indigently: (003)
𝒦𝒶𝓋𝑒𝒽 🏛️ ([personal profile] indigently) wrote2023-01-23 02:27 pm

𝒪𝓅𝑒𝓃 𝓅𝑜𝓈𝓉 🏛️

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action • text • canon • cross-canon • assumed cr
prescribes: (12.)

[personal profile] prescribes 2023-02-11 12:14 pm (UTC)(link)
[ so, perhaps he'd expected some more low blows to come out of kaveh's mouth - some more insults about his character, maybe? about how little he cared about those around him, and that obviously alhaitham's interests could only be self-serving, like coming out tonight?

what he hadn't expected had been the blonde to actually throw a jab straight at his face, and to that end, he was actually quite unprepared.

they'd fought fraught and often, but had never come to the point of exchanging blows past angry words yelled down the corridors of a house that felt empty if either of them were missing from it. as the pain blossoms in the scribe's jaw, he's dimly aware he'd done at least something to deserve it - but that more rational part is drowned out for want of wounded pride, frustration, annoyance, why can't kaveh just pull his fucking head out and let him in.

taking a staggered step backwards (because kaveh wasn't weak by any means - he was all lithe, wiry muscle, a glass cannon in a beautiful vessel) a gloved hand reaches up to clutch his mouth where he'd been struck, the flash of something wild crossing his face for the briefest of moments. it was rare, so rare to see the scribe's resolve slip, but kaveh was the only one that could irk him so, worm his way into his goddamn brain and live there just as lackadaisical on the rent as he did in his real home.

without thinking, alhaitham closes the distance between them again with one furious stride and grabs kaveh by the shoulders, fingers curling into his shirt. part of him wants to simply throw the architect into the bush; kick him out, for good this time; perhaps, spend a great deal of time elucidating to him his many, many flaws; but despite the pain in his jaw, he can't bring himself to do any of those things.

the tears in kaveh's eyes act like his kryptonite - and while he's not going to turn this into a brawl, it only builds on his immense frustration at the situation. voice raised for the first time since they'd started this carry-on; ]


What the hell has gotten into you?

[ he demands scathingly, emerald eyes flashing as he stares kaveh down - searching, for answers that he was obviously not going to get. almost as quickly as he'd grabbed the blonde's slender shoulders, he lets them go like kaveh is white hot. maybe he remembers the more rational part of himself; that they're in public. maybe he just realises that perhaps, this is all a foregone conclusion anyway.

taking a step back, it's alhaitham's turn to curl his hands into fists, obviously trying to quell some of the rage bubbling up within. he couldn't let himself get sucked into this vortex - and there was obviously no point in being part of kaveh's tempest anyway. turning on his heel, he looks over his shoulder back towards kaveh - but down at the ground, not directly at him. ]


You won't have to worry about my 'help' at all in the future. How stupid I was, not to see that you were doing perfectly without it.
parries: (05)

[personal profile] parries 2023-02-13 07:16 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Alhaitham at least has the grace to switch his music player off when Kaveh enters, but he doesn't immediately look up from the book that he's poring over — he's moved on from probability to number theory, apparently. After a few moments of consideration, though, he gets the distinct sense that this is a "book down" kind of conversation, so he places a marker at the page he's left off on and closes the book cover, straightening his sitting posture upwards slightly as he looks up. ]

What would you like me to say to that, Kaveh? Should I apologize for turning you off?

[ Not that he's saying that he'd do that, of course. ]

Besides, I offered an opportunity for you to adjust my verbiage. You could exercise it, if you care so much.

[ For better or for worse? He'll change his terminology immediately. And he'll stick with it, even if Kaveh hasn't forecast how things might play out into the broad future. ]
parries: (Default)

[personal profile] parries 2023-02-14 04:36 am (UTC)(link)
Anybody who is so thoroughly put off by the phrase "sexual intercourse" isn't compatible with me in the first place, so that's fine by me.

[ Then again, Alhaitham does pride himself on being the least desirable bachelor in all of Sumeru, probably. It takes talent to be hot and intelligent with a nice paycheck and stable career and property, yet still not considered a highly desirable partner on the marriage market!

Anyway, Alhaitham knows very well the tells that Kaveh gives when he gets "ideas", so he decides to just wait for the other shoe to drop — and it doesn't take too long. ]


Let's hear your suggestion, then. [ Alhaitham leans back in his seat, crossing his arms loosely. ] I hope you've thought it through thoroughly. You might cause me some serious problems in the future if you haven't.

[ ... So he says, but it's not like Alhaitham talks about sex a lot. It's just mildly amusing, the thought of randomly thrusting the responsibility of Alhaitham's vocabulary onto Kaveh, as if Alhaitham isn't the Haravatat graduate between the two of them. ]
parries: (16)

[personal profile] parries 2023-02-14 07:42 pm (UTC)(link)
Are you trying to make fun of me? I think we both know that I don't routinely seek... casual encounters. [ The air quotes can practically be heard around "casual encounters", it's something in the subtle shift in tone as he enunciates the syllables. ] I see your point, though. Besides that, euphemistic phrases often leave room for subjective interpretation. I prefer to reduce the amount of ambiguity in my words.

[ Except when the ambiguity benefits him, of course, but that's neither here nor there. Maybe. ]

Anyway, I thought that you'd have some original thoughts of your own, but we can move onto the other candidate I offered up first. As for "fucking", [ and in contrast to the air quotes from before, he says the vulgarity like a totally banal word, without drawing any particular attention to it— ] It's only situationally appropriate. Or do you disagree?

[ Then again, taking into account the only situations that Alhaitham would ever be talking about sex, it's actually not so bad of a candidate. In the first place, he can count on one hand the number of people he might ever talk about sex with, and barring Kaveh after a few drinks, none of them are the type to bring it up except in private. At which point, they'd probably all find Alhaitham's commitment to saying "fuck" more humorous than anything else — or at least, funnier than any jokes Cyno has ever tried (intentionally) to land. ]
parries: (02)

[personal profile] parries 2023-02-15 04:44 am (UTC)(link)
I disagree about it being universally understood. If a person's partner is more invested in the idea of a relationship than the other... then introducing any terms that include the word "love" is automatically going to give a stronger impression than intended.

[ Not that this would ever be a problem for Alhaitham, who has absolutely no problem with using all his other words to tell people to go away and leave him alone. But as long as they're talking about the general usage, he feels like the point stands.

Anyway. Anyway, he sees that threat of a smile forming and he can half-guess where Kaveh wants to take the conversational flow next. He's not fully against the idea of it, but he can't just let himself be convinced so easily, can he? ]


No, actually, I wouldn't. You already know that it's situationally appropriate. That's why you haven't used the phrase in text or out loud in this conversation yet... given that, it's on you to argue that it isn't the case. So, Kaveh? What's your argument to the case that the word "fucking" is universally appropriate?
parries: (15)

and another thing, (rambles on for a full wikipedia article)

[personal profile] parries 2023-02-15 09:20 am (UTC)(link)
[ Kaveh might not want to let the semantics of love go, but Alhaitham is perfectly willing, because he thinks that in the first place... nobody should ever give him the authority to talk about love-tangential topics. He doesn't want to talk about them, either...

Alhaitham takes every single one of those enunciated "fuck"s with remarkable placidity, holding eye contact without showing any reaction. He gets what Kaveh is trying to do here, and were he a lesser man, this would be a great place to go for the "ugh, you are so vulgar" punchline. But a lesser man he is not, he's going to debate Kaveh into a corner fair and square!! ]


To start, I'll make it clear that I'm not arguing we were ever having an education conversation. But your argument would seem to imply that what really bothered you is less the verbiage, and more the connotation. What you've told me just now is that "sexual intercourse" is a term that should be used when one wants to detach the act from the speaker... as it would be if it were an educational situation. And what I hypothesize from the rest is that what you actually wanted was for me to signal that I was treating this as a conversation amongst friends or lovers. [ The mirroring of language is, of course, very deliberate. ] In that context, sex is being discussed as something that actively relates to one or both of us. Therefore, you want me to use a phrasing that shows that I've drawn a distinction between situations where sex is an act between unrelated parties... and situations where sex is an intimacy to at least one person in the conversation. Am I following?

[ It's kind of almost tangential to decency for him to even ask if he's on track or not... but it's not, because Alhaitham believes he's on track either way. In his mind, Kaveh is a person who cares about these distinctions that he personally doesn't assign much weight to, so all of that would be consistent with the impression he's always had of Kaveh. ]

If I have to use that dichotomy, then no. I don't have any problems at all with talking about fucking someone, Kaveh. But I don't think that's what you actually wanted to hear me say... is it?

[ Is he baiting? Oh hell yeah. But Alhaitham feels like it can't be considered a cheap move, considering he refrained from calling Kaveh out from starting off his "universal appropriateness" argument by immediately ruling out a huge chunk of situations. ]
parries: (07)

[personal profile] parries 2023-02-16 06:07 am (UTC)(link)
[ Someone with a kinder heart might at least give Kaveh some well-deserved recognition for challenging Alhaitham in an arena he is very well acquainted with, but not Alhaitham. He's shameless, so if Kaveh wanted to debate him on his artistic sensibilities, he would just say, "I don't know. You're the expert, not me," and refuse to engage. ]

I couldn't possibly presume out loud as to what your thoughts are on.

[ Somehow, Alhaitham's tone is extremely, purposefully flat... yet he still gives off the impression of just barely physically restraining himself from a smirk. If Kaveh wants to imply he's being a brat of a junior? Sure, he can do that! ]

I merely suspected that there might be something else on my esteemed senior's mind...

[ Enunciation on "esteemed senior" to emphasize that if Kaveh's going to bring seniority into this, then it would be so terribly, terribly rude for him to attempt to speak on behalf of his senior. Not that Alhaitham has ever held much reverence or respect these arbitrary systems of seniority, of course — but hey, if it's to his advantage, then he's going to make use of all he's got. ]

If anything, I should be asking you if there's anything that you'd like to say. I've been speaking so much, and you've only just started to make your stance known. Allow me to defer the topic to let my respectable senior lead the conversation.
parries: (15)

[personal profile] parries 2023-02-17 05:00 am (UTC)(link)
No, we can stop talking about it. This was always a diversion that I was entertaining since you wanted to talk about it so much, Kaveh.

[ If there was a moment for a record scratch to go off, this would be it. Alhaitham is about to make like a character in a certain genre of visual novels and, knowing that he's successfully debuffed Kaveh's fortitude by arguing him down on one topic, is about to reveal what his real agenda was all along.

He half-crosses his arms across his chest, leaning back in his seat and tilting his head forward — even his body language is getting aggressive here, so he's clearly planning to go all in. ]


After all, you've been deflecting quite impressively for quite some time now. But I still haven't heard a proper answer to the question that I've been getting at since the very beginning of this conversation. Why did you indirectly give me condoms, Kaveh? And before you say that you've already answered... let's not fall back on technicality or rhetoric here. The fact of the matter is that I still don't understand why, and you have done your best to maintain a certain level of ambiguity around your actions. That clearly implies that there's something you don't want to say.

[ Alhaitham's holding Kaveh's gaze in a way that suggests that if Kaveh tries to look away, Alhaitham is going to implicitly take it as an admission of guilt. ]

Given that you've been hanging on for so long, though, I don't expect that you'll give in just because I've returned to the point. So let me offer an initial hypothesis, and you can refute it if you'd like. You want to know who, if anybody, I'm interested in fucking.

[ He hopes Kaveh is so pleased that they've landed on this verbiage together. Alhaitham sure is going to weaponize each and every one of the "fuck"s that leave his mouth from here on out. ]
parries: (02)

[personal profile] parries 2023-02-17 09:22 am (UTC)(link)
[ Kaveh's rejection of his hypothesis hardly bothers him — that's why it's only a hypothesis, after all. He's just picked what he thought was a good starting point and is now going to subject Kaveh to his preferred academic approach: a cycle of questioning and revising. ]

Your curiosity? No. But I would take issues with your methodology. If we hold my initial hypothesis true, then you could have resolved your curiosity much more efficiently by asking directly. I don't have any reason to conceal information from you on who I'm fucking or not.

[ Or interested in fucking, et cetera. Alhaitham will spare Kaveh from being totally overwhelmed with all the fucks that he has to (verbally) give. ]

That said... while you are impulsive at times, you generally act in a way that's consistent with your own system of beliefs. So I'm inclined to believe that you felt there was a good reason to take an indirect approach instead.

[ And that's true in general, not just in the moment — Alhaitham might have plenty of bones to pick with Kaveh's beliefs and values and the way he expresses them, but he can respect that Kaveh has beliefs and values that guide his actions. That's more than he feels like he can say about a lot of people, for whatever that's worth. ]

This is all assuming my hypothesis is correct, though. The bigger issue is whether it is or isn't. If you aren't interesting in confirming or denying it, then should I take this as more deflection, or are you open to disclosing your thoughts on the matter?
parries: (09)

[personal profile] parries 2023-02-17 07:44 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, you're obviously wrong about that, because you still haven't heard an answer from me, even after all the trouble you've went through. If anything... your reason is clearly in contradiction with the rest of our conversation.

[ Alhaitham doesn't feel like playing with his food, so he'll spare Kaveh the agony of being jerked around with leading questions like, "Do you know what I'm getting at?" — he feels like he's pretty close to pushing Kaveh over the edge and forcing whatever mysterious thoughts in his head that he's concealing out. He's finally gonna get that brain sample he's wanted all along! ]

If you recall... you asked me something along the lines of, 'Would you feel uncomfortable talking about fucking someone, Alhaitham?' to which I answered that if we're discussing it in the context of it being an intimacy directly related to one of us, then no, I wouldn't have any issues with talking about fucking someone. At that point, it was mutually understood that I would be willing to disclose that sort of information. But you didn't ask. Why is that?

[ Alhaitham understands that Kaveh can be stubborn, but he's most often stubborn over ideals and values — and more than that, Kaveh is a quick thinker, pays attention to details, and is shameless enough to immediately revise his stance in the face of receiving new information, especially when it's for the sake of trying to argue Alhaitham down. All-in-all, Alhaitham can't help but think that Kaveh hasn't been considering things as clearly as he would have been if their conversation centered around any other topic — but that brings up a whole host of other questions. ]

I'll lay out another hypothesis. [ From his tone, Alhaitham is definitely treating this like he just said he'll play a round of chess with Kaveh and handicap himself by playing without a queen. ] You wanted to create a circumstance of information asymmetry. You'd like to know something about me... without revealing anything about yourself. That would give you an advantage in that you'd be able to make better decisions with a superior view of the overall situation. Am I close?
parries: (17)

[personal profile] parries 2023-02-19 05:30 am (UTC)(link)
I did give you the opportunity to lead with a new topic, but you tried to end the conversation instead.

[ Is this what Kaveh really wants? A life with a guy who's constantly giving off a vibe like, "Yeah, I know. I was about five parallel dimensions ahead of you this whole time."

Except really Alhaitham wasn't, at least when it came to what was debatably the crux of the matter. It doesn't take a genius to know that one has to be exceptionally cautious about changing your relationship with somebody who's as close to you as a roommate and a long-time ""friend"" (debatable), and so Alhaitham has been treating this all very, very carefully. In an indirect sort of way, it might speak to how seriously he's been considering all the possibilities that he's been able to press the conversation as hard as he has been.

It's in the way that Kaveh responds that he goes from being uncertain about the chances that Kaveh's done all this in an odd attempt to send some signals to thinking that he at least has gambling odds. Because if Kaveh didn't have a vested interest in Alhaitham's answer, then Alhaitham thinks that he would have simply denied it, said that Alhaitham was overthinking it, or questioned why Alhaitham posited that he'd want to create the circumstances in the first place. Alhaitham knows that Kaveh is the type who wears his heart on his sleeve and finds it difficult to convincingly misrepresent his true feelings, so the fact that he dodged entirely suggests to Alhaitham that his hypothesis is more or less true... and certainly, one reason you'd want to know if somebody has a crush without revealing anything on your own is to figure out if you've got a shot. Not the only one, but Alhaitham has eliminated enough competing explanations through the course of the conversation that he's willing to take a risk on it being the correct one.

All this to say: if Kaveh is perturbed that Alhaitham seems completely unruffled by his lurch forward, it's because Alhaitham's mind is already moving onto the metaphorical endgame. ]


Let's see if you can guess, then. He has a great deal of intelligence, but can be too impulsive to make good use of it. He's argumentative, but isn't skilled at arguing. And—

[ It's with equal abruptness that Alhaitham uncrosses his arms and mirrors Kaveh's actions, closing the gap between them without hesitation. At close quarters, Kaveh might notice a very, very subtle shift in his expression that just screams cat that got the canary. ]

He should think things through before putting his condoms in unexpected places.
parries: (05)

[personal profile] parries 2023-02-19 09:59 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Alhaitham lets himself be pulled forward regardless, it seems fair to play along given that he did just subject Kaveh to the mental rollercoaster of a lifetime. Unfortunately, he is not yet done being himself. ]

Know is a strong word, and the answer to that would be "just now". [ But he's pretty sure the spirit of the question isn't literal, so... ] I did make it known early on that I was trying to figure out what to do with those condoms, which I'd thought would signal that it was a possibility in my mind.

[ In the future, Alhaitham is going to have a story to tell about how he gave Kaveh about 5 separate opportunities to admit, "I'm trying to FLIRT! Hello?!" and refused to take any of them, so Alhaitham performed an interrogation so thorough that the matra should hire him to give seminars. Then again, it's not as if he doesn't understand Kaveh's hesitance to commit without being fairly sure about the outcome, so maybe he'll save this one for well after the wounds have closed... ]

So, then, do you care to stick with your original answer?

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