Chapter Text
Kaveh can’t sleep
Kaveh doesn’t remember exactly when his sleep trouble began but he knows that he can’t seem to sleep tonight and he’s decided to go out into deep midnight light of night. He decided to look at the time on his phone
1:15am
He sighed as he sat down on an empty park bench. He is taken aback at how eerily beautiful the dead of night is: the park that is normally bustling with the sounds of children laughing is now dead quiet but hauntingly beautiful in the glow of the lone light post
Kaveh was looking at his phone and on social media looking at a post from his best friend Tighnari about how he just got proposed to by his long time boyfriend. Kaveh sighed out loud “I wish I could find love”
Feeling thirsty he headed to the familiar glow of the vending machine and pondering about which drink he should buy as he was rummaging through his bag to find enough coins to buy.
“What are you doing alone this late at night?”
Kaveh shrieked as he dropped his coins on that ground as he immediately turned around to see a tall stranger with ashen grey hair and headphones on his ears. He looked to be a little younger than Kaveh “GAH! Y-You scared me! Who are you!” He stammered
The grey-haired stranger seemingly ignored him as he knelt down to pick up Kaveh’s dropped coins. As he got up he flatly stated
“You didn’t answer my question so why should I answer yours?”
“You scared me! That’s why I didn’t answer immediately! As for why I’m here alone… I can’t sleep. No matter what I try it’s really hard to sleep”
The stranger formed a small smile
“I can maybe help you”
After some protest Kaveh reluctantly decided to follow the stranger. As they were walking in the dark he strangely felt at ease with the stranger. As they approached what seemed to be a very expensive car the stranger pulled out keys and the car roared to life “get in” the stranger said and Kaveh obliged. As it got darker and signs of life dwindled Kaveh spoke up “So… where are we going?” The stranger replied bluntly “My house”
After that, silence filled the car for awhile. As they approached a wrought iron gate it creaked opened as if by magic as soon as they went in it started raining and thunder could be heard in the distance as they went up the winding driveway and at the top of the hill was an old Victorian style mansion. In front of the house the stranger turned off the car
“We’re here”
The inside was a grand as the outside: a huge chandelier hanging above the entrance, a grand piano that looked like it hasn’t been played in a long time, and a grand staircase leading upstairs. Kaveh shuddered as he realized that here is much colder than the park he was at, noticing this the stranger wordlessly put logs in the large fireplace and grabbed a matchbox that was in his shirt pocket and lit a fire. Kaveh stared at the man and thought
Why did this man bring me here?
Why did I agree?
WAIT I CAME TO A GUY’S HOUSE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WOODS AND I DON’T KNOW HIS NAME?!?!?
Why am strangely ok with this?
As Kaveh was drowning in his thoughts he realized that he was suddenly overtaken by the exhaustion that he so desperately tried to ignore. Looking through hazy eyes Kaveh looked at the stranger who now is quietly reading a book by the fireplace. Kaveh’s foggy mind dimly registers the fact he has been standing the entire time as it suddenly felt like he was a puppet and his strings has been cut. He squeezed his eyes shut as he braced for impact with the cold wooden floor
But it never came
Instead Kaveh felt like he was floating and when he opened his eyes he was greeted by the stranger’s stoic face and Kaveh slowly realized he was in his lap surprisingly cold lap and if he was more coherent he would have been embarrassed but right now he strangely feels nothing. The stranger then carried Kaveh to a couch and gently laid him down. He then weakly tried to grab the man’s attention as he walked away “I’m sorry I never gotten your name” he managed to slur out. The stranger stopped walking and turned around with the crackling fireplace behind him
“It’s Alhaitham”
Kaveh stares at the ceiling aimlessly as some clarity has been restored although some fuzziness remains. He starts to think about how his life got to this point. He wonders how he himself the famous architect is now broke and currently homeless he’s lucky that his best friend Tighnari offered to let him to stay at his place but now that Tighnari is getting married he doubts that he can stay much longer at his place “man I wish could stay here” he mumbled to himself. Alhaitham formed a small smile
“You can stay here for awhile”
“HUH!?!?!”
Kaveh sat up in shock and looked at Alhaitham’s expression and it’s the same dead serious look he’s had since he met. Alhaitham looked back at him. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had company and you seem like you need somewhere to stay” he said in the same time he’s had the entire time. For awhile now Kaveh has had this weird feeling inside him ever since he’s met Alhaitham but he now realizes it would suddenly disappear after he made eye contact with him.
This feels wrong
Something feels off
Kaveh tried to get up from the couch but his body felt like lead. As his breathing became more erratic Alhaitham started to notice, he started making his way over to the couch and leaned over Kaveh and looked down. It might have been simple reflections of firelight in the dim room, or Kaveh’s exhaustion affecting his sight, but he could have almost sworn the strange man’s eyes appear to be glowing.
“I think it’s time you went to sleep “
For a split second Kaveh felt ice cold fear run through his body before total darkness consumed him