#also haitham's character story is so.

[raazberry]

oh my god canon disproved me with something even more gay

[enden-k]

btw if i make kaveh say "oh my god" pls imagine him say that EXACTLY the way his english VA does bc its always stuck in my head with how funny and perfect it is ajkcjkab

[shinehyuk]

scaramouche 😭

[4giorno]

????? the way ppl were speaking made it seem like al haitham like. destroyed all kavehs belongings and spat in his face and maybe even killed him idk. just something way different and out of character than what he was already doing

[saetoru]

✩ ‧₊˚ ✩。08:00 PM — AL-HAITHAM.

idk i just felt like. writing haitham grieving his grandmother. it’s also a slight character study ig. idk if anyone will read this but if you do. just know that he is the core of my heart. his grandmother too i mourn her death so much sobs

“hey,” you say gently, sitting next to him. al-haitham only grunts in acknowledgment, slumped on the couch. “d’you want dinner? i made your favorite.”

“not hungry,” he mumbles.

his grandmother’s death anniversary is a sore spot. it’s a day you tiptoe around carefully every year. you don’t know much about his family—just that he was orphaned very young and raised by his father’s mother until the ripe age of 16. you’ve seen the dainty handwriting inside the covers of books, and you’ve even seen a small, framed photograph that he keeps stowed away.

sometimes, you wish he’d tell you. you wish the far away look and the clenched fist around the fabric of his pants would ease with your presence. you wish he’d tell you about her, that you’d know the woman who raised the man you love—even if only through hushed words and old stories.

“you hate sleeping on an empty stomach,” you hum, placing your hand over his clenched one.

his fist loosens a little—progress.

“i…” he pauses, let’s out a heavy sigh before letting his head fall back. there’s tension in his shoulders, in his neck, in the jaw he keeps so tightly clenched. “i won’t be sleeping for a bit. sorry,” he tries to sound apologetic. you don’t hear much in his tone besides defeat. “you can head in without me.”

“that’s okay,” you shrug, forcing his clenched fingers apart to weave yours in with his. “i don’t sleep well without you anyway.”

“suit yourself,” is all he says.

and it’s silent for a bit. he seems to be thinking deeply—or reminiscing, maybe grieving. maybe all three, but you’re not too sure. you’re never too sure when it comes to how al-haitham feels about anything.

he’s hard to decipher—but he’s easy to pull apart. you don’t understand how someone as hard and calculating as him is so gentle with love, but it’s hard not to notice how soft his touch is, how it lingers, how the tips of his fingers long for you. you don’t doubt he loves you—he never gives you the chance to.

but sometimes….sometimes you wish he’d let you love him properly. to kiss the scars. to admire the parts he thinks are ugly. to shelter the thoughts that have no home besides his own head.

it’s silent for a bit—until it’s not. you break the silence first, like you’re holding a hand out for him from the shore as he drifts aimlessly.

“baby?” you ask quietly. he grunts again in response. “what was she like?”

“who?”

al-haitham is a smart man. probably the smartest you’ve ever met. you don’t think you’ve ever met someone who read physics books as a pastime, and you’re pretty certain he’ll always be the only one. you know he knows exactly what you’re asking and you know he’s avoiding it.

but it doesn’t stop you though—it’s been long enough, you think. you’ve known him long enough. craved him for a few summers and loved him for enough winters that he has pieces of you that fall through the cracks of your resolve.

you think you deserve a few pieces of him too—even if your fingers have to reach past the cracks themselves, even if they have to slice against the jagged edges and bleed a little in the process.

you’ll bleed for him—like the sun rises from the east and sets in the west, your heart beats for al-haitham. and it’ll bleed for him too.

“your grandmother,” you whisper. “you’ve never told me about her.”

“there’s not much to tell,” he shrugs. “she died right before i enrolled in the akademiya and she raised me after my parents died.”

“i’m sure there’s more,” you say gently—his grip has tightened on your hand now. you don’t think he realizes—in fact, you don’t think al-haitham realizes half of what he feels when it comes to vulnerability.

it’s why he realizes he loves you so late. it’s why you fall first and he falls after. but he falls harder—it’s not hard to see.

“she was a kshahrewar scholar,” he offers blankly.

your thumb brushes over his knuckles, and it’s almost like your hand reaches past the shore just a little further—you don’t mind risking the fall into the water if it means pulling him out.

“haitham,” you sigh delicately. he swallows. it’s hard to keep composure for long—even for someone like him.

grief is an evil thing. it’s a familiar friend—one you wish you never made and one you’ll never shake away. it dances with you under the moonlight, when the stars are bright but the sky is heavy. it barely grazes your skin some days but weighs into your bones on others. it’s a cruel thing really—and it hits you harder some moments than others.

“she was kind,” he starts slowly, his hand reaching out and grabbing yours over the shoreline. maybe, just maybe, sometimes he can get tired of drifting too. “she liked to bake. her hands got too weak to knead dough when i got older, though. you would have liked her tarts. she couldn’t read without her glasses and she always forgot they were on her head. she said my father looked like her husband and that i look like my father. she used to ask me to read to her sometimes so i’d sit on her lap and read my books out loud. she loved the sunrise but was never good at waking up on time to see it. she used to drink tea during sunsets. she liked hers extra sweet and i liked mine more bitter. i…” he pauses, voice shaky as his fingers dig into your hand. you squeeze, and he sniffles. “i haven’t had tea since she passed.”

“she sounds lovely,” you whisper. “i would have loved to meet her.”

“she’d have loved you,” he cracks a small smile, shaking his head as he thinks. “probably more than she loved me.”

“i’m sure i’d never compare to her darling grandson,” you chuckle, bumping arms with him. his head drops to your shoulder—you hesitate for a moment before deciding to pull him into your chest. and when he doesn’t protest, when he buries himself into you instead of pulling away, you thread your fingers into his hair.

“i miss her,” he croaks quietly.

“i know,” you soothe. “i know, baby.”

al-haitham has only ever known love twice in his life. one is gone but it lives through the other. the gentle touch against his scalp and the warmth under his cheek is familiar—it feels like the lap he slept on when he was six. it feels like the delicate hands that cupped his cheeks when he was eight. it feels like the soft kisses against his temple when he was ten.

al-haitham has only ever known love twice in his life, and he’s glad that one of them is you.

“you’d have loved her too,” his voice breaks. you kiss his head as you feel your shirt dampen.

“i already do,” you murmur, “she raised you well. i have her to thank.”

his breath hitches at that—and then he pulls you closer, grasps you tighter, falls in love with you harder. his grandmother’s death anniversary has always been a sore spot—but somehow, you numb the ache even if by just a little.

gently, your hand clasps his and pulls him to shore. he’s grateful he doesn’t have to drift alone anymore.

there is nothing i’m more obsessed with than al-haitham’s childhood. i have so many thought about it. and him. and his character. and his inner thoughts and feelings and most of them revolve around his grandmother and more importantly her passing. and idk. he’s just sosososo important to me i wish we knew more about his grandmother. i love her so much i grieve her passing even though we’ve never even met her 😭

[zhongrin]

the art of breathing normally

— or, the ways you make him breathless so effortlessly

◇ characters ◇ zhongli, childe, diluc, al haitham, wanderer, kaveh, kaeya

��� tags ◇ fluff, angst, comfort, spoiler/hint of al haitham's character story 5

◇ a/n ◇ yes the title is taken from that one chapter title in “for better or worse” webtoon hehe i love dillon and cedric so much they’re cute

𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡 ⬙ 𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡

zhongli finds it hard to breathe (in a good way) when you wrap yourself around him in one way or another. you can drape your arms around his waist, nuzzle yourself against his side, or even jump up to koala-hug him (although he will still scold you lightly as he drops everything in his arms in favor to support you - he just doesn’t want you to get hurt.)

but his favorite has to be when you lace your fingers between his own (preferably gloveless) ones, before tightly squeezing, a pressure not enough to hurt but strong enough to leave tingles upon his skin, making the geo markings along his arms pulse and blink in happiness.

he just loves to be reminded and reassured that you’re here. you’re right here in front of him and you are here to stay. you’re here for him with your tender love and warm smile. and you’ll always be here, etched permanently in his heart, the most unyielding stone eroded in remembrance of your beautiful soul.

it was a spontaneous decision on your part when you slip into bed with al haitham and offered to read his book for him out loud instead tonight. he ponders over it for a bit and decides to relent, wanting to know what is it that made you so hooked on hearing him read his books audibly on normal days. your voice fills his senses as he settles onto his pillow, and his lips tug on the corners as you stumble upon difficult terms you’ve never heard before. he decides to show you mercy by telling you the correct pronunciation, and you thank him before continuing, as cheerful as ever, unashamed of your lack of knowledge - it’s one of the things he adores about you, he thinks. this happens several times, and as he relaxes, your lover found his gaze magnetically straying towards you, examining your features as you read.

al haitham’s lungs seizes momentarily when your words falter as you sensed his stare, a patient smile full of such love and adoration blooming on your expression like the freshest bloom of the padisarahs in the garden. a memory lost to time resurfaces in his mind, and he feels himself reliving the hazy scene behind his closed eyelids. he can’t explain it but it feels familiar and nostalgic, yet it’s also foreign and different. when he feels your hand worriedly caressing the stray tear on his cheek, he could only smiles and thinks to himself -

ah. so this is what a peaceful life feels like.

childe’s breath stutters when you kiss his nose or his eyelids. there’s something so adorable and intimate about those two specific places. like a forgotten childhood memory and the intricate vulnerability of allowing himself to be cherished and loved, to know that you won’t ever harm him despite him having his guard down. surprisingly, ajax doesn’t need a lavish display of love despite his repetitively showy endeavors in telling the whole world that you’re his. he’s already content with your soft giggles and tender touches, hidden behind doors and under the blankets in the cold starless sky of snezhnayan winters.

as the trained warrior that he is, he can last a good few minutes underwater, yet one simple kiss from you effectively diminishes his lung capacity, making him gasp and gulp for air, like a fish out of water. he can run for miles and keep his regular breathing pattern, yet a single notion of your well-being put in harm’s way makes his chest constrict and his breath fall into disarray. you’re the bane of his existence and the deity of salvation in his life.

you steal his breath away and with it, a piece of his cracked heart.

as cliche and boring as it was, kaveh’s breath escapes from his lungs whenever you visibly express yourself near him. he’s an empath to the core and he absolutely adores receiving the waves of your emotions like he’s some sentient radio transceiver who’s so attuned to your channel.

you could smile and he would follow, his chest constricting with incomprehensible joy as he drinks the light of happiness like a withered plant that hasn't seen sunlight in days. he loves to listen to your cheerful voice, like your own devoted transcriber, ready to commit your words and etch them into his soft and overwhelmingly big heart.

you could cry and he would bawl with you while holding you close, his lungs seizing with thorny vines that wrap and threaten to crush them to mush with each pearl of tears falling down the puffiness of your eyes. somehow the sight hits him harder than when the realization of his father not coming back hit him, or that time his mother told him she was going to move to fontaine and remarry - oh, it’s so much worse, because he’s holding his entire world in his arms, and he resonates with your bleeding heart.

kaeya would never admit to it but you would notice that his breath hitches whenever you yank his shirt to kiss him. he can try to deny it all he wants, but he finds your assertiveness hot - there’s just something about having you reaffirming how much you can affect him.

it used to irk him, actually - no one should have so much power over him. his life is already crumbling enough as it is, why would he want someone to shake it all up and potentially make it all crash down? and yet, throughout your relationship, he sees you fix the cracks, changes the rusted nails out, and solidifies his foundation. you’re so patient, your touch firm and gentle, and with each fissure healed he finds himself laughing breathlessly… and he lets go of his inhibitions. you can steal his marred heart away, and take his breaths too while you’re at it.

diluc finds his breathing spectacularly failing when your finger brushes against his nape as you help him tie his hair into a high ponytail. he still does not understand why you prefer this hairstyle, but he understands fully that the lack of air in his voice when you worriedly ask if you’ve tugged on his hair too hard is, in actuality, caused by how he wishes he could spend the rest of his life with you. to be with you, just like this, tranquil mornings full of domesticity and love, a replica of the little bits of memories he remembers of his late parents when they thought he was still asleep.

he’s so in love with you, he burns brighter in your presence, and he doesn’t even care if it uses up all the oxygen in his lungs; for he is sure his love for you is an eternal flame not born from the borrowed power of the gods, but from the deepest part of his heart.

wanderer has no need for these two specific atoms chemically bound to form an oxygen molecule that these weak humans seem to need lest they keel over and asphyxiate. and yet he still feels something compressing itself into an ever-consuming black hole within his hollow chest whenever you touch his white wooden skin with the most tender of touches as if he was something to be cherished. as if he was worthy of your presence. as if he was human. as if you truly love him.

ridiculous, he hisses and slaps your hand away every single time. his throat clogs and his lips purse, his vocal chord failing to enunciate how foolish you are, and the feeling got worse when he sees you merely chuckle at his ‘prickliness’.

you touch him again with the same hands five minutes later, and he struggles to squash the urge to smile.

© zhongrin | 2023 ◆ no repost. reblogs much appreciated. feel free to reach out to submit suggestions, feedback, comments, or if you just want to talk!

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[watatsumiis]

Sitting in their lap - part 3

I'm really enjoying writing this series, so here's another part! :D

Content: Gender neutral reader (referred to as 'you'), described/implied to be physically smaller than most of the characters (simply because I am and that's how I project, but if you'd like an alternate version, send me an ask and I'll whip it up!), pre-established platonic relationships (though this may border into romantic if you consider physical affection to be that way, so be warned)

Part 1 - (Ft. Albedo, Al Haitham, Ayato, Arlecchino, Capitano, Childe)

Part 2 - (Ft. Dainsleif, Diluc, Dottore, Gorou, Itto, Kaeya)

Characters in this one: Kaveh, Kazuha, Lisa, Morax, Pantalone, Pierro

Kaveh is a bit of a squirmer - he loves being kept company though and will do anything he can to make sure you're comfortable. If he's particularly absorbed in a project, he may barely acknowledge you, but you'll find that he just absently starts to fidget and toy with you, stroking your hair and touching your face, tugging at your clothes, as if he's just making sure you're still here. Sometimes he may even ask for your opinions on what he's working on and will just absently chatter away to you. You don't have to listen super intently, he doesn't mind either way, it's just like he enjoys hearing the sound of his own voice.

Kazuha tends to get up and move around a lot, even when he seems to be settled. He finds that moving around can help get the creative juices flowing - but he'll still himself for a while if it seems like you're in need of some attention. He mutters to himself a lot and may even be working on more than one thing at once (sometimes even holding pencils in both hands), catching little snippets of inspiration before they're gone with the wind. Sometimes it seems like he's looking for your input on a quote or idea, but he always seems a little shocked/startled when you provide a response - but not at all displeased, he really likes having someone to share his ideas with. You notice that his writing tends to border into softer/fluffier sorts of stuff when you're sitting with him - perhaps the physical touch affects him more than he lets on.

Lisa thinks it's super cute and sweet of you to seek her out this way - she certainly doesn't mind having an excuse not to do her work (though it's not like she was going to do it in the first place). She'll chuckle and tease you a little, then settle in for the long haul. She may disturb every now and then to ask you if you need anything or if you can shift your position just a little, but other than that you're pretty much left alone - except for the odd occasion when she's particularly bored and might prod or poke you to make you squirm or giggle. She really does enjoy the company - it gets rather lonely in the library sometimes, especially when people are just dropping in and out for books.

Morax, despite his spiky, horned exterior, really enjoys some snuggles, regardless of his current temperament. The clashing of cold blooded dragon and warm blooded human can mean he has difficulty regulating his own temperature, so having something warm curled up in his lap is often just what he needs to even himself out. He'll curl his big tail around you and rest his chin atop your head - you swear you can feel some kind of purr resonating from somewhere deep in his chest. It's almost possessive, the way he curls his unnaturally tall form around you, puffing out a little sigh into your hair. If he happens to be in a talkative mood, you cuddling up to him may also prompt him into telling you a story or reciting a poem he heard long ago - his voice sounds different from behind those wickedly sharp fangs inside his mouth, but it's still unmistakably him. He'll always make a point to thank you for keeping him company once you get up to go (or if he has to go for whatever reason).

Pantalone acts aggrieved at first - don't take it as a personal slight, he's just dramatic. He'll quickly figure out how to continue his work around you (though you may get booted off if someone walks into his study) and you'll find that he starts to absently use you as a fidget toy, twirling your hair around gloved fingers and pressing his cheek lightly against you as he lets out a content hum from the back of his throat, so quiet that you almost feel like you imagined it. If it becomes a regular thing between you two, he may eventually organise for his workers to bring up extra snacks, and maybe a book or something to keep you occupied. His work is mind-numbingly boring and he doesn't really have any way to entertain you personally. He may get a little strict (or even downright mean) if you fidget and squirm too much, and will remind you "You're only in here because I'm gracious enough to allow you to occupy both my time and space. That opportunity can be taken back at any time." Meanie :(

Pierro has a bout of initial confusion and shock, but doesn't really let it show. He'll just let you climb into his lap, giving you this stern and vaguely-disapproving look as you do so, but he won't say anything or make any move to discipline or redirect you - that's pretty much him giving you the go-ahead. He'll hardly even acknowledge you, just working around you as he does what he needs to do. If anyone happens to walk in, he'll act like you're not even there, just go about his business as usual. His resting temperature is a little cool, but not to an unpleasant degree. You may find him setting a hand on your hip or back every nod and then so that you don't tumble off as he shifts his weight around or reaches for something on his desk, but other than that it's like you don't exist at all - unless you get too wriggly or start asking questions, in which case he just lifts you off of him and sets you on your feet somewhere off to the side of the chair like a mother cat repositioning a kitten.

Please don't repost, steal, copy or otherwise plagarise my writing! This includes posting translations to other sites.

[genshinluvr]

Keep Your Voice Down

Pairings: Al Haitham x Isekai'd!Reader

Summary: Al Haitham fucks you on the Grand Sage's desk at House of Daena. You tried your best to keep your voice down, but the feeling of Al Haitham hammering your insides with his fat cock makes it hard for you to keep your mouth shut.

Note: This is part of my ongoing Isekai'd!Reader series. Any individual character mini-fics are part of the Isekai'd!Reader series ^^ The mini-fics is made to give each man a decent amount of screen time compared to the stories that are much longer and can be posted at any time within less than 5k words. As previously stated in my other smuts, the smuts that I type out do lean toward female!reader/afab!reader. I do use gender-neutral pronouns unless stated otherwise. It's been a while since I've written smut, so this is just to test out the waters since it has been months since I have published smut. Minors, DO NOT INTERACT! Anyway, I don't post anywhere else but on Tumblr (Genshinluvr) and on AO3 (Aaliah_exo).

Word Count: 1.6k

Warnings: Horribly written smut, public sex, slight exhibitionism, sex on a desk, hair pulling, Al Haitham spitting in your mouth, light choking, slight voyeurism

You don’t know how you ended up in this position; the last thing you remember is Al Haitham showing you the Grand Sage’s office that sits at the very top of House of Daena. Al Haitham greeted you while you were studying and offered to show you what the Grand Sage’s office looked like because he knew you were curious about it and had asked him and Kaveh a few times.

When the two of you took the elevator up to the Grand Sage’s office, standing side by side. The Grand Sage’s office is bigger than you had expected it to be. Not only was the office big, but it was also quite spacious. Despite it being a big office with bookshelves towering over you two, it feels a little bit empty. You remembered Al Haitham wrapping his arms around your waist, pulling you close to his chest when the both of you approached the Grand Sage’s desk.

“We’re not going to get into trouble, are we?” You ask, looking up at Al Haitham as he tilts your head up and leans down. You close your eyes and feel his lips brush against yours, his right hand caressing your face.

Al Haitham whispers, “We won’t get caught as long as you keep your voice down.” Al Haitham closes the distance between you two.

Your surroundings become blurry afterward, and you find yourself propped up on the Grand Sage’s desk. Your arms are trembling beneath you; both of your hands are planted on the wooden desk, and sweat trickles down your face and splatters on the Grand Sage’s desk. A small whimper escapes from your lips as you shut your eyes tightly, biting down on your lips as you try to refrain from letting out a single sound. The feeling of Al Haitham’s cock sliding in and out of your entrance makes your eyes roll to the back of your head.

“Remember to keep your voice down. You don’t want to get caught now, do you?” Al Haitham murmurs into your ears, wrapping his left arm around your waist while his right-hand pulls you close to him.

You let out an audible gasp when Al Haitham sends a powerful thrust into your heat. You clench your jaws, and your arms collapse underneath you. Al Haitham’s hands make their way up to your hair; he weaves his hands into the strands of your hair and pulls your hair back while continuously thrusting his cock into you. 

You whimper softly and claw at the wooden table. “We’re going to get caught, Al Haitham,” you whine softly. Your body jerks with each thrust. You feel the tip of Al Haitham’s cock kiss your cervix, causing you to wince and let out a choked gasp. 

Al Haitham chuckles and reaches for your neck, pulling your head back and pressing his lips against your temple. “The only time we’ll get caught is if you don’t keep your voice down,” Al Haitham murmurs into your ears.

“I-I’m trying to keep my voice down! But—” Your sentence is cut off when Al Haitham thrusts deeply into your entrance. Your hands fly up to grab Al Haitham’s biceps, digging your nails into his arms. “Fuck,” you breathed.

Al Haitham snorts. “But what?” Al Haitham smirks. He grabs onto your chin and turns your head to the side, and gazes into your eyes with a teasing smile on his face. Al Haitham continues to ram his thick cock into your warm cavern, pressing his hips against your ass. Al Haitham tugs on your hair to grab your attention; you look up at him, eyes glazed over, your mouth agape, your tongue lolled out of your mouth. 

“Aw, look at you. You’re so drunk on my cock that you can’t even speak,” Al Haitham mocks, pouting down at you. You take deep gulps of air and squeeze your eyes shut when you feel embarrassment prick at you. You open your mouth to reply, but Al Haitham quickly pulls his dick out of you and forces you to lie down on the Grand Sage’s desk. Al Haitham spreads your legs open and rubs his cock between your legs, coating them in your slick before penetrating your hole again. 

You squeal loudly when he enters back into your wet heat, balls deep inside of you. 

Al Haitham covers your mouth with his left hand before hissing, “I told you to keep your voice down! I don’t care how far up we are in House of Daena; people are going to hear us if you can’t keep quiet.”

You huff and wrap your legs around his slim waist, pulling him closer to you to the point where his hips are pressing up against your open legs. “We wouldn’t get caught in the act if we did this at the estate instead,” You grumble. 

A deep grunt gets caught in your throat when Al Haitham slams his hip against your hips, the mushroom tip of his cock kissing your g-spot. Your eyes shut tightly, and every time Al Haitham plunges his cock in and out of you, stars dance behind your eyelids. Al Haitham’s hands slide up to your neck and lightly squeeze them, cutting off your air supply.

“Open your mouth,” Al Haitham orders, clenching his jaws and thrusting into your core with each word.

You whimper and open your mouth reluctantly. Al Haitham leans down and gathers his saliva before spitting into your mouth. He closes your mouth with the hand that was lightly choking you. You stare up at Al Haitham with glazed-over eyes while his spit remains in your mouth.

“Swallow,” Al Haitham instructs.

You gulp down Al Haitham’s saliva and open your mouth, sticking your tongue out to show that you swallowed his saliva. Al Haitham smirks and presses his lips on your forehead. Al Haitham rests both of his arms over your shoulders, pressing his chest against yours (technically, his chest is on your face, but close enough), rutting his hips against yours. 

With each roll of his hips, his pubic bone rubs against your bundle of nerves, making you jolt in his arms, and your walls clench around his thick cock. You bite down on your lips until you taste copper; you tighten your legs around Al Haitham’s waist and begin moving along with him. Al Haitham reaches down and begins to rub the swollen and throbbing spongy tissue, pinching and rolling them between his thumb and index finger.

You jolt beneath Al Haitham, clawing at his biceps and arms as you get closer and closer to your climax. The knot in your lower stomach is about to break at any moment as Al Haitham drills his dick into your entrance. You squeeze your eyes shut and shake him frantically, “Al Haitham, I’m cumming!” You whisper loudly, the pitch of your voice getting higher.

“Cum for me, sweetheart. Cum around my cock,” Al Haitham growls. Al Haitham clenches his jaws and slams his cock into you over and over, relishing in the feeling of your tight spongey walls squeezing around his cock. 

You let out a breathless gasp, back arching, your head is thrown back against the desk, and the tight knot that was once in your lower stomach suddenly breaks. You cum around Al Haitham’s cock, biting down on his shoulders to muffle your screams. Al Haitham lets out a deep groan, shooting his hot, thick, creamy cum deep inside of you. Al Haitham takes a deep breath and collapses on top of you without removing his cock from your entrance, plugging in your and his cum.

“You were supposed to keep your voice down, Al Haitham,” you whisper, poking his large biceps lightly with a tired grin on your face.

Al Haitham snorts and rolls his eyes, scratching your head lightly. He lifts himself off of you slightly and gazes down at you with a soft look on his face. Al Haitham brushes the strands of your hair away from your sweaty forehead and tucks them behind your ears.

“How are you feeling?” Al Haitham asks softly, twirling a piece of your hair around his finger.

You hesitate for a moment and give him a smile. “Full and sore,” you reply, earning a snort from Al Haitham.

Al Haitham rolls his eyes. “Oh, please. I was going easy on you,” He reaches down and pinches your cheeks lightly. 

Your eyes widen, and you prop yourself up on the Grand Sage’s desk. “That was you going easy on me?!” You ask, looking at Al Haitham incredulously. 

Al Haitham nods. “That is correct.”

Before you can say anything else, Al Haitham slowly pulls his softening cock out from your entrance. Both of you groan and let out shaky breaths. You pull your pants and underwear up while Al Haitham tucks his dick back into his underwear and zips up his pants. You adjust your Akademiya uniform and hop off the table. Your legs suddenly feel like jello, making you collapse into Al Haitham’s arms.

“Oh? It looks like I went hard on you after all,” Al Haitham hums, looking down at you with an amused look on his face, smiling down at you, his eyebrow quirked up. 

“You two are disgusting,” A voice interrupts you and Al Haitham.

Your and Al Haitham’s head snap towards the direction where the voice is coming from; you and Al Haitham’s eyes land on Kaveh standing where the elevator is, his arms over his chest with a prominent scowl on his face.

“How long have you been standing there?” Al Haitham raises his eyebrows at the flustered and disgusted blond man.

Kaveh shudders and dramatically gags. “I’ve been here long enough to be traumatized by what I have just witnessed,” Kaveh says, his nose scrunching up and pinching the bridge of his nose. You and Al Haitham say anything after Kaveh’s response. You couldn’t help but notice the growing issue in Kaveh’s pants and the growing discomfort from the blond man. Maybe you and Al Haitham should have kept your voices down and have sex somewhere that isn’t public and where anyone could walk in at any moment.

Note: Yeah, idk how to feel about this smut. It has been a while, and I'm a bit rusty on writing smut. So, apologies if it's not as decent as my past smuts; I'm hoping to write smut very soon (Crave 5, pretty much) because it has been a few months since the fourth part of Crave with Ayato and Thoma. The mini-fics will be posted here and there when I get the chance to make and post them! Just a heads up, not all of them will contain smut. Unless you want me to make a smut series? 👀🤔 Anyway, I'm not entirely sure if I'll be tagging people in the mini-fics... If you guys want to be tagged, I can do that! ^^ I'll be making a new taglist form very soon since it's officially my winter break :> For my new and returning readers, I ONLY post on my Tumblr (Genshinluvr) and my AO3 (Aaliah_exo)! Nowhere else except Tumblr and AO3!

Read more of my works on my Masterlist | Maybe support me by tipping me on Ko-Fi or by reblogging my fanfics! ^^ I will also be posting exclusive fanfics on Ko-Fi as well very soon! You can also tip me on Tumblr if you'd like as a way to show support! ^^

[areislol]

are they an "okokokok" or "lalalala" type of person?

ft— all male characters

warning — just fluff ^^ gn! reader (don't mind the header w the girl)

a/n— i love this trend sm, this is just in my opinion so uhm, yea also this is my take on the "okokok" and "lalala" trend. wrote this in like 50 mins i think cuz i was scrolling through tiktok and all to get some info/ideas.

✧ they're an "okokokok" type of person. (slightly) introverted and calm. they don't mind listening to you rambling, if anything, they love it! if you ever stopped talking because you thought they weren't listening or anything, they would immediately pause what they were doing, their face softening. ✧ they would ask if everything is alright and/or tell you continue. if you don't, they would start with asking what happened after where you stopped and of course, your eyes light up and you continue telling your story, rambling about what happened that day, what you felt and etc.

✧ or, alternatively, you could be rambling about your day, something that happened significantly, and he would be staring lovingly at you, his eyes boring into yours, watching as you talked with your hands... he may or may not have been paying attention to your words, rather, your adorable face—you cheeks began to warm under his intense gaze. and so you stop talking because your brain can't literally function. and he may or may not have teased you about it <3

✧ just because they rather listen to you doesn't mean he doesn't chime in or add comments there and then. he also responds and might even talk more than you, but he still loves to listen to you.

✧ they're logical and serious. never the one to mess around in public (only with you privately). if you ever feel shy to ask for food or anything he's already asking it for you (ugh my heart)

✧ he's exceedingly chill. could care less about other people OR care about them but only thing for sure is that he cares about you more.

— AL HAITHAM, wanderer, thoma, gorou, XIAO, heizou, DAINSLEIF, tighnari, diluc, kazuha, kaeya.

✧ they're a "lalalala" type of person. they LOVE rambling everyday, there is not a day where they don't ramble to you. they're extroverted and have a bubbly personality. they can account many stories to you.. maybe even for a bedtime story!

✧ but being a "lalala" type of person, talking a lot, means that you don't have the time to kiss them </3 i see them as being indecisive and silly. he gets so anxious (or not/slightly) when he doesn't have anyone to talk to like he NEEDS you.

✧ he's your "lalala" to your "okokok"/"lalala", you two are like THE duo!!!! although they do speak more than listening, he will always be there to listen and help you through your hard times!!! their first thoughts is to make you laugh, of course.

✧ just like the "okokok" type of person, if you're too shy to ask for food or something that you really like he's already up and going to the counter AND getting what you want :))

✧ they overthink everything like!! 24/7!! and may be a hopeless romantic!!! i can see them being very caring and loving <33 rambles about anything you could possibly imagine.

— VENTI, aether, cyno (he be telling jokes n everything ALL DAY LONG), kaveh, ITTO, baizhu (?), childe

✧ they're both "okokok" and "lalala" they're serious yet can be silly as well. they love talking about their hobbies or just overall yet still listen to your rambling as well, with much attention.

✧ they can be logical, or not. they can choose what to be depending on the situation honestly. like he can be "okokok" to extroverted people and be "lalala" towards introverted people just to get them going you know?

✧ it can go both ways. him talking about whatever and you listening intensively OR you talking and him listening to YOU intensively. you two are two missing pieces in a puzzle piece &lt;3

— ZHONGLI, ayato, albedo

[marlin-blue]

i like how you don't really understand or see alhaitham in his entirety until you get to kaveh's lore. the archon quests and his character stories paint a seemingly complete picture of him, and you think that's what he is, that's all he is, until you see him through kaveh's eyes. until you see him through kaveh's stories, until you understand kaveh himself and see /him/ through haitham's eyes, and then suddenly there's a whole other side of the picture. i also LOVE that kaveh himself is blind to this side, despite being possibly the only person its ever been bared to. he'll paint this whole new color into haitham, and then selectively become entirely blind to it. unable to comprehend the truth that's glaring him in the face because he is so convinced he does not deserve it.

just. god. the mirrors theme between them is SO well executed !!!

[idyllic-affections]

Hello! I saw your works of what Kaveh and Cyno would be like as parents... That leaves me thinking of Al-haitham as a father. Would him take his child to his grandmother? Would he read them advanced physics books? (⁠´⁠°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥⁠ω⁠°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥⁠｀⁠)

scholarly lineage.

summary. what would alhaitham be like as a father?

trigger & content warnings. brief hypothetical mentions of assault in general, can be interpreted as s/a, but is not explicitly stated to be that way. sensory overload mentions. spoilers for alhaitham's character stories.

tropes, pairings, fic length, & other notes. fluff. dad!alhaitham & reader. 0.7k words. they/them pronouns for reader. in this fic, alhaitham and the reader are both written as neurodivergent in some way; interpret it however you please!

author's thoughts. OUGDHSJGSJSG wait this is so cute. dad alhaitham..... it is such a cool thought, because with alhaitham, i don't think there's any obvious or "correct" way to write him as a dad. he could be overprotective. he could be very casual, the "cool dad" if you will. also i know i haven't been posting as much recently! it's literally only because i've been hyperfixating on hsr... whoops. /lh

alhaitham as a father is a very interesting concept to me. now, believe it or not, i feel like he is a less strict father than cyno. he's actually relatively laid-back.

alhaitham is the kind of guy who raises his child to be smart. he raises them to play the game, not to be played by it, you know? therefore, he believes in his child's judgement and their ability to make wise decisions. he feels no need to be protective over them.

(however... that does not mean someone could do something harmful to them and get away with it. if anyone does anything to hurt them? abuses them? verbally, physically, or worse? good lord, he does not take well to that. he is a man with power, and by the gods, he'll use it if he has to in their defense.)

if his child has sensory issues, alhaitham is very attentive to those things and will get them any and all needed accommodations. if they struggle with auditory sensory issues where they get easily overwhelmed? they'll have ear pieces that match his. <3

when people point it out, depending on who they are, they will get one of two responses; either him very blatantly admitting that yes, their headset matches his, or him getting a little embarrassed and claiming it was all he had on hand at the moment. liar. /lh

it's kaveh that gets the latter response, of course.

if they ever happen to get annoyed with their father in their moments of overwhelm, he doesn't take it personally at all. sensory overload will do that to a person. he gets it, tbh.

i think alhaitham would definitely want his kid to attend the akademiya. ideally, haravatat, but he supposes he'd be okay if they enrolled in a different darshan. he'll recover...

UNLESS they enroll in kshahrewar. alhaitham would NEVER recover from a betrayal of that magnitude!! however, his grandmother herself was from kshahrewar, so... well. he'd get over it, he guesses. he'd still prefer if they enrolled in haravatat.

whatever darshan they enroll in honestly doesn't matter, though, because if anyone gives them trouble for any reason? all alhaitham has to do is give the problematic person a single look and suddenly the issue is resolved! apparently people think he's scary. not that he minds. he likes it that way; it keeps trouble away from both him and his child.

of course, he won't intervene unless they specifically seek out his help, because he knows his kid can handle themselves. still, he pulls a few strings behind the scenes every now and then. he doesn't really want to see his kid struggle. he knows they're intelligent, and he also knows he doesn't have to worry about them not wanting to work for themselves. therefore, he sees no reason to let them struggle needlessly.

he'd also understand if they weren't too big a fan of being surrounded by so many people. he isn't fond of it, either, so he'd let them stay in his office whenever needed. he'll even invite them to do their classwork in there rather than anywhere else in the akademiya, simply so that they don't have to be around a bunch of random people they couldn't possibly be less interested in.

alhaitham definitely read his kid very difficult books when they were little, which would totally lead to them being ahead of their peers. that really wouldn't be unexpected, i think. they probably enrolled in the akademiya a little early.

you know that "i know you don't know any astronomical pretentious voluminous colossal words" audio? yeah, that was alhaitham's kid when they were small.

also, yes, alhaitham would absolutely take them to his grandmother!! i think she would see their father in them, just like how she saw alhaitham's parents in him. of course, this is before her death.

i think alhaitham would ultimately be content that his child got to meet the woman who raised him.

to think that she saw himself in them...

it brings him an odd sense of pride and comfort.

and as a little treat:

kaveh is kind of like another dad (or like a wine uncle LMAO) for them. do what you will with this information.

please consider reblogging, it helps me out quite a lot!

[raazberry]

i have so many strong feelings abt kaveh i need hyv to release him from their basement already

[enden-k]

You're so real for wanting to kidnap faves from gensh and just leave. I'm still only hanging around because me and my sis like to run around while we chat and there just isn't an alternative for us (well, for me, I don't have a strong enough system for other games like that). And well, I'm there also for sumeru crumbs, the best region, genshin peaked with sumeru

i prob would still check in every now and then if i had reasons (some former friends and i grew apart/most lost interest too and my other friend is also quite busy like me so theres no chance to coop) and if paimon wouldnt exist bc she genuinely just tires me out i just cant anymore.

theres a bunch of characters i rlly love (haitham, wrio, wanderer, the harbingers, sumeru cast, etc) so mentally im jsut yoinking them and keep them safe somewhere else LMAO.

sumeru had its flaws and problems too but yes, i liked the story, environment, music etc the most so its my fav as well

[4giorno]

alrighty! congrats al haitham for having the best character demo

[zhongrin]

501 sys̵̜͌tǝm¿eŗ̴̦̗͑̈rọ̷̭̆̑̕̚͝Ȑ̶̨̅̾̔͊r̸͎̜̱̀̚r̴̰̖̪̯̯͛̈́͒̅r̵̨̢͎̣͖̻̜̙̣̦̦͉̝̣̦̯͎̙͓̹̤͈̦̼̺͇͂̅̔̆̋̈́̈͛̃ɹ̷̗̟͒̊̓͋r̵̙̟͇̝̾̆ͅR̷͍̙̺̯̽̔͑̿̂ͅr̸̲̫͖͓͒̋r̵̼̳͉̻̎̿͌́͘ɹ̶̛̤̹̪̪͍̅̽ᴚ̶̛͎̖͖̀̅̒ͅɹ̵̥͉̭͇̅ͅɹ̶̢͎̥̩̟̀

◇ characters ◇ zhongli, tighnari, cyno, al haitham

◇ tags ◇ yandere!character, implied slight yandere!reader (al haitham), petnames (my love, dear - zhongli), spoiler for cyno’s story quest (tighnari)

◇ a/n ◇ @abyssmal-skies psy you probably already forgot this prompt but this is still your fault just so you know-

𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡 ⬙ 𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡

your lover might have used a knowledge capsule containing unknown information - but hey, what’s the worst that could happen, right?

... right?

“how peculiar,” zhongli comments as he inspects the capsule’s chassis, the greenish glow making his eyes darken into a brownish shade, “you said this contained information about a prophecy of a future disaster that is foreseen to befall liyue?”

if there’s anything you can confidently say about your lover in certainty, it’s the love he holds for the nation he creates. and so, when you stumble upon the seller, as shady looking as she was, you couldn’t just walk away.

“that’s what the merchant said,” you say, fingers twisting in worry, “i did think it was a scam, but i mean - sumeru is the land of the god of wisdom, and these are lord kusanali's inventions. though there’s a chance that it’s not going to be useful, there’s also a chance that whatever is in that capsule would still be beneficial, at least?”

“hmm. well, it is right of you to worry. however, i do agree. gaining more knowledge is, more often than not, a good thing. besides, seeing as you’ve paid for the item, it would be a waste to not use it. i see no harm in perusing it as intended, but just in case, let me do it first.”

the akasha terminal glows as he connects with the capsule, amber eyes closing, his brows furrowing in concentration as the information transferred directly onto his mind. the whole process barely lasts for five seconds, but you wait anxiously and inches closer to your lover as his eyes open-

“….. zhongli?”

he blinks once, slowly, as if he has to clear his mind out from a daze before he turns towards you. the same gentle smile spreads on his lips, yet you can’t help but feel that something is… amiss.

and then you realize his gloved fingers are locked onto your wrists in a vicelike grip.

“dear, you were right.”

“huh?! wait, is a disaster really going to befall liyue?! that’s bad, we should inform the qixing-”

“there is no need for that.”

“huh? what do you-”

“as long as you’re safe, it doesn’t matter. now, let’s forget about the insignificant things. are we not on a vacation? you said you wanted to see sumeru’s local products, yes? i believe there is a marketplace called the grand bazaar-”

as he leads you toward the direction of the bustling street, you stare at him in confusion. he looks and acts just as loving as your beloved, and yet this can’t be the same man that you know - your zhongli would have put liyue as his first priority.

“wait. wait, please - what… what was in that capsule?! we have to go back to that merchant! something’s clearly wrong-”

“nothing’s wrong, dear.”

the hold he has around your wrist tightens, nails (talons?) digging into your skin, and your eyes water in both pain and panic at this point.

your zhongli would have never hurt you like this.

“no! you-you’re scaring me! let go of me!” you try to jerk your arm away to escape from his grasp, but the effort you put in merely makes him sigh in calm disappointment.

a gasp escapes your lips when the ex-archon suddenly pulls you closer with a harsh tug, your body colliding against his as his other arm circles around you to rest on your back.

“don’t flail about like that, my love. what if you hurt yourself?”

your zhongli would have never made you feel unsafe. and yet as you look into the same amber eyes, instead of the usual warmth spreading across your body, all you could feel in your chest is the coldness of fear.

perhaps this really would be the downfall of liyue, for since the first time after its creation, their god has finally abandoned them?

“[name], where’s that package from akademiya-”

tighnari’s question halts when his eyes swept across the darkened empty room. though your curtains are drawn and normal humans would only be able to barely make out silhouettes of the furniture, he can clearly see that you’re not inside.

with a confused hum, he snoops on your desk, knowing that you won't mind. one object, in particular, catches his eye.

that knowledge capsule must be the so-called ‘package’ from the akademiya.

tighnari clicks his tongue and approaches your desk, lifting the item, which casts a bright pulsing green light into his eyes.

well. best to get this over with as fast as possible.

he has to fiddle a bit with his akasha terminal, but the process comes naturally to him. knowledge rushed into his consciousness, but as the first stream hit he immediately knew something was wrong.

the world fades to black momentarily as the data transfer commences.

…

…

…

the capsule drops with a loud thud on your bedroom floor. ears flicking, tail swishing in agitation, the forest ranger stared in a daze as a sense of urgency suddenly built up inside of him.

his baser animal instinct hisses and snarls.

how could he be so nai̴ve?

wrong. you’re not here. it’s all wrong.

he has to get you.̶

he has to get you and bring you into his nest, where you belong.

nȯ̷͓ͅw.̷̡̢̧͈͈̌́̂

his legs move before he could finish the thought. in his hurry, he forgets to close the door completely. the eerie glow of the knowledge capsule casts an ominous luminescence onto a fallen piece of paper on the wooden floor.

“[name], we found this on yesterday’s patrol in one of the abandoned camps. there were loads of empty crates and a list of ‘client names’. we know what it is, but we’re not sure how to use it (and whether we should even try to) and we don’t know what its contents are; maybe you can ask tighnari to advise on what to do about it?”

the metal cuffs he used to detain the criminal clatter against the wooden desk, and cyno sighs tiredly as he slumps onto the chair. yet another criminal jailed and waiting for trial. the scholar just had to make it difficult for both of them, refusing to come with him and always trying to escape his watch.

now’s that’s all settled with, however, here comes the harder part.

vermillion eyes fall onto the papers and the bag of evidence, and he sighs once more, although this time it was more of an 'i really don't want to do this' sigh. but cyno is dedicated and diligent, and so, despite his dislike towards the activity, he proceeds to fill in the reports.

yet moments later, he stumbles upon a question he could not answer.

— what is the content of the stolen knowledge capsule?

….

well, only one way to find out.

the sensation of using a knowledge capsule washes over him. for a short duration, he was rigid, unable to focus on anything but the sudden onslaught of information poured into his head-

cyno’s fist hits the wooden table when the link disconnects.

his eyes squeezed shut. his head swirls. his heart rate steadily escalates.

his mind is full. so full. overflowingly full. overwhelmingly full.

of yoǘ̶ͅ.

“[name].”

his chest tightens.

“[name]. [name]. [name]. [name]. [name]. [name]-̴̙͎̠͆”

out of the corner of his eyes, he catches the glint of metal (strong, durable, steady). his hand reaches out to take the object, fingers carefully tracing the material (cold, unlike your warmth, which he misses so dearly). it’s dirtied and he’ll have to wash it first (for nothing shall sully your skin), but it would do.

no dirty blood should touch your skin. no eyes should fall onto your beautiful visage. no. you are pure and good and his. how had he not realized this before? this should have been the bare minimum for you! he is your protector. he is the very definition of just and he is the only individual who is suited to keep you saf̶e.

“wait for me, [name].”

he h̴̹̎as to keep you safe.

your lover is, for the most part, always rational and seemingly indifferent to his surroundings.

which is exactly why you love riling him up. pressing buttons and flicking switches to see which ones trip him up the most, which makes him flustered, which makes him tick. it’s a fun little game, and you know al haitham finds amusement in it too, despite his ‘complaints’. it’s a dynamic that works out wonderfully, you think.

but sometimes, you want more.

“-and what, pray tell, were you discussing? why would you waste your time talking to kaveh of all people?”

“oh come on, don’t be mean! kaveh’s great. it wasn’t a waste of time at all!”

“having insubstantial conversations are categorized as ‘wasting time’, i believe.”

mo̷re.

“oh, haitham... just admit that you’re jealous.”

“what a ridiculous accusation. why should i be afraid of some mindless fool flailing to sweep you off your feet? he is incapable of doing so.”

“oh i dunno, his latest design for his thesis was quite awe-inspiring. i think he really nailed the functionality and aesthetic down,” you tap the knowledge capsule with your fingers with a wink and a cheeky grin, “you should see it for yourself. i’m sure you’ll change your mind.”

your boyfriend regards you with an unimpressed frown, although he can’t fight the curiosity of his scholarly mind to draw his focus onto the said contraption within your grasp. with a knowing giggle, you toss it towards the scribe and shrug, announcing that you were going out to get some food after a quick wash-up.

𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒌

𝒕𝒐𝒄𝒌

m̸͎͗ore.

𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒌

𝒕𝒐𝒄𝒌

you barely made it two steps out of the bathroom when you’re cornered by your boyfriend. the red lines on his eyes seem to be shining as much as the reds of his terminal, and you tilt your head in question.

“so? how was kaveh’s-”

“don’t.”

the harsh grip on your shoulder and the hard wall your back smacked onto made you wince, but al haitham barely bats an eye from your distress.

“stop saying his name. st̵̲̾op saying other people’s name.”

a shiver runs up your spine, and you silently nod. there’s an exhale of breath before a soft pressure rests against your forehead. through your lashes, you see him melt against you, eyes closed. red. green. red. green-

“i’ll go get that food first, okay?”

-red.

“don’t. stay̵̠̘̙̩͛ here. i’ll go.”

red. red. red.

“here’s the rest of the payment, dori.”

“ohoho~ splendid! always so pleased to do business with you!”

“oh no, the pleasure is mine.”

“i presume the capsule is working as intended, then?”

“it was adorable, the way he comes running like a puppy to his master.”

“gosh~ out of all my customers, you sure are one of the strange ones….. [name].”

you chuckle and wave her goodbye, quite sure that your lover was going to turn port ormos upside down any time now, when he finally realizes that you’ve given him the slip.

oh, you’re so looking forward to this pleasant change in your life.

© zhongrin | 2022 ◆ no repost. reblogs much appreciated. feel free to reach out to submit suggestions, feedback, comments, or if you just want to talk!

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[hulhudhonado]

Right Person, Wrong Letter

Synopsis: Cyno and Traveller came across some letters during an expedition and Al Haitham basically annoyed about the contents of it.

CW: Slight Angst, Death of Characters, Mention of suicide

HC: Reader is gender-neutral, Reader does not have a vision, Al Haitham was King Deshret in the past

Characters: Al Haitham, Kaveh, Nahida, King Deshret, Mentions of Goddess of Flowers, Cyno and Traveller.

Note: Does anyone else know about the reincarnation theory? I think it's pretty intriguing and I am definitely going to use that as a plot point to make angst. It's what the people deserve. I decided to change things up a bit and put in a small description of what's to come. There is a lot of reading in this one, like a slow burn kind of feeling because I love putting lore into reader x character stories. Also this is after Nahida's archon and story quest, so there will be some spoilers. Enjoy.

The current feeling Al Haitham was experiencing was irritation and he was certain it was because of the papers that lay orderly on the table in front of him. It was a series of letters, extracted from one of King Deshret's reserves. They were in envelopes completely sealed with only slight discoloration on the paper. Many would think the contents of these letters would be extraordinary, especially since they were so well preserved, but to Al Haitham's disappointment, it was far from a discovery.

They were love letters and minimal ones at that. One requested a walk alongside the desert city and another insisted to go to the festival held by the Goddess of Flowers for Sumeru's Archon. Al Haitham sighed, looking through each letter carefully. At first, he thought maybe it was a secret code that he needed to decipher, but to his dismay, it was not. Just ordinary love letters, which embarrassingly seemed to be written by the King himself.

"Of course, Cyno would be the one to give me something so useless." He mumbled to himself, recounting the time when Cyno and the Traveller had dropped by his house at 3 in the morning just to hand him the letters. They were lucky he was reading at the time, otherwise, they would have been standing on the front porch until sunrise. However, now he regrets it, realizing he wasted hours of his night on this. He shouldn't have stayed up.

Almost mockingly, Kaveh entered the room, yawning as if he was just woken up from the best sleep known to man. The man yelped, seeing Al Haitham awake sitting on the living room sofa with papers laid out everywhere and a fierce look in his eyes. "You know it wouldn't hurt to make some noise when you're working, I thought you were a criminal." Al Haitham huffed, not bothered to retort at the moment. This intrigued Kaveh, who decided to prod more.

"What got you so grumpy on such a lovely day?" He asked, walking towards the papers to take a peak. Al Haitham leaned back in his chair with another huff. "Letters found in of one King Deshret's reserves. I made the mistake of thinking it might be useful." Kaveh picked one up, reading the texts and irking an eyebrow. "And you're certain it's his?"

Al Haitham gave Kaveh an annoyed glare. "Of course, the handwriting matches almost all his other official documents." Kaveh hummed, a confused look on his face, he turned the paper around, trying to look for something. Now it was Al Haitham's turn to raise an eyebrow. "What?"

"Is there no indication as to who it was written for?" Al Haitham sat up a bit. "What?" "Well, the letters had to be written for someone, but looking at it, it seems he never sent out these letters. Not only that, he wrote a bunch of them, no signs they were opened until now." Kaveh wasn't wrong, there was no sign of an address or the recipient addressed onto the letters.

Kaveh put down the letter, stretching himself before making his way to the kitchen. "What a shame, poor guy never got to tell that person how he felt. " The irritated feeling in Al Haitham's chest began to grow and for once his usual poker face was gifted with a frown.

He didn't like not knowing something.

---

Al Haitham didn't know what he was achieving by doing this. Requesting an audience with the archon just to find out about a lost king's love life? It sounded embarrassing even to say. However he needed to scratch the itch that was in his brain, he needed to know why King Deshret had never sent out these letters. Or even if he did send one, where he could find a reply to the letter. Al Haitham didn't like doing useless things, but at the same time, he disliked not knowing something in its entirety.

Nahida had greeted him, to which he responded with a bow. After giving a detailed summary of the situation, he held out the letters to Nahida. She took them, awing at the number of letters. "Wow, that's quite a lot." He nodded. "Yeah, I'm certain he must have at least sent one. Maybe he even got a response. But I cannot find anything else."

"Have you asked the people who gave you the letters in the first place whether there was anymore?" Al Haitham nodded. He requested the Traveller to once more check the ruins for any signs of letters which the Traveller kindly obliged to. However, there was nothing it seemed. Al Haitham didn't like that outcome.

Nahida nodded, also intrigued. "I do not remember anything of that sort, but I can check the Iriminsul tree's records to see if there is anything related to this." She said, gesturing to the overflowing of letters in her hand. "I would appreciate that."

Al Haitham stood to a side waiting with crossed arms. It only took a couple of minutes but Al Haitham could feel his patience wearing out. Why was he so obsessed with finding out? He wasn't sure and somehow that irked him more. He wanted to just get this over with.

"Found something." Al Haitham could feel his entire body react, alerting himself to carefully listen to the results. Nahida displayed a glimpse of a memory, it almost looked like a puppet show. She began to speak as the memory played out. "King Dhesret had sent multiple letters over his lifetime so it was a bit difficult to go through, but there was one particular instance where he went to deliver a letter. This was the only record that stood out to me."

The puppet show depicted King Dhesret, making his way through the desert until he reached a city, extending his hand with a letter in it to an individual. The individual did not have any distinguishing features, and before anything else could happen the memory faded into Nahida's palm. Nahida extended her hand, which Al Haitham accepted.

She placed a little orb in his palm before backing away. "I found records of the location. I put it into that form so it's easier for you to access. You might find the letter there." Al Haitham looked down at his hand, before gripping the orb tightly between his fingers and palm. "I'm thankful for your assistance my archon."

Nahida smiled at him. "I hope you find what you are looking for. Good luck."

---

It was no surprise the location was that of an abandoned city in the desert. Houses were broken down and sand piled inside, the definition of a ghost town. Al Haitham frowned, it would have been annoying if thieves had come around and taken any records here. He just hoped that the letter wasn't valuable enough to be taken.

He followed the instructions displayed by the orb, following into a small brick house, almost the same as any of the other houses. He looked around. It was a pretty humble house, maybe a family of three could have lived here in the past. He was certain the place was given to the ancestors to the individual who received the letter because even when the house was abandoned, it looked like it was lived in pretty well.

Children's drawings were scattered on the walls. There were marble sets and broken game pieces in the sand. Three beds with no mattress and chair pieces were broken and scattered around the place. A hearth in the center of the room was covered in soot due to the number of times it had been used.

However no sign of where a letter could be placed. There were no cupboards or chests around intact. No scrolls or hidden compartments he could see. "This whole trip has been a waste of my time." Al Haitham grumbled to himself. The usual him would have just made his way out, but to his surprise, he began to dig. He dug out corners, near the hearth, beside the games. There must have been something. He didn't want this stupid trip to be a waste.

He finally dug beneath one of the bed frames, which lead to the discovery of a box. A small tin box that was used to hold cookies or treats for children. Al Haitham sat down on the sand, opening the tin to see what was inside.

He found a letter. The name written on the front seemed familiar to him, almost on the tip of his tongue, but it wasn't a name found in any of his research. He took out the letter, gently opening it, trying not to damage the envelope. He could tell the letter was taken care of and he didn't want to deal with any of the scholars lecturing him for damaging historical documents.

The letter inside had seen better days. It was discolored and wrinkled. It was as if someone had crumpled the paper and then tried to straighten it out. The fold between the pages was forming tears and the paper was warped. Al Haitham tried his best to gently open it to read its contents.

---

"My dear friend,

I apologize for the sudden letter, I couldn't bare to tell you this by myself so I hope you will forgive me someday.

I cannot spare you any details of what is going on, but I want to inform you that I will no longer be present in the world by the time you opened and read this letter.

I have done something that caused the lives of my friends and my citizens and I need to make things right.

Thank you for everything you have done for me and I hope you live a happy life with your family.

Your friend,

Deshret."

---

It was a suicide note. Contrasting to any of the letters he had written, this wasn't a love letter. King Dhesret wrote a final letter to this person as a friend, completely hiding away the fact he was ever in love with them.

Al Haitham wondered what he was feeling right now. Rage? Disappointment? He wasn't sure, but either way, he had to drop the letter on the ground before he decided it needed to be ripped apart.

He couldn't believe he had spent almost an entire two days trying to uncover this, only to find out the letter that the king had ever sent was a suicide note to the so-called person he loved. At this point, he decided he was done. Gathering the letter back into its box, he began to make his way back home.

---

The last thing he needed to do was get rid of the letters, meaning give them to the Akademiya Archives for safekeeping. He was satisfied, finally being able to get rid of these letters.

He made his way into the library and saw someone near the desk, head down, reading papers scattered around. You were so distracted with what you were reading you didn't even see him enter and hover over you.

A slight cough made you jolt, making you look up at Al Haitham. He had a poker face on and you could feel your face brighten up. You were not prepared to take off the current acting grand sage. You began to speak, trying not to jumble your words.

"OH! Sir! How can I assist you?" You laugh sheepishly, trying to hide your sudden shyness. He placed the letters on the desk without acknowledging your awkwardness. "We found some records written by King Dhesret. I do not think it's important but the Akademiya would say otherwise." You awe at the letters. You quickly put away the research papers you were reading and began to open the letters one by one, displaying them on your desk.

"Oh my! They are love letters!" You could feel yourself blush, you wondered if King Dhesret might have been rolling in his grave knowing these would be permanently displayed in Sumeru's history after this. "If that is all you need I'll be on my way." Al Haitham began to turn around. "Oh no please wait!" Al Haitham turned back and you felt yourself shrink as he scowled at you.

"I'm sorry but, I will still need you around. Since you're the one who brought these in I will need to ask questions to prepare the article when presenting these in the archives. A description of what they were and what was discovered from them. I'll try my best to make it quick." You wondered if you had spoken so fast ever in your life. However, you knew Al Haitham was not a patient man when he had to do things he deemed unimportant.

Al Haitham on the other end was tired. He had not slept properly in days trying to piece why the letters were irritating him so much. Even after discovering the final letter, he still felt like he had failed a mission. He wanted to get rid of the letters and get over it but instead, he sighed, dragging a chair near to your desk and sitting across from you. He watched your face of worry turned into a smile.

As he sat closer to you, his eyes caught on the nameplate on your desk. Your name matched the name of the person King Dhesret had sent the letter. No wonder he thought it sounded familiar.

"Is something wrong Acting Grand Sage?" You ask. Al Haitham shook his head. "No. Also, don't call me that. Al Haitham is fine." He crossed his arms and you responded with a meek nod, before going back into the letters.

"Right, so let me ask some questions. Any noticeable things you discovered when researching these letters?" Al Haitham shook his head once more, he felt like he would end up doing this the entire talk. "No, only the fact that King Dhesret might have been a coward it seems." You note everything he said down.

As he continued to shake his head and answer your questions, he watched your eyebrows furrow, almost in frustration. He looked amused, wondering if he was pissing you off. You finally broke, when Al Haitham decided to diss the King once more.

"I'm sorry if I might be going out of the line here, but, do you perhaps think this discovery was a waste of time?" Al Haitham scoffed, he usually kept a poker face, barely showing any emotion in his words, but he couldn't keep up appearances when he was this tired. However, it didn't change his honesty. "Yes." "Can you elaborate on why?"

Al Haitham raised an eyebrow. "The letters don't provide much for the history-" You cut him off, which did surprise him a bit. "I beg to differ. The letters themselves don't help the general history of his rule as the King of the desert, but it does give insight into him as a person."

Al Haitham wanted to say something, but you continued to speak and for once, Al Haitham wanted to listen. "For starters, all these letters are considered love letters but the requests he suggests are so, simple, almost as if he was trying not to make it obvious. It's clear to us since he never made requests like this via letter before. He was known for being confident and rebellious. But the person writing these letters was too shy to say it out loud." You point out certain lines in the letters.

"Next, almost everyone was certain he was only enamored by the Goddess of flowers, especially since they ruled together. But then we see the letters, addressing someone who isn't her. Some of the letters even suggest that she might have encouraged him to write it out. Such as the flower petals and their imprints you can see on some of the letters. " Al Haitham watched you trace over the patterns on the letter. He assumed they were just slight discoloration, but closely looking into them he could see the flower petals of a padisarah flower carefully imprinting the letter.

"Finally, how well the letters were preserved. Something must have held him back from sending them, but it seemed that he always planned on sending them at one point. He could have easily thrown or torn these apart, but something about these letters was important to him. It expressed something that he wanted to say so badly but something prevented him from saying it." He watched as you pulled out the letter King Dhesret actually had the courage to send.

He watched as you gently opened it, a slight smile falling on your face. You catch yourself before turning a shade of red. "Sorry, I just noticed how our names matched, it almost felt like King Dhesret sent this letter to me." You giggled and Al Haitham frowned, the thought kind of annoyed him.

You cough, noticing his frown, shifting your eyes away back to the letter. "Anyway, this letter proves why he never sent the rest. The recipient had a family. Maybe he was too late, or maybe they didn't have a choice but to start one. This was during a time forbidden knowledge was affecting the citizens. They both couldn't make time for each other because of it, leading them to live different lives."

Al Haitham watched you look down at the letter, a bittersweet smile on your face. He didn't enjoy how that looked on your face. You began to speak once more. "Are you familiar with the term 'Right person, wrong time'? It's a pretty common trope in romance novels." "I don't read romance novels." You let out a light laugh and Al Haitham had to catch himself from thinking that the laugh suited you more than the sad smile on your face.

"Of course you wouldn't, I am not surprised. However, I think this is a clear example of it. It's very clear that the recipient cared for him to such an extent." Al Haitham cocked his head to a side, a gesture implying 'Why do you think so?'. You continued. "The state of this letter pretty much shows it. First, it was crumpled, probably out of anger. But then it was straightened out carefully and placed into the envelope. You could also see how much it was folded, almost as if they kept it around and opened it constantly over time. The warped paper also indicates that it had got wet, probably from tears."

Al Haitham watched as you carefully point out all of it. He wondered why he felt so jealous of a stupid letter, the way you held it so gently, almost as if the letter was written for you. He hated it.

"They probably felt the same way or something similar. Too bad he never sent the rest. Something could have happened if he did." You sighed, folding the letter gently before placing it back in its envelope.

You finally caught yourself, realizing how much you had been rambling at the time. You felt yourself turn red once more. "But you already knew about all this! I'm so sorry for going on a tangent!" You mumble out, trying to hide your embarrassment.

Al Haitham sighed, making you feel like you were hit in the face by a bat. The grand sage was known for being ruthless and you didn't want to be on his bad side. Imagine your surprise when he finally decided to speak up. "No, it's fine. I suppose I was not thinking thoroughly. I apologize for downplaying this discovery." You blink in shock.

Al Haitham stood up. "I suppose we are done now?" You nod, tongue-tied and unsure how to respond. "Then I'll be on my way. Thank you for taking care of that." He began to turn and make his way to the door. He stopped near the entrance, turning once more to face you, who still haven't taken your eyes off him. "I might come around another time. It seems your insight into certain topics has intrigued me." With that, he made his way out of the door.

---

On the way out, he met Nahida, who set at the railings of the stairs, looking out at the view. He didn't know why, but he made his way toward her.

"Did you find what you needed?" She asked, acknowledging him approaching her. "It seems so."

"Are you satisfied?" He thought about it. "No not really. I still think he was a coward. " Nahida let out a laugh.

"Do you want to change that?" Al Haitham raised an eyebrow, confused about what that could mean. "I'm sorry my archon, I don't seem to understand."

"If perhaps you were King Dhesret, would you want to change how it ended?" She asked, rephrasing her question. Al Haitham still didn't understand what she could be implying but decided to answer anyway. " I would be nothing like him."

Nahida hummed in approval. "I see I see. I wish you good luck then." She looked at him and smiled. She dropped down next to him and waved him goodbye. Al Haitham gave a bow, before watching her enter the Akademiya Archives, where you were currently working.

Maybe it was the sleep deprivation but he thought about how happy you looked when you saw the letter had your name and how much it irritated him. Al Haitham didn't know why, but he felt like writing a letter. He shook his head, making his way back to his house.

He just hoped whatever he did write didn't end up in the archives in the future. Especially since he planned on inviting you out very soon. He picked out some flowers on the way, hoping you would like them. It seems like he wasn't going to get any sleep anytime soon.