One Question.
"So..." Kaveh stood just outside of the apartment door with a slightly annoyed expression on his face.
He knew Al Haitham had never been much of a conversationist. In fact, he was sure he'd only heard the other talk a couple of times before, consisting of him exchanging pleasantries and briefly answering questions in class. He wasn't about to force a conversation out of him, but it would be nice to be let in the door, rather than stared at blankly.
"You think I could come inside or...?". Haitham blinked a few times and regained his composure.
"Uh." was all he said in an awkward tone before stepping aside to let the blond in. There was absolutely nothing he could do about the situation anymore. This man was living with him for the foreseeable future and he couldn't do a thing. He regrets his past thinking, there is definitely someone out there that was more of a pain in the ass than most. Kaveh walked past him with full bags in his hands and more sitting in the hallway.
"Get those and bring them in for me would you?". Al Haitham reached for the bags and lifted the rest of them with one hand. "Oh careful, those ones are pretty heavy-". The blond stared in bewilderment as his new roommate holds several bags in one hand and each one of them had taken his entire body to lift individually. Kaveh's staring triggered Al Haitham's realization that he wasn't displaying a normal amount of strength for a human, he placed a few of the bags down.
"Um, I lift." He said awkwardly as he walked to where he decided Kaveh's room would be. After a few trips, he had carried all of Kaveh's bags into his room, which he could have done in one trip but that would look way too suspicious.
Ground rules, he thought, he needed ground rules. If he couldn't change his predicament, he could at least make it harder for Kaveh to find out who he really was.
Kaveh had decided his bags could wait until he was motivated enough to unpack them(probably never). Instead, he just followed Al Haitham into the kitchen where they both leaned on the kitchen bench from opposite ends.
"I want to set some ground rules." This was probably the first full sentence Al Haitham had said since he opened the door. Kaveh nodded. "First, don't go into my room for any reason." Kaveh thought he sounded kind of harsh but everyone has their personal boundaries, right? "Second, rent's due every second Friday." Fair enough, if only Kaveh could manage to scrounge up cash every time, considering his problem of holding onto money. He'll try. "Third, keep the house tidy. I'll clean up after myself and you'll do the same. Any questions? Any ground rules of your own?".
"Uh, just one. Please don't interrupt me when I'm studying. I'll most likely study in my room." Al Haitham didn't bother to ask why he was studying, or what. He didn't really care. With that, Al Haitham decided to return to being secluded and went to his room. Again, Al Haitham's lack of conversation wasn't unexpected, but it would be nice if had stayed to chat a bit, reminisce. Even if it was just Kaveh talking, that would be nice. Still, he knew what kind of person Al Haitham was, and he knew he shouldn't expect much more.
_
Kaveh had actually managed to clear enough of his luggage to allow him access to his bed before nighttime, and he had slept fairly well in his new home. He walked into the kitchen and grab himself some breakfast, a banana, and some coffee. Ah, the good stuff. There was no sign of Al Haitham anywhere, apart from the washed-up breakfast dishes by the sink that had been left to dry. Looks like he left pretty early. Must've gone to work. Kaveh realized he had no idea what kind of work his roommate did. Although he went to high school with the man, he hardly knew a thing about him. He then wandered into the living room with his food and sat on the couch to eat, grabbing the remote and turning to the news. He had the day off today and he was going to watch his colleagues not have the day off. Spider-man was on the news again today. Kaveh almost regretted reveling in his day off as he watched on the tv, the vigilante swinging from building to building. Almost. That could be him screaming out to the predominately non-verbal masked man for "just one question". Oh well, he'd never gotten anything out of Spider-man before. What would make today any different?
-
Al Haitham had just swung off after giving the old lady back her handbag and refusing the reporter any questions. He was almost surprised to see the reporter wasn't Kaveh. He remembered seeing a passed-out Kaveh in his room through the crack in his door as he went past that morning. Guess he had the day off. It still seemed weird though, the reporter had been so determined to talk to him in the past. Maybe he was just fatigued from moving the day before. It'd been a couple of hours since Al Haitham had left the house and he was now actually walking into work. He changed out of his homemade suit and into his work clothes. Dress pants, a button-up white shirt, and a simple black tie. Along with his ID badge and white lab coat. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and took it out to check it. It was a text from Kaveh.
Kaveh: *wheres the vacuum*
Al Haitham: *It's in the closet down the hall.*
*What did you spill?*
Kaveh: *nothing*
*...flower pot knocked over*
Kaveh confessed. Of course, he had already made a mess after less than 24 hours in Al Haitham's house. Al Haitham just rolled his eyes.
-
Al Haitham returned to his home at 3 pm when work ended. He found Kaveh sideways on the couch with a remote in hand. The expression on his face looked utterly miserable.
"..."
A few moments that felt like forever passed.
"'Good afternoon Kaveh, how was your day?'" Kaveh said in a pissed-off, mocking tone.
Al Haitham ignored his comment but decided he should still say something. "You didn't go to work today?"
Kaveh sighed, breathing out his pissed-off energy. Now he just sounded tired.
"Had the day off."
Al Haitham now felt like the talkative one. "Aren't you the one who usually follows that Spider-man around wherever he goes?" Though Al Haitham hadn't minded the reporters' absence today. Less nagging.
Kaveh sighed even louder. "What's the point? He never answers me anyway. He just swings off leaving me in the dust." Al Haitham could feel the depression leaking from Kaveh.
"Uh-huh."
Al Haitham went to his room again.
-
When Al Haitham got up in the morning, Kaveh was there. In the kitchen making himself breakfast. He had already gotten dressed and he looked like he was rushing to shove down his banana. He moved aside for Al Haitham to use the coffee machine.
Al Haitham didn't say anything to him the entire morning, right up until he left the apartment without a word. He had looked depressed again this morning when he left.
Al Haitham didn't wait too long after he left before he climbed out the window in his suit and swung from it to a new building. It also wasn't too long before he saw a news crew on the street as he casually swung by. It looked like they had figured out his times. A new news van rocked up to the cluster of reporters and out climbed a pretty blond.
The myriad of reporters yelled at him to get his attention. Usually, he would just ignore them and keep swinging. For whatever reason, he decided to go up to them today. The reporters only got louder at his approach in excitement to ask him questions. He walked through the center of the crowd as they all screamed, "One question, please.", "A comment for the press Mr. Spider-man", "What is your opinion on-", and many other questions. It wasn't until he heard Kaveh's voice.
"Could you answer some questions for me please?"
He stopped. There were so many voices, it would be hard to tell who Spider-man had stopped for. It wasn't until he was standing directly in front of the blond and staring at him did Kaveh realize Spider-man was staring at him.
"One Question."