The Rooftop
There wasn't any reason. No reason at all as to why Al Haitham chose to answer one question when he would usually ignore them and leave. No reason at all as to why he had chosen this one reporter to ask.
Or maybe there was a reason.
Let's chop it down to Al Haitham's insatiable curiosity.
Once Al Haitham's curious about something, he simply must pursue it until he gets an answer. What was he curious about? Maybe he wondered what Kaveh would ask if he could only ask one thing. Or maybe he wondered if his rent would be paid on time if things went a little better for Kaveh at work. Doubtful. Kaveh had always had trouble holding onto money. Though they didn't interact much in high school, Al Haitham was extremely observant, he had noticed a thing or two about the kind of person Kaveh was. He knew that this one thing Kaveh had been trying to achieve for as long as Al Haitham had become 'Spider-man’ and was exactly the kind of thing that would make Kaveh happy. Let's just say he wanted one less moping pile of depression sinking into his couch.
"Just one." Al Haitham realized he was going to have to change his voice if he didn't want Kaveh to recognize him, so he lowered it just enough so that he wasn't recognizable, while also not so much that he didn't sound like Batman. Other reporters tried to crowd the two of them, trying to get their questions in. They irritated al Haitham even more than Kaveh usually did.
"No one else. Just you, uh, the blond one." He thought it might be too suspicious if he knew Kaveh's name.
The other reporters sighed and protested. Some still tried to get their questions in any way. Al Haitham felt irritation creeping up onto his face, good thing he had his mask on.
Eventually, Al Haitham's irritation grew to the point where he couldn't deal with it anymore. He reached his arm to point towards a building's roof and he held out his hand to the blond reporter.
"Would you mind?" He felt unsure asking but also knew he had to get away from the crowd if he wanted to get any word in edgewise with Kaveh.
“Eh, um, sure.” Kaveh kind of couldn’t believe what was happening. The vigilante who had always made a point to avoid Kaveh and his questions, had asked for one from him specifically and was also offering to carry him away from the other reporters. He wouldn’t sounded more enthusiastic if he hadn’t been so shocked. With that, Al Haitham grabbed onto Kaveh and whisked him away to the rooftop.
“The cameraman-” Kaveh shouted as he was whisked off, he needed the cameraman who was still on the ground to film his interaction with Spiderman. However, he needn’t worry because before he could finish his sentence, he was atop the rooftop, safe and sound, and Spiderman had already gone to grab the cameraman.
Kaveh pondered what he could ask. There were so many questions he had, but to pick just one? He probably wouldn’t get another chance like this.
Al Haitham now stood in front of Kaveh, waiting time to be questioned, he still needed to get to work this morning after all.
“Oh right, one question. Why’d you choose me? “Kaveh was nervous.
“Is that your question?” Al Haitham knew it wasn’t.
“What? No. Please disregard that. Although I’d like to know, I have more important things I’d ask than that.”
The camera was rolling, though it wasn’t live considering this morning was more the reporters tracking Spiderman’s movements rather than ‘Breaking News’. Kaveh took a moment to gather himself and thought up his question. He knew he couldn’t take too long as he gathered this Spiderman guy wasn’t very patient.
“Ahem, right here it is. Who? No. How? No. Why?” He couldn’t ask who he was, by the mask, it was obvious he wouldn’t answer. God only knows how he’s able to swing from building to building, even if it was explained, Kaveh was doubtful he could understand it. (same). Why.
“Why are you doing this? Saving the city, I mean.” This is what he wanted Al Haitham to answer. Although he was called a vigilante by the news and police, the majority knew that what he did was hero work.
Al Haitham took his sweet time before answering. It was difficult to answer because he didn’t even really know why he did it. A sense of justice? No, he has morals, but he wouldn’t go out of his way to help people every day to this degree. Obligation? Not, he’s never felt obligated to do anything for anyone else before. He might sound selfish or self-centered, but in the end, he was just someone who looked out for himself above all else so none of these answers were right.
“Curiosity. And I don’t want to have to go through traffic every morning.” What an answer, or a lack of one. ‘Curiosity’ was one word and didn’t make very much sense, and the rest of the explanation felt like a joke. One thing was for sure, he wasn’t going to gain any more supporters with an answer like that.
“Hey! Wait! What kind of an answer is that?”
“I said one question.” Al Haitham was getting ready to swing off and get to work already.
“You call that a proper answer? Hey!”
He was just about to swing away for good when he stopped for a moment.
“Oh, and quit getting yourself into danger, I can’t keep rescuing you every time, and I won’t if you keep doing it.” With that, he finally swung off and into the distance. He left Kaveh stranded on the rooftop. The door to the building was locked.
…