... [ for some reason that hits hard. everything? kaveh swallows, not having expected to be so expertly bullied. his mouth drops open for a moment, as he tries to come up with some kind of response, but the stammers out nothing but nonsense as his face colors pink. he eventually just nods, because he's at a literal loss for words. ]

[ he doesn't know what, exactly, makes his relationship with alhaitham so electro-charged, but no one makes him feel so intensely about anything. the good, the bad, & the ugly. it's all always amplified when he's with him. this place just made that fact more obvious. ]

[ the silence that hangs between them stretches, becoming a bit too much, so he says the first thing that comes to mind. ] Does that mean you don't want me to stop?