Chapter Text
Alhaitham slowly opened his eyes, feeling a headache already coming in. With a quiet groan, he sat up and, for that, got a sharp pain in his head.
Perhaps he's been thinking too much. It's not exactly uncommon.
He looked around the room, already planning his day like he always did. This time, with different actions and such. Then, he stood up, set the settings of his soundproofers, and walked towards the door to exit his room to eat breakfast. Ah, no. To prepare breakfast and then eat it. He entered the kitchen, looking around for a while before he moved towards the shelves to make something quick. He wasn't a good cook, not because he was not able to (That's only partly; he can do some things), but because he found it taking too much time and effort, and because his late roommate used to be the one to get up first and make meals.
...
Right.
Alhaitham grabbed some leftovers from yesterday. Not really thinking too much about what it was. As long as it had nutrition, wasn't time-consuming, and had the proper vitamins he needed for the day, he would take it. With it, he made some coffee without sugar and grabbed the coffee.
He didn't feel the cup.
Looking back at the counter to check, he saw the cup was a little more to the right than where he originally put it. Alhaitham just shrugged it off, thinking it must have been a little oversight on his part. So he grabbed it this time and walked over to the table in the living room, sitting down on the couch and putting the quick breakfast on the coffee table with the cup.
He wanted to continue reading one of the unread books he brought a few days ago, taking a sip of the coffee as he reached the edge of the table.
...
Is he going insane?
There was no book- and he put it right on the edge a few days ago. He leaned a bit to the side to check if it was underneath, only to get no sight of the book. He raised an eyebrow at that, wondering where else he might have put it. He put down the cup of coffee, taking a dried fruit from his breakfast to put in his mouth, before he stood up to look around for the book.
He took another dried fruit in his mouth before walking around the couch to search for the book. He for sure put it somewhere in the living room. It can't be in the small library. Why else would he take the book only to put it back? The kitchen? Maybe, but he was just there. His room?
Before he thought of coming to check inside his room, he saw the book on the shelf where most books were tidied up. Weirdly, he did not remember putting it there. Because first, he does not put the books back, creating a mess. Kaveh would frustratedly scold him because they are later piled up and can cause trouble, not just for the aesthetics anymore.
Perhaps he put it there without thinking about it.
He sat back on the couch with the book now in his hands, taking another cup of coffee as he continued to read. Now peacefully, without having to worry about anything else.
...
This sudden silence was uncomfortable.
He took his soundproofers off, putting them beside him on the couch.
He tried a lot to make it look like everything was fine.
How could he? His home didn't even exist anymore.
Alhaitham rubbed his temples as he closed the book, deciding it was enough the moment he saw he had finished eating breakfast and drinking coffee. He put his soundproofers back on before standing up.
Perhaps Kaveh had something in his room. Alhaitham wouldn't think of coming in, but he had to not only check Mehrak but see if Kaveh left something that wouldn't be for plain sight.
Not to distract himself.
He came in and closed the door, getting Mehrak's attention. The suitcase turned to face Alhaitham.
''How are you feeling, Mehrak?''
Alhaitham slowly walked towards Mehrak, who was floating beside the desk with the unfinished models and old models. They were something you could call wooden buildings. Kaveh likes to create small things made of wood or thick paper to make a model come alive.
Back in the Akademiya days, Kaveh once gave him a small wooden aranara due to being interested in how they looked, thanks to some books that had their appearances written. Honestly, it was kind of funny how close Kaveh was to getting the appearance close to accurate.
As expected of Kaveh.
The suitcase beeped, showing a bit of sadness mixed with grief. However, it's visible to see that it is trying to get better for the sake of Kaveh. Kaveh would not want anyone to grieve; he would want them to move on with their lives as long as they won't forget about him.
''That's good to hear.''
He looked over at the models, curiosity growing, and he gently opened the top of one model to check the dendro vision. Mehrak still seems to function even without Kaveh...which is a bit unusual, but not like Alhaitham is a master at that. Kaveh would know.
''Condolences. I hope everything will go better.''
Alhaitham said quietly, noting how Mehrak slightly lowered before rising again.
He looked back at the dendro vision, noticing how it remained the same without the light fully fading. He put the top of the model back on it, sighing before he decided to look at the other creations not only on the desk, but around the room as well. He does not want to move anything; he does not want to remove anything. After all, this is still Kaveh's room and always will be.
Drop.
Alhaitham and Mehrak quickly looked over to the source of the sound, hearing something small drop. It was just beside the door on a high shelf, a small wooden figure that dropped. Perhaps the shelf was a bit leaned, but that would be weird. Kaveh was always a perfectionist when it came to the builds and furniture. The number of times he had said to Alhaitham to move a painting to the right, to the left, up and down, rotate it a little to one side, then to the other...
You get the point.
But anyway.
He walked towards the figure, crouching down in front of it to grab it gently and turn it around, recognizing the face that belonged to Kaveh. A model of yourself. Sounds like something Kaveh would try.
Drop.
Alhaitham flinched when something quietly but almost dropped on his head. He barely dodged it, looking up at the shelf with confusion. Mehrak rose to take a closer look at the shelf, giving a beep of confusion when it was pretty much perfectly put. Nothing should have slid down or dropped.
Alhaitham looked down at the second and last figure that fell, also grabbing it with his free hand to turn it around and recognize himself.
Those figures were them in their Akademiya selves. The attire that was carved into them now was familiar, and he noticed the Alhaitham figure's cheeks were plumpy. He for sure did not have that much of plumpy cheeks. His senior sure did have a way of being dramatic. (Which Kaveh wasn't; they were that plumpy.)
He then noticed a hand slowly creep from the corner of his sight, immediately turning to the right, only for nothing to be there.
...What a weird day it was.
''Beep, Beep!''
Mehrak made a sound, wanting Alhaitham to put the figures back on the shelf, and he did.
Alhaitham rose with the figures in his hands and put them back where they belonged before taking a last glance at the whole room, seeing nothing that could be worth looking into further. He did not do it with the intention to be nosy, but in case there was something that needed to be taken care of. Perhaps a small mess (Not the kind the room was in with the blueprints, papers, the brushes, etc. Rather, the kind, such as a forgotten meal that's old, a cup of water, laundry, ...)
He left the room, leaving Mehrak to return to whatever it was doing before he interrupted. Perhaps taking a look at old projects, gathering memories spent with Kaveh.
Fuck. He can't get his late roommate out of his head.
Alhaitham stepped into the hall to get to the opposite door of Kaveh's, only to catch a glimpse of a shadow passing by at the end of the hall that led to the living room. He quickly turned to face that direction, that heavy feeling suddenly returning with the slight headache growing. It looked like a person, and he had the feeling he was not alone.
The sound of footsteps, not his- but something very distant, something that felt silent, but one could still feel them. Alhaitham's guard had risen, being careful with the shadow figure he had seen a minute ago. His hand was ready to call out his sword, slowly walking in that direction with precise caution so as not to get caught off guard.
He was not sure what it was. The sight of the figure was a quick one, and so he did not have the time to remember the features. He walked, and walked, until he was able to press his back against the wall to help with taking a peek at the living room just right there. The moment he let his head peek out, a faceless man was waiting right in front of his face. Alhaitham quickly stepped out with surprise, blinking, only to see no one.
And that was when he was starting to suspect things. The sudden misplaced cup of coffee, the book, the weird feelings, the figures dropping.
What could they all lead to?
It couldn't all be a coincidence now, could it?
Alhaitham took a few steps backwards before turning around- only to be met with the same shadow figure right at the end of the hall, opposite him. This time, it only stood there. They just stood there, their hand slowly rising as if testing, reaching out, doing something Alhaitham has yet to analyze. The thing was, the faceless man looked...familiar.
Though it couldn't be him, could it?
''Kaveh?''
Alhaitham called out quietly, unsure. Kaveh is dead, so why was he seeing a person that looked just like the architect, without a face? Of course, it did have a face, but Alhaitham, for some reason, is not capable of seeing it.
The heavy feeling returned, the slight headache as well.
Same blonde hair, the same clothes. The green and yellow light of the stained-glass window illuminated one side of ''Kaveh''s body.
Alhaitham did not know if he should turn away or approach. He felt like laughing at how absurd this was.
And when Alhaitham rubbed his temples thanks to the slight headache, he closed his eyes for a second only to reopen them later.
Yeah. He was for sure going insane in one way or the other. Why? 'Kaveh' was no longer there. He might as well be officially exhausted, and that's something unexpected coming from Alhaitham.
With one last glance at the end of the hall, he reluctantly turned back to the direction of the living room, where he entered the kitchen for water. Perhaps he was grieving so hard without realizing it, and it led to hallucinations. While yes, he did agree he was still grieving...but for it to cause hallucinations? Yes, it's not an uncommon occurrence for those who grieve, but Alhaitham disagrees with that when it comes to himself.
Yes. He misses Kaveh.
Yes. He wants him back.
Yes. He wants to feel him again.
Yes. He wants to see and hear him again.
Yes. He wants to be by his side again.
But this? They couldn't be hallucinations, not with the two wooden figures dropping. Mehrak was there as well, a witness. The shelf was perfectly put; nothing should have fallen without someone or something having a hand in it.
Alhaitham groaned as he downed the water, licking his upper lips before putting the glass in the sink, which already had some dishes thanks to it being forgotten.
''...I'll figure it out one way or the other.''
The scribe muttered to himself as he stared at the sink before turning around to head to his room. When he got there, he reached out for his personal journal that lay inside one of his drawers beside his desk. His room was not that messy, just clean enough to be able to navigate easily and find items. He sat down on his bed, his back leaning against the bedframe, while he opened his journal.
It would be nice to write some things down. Alhaitham had a feeling.
Grabbed the pen and started to write his current goals, cringing a little at the first few pages before he eventually reached the middle, where there was an empty page. He never usually wrote things down since he had a good memory. However, he had a lot of things to do that not only involved his job as a Scribe, or how Kaveh died.
But also, the shadow figure and how it might be related to things happening around the house.
With a sigh, he began.
Alhaitham closed the journal, staring at the front page for a while before he looked at the window to check the time. It seemed to have gotten late, with the last light that belonged to the sun slowly fading. He turned to face the journal, deciding to put it inside the drawer beside his bed before standing up to change into his sleeping attire.
Tomorrow.
Will be Day 1.
With that. He returned to the bed, raising the sheets to get in and hoping to sleep the night quickly.