. “If you’d be open to it, I could take you with me. If you remained in my pocket, you’d be safe. No one would see you.”
Outside. Kaveh could actually see it. But…
“How far are you going? What if one of us gets lost? I don’t know how I’d find my way back.”
“There’s a small plot of land outside Sumeru City,” Alhaitham says, offering his hand to Kaveh. “I’m the only one who actually goes there. And I know my way around, and have no intention of losing you.”
For the first time in a while, Kaveh feels hesitant stepping onto Alhaitham’s hand. His stomach churns. As he’s placed gently into Alhaitham’s pocket, he double-checks the fabric’s stitches, then clips his grappling hook to the edge of the pocket.
There. Even if he does fall, he won’t lose Alhaitham.
“Ready?” Alhaitham asks, and Kaveh nods.
The walk out of the house is nerve-wracking, and as much as Kaveh wants to see what the outside world looks like, he doesn’t dare emerge from the pocket until Alhaitham tells him it’s clear. This close, he can hear Alhaitham’s heartbeat, and he latches onto the sound to ground him.
It’s warmer outside. The air is stickier. There are new smells, strange sounds that echo from places Kaveh can’t see. He hears Alhaitham exchange words with someone else, followed by a clinking sound and the crinkle of a paper bag.
More walking. More sounds. The air grows cooler, and Alhaitham speaks.
“It’s safe now,” he says, and Kaveh feels his stomach drop as Alhaitham lowers himself into a kneel. Why did he have to do that so suddenly?
The ceiling – no, not ceiling – above the pocket is a clear blue, filled with puffy clumps of cotton like the ones stuffing Kaveh’s bed. The ground is a strange, vivid green, with small waving strands that remind Kaveh of the thick rug in Alhaitham’s house. It’s dotted with bright clumps of color that look like the flowers Alhaitham holds, which he now places down over a smooth stone.
“Happy birthday, teta,” he whispers, tracing the letters carved into the stone. He takes something out of a bag he didn’t have while leaving the house, placing a round, honey-colored object over the stone next to the flowers. “I don’t see any need for sentimentality, but since you always liked baklava and Sumeru roses, I’ve decided to make an exception.”
His breath hitches. “I miss you.”
For a moment, Alhaitham’s breathing is unsteady as he attempts to regain his composure, and then his shaking hand is lined up with the exit to the pocket Kaveh is in.
“You can come out, if you want,” Alhaitham murmurs, and it takes Kaveh a moment to realize it’s addressed to him. Slowly, keeping his paper clip grappling hook attached to Alhaitham’s pocket, he climbs out onto Alhaitham’s waiting hand.
“It’s your grandmother’s birthday?” he asks, knowing how foolish of a question it is.
Alhaitham nods. “She would have liked you, I think. She wanted me to make a friend.”
His voice is unsteady, and Kaveh reaches out to squeeze his thumb. Alhaitham closes his eyes, dipping his head until his forehead nudges against Kaveh’s frame. A single tear slides down his cheek.
Kaveh tries to brush it away, but only ends up getting his tiny (okay, maybe he is tiny) cape soaked. He settles instead to attempt a hug, wrapping his arms around Alhaitham’s nose and earning the tiniest of laughs from the human.
“I’m glad you’re here,” Alhaitham admits. “I didn’t want to do this alone. I…”
He draws Kaveh into his chest, wrapping his hand around him gently, like he too is attempting a hug. “I’m just glad you’re here. That’s all.”
Kaveh smiles. “I’m glad you’re here, too.”