omgomg let me think. so like i think he’d try his best to be honest for integrity reasons since i think he does value that, in terms of transparency in work and stuff, honest with his clients about every step in his commission etc. and with friends (or haitham) when it comes to matters that do not touch the things that he feels wounded by. like if he’s speaking about everyday events like idk what he did in a day or his opinion on a building or a concept, things like that, he’d be pretty honest

BUT when it does come to the things that he keeps buried inside himself i think he’s a very good liar who even lies to himself so much that he’s almost gaslighting himself. whether that be an actual vocal lie or him omitting the truth/circumventing it in crafty ways. he’d lie about how much he takes care of himself to his friends like if someone asks if he’s eaten he’d say yes even if he hasnt, or play down the number of bottles he’s drank during one night, etc. he’d also lie about being okay / not needing help bc guilt / his inability to ask for undeserved help. pre-reconciliation he lied about not living with haitham (or at least hid the truth) because it makes him feel guilty + humiliated too. he wouldnt really be honest about his feelings (but theres an inconsistency because i think he’d be fine showing how angry he is at a client if they disrespect his craft but he would be not fine showing his self doubt or grief, stuff like that)

with haitham specifically he probably lies the most (pre-reconciliation also) because he just . yeah. thinks haitham disdains him (False) . and he even lies to himsefl about haitham disdaining him becuase
i think deep down he can see the acts of kindness haitham’s offering but because he doesnt know how to face haitham if he were to accept the fact that he really is doing them out of his heart and not for the sake of receiving benefits in return, he’d rather make himself believe that haithams doing it out of derision and turn it into a whole transactional thing. probably the biggest lie hes ever woven in his life and its so seamless that it almost becomes the truth to his mind. & then everything else haitham does gets twisted to feed this fallacy so its just this Giant Web of fabricated lie

ie he’d be honest about impersonal topics or opinions he feels strongly about (like beauty art creation science integrating into design etc) but an extremely good liar about the deeper personal things