𝙏𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙁𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙨 | 𝘈𝘭𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘮

05

The midday sun spilled through your window, illuminating your bedroom. You were in bed, trying to make up for the lack of sleep you got the previous night because of your visitor.

You readjust your position, trying to be comfortable again. Unfortunately, your attempts were in vain, and the sun was hitting your eyes. A frustrated groan escapes your mouth as you sit up.

'There's no point in wasting away the day,' you think to yourself. With a yawn, you get up from your bed and fix your bed sheets. After what feels like an eternity, you emerged from your room, ready for the day.

You walk to the doorway of your parents' office. You wanted to take some of their books back with you to Mondstadt. Though you weren't associated with the Akademiya anymore, your thirst for knowledge never went away. Besides, you've read just about every book in Lisa's library. It would be nice to have some new reading material.

With a sigh, you enter the office. Immediately, you go to the large work desk. The corners of your mouth turn upwards as you remembered how your mom and dad would often sit at it with papers strewn across its surface. You thought back to the late nights you spent sitting at this desk when you were finishing their research. It was your way of feeling close to them. Once again you sat at the chair, almost feeling your parents' presence there.

You pushed your thoughts aside as you dug through the drawers of their desk. In one of the drawers, you noticed a big bundle of papers.

'More unfinished research,' you think to yourself. Carefully, you pulled it out and laid it on the desk, hoping to read through it later.

As you dug through the drawers, you found some of your parents' old journals. Curiously, you flipped through one of the aged journals. Atop one of the pages, in cursive handwriting, displayed, 'Today, I am traveling to the desert to study the ruins of yet another ancient civilization.'

The smile on your face widens as you recognize your mom's penmanship. You decided to close her journal, 'Maybe I'll take all the journals back to Mondstadt with me too,' you thought.

As you went through the desk and sorted the bookshelves, you didn't notice just how much time passed. The sun was now replaced by the moon and stars, high in the darkened sky. Sounds from a different part of the house pierced the silence you worked in.

'I didn't invite anyone over tonight,' you thought to yourself.

Cautiously, you stood up from your seat, materializing your polearm in the process. You tread lightly as the source of the noise gets louder, tightening your grip on the polearm as you hear the sound from around a corner. The sound seemed to be coming from the living room. Without a second thought, you made your presence known, poised to attack your intruder.

"Y/N!" Kaveh screamed when he saw your stance and the weapon in your hands. "It's just us." Alhaitham, who was standing next to the blonde, seemed unfazed by your actions.

"Sorry," you replied sheepishly, letting your polearm disappear. "I didn't know you were coming over, and thought you were intruders."

"I told you we should have knocked," the silver-haired man says.

"I have a key for a reason," Kaveh fired back. Alhaitham opens his mouth to make a comment, but you cut him off.

"Guys, as much as I enjoy your company, what are you two doing here?" you ask, wanting to avoid an argument.

"We wanted to visit you," Kaveh replies. "And we brought you food."

"Awh, thank you," you smiled.

"It was Alhaitham's idea. I just got us in."

Your eyes widened. It seemed out of character for Alhaitham to do this. Your (E/C) eyes found Alhaitham's viridian ones. "Thank you, you didn't have to."

"You invited me over last night, cooked, and shared your wine with me. This is the least I could do," he responded, his tone was a bit gentler than usual.

Neither of you noticed the surprised expression on Kaveh's face. He didn't know that Alhaitham was here last night. The blonde was just happy to have the house to himself.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" you beam. "Let's eat!" The two males watched as you gathered plates and silverware then followed you to the dining room. After the three of you settled in and started eating, Kaveh broke the silence.

"So, you two are on good terms, again?" he asked.

"Yeah, we cleared the air last night," you replied as Alhaitham hummed in agreement.

"Again, I really am sorry that I didn't go to dinner the first night," the Scribe said. "And for making you think I hated you when you were still at the Akademiya. That wasn't my intention."

"It's no problem. What's past is past."

"Wow, if only I got apologies like that from Alhaitham," Kaveh huffs.

"That's rich coming from you," Alhaitham retorted. "If I'm not mistaken, most of our problems are caused by you."

"Oh, like what?"

"Do you really want me to do this now? We can always discuss your fina-"

"Alright," Kaveh interrupts, knowing just what Alhaitham was talking about.

"Hey, I think you two have done more arguing than eating," you joke. Kaveh sends his roommate a glare before eating his food.

"What are your availabilities for the next week?" you ask. "I'm only here for eleven more days, and I want to spend as much time with you guys as possible before I leave. After all, I don't know when I'm coming back."

"Don't you also want to see Cyno and Tighnari again before you go?" the blonde asks.

"Well, since we often write to each other," you tease, "I already know when they're free. The last time I'll see them is right before I leave for Mondstadt."

"In two days, I'll be leaving for the desert. If all goes well, I'll be gone for about eight days," Kaveh says. "So I should be back the day before you leave." You nod.

"My schedule is mostly empty," Alhaitham adds. "Just let me know when you'd like to meet."

Your eyes widened in surprise. "The Scribe of the Akademiya not busy for once?" you teased.

"It's not that I'm not busy, it's that the work is easy. I could easily do it in a few hours, leaving me with a lot of spare time to do as I please," the gray-haired man says.

"Alright," you reply. "I don't have too much planned for the rest of my trip, but tomorrow, I'll be sorting through some of my parents' things to see what I can take with me back to Mondstadt."

Alhaitham nods his head. "I have a meeting to attend tomorrow morning, but I can join you afterwards, if you like," he offers.

You contemplate his suggestion. On one hand, you didn't know just what you'd find among your parents' belongings, which made you a bit uneasy knowing Alhaitham would be there too. But on the other hand, you did want some company.

"Okay," you respond. "Be sure to knock before coming in though."

"Don't worry, I will. I'm not Kaveh after all."

"Hey!" the blonde says with a glare.

'Archons, they haven't changed a bit,' you think to yourself as you take another bite of the food.

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A/N: Next chapter is going to be fun ehehe 

Hope you're enjoying this story so far! 

-daizie