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Who: Kaveh and YOU
Status: Open
Where: Surasthana Cafe on Eltrut!
What: The grand opening of a book cafe.
Warnings: God I hope not.

[Kaveh hasn't talked much about what he's been working on for a few months now, because he wanted this moment to be a surprise (and because he didn't want to be scolded for overwork). It has finally paid off, now, with the grand opening of the Surasthana Cafe, just in time for the deep end of the fall season. The cafe is cozily furnished and warm, the smell of lovingly brewed coffee floats through the air, and soft music plays from Mehrak.

Kaveh isn't expecting a huge rush on any given day--this was done for his own sake more than anything, but now on weekday afternoons, the little book cafe can be found and people can stay a spell, enjoying expertly made coffee drinks and some light reading in a ridiculous plant paradise.

If you have any requests for new kinds of books, or wish to purchase various accessories, stop by the front counter! The owner is happy to accommodate you, after all.

ooc: you may also treat this post as a mingle and toplevel accordingly, just mark if you are doing so! Otherwise, Kaveh will be coming for you!]

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[Alhaitham simply makes a note of agreement in the first bit. Kaveh's very loud display certainly were effective in scaring away the people he didn't want to talk with anyway, and it didn't take long for Alhaitham to find out that Kaveh was a lot more than he put himself out to be. Even back then the constant contradictions that Kaveh kept displaying intrigued him, but more than that Kaveh had simply become the one person who he was looking forward to talking to, each and every day. He made his time at the Akademiya far less dull, and even with how things ended then, Alhaitham still has never once regretted it—and the fact that they're together like this now makes it so much better.

At the next part, Alhaitham nods, seeing no reason to lie or twist what is factual history—he has never found the need or want to sugarcoat things like how Kaveh tries to do, sometimes.] It definitely took a while. The way he presents himself to strangers isn't one that is agreeable to me, but he couldn't keep it up around me for long. [Mostly because back then Alhaitham was even more stubborn about bending himself for anyone and anything, whil Kaveh had even less patience and restraint than what he has now.] It slipped entirely the one time we got into a debate over a paper I was reading through, and that's when I could start to see the true depths of his academic prowess.

[Until then Kaveh had always been polite. Restrained, even, making a comment here and there but never going deeper. But it so happened that the paper Alhaitham was looking through then also talked about architecture, and Kaveh was never one to stay silent on the subject that was his entire life and passion.

Alhaitham had definitely been surprised that day, especially after they spent the whole day on the topic, to the point where they'd been chased out of the House of Daena because it was closing—but that only spurred Alhaitham to find him again, this time with far more preparation, because he wanted to know more—of this topic that had his senior become so passionate about, and of Kaveh himself.]

It was after that point where we started to get on more amicably. It was simply about the debate at first, but eventually it moved on to much more than that.

[Be it for company, or understanding, or an accord... there were many reasons, honestly, but perhaps at the end of it all it was simply just the first sparks of something else which Alhaitham did not yet understand back then. Something so deep and compelling that it caused a fundamental shift within him which he was unable to grasp, until Kaveh showed him how.]

[She listens quietly. Almost too patiently. She is not often one to display any interest in romance or the idea of 'family' outside of her usual comfort zone, but perhaps it is because of her own recent revelations as well as the warm and familiar comfort of the tea that it comes a little easier to her, strangely enough.]

Academic prowess, hm...

[Her head tilts at Alhaitham, remembering his words from earlier.]

Perhaps I have read into it all wrong, but Kaveh does not seem the type to fit into the mold that home of yours had set out for you all.

[Just as it is rare for Benedikta to be willing to sit down and listen to a topic like this, it is just as rare for Alhaitham to truly go in depth on talking about Kaveh. Boasting about his husband, or giving him a mention in a conversation is one thing, but to truly go this deep in talking about the one person who he would otherwise be incomplete without? It's something entirely different.

He inclines his own head as he listens to Benedikta's response, taking a second to run it through his own mind himself before he makes a little huff, bemused, even if he understands why she would think that.]

You're not wrong. There are many fronts in which Kaveh does not fit into the mold which Sumeru used to want us in. Even back when we were students he was never content with the status quo and was always striving for more—not just for himself, but for his fellow peers, and would work himself to the bone for the sake of it.

[That, of course, is ever the main difference between the two of them. Where Alhaitham simply pursued knowledge for his own personal enlightenment, Kaveh was never one to rest on his laurels for the self. For his senior, his self was always going to be incomplete if it did not include the 'all' that he sought. Even today it's not something that Alhaitham fully sees eye to eye with Kaveh on, but he at least has come to respect what it embodies.]

That being said, his ingenuity has always come from a different place, but it is no less adequate than what Sumeru truly seeks. He proved as much by graduating at the very top of his Darshan, and then making himself into a household name through his work after.

[Although Alhaitham can't exactly say he'd ever approve of what Kaveh did to bring Alcarzarzaray into existence, there is no point in harping what cannot be changed, just as there is no denying the effect it'd brought onto a Sumeru that'd been under Azar's iron fisted rule then. A daring display of other in the dystopia the former Sages were slowly moving the entire country towards, ever so slowly.]

[If it keeps her from having to talk about her own in depth, then she is for it. That, and she is genuinely curious. The more she learns of their world, the more different it seems from their own. Filled with cultures that contrast with the ones that she knows. It is not something she would have cared about before coming here, but this world has changed her in many ways. That, and it's an interesting topic over a cup of tea.

At Alhaitham's answer, though, she cannot help but laugh quietly into her cup, the sound echoing off the sides of it before she drowns it in a sip. Her eyes are knowing, glinting with an amused mischief, as she glances at him over the rim of the cup.]

It is no wonder, then, that he and Cidolfus get along so well. It often makes he wonder how things might have gone had they met under different circumstances.

[There is not much Alhaitham knows about the world that Benedikta and the various other members of the Hideaway hail from, beyond what they have been willing to share, but what has been told is more than enough to paint a picture of their circumstances—alongside the telling choice for their desire to remain here no matter what. That alone is more than enough for Alhaitham to refrain from pressing further, regardless of his own curiosities. No form of knowledge is ever really worth that sort of thing.

But at least there are easier, lighter topics to discuss outside of that. Alhaitham hears that quiet laugh and makes a soft hum himself, lacing the fingers of his own hands together as he rests them on the table.]

I can't speak for your partner, but I doubt much would have changed on Kaveh's end. No matter the circumstances, he has always been one who is true to himself, even to the point of his own detriment.

[And as much as Alhaitham chides him for it, there is a level of respect that he has come to give to those choices as well. Despite everything, he knows that Kaveh would not be who he is, if he did not make the choices that he had made. He would not love Kaveh if he would let himself be a fundamentally different person from who he always has been.]

[She flashes him a little smile.]

I fear that the worst of it might have been that I'd have to put up with their science and knick-knacks for far longer. Cidolfus has always had an interest, and since coming here and meeting with the others, that has increased tenfold.

[She, of course, says it with utter fondness.]

Perhaps things might have been better. For us.

[Alhaitham hums at the thought of it, seeing no reason to disagree with her assessment. Cid's fascination and curiosity for the sciences has been apparent from very early on, and it seems to only have deepened in the time since. Kaveh is very much the same, though he's also branched off to many other pursuits because he's never been the kind of person to stick with a single thing, doing much better with a variety that he can cycle through. The very cafe they're in now is pretty much a testament to that.

And really, for all of Alhaitham's chiding, at the end of the day he just wants Kaveh to not burn himself out like he used to in the past. As long as he paces himself reasonably and doesn't let all his work consume him, Alhaitham is perfectly fine with letting his husband go off on his own devices.

But his own thoughts aside, Alhaitham is a little surprised by what is said at the end there, and the blink he gives is the only indication of it.]

I suppose. But things are also fine the way they are now, are they not?

[Sure, it may have taken the long way around—but just as how it'd been necessary for Alhaitham and Kaveh to reconcile their pasts first before they could step together into their future, maybe it is the same for Benedikta and her situation, too.]

[Yes, she does not speak of this sort of thing often or openly, but there had always been that odd trust and respect with Alhaitham, ever since the first day they met. Often times, she finds herself finding more clarity in her conversations with him afterwards than most, and half of those times, she doesn't realize it until after. This, however, is not one of those times.]

The way they are now, yes.

[She sips her tea quietly, pausing a moment, and when she next speaks, her voice is a touch quieter.]

But surely, if we all had a choice in the matter, would we not all wish to ease some of our regrets? Perhaps change things so that they could have been better sooner.

...Hm. I suppose so.

[It is human nature, in the end, to hope. To wish for something that they do not have in the moment, shaping thoughts into dreams and desires as something to strive for.

But in that same logic, if something is there to be strived for, then what stops a person from simply doing so? Of course, he is aware that such a thing is not as simple in execution, especially when one's situation and circumstances are not taken into consideration. Still, at the end of the day there is no changing the fact that the ability for one to realize their own wants and desires lies completely in their own hands.]

I simply see no reason to linger on such thoughts. [He continues on then, in the exact straightforward manner as he always does.] It is impossible to change the past, just as there is no way to anticipate the future. The only malleable thing is the present, and the choices that we decide to make here and now.

[The present is what he can control. The present is where he can choose—and so for Alhaitham, that is what he will do, as he has always done. To choose what he wants, as he has always done for each and everyday that he has lived, from his past to now, in this present moment, as well as for all the days ahead in the future. He will choose the next book to read, his meals to eat, and the way he will show his love for Kaveh, just like how he has done so today.]

Edited 2025-01-14 13:56 (UTC)

[There is a grin that she hides behind her cup, and beneath the slight roll of her eyes.]

I do hate it when you are right, did you know that?

[She snorts quietly before she takes a sip of her tea.]

But I will not keep you for much longer. I am keen to see what sort of books there are here. I am curious to know what Kaveh deems interesting enough to put on these shelves. Unless it was you who chose them.

[There is a returning huff of his own.]

It's not the first time I've been told that.

[Kaveh in particular has never made his annoyance hidden each and every time it happens... not to mention the whole slew of people who find every reason to deem him as insufferable. But in the end, none of those things have mattered to him. Alhaitham has never once wavered from the path that he chose and the choices that he has made, and he has no reason to start doing so now.

He nods at her following words, only to snort right after once he actually hears the full extent of what she says.]

Considering that I'll be here just as much as he does, it only makes sense that I had a say as to what was placed on these shelves.

[What he doesn't elaborate is that Kaveh had certainly tried to veto some of his more eclectic choices... but they both know it was never going to hold.]

[Ah, yes. She figured as much, and she laughs into her cup as she rises to her feet.]

Perhaps I shall make a little game out of it. Try to pick out the ones that you had put there as opposed to his choices. Read those ones first.

[She arches an amused brow at him.]

I shall let you know what I come out with.

[Alhaitham lets out an exasperated snort at those words, though it does nothing to stop the minute smile that has made its way onto his face, or the amused gleam in his eyes as he looks to Benedikta.]

I'll wait for your review to come then.

[There are not too many people's words that he will entertain... but Benedikta very much has become one of them.]

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we can probably start wrapping this 💚

sounds good!

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