linguaphilia | [Seasons][IC Inbox][un: scribe]

From:

[ When he wakes up in an autumn forest, the first thing Kaveh thinks is that he's in a dream. He could wander for a while, but really, the resort has nothing like this, and what he wants right now is to enjoy the scenery. He sits back, content to relax and take it in, safe in the knowledge that he won't be alone when he wakes up.

Only he doesn't wake up.

Instead, he's teleported to somewhere else entirely, told by a hologram that he's been called here to help this world, and Kaveh's heart sinks into the white sandals on his feet. Wide red eyes search, but find not the familiar face he seeks. He looks for his watch, hoping for the comfort of a familiar message, and doesn't find that, either.

His heart drops further. This can't be happening. Not now. Not when everything was going so well...

By the time he leaves the Arrivals hall in search of his living space and his things, he's utterly downcast. Even if Alhaitham is in this place, he's learned, he might not share the memories that Kaveh has. He may not recall ever being in the resort at all. He may even be from a different time in their lives entirely.

And Kaveh knows his luck. Even if Alhaitham is here, it's probable that they're over before they even really had a chance to start.

He greets Mehrak with a listless embrace, ignoring its confusion— they both know he should be happier to see it than he is— and leaves the Arrivals hall, his things in hand. It's time for him to look around at the apartments on offer, see where in the city he wants to live. That should be exciting, too.

It isn't. ]

From:

linguaphilia

[Alhaitham had very much thought it to be a dream as well, waking up in far more pleasant surroundings than anything the resort had to offer, but just like Kaveh he quickly discovers that his current situation is anything but.

Unlike Kaveh however, Alhaitham does not panic. He wouldn't deny that he feels a tight clench in his chest as he realises that the other man may not be here - or if he is, he may remember nothing at all of their time together - but he resolves to tackle that when he reaches the problem rather than fret over it beforehand and instead immediately sets to work on understanding his new predicament.

He only needs to listen to the hologram's speech once and has no questions that he believes it could answer to his satisfaction. Without waiting further he collects any of his things that are there to collect and, with his Vision an oddly comforting weight at his hip, he steps outside the Arrivals hall to the sight of the city laid out before him.

It would be a sight worthy of astonishment... had he the mind to give it more than a cursory glance right now.

Instead he finds a bench to sit on not far from the hall entrance and takes his phone into his hand. The basic functions don't take long to figure out, and within around ten minutes he is fully absorbed in reading something he found about Ellipsa's history.

Certainly too absorbed to notice Kaveh exiting the building not fifty feet away from him.]

From:

indigently

[ Later, Kaveh will think back on this moment and realize that checking his phone was probably the first thing he should have done. But as it is, his mind is hardly thinking about such an item at all. As he emerges into the city proper, even the most tired and aching of gazes has to widen, an involuntary awe in his expression. It's stunning, and certainly the kind of sight that, were his mood improved, he would take the time to sketch into his book.

But right now, his eyes lower from the skyline, and he takes a few steps forward, keeping in mind the directions he received earlier. He's not sure which part of the city he wants to see first; each sounds beautiful in its own way, and he needs to find a place to live, but the excitement of a new place is failing to catch him in its grip.

As his eyes skim over the sight in front of him, though, he sees a familiar face.

A very familiar face. His attention is focused not on a book, but on a phone of the kind they were given— but Kaveh would know that face anywhere. Not just its physical appearance, but the slight crease in the brow, the way the mouth sits when attention is given to something academic...

He's barely a few paces away, and he closes the ground quickly, standing in front of him with wide eyes. ]

Alhaitham?

[ He blurts it out, too loud and too fast, and he bites his lower lip. He can't allow himself to get his hopes up, not now, not after everything he's learned— ]

From:

linguaphilia

[Some minutes or hours could have passed by, with Alhaitham having no pressing matters to attend with and his attention absorbed in his reading, but he is brought back to the present immediately by the sound of his name being called in a familiar voice.

Even without everything behind them he would have found that sting of familiarity to be a welcome one, but given the past few months...

Alhaitham looks over, pausing a moment before swiping away from the page he had open on his phone and pushing it into his pocket as he stands. He regards the other man speculatively, trying to get a read on his expression.]

Kaveh.

[It's... actually not that easy to tell. He would expect Kaveh to be surprised to see him here in any circumstances. The scribe plants a hand lightly against his hip, trying to ignore the way he can feel his heart racing in his chest.]

How long have you been here?

From:

indigently

[ Usually, Kaveh understands Alhaitham better than anyone else. Where others note the stoic, unreadable look on his face for what it is on the surface, he sees underneath it, notes the tiny twitch of a lip or the crease at the corner of an eye. But right now, in the depths of his own anxiety, he sees nothing except the calm recognition of someone who was once a friend.

His breath trembles in his lungs as he exhales. He told himself not to hope, and then he went and hoped anyway just like an idiot, and—

Kaveh blinks, averts his gaze with an abrupt movement of his head, not wanting Alhaitham to see the tears that are suddenly welling there. ]

I.. [ Inhale. ] Not that long. [ Exhale. ] Maybe an hour, at most. [ Another breath in. ] I just picked Mehrak up, and I'm meant to be looking for somewhere to live.

[ And out. ]

You?