Crookedcomputerchaos

Adding to my series of Hermione and Pyrrhus being a cute couple, small husband who loves his wife

Actually, this brings up a point about Alhaitham that I want to address. (Well, technically I already addressed it loosely as the subject of a fic, but not as a Tumblr post.)

A few times I've seen notions along the lines of "Alhaitham cares, he just doesn't show it" -- which I think is on the right track and well-intentioned, but, by my personal reading of him as a character, not entirely accurate. It is, however, certainly more accurate than claims that he is cold or has no feelings.

I think Alhaitham is (or can be) a caring person, and while he doesn't necessarily show it in conventional ways, he does have his own personal ways of expressing it.

It's pretty clear from initially meeting him in Port Ormos that he's guarded around people he doesn't trust yet--he speaks formally, and his expression doesn't change much, aside from a brief smirk or smile of confidence whenever he realizes that his cooperation with the Traveler is "increasingly worth his investment." Overall, based solely on his dialogue and mannerisms, it's difficult to discern his thought patterns or his personality.

However, he isn't blatantly disrespectful or cold, either; in fact, I was struck by his courteousness: he thanks the Traveler for their efforts, offers them a break, and explicitly gives them permission to decline to answer a question or even to consent to working with him. In the one moment that he is duplicitous by pilfering the Divine Knowledge Capsule behind the Traveler's back, he earnestly recognizes and apologizes for it later.

I feel that, even though Alhaitham doesn't know the Traveler very well at this point, he does care about them, even if only to the extent that maintaining a relationship with them based on genuine trust is beneficial to him personally. Ditto for when he rescues the Traveler at Caravan Ribat; even if his interest in the Traveler only extends to their undisclosed information and not them as a person, he still goes out of his way to help them.

Now, fast forward to several parts of the Archon Quest later, right before the team returns to Sumeru City to execute their anti-Akademiya plan--only because, at this point, everyone on the Sumeru team has had lots of time to bond and converse, and, hence, I think the contrast between the Alhaitham we met at Port Ormos and the Alhaitham we know now is potentially the greatest.

Alhaitham smiles and teases the Traveler and Paimon. Mostly ALHAITHAM SMILES.

The way he conducts himself is markedly different from how he addressed the Traveler back in Port Ormos. Though he still speaks bluntly and firmly maintains his personal boundaries, his demeanor is more sensitive and expressive than it was before. I took this as a sign that he'd grown to trust and care about the Traveler more, as he's comfortable being more vulnerable around them; teasing usually bothers me, but I found this scene touching instead for that reason.

This scene is merely my case study, though; there are others--I've also written a post on, for example, how I believe the execution of the anti-Akademiya plan demonstrates the strength and depth of Alhaitham's faith in his teammates. Again, my point is that Alhaitham does show that he cares in an individual manner, even if social conventions would lead someone to believe superficially that he is "cold" or "callous." Alhaitham obviously has things that are precious and meaningful to him, like the books he kept after his parents passed away. Returning to the dialogue that prompted this post, his free time is obviously one of these precious and meaningful things, so I think sharing what he does is something highly significant to him personally. He's certainly not emotionless, and he's not uncaring, especially not once he has the chance to bond with and grow to trust someone.

its the classic prompt: sharing a bed!!

more like sharing the floor though

kaveh remembers returning from the desert, from his project, only to find the akademiya thrown into utter disarray. the sages gone, a large portion of the ground near the sanctuary of surasthana collapsed and crumbling, and rumours spread like wildfire. remembers realizing just how much he’s missed, how much danger alhaitham was in without his even knowing (alhaitham was injured, and he was none the wiser—). remembers hearing divine knowledge capsule and the scribe in conjunction and ice flooding his veins until he finds alhaitham, alive and well, in the house of daena. only then does the cold finally fade.

still. it could’ve so easily gone wrong. he could’ve returned only to find alhaitham dead, or gone, or his sanity shattered.

(there are fates worse than death, kaveh knows. that—that would’ve been one of them.

what is alhaitham, without that cunning, that stubbornness, that surprising deep-seated kindness? what would be left of him, without his mind?

kaveh has nightmares about it sometimes, about how he could have come back to find alhaitham an empty shell of himself, that brilliance so neatly excised. to see him without any of his sharp intellect, to look into his eyes and find no recognition there. for all their disagreements, kaveh does not think he would have been able to withstand that.)