Work Text:
The Sumeru Akademiya has never been one for the faint of heart.
Its courses are intense, its professors even more so, and although he doesn’t regret the time he spent within its walls, Alhaitham does not miss it at all.
He knows that this is not the way most people feel about college, but the time he spent between his undergrad and PhD is mostly a blur, something he occasionally reminisces about when he and his friends get together to play cards, and even then, it’s mostly a lighthearted lament about how he only developed an affinity for wine because of his coursework.
His friends had different experiences, though, and they remember most of them fondly, for their chosen specialities were not as intense as Alhaitham’s, save for Tighnari’s pre-med, and even then, his accolades had landed him in one of the best residency programs in the country, and that program had fast-tracked him to the top of his class.
“Take it easy, Tighnari. Those drinks are gonna sneak up on you.”
“Pah,” the man replies, side-eyeing Cyno from across the table, “I’m not on call, it’ll be fine.”
“Do I need to go get my breathalyzer?”
“Only if you want. Will you make me stay here if I blow more than the 0.8%?”
“Only if you’re nice.”
“Or can you call your partner and have him take me home? He’s always fun.”
Cyno snorts as he scrolls through his phone to presumably text the man in question, for he’s generally working Friday nights, but a day of training on his day off had effectively dictated that he take off one of his shift days.
Hence why his partner is technically available, even though Alhaitham knows he probably won’t come by, and Cyno’s phone goes off just as they start to move away from the subject.
“Kaeya says, ‘Go fuck yourself, I’m already stuck on a DUI.’”
“That sucks, ” Kaveh chirps from his spot across from Alhaitham, “Better him than you.”
“Drunk people are a pain in the ass.”
“But not Tighnari.”
“Especially Tighnari.”
Tighnari rocks in his chair and hums in amusement, because he’s been friends with Cyno long enough to know it totally gets on his nerves, and the look on his face is sly as he jabs Cyno in the arm and takes another sip of his drink.
“Nilou loves it when I crash on the couch, because I make breakfast the next morning.”
“I can assure you she does not. ”
“Tell that to the veggie omelet she scarfed down last time.”
“She only scarfed it down because we’d been up all night doin—”
“I know, because I heard you.” Tighnari snaps, feigning irritation as he taps the back of one of his ears, “who knew someone so small could make so much—”
“That’s enough about my fiancée, let’s get back to the cards, yeah?”
Nilou had attended the Akademiya, but only for a couple of years before a prominent and professional dance company had snatched her up, and after several years on tour riddled with a couple of serious injuries, she’d retired from the company at the age of 26 and started a dance studio in Downtown Sumeru City, and she’d met Cyno by chance when he’d had to take a call at the business next door to hers.
“Speaking of fiancées, when are you moving in with Lumine?”
Kaveh drops his card on the table and arches a brow as he turns his head to address Alhaitham, and the man shakes his head and smirks as he follows suit.
“We’re not engaged, Kaveh.”
“Not yet.”
“And she loves her apartment.”
“Doesn’t mean she won’t love decorating your townhouse way more.”
He’s not wrong, but that’s not the point. “Why don’t you worry less about my love life and more about your own?”
“Online dating sucks, Grindr sucks, and modern men are pigs.”
“Maybe Tighnari has a friend that you’d like. Aren’t emotionally unstable workaholics your type?”
Tighnari snickers as Kaveh scoffs and kicks Alhaitham’s shin under the table, and fifteen years of friendship that stretches from the beginning of highschool to their individual thesis papers hangs in the air between them.
Kaveh is the closest thing to a brother that Alhaitham has ever had, for his family had been the one to take him in when he came out, because his father had gone postal and thrown a heavy textbook at Kaveh’s head, and his mother had found a safe place within those same four walls after she’d filed for divorce.
The whole entire affair had lasted just over a year, but Kaveh and his mom and stepdad still spend their holidays with Alhaitham’s family and mean more to them than any blood relative, which means he is technically allowed to ask about such things, even if Alhaitham is inclined to keep his plans to himself.
Not because he’s embarrassed or has no plans at all, but because Lumine has told him more than once that she’s too overwhelmed with school to think about anything else, and he’s not about to saddle her with moving or with wedding plans, even if he knows his mother and Kaveh’s would be chomping at the bit to assist.
Kaveh too, probably, considering his own fondness for Lumine, and the fact that he’d met her long before she’d become acquainted with Alhaitham at an event she’d been required to attend for one of her Art History classes at a museum that his boss had helped build.
Indeed, she and Kaveh had become acquainted long before she’d decided to pursue her Master’s degree in Art and Technology, the most rigorous graduate program the Alcazarzaray School of Fine Arts has to offer.
She is brilliant, and on track to graduate with a 4.0 GPA, but it’s not uncommon for him to find her at her art desk during the wee hours of the morning on the nights that he stays at her place, scribbling away at one thing or another that she intends to use for her Portfolio, not to mention her thesis, which she’s been working on for the last year.
He both hates and loves the thesis because it’s what brought them together, but it stresses her out so badly that he wishes it didn’t exist, and one particularly nasty meltdown at a coffee shop one day when they’d found themselves in the same place at the same time had completely altered their dynamic, because he’d insisted on accompanying her on a walk to help clear her head, which had turned into her giving him her number, and Alhaitham hardly remembers all of the specifics after that since he’d fallen so hard, so fast.
They’d been acquainted before through an alumni event he’d attended alongside Kaveh, because he’d invited him as a buffer between himself and his boss, who’d been much too preoccupied with trying to charm Alhaitham to pay attention to what Kaveh was doing, and since Kaveh’s degrees fell under the Alcazarzaray School of Fine Arts, Lumine had been in attendance as well in an effort to network with potential post-graduation employers.
Unfortunately for her, most of the attendees hadn’t been interested in her knowledge or her experience, so she’d ended up finding Kaveh because he was easy to get along with and safe, and he’d taken her under his wing for the rest of the night.
He’d been fascinated by her then, by her poise and independence, but Kaveh dominates every single conversation into which he enters, so there’d been very little time for them to really chat when he was around, and any conversation they had during his absence had been small talk, at best.
Which is why he hadn’t expected her to recognize him at the coffee shop, because they’d spent mere hours together many many weeks before, and he’s never considered himself to be particularly memorable, though Lumine has told him more than once that that’s untrue.
She still visits that coffee shop when she needs to work without distraction, and he still stops in to buy her coffee if he knows she’s there and has some time, but now he drops it at her table and chases it with a quick kiss goodbye before going on his merry way, because when she’s in the zone and not freaking out she has little patience for interruptions.
He doesn’t have enough knowledge of the arts to be too much additional help, so all he can do is make sure she takes care of herself, which sometimes feels impossible when she’s knee deep in her work.
As it is, however, she’s gone to dinner and a show tonight with Nilou and Nilou’s friend Faruzan, who’s much too high strung for Alhaitham’s taste, even though Lumine finds her incredibly entertaining.
She also drives Cyno crazy, which is the slightest bit amusing, and he’s got his groomsmen flask on order for the pair’s nuptials in case she tries to make a scene.
“Which show is it that Nilou and Lumine are seeing tonight? Hopefully not some obscure indie that that woman suggested.”
Kaveh takes a delicate sip of his wine as he waits for one of them to answer, and when Cyno drops his chin and sucks in a deep breath, Alhaitham knows that the answer has slipped his mind.
“The Exquisite Night Chimes.”
“Oh, thank Kusanali.”
“What’s the over-under for how far gone they’ll be by the time they get back?”
Cyno scoffs and offers Tighnari a sidelong glance, taking a card between his first and middle finger before he responds.
“Faruzan was already tipsy when she got here, so take that how you will.”
“Lumi has to edit her next thesis milestone tomorrow,” Alhaitham answers next, “so I doubt she’ll imbibe any more than usual.”
Cyno and Tighnari exchange a significant glance as Kaveh arches a brow and smirks, and he taps his cards on the table and offers him a shit eating grin before slamming one down on the table.
“50 mora says they’ll stagger through the front door in a couple of hours, completely trashed and loudly demanding loaded cheese fries.”
“75. And I bet your sweet Lumi is gonna be the worst of them,” Tighnari counters, chasing Kaveh’s card with one of his own, and Alhaitham knows better than to argue once the pair of them start colluding, so he nods his assent and pours himself another drink before tossing his card on the pile.
“I still can’t believe you haven’t locked that one down with a mortgage, devilishly handsome intellectuals are a hot commodity.”
Faruzan’s words are slurred as she drapes an arm around Lumine’s shoulders, having drunk two more glasses of wine at dinner on top of what she’d already had before driving to Nilou’s house.
Or Nilou and Cyno’s house, she supposes, considering their upcoming nuptials, and she taps her fingers on the woman’s waist and chuckles as she takes on a little bit of her weight.
“Leave her alone, Faruzan,” Nilou chirps from Lumine’s other side, “Her thesis comes first.”
“It’d probably be a lot easier to finish your thesis if you could come whenever you wanted. All you’d have to do was walk into the next room and drop your pants and —”
She doesn’t know if it’s her buzz or the idea itself that has her giggling like a schoolgirl, her cheeks hot from the flush she just knows is decorating her face and neck, and if it wasn’t for Nilou’s ever cool and calming presence, she might have burst into flames.
It’s not like Alhaitham hasn’t helped her focus in such a way before, but he mostly tries to keep her from spiraling out of control, dropping off coffee and food when he knows she’s on a streak before telling her to call him when she wants to take a break.
He’s been through the same thing before, between his advanced degree and PhD, and any illusion she’d had about pursuing a Doctorate in anything had shattered three semesters into her Master’s Program.
She doesn’t need it to be able to do what she wants, and Lumine is certain it’s given her a few gray hairs, so the sooner she can be done with it, the better, and then she can focus on her future.
“I don’t need a mortgage to lock a man down, especially not my man.”
“She’s riiiiight,” Nilou agrees in a sing-song voice, jabbing her gently with her elbow, “He’s totally smitten.”
“Ugh—I’m so jealous of both of you.”
“Has he told you he loves you yet?”
Faruzan unwraps herself from around Lumine and playfully scoffs as she pushes her away, and Nilou takes a moment to wrap her fingers around Lumine’s wrist and give it a squeeze.
“No.”
“It’ll come.”
Lumine has never really worried about it, because she’s seen the way Alhaitham looks at her, but for a second she wonders how he’d react if she said it first, if he’s ever accounted for such a thing when he’s making plans for the rest of his life, and for a second she is worried, but the feeling passes quickly as she feels her watch buzz and looks down to see a text from the man in question.
8:30pm: We have a bet going on how trashed you guys get, I told them you’d be on your best behavior.
She hangs back to grab her phone and types out a quick response, and the Zubayr Theatre comes into view as she hits send and promptly puts her phone on silent.
8:31pm: Better ready your wallet, babe. I may or may not be buzzed already. ;)
Alhaitham snorts in amusement as Lumine’s text flashes across the screen, and he can feel Cyno’s eyes boring into him as he slips his phone back into his pocket and grabs a plate for their chips and dip.
“You know it’s bad form to try and rig the bet by telling your girlfriend that we made one.”
“I was just checking in, and how did you even know it was her?”
“You have the same dopey look on your face that I get when I’m flirting with Nilou over text, or so says Tighnari, though we both know he’s full of shit.”
Alhaitham turns his head toward the door as Kaveh’s laugh rings out from the other room, and his hand instinctively goes back to his pocket even though he’s well aware that the show is about to start.
“How long did it take for you to figure out Nilou was the one?”
“About…four dates,” Cyno hums as he takes a sip of water and leans against the counter, “Probably less than that, quite honestly.”
“Did something happen to prompt it or —”
“Why are you asking?”
“No reason.”
Cyno offers him a kind smile that rarely sees the light of day, and he knows that he knows exactly what Alhaitham’s thinking, because the man is stupidly perceptive.
“How long did it take you to figure out that Lumine was the one?”
“I’ve known since our first date.”
Cyno sets his glass down on the counter and crosses his arms over his chest. “That fast, huh?”
“Is that stupid?”
“Are you drunk?”
“No,” Alhaitham replies quickly and more defensively than he’d like, but if Cyno notices how his voice is laced with all sorts of emotion, he chooses not to comment on it, “I’m not drunk, I’m just —”
“Madly in love with your super smart, super hot girlfriend.”
“Is an engaged man even allowed to say things like that?”
“I’m engaged, not blind, and Nilou thinks she’s hot too, we’ve talked about it before.”
“Oh, okay. ”
Part of him wants to ask how that particular topic came up, but he decides within a couple of seconds that he’d rather not know.
“Why don’t you just…tell her?”
“She’s a semester-and-a-half out from finishing her incredibly grueling Master’s Degree.”
An expression flashes across Cyno’s face that Alhaitham recognizes as the one he gets when he knows that he’s right, and his eyes are sparkling with mirth as he holds his gaze and drums his fingers on the countertop.
“You’re not going to deter her from finishing up her degree by telling her something you should have told her months ago.”
“What’s taking so long?! Did you go to Liyue and harvest the Jueyun Chilis yourself?”
Alhaitham rolls his eyes as Tighnari bangs a fist loudly on the table, and despite the short conversation, he feels better than he did mere minutes prior, and he wishes Lumine were there so that he could loop her in on his innermost thoughts.
“Just…think about it, and don’t take too long, lest she figure out she can do way better.”
He means it as a joke, and Alhaitham takes it as such as he slips his phone back out of his pocket, and her gorgeous smile on his Lock Screen sates him for the time being, until he can see the real thing for himself.
“Rex Lapis was kinda hot, in an uptight, snobby sort of way.”
The night air is a touch chilly as they meander toward where they’re supposed to meet their Uber, and Faruzan, in all her shitfaced glory, looks up at the sky like she’s waiting for something to fall out of it.
“Do you think he and Guizhong — like ever —”
“I doubt it, with how attached she seemed to be to Cloud Retainer, enemies to lovers is way sexier than like — teacher and student,” Nilou answers simply as she twirls her keys around her pointer finger.
“Guizhong wasn’t a student though.”
“She was still below him in the hierarchy, I bet Rex Lapis had rules regarding fraternization and things of that nature.”
Lumine pipes up next, recalling a paper she’d written in undergrad regarding different artist interpretations of the Lord of Geo. “I bet he didn’t. The gods of old took what they wanted when they wanted…Rex Lapis was no exception.”
“You’re only saying that because all of your favorite artists interpret him as such, everything I’ve read says he was a benevolent ruler.”
“He trapped Osial in the sea with dozens of giant spears made of rock.”
“Well, yeah, but after that and the cataclysm, most people say he mellowed out.”
Faruzan watches the pair like one watches a tennis match, her head moving back and forth as Lumine and Nilou have it out about the history of Teyvat, and they finally agree that Rex Lapis probably was a benevolent ruler who guarded his nation well, but only because he had a harem of people that took care of his most basic desires.
They also decide along the way that Guizhong and Cloud Retainer were secret lovers, and that she mourned her loss until the day that she died, and Faruzan goes back to lamenting her lack of romantic options as the Uber driver flags them down.
“I wish some god of old would take whatever they wanted from me. You two will fall asleep in the arms of your beloved partners tonight, and I’ll fall asleep with the tv on and set to the romcom channel.”
Faruzan sways ever so slightly and finds herself bumping into Nilou, who shakes her head softly and smirks.
“You’re falling asleep on my couch, you’re too drunk to drive home.”
“Oh, I’ll be fine, mother,” she hisses the last word as she steps up into the SUV, “I’ll sober up by the time we get there, you’ll see.”
“Whatever you say, dear. We have plenty of space.”
By the time Nilou’s key turns in the lock, Lumine can feel every single one of the drinks she had during the show.
She’s not drunk, per say, but her buzz is more prevalent than before, and all she can think about is how awful it will be to edit her thesis while she’s hungover.
She wonders if Alhaitham will stop by the store on the way home and let her run in to get some Pedialyte, though the home they’re supposed to go back to is actually his, and she can’t presently recall if the store closest to it is open 24/7.
She flicks her wrist to check the time as Nilou’s front door opens wide, and the house is so warm and the sounds coming from within so inviting that she almost forgets what she’s worried about, and the trio breaks apart as they cross over the threshold and address whatever ails them at present.
Nilou flits off toward the living room, where she’s certain Cyno will be, and Faruzan makes some comment under her breath about needing to find the restroom before staggering down the hallway near the door.
That leaves Lumine to seek out some hydration and possibly a snack, and she’s pleased to find an array of partially eaten, hearty snacks littering Nilou’s granite countertops.
She sees chips and dip and wings and veggies, so she makes herself a plate with a little bit of everything before popping half a boneless wing in her mouth and finding her way to the fridge to get some water.
“Seems my assumption was correct, you went straight for the food.”
“Oh! umm—” she replies with her mouth full, and she turns around to find Alhaitham watching her intently, a sly smirk that makes her pulse skitter playing at his handsome features, and she’s the slightest bit embarrassed that he’s seeing her like this even though she’s been much drunker in his presence before.
“The dinner plates were small , and I’m—”
“Drunk off your ass,” he says as he makes his way toward her, one of his hands reaching up to brush her hair out of her face as she pops the other half of the wing into her mouth.
“Not drunk, just tipsy.”
“Oh yeah?”
Teal eyes find gold as he takes his bottom lip between his teeth and hums, and they can hear what sounds like Faruzan heaving from the bathroom just down the hall.
“Faruzan is drunk, and crashing here tonight, per Nilou and probably Cyno.”
“She’ll have to fight Tighnari for the couch,” Alhaitham replies quietly, catching her forehead with his own as he snakes an arm around her waist and pulls her close, “We should sneak out before the showdown.”
“And miss all of the action? Where’s your sense of adventure?”
“Not here,” he replies coyly, and the drop in his voice makes her pulse jump, “But I’m sure it can be persuaded to make an appearance somewhere else…your place, perhaps.”
"Your place is closer,” she says, reaching up to lace her fingers together around the back of his neck as he dips down to steal a kiss, “I sort of figured you’d want to go back there tonight.”
“You have a thesis to edit tomorrow, so I figured you’d want to wake up there instead.”
She considers this for a moment, and the way he watches her while she’s trying to decide is downright swoon worthy.
Her edits can wait.
“I think I want to be lazy tomorrow, if that’s okay.”
“Why wouldn’t it be?”
“I dunno,” she shrugs, and the chuckle he offers her is warm and soft, “I do thesis shit on weekends, it’s like a thing.”
“Your ‘thesis shit’ will still be there on Sunday, even Monday.”
“A whole weekend devoid of Art and Technology?!” she replies sarcastically, quickly realizing she doesn’t want to touch it on Sunday either, “Whatever will I do with myself?”
“I’m sure we can come up with something between the two of us.”
“At your place.”
“Wherever you’d like.”
Alhaitham’s hand slides down to rest on her ass as she stretches up to kiss him again, and his mouth twists into a sly smirk as he holds her in place and she breathes him in.
“Now that that’s decided, I need to go and figure out if I owe Cyno some mora. It was between you and Nilou as far as which one of you would be the least troublesome when you got back.”
“Nilou nearly fell through the doorway, so I think your chances are good.”
“If not, you owe me breakfast, and possibly lunch tomorrow.”
“Your place is close to downtown, so we’ll have lots of options.”
With that, he gives her another quick kiss and then turns on his heel, and it’s not long before they are saying their final goodbyes, a little extra mora in their pockets because Nilou had needed help getting up off the couch, and later that night, when they’re wrapped up in each other’s arms, Alhaitham tells her that he loves her, unequivocally and unconditionally, words that render her speechless even though she already knows.
She wakes up the next morning well before the sun, and over their morning coffee, in the middle of planning their day, Lumine tells him that she loves him too, and although it feels delayed, he responds with a sleepy smile that she hopes to see for the rest of her days.
“Of course you do, sweetheart. I wouldn’t have said such a thing if I didn’t think the feeling was mutual.”
She rolls her eyes at that and watches as he tries not to preen under her affection, and as she gets up to refill her coffee, he catches her around the waist and presses a small silver key into her palm.
“For you, should you ever want to stop by…alone or unannounced.”
Lumine thanks him quietly before taking a detour to tuck it safely away, and it’s not long before her brand new key is worn from use, the things that once held her back from starting to build her future slowly falling away with each late night and early morning she spends in the comfort of those four walls, and it’s not until she’s sitting at her art desk by his front window that she realizes that’s where she’s always wanted to be, chasing her hopes and dreams alongside a partner who supports her every endeavor.