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[justscribing]

USERNAME: Alhaitham ALHAITHAM GENSHIN IMPACT TEXT • AUDIO • VIDEO • ACTION • OVERFLOW

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[unrequite]

No, I need his help.

[ Midnight hums, scrolls on the network. Casually. As one does. ]

The next step of building out the host club is emergency exits. We need to inspect the landings we put in for stability before we begin knocking down more walls.

[ No other conversation besides that. Topic: done. Good work, everyone. Good hustle. ]

[justscribing]

Ah. [Alhaitham is still not looking at Midnight.] Then you're not staying long.

[Maybe Kaveh's just grabbing the blueprints. Maybe the ground will simply swallow him.]

[unrequite]

Until Kaveh comes back with his level, yes.

[ ... Midnight chances a look over at Alhaitham. He doesn't do well with idleness; he's already compiled all his notes, answered all outstanding texts, organized his supply spreadsheet, and planned the next three weeks, random events notwithstanding. He's looking for something else to do.

... Why is Alhaitham just standing there? ]

Is there something I can do for you?

[justscribing]

[Alhaitham doesn't quite catch Midnight looking at him because he's still not looking at Midnight's face. He's aware it's ridiculous--that not looking at Midnight doesn't mean he isn't really there--but he thinks, if he makes eye contact there's going to be a crack in his countenance he's not going to be able to recover. And Midnight has enough of his vulnerabilities.]

No. [Maybe? No, no.] I can stand where I want in my house.

[unrequite]

Of course you can.

[ ... Hmm. Midnight cannot rightly think of any reason why Alhaitham wouldn't just stand in his own house, at that. Perhaps that is how he thinks? In which case, that is none of his business. There are so many ways he could, with any other person, carefully pry after one's motivations, but with Alhaitham... ]

Would you like to sit? I can move, if you like this seat.

[ Of course he can. This is not Midnight's seat. (This is bound to get very silly very soon, in ways that will be impossible for even Midnight to miss. One clown shoe step at a time, though.) ]

[justscribing]

[That's how we'll know we've hit peak stupidity.

It's tempting to tell Midnight to get up and go sit at the dining table or something. He could. But Kaveh would have a fit, and Alhaitham weighs the pros and cons and decides five seconds of petty enjoyment at snatching the couch isn't worth Kaveh refusing to have sex with him tonight. Even if he does really like that leftmost cushion out of all the seating in the living room...]

No. [Running back to the study is admitting defeat. He swore he was not going to indicate any further vulnerabilities to Midnight. He could not give him more information to use against him.

The solution, then, is to sit in the armchair at an angle, next to the ugly chrome statue Alhaitham picked out sometime in January to try and distract Kaveh from his moping.]

[unrequite]

[ ... Midnight simply cants his head. He is not sure at any given moment what level of stupidity he's reached, but given Alhaitham's behavior — not his body language, which is, as usual, forever outside of Midnight's capacity to read — no, the way he sits in silence... This probably means something. Maybe. (Is Midnight thinking about these things now? Is he the sort of person to reflect on these things? Why?)

A beat. Another beat. Midnight goes back to his phone, but listlessly plays a game of Caterpillar once before resigning himself to the fact that he is miserable trying not to have a conversation with Alhaitham. He is. He likes talking to Alhaitham, has tragically put himself in a position where that is not at all the correct move, ever, and it weighs upon him to put up walls in the way he does. Alhaitham, fortunately, doesn't seem to want to broach any sort of topic, but... Eventually, it does get too much for Midnight. He needs space.

He locks his phone, slips it into his pocket, and without commentary, gets to his feet and walks off to the balcony. There's a plant out there... There's a name for it, isn't there? ]

[justscribing]

[The silence steeps. Alhaitham is never a stranger to it, the silence. Much of his life is made of it. He grabs a book, simply whichever one sits on the end table.

Midnight gets up, and it's only then that Alhaitham's gaze moves to his--chest. Yes, still not face. But he watches the shape of his body leave to the balcony, with the mnit plant with a name that's taken over the leftmost corner.]

[unrequite]

[ Far be it for Midnight to say that he is a master of body language. Far be it for him to say, however, that he does not see the world the way it is, even if he isn't always privy to what it means. ]

You're staring.

[ ... Vampires. Spacial sense, hearing, that one pressure of eyes on one's back. Perhaps his ears, dulled as they are, picked up on some subtle shift of fabric; perhaps he smelled a change in the air pressure. Either way, Midnight's back is still turned when he says it, so it's straight bullshit that he gets to be so nonchalant about the whole thing. ]

[justscribing]

[Alhaitham pauses. He continues to watch the frame of Midnight's back.

Stupid vampires.] Do you care?

[unrequite]

Only in the sense that you've broken the pattern. If it's important...

[ Midnight shrugs. ]

It's beyond my scope to pursue the what or the why. It's an observation and only that, I suppose. Of course, I do like being seen... But that's my investment in the matter.

[justscribing]

[Alhaitham does not look away.] And what do you think the pattern is?

[unrequite]

You had no reason to look at me. I walked away. Still lacking a reason to look at me, you looked.

[ ... ]

That's all.

[justscribing]

If that's all, why comment? [He folds his arms, leaning back in the seat.] Do you think I'm unaware of my own actions?

[unrequite]

[ ... ]

You're paying me some measure of attention. If I'm mistaken, please pardon me, but if I've caused you reason for concern, I'd like to know if I can allay said concerns.

[justscribing]

[... Well at least he's staring at Midnight's back.

There is a long, incredibly awkward pause. He clears his throat.]

... I assume you're aware of the video.

[unrequite]

I am.

[ As though they've seen the same lamp post on the street outside, or he's been asked about the existence of a certain type of bread. Very commonplace. Midnight doesn't know what the conclusion is. ]

[justscribing]

[Alhaitham opens his mouth.

Closes his mouth. Tries again.] Do you have no interest in addressing it?

[unrequite]

[ A shrug. ]

What is there to address?

[ ... Seriously. They're both the type to ruminate these sorts of intrusions on their own, to regard the present with more importance than the past. It's about the amount of thought Midnight's chosen to put in it... Without Kaveh's interference, that is. ]

[justscribing]

Nevermind. [He pulls his gaze away, finally, sinking into the chair.]

[unrequite]

[ ... ]

If...

[ ... Go on. Finish the sentence. ]

If you need to speak to me for Kaveh's sake, by all means.

[justscribing]

It isn't for Kaveh's sake. [Alhaitham would bend the knee at lot for Kaveh. And so Kaveh would never ask this, just as he never asked Alhaitham to give Midnight a second chance. There are lines Kaveh will refuse to cross out of the respect he has for Alhaitham, and Alhaitham's love.

That doesn't mean that Kaveh didn't proceed to have a meltdown over it. Just that it's not the reason Alhaitham himself is off-balance.]

[unrequite]

Mm. All right.

[ And Midnight snaps up within himself once again. The silence drags by. Kaveh has certainly decided to redo the entire landing, which is definitely why he must be dragging an entire bag of new planks with him... ]

[justscribing]

[How long does it take Kaveh to grab his level? Probably as long as he thinks he needs to stall to make these two talk.

But Alhaitham reads that shutdown as a closure. If it doesn't have to do with Kaveh, Midnight isn't interested. Which fits within his expectations.

He shifts in the seat. Forces his gaze away from Midnight's back and to the book in his lap.]

[unrequite]

[ ... Kaveh had talked about it, hadn't he? About happiness, about being happy. About being happy around Alhaitham. Midnight closes his eyes, tilts his face toward the sun. There isn't much to say. There was a chance for them to be something more than this. Midnight made his choice about it. The chance is now gone. There's nothing else to say. He's made unforgiveable choices with the intention of never being forgiven. He knew this from the beginning, he stands by it to the end. It was for happiness... And Alhaitham's happiness was preserved, wasn't it? He is still happy, even if Midnight's actions had very little to do with that, in the end. That's enough. He's done enough. ]