justscribing | The City

[Oh. Midnight. Well, he and Netzach are. Friends, clearly.]

And who will be the judge? Someone will need to be counting push-ups.

[Obviously Yesod, the only man who can focus when three other sweaty shirtless men are showing off.]

[yeah netzach had the same thought.]

yesod? if everyone trusts him to be impartial

i do, obviously

Sure, I can believe Yesod will be impartial.

two votes of confidence for yesod not rigging the competition then

i think that's pretty good grounds for the suggestion

Let me know if everyone agrees, then. I'll leave convincing Kaveh to you. You'll be much more persuasive in this matter.

[Because he literally can't say no to Netzach.]

me? are you sure about that?

Yes, if I ask he'll start questioning me on why I'm agreeing to this competition in the first place because he knows I don't care to compare myself to others. I could get him to agree but it would be a much bigger hassle than if it came from you.

huh... well, if you're sure, then i'll ask him.

[he trusts alhaitham's evaluation, familiar as he is with kaveh.]

so how confident are you about your odds

just curiosity, i guess

I don't know anything about Thancred, so it's impossible for me to assess my odds.

But I'm sure I can outlast Midnight despite Kaveh's heavier weight.

well

i think i'm kind of morally obligated to say i think he's still got a good shot

Morally obligated? Why, does he need the confidence?

have to support who i'm seeing, right? i mean, i would be anyway, but.

[Wait. Wait a minute-]

You're together?

yes?

did kaveh never mention that

i kinda figured he would have

No, but it's never really come up.

So you're in a relationship with Yesod and Midnight. Are they in one with each other?

nah. just with me.

yesod isn't the type, you know? but he's okay with me wanting to see someone else too

i didn't even know he had feelings until i was already kind of involved with midnight...

So they're sharing you.

[And Yesod was the second. He wonders, briefly, if the same situation might have occurred with Kaveh, before writing it off as an impossibility. Kaveh is simply plagued by too much guilt. Alhaitham would never have pushed because they surely would have fallen apart.

Netzach being that close to him has him wondering something else.]

And how does Midnight treat you and Yesod?

they pretty much are, yeah

[as for that question, though... hm.]

do you mean us individually, or how does he handle the two of us also being together

Individually.

Consider it just curiosity.

i think he treats yesod well. at least, yesod's said they've talked, and he didn't have any complaints about being treated poorly... i don't think midnight would.

he's always been good to me though. ever since we met.

[It is good, he thinks, they're doing this via text message so Alhaitham doesn't have to temper his reactions. He can scowl at his phone screen all he wants. "I don't think Midnight would" and yet-]

What do you consider being good to you? What is being bad to you?

you know, i don't know how well i can answer the second one

i probably put up with more than i should sometimes just because i was used to it. i try not to. i'll say something if i don't like how i'm being treated.

but he listens to me. treats me like the things i wanna say are important. i know he gives everyone affection, but i'm counting that as being good to me, i've kinda come to like that...

i thought none of it was anything serious. tried not to have feelings for him because of that, if i'm being honest. then he was there for me a couple times he really didn't have to be, when i really needed someone to be there, and when i needed to hear what he was saying. he let me be there for him. let me in a little more.

so that's a big part of it, i guess. not just leaving things totally unequal. that's what i'd consider being good to me, not just treating me well but letting me return it

i think kaveh's always been good to me too. not sure if he LETS me return it so much as i'm going to whether he lets me or not but you know how that is

[Netzach would draw a line before Kaveh would, if perhaps not as much as he should. But that's the factor that makes Alhaitham want to know, in light of the revelation they're dating, how much of a difference there is in how Midnight treats him versus Alhaitham, or Kaveh.

His finger taps the table absently.]

I appreciate the answer.

It isn't impossible for Kaveh to accept being cared for, but he gives in excess and leaves nothing left for himself so it may seem as if he can never receive simply because he puts more emphasis on what he can do for others than the other way around. Loving him with his difficulties is the only way to, because this is a habit he will continue to fall into until he himself wants to escape it.

yeah, he really does, huh

i try to. i don't know how well it's working, but...

Would it change your actions any if you felt that he couldn't accept what you give him? Your feelings?

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