Kaveh

After going bankrupt, Kaveh entered into a period of melancholy. The Palace of Alcazarzaray had ever so briefly filled the hole in his heart that had been ripped open by so many things, but it had also proved to him once again that no matter what he gave to attain his ideals, it wasn't enough. He was now directionless, and enmeshed in a world where he could not go anywhere without Mora. And yet he was accustomed since his youth to putting on a brave front, and so Kaveh was unwilling to let his colleagues and friends know that he was nigh penniless even after selling all he owned, and so he went to a tavern, where he would order a few bottles and chat to comfort himself. One bottle later, he would collapse at the table, only to wake up in the exact same position afterward. Lambad, the tavern owner, had reserved a seat and a few free drinks for him out of kindness, and as thanks, Kaveh helped him redesign and refit the booth seating area of the tavern's second floor. He would occasionally meet friends from his Akademiya schooling days, and with them he would pretend that he was just here to drink and gather inspiration. He would spend over a fortnight in this manner, during which he would encounter that friend that he no longer called "friend." At that time, Kaveh had just parted ways with his mother and was living alone. He would meet this junior student in the library at times, and would speak to him out of curiosity, and thus did he meet the Haravatat genius Alhaitham. But time would go on to prove that wishful thinking alone does not friends make. For Kaveh quickly realized that Alhaitham, though two years his junior and admittedly both extremely talented and incredibly gifted, was also utterly different from him, whether it be in personality, dealing with people, academic direction, and convictions. Kaveh's time in school would leave him with a great many memories, the least pleasant of which is the group project they undertook together.

That was the first time Kaveh realized the brutal and all-too-intuitive difference in talent between individuals. As Alhaitham liked to put it, certain matters have their upper limit determined by talent and their lower bound determined by hard work. Ordinary people and geniuses would be separated by various practical realities, and they did not have to force themselves to fit into a group they did not belong to. Kaveh, however, was resolute in his belief that this was all the result of obstacles that appeared during the process, and that wisdom should be uncovered by many people. Alhaitham persisted in upholding the opposite view, believing Kaveh to be too idealistic in his ways — academia was not charity work, and temporary salvation would not change the reality of their differences in ability. Thus did discord arise between the two. Finally, the day came when only two people remained working on the topic: Alhaitham and Kaveh. The disputes between them accumulated to a critical mass before exploding spectacularly. Kaveh maintained that Alhaitham was too much of an egoist, that he could be much better welcomed amongst people if he would just care about helping out more often. Alhaitham for his part pointed out that Kaveh's impractical idealism was just a flight from reality, and that it would come to be a burden on his existence someday, and the source of Kaveh's altruism was naught but his inescapable sense of guilt. At that moment, more than anything else, Kaveh felt cut to the quick by someone who was his best friend. Alhaitham had seen through the reality that he had never been able to face, causing him to feel reality's bite for the first time, a feeling that made Kaveh steadfastly declare that he regretted making friends with this all-too-intelligent person. The two parted ways in a single stroke. Alhaitham would remove his name from that thesis, while Kaveh would rip his copy of the thesis apart in a fury — only to put it back together with deep regret.

This failed project became an unavoidable part of Kaveh's past. As the years passed, and he was beaten back by reality time and time again, Kaveh was forced to admit that his persistence born of wishful thinking was not always useful. It was only when he was rendered penniless that he finally understood the deeper meaning behind his friend's past words. A person who wished to ascend to the garden of heaven upon steps made of thin air would inevitably plant their feet on an empty stair and fall to their death. As a genius, Kaveh longed to belong in a crowd, subconsciously fearing separation from it — this was the difference between him and Alhaitham.

Returning to the matter of that table in the tavern, Kaveh was deeply shocked to see Alhaitham, who was coincidentally present to purchase some alcohol, in this place. Alhaitham for his part could immediately tell that Kaveh was in a very bad way. Having been oppressed by life for too long, Kaveh completely unloaded all his woes onto his erstwhile friend right there and then. After all, there was nowhere to hide from his problems, so what use was concealing them in front of the one friend with whom he had fallen out so acrimoniously? He would lament about a great many misfortunes that had befallen him, only falling silent when they left the tavern in the dead of night, and his eyes fell upon a place in the distance that he once called home. Alhaitham, on the other hand, listened intently to Kaveh's words, and seeing through him once more, asked him a difficult question: "How has realizing your ideals gone for you?". Only reality can force a researcher to admit that they were wrong, but Kaveh did not know what he should consider reality. He yearned for a fantasy so perfect and beautiful that none need flee it, even if the price of this dream was losing himself. He still firmly believed that his ideals were in themselves not mistaken, and that the fault lay only in the methods used to achieve them.

People should not give up, for even if they are doing good in an attempt to make up for something, the results will still have meaning for some. Even if he could not enter that promised land of his ideals, that did not mean the radiance and the attraction of such a realm should be denied.

As for those phantasm-like realities, like how he found his homeless self living his friend's house by happenstance, or how this house, now under the Scribe's name, had been converted from that same research center the Akademiya had offered them back in the day, or how this excess academic asset would not have been turned into a residence at all after numerous transactions, had Kaveh not resolved to give it up... Or how, knowing full well that Alhaitham never did perform a good deed unconditionally, Kaveh would be plagued by guilty conscience and proactively mention helping with household chores, only to become saddled with all the domestic errands... These might be an annoyance for someone at a low point in life, but they are also proof the most unshakable part of one's past is a friend that will never change. Rationality and sensibility, language and architecture, knowledge and human feelings... Things that can never be integrated are what constitute the two sides of the mirror — indeed, of the entire world.

A month had passed since Alhaitham had taken Kaveh in at his home. As it was said, Kaveh had done all the household duties, but Kaveh was still tormented by his feelings, which is why he often drank in the evenings, either at home or went to the tavern, and came home when it was already very late. Kaveh did not understand why and even more so why Alhaitham had taken him in at his home, what were his motives? Most likely out of pity, he thought, because all that love that they had during their student years at the Academiya had long since passed, and nothing remained of it, only memories, and that all those feelings for Alhaitham were already in the past, but was that really the case? When Kaveh drank, he thought more and more about Alhaitham, and about all the good and bad memories they had, he tried to drown out all his thoughts and feelings with alcohol, but it only made things worse, which only made them more, because as it turned out, he still loved Alhaitham.

His eyes are sharp and crimson red. His hair is blond, around shoulder length, and has been carefully clipped back with his signature red clips. The clips, however, don’t hold back the wisps of hair that frame his face. He has a tall, lean build. There are triangle shaped cut outs on the shoulders, reveling Kaveh's skin. The shirt is knotted on the back and forms acut out in a V shape that is hold together by a beautiful golden brooch, similar the style he usually wears.