[ kaveh's expression softens beneath the mask. of course it does. tsuruno and her injured ribs, her sore heart and her tired feet - and she's sparing her energies to be kind to two feuding men a decade older than she is, who ought to have things figured out. perhaps there's something about alhaitham that has kaveh become a young man again, naive and unworldly with a fresh temper about him. kaveh will be the first to say he has not changed overly much over the years, but alhaitham has such a specific effect that perhaps there's no helping it.

still, kaveh breathes out. he finishes fiddling with the cloth. he sets the rack to dry, and then carefully removes his mask. ]

I know, love. [ kaveh says, with rue tucked away in the corners of his lips. ] I know. He was the one to bridge it. At the lowest point in my life, he reached out his hand. That's when we first became roommates, you see. While I can't fathom why he would do so, and continues to do what he does for me, it's clear that he doesn't want the string that connects us to snap. Neither do I, for that matter. That's why I say that this won't end. It's just that I don't know what the shape of it is, what it will look in the future as we walk this path.

You must think this is ridiculous, and perhaps a little much. We're feuding like children, aren't we.