[ kaveh is light. it is not, however, worryingly so. alhaitham knows the cycles of kaveh's weight, tied intrinsically to the cycle of his illness and what it will allow him to eat or not eat. the fragility of his body is belied by the voracity of his mind. kaveh has always wanted what he could not allow himself to have. a wound gives off its own light, or so the doctors of the bimarstan say. if all the lamps in sumeru were turned out, you could dress this wound by what shines from it. it is only with alhaitham that kaveh's desires, the selfish light of them, can take on form.

elsewhere, he says. alhaitham thinks - there is nowhere where he can take kaveh that is not here, in this place, where his illness roots. where kaveh wants to be taken is not a place for his body, but a place for his mind. there had been a field of padisarahs beneath a sky so ravishingly blue, that one could lean up and drink from it.

the akasha had taken the dreams of the people and used them as fuel for a new god. this, alhaitham can never forgive. but that is neither here, nor there. kaveh's dream remains elusive; this, alhaitham cannot compromise on. not on this, not on kaveh. ]

You may be able to walk, but your manners are atrophied. Is this how you ask someone to take you elsewhere, Senior? [ alhaitham begins to walk. his steps are sure. they take him, with unyielding assurance, down the wending path circling the divine tree. ] In any case, elsewhere is not a location. Be specific.