shellphones | text; an important survey

Entry tags:

text; an important survey

Type: Text
Sender ID: indispensable (Alhaitham)
To: Public. So, so public.
Subject: A Survey on Romantic Relationships
Warnings: Potential discussions about sex? I guess?? But mostly this is just Alhaitham being the most obliviously shameless man alive.

This is Alhaitham.

I have a survey that I would like people to fill. There are no restrictions or stipulations to the nature of the responder. The only request is for you to be honest when filling it up.

1) Are you currently in a romantic relationship or have been in one? (yes/no)
2) If yes, does your current or previous relationship involve sex? (yes/no)
3) List down 5 to 10 words that describe what your significant other (past or present) makes you feel.
4) What is your main priority when you are with your significant other (past or present)?
5) How do you measure or recognize your feelings as love? What separates them infatuation or sexual attraction? Describe in 100 words or less.

You are free to leave your answers in this post or direct them to my inbox. I will be following up on whatever answers I feel are necessary.

Thank you for your time.

[OOC: ICly, this network post comes up about five minutes after the one Kaveh makes.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[She's none the wiser what this means.]

How about I come help you sort through your surveys in a few hours?

I don't think you're gonna find the answer you're looking for from just that.

[It's okay Alhaitham doesn't think much about it either, much like how he doesn't see anything strange in what Dehya is offering since she is the bestie after all.]

Sure.

Just let me know when you're here.

sure

And here's your survey

1. yes
2. yes
3. Happy, pretty, excited, relaxed, supported
4. Have a good time? Usually we were out to have a bit of fun.
5. I don't really have experience with anything serious, but I think the big thing has gotta be the intensity. Like when you realize you can't live without them, that's way beyond being infatuated.

[Anyway, in a few hours there's an enthusiastic knock at Alhaitham's door.] Heeey! You in?

[Alhaitham appreciates the responses, he knows he can count on you bestie.

But anyway, when Dehya finally comes over it only takes a bit for Alhaitham to open the door after she announces her arrival with those knocks. She might be surprised to see that he looks... almost excited, at least based on the look in his eyes.]

You're here. [He says, stating the obvious, then blinks before stepping aside so that Dehya can come in.]

Said I would be. [Dehya steps in, surveying the living room before turning back to Alhaitham with her hands on her hips.] Where's Kaveh?

Out in the garden, with his butterflies.

[Says all of this without batting an eye. They had a very nice lunch and then came back and then maybe something else happened but the short story is that Kaveh is now in the garden trying not to be incredibly embarrassed by what has (is) happening.

Not that Alhaitham knows that part, since he proceeds to ask—]

Do you want me to call him over?

[He figures Dehya wants to say hi to him or something.]

[Right, she saw that notif pop up too. Though that kind of academic stuff is really out of her wheelhouse... he's probably got other people helping.]

Nah. Actually, I think this is a conversation for just you and me.

[Ominous.]

[You should help anyway Dehya because you'd do a much better job than most of these other people in Alhaitham's opinion. Also Kaveh could always use more hands.

But that's something he can talk to her about later as he is instead piqued by her words there. There's a blink to show his surprise, but he nods nonetheless, since he doesn't have a reason to doubt her.]

Sure. [A half shrug, and he turns towards the dining table and goes over there to sit, fully expecting Dehya to do the same.]

[Dehya slides into the chair across from Alhaitham. She leans forward, resting her chin on her hand as she stares him down.] So, got anything useful from your little survey yet?

[Alhaitham just blinks at Dehya as she settles down, completely unfazed by the stare that she sends over to him.]

Most of the responses have had one or two answers that piqued my interest. [He is saying this very earnestly, almost as if he's giving an important report—which, at least for him, its not too far from the truth. This is an important thing to research on and he's not cutting any corners! (Not that he ever has, to be fair, but this one is more important than just about any other that he's done before.)] I was planning to start listing them down so that I can refer to them more easily.

[The shellphone is nice but all the scrolling and whatnot can get a little annoying sometimes.]

Uh-huh. [Answers she's not going to read herself. But before she gets to asking Alhaitham which ones really left an impression--] Something happened with Kaveh that set this off, right?

[Like, who else could it be.]

[Given the fact that they're face to face right now and Dehya is one of the people who he trusts the most aside from Kaveh, Alhaitham has no reason to hide the answer from her.]

Mmn. [Hums and gives a small nod.] There was... a situation, in Norhpip. Kaveh was essentially forced to admit a series of truths, the last of which was about the feelings he has for me.

("I'm sorry. I love you.")

[Alhaitham hasn't stopped thinking about it since he'd realized those weren't things that came to him from a mind that was delirious from drowning, and any answers he'd tried to come up since have all not fit. Of course he knows what love it, and what it means, and he does not place himself above such things—but he needs to understand it, properly, in the way that Kaveh means it for them, before he can respond to it in the way that it should be, with no doubt left to tackle.

He glances in the direction of the garden where Kaveh is currently busy working with his mechanical butterflies right now. Now that Kaveh has said that he'd wait for his answer Alhaitham is more determined than ever to make sure that he finds them. He will not settle for anything less.]

Okay. [Dehya can guess what kind of feelings those were, given the questionnaire. She follows Alhaitham's gaze.] You didn't know how to take it? Or is it his feelings that are the problem?

[Alhaitham shakes his head in a negative to both of those questions.]

Neither of those are the problem. [He is more than happy to accept Kaveh's feelings, and if anything knowing that they exist makes his chest warm in a way that words aren't quite able to describe. In some ways, all of this almost feels like the end of a long, long journey.

And the truth is that Alhaitham is more than ready to take that last step too, but he wants to do it right, which is why he's putting the effort in... all of this. He wants to do it without Kaveh ever needing to doubt this, no matter what happens down the line. He doesn't want Kaveh to regret again like he did, back in the past.]

So, what is? Your own feelings? [Dehya taps her finger against her cheek.] Most people don't respond to a confession by asking a bunch of other people about their love lives.

[There's a bit of a frown on Alhaitham here now at that particular question. Dehya isn't exactly wrong with her guess, but at the same time its not so black and white. And as much as he does trust her talking about his... difficulties, as it were, is still a whole different ball game.]

...I want to be sure that my answer is genuine. [He eventually settles on that particular response after a while. He's always been aware that Kaveh is important and special to him, but he doesn't know if what he's feeling is actually love as people would know it. Is love what causes his chest to turn warm, the reason why he wants to hold Kaveh in his arms and never let him go? Or is it simply nothing more than the result of their present relationship, the years that have led them to something that imitates it? He needs to know, so that he can be certain, and then Kaveh will have no reason to doubt.]

[Dehya's other hand joins in propping her chin up as she leans forward.] In that case, maybe start with describing what you think of him? Come on, he's obviously made some kind of impression of on you.

[Describing what he thinks of Kaveh, huh? Well, at least that part should be easy.]

...he's frustrating, stubborn, impulsive, reckless, gullible, far too sentimental for his own good and all too trusting of other people.

[Despite having just said all of that, a 'but' very much lingers in the air.]

... And?

[Keep going, buddy.]

[There is a somewhat significant pause here.]

He works himself to the bone for clients who do not understand his value. He does his best to please everyone even though he knows that he doesn't have to. He always wants to see the best in people, despite the fact that he of all people has all the reason to distrust them and keep them at arms' length. He has experienced setbacks and has lost in a way few others can claim, but none of those instances have broken him. And even though he knows better than most about the worst of people, still makes the conscious choice to believe in them regardless.

[Kaveh burns and burns and burns—and continues to burn, to the point where he uses himself as kindling. It is as terrible as it is brilliant, and Alhaitham wants nothing more than to find a way for Kaveh to continue to shine without sacrificing himself in the process.

He glances back to Dehya then, and this time his gaze is steady and unwavering as he continues to speak.]

People only see him as one or the other—that he is kind, or that he is the genius who built the Palace of Alcazarzaray—but none of them ever see the cost and sacrifice that goes behind them because Kaveh never talks about it. They say he is gentle, but the truth is that he is the fiercest person you'll ever meet. They call him a genius, but they do not see the countless sleepless nights where he pours all of his heart and soul into every single thing that he creates, even the ones where he does not ask for a single Mora. Even if impulsive, everything that he chooses to do has ultimately been a deliberate choice, and he doesn't let himself give up halfway even when it is the wiser option.

He is everything that I am not—a perfect mirror to my own existence. He has shown me the half of the world I would have never touched upon otherwise, and I can recognize that my life is ultimately made better because of it, even with the troubles that it brings. I would be half the person I am now if it were not for him.

[Once the words come they'd really just come out without any real pause, honestly. Talking about Kaveh has never been especially hard, per se, but to voice it all out like this is... different, and this time he can't even say its from the effects of Norhpip.]

Edited 2024-04-09 03:16 (UTC)

[This is the most Dehya's heard Alhaitham talk... ever. Even more than when they were planning their coup. She didn't even know he could go on this long.

He's also, clearly, monologuing with no expectation of her input, so Dehya keeps her mouth shut and simply listens with awe and bewilderment.

It's the end, though, that a grin splits across her face.]

See, you can be genuine! [She reaches across the table to give his shoulder a playful nudge.] I bet if you took Kaveh out on a date and told him that last thing he'd be swooning over you.

[Like, she hasn't met the guy long, but he's apparently already confessed his love, which he's really obvious about, so she can make some educated guesses.]

[Alhaitham blinks at Dehya's response, looking somewhere between perplexed and surprised—or at least as much as his face is showing it, anyway.]

I have already told him these things.

[...he just kind of says that, without any preamble, and staring at Dehya with an almost innocent kind of expectancy.

(Yes, Alhaitham did state those things, but not quite in those exact words, and also the fact that he'd stated them while under the influence that'd been going on in Norhpip. That's... probably more than one reason why Kaveh didn't exactly swoon there and then.)]

... So then what's the problem? [She blinks.] Seems like you two are on the same page. Did he not believe you or something?

Considering the circumstances where I said those things to him, I do not see any reason for him to doubt my words.

[Wait for it...]

But I suppose I could tell it to him again, seeing as how the first time was under less than favorable circumstances.

[And also maybe the fact that it wasn't really meant to be a declaration of love...?]

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