[ open ] kaveh's permanent catch-all

[fussiest]

WHO: kaveh (fussiest) & y'all!
WHAT: this is a perpetual catch-all for kaveh because i'm too lazy to make a new one every month. this is for closed starters, tag-ins, visits to kaveh's workshop and the like! be wild! be bold! be free!
WHERE: all around the city, and especially at kaveh's workshop, the pairidaeza architectural design studio in district 1
WHEN: everywhere! everywhen! all at once!
WARNINGS: bickering, probably - everything else will be warned for on a thread-by-thread basis

Comments

[fussiest]

[ 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.

[fanstheflames]

No.

[ Her little smile is hidden beneath the mask, present only when she follows Kaveh's lead and removes it a few seconds later. Because children forgave pretty easily. They didn't tend to hold grudges for years. Because, as a child, she already understood just how important "harmony" was, even if more often than not, that harmony drained her and even the light in her eyes was a conscious effort. ]

I think you're feuding like friends.

[fussiest]

[ i think you're feuding like friends, tsuruno says.

kaveh's heart aches. friends, she says. that what they were, kaveh thinks. he's not sure what they would call each other now, if anything at all. but it's undeniable, isn't it, that there's a yearning there in the chasm that a simple friendship would fill. you could simply be with someone, if they were your friend. ]

... I like that. The sound of it. [ kaveh strips his hands of his gloves. he reaches forward to ruffle tsuruno's hair. ] There. Now you know, the length and the shape of it.

[fanstheflames]

[ She laughs, sharp and sudden, a noise she has to rein back in as her ribs protest the action, and she swats at Kaveh's hand in the manner of a younger sibling who has endured this sort of thing before and has vigorously protested it. ]

Now I know.

Thanks for telling me, seriously.

[fussiest]

[ tsuruno laughs. kaveh immediately looks - will it tug on her ribs? her breathing? but she holds, and kaveh lets out a breath he hadn't even known he had been holding.

she is strong. ]

I'm glad I did. I feel a little lighter for it, that you know.

[fanstheflames]

Then I'm also glad! You carry enough with you as it is, so I'm happy if it feels like you can breathe a little easier.

[ She's proud of you, Kaveh. ]

[fussiest]

I'm happy that you're happy too, Tsuruno, but why does it sound like I'm the younger one in this conversation...?

[fanstheflames]

Age is but a number!

[ Brightly. ]

[fussiest]

And bruises are just an inconvenience right? Be honest, is it your ribs or your back?

[fanstheflames]

My ribs. Those got cracked.

[fussiest]

That's more than just an inconvenience. Are you sure you should be out and about? What did Daan say for you to do?

[fanstheflames]

They're healing faster than they normally would, I just have to take the bandages off every now and then to let 'em breathe. I've been resting!

[ Geez, worrywart. ]

[fussiest]

Good. Though I suppose I haven't been helping with the rest bit by worrying you like this.

Up you come, now. Let me take you back to your apartment.

[fanstheflames]

... You're not gonna carry me, right?

[ She's giving him a very wary stare. ]

[fussiest]

[ OMINOUS BEAMING... okay fine, ]

No, no. I wouldn't know how to do so without hurting you. But I am going to carry these containers of stew and sandwich meats that I was going to foist off onto you.

No, you don't get a say in this. Yes, it's good food. I just made entirely too much of it.

[fanstheflames]

I'd never turn down food.

[ Solemnly. ]

[fussiest]

Good. You're smarter than half this city.

[ kaveh grins. he cants his head. ] Come, let's get you home and to proper rest.

[fanstheflames]

Yes, siiiiir. [ Dutifully, as she moves back to her feet.

She'll be good. ]