Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"You know what, I think it's alright now..." Tighnari spoke to himself softly, admiring the plants he had in his living room. It's his final year of studying at the academia, and after last years calamity of being stuck with Al Haitham, Kaveh and Dehya in a shared dorm, he decided that a single room would be best for his last year of studies. Well, not exactly a single room, the best he could get is a double room, with a 'promise' from the academia's dorm organiser that a roommate will be extremely unlikely. Thinking back to it, Tighnari felt almost pleased with himself after sending over 8 letters requesting a single room.

The living area was perfect for him, a couple of spider plants in hanging baskets near the window for plenty of sunlight, a row of padisarahs beneath them, and a couple of succulents dotted around wherever he could fit them. Plants that required little upkeep, therefore maximising his time he could spend on studying, with his tutoring job of working with a first year student named Collei and a part time job at a flower shop providing enough income to cover his tuition fee.

He sat down, and closed his eyes, finally at relief that there was no more shouting or arguing, just him and his plants. The distant footsteps in the hallway were the only sounds, until a pair of footsteps stopped outside his door, making Tighnari's ears perk up.

Groaning, Tighnari spoke harshly "Kaveh, for the last time, it's your responsibility to get a jo-" he stopped when the door opened, despite locking it earlier. He quickly turned around to see a man with medium length white hair, a black hoodie with a jackal on it, skin the shade of beautiful sepia with warm undertones and a big suitcase in his hand.

"Who are you? This dorm was assigned to me, so I recommend you pack your things and leave immediately" the man spoke harshly, taking off his shoes and carrying the large suitcase effortlessly into the living area as he observed the plants.

"Excuse me? You don't have any right coming into my dorm and demanding who I am and telling me to leave. I think you should be the one to leave, before I get the Matra for the dorm rooms." Tighnari crossed his arms and tried to grab the other man's suitcase before the man swiftly grabbed his wrist and pulled it away, and glared Tighnari in the eyes.

"I AM the Matra for the dorm rooms. Do you not recall my speech earlier, infront of the dorm residents for this building?" The man exclaimed, almost growling out his words.

That's when it clicked who this harsh figure was. It was Cyno. Some guy who spent 30 minutes listing the rules for the dorms earlier on, in which Tighnari zoned out and thought about what plants would look nice in his bedroom.

Tighnari felt his face turn red with a mixture of anger and embarrassment, "Well then why the hell do you need a dorm room if you work here? And besides, I got my key and was told this was a single room"

Cyno paused, seemingly confused, "I was also told that... I will go talk to the dorm room organiser and make him get me a new room. Also, I am a student here, in my final year just like you Tighnari"

"Good I'm going with you... Wait how do you know my name?" Tighnari paused and eyed up Cyno. Whilst he was hardly taller than him by an inch, he seemed calculative and swift, as rumors of the Matra physically throwing people out of their unassigned dorm surfaced his memory.

"I've read some of your research papers before, they interest me greatly. If you want to come, let's go sort this out now" Cyno said in an almost monotone voice, creating a stoic aura around himself.

"Okay let's go sort this out then... I'm sure it was just a mistake anyway..." Tighnari sighed as he grabbed his keys and academia ID.

Silently, the two men walked down the hallways and staircases towards the dorm staff's office, and Tighnari noticed how anyone within Cyno's way immediately moved aside, almost as if they were scared of him, yet Tighnari didn't feel the same way for some reason.

When they reached the office door, Cyno didn't even bother knocking as he entered, headed straight for the dorm organiser's desk.

"Ah Cyno! And Tighnari..." an older man sitting at the desk said, his tone shifted to a more stern one as he mentioned Tighnari's name, "What brings you two here?"

"We got assigned the same dorm room when you made separate promises to us that we would receive a separate one" Cyno crossed his arms, unrelentlessly eyeing down the old man who quickly changed his relaxed demeanor to a more worried one.

"I thought you did get assigned different dorm rooms, I made special note of it when I asked my assistant to sort out the dorm rooms for your floor..." the old man quickly leaned forward, avoiding eye contact with Cyno as he typed away at his computer, "It will probably take a while to find out what's gone wrong, so you can wait outside if you'd like"

"I think I'll stay here, thank you very much, I don't have time for this today" Tighnari said, catching an eye roll from the old man.

"I agree, I need time to set up my genius invocation TCG deck for my club" Cyno said so seriously that it almost made Tighnari laugh at the absurdity of it.

"Alright fine... By only because you're the Matra for the building..." the old man sighed and continued typing.

It took a couple of minutes, in which Cyno did not break his eye contact with the old man who was trying to read something on his computer screen.

"It seemed my assistant made a mistake... You'll have to forgive him, he is new here... KAVEH!" The old man shouted into the adjacent room, as Kaveh came through the door, with a smug grin on his face.

"What's wrong? Oh hello Tighnari, Cyno, what a coincident!" He said, as Tighnari realised this must be some form of revenge after telling Kaveh to shut up about Al Haitham one too many times.

"I told you that these students are top priority for single rooms... And here they are, making my job more difficult because you can't follow basic instructions. Do we have any single rooms for either of them?" The old man exclaimed with anger, yet Kaveh held his nerve and pretended to sigh melodramatically.

"We don't unfortunately, I had to give away the last one earlier to a first year student... Do you want me to see if I can convince any single room students to move?" Kaveh said, smiling sickingly sweet.

"Of course I do! Now go on and sort out that rubbish before I rethink your little job..." the old man said, rubbing his eyes with frustration. With a polite nod and a wink to Tighnari, Kaveh left, "I'm sorry boys, but for the time being you're going to have a share the dorm room until we can sort out something for you, is that okay?"

"No. I want a decrease in my rent, after all, I am being forced to share a dorm now." Tighnari said as the old man glared at him and chuckled.

"Do you really think you have as much power as to demand a decrease in rent just because you're upset with your dorm room. No can do" he stated as he crossed his arms.

"Actually, yes we both demand a decrease in rent. The rent price per month of a shared luxury double dorm room is 2,435 mora higher than that of a single standard dorm room, so I believe we are entitled to that decrease in rent" Cyno stated, glaring at the man with such strong anger in his red eyes that Tighnari was convinced he was about to throw the man out of the window.

"Oh for fuck sake... Fine! Yes you can have that decrease in rent! Now can you both please leave my office so I can focus on my job?!" The man said, spitting out his words as he seemed to have reached his breaking point.

"With pleasure." Tighnari said, equally eyeing up the man as he turned around and left, with Cyno following him.

Tighnari expected the walk back to the dorm to be even more awkward, but instead, he felt proud of what he had done, knowing that a few months earlier he wouldn't even dream of being so sassy, face to face with the dorm room organiser.

"Thank you for accompanying me. Even if we haven't got the result we wanted, I feel like both of us being there will force him to give us our rightfully entitled rooms." Cyno said, looking at Tighnari, however still keeping the same expression on his face.

"It's fine, honestly. I've wanted to give that man a piece of my mind for a while now... Also I apologise for my rude first impression earlier, I got a bit too worked up" Tighnari said, sighing as he realised he wasn't this snappy with people before attending the academia, "my previous roommates were quite a handful..."

"I accept your apology and also apologise. It was rude of me to demand you leave before even greeting myself" Cyno said as the two entered their dorm room together.

"It's fine, If we're gonna be sharing this dorm room for a while, I suppose it'll be easier to do so on good terms" Tighnari spoke gently, and extended his hand to Cyno, who grasped it firmly and shook it.

"Agreed. Also, I like the plants you set up. They're nice" Cyno said as picked up one of the potted sumeru roses by the kitchen counter before quickly putting it down, "Sorry, I shouldn't touch them, I should leaf them alone," he spoke, a hint of nervousness in his voice as he looked to Tighnari, who seemed stunned into silence, and barely muttered out a "what?"

"Leaf, as in the leaves of a sumeru rose but also as in, I should leave them alone and not touch them" Cyno explained, yet Tighnari seemed even more confused and lowered his eyebrows as he glared at Cyno, "Leaf sounds like leave, do you get the joke yet?"

"Of course I get the joke, you don't need to explain it, I didn't even realise it was a joke... Jokes are supposed to be funny" Tighnari said slowly, as he picked up a spray bottle and began gently misting the plants.

"You don't think my jokes are funny...?" Cyno said, for the first time changing his tone to something other than angry or emotionless, as he almost sounded defeated and embarrassed.

"Well... I can see that it's suppose to be funny, I do like the joke, it just caught me off guard, that's all" Tighnari gritted his teeth as he told the white lie, purely to avoid annoying Cyno anymore than he already has.

"Ah I see... I'll make sure to come up with more jokes in time, so make sure you aren't going to be caught off guard" Cyno said, as he picked up his suitcase effortlessly and carried it down the hallway, and into his bedroom, adjacent to Tighnari's.

Tighnari could only sigh in utter confusion as he began looking through the fridge to make something for dinner and thought to himself about how much he's going to kick Kaveh's ass.

Chapter Text

The morning sun's rays shown down on Cyno as he awoke, gently opening his eyes as he sat up. He had always been good at waking up early, whether it was to practice his fighting techniques, or continue with a research paper, and today was no different. He quickly got dressed, throwing on the same black hoodie he had on yesterday and some cargo trousers as he gave a quick look over at his summer research project paper at his desk. Since he was training to be an actual Matra for the academia, rather than just the dorm rooms, he had to spend most of the summer with different Matra's and follow them in their work.

It was the first time he had seen an actual Matra in action, their swift sword techniques and tracking abilities left the desire to become a Matra grow. Whilst his handwriting was barely legible at best, he knew that he got down the majority of what he had learnt. Still though, he wasn't a 100% confident in it, and hearing Tighnari in the room next door, he thought a second opinion could help, as he grabbed the paper's and knocked on his roommates door. Before he even finished knocking, it seemed like Tighnari already knew he was at the door, and let him in.

"Good morning Cyno, I almost forgot I was sharing a dorm with you last night, you're very... quiet", Tighnari spoke with elegance, as Cyno walked over to his desk. Much like the rest of the dorm, his room was full of plants, with dangling vines around the window, and his bed had a bright green cover, with swirls of dark blue and purple.

"I don't have a reason to make much noise, my room is sufficient and I was finishing up my summer paper, could you have a read through it? I'm not quite sure I still have that scholarly way of writing just yet" Cyno said, as he couldn't help himself but look at the paper that Tighnari was writing.

His handwriting... it was beautiful. The words flowed together like water, and if anyone had a quick peek at it, they would've thought he had typed it out. There was a diagram too of some type of fauna, it's sketch was neat and had clear labels; Cyno knew if he was more of the studious type then he would be jealous.

"Yeah sure I can give it a quick read through, although I might not understand much of the subject matter in depth... Oh..." Tighnari seemed pleasant until he took an actual look at it, and his ears twitched slightly, matching his tail that once was swaying smoothly, come to a halt.

"What's wrong with it? I'm not very good at formatting my thoughts on paper, do you think it needs a re-write?" Cyno asked, letting out a slight sigh in disappointment.

"No no, it's not that. Your structure is pretty good, it's just... I don't mean to be rude but your handwriting is a little messy, makes it difficult to read..." Tighnari furrowed his brows as he leaned closer to the paper. Cyno knew his handwriting wasn't the best, hell, he couldn't even read it sometimes, but hearing it from his new roommate hurt a bit.

"Ah... I see, I'm sorry" Cyno managed to get out as he tried to look away, yet he felt the need to look back at Tighnari. Was it for approval? Maybe... But he struggled to shake the feeling.

"It's fine honestly, you won't lose a grade because of it," Tighnari spoke, not even breaking eye contact with the paper. What felt like an hour of him skimming over the pages to Cyno was only just a couple of minutes, "It's good. I haven't read any of your other papers before but this one had quality to it, I think you'll get this published" Tighnari finally said, smiling as he handed it back to Cyno, who couldn't help but sigh with relief.

"Thanks... I'm going to be heading out to see a classmate... I'll see you soon" Cyno said awkwardly, trying to add some emotion to his voice but he struggled. Should he wave goodbye, give Tighnari a high-five or just leave?

"Okay that's fine, I'm going to go see my old dormmates soon anyway, I'll see you around!" Tighnari smiled as he spoke, nodding to Cyno as he closed the door and left.

Well that could've gone better. The young man couldn't help but wonder why he wanted some appreciation for his work so badly, after all, he was perfectly content with it as it's just a research paper anyway, but the second he entered Tighnari's room, he felt like he was out of his depth all of a sudden. He checked his phone, and sure enough, he had a message from Lisa.

'Hi cutie! I'm at the library ready to catch up whenever you're ready, I've got tea! <3'

Lisa finished her studies last year, but was sticking around help some professors finish their research; she was a true scholar, a shining example of some of the Academia's finest students. Despite most being scared, or down right terrified of the man, she always showed him a true smile and never looked at him differently, unlike the other students. Even in his classes, Cyno was always the last one to get picked for any joint projects, and whispers of people refering to him as a 'desert-dweller' were never rare, but still Cyno never treated any of them wrongly, only when they broke the rules. Even walking through the hallways, he ignored the familar stares and whispers as he walked past people, their eyes sticking into him like daggers, but he pressed on as he headed to the library, where he spotted Lisa relaxing in a chair, sipping some tea as she read her book.

"Hey Lisa, how was your summer break?" Cyno said politely, swinging down his backpack as he sat opposite her, the sunlight through the windows highlighting her figure and her emerald green eyes.

"No need to be so polite, but yes it was quite fun cutie. I travelled back to Mondstadt, met up with old friends and had a great time, how about you? I'm quite interested in your summer project!" She spoke smoothly, her enchanting voice like caramel and hot chocolate as she leaned forward and poured out a cup of her tea for Cyno, "This is some dandelion and valberry tea I picked up from home, it's very calming and sweet"

"I spent most of my summer with the Matra, but it was pretty good, I learnt a decent amount," Cyno said as he sipped the tea and sighed, "I even got the chance to apprehend a scholar who had fled to the desert", he looked up to Lisa who seemed to have a quizical demeanour about her, noticing that something wasn't quite right.

"Is that all? You shouldn't revolve your entire life around your study... It's good to relax with friends and experience the world as a whole" Lisa spoke, sipping her tea as eyed up the man.

"Friends... I don't need them" Cyno got out as he crossed his arms, feeling slightly sheepish, but relaxed, "I'm not good at socialising... Not like you are. You could probably befriend a flying fungus if you wanted"

"Oh cutie, don't praise me so much, but I still stand by my point. Friends are what make the world easier for us" Lisa laughed gently and pulled out some lavender crackers; Cyno's personal favourite snack.

"I've attempted to make friends before, but it resulted in my humiliation... Those 'people' at the TCG club even kicked me out, saying I was ruining the mood" Cyno scowled as he bit into a cracker.

"Well for what it's worth, I consider you a friend. If people aren't going to give you the time of day to be friends with you, you shouldn't let it get to you. You're polite and full of interesting stories, that makes for a good friend wherever you go" Lisa said, swirling a tea spoon in her tea, leaning backwards and stretching.

"I'd also like to think I'm quite funny too" Cyno said seriously, but Lisa chuckled.

"Your jokes just... Have a unique ring to them cutie..." Lisa said, trying to come across as polite but noticed Cyno smirking slightly.

"For what it's worth, my roommate likes them. He said they were funny, and I share his opinion very much so" Cyno couldn't help but smile, as Lisa could only smile pitifully.

"That's a surprise you have a roommate... Normally I would've thought you to be the lone wolf type, sweetheart" Lisa smiled as she talked, almost teasing Cyno.

"I didn't request for one, there was a mistake on the Academia's behalf. His name is Tighnari, I'm sure you've heard of him, even my mentor praised his paper on edible desert fauna" Cyno said, remembering when he read it and was enchanted by the diagrams.

"Ah Tighnari! my my, he is a such cutie indeed. The first time I saw him I felt the urge to scratch his ears and touch his fluffy little tail, but I managed to resist the urge" Lisa chuckled again, as Cyno broke eye contact for once and looked at the ground.

"Yes... He does keep his tail in good condition I guess..." Cyno muttered out as he folded his arms, pretending to be distracted by a nearby bookshelf.

"Oh so you noticed too cutie? Maybe you should see how soft it is for yourself and let me know!" Lisa chuckled again, but Cyno huffed slightly, "I'm joking with you sweetie, but he is very much adorable and an extremely hard worker, you got quite lucky with that"

"What do you mean by that?" Cyno asked as he looked towards Lisa and resumed a more serious tone, "I wouldn't touch his tail without permission, that seems quite rude... And in what way do you mean lucky?"

"You can interpret that however you like cutie, who knows though, maybe this will be the beginning of a beautiful friendship for you!" Lisa smiled and Cyno couldn't help but notice that maybe her words meant something else.

"I doubt so, he already seems busy with his research papers and such... But I am appreciating his company in the dorm so far, he's very good at interior decorating" Cyno admitted, but it seems he had already said too much.

" 'Appreciate his company' you say? Well cutie, like I said, I wish you the best of luck" Lisa smirked as she talked, sipping her tea and watching as Cyno looked away in embarrassment.

"I... Just ignore that. You're reading too much into it" Cyno said, smirking as he looked back at Lisa, "Reading. Get it? You have a book with you that I saw you read as I came in"

"Your jokes are adorable, but unfortuately not quite my cup of tea" She winked and Cyno chuckled, proud of himself that even Lisa will occassionally share a terrible pun, "I'll assume you've been waiting this whole conversation to say that joke too...?"

Cyno nodded. For the next hour or so, the two caught up on other subjects, and Cyno made sure to stay clear of talking about Tighnari any further. He didn't know why, but talking about his roommate made him feel... strange to say the least. Tighnari was everything that Cyno would want in a friend; he found him funny, was polite and talking to him made Cyno feel warm and happy. Eventually Cyno left, but not before Lisa gave him a big hug (that he awkwardly reciprocated) and wished him well for his summer research project.

As he walked back to his dorm, he thought about what he had said about Tighnari, and his ways of decorating the dorm. In the past, Cyno hardly moved any furniture, and never felt the need to decorate, the most decorating he had done was lay down some mats so he could exercise without sweating onto the floor. When he entered the room, he immediately noticed a younger student sitting at the table, fiddling with a charm she had on her bag as her glance darted towards Cyno.

"Who are you? This isn't your dorm..." Cyno spoke, his voice strong as he noticed the girl fumble her words. She had light green hair, and was already wearing the Academia's uniform, her purple eyes complimenting the outfit well.

"I... Uhhhh... Was waiting for Tighnari, he's my mentor... Are you his roommate?" The girl asked, her voice full of nervousness, "Ah! Sorry I forgot to introduce myself, my name's Collei, I'm a first year student!"

"He said he was meeting up with some friends earlier, I suppose he hasn't returned yet" Cyno stated clearly as he dumped his bag by the door and crossed his arms.

"He's never late to one of our sessions though... I was starting to get worried actually..." Collei spoke with geniune worry, and Cyno raised a brow.

"Oh really? I can go look for him, you wait here." Cyno said, as he left the room and looked down the corridors to see Tighnari being harrassed by some other student, and he seemed extremely uncomfortable...

Chapter Text

"Kaveh, as much as I appreciate our friendship, you really push the limits sometimes..." Tighnari sighed loudly as his eyebrows lowered and he glared at Kaveh, who simply smirked and shrugged his shoulders.

"Strange, I recall you wishing for quieter roommates, and that's what I sorted out for you!" Kaveh leaned back and rolled his eyes dramatically, "I thought you would get along with that Matra dude anyways"

"You know what you nimrod? So far he's a much more pleasant roommate than you, Al Haitham or Dehya combined. For starters, he knows how to wash his plates, take out the trash and keep the noise down at night" Tighnari spoke as he glanced around his old dorm. It was just as he'd remembered, plates, pots and cutlery stacked high by the sink, completely filthy, piles of clothes everywhere and a burnt chunk of carpet in the corner, courtesy of Dehya after one too many glasses of wine.

"You could hear us at night?!" Kaveh almost choked on his words, "Dude that's so embarrassing, why would you say that?"

"I meant the arguing you big lump... It still amazes me how you two are together sometimes," Tighnari noted, "some nights it sounded like you two would argue until the sun rose, yet you're still together"

"Oh he's not all that bad, he's very sweet... occassionally...", Kaveh sighed and rubbed his forehead as if he had a headache, "He's still insisting that for everytime he helps me with my research projects, I owe him 200 mora... Can you believe him?"

"If you two are suppose to represent what having a boyfriend is like, I think I'd rather stay single for the rest of my life," Tighnari sighed as he spoke. He was always a bit of a loner growing up, but being at the Academia allowed him to finally show off his talents, and he had made some life-long friends. Besides, he hadn't the time to be worrying about relationships.

"Awhhh cmon, that's a bit harsh..." Kaveh sighed, "Well at least you've seen the ugly sides of relationships..."

"Yeah yeah, whatever, I'd much rather taste test undiscovered fungi in Gandharva Ville for fun than be arguing with someone I 'love' every day" Tighnari sighed, "I suppose I am being too harsh, I will admit, if anything good came out of last year, I do consider you guys good friends"

"There we go, you still have a nice side deep down, underneath your sass!" Kaveh smirked, "Just because we aren't all sharing a dorm anymore, doesn't mean you can forget us, even Dehya wants you to regularly visit"

"Of course I will, I'm a man to my word after all" Tighnari checked the time on his watch as he stood up, "I've gotta be heading off now though, I've got my mentee visiting me soon, I'll make sure to visit you guys often don't worry"

He stood up, and with taking one last look at the pile of unwashed pots and pans that made his nose wrinkle, he left the dorm and started heading down the corridor.

He barely took a couple of steps before he heard an unfortunately familiar voice from behind him, "Hey would you look at that, the fox escaped the zoo again!"

Tighnari turned around with a sigh but was met with the bright flash of a kamera in his face, as an old classmate of his took a close-up of him.

"Hamasa... I'm not in your classes anymore, so you don't have to keep treating me like some wild animal" Tighnari spoke with distaste as he tried to walk away, but the man quickly moved to be infront of him.

"It's not everyday you see a fox roaming the hallways of the Academia, they should really just put you in a cage huh" Hamasa spoke with a smirk written across his face. He was in Tighnari's botanical anatomy class last year, and after Tighnari continued to crush him in number of papers published, the man grew a strong hatred for him, "Anyways I've been working with the professor and he said if I continue the way I'm going, I could end up with a job here at the Academia"

"Good for you I guess... Can I head back to my dorm or are you going to be the human equivalent of a blockage?" Tighnari looked up at the man as he shot daggers into Hamasa's eyes.

"Well at least I am fully human, and not some fucked up hybrid, like a science experiment gone wrong..." Hamasa suddenly developed an anger in his voice as he eyed up Tighnari, getting close to his face, "If you think you can publish a better paper than me again, I swear to Lesser Lord Kusanali herself, you will get what's coming to you fox boy..."

"Your breath stinks... Have you been smoking again? It reeks... Matches your personality to be honest" Tighnari said, backing himself up. This was his last year after all, and he was growing tired of being pushed around just because he had fox-related ancestry.

"You're so fucking full of yourself, do you know that? Before you realise it, you'll come crashing down and burn. Get off your fucking high horse..." Hamasa almost growled out the words, clenching his fist as he stepped forward.

"What's going on?" Came a voice from behind Tighnari, and as he turned around, he was surprised to see Cyno standing, crossing his arms and glaring up at Hamasa.

"Nothing, what's it to you anyway? Just because you're a lower form of a Matra you think you have authority everywhere you go?" Hamasa pushed Tighnari aside as he walked up to Cyno, who seemed smaller in comparison, but had such an intense glare on his face, Tighnari thought he was going to murder him.

"You've been smoking again, and judging by the fact that the designated smoking area is on the other side of the building, you were smoking inside?" Cyno asked, with such a strong look, it made Tighnari almost smile.

"And so what if I have? What are you going to do about it... desert dweller?" Hamasa yelled as he went to push Cyno over, yet Cyno quickly dodged him, moving aside.

Hamasa grumbled as he began some sort of stand off with Cyno, the two eyeing each other up trying to think of their next move, and in an attempt to end it with a punch, Hamasa lunched forward for Cyno, yet Cyno's legs moved quickly, with such speed it impressed Tighnari, and with a quick elbow to the stomach, Hamasa stumbled backwards slightly.

"Are you going to continue your attacks against me, or will you back off? Make your choice wisely..." Cyno spoke so stoicly and with such terrifying might in his voice, Tighnari felt his tail curl up slightly.

"Fuck you! You don't know shit... Why don't you just fuck off back to your little desert hut..." Hamasa spoke with a chilling tone, quickly punching Cyno in his upper arm, as Cyno grumbled and quickly got the man into a tight headlock, as Hamasa thrashed around, yelling obscenities once again. By this point, a couple of residents from nearby dorms, including Kaveh, watched on in fear, as Cyno dragged the man down the hallway to a nearby exit with dauntless strength, and shoved him out the exit. Coming back to Tighnari, Cyno looked down at him into his eyes.

"Are you okay? I'll write a report about Hamasa, wouldn't be the first time" Cyno said casually, still maintaining his emotionless vibe as he ignored the whispers from nearby students, who were pointing at him, "He didn't hurt you, did he?"

"I'm fine... thank you..." Tighnari sighed, not feeling any intimidation from Cyno as he noticed his lower arm, "He got you pretty good on your arm there..." Tighnari pointed to Cyno forearm, which had a small slash across it.

"It's nothing, he tried to slash me with his dorm keys, I'll be fine" Cyno sighed as he looked down at the wound, and admittedly, it did look quite painful, "Collei is waiting for you by the way, in the dorm"

"I was just heading back when that jerk tried to harass me..." Tighnari said as he walked back to the dorm with Cyno by his side, he could overhear the whispers as the two past a couple of onlookers.

'Did you see that? Cyno just threw that guy out of the building...'

'He scares me, he seems so emotionless, it's like he's a psycho'

'I bet he's going to murder someone one day... Just don't get on the wrong side of him'

'He was in one of my classes last year, and he's a freak! He doesn't even talk to anyone and just glares at us...'

"It's okay, he won't do that again" Cyno spoke as the two entered the dorm, Collei nervously looking at them. Tighnari was convinced there was no way Cyno didn't hear at least some of the whispers, yet he didn't seem too bothered by them for some reason.

"Ah Collei, sorry for the delay, we had a bit of an incident a couple of dorms down, no more delaying, we should start on the basics of botanical medicine" Tighnari smiled as he sat down, comforting Collei who seemed to be eyeing up Cyno fearfully, as he walked into the kitchen casually.

"Ye-Yeah okay!" Collei tried to force a smile as got out a textbook and some plant samples, "I've got some of the flora you asked me to grab, is this enough?"

"Yes that'll do great actually. We'll just go over some basic recipes for simple ailments, it'll give you a good headstart for your next couple of classes" Tighnari smiled as he admired the samples and laid them out on the table.

Tighnari began explaining the different flora's, and what parts of them can be used for different creams, rubs and pastes, yet he could sense Cyno lurking behind them, who was standing by the door to the kitchen watching them closely. Even Collei seemed a little freaked out by his prescence as he looked over their studying.

"Cyno, are you interested in this subject too?" Tighnari said suddenly, turning around and catching Cyno off-guard slightly, who quickly scratched his head.

"Oh... It seems slightly interesting I think, even if it's not my area of study in particular" Cyno muttered, as he slid his hands into his pockets, "If I'm distracting you, I can leave"

"Well your staring is a bit off putting for us..." Tighnari admitted, when he suddenly got an idea, "Actually, we're just going over this one recipe for a paste that can be used for cuts on the body and I think this could be a good opportunity for Collei to test this recipe, would you mind being a test subject for us?"

Cyno paused for a moment, looking down at the cut he thought was quite small and insignificant, even if it was bleeding slightly, before shrugging slightly and pulling a chair to sit near Collei and Tighnari, "Sure, why not... Maybe we will all become test friends forever"

Tighnari tried to hide his rolling eyes by rubbing them, as he looked at Collei who, for the most part, seemed unamused by the joke, with some pity even showing in an obviously fake smile.

"Anyways, Collei, grab some of that mixture we made earlier, and add 2 drops of cryo flower sap to it. This masks the bitter smell, and creates a cooling sensation on the body, which does what to the blood?" Tighnari completely ignored Cyno's joke, as the confused man stared at him with disbelief.

"It... Uhhh constricts the blood vessels so there will be less bleeding?" Collei spoke timidly, racking her brain trying to remember.

"Yes it does, good thing you remembered" Tighnari smiled sweetly as he mixed in the sap with the rest of the mixture with a mortar and pestle, calmly grinding it all together.

"Did you guys get my joke? You said I could be a test subject, and test rhymes with bes-" Cyno began explaining but Tighnari quickly cut him off.

"We both understood the joke... It just wasn't that good, sorry Cyno" Tighnari admitted as he caught Collei chuckling quietly .

"I thought it was a good joke... Do you not think my jokes are funny?" Cyno asked as he looked to Collei and Tighnari, and since Collei seemed embarrassed to be stuck in the middle of this, Tighnari thought he would come to her rescue.

"It wasn't funny... Not even a little bit, now give me your hand" Tighnari said, making Cyno look embarrassed slightly as he put his arm onto the table.

"For a small wound like this, you don't need much of the paste we made, just a little bit directly onto the cut to soothe the pain, and stop the bleeding..." Tighnari's words came out so calmly and clearly that Collei followed along, making notes in a notebook as he spoke. Tighnari scooped up some of the paste onto 2 fingers, and he held down Cyno arm tenderly, as he rubbed the paste along the cut with a clement motion, moving up and down the cut slowly, and explaining the medicinal properties in detail to Collei, as Cyno tried to hide some redness on his face by turning away and looking towards the blank wall next to them. It felt like many minutes of this for Cyno, yet it only took a few seconds.

"So Cyno, how does the cut feel now?" Tighnari asked, looking towards his roommate who was still facing the wall, "Uh Cyno? You big lummox I'm talking to you!"

Cyno quickly faced Tighnari and swallowed, nodding his head quickly, "Yes it feels much better now, a bit cold I guess..."

"Perfect, and after around 20 minutes, any swelling should decrease and within a couple of hours, for a cut this big, the wound will begin to patch itself up. Normally, it wouldn't be necessary on a cut this small, but for bigger wounds or slashes, you can observe the healing process. There should be some pictures on page 87 that show it in further detail" Tighnari explained as he flipped through some pages of the texbook for Collei, as Cyno quickly stood up.

"I... I've got to go finish some work now... I'll talk to you later Tighnari, Collei..." Cyno fumbled over his words as he tucked the chair in, and swiftly walked to his bedroom and closed the door, not even looking at either of the students as he walked away.

"Is... Is he okay Tighnari?" Collei asked quietly, watching Cyno leave with such haste, "Do you think he's upset we didn't like his joke?"

"No it's not that, I'm sure. He already knows I'm not the biggest fan of his jokes, maybe he just got embarrassed at the joke falling so flat on it's face..." Tighnari wondered as he spoke, looking towards Cyno's now closed bedroom door. This side of Cyno was new, normally he seemed quite stoic and emotionless, yet to see him walk away so quickly, it almost seemed as if he was embarrassed, worried Tighnari deeply, so much so that he could sense his tail falling.

"Should we... continue with the session?" Collei asked, uncertainty filled her voice.

"Y-Yes we should... I'm sure Cyno's okay, maybe he really did have some work to finish..." Tighnari sighed slightly and tried to regain the swing of his tail as he continued with the study session.

Chapter Text

"Fuck sake..." Cyno gruffed as he barely managed to fasten the top bottom on his uniform. Today was the first day back into classes for all scholars, and Cyno was sighing as he looked into his full length mirror. The scholar's uniform was supposed to be lightly fitting, to help combat the heat of Sumeru, with the robe flowing down gently, yet Cyno's felt ill-fitting at best, as he assumed it was due to his increase in muscles that were to blame. He wasn't the strongest guy around, not by a long-shot, as his techniques with a polearm led him to adapting a more swift and clean-cut fighting style, but his body had definitely become toned over the years of preparation.

Rolling up his sleeves slightly, he noticed his arms did feel stronger, even if they weren't all that big, and his cut from a week ago had healed perfectly. Cyno always kept checking it everyday, like clockwork when he woke up, as his mind always took him back to Tighnari applying that medicinal paste. It was a strange re-occurring thought for Cyno, he hadn't ever been so caught up on something so menial, yet he gently traced 2 fingers along where the wound was, in an attempt to mimic the motion Tighnari made.

His roommates fingers were so soft and gentle, his fingertips reminding Cyno of fresh cotton, and the calming way he was speaking to Collei as he did so...

Cyno looked at himself once more in the full length mirror, as he caught himself turning red. Pausing, he gently touched his cheeks, which felt warm and nice, almost reminding him of Tighnari's touch once more.

He shook his head. It wasn't the time for that... Whatever that was. Hastily, he grabbed his bag and training polearm as he fastened it to the side of his bag and left his room, to be met with Tighnari reading some research paper at the table.

"Good morning Tighnari... Hu... How are you today?" Cyno tried to hide his awkwardness, bititng into his cheeks so hard he could taste a hint of metallic blood.

"A little stressed, but I'll be fine, it's the first day of classes after all, and I have a shift at the flower shop downtown afterwards, so I won't be home until late" The man sighed, twiddling his spoon in his breakfast bowl as his ears fell slightly.

"Ah... okay... I hope that goes well for you then..." Cyno's awkwardness shone on full display as he went to grab his lunch from the fridge.

"Are you feeling alright? I know you're more of the quiet type, but you seem to be even more reclused than before" Tighnari watched as Cyno grabbed a small package, which Tighnari noted didn't even smell of anything, and seemed completely bland.

"I'm fine, it's the final year so I've got a lot on my plate..." Cyno muttered, double checking his bag to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything, "I've also got a week away for Matra training coming up in a couple of weeks, so there's that to prepare for"

For anyone training to become a Matra, this week of training was often referred to as simply, 'The Week Test'. It involved having students be thrown out into the wild, and given 'worst-case scenario' tests, from anything such as being lost in the middle of the desert at night, to dealing with a fake poison circling their body. Previous records show that only 30% of students pass the test at best, some years only a select few deemed well enough to join the Matra, if, and only if, they can finish the rest of the year of studying that is. Many students would return back with injuries or ailments that would take weeks to heal.

"Ah I think I've heard about that before, the tales I've heard seem quite scary" Tighnari recalled, "Knowing how to deal with such extremities in the wilderness is a talent in of itself"

"I've been preparing for it since last year, I just need to brush up some scenarios and I'll be fine. It isn't for another month and a half anyways" Cyno noted, as he had been counting down the days to The Week Test for ages now.

"If I can recall correctly, many students have to use their knowledge of wild fauna and flora to their advantage, so if you need help with any of that, I will be more than happy to help" Tighnari smiled as he looked at Cyno, who for once, showed a slightly smile back and nodded.

"Thank you Tighnari, I will probably take you up on your offer than, if that's alright" Cyno tried to hide his smile, but he could notice even Tighnari seemed surprised, "Anyways, there will likely be quite a few people around for my TCG club after classes, that all okay with you?"

"I'll be at work, so I don't mind. As long as you guys don't leave a huge mess for me to clean up later, I can permit it I guess" Tighnari said with a playful smirk.

"The only mess that will be here are other people's decks, I will completely demolish anyone who thinks they could possibly beat me" Cyno crossed his arms seriously, "There is Cyno way I will lose."

Tighnari groaned, rubbing his forehead with displeasure, "It's too early for your terrible puns, please don't subject me to these first thing in the morning again..."

"I'm proud of that one... Was it really that bad?" Cyno relaxed himself a little and seemed slightly hurt

"Yes it was, your jokes and puns are simply awful... If you ever struggle to apprehend a scholar one day as a Mahamatra, just go ahead and tell them your jokes so they'll turn themselves in" Tighnari playfully said, trying to cheer up the poor guy infront of him, but it had limited success.

"I think we just have different senses of humour, I think I'm good at lightening the mood" Cyno said, as Tighnari had to stifle a laugh, masking it with a cough, "I should go now, I'll see you later Tighnari... Bye" Cyno nodded as he left the room, raising his hand almost to wave, but then scratching his head instead.

There was a brisk walk in his step, and Cyno felt more than ready for his classes, there was a theory class and then some weapon's training around the back of the Academia. As usual, no one spoke to him, even in his weapon's training class when he was showing off some new techniques with his polearm to a couple of people, he was met with radio silence. Whatever, that didn't bother him, as he walked back to his dorm in the early afternoon, and spotted one of his posters he had put up.

'TCG Club. Head to room 237 for snacks, battles and theorycrafting. 4pm on mondays. Hosted by Cyno'

It wasn't the prettiest thing, but Cyno thought it got the message across clearly, and he had been preparing multiple different decks and playstyles for the first day of the club. Entering his dorm, he set up the board on the table, and finished preparing some pita pockets for anyone to snack on. Just 10 minutes until he expected people to walk through the door and he was ready, anxiously waiting as his leg bounced and his fingers tapped against the table.

...

Cyno checked his phone for the fourth time and it was 4pm exactly. Maybe people just wanted to be fashionably late? He hadn't had anyone approach him in person asking about the club, but the academia had hundreds of students, so surely there'll be at least a few people who will wanna stop by, even just for a quick game. His eyes seemed glued to the door, just waiting for it to open, yet it seemed still. After a couple of minutes, his nerves got the best of him and he opened the door, looking down the corridor. Absolutely no one, not a single soul in sight.

"Where is everyone..." Cyno muttered under his breath as he headed back inside, and sat at the table. Whilst he waited, he set up a practice game, playing against himself, but he put his deck up against a strong fatui deck and played. Every now and then when he heard footsteps outside, he looked towards the door, yet no one seemed to stop by. Before he knew it, his practice game was over, and he checked his phone again.

4:13pm

It's the first day back to classes after a long summer break, people were probably busy so perhaps they'll head inside later. Another practice game of his two favourite meta decks against each other and still nothing, as he snacked on one of the many pita pockets he made in preparation.

After a couple of games against himself, Cyno's phoned buzzed and he immediately picked it up, only to see one of the professors complaining of a 'strange smell' coming from somewhere on his floor that he needed to sort out. He sighed as he looked at the table, the rows of dice and pile of actions cards had been perfectly laid out, just waiting for a game of cards. He hastily wrote up a sign to stick on his dorm door, saying he'll be back in a couple of minutes.

The strange smell turned out to be a couple of students hiding in an unused double dorm that had managed to get some mushrooms from someone and smoke them. They weren't too difficult to deal with, since most of them seemed to be deep in hallucinations, but as Cyno made his way back to his dorm, it was still empty. He decided to do his write up of the students at the table, still hopeful at least someone will show up, despite it being almost 5:30pm by now.

As he wrote, he felt fatigue hitting himself, but he knocked it off and finished, making a note to give it to a Mahamatra tomorrow. His eyes cast towards the sunset, as golden sunbeams illuminated the table, and the pita pockets which had turned cold by now, as he leaned his hand on his head, yawning slightly. Weapon's training never tired him this much, so he assumed it was the mental fatigue catching up after a long day, so he decided closing his eyes just for a moment would be fine...

"Cyno? You big lummox wake up, I could hear you snoring from outside!" Tighnari said, gently shaking Cyno's head as the half-asleep scholar woke up.

"Huh? I was asleep...?" Cyno muttered out, yawning slightly as he looked out the window. The sunset was gone and the moon was in the sky, along with many brightly coloured stars.

"Yes you were, I guess all this card game stuff knocked you out hm?" Tighnari said as he looked at the table, seeing the untouched, stone-cold pita pockets and the game board laid out.

"No one showed up" Cyno muttered, his unexpressive tone kicking back in as he looked at the table, "I guess everyone was too busy today"

"Ah... I'm sorry Cyno" Tighnari sighed and showed an empathic look with a small smile, "You put a lot of effort into this today, are these pita pockets too?" Tighnari picked one up, and even though it was cold, took a bite and smiled wider, his tail wagging slightly and his ears perked up, "They're really good, I didn't take you to be the chef type huh"

"Thanks Tighnari, I appreciate it" Cyno spoke, trying to avoid the disappointment for himself in his voice, "I can heat up a few for you if you'd like"

"That would be great, thank you Cyno" Tighnari said politely as he sat down, his tail curling to his side as he took off an apron.

Cyno picked up the plate of food and headed into the kitchen, and looked at Tighnari through the pass-through, "How was your shift?"

"Pretty good actually" Tighnari spoke slowly, avoiding speaking with his mouth full, "Admittedly I do have a soft spot for nature, especially flowers, and it also gives me an opportunity to study those from different areas"

"Flowers... They are pretty" Cyno muttered to himself as he turned the oven on, "Reminds me of a fairytale my adopted father used to tell me, about the golden desert flower. A rose that only grew in the middle of sandstorms, with no other fauna around it, standing by itself strong in the middle of a baren land"

"I've heard that one too, my father told me about it once. He studies in the desert mostly, he's an entomologist" Tighnari noted as he looked through a couple of the cards on the table as Cyno shuddered.

"Ugh... Insects... They bug me, whenever I see those flying things buzzing around, I feel so sick that I need to go to a wasp-ital" Cyno said, hiding a snigger in his voice as he brought out the now heated pita pockets.

"I was almost about to commemorate you for not putting me through any of your awful puns, but you just had to ruin it didn't you?" Tighnari sighed as he took another pita pocket, "Thank you for cooking me dinner anyway"

Cyno flustered as he quickly grabbed a pita pocket and took a small bite, "It's alright, food shouldn't go to waste anyways..."

"Mhm, couldn't have said it better myself" Tighnari looked at Cyno whose gaze was directed at the window, "Back in Gandharva Ville, whenever adventurers would leave food scraps lying around, it always attracted slimes and flying fungi, they were such a pain to deal with"

"How do you deal with them anyways?" Cyno curiously asked, finally turning back to the scholar.

"I've taught myself how to use a bow, although I'm not very good, it usually scares away any fungi that try to break into the village" Tighnari noted, finishing his food.

The two men continue their chat for an hour, discussing their differences in upbringing and home towns, with Cyno being from the desert, he seemed extremely interested within the wildlife of the rainforest, and Tighnari seemed equally attentive to the climate and life of being in the desert.

"So that's how I ended up studying botony, although I've always known deep down personally I would go into something like this, especially when I received my dendro vision" Tighnari said, lifting up his shirt and showing his vision that hung on a tassle on his trousers.

"I didn't even notice that, I will admit I'm quite jealous, I've only met a couple of people who got blessed with one" Cyno noted as he looked closer at the vision, trying to not get distracted by Tighnari's midriff, "But I prefer to think about what you can do with one, rather than how or why to achieve one"

"I'm sure luck must play into it slightly" Tighnari laughed slightly, as he took a glimpse over to the window, and noticing it was virtually pitch black outside, "Oh damn, I didn't realise how quickly time flew by, I should probably head to bed now" Tighnari quickly stood up and brushed himself down.

"Oh? And here I was about to offer you a game of genius invocation... Perhaps another time?" Cyno asked as he also stood up, smiling ever so slightly at Tighnari as his ears twitched.

"Maybe, I've only played a handful of times so I'm not too sure" Tighnari thought for a second, admittedly enjoying his conversation with Cyno today.

"I'll take that as a yes then" Cyno nodded as he packed up his game board and cards, "I'll see you in the morning, sleep well Tighnari"

"I will, goodnight to you too Cyno, I expect more of the pita pockets soon" Tighnari smiled as he gave a small wave, and his tail swayed happily.

Cyno couldn't help but smile to himself as he finished sorting out his cards into their respectful deck, and carried the equipment to his bedroom, and although Tighnari's bedroom was quiet, he couldn't help but fall asleep in his bed, already thinking about what deck would be best against Tighnari.

Chapter Text

"So... I've got the goods for you" Nasrin spoke with a hushed voice, trying to conceal her face with the big dark green cloak she was wearing as her eyes shifted side to side.

"Please don't talk like that, makes it sound like we're some sort of criminal gang dealing drugs" Tighnari muttered as he pursed his lips and gave Nasrin a strong side eye, "you're just handing over a couple of plants to me, that's all"

"Sorry... Iraj just told me to keep a low profile, but I've got the mushrooms and roots you requested in your letter" Nasrin said timidly as she lowered her hood and pulled out a small package from the inside of her cloak.

"Great, I'll begin working on some sort of cure, how are the infected doing?" Tighnari spoke with deep concern in his voice, his fingers trembling ever so slightly as he put the ingredients into his bag.

"Not good... Iraj's fever has gotten extremely bad, he's struggling to even stand up. The other's conditions are steadily progressing to the worser side of things..." Nasrin sighed as her fingers tapped against her side.

"It's okay, I'll figure something out. Have you got the fresh water moonshrooms?" Tighnari asked as Nasrin tilted her head in confusion.

"I thought I delivered those to you... Well not to you personally, but I left them in a package by your door" Nasrin spoke as she looked at Tighnari, who's face fell.

"You're kidding me right? Why would you do that... Are you trying to get me kicked out of the Academia?" Tighnari seemed almost aghast with shock, and almost lost his demeanour.

"I'm sorry! You weren't in when I knocked and I got nervous seeing so many students about!" Nasrin swallowed and looked at the floor, "I'll get some more for you, I won't mess up this time"

"You better not! I can't afford to lose my place here... Just be careful please, I'll get to work straight away" Tighnari swallowed as his gaze also fell to the floor. What he was doing, experimenting with plants without direct permission from a sage, and spreading information to those outside of the academia was absolutely against the rules, possibly even illegal, but he felt as if he had no choice. As Tighnari hastily made his way back to the dorm, he thought of the countless letters and meetings he had with numerous sages and professors, requesting aid and help in Gandharva Ville as well as other settlements in and out of the rainforest, just to be met with excuses and delays. His friends and neighbours don't deserve delays and excuses, they need the knowledge of how to take care of the forest and of the plants in the area, so illness and disease won't befall them.

Tighnari quickly slid into his room, Cyno had mentioned earlier about how he was going to work out so Tighnari had at least an hour or two to begin experimenting. He lit up an incense to mask any smells that would be created from his small tests and unpackaged the fauna. The incense was loving to his nose, one of Tighnari's favourite ways to relax at the end of the day.

His experiments were fairly basic, due to not being able to use any of the high-tec equipment within the Academia, but he made some progress, however Tighnari became so absorbed in his work he failed to realise some footsteps approaching the door, where he was startled with a knock.

"Hey Tighnari, I'm back, can I ask you something? I think you might be able to help me" Cyno asked from the other side of the door.

Tighnari muttered a simple 'fuck' under his breath as he quickly tried to hide his equipment up, sliding leaves and mushrooms into his drawer, however a precariously balanced conical flask smashed onto the floor, and Cyno burst in, alarmed.

"Everything okay? I heard something smash... Ah a glass flask, what a pane" Cyno said, as Tighnari sighed, turning to his roommate as he slid some more things into his desk draw behind his back.

"Did you really just enter my room just to tell me another bad joke?" Tighnari couldn't help but sigh with relief slightly, continuing to slide various fauna parts into his desk.

"Did that one not crack you up?" Cyno continued his ridiculous puns as Tighnari's fear slowly quelled, as Cyno seemed too focused on his puns to notice

"No it did not... What did you need help with anyway?" Tighnari asked, quickly glancing at the various fauna on his desk, praying Cyno would be none the wiser.

"It has to do with some students I apprehended the other day, they had gotten their hands on some illegal mushrooms and... smoked them" Cyno crossed his arms and stepped forward, "What's that smell?"

"It's just some incense, helps me to study and relax... So about those mushrooms" Tighnari gulped slightly, realising he was to blame, however he daren't move in fear of his experiments being exposed.

"No not that... it's something else, something... Like those mushrooms..." Cyno's eyes shot a deadly glare to Tighnari, as the man slowly approached him, "What's that stuff behind you?"

"It's nothing, just some research paper I'm working on, it shouldn't concern you" Tighnari held up his hand to block Cyno, however the vigilant student kept walking towards him, attempting to glance behind Tighnari.

"Tighnari... Those plants... Are they permitted in the Academia?" Cyno asked, a seemingly rhetorical question as Tighnari began to realise why others feared Cyno so much, "Let me see them, I recognise them from other students using them recreationally."

"Cyno I can explain, this really isn't what it looks like" Tighnari tried to regain the confidence in his voice as he side stepped, and Cyno got a full glance at all of the fauna.

"Did you really think I wouldn't be deceived by you? This is... illegal Tighnari, it violates the rules the sages have in place" Cyno spoke with a strong voice, maintaining his stoic persona.

"It's not for recreational use, I need to do this" Tighnari explained but Cyno looked almost... disappointed? Tighnari could tell the man had a difficult time looking at him as he spoke, every word seemingly making the situation more difficult, "I'm working on helping people, I wouldn't dare dream of recreational uses", again, a slight white lie. Tighnari had taken fungi before back at home when he was studying it's affects, but he made sure to stay clear of them afterwards.

"Lets allow the sages to judge this, come with me so we can sort this out" Cyno said, a slight tremble in his voice, as he desperately tried to appear almost intimidating to Tighnari.

"People are sick. Gandharva Ville is having to isolate residents, their fevers are getting worse. I'm trying to see if their local fauna can be used to combat whatever illness their experiencing" Tighnari explained as Cyno paused, looking at the floor in contemplation.

"Why haven't you asked the Sages for permission?" Cyno questioned, finally looking to Tighnari who simply sighed.

"I have, numerous times. I know their word is final and just, but they won't send any doctors or nurses to Gandharva Ville. I'm the only one from the village who can possibly try to find some botanical medicine for them" Tighnari kept explaining, with each point Cyno was more and more conflicted. A thick silence fell the room, Tighnari felt like he could hardly breath as he awaited a response.

"You... You're doing this to help people..." Cyno finally got out, his ruby red eyes meeting Tighnari's, "What about those mushrooms the other students got their hands on the other day?"

"That was a mistake on my behalf, Nasrin, a forest ranger, left them there. I won't allow it to happen again, I promise" Tighnari spoke, getting some of the letters he had received from his home village as he passed them to Cyno, "The proof is here, if you don't believe me"

"I do believe you..." Cyno spoke with a strain in his voice, his morals deeply conflicted as he read the letters. It was true, the sages were ignoring the issue, and Gandharva Ville's residents were dealing with a spreadable fever that has already bed-bound some people. The only relief they were getting was in the form of various medicines Tighnari was creating.

"If... If you decide to report me still, I will just continue my work back at home. I have to ensure my friends and neighbours are safe" Tighnari spoke as Cyno read through the letters. It took a while, but eventually Cyno gently placed them on the desk.

"I... I won't report you... You're doing this for the best of people, not for yourself... You're a good person Tighnari" Cyno looked into Tighnari's eyes with a warmth, almost reassurance, "Promise me you won't allow anyone else to get a hold of your fauna or experiments?"

Tighnari smiled, and held out his hand, "I promise, it was a miscommunication, and it won't happen again"

Cyno grasped Tighnari's hand with a firmness and shook it, giving a slight smile, "Good. Use a different incense by the way, I could still smell the fauna from outside the room"

Tighnari chuckled slightly, mostly with relief, "Alright I will, at least you got to the bottom of those mushrooms at least"

"Yes that's true... I'll have to come up with some excuse as to how the students got their hands on those mushrooms... I hope your research won't be in vain then" Cyno mentioned, raising his eyebrows as he spoke.

"It won't be, I'm close to getting some sort of medicine out to them, and then hopefully I won't have to do this anymore" Tighnari smiled as he spoke, "I'll get back to my research then, unless there's anything else you need help with?"

"Not for the time being, if you're free on friday afternoon, could you help me study rainforest fauna? It could be a help for The Week Test... I won't know until it actually begins that is" Cyno mentioned as his gaze fell upon the numerous textbooks neatly stacked up on Tighnari's desk.

"That's all fine with me, I said I would help you anyway, and I'll always keep to my word" Tighnari smiled, "I'll see you around then Cyno, I've got to sort this research out sooner rather than later"

"Absolutely, not that you need it, but I wish you good luck in your research Tighnari" Cyno nodded as he left and Tighnari felt his jaw unclench as an unrealised tension in him left and he sighed, turning back to his work. Looking at it, he felt almost shocked at how easily Cyno left him on, he knew he was unforgiving when it came to rules, so why was Tighnari an exception? The question stuck in his mind, as his respect for Cyno deeply increased. He wasn't this ruthless monster everyone described him as, much the opposite, he was kind and always tried to show Tighnari a softer side for him, even if it fell flat. Tighnari couldn't help but smile, wondering why his roommate was always in his mind

Chapter Text

"So, how much do you already know then?" Tighnari asked, dumping a stack of textbooks onto the table as Cyno eyed them up and sighed slightly.

"Well, definitely not as much as you... My knowledge when it comes to fauna and plants is definitely better when it comes to desert fauna, not that there's much of it" Cyno grabbed one of the textbooks and quickly flicked through it. Each page filled with diagrams, photos and paragraphs upon paragraphs of text, most of these plants Cyno could only vaguely recognise.

"That's good, gives us a starting point" Tighnari smiled as he sat opposite his roommate, pulling out some of his own previous research papers from his bag, as well as some stationary, all perfectly aligned and ready for the study session.

"Not exactly. The Week Test focuses on our weaknesses, and since I'm from the desert, they won't put my test there" Cyno mentioned as his mind flickered back to when all the trainee matra's went to Aaru village, and he was the only one who could deal with the heat for a long period of time, "So rainforest fauna will be the best to study"

"Well that narrows it down..." Tighnari mentioned sarcastically as he flipped through a couple of pages of a nearby textbook, "Have a quick read through this textbook, let me know which ones you recognise and then we can focus on a couple of common fauna in particular"

"Sure, sounds like a good game plan to me" Cyno muttered as he read through a couple of pages. He appreciated the work many botonists have put forward, but it would be impossible to learn everything in just 4 days, and compared to Tighnari, he was pretty much blind in this topic.

"You can relax too, it's just a quick study session" Tighnari noted, catching Cyno off guard, "I can almost hear your teeth grinding, your shoulders look so rigid it reminds me of a statue"

Cyno looked up surprisingly, and unclenched his jaw he didnt even realise was clenched, feeling a slight pain. He wasn't used to this, his study sessions were always alone, and his communication skills remained poor.

"Sorry..." Cyno mentioned, breaking eye contact as he tried to relax his shoulders and focus back on the pages in front of him, yet he could feel Tighnari's eyes looking at him.

Tighnari's eyes were... interesting to Cyno, at least that's how Cyno thought of them. Beautiful shades of brown, with hints of baby blue reminded Cyno of puddles after a rainy day; calming, soothing an-

"Cyno?" Tighnari asked, raising his voice slightly, "You've been staring at that page for at least a minute... it's about grass" Tighnari had to almost stop himself from chuckling.

"Oh yeah, I was just thinking of... what to do with it" Cyno mentioned, his mind racing to find any excuse, "Use it to make rope perhaps?"

"Oh wow, uh..." Tighnari raised his eyebrows and leaned backwards, twiddling a pen back and forth in his fingers, "I suppose you might be able to, but it would take a while, you'd have to tie it together and weave it tightly"

"Good to know then" Cyno breathily said, as he flickered forward a couple of pages, "I know a couple of these, mostly the common ones though... I don't know if they would help me that much"

"That's okay, no worries, anything will help you in the end" Tighnari smiled as he spoke, looking through a textbook for himself, effortlessly flickering through the pages, "So, tell me about this Test then, all I've heard are spooky rumours in the corridors"

"Well, we'll be given a folder with information, think of it as a fake case study we have to memorise when the test begins. Then we have to head out to a location, and we'll be given extreme difficulties to face" Cyno mentioned, looking towards Tighnari who seemed to be politely nodding and making quick notes, "For example, I might be heading somewhere deep within the jungle and I'll have to face a hoard of mutated fungi whilst pursuing a fake scholar"

"Oh so I see, so you wanted to brush up on fauna in the rainforest because...?" Tighnari asked, smirking almost as he could make no connection, yet felt pleased to be spending some time with Cyno, who seemed deep in thought.

"Well... I've read up on previous tests, some require you to use the fauna nearby to your advantage" Cyno muttered, seemingly trying to think of an excuse off the top of his head.

Tighnari paused as he tried to make sense of the vague answer, and he couldn't help but think about how Cyno would be better spending his time studying something else, "Alright, well as long as this is a good use of your time then"

"Of course it is" Cyno almost immediately answered, crossing his arms, "This subject, It's important for mahamatras. I was thinking the other day, Flow-where could I go to study botony, and then I realised this session could help"

Tighnari immediately cringed, having to rub his eyes with slight frustration, "You just had to ruin it didn't you... So close was I to think you won't make any stupid puns"

"Not funny?" Cyno asked, his tone dropping as he had slightly sad look on his face, "flow-where. It sounds like flower, but with emphasis on the last part, -wer, sounding like where instead"

Tighnari looked to Cyno with pity almost, however with his eyes narrowed it probably looked more like he wanted to kill him, "I understood your 'pun', if you can call it that...", Tighnari noticed that Cyno still had his arms crossed, and his stoic look confused him, he seemed so defensive, "Uncross your arms, this isn't an interrogation, just a study session. It's okay to relax Cyno"

"I am relaxed though?" Cyno mentioned as caught a glimpse of himself in the window reflection.

"You're not. You've kept your arms crossed for ages and your back is so straight if you laid down I could use it as a coffee table" Tighnari playfully said, not noticing Cyno's cheeks blush slightly, "take a deep breath, relax those shoulders and maybe smile for once"

Cyno squirmed in his chair slightly, trying to lean back more casually and rest his hands on the table as he continued looking through the textbook in front of him.

Tighnari was also reading, but looked up to Cyno every now and then, his skin glowing in the sunlight and his hair looked ever so fluffy and soft. There was an urge from Tighnari to stroke his hair but he held back, knowing that that's what a lot of people have asked to do to his ears and tail before.

"Alright, my knowledge on mushrooms in the rainforest is really bad, I hardly know any of these" Cyno said, looking up to catch Tighnari staring back at him smiling warmly, which in turn made Cyno go quiet and swallow.

"Well you've chosen the right person to ask about that" Tighnari grabbed a research paper he had made the previous year, "I'll go through this with you, it's a study I did on common fungus and the effects on them, would save you from accidentally getting diarrhea or passing out"

"Yeah that would be quite shitty..." Cyno said as he moved his chair to be next to Tighnari as they were about to read through the paper together, but not before Tighnari cringed and shot a glare to Cyno.

"You're lucky you're my friend, or else I might start charging you mora for these study sessions" Tighnari smirked as he opened up the research paper to the beginning, however Cyno seemed surprised.

"I'm you're friend?" Cyno couldn't help but look at Tighnari with shock, he could count his friends in his lifetime on one hand, and he didn't even realise Tighnari saw him that way.

"Yes, unless you don't want to be for whatever reason?" Tighnari once again rolled his eyes slightly, "Need me to sign a piece of paper to make it official?"

"Well there's no need for your sarcasm, I'm admittedly surprised, I thought I might need to get better at lightening the mood... or talking..." Cyno tried to focus on the paper as he spoke yet he was almost hypnotised by Tighnari's eyes once again, and the longer he looked at them, the more he felt happy and at peace.

"You don't need to lighten the mood, your puns and jokes are quite enough as it is... But anyway, you're easy to talk to, even if you don't think so and I enjoy your company" Tighnari slowly twirled a pen around in his fingers as he spoke, noticing Cyno's blush but deciding to keep quiet about it. Anyways, Tighnari thought he looked good that way.

"I... Uhh... much enjoy your company too Tighnari... Anyways, what fungus should I avoid?" Cyno daren't make eye contact with Tighnari, as he tried to casually flip through a couple of pages, ignoring Tighnari's eyes scanning across his face.

"Definitely these ones, or any that grow under dripping water" Tighnari began explaining, completely in his element, "if you don't avoid those, you'll be spending up to a week hallucinating and throwing up". He was cool, calm and confident, and Cyno instantly felt at ease. Tighnari's words and speech was as elegant and calming as his handwriting, everything was so clear to Cyno.

An hour went by, in which Cyno made a lot of hasty notes as Tighnari continued with the lesson, what he could eat, what he should avoid, any medicinal properties of certain plants that could come in handy, and much to Tighnari's surprise, Cyno didn't make anymore bad jokes or puns.

"Alright, so I've taught you pretty much all the basics when it comes to fungi, they will probably be the most helpful to you if you can remember which ones are safe" Tighnari smiled as he closed the paper and looked at Cyno, who seemed a little frazzled and was still hecticly writing down some notes.

"It's a lot more intensive than I was expecting... I'll just keep clear of any I don't recognise" Cyno mentioned as he finished writing, and realised he could hardly read his own handwriting once again.

"That's fine, you've still got a couple of days to practice that stuff, and remember, mistakes are all part of the learning process" Tighnari said as he slid his research paper over to Cyno, who smiled back at him.

"Thanks Tighnari, I'll make sure to take care of your paper, it's impressive you're able to make breakthroughs in botony at your age" Cyno carefully moved the paper aside as he grabbed a cup of now cold coffee and took a mouthful.

"No need to flatter me, it's fine. I've always wanted to study botony, I feel like I was made for it. After my studies I'll head back to Gandharva Ville with my knowledge and help the forest rangers" Tighnari spoke slowly, as fatigue was beginning to hit him slightly.

"What about working here, in the Academia? I've heard many professors sing your praises, could be an easy job for you" Cyno said

"Absolutely not, I wouldn't want to work here, too many rules, regulations and stress. Back at home would be perfect, I didn't build my own house just to never go back there" Tighnari smiled as he spoke, his tail swishing gently behind him.

"You built your own house? That's quite impressive..." Cyno smiled slightly as he seemed surprised; there was more to this fox than meets the eye.

"It's not as impressive as you're probably thinking... It's a small hut on a tree, enough room for a bed, a desk and some stretching space. I'd show you one day if you'd like" Tighnari offered, with Cyno trying not to show his enthusiasm too much.

"Yes please... But only if you'd like to, that's all..." Cyno smiled and resisted the urge to cross his arms once again, finally feeling relaxed within Tighnari's presence, and not keeping his guard up.

Chapter Text

Tighnari shivered slightly as his hands tried to dive deeper into his pockets, looking across the horizon to see no sun, for the clouds had filled the sky as far as the eyes could see with dark greys and deep blues. There was a light rain, and out of concern for Cyno (and wanting to see him as soon as possible), Tighnari had forgotten to bring his tail umbrella, as his tail was, instead, curled up around his waist.

Today was the day all trainee matras would be returning from The Week Test, and it was tradition for students to welcome them back inside the Academia. Tighnari, however, had never normally cared about it, but he had made an effort to see Cyno return, and to see if he was okay. He gently adjusted his backpack, feeling the weight of a first aid kit, just in case.

"It's freezing, I hate this, can't we just wait inside?" Kaveh moaned as he tapped his foot against the ground and gave an exaggerated sigh.

"You told me you didn't need a jacket, so I didn't bring you one. You should've known that it was cold today" Alhaitham mentioned, not even looking up from his book. He had headphones around his neck for once, since usually he would just be listening to music, "You can take mine if you're that cold, you know?"

"No it's okay, you shouldn't go cold just because I forgot a jacket... Although a reminded would've been nice" Kaveh continued to complain as Tighnari cleared his throat and turned around.

"I appreciate you guys being here with me, but if you're just here to complain then I might leave you out here alone" Tighnari muttered, looking down at the ground and seeing the puddles from last night's heavy rainstorm.

"He might be here to complain, but I'm interested to see which trainees will pass. The current General Mahamatra is the eldest one in the history, so he will likely be looking for a strong, young Mahamatra to take over" Alhaitham explained as he pulled the school paper out from under his arms and showed Tighnari.

It was true, the General Mahamatra and Sages have been apparently interested in someone to take over the role of General Mahamatra. The current one has decided to stop pursuing fleeing scholars as of late, and instead spends most of his time in meetings or mentoring the current mahamatra-in-training.

"Oh yeah, I think I've heard about that. I'm guessing you probably have your bets placed on who's going to replace him?" Tighnari cleared his voice as he spoke, looking up to Al Haitham, his ears shaking gently, spraying water onto Kaveh, causing him to groan.

"There's many candidates avaliable for him to chose. Tradition would dictate that the trainee directly beneath the general mahamatra would take over, however there isn't one" Al Haitham kept his arms crossed as he kept his gaze ahead, seeing the distant figures stumble back, "if you're interested, I think Cyno would stand a good chance"

"And whys that? He's not even a matra, let alone a mahamatra ready for a position of power that big... I think..." Tighnari wondered to himself for a moment as he thought of Cyno deeply. He was strong, stoic and smart... All traits Tighnari admired to a degree.

"The process of training up a new General mahamatra isn't an overnight job, it takes years. There will be a list of candidates and over tim-" Al Haitham began to explain

"Hey guys, be quiet, they're here!" Kaveh exclaimed, seemingly forgetting how cold he was as he pointed towards the staircase, as the students began coming towards the entrance of the academia.

The few people that were gathered around started clapping apathetically, already glancing to the door to the inside as the matra in training hobbled towards them.

They looked... dishevelled, well that's the only word Tighnari could think of. One had a poorly constructed crutch, made from a long stick and some plant fibres, another covered in burns and bruises from head to toe, yet another was holding their arm in absolutely agony. Tighnari's heart sank, not a single person looked completely unscathed.

His eyes darted towards Kaveh and Al Haitham, the latter just taking quick, emotionless glances at the students one by one, and Kaveh looking borderline distraught.

"Don't worry, he's there, at the back" Al Haitham mentioned, nodding towards Cyno, who was following up everyone at the back.

Tighnari quickly spotted him, and immediately got his first aid kit ready, however turning back to him, Cyno looked... completely unscathed.

Hell, a little bored even.

Adjusting a stick to his belt, Cyno approached Tighnari, his eyebrows raised slightly in surprise.

"Oh Tighnari, are you out for a walk?" Cyno asked, crossing his arms as he glared up at Al Haitham as Kaveh was busy helping a student open a door.

"Yes I am, the sun is quite nice today..." Tighnari's voice was dripping with sarcasm as he rolled his eyes, "No you big lummox, I was waiting here to welcome you back!"

"Ah... I see..." Cyno's eyes hadn't broken from Al Haitham, as his eyes pierced straight through him, "Are you Tighnari's friend?"

"Yes, my name's Al Haitham, It's a pleasure to meet you Cyno" Al Haitham crossed his arms, his voice devoid of care or sympathy.

Cyno stayed silent, before turning back to Tighnari, "Did... you bring a first aid kit?" He seemed almost shocked as Tighnari rolled his eyes and inspected Cyno's body briefly, circling him.

"Of course I have, you'd been telling me about so many ghost stories about what could've happened out there, I wanted to make sure you came back to a nice surprise" Tighnari mentioned, looking up and down Cyno's arms and torso before looking at his face.

"If there were any ghosts, I would've made a gh-fool out of them ghouls" Cyno mentioned as he looked to Tighnari, hoping for even a chuckle.

"You're on a losing streak of how many jokes make me laugh, what's that now, 42 straight in a row with no laughter?" Tighnari sighed as he put his first aid kit away.

Cyno swallowed as he looked at the ground to distract himself, before quickly pulling a bundle out of his pocket. It looked box-shaped, wrapped in vines and big leaves.

"Well, maybe this will make you smile at least. I found it whilst I was in the jungle; thought you could do with a new bud-dy" Cyno extended his arms, the small package wrapped up in thick, waxy leaves as his eyes met Tighnari's.

"Ignoring your joke once again, what is it?" Tighnari carefully took the package and sniffed it. His nose was met with a concoction of fresh grass, earthy mud, rain with a hint of... musk.

"Open it and find out. I saw a picture of it in your textbook, I thought you'd like it" Cyno muttered as he crossed his arms and stiffened his posture, darting his gaze towards the package carefully laid out in Tighnari's hand.

"Well thank you Cyno, I'm sure it's a..." Tighnari smiled as he began opening it, but quickly his face turned to that of shock, which he desperately tried to hide.

It was a Moon-Glows Dew Orchid, a flower that Tighnari had only read about in fairy tales, since it was traditionally tied to love and romance.

The fairy tale goes that a Prince once searched the rainforests for a flower that was so beautiful, his childhood best friend would be his lover, and he found the Moon-Glows Dew Orchid, and his childhood best friend fell in love with him.

"...Oh" were the only words Tighnari could only get out as he felt his ears perk up, and his tail swishing happily behind him, but he quickly looked back up at Cyno, "Cyno, do you know what this is?" He couldn't help but feel the warmth radiate from his own cheeks.

"No idea, I forgot the name... I'm bad at names..." Cyno relaxed slightly as he racked his brain, "Hmmm... Yeah the name has escaped me. I thought you'd like it, it looked... pretty" Cyno smiled slightly, feeling proud of himself before noticing Tighnari's shocked face, "Do you not like it?"

"I..." Tighnari breathily got out as he cleared his throat, "Well I haven't got one of these before, I've tried growing them in the past but they're extremely sensitive to temperature and pH changes in soil... So yes I do like it" Tighnari muttered as he looked back down at the flower in his hand gently.

The tips of the petals were white, with an ombre of pinks and purples leading to the middle. Thin stalks extended out from the centre, each coated in a vibrant orange hue. This was indeed a Moon-Glows Dew Orchid, yet Cyno seemed completely oblivious to its meaning.

"I'm glad you do. I've gotta head back inside now though, I've got some paperwork to fill in and then weapon's training this evening" Cyno said as he looked into Tighnari's eyes, struggling to identify the man's emotions. Tighnari was pretty good at maintaining a straight face, despite his tail swishing against the rain without a care in the world.

"You really shouldn't push yourself, you just came back from a grueling test..." Tighnari maintained his composure as he crossed his arms and tilted his head slightly, "Do you need me to give you a checkup?"

"I'm fine, but thank you Tighnari. I'll keep that in mind if I ever require your assistance" Cyno shrugged but pulled a small smile as he walked inside, "I'll see you tonight"

He paused for a second as he was heading back inside, before turning around and giving a stiff wave to Kaveh and Al Haitham, as he stumbled and headed through the doors.

"Well... he seems... not as terrifying as I was expecting" Kaveh noted as he waved back, "Thought he might've been returning with someone's head on a stick by the stories I've heard"

"He's really quite nice if you give him a chance. Awkward, yes, but quite gentle nonetheless" Tighnari spoke gently as he looked down to the flower in his hand, it's colours as vibrant and bright as he had imagined.

"Hmm..." Al Haitham eyed up the flower in Tighnari's hand, as Kaveh also looked at it, before quickly gasping.

"Woah woah woah... Tighnari... you didn't tell us you two were a thing!" Kaveh exclaimed as Tighnari kicked his shin with a modest thump.

"We are not! I'm much more likely to be seduced by a flying fungus than that dork..." Tighnari gritted his teeth slightly as he looked towards the entrance door of the academia; Cyno's figure ascending a staircase in the distance.

"Why did you give you a Moon-Glows Dew Orchid then? Everyone and their grandmother in this rainforest knows the implications of that!" Kaveh muttered as he took a closer look at it.

"That's why Cyno gave it so non-chalantly. He's from the desert, not the rainforest, so it's likely someone of his background hadn't heard the fairytale" Al Haitham spoke with an inquisitive nature, gently placing his hand on his chin, "Your reaction seems different from what you said Tighnari"

Spluttering out a swear under his breath, Tighnari cleared his throat and looked at his two friends, "I don't know what you're trying to imply there Al Haitham, but I'll have you know that I'm very much comfortable with my current... relationship status..."

"Yeah right, the only time I saw your tail wag so excitedly was when you got a 99 on your first semester exam..." Kaveh made a couple of small steps towards Tighnari, who took a couple of steps backwards, "It reallyyyyy does look like you've got a... C-R-U-S-H"

Embarrassing was the only way to describe the tone of Kaveh's voice, but even with his childish way of putting it, Al Haitham didn't argue; hell, it looked like he was even nodding slightly.

"What are you? 7 years old?" Tighnari rolled his eyes, as he took extreme caution to wrap the flower back up in the vines and leaves, "I don't see why my opinions on him matter to you"

"You're harsh, but denial is usually the first stage. I would know" Al Haitham mused, apparently finding it so funny to tease Tighnari, "Well, as your close friends, I believe it's important that we should be here to support you, whatever you think of him"

"Exactly, cat's outta the bag now!" Kaveh laughed loudly

It took Tighnari a minute to reflect. What did he really view Cyno as?

Just a roommate? Probably not, since Cyno has recently started buying some of Tighnari's favourite snacks whenever he goes grocery shopping, just to be nice.

Just a friend? Perhaps, but Tighnari felt strangely at ease with Cyno, he had an aura around him that Tighnari felt was casual and relaxing, yet he always wanted more.

"I'm... Not too sure..." Tighnari took a deep breath as he spoke, not even sure he believed the words he was saying, "He's nice... I enjoy his presence, even with his stupid jokes... And I do find him... attractive I suppose" Tighnari had to force out those last words, not because they weren't true, but because he had never talked to Al Haitham or Kaveh about these types of things before.

"I thought as much" Al Haitham spoke, raising his eyebrows slightly with a mischievous grin creeping up his face.

"Knew it knew it knew it! Awh Tighnari, honestly I was hoping this day would come!" Kaveh exclaimed, clapping his hands together, "I am going to be your wingman. Me and Al Haitham are gonna throw a party this weekend, just a small thing this time, but I will make sure you leave the party with him in your arms!" Kaveh was giggling to himself like a high school girl, as Tighnari looked at him with horror and embarrassment.

"Kaveh, if you try and do anything like that, I swear to the archons above, I will kill you," Tighnari protested, flailing his arms about.

"Okay fine fine... but if you need any advice on how to win a man's heart, I'm your guy for that" Kaveh smirked, not realising Al Haitham was rolling his eyes, "Well, we'll be heading off, I hope everything goes well with Cynoooo~" Kaveh laughed innocently as he spoke, having a skip in his step as him and Al Haitham wondered back into the academia.

Tighnari could only sigh, reaching into his pocket to pull out Cyno's gift as his mind could only focus on one thing; what to wear to the party to impress Cyno?

Chapter Text

In... 4... 3... 2... 1...
Hold... 4... 3... 2... 1...
Out... 4... 3... 2... 1....

Cyno stretched his arms, counting down as he kept my eyes closed, despite the gleaming sunset coming through his window, onto his face. He had heard from Lisa that yoga was a good way to relax his muscles after weapons training, and he vaguely remember his adoptive father, Cyrus, saying something about it.

Just as he was about to finish up, he heard a knock at the door.

"Come in" Cyno muttered, turning around to see Tighnari smiling, a slight confusion in his eyes, but he was dressed up quite nicely. He had a dark, deep blue hoodie with a green symbol, that was cropped diagonally with a white shirt underneath. A yellow flower was pinned on his left shoulder, and a teal tassle was draped on his right. His trousers were baggy, with lines of black and blue, coming down to the middle of his shin, and big boots, trimmed with lime green, and Cyno couldn't help but admire him, looking him up and down.

"When you're done checking me out, I wanted to ask you something" Tighnari spoke with sarcasm in his voice, leaning against the door as Cyno quickly crossed his arms defensively, but before he could deny the accusation, Tighnari spoke, "Did you want to come to a party? It's a couple of dorms down, my old roommates are hosting and I thought you'd enjoy it"

Cyno held himself back from rolling his eyes, "For the record, I wasn't checking you out, I was about to ask why you're dressed... like that... but to ans-"

" 'like that'?" Tighnari inquired, raising his eyebrows, "this is just a casual outfit, is there something wrong with it? Are you gonna dress code me?"

Cyno gritted his teeth as he lost his composure temporarily, running a hand through his hair, "No, I didn't mean it like that... What I... meant was that, I think... it looks good on you" the man stumbled through his words, although geniune, he found it difficult to express them.

"That's better, anyways you wanna come? It'll just be for a bit, could be a good opportunity for you to meet some people and make some friends" Tighnari mentioned, slightly glad he caught Cyno off guard, although his face flushed a bit.

"You don't know me that well if you think I want to make new friends" Cyno muttered, distracting himself by rolling up a yoga mat on the floor.

"I do know you, that's why I invited you. I know my friends well enough that I think you'd get along with them" Tighnari said considerately.

"I don't think so. Plus, you said it was a party, everytime I've showed up to a party, it was to stop it happening" Cyno muttered once again, knowing he had been called all names under the sun for disrupting parties late at night.

"I've ensured that this 'party' will follow all the rules, see?" Tighnari handed him his phone, and on it was a list of rules that Kaveh had hastily typed up and sent to a groupchat called 'Cool ppl only'.

Cyno studied the list, quickly confirming it didn't break any immediate rules, but still, he couldn't help but swallow, "Are you sure it'll be fine for me to come? I... Still have my reservations..."

Tighnari tutted to himself and crossed his arms, "if you want to stay here by yourself on a Friday night, that's fine by me", the man looked at Cyno and gave a sympathetic smile, "I'll be there with you, I'll introduce you properly and we can just... grab a beer and chill!"

Cyno hesitated once more, not daring to look to Tighnari out of... embarrassment? He wasn't too sure, since moving in he had felt such a huge wave of unfamiliar emotions he didn't even know how to process them, but eventually, he resigned, "Alright, I'll come along... Just to say hello and... I suppose grab a drink..."

"I'm glad, I'll let you get dressed, I can already hear it beginning" Tighnari spoke softly as he left the room, closing the door behind him.

After scanning through his closet more times than he'd like to admit, Cyno eventually decided to settle on a cropped hoodie, with some baggie cargo trousers. He liked his outfits having airflow, although he caught himself once again fixing up his hair in the mirror, whilst Tighnari patiently waited.

Typically, if a student party was happening, Cyno would hear about it from whispers in the hallways, and over time he had become almost an expert at 'escorting' drunkened students back to their respective dorms. As for actually attending a party? Definitely a first for him. He contemplated grabbing a set of TCG cards but Tighnari had knocked on the door, sarcastically asking if he had gotten stuck in his closet.

"Alright... Let's go then" Cyno muttered, leaving his room, as Tighnari grabbed a bottle of red wine from the table, with a purple ribbon wrapped around it's neck.

"Well come on then! By the time we arrive everyone is gonna be passed out already..." Tighnari teased as the two left their dorm, Cyno locking up.

After triple checking that the door was locked, Cyno felt himself picking at a loose thread on his hoodie's sleeve, a nervous habit that didn't seem to die hard any time soon.

"Still nervous eh? It'll be fine, I'll always be around if you need to get away, plus, their dorm is one of the upgraded ones with a balcony, so you can always get some fresh air" Tighnari noted considerately, alas, Cyno was too deep within his own thoughts.

"Perhaps... some jokes will break the ice... I don't want to freeze up infront of someone" Cyno muttered under his breath, slyly eyeing up Tighnari for a response.

"Just... Well, whatever makes you happy.." Tighnari held back, as he opened the door to Kaveh and AlHaitham's dorm.

Cyno was surprised by the lack of chaos, sure, his expectations were low from previous experiences but it did seem genuinely pretty chill. Some music playing out of a cheap looking Bluetooth speaker, a couple of bowls with snacks and drinks of all varieties near the front door. Fairy lights lined the doorways and around the TV, where some people were playing some video games.

"Tighnari, glad you could make it" Alhaitham mentioned, approaching the two as Tighnari put his wine on the table. Alhaitham himself seemed fairly relaxed, aside from some thick headphones on his head, to muffle out the noise of the music.

"I wasn't going to miss it at all, seems like a nice turnout this time... Hey where's Kaveh? Usually he's all over the wine I bring..." Tighnari inquired, looking around, the blonde no where in sight.

"He's behind on a project at the moment, he's in his room working on it" Al Haitham mentioned, briefly looking towards a quiet hallway, leading to their bedroom. A slight hint on pain was across his eyes as he struggled to make eye contact with Tighnari.

"Well... can't say I'm surprised, his pieces are works of beauty and art, but he's such a perfectionist..." Tighnari sighed, turning to Cyno, "I'm going to catch up with Kaveh real quick, are you going to be okay hanging out around here?"

"Oh... Ye-Yeah I'll be okay... I'll... choose a drink then..." Cyno muttered, crossing his arms as he glanced across the room once again, a sinking alienation feeling slide down his spine.

Tighnari offered a quick, apologetic smile and walked off to go check up on Kaveh, and Cyno eventually turned around to AlHaitham, who stood there also watching Tighnari walked away.

...

'Fuck'

...

"So what's your drink of choice?" AlHaitham asked, looking down at Cyno with a neutral expression.

"Oh uh..." Cyno cleared his throat, and took his hands out of his pockets, "I'll... just have a... beer I guess"

AlHaitham kept the same expression on his face, yet he seemed to be examining Cyno, and it made Cyno feel like an animal being observed in a cage, "If you haven't drank before, you're probably better starting off with something more neutral tasting, here, follow me", and without even waiting for a response, Al Haitham started walking towards the kitchen.

Instinctively, Cyno followed, although it did irk him as usually he was the one giving instructions, but he quickly realised he was out of his depth in this situation.

Within the kitchen, Al Haitham was already looking through the fridge, his eyes avoiding the precariously balanced, half wrapped leftovers scattered around on the shelves.

"Do you like carbonated drinks? There's a couple of weak ciders here" Al Haitham noted, not even looking away from the fridge, as he pulled out a strange looking bottle from the far back.

"Not many, but I like a few... but they're not as fonta-stic as other people think" Cyno spoke, admittedly feeling proud of himself for that one, but quickly Al Haitham turned around to look at him, the same neutral expression on his face. Cyno gulped, "We were talking about carbonated drinks, and Fonta is a popular one, yet it also sounds like the beginning part of 'fantastic', so I combined the two"

"Hmm..." Al Haitham's eyebrows twitched ever so slightly, "how about some rum with coke? It won't have that stinging alcohol taste, but still add some flavour"

"Yeah sure... that sounds good" Cyno stuttered out, avoiding eye contact once again by staring at the floor.

Alhaitham nodded a bit as he grabbed a small plastic cup and poured out just half a shot of rum, and half filled it with coke and some ice; passing it to Cyno.

"Thanks Alhaitham..." Cyno said, lifting his glass slightly as he took a sip. Not too strong, and the rum was very mellow but gave a nice kick to it, "That's pretty good actually..."

"Glad you enjoy it" Alhaitham mentioned, his voice remaining fairly monotone as he took a sip of his beer, "How's your TCG club? I was planning on coming but I've been fairly busy at the moment"

Taken aback slightly, Cyno looked up to man as he gave a simple, yet intriguing look at him, "Ah well... Everyone was also busy, so I had to cancel it..."

"That's a shame, I was looking forward to having a game or two" Alhaitham noted, taking another sip as he adjusted the headphones, "Well... Did you want to have a game now, whilst we wait for Kaveh and Tighnari?" Alhaitham asked, although his posture and voice sounded cold, his approach was quite friendly; something in which Cyno found very rarely.

"Ye-Yeah sure, why not? I'll go grab my deck, I'll be back in a second" Cyno mentioned, trying to keep his cool as he quickly gulped down his drink and left to grab the deck. Internally, he was jumping up and down like a little kid, and he felt himself almost running down the corridor. Hastily, he had the door unlocked, and he quickly settled on a deck he had made himself, hoping to impress Alhaitham with it.

As he got back to the party, he saw Tighnari, who was patching up Kaveh's fingers and rolling his eyes as Kaveh was loudly complaining to AlHaitham.

"I just don't understand why my lecturer would assign such a difficult project and only give me a week to do it... It's finally done at least, but I'm still not happy with it" Kaveh moaned as Alhaitham took a deep breath and unfolded a board deck out and sorted out some cards, "Like, who in their right mind would ask their students to build a temple out of toothpicks?"

"Well, it sounds like a challenge for you, sure, but you're in your second to last year, of course you're going to have more challenging projects" Alhaitham noted, taking some elemental dice out of a case.

"I know but still... Nari basically had to drag me away from it..." Kaveh mentioned, causing Tighnari's ears to twitch uncomfortably as he spoke.

"You're still stubborn on calling me Nari... Makes me sound like a household pet..." Tighnari said, rolling his eyes as he finished bandaging up Kaveh's fingers, which had been fully of splinters, "Right there you go, should I add this to your tab, or Alhaithams?"

"Ha ha very funny Tighnari..." Kaveh spoke as he stretched his fingers a bit, gently poking the bandages with his other hand, as he turned to Alhaitham, "Hug?"

"Hug." Alhaitham spoke gently, wrapping his arms around the blonde, and despite their height difference, Kaveh had all his worries melt away as his head rested against AlHaitham's chest

"Ah Cyno, for a second I thought you pulled a runner on us" Tighnari teased as he looked down to Cyno's deck box, "You know, I'm not even surprised..."

"Don't blame me, AlHaitham is the one that asked me for a game, and you still owe me one, remember?" Cyno smirked as he spoke, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow.

"Fine fine... I'll be interested to watch anyway, AlHaitham is incredibly smart, so you might've bit off more than you can choose" Tighnari noted, "He's a Scribe-In-Training, and one of the youngest ones too... He's a genius, but acts purely through rationality... Although Kaveh gets through to him somehow..." Tighnari seemed to look at his friends with a longing in his eyes, not for either of them at all, but for something else they had.

"Hmm... Well I'm sure he won't beat me at all, I'm on 73 win streak at the moment" Cyno boasted, a small smirk creeping up his face as he also looked at Kaveh and AlHaitham, the couple talking a bit quietly to each other, "They seem very close... Its quite rare to see that type of friendship in this Academia"

Tighnari also choked on his drink but swallowed, "Yes... I guess you could say they are *very* close friends", his voice smooth and silky, yet sarcastic once again. Cyno gave him a confused look, but before he could say anything, Tighnari spoke up again, "Anyway, looks like AlHaitham is ready for you, I'm gonna get myself another drink, you want anything?"

"Hmm... I'll have whatever you're having... I'm not feeling anything yet, and well... I want to enjoy myself tonight" Cyno spoke, having a smile on his face. He felt warmer here, despite people not being his cup of tea.

Tighnari smirked and headed to kitchen. As Cyno approached the table, AlHaitham seemed to already be waiting, and Kaveh was pulling up a chair just behind him to overlook his shoulder as he played.

Unpacking his deck and setting out the cards, Cyno cleared his throat a little, "Well, I hope this'll be a good mat-ch-ra".

Kaveh tilted his head in confusion, and AlHaitham raised his brows as he looked at Cyno for a couple of seconds in silence, before rolling his dice.

"Get it? I'm training to be a matra, and when you add a 'ch' sound in the middle, the word sounds like a mixture of 'matra' and 'match'... and we're about to have a match of TCG...?" Cyno noted as AlHaitham took a deep breath.

"So, I heard you scored the highest on your Survivalist Test out of everyone this year, that's quite impressive" Alhaitham noted as Kaveh whispered something to him and pointed at one of his cards.

"Ah yes... Wait how do you know that?" Cyno asked, almost with an accusatory tone. He'd never had anyone apart from lecturers and professors speak about his academic scores and progress.

"I'm a Scribe-In-Training, and so I often get jobs assigned to translating documents for professors here, and I just so happen to have been working with your professor, in the Spantamad wing" Alhaitham noted, playing his first cards casually.

"Ah I see... Well... I had a long time to prepare, I had been reading up on previous experiences from my seniors and learnt a fair bit to be honest" Cyno talked casually, as Tighnari carefully placed a pint of beer next to him; Cyno nodded thankfully as Tighnari sat next to him.

"Ohhhh yeah, man it looked like you guys were returning from war... All battered and bruised, but you looked, like, bored dude" Kaveh spoke, smiling a lot as he took a sip of wine, "I don't know how you did it, but seriously, congrats!"

"Ah... thank you Kaveh..." Cyno muttered, turning away slightly, "I did get a bit boar-ed though, I was hoping to finish early but one of the spectators who was following me scared a group of swine to almost trample me"

"You just couldn't help it... could you?" Tighnari sighed, taking a sip of his wine, "Here's a drinking game if you want to end up completely black out, whenever Cyno makes a bad pun or joke..."

"Are they really that unfunny? I find them rather amusing myself..." Cyno asked, just to be met with disappointment.

"Yes they're bad!"
"Yeah... sorry..."
"Yup."

"Ah." Cyno managed out, as he took a large gulp of beer, drinking almost half of it.

"Enjoy the wine? Tighnari really has a good taste for red wine..." Kaveh mentioned, passing the bottle over, which was already half empty, "I would definitely be dead from a stress-induced panic attack if I couldn't have a glass at a party..."

"It's pretty good actually..." Cyno poured himself a hefty glass and placed it next to his pint, as he used up some cards to instantly take down one of AlHaitham's character cards, "Although I'm not really feeling anything..."

"If you want a good drink, The Old Tarvern down the street has some good locally brewed ales... Also good play..." AlHaitham mentioned as he furrowed his brows further and leaned closer to the board, trying to study it.

"We should all go down then, their happy hour at 8-9 on a friday" Tighnari noted, crossing one leg over the other as he looked over at Cyno.

"I don't see why not... As long as we don't get too... 'wasted'... its a hassle..." Cyno mentioned as rolled his dice.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot you're the matra for our dorm floor... It's a miracle you didn't end up breaking our door down last year!" Kaveh joked as he motioned towards a far corner of the dorm, where the carpet had burnt up at the sides. Tighnari, however, was silently motioning for Kaveh to shut up.

"You must've been quiet then... As long as the rules are followed, I shouldn't have a reason to intervene... And I'd hate to ever break up a party here... I'm enjoying myself" Cyno spoke, with his tone a lot less strict and more relaxed, taking another sip as he continued playing.

"Great, I think it's great to make new friends, and you can't get better than a party hosted by yours truly" Kaveh smirked and winked as he took a gulp of wine.

"...Oh friends? Thank you... I consider you guys... friends as well" Cyno spoke honestly, smiling warmly at the people around him, as Tighnari patted his shoulder.

Cyno couldn't help but turn to Tighnari and smile even more, feeling at peace with the people around them, despite his stomach turning into knots whenever his eyes met Tighnari's.

Chapter Text

"You're actually enjoying being roommates with him then?" Kaveh exclaimed, his voice getting a little too loud considering Cyno was about 10 feet away, playing his 7th game of TCG... Against an empty chair.

"You get too loud when you're drunk Kaveh..." Tighnari grumbled as his ears twitched again, "But like I've just said; he is a good roommate. He's clean, quiet and quite approachable actually". The young man swirled his almost finished pint of beer, "You could learn a thing or two from him..."

The night had been a long one, but a good one. After Cyno managed to destroy AlHaitham in a match, it attracted the attention of a couple of other people at the party. Naturally, Cyno beat them all, but had been drinking a fair amount, from cheap beers to vodka and fontas.

"I think he's wasted dude..." Kaveh mentioned, also looking over at Cyno, "Like yeah, he's just sitting there trying to focus, but whenever he rolls the dice, it's like he's trying to work out what he's even doing..."

"True... Well, it's getting late anyway" Tighnari resigned as he finished his glass, "I'm gonna head back, and I'll probably take Cyno with me... This is his first time drinking at a party and he spent the entire time playing TCG..." smirking, he gave Kaveh a hug goodbye as he wandered over to Cyno.

"Ah... Tighnari... Hello there" Cyno spoke slowly, his voice trying to maintain its strong authoritarian style, however each word came out slow and laborious.

"Hey Cyno, you keeping up alright? I think I'm ready to call it a night... Did you wanna head back with me?" Tighnari asked, as he couldn't help but smile warmly at the man in front of him, who was continuing to roll his dice.

"Yeah sure... I'm... in the middle of a game right now... Against AlHaitham..." Cyno spoke slowly, his voice slurring as his head wobbled slightly, "He said he'll... be back in a... minute..."

"Cyno... He's asleep on the sofa right now..." Tighnari chuckled slightly, casually pointing towards a passed out AlHaitham, snoozing away on the sofa as Kaveh tried to pick him up and drag him to bed.

"Ahhh... Will he not... Finish the game then?" Cyno looked up at Tighnari with a confused look, as he blinked a couple of times before pushing his white hair out of his face.

Tighnari noticed how spacey Cyno was and how relaxed he looked... His posture had indeed chilled and his smile was infectious, it was loose and innocent, his cheeks flushed from all the alcohol. Yet, Tighnari couldn't help but feel his own cheeks warm at the sight of Cyno so happy.

"He's asleep, and I don't think he can sleep walk... So probably not..." Tighnari finally got out, gently packing away Cyno's cards into an empty tupperware box, "I think we should head back to our dorm now, it's almost 2am"

Cyno gave an exaggerated gasp, although he probably couldn't help it, "Oh no..." he muttered out, trying to stand up. As he tried to do so, his whole body shook slightly and Tighnari instinctively grabbed his shoulders, keeping the man upright.

"You'll be fine, don't worry" Tighnari spoke slowly, as Cyno regained his balance, "Here, I'll help you get back to the dorm..."

Cyno mumbled something unaudiable to himself, as he flopped his arm over Tighnari's shoulders, making Tighnari stumble a bit. Although Cyno was hardly an inch taller than him, he was definitely physically stronger than Tighnari, his arms toned and hard.

Very slowly, Tighnari helped guide Cyno to the door, who seemed to take one step back for every 2 steps forward. As the duo entered the hallway, Cyno's mumbling began to represent actual words again.

"TCG is the game... The game of champions... Many may attempt to try to beat me... But as a strong... wall-er I will... Warrior I will should them what true defeat is..." Cyno fumbled over his words, hiccuping numerous times, as he used his right hand to steady himself against the walls of the hallway.

"Yes I'm sure it is Cyno..." Tighnari's voice was dry and dripping with sarcasm, yet he caught himself smiling as he looked over at Cyno... His eyes glued to the future matra's eyes and lips...

Cyno continued to mumble on about TCG, as Tighnari just wanted to get him back to the dorm safely. As they arrived to their dorm, Tighnari quickly remembered that the door was locked.

"Ah shit... Please tell me you haven't lost the keys? Or I might have to knock the door down with your head..." Tighnari muttered to himself, quickly checking his pockets as Cyno leaned backwards against the wall, struggling to keep his eyes open and lucid.

"Keys..." Cyno yawned as he stretched slightly, showing off his midriff area as he leaned his head against the wall and closed his eyes, "Mmmm... they're... somewhere..."

"That's useful... Are they in your pockets?" Tighnari asked, putting a hand on his hip as he raised a brow, to which Cyno was too busy focusing on standing up right as he slowly nodded. Taking a deep breath (and a very big eye roll), Tighnari spoke, "Okay well... We need to get inside so... I'm just gonna grab the keys from you, alright?" Tighnari asked slowly, trying to make sure Cyno was aware. The last thing he wanted to do was freak Cyno out by sticking his hand in his pocket unconsentually.

Cyno simply nodded again, as Tighnari quickly reached into his pockets to pull the keys out. As he tried to get the key into the lock, Cyno chuckled a bit to himself as he began mumbling again, "Your hands are very soft... I... I almost didn't notice ya..."

Tighnari gulped as he felt his tail swish back and forth a bit, a rush of blood heading to his cheeks. He quickly unlocked the door and tried to control his tail as he motioned for Cyno to enter, "Just get into the dorm you dork..."

"Mmm... thank you Tighnari..." Cyno slowly got back to his feet as he stumbled quickly into the dorm, collapsing over the arm of the sofa before Tighnari even got inside. Tighnari was already feeling his head spinning from the alcohol, and with Cyno making him blush and second-guess his view on the drunken scholar, it wasn't helping. Following a deep breath, Tighnari entered the apartment, and saw Cyno flayed out on the sofa, with his legs dangling off the sofa and his mouth wide open as he seemed to be fast asleep.

"I'll grab you some water for the morning Cyno..." Tighnari spoke, not even sure if Cyno could hear the man as he headed into the kitchen to grab a glass.

As he was helping himself to some water, he heard a loud crash from the living room which made his ears twitch slightly.

Tighnari couldn't even finish swallowing his water as he spotted Cyno stumbling at an alarming rate, crashing into the wall and almost knocking some plants over as he seemingly collapsed into the bathroom. Feeling his heart rate spike, Tighnari quickly raced over to the bathroom, spotting Cyno bent double over the toilet, heaving a lot.

"Fuck... Cyno, you good?" Tighnari spoke softly, his voice heightened by the anxiety stuck in his throat.

"Ye... Yeah I believe... Oh... Wait-" Cyno tried to speak as he then threw up in the toilet, gripping the sides of the bowl hard. The noise was comparable to nails on a chalkboard for Tighnari, yet he crouched down next to his drunken friend and held his hair back.

"You'll be fine don't worry... Just get it all out of you, that will make you feel a lot better Cyno..." Tighnari's voice was so soft and calming it felt like a warm blanket around Cyno as his body shivered from the vomiting. He was pretty much experienced with babysitting drunk people after spending a year with Kaveh and AlHaitham.

"I'm sorry..." That was the only thing Cyno could get out as he threw up again, with Tighnari turning away, grimmacing, as he held Cyno's hair back, noticing how silky smooth it felt.

"You're fine Cyno... This ain't my first rodeo" Tighnari smiled slightly, trying to get a view of Cyno's face, which seemed very flushed and blotchy.

"I'm sorry Nari..." Cyno muttered out again, repeating himself, trying to take deep breathes as he steadied himself slightly, a thin line of saliva dripping from his mouth.

Tighnari paused for a moment. Usually, he hated the nickname; it was the name his dad used to use when he was a kid to tease him, yet Tighnari couldn't help but feel endeared to be called Nari by his drunken dormmate. His tail even seemed to take a liking to the nickname, swaying a lot, yet he didn't care about being embarrassed. His lips perked up into a smile as he gently stroked Cyno's silky white hair, "It's alright Cyno, don't worry..."

After around 10 minutes of Cyno dry-heaving, he finally sat up, and slumped back against the bathroom wall, his face brightly coloured red from the coughing and vomiting as he wiped away the saliva from around his mouth. Tighnari positioned himself in front of Cyno, putting his hands on his shoulders, "Since you've been throwing up, I don't feel comfortable letting you sleep by yourself... Are you gonna be okay sleeping in my room for tonight?", he asked calmly, remembering the time Kaveh almost choked on his own vomit from an especially heavy night of drinking last year. In response, Cyno nodded slowly, keeping his head down out of embarrassment and exhaustion.

Tighnari left, and quickly organised his room, deciding that Cyno should have the bed, and he can sleep on his futon he kept tucked away at the back of his wardrobe. However, he did change his bed sheets, knowing he would find it difficult to hold himself back if Cyno vomited on his satin sheets.

Returning to the slumped over man, he attempted to pull him up, gripping his underarms, "alright then you big lummox, get up" Tighnari joked, feeling a smirk growing on his face as he helped Cyno stand up, who finally was able to look at him again. His eyes were watery from all the coughing and heaving, his breath was unpleasant to Tighnari's nose, yet he gave a very soft smile as he just simply looked into Tighnari's blue and green eyes.

Tighnari paused, tilting his head slightly as Cyno seemed to be in some type of drunken trance, "You okay there space cadet? It's like you've taken some fungi and zoned out"

Cyno snapped back to reality and nodded quickly, "Yeah... I just... You've got nice eyes...", as he looked down at the ground, his head still wobbling slightly from his inebriated state. Despite being very drunk, Cyno was still getting shy with his compliments, and Tighnari secretly thought it was cute. Despite that, Tighnari reminded himself of the time, and helped to guide into his room.

Cyno plopped himself down on the bed, laying on his side and closing his eyes; Tighnari could only dream of what Cyno was smiling and day-dreaming about.

"Well, I've got a bucket for you next to the bed in case you need to throw up again, and there's some water and painkillers on my bedside table... you're gonna need them in the morning" Tighnari spoke softly and slowly to Cyno, not even knowing if he was asleep yet, "Ah well, anyways, goodnight Cyno, I hope you don't feel like too much of a fool in the morning..."

Tighnari quickly got changed into an oversized t-shirt and some baggy shorts as he laid down on his futon, which was extended out across the floor, allowing him to look at Cyno whilst he slept. He gave one last look at Cyno, peacefully drooling off the bed, as he closed his eyes and felt himself drift off to sleep.

Chapter Text

The first thing Cyno saw when he opened his eyes was the gleaming, penetrative sunlight coming through the window. Typically, he liked to use the sun as a natural alarm clock, but today was the first where he wished he could hit the snooze button. He rolled over and slammed his face into a pillow, groaning as he curled his body up. As much as he wished to just sleep off the horrible headache, Tighnari had other plans.

"Ah you're awake, here, have some painkillers and water" Tighnari pointed out, not even bothering to turn around from his desk as he spoke.

"My head... Is this a migraine?" Cyno asked, his voice gravely and rough like sandpaper. Reluctantly, he leaned up, and sipped some water, as a horrible taste in his mouth surfaced.

"Nope, you're hungover... Remember much from last night?" Tighnari spoke as he spun his desk chair around, raising an eyebrow. Cyno caught a glimpse of him, seeing he was wearing a baggy plaid shirt, with a grey t shirt underneath, and ripped black jeans with fishnets underneath.

"No, not really" Cyno groaned out as he sat up, his own clothes crinkled and he could smell the body odor coming off himself as his nose wrinkled, "Something about TCG... I remember meeting AlHaitham and Kaveh at some point... This is humiliating..."

Tighnari sighed as he stood up, and walked over to the bed, Cyno glaring at him through his white hair, "Everyone's first time drinking is embarrassing, I remember that I started crying over a wilted flower at the pub" Tighnari spoke casually, putting his hands in his pockets.

"I shouldn't have gotten drunk though... I was supposed to keep everyone in check..." Cyno took his painkillers and finished his water, "I wasn't being responsible"

"And who is going to hold that against you? It'll only be yourself, so you should get up, stop being grumpy and get some food" Tighnari spoke, his words harsh but true as Cyno groaned exaggeratedly once more before getting out of bed, "there we go, now just avoid looking at strong lights..."

Cyno attempted to do his regular stretches as he checked his phone, and trying to keep his cool as he saw that it was 10:32am. Every joint in his body seemed to be stiff and rough, as they cracked with satisfying noises.

"You could've woken me up earlier Tighnari... This is the latest I've ever woken..." Cyno spoke cynically, his voice seemingly stuck to be an octave lower than typical.

"Well you obviously needed the sleep, if you didn't, you would've woken up by yourself" Tighnari raised a brow as he got back to his desk, picking up a pen and clicking it a couple of times, "Besides, you looked very peaceful and calm, it nice"

Cyno paused, trying to figure out how to interpret those words, but eventually he just thought to ignore those feelings as he headed into the kitchen for breakfast. He couldn't remember the last time he felt so... groggy and tired, all he wanted to do was sleep and eat something unhealthy, but alas, he decided to stick to his routine.

Lightly fried mushrooms, with only a sprinkle of spices, on some freshly sliced sourdough toast. It was simple, but filling and full of the nutrients that he needed to continue his training. As Cyno plated up his food, he realised that he had cooked too many mushrooms. Without even thinking, he quickly plated some up for Tighnari and took it to him.

"Smells good, what're you having?" Tighnari chirped up, turning around quickly as Cyno knocked and entered the room.

"Mushrooms on toast... I cooked too many, so I made you a plate" Cyno spoke slowly, deciding to forgo cutlery as he bit into his toast, "I thought I might get in truffle if I didnt at least offer you anything"

Tighnari took the plate but felt the need to rub his eyes as he looked up to Cyno, "You were doing so well... I was about to give you a gold star for no puns or jokes in 3 days"

"Almost 3 days? I guess I have mush-room to improve" Cyno said again, taking another bite from his toast, a small drop of buttery sauce dripping down his chin.

"Thanks for the food... Now leave"

"Oh... okay"

"...Cyno you buffoon, I was joking"

"Ah..."

Cyno paused for a moment as he continued to eat, catching all his crumbs on his plate as he carefully eyed up Tighnari as he cut off a piece and took a bite, "Cyno, you're a pretty good cook actually... Where'd you learn this recipe for the sauce?" Tighnari chewed before he spoke, nodding his head along as he ate.

"I saw you cook this a while ago, so I watched you and learnt that way. I know your taste buds are sensitive, so I only used a bit of spice" Cyno spoke, finishing his plate and wiping his mouth. Admittedly, he was being messier than usual, but the pounding headache and growling from his stomach overruled this, just for today.

"Ah that's what you were doing... If you want some recipes, I've got all my favourites written down if you feel so inclined" Tighnari spoke in between mouthfuls, finishing up his food and neatly placing the cutlery down.

"Sure, that sounds good. If you want, I can lend you my joke book too?" Cyno offered, yet Tighnari smiled sickingly sweetly.

"You know what Cyno? That's such a good offer I can't refuse" Tighnari spoke with sarcasm dripping from his voice, and a mischievous grin that just said 'Don't you fucking dare'.

Cyno just narrowed his eyes slightly and decided to change the subject, "Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you for taking me back to our dorm, and letting me sleep in your room"

Tighnari smiled sweetly, "it's alright, I didn't want you waking up alone or throwing up in your sleep"

Cyno felt a lump in his throat, as he gulped hard and struggled to maintain eye contact, "Your bed was very comfortable... So thanks..."

Tighnari grinned slightly, as his ears perked up a bit, "You don't feel uncomfortable about sleeping in my bed, right?"

"No." Cyno got out, as he stuck his hands in his pockets, staring up at some of the posters on Tighnari's wall.

Tighnari sighed as he finished his food, leaning back and giving Cyno a serious look, "I can tell something's up, you can never make eye contact when you're uncomfortable. I was just worried about your safety, but I apologise if I overstepped a boundary"

Cyno quickly crossed his arms, as he finally forced himself to look at Tighnari, "You didn't overstep any boundaries, you took care of me, that's all..." Cyno felt that all too familiar lump in his throat rise again, as he tried to keep a straight and serious face at Tighnari, "I'm used to taking control of situations, not being the one that has to be controlled"

Tighnari smiled as he shook his head, "Ah I see... I'm pretty much the same, so it didn't bother me at all", he turned around to continue some of his work, clicking a pen in his hands, "I'm aware how strange it may sound; waking up in a gay guy's room with no memory of night before" Tighnari spoke so casually, as he continued writing, his handwriting as elegant as ever.

Surprised, Cyno just looked at him, seemingly befuddled with how to react to Tighnari coming out to him so nonchalantly. He had never had this type of conversation with, well, anyone.

Picking up on his silence, Tighnari's eyes met Cyno's as he put his pen down, "You didn't know I was gay?" Tighnari chuckled as he thought for a moment, "Well, I applaud you for not following stereotypes"

"No I didn't know you were... well..." Cyno spoke slowly, as he felt the urge to just go and hide from the embarrassment, "...gay..."

"Do you feel uncomfortable now then?" Tighnari gave a stern look as Cyno immediately put his hands up in his own defense, his embarrassment furthering as his face filled with a deep redness

"No!" He spluttered out, almost yelling by accident, completely out of his depth, yet he held strong eye contact. Although his assertive self was used to dealing with rule-breakers and what is morally right or wrong, he had never delved into sexuality, seemingly one of those taboo subjects that him and Cyrus never spoke about, "I have just... Never met a... gay person before".

"Are you sure about that?" Tighnari held back a light chuckle as he spoke, noticing the redness on Cyno's face, and the fluttering of his voice.

Cyno raised an eyebrow, "Are you trying to insinuate something, Tighnari?"

"Not at all, but if you think I am, that's your fault... I was talking about AlHaitham and Kaveh" Tighnari said rationally, shrugging his shoulders, "they've been dating for... I think 9 or 10 months now? I can't quite remember..."

Cyno thought back to last night, and realised that he didn't even notice. His perception of gay people was limited to a quick discrimination awareness class he had to take for his Matra training, which he naturally passed with flying colours.

"I see..." Cyno muttered, trying to appear as casual as he can, "I didn't even notice it... I thought they were close friends"

"A solid friendship can act as a good foundation for a successful relationship; after all, if you're going to be spending a lot of time with someone, you might as well get along with them" Tighnari said as relaxed as ever, carefully sketching out some sort of plant in his notebook.

Cyno slowly nodded, making a mental note of what Tighnari was saying. Not that it bothered him, but he had never been in a relationship, and never really given it much thought.

The vast majority of Mahamatras and Matras led solitude lives, with few ever getting married and even fewer starting families. Due to the dangerous job, and long hours or even days away from anyone, it came across as just common sense to not have a commitment back at home. In addition, matra and mahamatras were known to have high suicide rates, due to the stress and physical strain it can cause someone.

Eventually, Cyno spoke up, "I see... Well, Kaveh and AlHaitham seem very happy with one another from what I can see"

"They can be, they definitely have their dramatic moments though... Honestly their personalities are so polar opposite its a surprise they can even handle being in the same room together" Tighnari scoffed, "I do not envy their relationship personally, but as long as they're happy, I am too"

There was a long pause in the air after that, Cyno completely unaware of whether he should take another step into this topic. Eventually, he cleared his throat and spoke up, "When did you decide... No wait... Realise, you were gay?"

Tighnari chuckled as he opened up a textbook, giving Cyno a sly yet cheeky side eye, "Good save there, I was about to throw this textbook into your head... I was probably 12 or 13, so about 9 years ago. Never really been interested in women, so the naturally I noticed my preference for guys"

"Hmm..." Cyno thought for a while, "I apologise if my question was rude, I've never really had this type of conversation before"

"We can talk about something else then, if you'd like; it doesn't bother me either way, you're a friend who's, let me guess, never really had the 'gay talk' with someone else yet?" Tighnari spoke quizzically as he looked Cyno up and down, almost pretending to be some type of therapist.

"I'm fine, just curious about it, thats all..." Cyno tried his hardest to be casual, yet a burning lump was building up in his throat, "And no, I haven't had a 'gay talk' before... Although..." Cyno paused yet again as he contemplated Tighnari's reaction, "What does a gay horse say?"

Tighnari seemed stumped for a moment, almost dropping his pencil as his eyes narrowed and about a million different thoughts raced through his mind, "What... What does a gay horse say...?"

"Hayyy..." Cyno spoke in his regular voice as he told the punchline, and it caused Tighnari to think for a moment before the botonist calmly closed his eyes, took a deep breath in and then out.

"Just when I think I've been prepared for all your jokes, you through a curveball..." Tighnari could only mutter out as he rubbed his eyes, "Before you ask, yes I understood your so called 'joke', no need to explain, although I really do wonder how you would"

"I... Don't want to be rude so I won't" Cyno muttered out as Tighnari had logically backed him up into a wall again, "So... Was there anything in particular that made you realise you were gay?"

Tighnari's warm smile returned as he spoke, "There wasn't a defining moment as such, but more of just a few small things building up over time, like preferring hanging out with other guys, liking more male celebrities and, as bluntly as I feel willing to say, Internet research. Interpret that as you please", as he returned to his work, as casually as ever.

Despite the list of small reasons Tighnari gave, Cyno's mind seemed completely struck by the 'internet research' part of the answer. He wasn't stupid, and knew exactly what his friend was implying, yet the realisation that he hadn't tried it yet hit him like a ton of bricks. Mentally, he went through the academia's Internet policy in his head, and as long as he wasn't directly connected to the dorm room's WiFi, it seemed fine.

"Huh... Cool" Cyno finally got out, catching himself from drifting off with his thoughts for too long, yet he felt an unusual tension leave his shoulders as he swallowed, before feeling the need to final speak up, "I should probably head out now... Thank you once again for taking care of me last night, I appreciate it Tighnari"

Tighnari smiled as he continued his sketching, "It's no problem at all, just don't expect it everytime we go out drinking, you were quite a handful"

Cyno flustered up again as he slid his hands into his pockets, feeling his phone vibrate a couple of times in quick succession, "I'm well aware of my limits now Tighnari, it won't be an issue again... I'll see you around" and with that, he gave a quick wave as he closed the door and checked his phone.

To his surprise (and slight amusement), Cyno's phone had been bombarded by at least 4 different people asking about his TCG club. He quickly made a group text, sending out details before he headed to his room to start preparing for the day. Cyno's mind was full of fragments of memories from last night, but he was sure that whatever happened, he was glad to have spent it with Tighnari.

Chapter Text

Tighnari's green and brown eyes glazed over his bedroom window, as the heavy rain outside splattered down aggressively outside. Winter was typically associated with snow and wonder, yet Sumeru was rather infamously known across Teyvat for its humid monsoons, and torrential downpours, due to the hotter climate. Not quite cold enough for snow, yet not hot enough to avoid the rain, a truly bad mixture for anyone looking for a relaxing and magical filled Christmas; or anyone who has a tail and fluffy ears.

Due to water leaking onto the server room of the academia, many, if not most, classes were forced to be cancelled for the day, which left Tighnari with a painfully difficult lesson, all to be completed online. To make matters worse, it was the first lesson in the cross-Darshan end of year research project, the final large hurdle to graduating.

Flickering on his phone again, Tighnari was relieved to see that not only had Kaveh woken up, but he had also agreed to work with him and Rtawahist student named Layla on this project. Although 3 was a fairly small group, (most other groups ranged from 4 to 8 students) the Botonist was well aware of Layla's accomplishments, having met her a year prior at an awards ceremony for her outstanding breakthroughs in the field of theoretical astrology, and Kaveh was such a perfectionist, even his professors had to tell him to take it down a notch.

After making a groupchat over text, Tighnari invited the 2 students to pop around to discuss the basis of their project in person, as the internet connection and electricity in general had a habit of sprinkling on and off due to the ongoing storm.

The rain acted as a soothing white noise as Tighnari noted down some options for their project; they didn't have any specifics, but had to include elements from each darshan, and involve a certain number of topics and be backed up by personalised research. Previous projects that scored highly varied from groundbreaking research into the effects of aging, to a reconstruction of the entire academia itself. Despite the main light in his room fluttering off occasionally for a split second, the atmosphere was generally quite relaxed as Tighnari made his notes.

On the other hand, the young man felt a nighing of anxiety, stretching down his nerves and throughout his entire body. The fear of disappointing his village and himself was a flame that was only rising up more in his heart and soul. Soon enough, his pencil was back on the desk as his mind warped out of his surroundings, and back to his home town, as his fingers began to brush itself through his fur methodically. They say nervous habits die hard, and Tighnari secretly agreed whole-heartedly, as his brushing almost became a tugging and pulling of his fur. The only thing that snapped him out of his tunnel vision of failure was a crack of lightening, far off in the distance, as his eyes ran down to his fingers. A luscious, yet myriad of delicate tail fur was in his hands, as he hastily shook it off and watched it fall to the ground gently, as if it was a light winters snow

Huffing out in frustration, Tighnari stood and shook his tail, just to see several more strands of fur fly off. It wasn't new to him, not by a long shot, due to academic pressure from peers and lecturers alike, but it still irked him all the same. With a rather dissatisfied stomp in his walk, he made his way to the kitchen to brew some sumeru rose and wolfhook tea, as he caught his fingers once again as they unconsciously made their way down to his curled up tail.

He thought about how much easier it would be to just return to the village and resume work as a Forest Ranger. Many other students idealised Tighnari as the model student, gaining much recognition from his studies and research, yet they failed to realise that he also struggled with the strict deadlines and heavy workloads all the same.

Once his tea had been sufficiently brewed, the botonist made his way back to his bedroom, and just as he was about to begin his writing once again, a familiar firm knock came from the door. Tighnari instantly knew it was Cyno from his knock, and the man came in, rather sheepishly as he slung a towel over his shoulder.

"Could I use your shower? Mines freezing cold and won't heat up" Cyno asked casually as he looked at Tighnari, as his eyebrows raised slightly, "Are you doing alright?"

Tighnari huffed slightly he forced a smile, "Yeah sure, you can use the shower I guess, and no I'm not really alright, I was supposed to have my first lesson on our final project today and it's all online work..."

Cyno narrowed his eyes as he looked over at Tighnari's computer and paperwork, "Your lecturer is Dr Haafez right? She owes me a favour, so i can request her to give a tutoring session to you, if you'd like" Cyno crossed his arms as his face glazed over with a restrained demeanour.

Tighnari felt his natural smile return as he exhaled and tied up his hair, "That's very kind of you Cyno, but I'll be alright. I've got some friends coming around soon to discuss the project, so don't take too long"

Cyno nodded as he relaxed his shoulders slightly, "No worries, if you change your mind let me know... Just, after I'm done in the shower... Yeah..." Cyno quickly fiddled with his fingers and he headed into Tighnari's ensuite and locked the door.

The botonists eyes followed Cyno as he went into the ensuite, and well, he couldn't help but smile. Cyno was easy on the eyes, his frame smaller than what you would expect from the rumours of a terrifying scholar, with a tone and general demeanour that was anything but gentle. Yet, as the days had gone by, he had noticed Cyno slowly take down some of his walls, instead of the typical glares and silence in conversations, he was almost becoming calm and friendly to talk to.

As the sounds of the shower being turned on snapped Tighnari back to reality, he looked down at his hands to see himself unconsciously twiddling a pencil between his fingers, as he smirked a bit, before turning back to his notebook. 'No point in daydreaming anymore' he thought to himself, as his tail swayed along to the sounds of his own heartbeat.

His mind flowed as tranquil as a small stream as he wrote down some rough plans and ideas for the project. Soon enough, Layla arrived, almost dragging 3 ring binder folders behind herself with a pot of coffee in her hands, as she plopped herself down on Tighnari's bed.

"Gah, I'm sorry I'm a bit late Tighnari, I really didn't sleep well last night..." Layla yawned as her folders slipped down each other and spread across the bed.

"It's no worries at all, and thank you so much first of all for teaming up with me and Kaveh, I think we'll make a great team together!" Tighnari spoke gently as he arranged some papers on his desk, "Have you met Kaveh before?"

"No... I, I don't think so?" Layla spoke softly as she pulled up her baby blue, hand knitted cardigan that was beginning to slip over her shoulder, "He's that Kshahrewar student who redesigned the Port Ormos bridge last year, right?"

"Yes, he's a close friend of mine. He's a perfectionist who's quite outspoken, but he's a lovely guy, I'm sure we'll all make a great team" Tighnari nodded as he subtly checked his phone to see the time, seeing that Kaveh was running late once again.

"You know... I'm not too good at first impressions, so I apologise if I'm a bit quiet..." Layla said as she rubbed her eyes hard, revealing some dark purple and brown bags beneath them.

"It'll all go smoothly, I can guarantee you" Tighnari assured as he prepared to show his friend his current plans so far, but just as he tapped the papers on the desk, a panicked, and slightly sweaty, Kaveh burst inside.

"Oh god I'm so sorry I'm late, I got completely caught up at a meeting with an architectural firm and then I had to submit a research paper to my professor..." Kaveh spluttered out as he wiped some sweat from his forehead exaggeratedly as he collapsed in a beanbag opposite Tighnari's desk.

"You're fine Kaveh, catch your breath and get some water... Oh Cyno's in the shower so you'll have to go to the kitchen" Tighnari muttered as he picked up Kaveh's belongings from the floor, as Mehrak, Kaveh's personalised case, opened up to dispense a colourful selection of folder dividers.

Kaveh looked up and raised an eyebrow as he gaze went from the ensuite door, to Layla, and then to Tighnari, "Cyno is in there? Is he apart of our team or...?"

"No he isn't, since he's under the matra training course, he is assigned a different final project... and he's just in there since his shower is broken" Tighnari said as he finished gathering Kaveh's sketches and papers, neatly organising them to his friends liking inside Mehrak.

"C-Cyno...? Oh, I'm sorry Tighnari..." Layla sheepishly spoke up as her fingers twiddled against her Cryo Vision, that was embroided onto her cardigan, "I've heard he's a... foreboding type of guy..."

Tighnari leaned back in his chair as he grinned, his tail swishing as he spoke, "Ignore any rumours you've heard about him, he's a very polite guy actually"

"Yeah he definitely didn't seem anything like what I was expecting a couple of nights ago at the party, he's actually alright" Kaveh smirked as he stood up, "Anyone else need some water? I can grab some snacks from my dorm if we need any"

"Ah... Thank you, but I've got some coffee" Layla flustered as she held up the oversized pot, "Oh I'm Layla by the way, Tighnari invited me to join this project, is that okay with you?"

"Pssssh, of course its fine. Ya know, I haven't had the chance to check them out yet, but AlHaitham was giving you a lot of praise for your research papers and charting maps!" Kaveh quickly extended his hand for Layla to shake, who took it and seemed surprised by the vigor in Kaveh's grip, "By the sounds of it, we'll be making a pretty sweet team!"

Kaveh quickly left to grab some snacks, as Tighnari rolled his eyes by smiled, "He's a bit eccentric, hopefully you'll have enough energy for him..."

"I'll just... need to get more sleep next time to catch up with him..." Layla yawned as her eyes seemed to drift away to the ceiling.

"If you're struggling with sleep, I can recommend some herbs and fruits that help me to sleep" Tighnari spoke as he finished organising his own pieces of paper about the final project, "Getting enough sleep is incredibly important for the growth of the mind and body, you know"

"Oh yeah, I know I know..." Layla moaned as she quickly unclipped some loose sheets from a folder, "I'm just so busy... if it wasn't for the blessings from the stars, I would've definitely dropped out by now..."

Kaveh swiftly returned on cue, as he sat down a bag of snacks beside Tighnari's desk, "Here we go, that should be enough... Oh Layla, you'll have to let me know your favourites so I can bring them next time"

Layla exclaimed gleefully when she saw the bag of snacks, the most energy in her Tighnari had seen all day, as she sat straight up, "Oh thank you Kaveh, I'll pay for them the next time we meet up!"

Kaveh brushed Layla's offer aside, shrugging his shoulders as he pulled a chair up to the two others and smiled, "You're too kind Layla, it's no big deal honestly... Anyway, we should get started now that we've got all our pleasantries out the way"

"Good idea. I've got some rough plans for what we could do, but it all depends on what requirements you guys need in the project of course..." Tighnari spoke firmly as he began to get started with his 2 fellow students.

More often than not, Tighnari dreaded group projects, yet the rapor he was able to build up with Kaveh and Layla so quickly eased his mind a bit, as the group went over their lists and ideas. It wasn't until they had cut down their many ideas to just 3, that the ensuite door slowly opened.

Emerging, Cyno quickly saw the 3 students deeply engrossed in discussion, as he tried to silently slide his way out of the room. Unfortunately for him, Tighnari's ears caught him as he was about half way, allowing the botonist to pause mid-sentence to look at what the noise was.

Growing up, Tighnari was caught traditional, yet polite manners from his father and mother, yet those manners seemed to dissipate when he spotted his roommate, trying to sneak across to the door. Cyno had a white towel wrapped around his waist, with his equally coloured hair slick back, glistening due to the wetness. A dark purple hoodie was drapped over his shoulder, covering the left side of his chest, as the tassels dangled down to his midsection, where an admirable sets of abs were. They were subtle, sure, but definitely toned and built upon by hardwork, as Tighnari became momentarily transfixed on one particular bead of water as it dripped down Cyno's stomach, just past his belly button. It was only then, that Tighnari also had a chance to notice Cyno's strapping arms, with thicker biceps than anyone else Tighnari had seen, and perfectly smooth skin. Occasional scars dotted the man's body, obviously coming from his intense training sessions he had with Cyrus; a slash here, and a cut there. Just as the thought of caring for Cyno, should he ever get injured again from training, crossed his mind, the flustered Tighnari felt a building heat begin to portray itself on his face, and then he noticed Cyno looking over at him, with apologetic, yet kind eyes.

Kaveh quickly turned around to see what had caused Tighnari to stop, whilst Layla seemed peacefully drifting away, her head balancing on a hand as she was sitting up snoozing. There was a long silence, only filled by Tighnari shuffling in his seat to hide his tail which was almost wagging at the tip, as Cyno slowly opened his mouth.

"I'm... not interrupting you guys... Am I?" Cyno asked as he pulled his towel up more, hiding the very tip of a snail trail that had been poking out moments prior, "If so, I apologise..." his words were awkward and almost choked as his eyes darted between the students and the numerous piles of folders and papers between them all, littered across the bed, floor and desk.

"No no!" Tighnari declared, as he crossed his legs and quickly lowered his voice sharply as he noticed Layla stirring in her sleep, "We were just chatting about our project, that's all"

Cyno quickly nodded, as he gripped his towel tighter, making the edges of his skin turn white, "Ah okay... Well... Thanks for letting me use you shower Tighnari..." his voice rigid and borderline stuttery, as he nodded in acknowledgement to Tighnari, and then Kaveh, who had covered his mouth with his hand. With that, Cyno swiftly left, closing the door forcefully behind him.

There was a pause, in which Tighnari tried to distract himself with some scattered papers on his desk, as Kaveh cautiously turned back to Tighnari, a mischievous smirk poking out from behind his hand.

"Tighnari?" Kaveh asked plainly, as he tried to maintain eye contact with his friend, who had his back to him as he busied himself with some paper.

It wasn't until Tighnari could feel his face return to normal that he turned around, providing a neutral, yet slightly annoyed expression, "Everything okay, Kaveh?"

"Everything is fine with me, but... Could I ask..." Kaveh spoke gently, looking over at Layla who had now slumped to her side, as her head rested against the wall sleeping, "Are you doing alright?"

Tighnari scoffed, vigorously stacking even more scrap pieces of paper as he tapped it against the desk to be aligned, "I am absolutely fine, I simply forgot Cyno was in there." He ended his words with a sharp glare to Kaveh, who just warmly smiled and scooted his chair closer to Tighnari's desk.

"I don't wanna pry but... Well... You seemed a little starstruck there, I haven't seen that look on your face before" Kaveh said, his mischievous grin morphing into a calming one, "Not that I blame you, Cyno is surprisingly friendly and-"

Tighnari cut him off with a wave of his hand, as he defensively spoke, "There's nothing going on, I just... Hadn't seen him without his shirt on before and I was surprised... and before you ask, no I do not have a crush on him" Tighnari rolled his eyes as he leaned back, his tail curling up at his side, "What are we, children in kindergarten with playground crushes?"

Kaveh held up his hands carefully, but kept a strong smile on his face, "Awh cmon, I was only asking a question! Seriously though, if you need to ask for advice on anything, I'm here for you!"

Tighnari seemed to consider it for a split second before he smirked teasingly, "Didn't you spill an entire glass of water on yourself at your first date with AlHaitham, and then try to clean up your spillage on the floor?"

Kaveh sighed and smiled as he crossed his arms, "Ouch, too far Tighnari... I'll leave my offer on the table with you then"

Tighnari rolled his eyes as he looked over at Layla, "We should probably call it a day, can't get too much done with a third of our group asleep..."

Suddenly, Layla sat straight back up, before shaking her head, "Absolutely not, we need to get a rough plan figured out today, the poor girl has got a research paper due on Wednesday!"

Exchanging confused glances, Tighnari and Kaveh quickly resigned as they talked to this 'other' Layla about what they could do. After some deliberation, they all decided on a children's hospital model, where Kaveh could design the building, Layla could orchestrate her skills in star reading and charting by coming up with brand new therapeutic treatments, and Tighnari could show his prowess in floral healing by designing an on-site garden that would help the hospital become self-sufficient. It was all theoretical, and wouldn't ever become an actual hospital, yet the project would hopefully dazzle their professors into giving the 3 students an A at least.

Soon enough, Kaveh and 'other' Layla packed up their endless piles of paperwork and folders and left, leaving Tighnari alone in the room. He was tempted to go speak to Cyno about the awkward encounter earlier, but he was afraid his tail would give him away, so he dedicated the rest of the day to diving into one of his research papers.

Chapter Text

Cyno huffed slightly as he adjusted his grip on the box of decorations, keeping his focus straight ahead down the corridor. There were, of course, the typical stares from other student, joined by the hushed whispers but he wasn't thinking about them, his mind was too focused on his roommate, who was patiently waiting for the decorations so the duo can get their Christmas spirit on. He typically hadn't given the holiday much care in the past, treating it like an average week off college, but this year was different; this year, he had friends. 

Reaching the dorm, he held on tightly to the box as he opened the door, his eyes looking up to see Tighnari precariously balancing on a chair, trying to hang some fairy lights against a mirror. The botonist turned around slightly and smiled as Cyno, "Thank you for grabbing those Cyno, are you sure your dad won't need them?"

Cyno shrugged as he dropped the box off on the sofa, opening it up and being greeted with a wave of memories from his childhood, "I doubt it, he doesn't care too much for Christmas now that I'm older, I think he's just taking it as a relaxing week off work"

Tighnari exhaled loudly as he finished hanging up the lights and stepped off the chair, "Well that isn't very festive, at least we can put them to good use!" Tighnari had a spring in his step as he walked over to the box of decorations Cyno had brought, picking up a hanging string of wooden reindeer.

Cyno smiled as he saw the wooden reindeer, as he quickly busied himself with the rest of the contents of the box, "Would you mind helping me set up my room? You've got a good eye for decorating, I would struggle if I did it my elf" 

Tighnari silently shook his head as he glared at Cyno, "That was bad, not even a 3/10... But sure, why not" Tighnari resigned as he went to go pick up the box, but struggled to get a good grip.

"Here, allow me" Cyno quickly said as he grabbed the box, lifting it up effortlessly, causing Tighnari to smirk slightly, his ears twitching slightly with amusement.

"You're quite the gentleman aren't you?" Tighnari sniggered a bit as he followed Cyno to his bedroom, who had tilted his head in slightly confusion.

"It's just how I was raised... But thanks Tighnari" Cyno smiled slightly as he shuffled a bit, a slight uncomfort in his arms as they held the box tightly to his chest.

He kept his eyes stuck on Tighnari who casually surveyed the room, his mind quickly racing with ideas as he quickly looked through the box again.

"There's a lot of nice decorations here, none of that tacky plastic stuff... Just look at this!" Tighnari exclaimed, pulling out an intricate paper snowflake banner, obviously homemade but with high quality.

Despite his friends enthusiasm, Cyno could only nod slightly, with each decoration reminding him of his childhood and past. After watching Tighnari cautiously pick up and lay out some decorations, Cyno cleared his throat and spoke up, "So... How should we do this?"

Instinctively, Tighnari chuckled, turning around to see Cyno standing straight, with stiff crossed arms, "Relax, its not like there's any rules we have to follow, just hang stuff up until its to your liking... But if you want advice, I'll give in my 2 piece" Tighnari gave a friendly smile as his tail swished back and forth.

"That might be needed..." Cyno muttered as he looked through the rest of the box, even seeing some homemade Christmas cards he had made, shortly after getting taken in by the Matra.

Tighnari casually looked through some decorations, as he slowly eyed up Cyno, "Alright something's not right, what's up? You've gone back into your shell"

Cyno allowed his eyes to keep glued on the decorations for longer than he expected, but eventually he gazed up and spoke, "Why do you say that?", however he quickly noticed Tighnari was purposefully mirroring his posture; rigid shoulders and an unemotive smile. Inhaling sharply, Cyno allowed his back to rest as he felt his jaw ache from the unconscious clenching, "Sorry... There's just a lot of memories in this box"

Tighnari paused as he twiddled a paperchain in his hands, "Do you want to talk about it? Mental stress is as important to take care of as physical stress"

Hesitantly, Cyno closed his eyes as he grabbed the collapsible branches of a plastic Christmas tree, and took it over to the corner of the room, "I wouldn't mind talking about it, but the problem is... I just don't remember much about it... It's like a chunk of my early childhood is just missing"

Cyno daren't to turn around, partly due to his fear of silence he had previously received from trying to talk about his childhood with his father. He never considered Cyrus as a bad dad, after all, he was the only father figure Cyno had experienced, but there were certain things that were off-topic between the 2, and when Cyno turned 12, Cyrus became more of a mentor for him. Long gone have the days been of hugs and reassurance.

It had definitely been a while before Cyno had spoke, and he sharply turned around to see Tighnari, who was facing away him him, pausing with some fairy lights in his hands. Cyno could feel his jaw clench so hard that his teeth started to ache, he just knew he shouldn't have-

"I'm sorry about that Cyno, you'll have to forgive me though, I tend to give out solution-oriented ideas when my friends come to me with their stresses" Tighnari spoke calmly and casually, his voice gentle as it filled the heavy silence in the room, "You're welcome to talk as much, or as little as you want about your childhood, I'm always here to listen to you", Cyno saw his roommate finally turn around, a playful smirk on his face as he pointed to his own ears, "I might as well put these to good use."

Immediately, Cyno's face started to relax, as he took a deep breath and started assembling the (rather pathetic looking) plastic Christmas tree, "I'm glad you're all ears..." He took a long pause, glancing back at Tighnari who, for once, didn't protest at his jokes, "I just wasn't expecting these decorations to give me memories... Actually, memories isn't the right word, they're more like... fleeting thoughts, that are just out of bounds for me to reach... All I really know is from what I've read up on my case when I turned 18 and..." 

Cyno paused. Just how many pained memories did he want to dig up, just to dump all onto Tighnari? 

"And, it turns out I was born and raised for a couple of years in some old temple, and then I was rescued by the Matra when I was 4. They didn't really know what to do with me, so I was passed around from hospital to hospital for a while, and then from care home to care home, and eventually Cyrus took me in... I just don't understand why..." Cyno spoke so solemnly, he didn't know what emotion to portray in his voice so he didn't show any. It was his typical defense mechanism; not to show any weakness at all, yet here he was opening up about his childhood for the first time.

He hastily slotted the branches into place, and tried his best to rustle them up and make them look a bit more realistic, as Tighnari appeared at his side and started aiding him, "I appreciate you telling me this Cyno, it means a lot to know you feel comfortable enough with me to open up to me" he flashed an honest smile at the future Matra, "It's difficult to know why people do the things they do, but everyone has their reasons, and from what I've heard about your dad at the Academia, I'm sure it's for good reasons... Maybe there are just some things he struggles to talk, not only with you, but people in general"

Cyno allowed himself to relax, "That's probably it to be honest... He's normally quite upfront with his opinions and experiences, yet, it's a different story when it comes to some of my past"

He could hear Tighnari sigh in understanding, "My dad is quite similar. I remember when I came out to him, he treated it as if it didn't bother him at all, yet as the weeks went by, he would go silent if I mentioned anything about male friends in my life. As frustrating as it is, he just can't grasp the concept that some people are gay, so his only response is silence" 

Cyno nodded along as Tighnari spoke, realising that he was glad to open up to his friend. It would be impossible for Tighnari to completely understand his situation, hell, even Cyno didn't have all the pieces of the puzzle yet, but it was endearing to him to know that Tighnari was trying to understand his point of view. After all, it was more than Cyrus had ever done.

"It's just difficult to face him sometimes. I know that he knows all the details about what happened to me, and he can't even share it with me..." Cyno spoke with a disgust in his mouth, and he felt the need to spit onto the floor or drink something to wash away this taste.

"You are still young though, we're probably not even a quater of the way through our lives. I believe that you'll have plenty of time to discover the truth for yourself if you want to find it, and if you need me for support, I'll always be there for you" Tighnari smiled warmly at Cyno, as their eyes met through the prickly branches of the Christmas tree. Slowly, Cyno could feel a weird feeling in his stomach rising once again, the feeling that happened whenever he spent too much time with Tighnari, so he quickly cleared his throat and stepped back to look at the Christmas tree.

"Thanks Tighnari... Anyways, is this tree up to your standards? I don't want to be assembling this tree all day, or I'll turn into a Baklava; Nuts and stuck in a sticky situation of what to do with this past-tree" Cyno relieved himself of a small joke as he looked up and down the tree, before side eyeing his roommate.

Tighnari practically slapped his own face in annoyance as he groaned, "We're done getting the tree up then... And our friendship will be done as well if you pull another joke like that..." 

"...Not funny?" Cyno hesitantly muttered as he had a strange inkling that something was missing from the tree, as he went to the box and started searching.

"Not funny in the slightest..." Tighnari huffed and crossed his arms. Tighnari gave a half smirk as he put one of his hands on Cyno's shoulder, "The tree is quite nice, but I was about to thank you too, for opening up" The botonist smiled at Cyno, who seemed to be lost in Tighnari's eyes when he touched his shoulder, "It's difficult to open up to people, so I'm proud of you"

Cyno gulped as he desperately tried to distract his mind, "Ah... Thanks Tighnari... I guess I'm following the stereotype of desert people well then", he spoke with speed as he reached into the box and found some old lights.

Thoughtfully, Tighnari shrugged, "You know, I completely forgot about that... Not that you're from the desert, but the stereotypes" 

Cyno sat on his bed as he started untangling a confusing mess of string lights, "It's difficult to forget them... I don't think most people realise that I can hear their whispers very well in the corridors" 

Tighnari gave Cyno a pitiful look as he shook his head, "I will never understand why people do that... Some people are just so backwards and hateful..." Tighnari felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

"It doesn't bother me too much actually..." Cyno shrugged as he look over to his roommate, "After all, the more rumours about me being ruthless and brutal there are, the more people will take me seriously as a Matra"

Tighnari raised his eyebrows, thinking for a moment until he gave a proud grin, "That's pretty smart; use their prejudice against them! I just wish I had a way to flip the tables of them too... Just to see their snark and sly smiles backfire on them..." Tighnari couldn't help but smirk at the possibilities of getting back at those who had been so cruel to him before.

As his fingers worked to thread the lights out from their knots, Cyno looked down at his arm, from when he got cut from someone teasing Tighnari in the dormitory hallways, "No need for you to find your own way for revenge, just let me know about them and I'll ensure it gets sorted..." 

"Thank you Cyno, you are being sweet... I'll have to pay you back by letting you touch my ears" Tighnari mentioned as he stood up on Cyno's desk to attach some lights along the top of the wall, "Don't think I haven't seen you staring".

"Oh..." Cyno had accidentally let out his gut reaction, and he quickly tried to recover himself, "Are you sure... They are... Your ears"

Tighnari faintly sighed as he turned his head, "Cyno, I was joking... But if you wanted to touch my ears, I wouldn't mind at all"

Unfortunately for Cyno, he must've let his expression come across as too worried, since Tighnari rolled his eyes and got off the desk and stood in front of him, "Seriously, I don't mind if a friend wants to touch my tail or ears. I trust you, and I have caught glimpses of you looking at it, so have a touch and don't make a big deal out of it" 

Carefully standing up, Cyno eyed up Tighnari's ears, although admittedly he did feel quite intimidated as Tighnari was staring deep into his eyes. 

Just what is he trying to do here...? Cyno thought to himself as Tighnari gracefully lowered his head slightly, finally breaking the eye contact that had sent Cyno emotionally spiralling.

Hesitantly, he reached out, a small gulp going down his throat as he attempted to keep a steady hand. The biggest worry going through his mind was that he would be too rough, after all, he already had some small calluses forming on the palm of his hand and his fingertips; a result of hours upon hours of pole arm training. Nevertheless, his fingers eventually felt soft fur he had been peeking at all day, as Tighnari's ear instinctively flickered. 

"Honestly, it's just feels like a regular dog or cat's ear, but I suppose I can see the appeal in touching them... After us, humans are born with a natural curiosity" Tighnari noted as he could feel the tips of Cyno's fingers cautiously run down the side of his left ear, before they delved into a thickening of fur at the base of the ear.

"I disagree. It's very clear to see you take great care of them" Cyno noted, as Tighnari raised his head and Cyno quickly took his hands back, "I'm sure all of our p-eers would agree" 

"Don't spoil it..." Tighnari rolled his eyes with such an attitude Cyno thought they would roll into the back of his head, "Are your jokes some form of payment?" 

A quick crossing of his arms and a raised brow from Cyno, and Tighnari had his own question answered, "Alright fine, let's continue with this decorating or I'll be stuck in your room all day, at the mercy of your terrible jokes..." 

Secretly, Cyno was hoping the duo would be, but as he and Tighnari approached the Christmas tree, it was clear his roommate was already brimming with ideas as he held up different coloured fabric ribbons and hanging ornaments against the tree.

"We could use some of the golden fabric ribbons with some red and light green ornaments, sound good?" Tighnari asked as Cyno just stood back looking at all the different decorations slightly dumb-founded.

"I trust your judgement" Cyno shrugged as he began handing some of the ribbon to Tighnari, who's fingers expertly weaved it around the different branches as the spantamad student clumsily hung different coloured balls, wooden trinkets and plastic globes on the tree. 

Eventually, the two finished decorating the tree, as Tighnari casually chucked a glittery, plastic star at Cyno, who caught it with little effort, "Here you go, put the star on top so you can say you did it all by yourself" Tighnari said as he dusted his hands together and admired the tree.

"No, you should be the one to put it on the tree, you put the ribbons on it" Cyno argued as he jestured at the Christmas tree.

"And you put the ornaments on it, and you made some of the decorations too" Tighnari spoke. In response, Cyno crossed his arms yet again, causing Tighnari to exhale dramatically and resign, "Fine, let's both put it on at the same time then, happy?"

Cyno nodded as Tighnari dragged himself over to Cyno, as they both held different sides of the star and clipped it to the top of the tree, making Cyno smile finally as he nodded to Tighnari.

"Now I'm happy" Cyno spoke as his eyes met Tighnari's, and a familiar warm feeling rose slowly up his throat, and spreading down his arms and to the tips of his fingers, ensuring they trembled slightly as he quickly broke eye contact and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Alright good... We did a good job here, if you ever want to redecorate your dorm, just let me know" Tighnari calmly said as he looked around, "You've barely done anything to this room, you've got a blank slate to work with"

"I'll keep that in mind then, but thank you Tighnari, for your help and for listening to me" Cyno said as he picked at some loose skin around the edge of his nail on his ring finger.

"No worries Cyno, and you know, my door will always be open for you if you need a chat" Tighnari said with elegance as he approached the door and exchanged a nod with Cyno, "I've got to go grab some shopping with AlHaitham and Kaveh now, we always do our weekly shopping together" 

And with a quick wave, he was gone, but what didn't go was that warming feeling in Cyno's chest, making every exhale and inhale relaxing and easy. As Cyno looked around his room, he just couldn't wonder why Tighnari made him feel so warm, when it was so cold outside.

Chapter Text

"Nothing. Is. Coming. To. Mind" Kaveh exaggeratedly exclaimed as he banged his hands against his head on beat. As Tighnari glanced up at him, he noticed that his eyebags seemed much heavier today.

"If you keep knocking all your brain cells out, you won't think of anything" Tighnari stated in a matter-of-fact way, "Take a deep breath, drink some water and look at this from another angle."

Kaveh rubbed his eyes hard, attempting to take a breath in but it remained shallow, "I just... Man I dunno anymore..." Kaveh leaned back in his chair and ran his scarred hand through his hair, "I'm just having a restless day, I missed my appointment with the dermatologist because I promised I'd help one of my friends with their homework... Just feels like my whole day has been thrown out of wack"

Tighnari nodded, knowing damn too well he was having one of those days too, but before he could speak up, Kaveh's eyes lit up like a flame.

"Babe!" Kaveh almost scrambled out of his chair to give Al Haitham a quick hug, who had managed to sneak up behind Layla; not that she would notice, poor girl was sound asleep writing away, "How did your lecture go? Did you manage to get that coursework finished in time?"

"I did, and here, I got a text from the pharmacy that your lotion was ready to pick up" Al Haitham pulled a bottle of thick, pale yellow cream out of his pocket, which Kaveh gracefully took, bowing his head multiple times as he quickly applied some to his scarred hand.

"Oh shit, the pharmacy texted you? Why don't they ever text me about this stuff..." Kaveh groaned as he put a hand on his hip.

"They do" Al Haitham calmly stated, "Checked your phone today?"

Kaveh quickly pulled out his phone and read through some notifications before groaning, "Ah shit... I didn't realise... Oh and it seems mum has left for Fontaine again without warning me..."

Al Haitham nodded as he turned to Tighnari, pulling down his headphones, "Cyno told me to tell you that he might be home late tonight, he had a surprise meeting with Cyrus"

"Thanks Al Haitham for being a messager boy then, I don't understand why he couldn't have texted me but I appreciate it" Tighnari smiled as he thought of Cyno once again. Why would he ask Al Haitham to tell Tighnari directly? A text would definitely suffice.

"No worries. I'm going to head to the gym now, see you later" Al Haitham mundanely stated as he gave Kaveh another hug.

Tighnari and Kaveh watched him walk away as Kaveh slipped on a glove over his hand as he pulled out some very expensive looking stationary, "He's the best... Honestly I thought he would've hated me when he found out I ended up in hospital because of those burns... But he's stuck by me"

"Yes, I do have some moments when I remember that you guys are actually in love" Tighnari snarkly remarked as he grinned, but was met with an indifferent shrug.

"Love comes in different ways, ya know? The fact he went out of his way to grab something for me, correctly predicting I'd forget the cream speaks volumes to me. Love ain't meant to be like in those cliché highschool romcoms, it's personal" Kaveh smiled warmly, and his profound words seemed to leave a deep impact on Tighnari, as he uncharacteristically zoned out and stared at the centre of the table.

"I suppose you're right..." Tighnari got out before clearing his throat and picking up a textbook from the ground, "It is quite admirable I will admit, what you two have going on"

Kaveh pretended to seem surprised as he placed a hand on his own chest, "Who are you? Have you replaced my good ol', romance-hating friend Tighnari?"

Tighnari sighed as he stacked some paper against the table, "You always find a way to twist my words... it's almost, and I mean almost, impressive"

Kaveh smirked as he leaned back, "Alright alright I won't tease you anymore... Oh! So, moving on, I had a chance to examine and take some pictures of that old mansion outside of the city, and it's foundations could act as a good basis for our project! I can at least tick all my boxes by making a mock-up of a refurbishing development on the mansion, I was thinking we could go with that hospital idea?"

Tighnari smiled as he nodded, "Secretly, I was hoping we would do the hospital... I already have a couple of ideas of what a built in, sustainable greenhouse could look like...", Tignnari words flowed out effortlessly as he flipped through some pages of a textbook, leaning it up to show Kaveh, when something fell out of it.

In-between 2 pieces of clear plastic, was the Moon-Glows Dew Orchid, the flower that Cyno had brought back from the Week Test for Tighnari. The colours had slightly faded, with the white petals now a light, soft yellow. The pressed flower gently floated down onto the table between the two boys, as Tighnari felt his throat tighten; not helped by Kaveh's eyes looking straight at him.

"I knew you'd keep that flower!" Kaveh exclaimed as he crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at his friend, who was already picking up the pressed flower, slamming it away to another random page.

"And as hard as I try to think about it, I can not escape this one, can I?" Tighnari eventually sighed out, trying to maintain his tail wagging as he looked up at Kaveh, "Alright fine, you win. Your suspicions are correct"

Tighnari had predicted an exaggerated response, with hand gestures and a voice so loud it would awaken Layla, yet Kaveh seemed to be holding back the biggest grin ever.

"I knew it, you're such a bad liar Tighnari, I'm so sorry but you are!" Kaveh joked as he nudged at Tighnari'a firm elbow on the table, "So, is there any sparks about yet?"

"No there isn't... I think I'm just puzzled on how to approach this whole... thing" Tighnari sighed as he leaned in slightly closer, "I think he's a super sweet, nice, attractive guy... But I also think that nothing will happen at all"

"Oh cmon Tighnari, what's all that pessimism for? Who knows what could happen, it could be something good and positive, for the both of you!" Kaveh noted as he smiled warmly, "Besides, I can guarantee this would be his first relationship, so why not just test the waters for a bit?"

Tighnari cringed straight away, "Listen, I just don't like the idea of... being in a relationship just to screw around and test... I'd much prefer to settle down with someone... Besides, he's probably straight!"

Kaveh nodded as he twiddled a mechanical pencil back and forth between 3 fingers, "Ah yes... Well, he does seem like he could be at least a little into guys? Most times I see him outside of some training gear, he's got a crop top on!"

"There you go with your stereotypes..." Tighnari sighed as he began distracting his own mind with some of his notes.

Kaveh sighed and rolled his eyes but looked straight at Tighnari through his brows, "Can you blame me? Anyways, I know you're starting to get a bit defensive about this whole situation, so I'll drop it... Buttttt, just remember that I am your friend at the end of the day; I'm here to support you" Kaveh spoke so kindly, Tighnari could swear his friend had a warming glow in eyes.

Swallowing once again, Tighnari smiled back. It was forced, but he couldn't help the way his face would automatically morph into a disgusted look whenever love was brought up, "Thanks Kaveh, but I think it'd be best if we just focused on our work for now..."

In Tighnari's family, it was extremely rare for anyone to have different partners throughout their life. As a pre-teen, his father always joked it had something to do with their 'inner fox', due to the many species of fox who tend to mate for life. Unsurprisingly, Tighnari had been following this pattern too, but not because of his family, but just due to his focus on the academics instead, yet with all these unusual and new feelings about Cyno slowly rising, he felt he was at a forked road.

Soon enough, Tighnari had realised that he had been zoned out, staring straight into the centre of the table as Kaveh was eloquently sketching up some blueprints, "I'm sorry... I know I just said we should get on but I really can't get this whole situation out of my head..." Tighnari resigned as he put his pencil down next to his notebook, and leaned his head back so his eyes could drift across the ceiling.

"Mmmmhmmm... Alright yeah and done!" Kaveh quickly finished what he was doing and turned towards Tighnari, giving him his full attention, "Just talk, and I'll listen... It's kinda like a reverse of what we normally do, eh?"

Tighnari allowed his breathing to slow, making sure every breath was purposeful and deep in an attempt to relax, "I... I don't know if I have a crush on him, or just want to spend more platonic time with him... Archons above I sound like a teenager so badly now..." he spoke as his eyes casually traced across the many wooden beams and fixings on the ceiling of the library, "That time you and Layla were at mine, and he came out of the shower... I can't get that image out of my head, is that normal?"

Kaveh was obviously holding back a huge smile, however since subtlety was not his speciality, it shone on bright as day, "Well, I mean it probably isn't... Why do you think you think about it so much?"

Tighnari sighed as he stretched his legs out a bit, "No clue... I suppose I am attracted to him... The way he just seems so calm and gentle around me, I don't know, it just makes me feel... special?"

"Do you think he feels the same I way about you then...?" Kaveh hesitantly asked he lightly chewed on the end of a pencil.

"He's a difficult one to read, maybe you would have a better chance but he is just so closed up... Some days he's completely fine and normal, and yet other days he's on edge and anxious... Perhaps I'm just reading too much into it though" Tighnari said as he let his thoughts flow out of his mouth, not even daring to look at Kaveh's responses out of a fear he'll close back up, "At first it felt like walking on egg-shells whenever we had a quick chat, but I feel like there's something more to him... He's slowly letting his walls down, but I feel like I haven't even started yet..."

"If you want some advice, just go for it. Don't dance around anything, shoot your shot and see how it goes! I mean hell, we're only in this place for 5-6 more months, you haven't got anything to lose" Kaveh exclaimed as his leg bounced uncontrollably.

"I could ruin my friendship with him and make these final months of college so unbelievably awkward I curl up and die?" Tighnari snapped as he shook his head and closed his eyes, "I just did it again didn't I? Acting so defensive all the time..." Tighnari shivered slightly as his own words, he WAS too defensive for his own good, and it had a habit of backfiring.

"It's okay! You've just got a lot of thoughts going through your head right now, but instead of dwelling on them, dont over-analyse it and just let yourself speak your thoughts when you see him, whether it's flirtatious or friendly" Kaveh spoke with a glistening smile across his face.

"I suppose that could be a good idea..." Tighnari weighed up the options in his head, "Alright fine... I'll see what I can do about it then..."

Kaveh nodded as his smirk remained clear on his face, "Mhm and you better keep me updated! My lectures are deathly boring at the moment, makes me want to rip my eyeballs out sometimes..."

Tighnari rolled his eyes and smirked. If anyone had overheard Kaveh talk about his lectures, they would've thought that he was an average student at best; his constant complaining at his grades and how the subject matter 'Just isn't that good' sometimes. Yet, he was by far the top of his class, an absolute prodigy who everyone knows will go on to be hugely successful, and probably rich. Last year, Kaveh almost had to be taken to the emergency room due to an accident he had whilst in a hallucinatory state, following 3 days straight with no sleep. What was all of that for? A redesign of the Port Ormos bridge for a competition.

"...Eyeballs?" Came a voice from the opposite side of the table, which almost made Kaveh jump. It was, of course, Layla, who had finally awoken, "Oh no... I'm sorry guys I think I must've... drifted off for a nap again..."

"It's no worries Layla, me and Kaveh were just talking about the project, and we think the hospital would be a good basis for it, how does that sound to you?" Tighnari asked as he smiled warmly at the female student, gently pushing a packet of biscuits in her direction.

Layla quickly grabbed a biscuits, brushing off some crumbs from her baby blue, knitted cardigan as she nodded, "That works with me... Hmmm... How did I get so much work done again? My notebook was completely empty earlier..." Layla questioned as she flicked through her notebook, finding at least a dozen of pages of neatly written notes.

After exchanging a quick glance, Kaveh and Tighnari seemed unsure whether to break the news to Layla about the 'other Layla', but Kaveh gave a quick shake of his head, "It must've been that blessing from the stars I heard you talk about before... Damn, I wish I could have something like that" Kaveh eagerly perked up as he gave a geniune smile.

"I suppose it is good luck then... Anyways did I miss out on much? I'm sorry if I did, I'm awake now I swear!" Layla exclaimed as she wiped some sleep out of her eyes and grabbed a nearby pen.

Tighnari quickly caught Layla up on all that she had missed, and although she seemed very eager, he did catch her yawning a couple of times behind her hand. Deciding that now was a good time for a break whilst Layla did some catching up with Kaveh, Tighnari excused himself to go grab a cup of tea from the student cafe nearby.

As the scholar approached the queue, he let his eyes drift around the tightly packed tables and chairs, most of which looked like they were about to fall apart. Tighnari never quite figured out why the cafe was decorated like a little old lady's cottage, but it felt as warm as a summers day inside.

Despite being a Botanist at heart, Tighnari always found people interesting. Why do they do what they do? One group of friends nearby were all hunched over laptops and notebooks, all of them in a weird silence as they twitched uncomfortably, their pale and grey faces lit up only by the white light of a screen. Another woman, who seemed slightly older than everyone else, sat in the corner reading at a book as a chilled smile sat on her lips. Thinking about it, Tighnari could swear her name was Lisa.

On the table next to her was a couple. The guy spreading out as much as he could, legs open and arm around the back of the girl's chair as he stared deep into her eyes, muttering something only audible to them. Giggling as she shuffled over, the girl couldn't get her eyes off him, she seemed to be admiring him like a work of art. Tighnari didn't he realise he was at the front of the queue, his tail swishing happily despite his hands gripping the insides of his pockets until his nails dug into the palm of his hand.

As the barista cleared their throat, Tighnari snapped back around and ordered without missing a beat, and after receiving his drinks, he brought them back to his friends. The trio continued their studies for a few hours, until the sun that had begun to set shone golden rays across their table. Tighnari casually checked his phone as he took a break, and his heart rate increased as he realised he was late to a study session with Collei again. Rapidly, he shoved his notebooks and textbooks in his bag and said he goodbyes as he hastily made his way back to his dorm, where he spotted Collei looking increasingly nervous as Cyno stared straight at her, with an unnerving glare.

Chapter Text

"Class is dismissed, but for those who I gave an extension on the criminological psychology paper, it must be at my desk by 4pm tomorrow, I will be locking the door at 4:01pm so don't be late" Cyrus announced in a broad voice as the class of trainee matra's all began packing their bags, "Oh Cyno, I need a word by the way..."

Freezing, Cyno looked up from his bag to Cyrus, who gave him a small nod and smile as the other students began filing out the room, until it was just the father and son left.

"Is this a word as my father, or my teacher?" Cyno inquired as he walked up to the desk as Cyrus remained seated as he was busy reading something on his laptop through some thick reading glasses.

"You don't have to call me father... Dad sounds nicer" Cyrus tried to smile as he looked up to Cyno, who simply swallowed gently as he stared back at him with a small grunt, "Alright... First of all, your coursework and homework is perfect, near flawless and... Well..." Cyrus scratched his head a bit as he looked towards the door leading out of the classroom, as students and teachers alike walked past without batting an eye.

"...Well?" Cyno queried as he also looked at the door, but noticed a silence from his father, "I guess it's a good thing I'm not an architect then, if my coursework is floorless then I couldn't stand behind my work"

Cyrus chuckled as he shook his head, "Alright that's a good one I'll give you that... What I wanted to say was that the Akademia is predicting a... small crisis with their mahamatra's... Specifically, their field mahamatras... Seems like everyone these days would prefer to be managing from behind a desk rather than adventuring out to hunt down the criminals..." Cyrus shook his head as he looked down.

"I was planning to continue my studies after I graduate as a Matra to then become a field Mahamatra. You don't need to talk me into becoming one" Cyno pointed out as he shrugged, adjusting the bag on his back as the weight of the textbooks was starting to ache his back slightly.

"You're making my job easier already" Cyrus smirked as he stood up and got closer to Cyno, "The Sages already have a plan to combat this though, fast track the current Mahamatra applicants, but I was wondering if you wanted to be fast-tracked as well"

Suddenly, the world outside the classroom seemed to go silent as these words were carefully processed by Cyno, as his heart began speeding up with all the possibilities of this offer. It took him a while, but Cyno eventually nodded, "I'd be more than grateful... But how would that even work...?"

Cyrus smirked as he crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows, "I'd still need to run this past the Sages of course, but due to your older age than most of the people in your class, I'm sure you'd be able to handle this: Extra classes until the end of the academic year, which will be one on one sessions with me. We'll go over the beginnings of Mahamatra Training, and then during the summer we will be doing a lot of 'on the job' training... I have some good contacts between the General Mahamatra and some other higher-ups. After the summer, and up until the end of the next summer, it will be a vigorous training regime, but if you stick with it, and can handle it, you'd officially become a Mahamatra... The youngest one to date as well."

Taking a few moments to think, Cyno put his hands in his pockets and carefully weighed up the idea. On one hand, this is what he's been waiting for; an opportunity to quickly fast-track to becoming a Mahamatra instead of working for years as a Matra. On the other hand though, it would be extremely tough. Cyno knew just how hard his father would push people, and continuously push them until they did what they aimed to do.

As he opened his eyes and looked at Cyrus straight in the eyes, he nodded, "I would gratefully accept the offer... I'd be willing to put in all the work needed, regardless of how difficult it'll be"

Cyrus smirked as he approached Cyno, opening his arms for a hug but quickly put out one hand instead for a handshake, "I knew I could count on you Cyno... I just need to get permission from the General Mahamatra and the Sages, but once I do I'll let you know"

Cyno grasped his fathers hand and shook it, trying to keep a strong grip but struggling to match Cyrus' grip, "Alright great. I'm going to head to the gym now, so I'll talk to you later" Cyno stated as he waved goodbye and exited the classroom, where a familiar person was waiting for him.

"Hello Cyno, good to see you again." AlHaitham spoke in his regular, monotone voice, as he kept his arms crossed. He had been waiting directly outside the classroom for some odd reason...

"Ah, AlHaitham... Good to see you too" Cyno spoke, trying to maintain his usual calm voice, but he still felt fidgety from the good news he just had.

"I was just going to drop off some papers for Cyrus, but when I saw you were in there with him, I thought I'd say hello to you" AlHaitham said softly, relaxing slightly as he motioned to a small stack of papers in his arms, "You seem happy, what's the good news?"

AlHaitham was an unusual one to Cyno, he couldn't quite put his finger on it but the man seemed to know more than he let on, it didn't help that he was much taller than Cyno, with bigger muscles too. Subconsciously, Cyno tensed his muscles in an attempt to 'compete' with his friend.

"It's to do with my studies, turns out I might be able to fast track to become a Mahamatra quicker than usual" Cyno gave a light smile as he looked around, making sure no one was nearby, "Don't tell Tighnari... I would prefer to tell him myself"

AlHaitham nodded and flashed a small smile as he put his hand onto the doorknob of the classroom, "Alright, I'll let him know you want to speak with him... Also, I hope your shower ended up getting fixed" The scribe mentioned as he entered the classroom and closed the door, not even giving Cyno a chance to reply.

Stunned, Cyno watched through the door as AlHaitham chatted to Cyrus casually, dropping the papers on his desk. How the hell did he know that Cyno's shower was broken. Kaveh probably told him... But why? It was embarrassing enough that his friends caught him in just a towel, but for AlHaitham to mention it so casually in conversation made Cyno's stomach twist slightly...

Cyno blinked and sighed, noticing how he had also been puffing out his chest when talking to AlHaitham. It didn't matter that AlHaitham knew he had to borrow Tighnari's shower, he should just focus on his day; next on the agenda was a quick workout in the academia's gym.

With a spring in his step as he remembered the potential fast track he could receive, he went into the changing rooms and grabbed some workout clothes as he put his bag into a locker. Something caught his eye however, something insignificant and small - a small pride badge on someone's bag that had been left hanging up on a hook.

Whilst Cyno tried to ignore it, the memory of Tighnari coming out to him quickly resurfaced his mind. Sexuality was a difficult topic for him, he hadn't given it much thought, even since Tighnari had come out to him, but it was impossible to know where to start. His entire life he had only met straight couples, so naturally he assumed that he was straight, after all, how can you question something if you didn't even know another option existed.

Deep in thought, Cyno quickly got dressed and headed out to the gym, absentmindedly heading to a rowing machine where he could build up his thigh muscles.

Talking to Cyrus was off the table when it came to sexuality, as anything even slightly taboo or uncomfortable, resulted in Cyrus shutting down in awkwardness and ignoring Cyno. He could try to bring up the conversation with Tighnari again, but he would end up stumbling over his words like a new born baby deer taking its first steps. On the flip side, he could do some 'Internet research', but how do you even start that? Just Google naked men and see if it turned you on? The thought made Cyno hesitant to try that option.

In desperation, he looked around the gym, which was fairly quiet due to the time of day. There were a couple of guys and girls working out, everyone so absorbed in their own personal workouts to pay attention to anyone else. One person did catch his attention though, an older student who Cyno recognised was in the Mahamatra Training course. His name escaped him, but he had done a couple of talks to Cyno's class in the past, and he was a well built guy; A set of abs you'd see on Greek gods, perfectly matching arms and strong, muscular legs.

Without realising it, Cyno drifted towards his direction, hopping onto a tread mill nearby as he tried to casually look at the guy. He was attractive, Cyno would admit that much, but anyone would think that, right? There was a question the man pondered on though:

Does he just find the guy attractive, or is he attracted to him?

Shaking his head as he looked down at the treadmill and turned up the speed, he realised it might been a mixture of both. Attracted to him physically? Maybe, but Cyno didn't know anything about him so it's unlikely he was.

That was when Cyno stumbled slightly, not realising he had turned up the speed too high and was about to fall off the end. Catching himself, he sighed, panting slightly as he looked down to see what speed he had set it to. Of course, way too high, he had let his mind wonder and-

Oh.

Oh no.

At first, Cyno thought his gym shorts had created an awkward looking crease in his shorts, but as he tried to adjust it, he realised he had an erection. The obvious bulge in his crotch area was mortifying to him, especially since he hadn't experienced this type of situation before. As his throat tightened, his eyes darted around the gym and luckily, everyone was too busy focusing on their own workouts, almost everyone having headphones on.

Even if people hadn't noticed him right now, he didn't want to take his chances, so he hastily turned off the treadmill and headed back to the changing rooms, taking his bag out of a locker and going to the toilets to hide himself in a cubicle.

Once the stall door was closed, Cyno dumped his bag on the floor, sat down on the toilet seat and buried his face in his hands, desperately trying to think of something rational, anything to escape this awful predicament.

'Imagine if Tighnari saw you. That would've been even worse' he thought to himself, desperate to convince himself that this was a shameful moment, but his erection throbbed at the meer thought of Tighnari, causing Cyno to go even more red and embarrassed. All he wanted to do was slam his head into the wall of the cubicle and snap himself out of this.

Dealing with erections was something Cyno had, of course, dealt with before, but they were always just morning wood, an inconvenience since he was never aroused in the mornings and it just made putting on underwear difficult. His leg was bouncing as well, not even able to keep still as he rubbed his eyes hard and tried to focus on something else.

Coursework... Insects... Pita Pockets... The smell of carpet cleaner... Literally anything to get rid of his erection.

Eventually, it went away. Secretly, Cyno was relieved he didn't have to resort to pleasuring himself, partly because he hadn't done it before, and partly because he was sure it would break some type of rule by jerking off in the gym toilets. Once he had himself collected, he put his bag over his back and left the cubicle, going over to the sink and splashing some ice-cold water on his face.

He used some paper towels to dry his face as he looked at himself in the mirror briefly, his cheeks a pale pink still as he screwed up the paper towels into a ball and chucked it into the bin. He noticed how he looked so shameful, but for what reason? He knew he couldn't help himself, he couldnt control his body and subconscious thoughts, so why was he feeling so shameful. With one last glance at the mirror, he resigned to his thoughts and came to a conclusion. He was at least a little bit gay.

As he left the toilets, a passing thought irked him to go back into the gym and check out that older student again, but he contained himself as he swiftly left the gym. Even if that guy was pretty hot, Cyno was too busy thinking about what to cook for Tighnari for dinner, deciding that Tighnari was where he should place his loyalties.

Walking through the corridors as he was making his way back to his dorm, he saw the typical stares from other students, but for some reason he found this rather amusing. They all moved out of his way, seemingly scared of him, yet they didn't know that he had just realised he was gay in the gym toilets. Some about that seemed amusing to him, for whatever reason.

Passing through the busy cafeteria, he noticed the variety of students sitting around, chatting as usual, but that's when he spotted Collei, waving awkwardly as she walked up to him, smiling softly.

"Hey Cyno! Are you heading back to your dorm? I have a tutoring session with Tighnari later..." Collei spoke with a hint of nervousness in his voice, as she casually twiddled a feathered pen between her fingers.

Cyno nodded as he stared down at Collei, "I am heading back to my dorm... Need me to let you in?" He raised an eyebrow. It was the first time Collei had spoken to Cyno outside of the tutoring sessions, and even then their interactions were stale and awkward. As Cyno asked his question, he noticed that Collei's nervousness increased due to her fidgety behaviour.

"Ah well... If you don't mind... I didn't want to wait outside of your dorm... It might be... Kinda, ya know, weird..." Collei muttered as her eyes drifted towards away from Cyno, towards the groups of people around the cafeteria.

"It's all fine with me" Cyno shrugged non-chalantly, trying to shake off his awkward moment from earlier as he left the cafeteria, with Collei tagging along behind him.

Whilst the two students hadn't really interacted much, Cyno was preparing for a silent walk back. Even if he had begun to open up with Tighnari, he still found difficulties talking with other students, with all of his classmates still refusing to interact with him, but it didn't bother him. After all, he had gone so many years at the academia not having made friends, it didn't matter to him if random classmates or people didn't want to make conversation with him. Despite this, Cyno could tell Collei's nervousness was high, especially since people were whispering about the two of them as they walked towards the dorm building. Collei had always been nice to him, and he could tell she was a geniune person, so in an attempt to calm her nerves, he tried to talk casually with her.

"So... How are your classes going?" Cyno muttered out as he kept his hands in his pockets and tried to relax, yet he felt on edge.

"Yeah they're fine... Tighnari's lessons are helping so much though! My professor even mentioned one of his papers as an example of what we should aim for... But I do miss some of my friends from Mondstadt..." Collei talked with excitement, her nerves dissipating as she tried to catch up and walk alongside, having to speedwalk. Cyno did notice how her uniform seemed slightly too big for her, as her sleeves were rolled up and her trousers were raised higher than normal... Not that Cyno would dress code her anyway, he only enforced that rule when dealing with people who were being unruly.

"You've been to Mondstadt? Have you met Lisa... She's here at the academia" Cyno mentioned, "Good person to talk to, she's got great tea"

Collei's face lit up as she looked up at Cyno, brushing her green hair out of her face, "Oh yeah! I haven't met her, but I've heard great things! Apparently she's a genius... But I've heard she just wants to be a librarian..."

Raising an eyebrow, Cyno glanced down at Collei as he almost chuckled, "A librarian? She graduated with the highest honors in her field... Even if she does seem laid back and talkative..."

"Oh... Well it's just what I've heard... It might not be true I guess..." Collei mumbled as she retreated back into her shell slightly, as Cyno unlocked the dorm door and they both went inside.

Collei immediately headed to the kitchen table and started setting up for her tutoring session, pulling out a folder with colour coordinated sections and very pretty looking notes, as Cyno watched her casually, seeing some diagrams she made. The young student had made a huge table on one page, each row with a different diagram of certain flowers, one of which caught Cyno's eye.

"That one looks really similar to one I found in the rainforest a while back..." Cyno pointed down to a flower that he saw was labelled as the 'Moons-Glow Dew Orchid.

Collei smiled as she looked away from her notes, using this as a moment to try to remember what she wrote, "That's the one from that cute fairytale about the Prince and his best friend! I remember reading about it from a book..."

Cyno instinctively crossed his arms as he raised an eyebrow, "Oh a fairytale is associated with it? Mind explaining it to me?"

Collei smiled widely as she looked up at Cyno, kicking her feet as she spoke with enthusiasm, "It goes that there was a prince who was in love with his childhood best friend, so he tried to find a flower that cause his best friend to realise his love for him. Eventually he found this flower, the Moons-Glow Dew Orchid, and when he gave it to his friend, they ended up falling in love! I know in some villages, it's tradition to give the flower to someone you want to go out with, as a sign of desire and love!"

Collei explained it with such a warm and positive voice, yet Cyno could feel his stomach twist into a knot, his heartbeat raising to his throat as he couldn't get any words out, yet he continued staring deeply at Collei, out of pure shock. Internally, he was screaming, not believing what she said as he realised he had given that exact flower to Tighnari a couple of weeks ago.

"Ermm... Cyno are... Are you okay...?" Collei slowly asked, her positivity and warmth disappearing after she noticed Cyno's stern glare at her. From her perspective, it looked as though Cyno was about to throw the table across the room, but internally, Cyno could feel his nerves reaching his heart and causing his heart rate to skyrocket.

Just as Cyno was about to apologise for his staring, the door opened and Tighnari had the most bewildered look as he saw Cyno staring Collei, with a terrifying look on his face.

There was a long silence, in which Cyno wanted to curl up into a ball and die, as his eyes darted between Collei and Tighnari, who both stared back at him with fear and annoyance respectively. Eventually, Tighnari walked in, closing the door and crossing his arms after no one else spoke up.

"Cyno... Why are you just staring at Collei? Just tell me what is going on exactly." Tighnari spoke with grim tone, not breaking eye contact with Cyno for even a split second.

Cyno however, still felt in a state of shock, confused as to why Tighnari hadn't told him the truth behind the meaning of the flower he gave him, but nonetheless, he sighed and shook his head. He was tired from today, he wasn't used to feeling so emotionally intense in just one day, so he took a step back from the table and closed his eyes as he spoke, "I just got... Confused about something that I saw on Collei's notes..."

Tighnari seemed to notice the defeated tone in Cyno's voice, and after raising an eyebrow at Collei who just seemed awfully confused, he realised nothing bad had happened. He allowed himself to relax as he walked over to the table, dumping his bag down by a table leg as he looked over at Cyno, "Ah well... I can clear up the confusion now if you'd like?"

However kindly Tighnari could've put it, Cyno would've still wanted to retreat to his bedroom. The mentally exhausted man looked at his roommate and sighed slightly, before finally getting some words out, "Later... I'm tired so I'm just gonna head to bed..."

As Cyno went to walk, he turned around to look at Collei. Desperately, he wanted to apologise for being so startling, but he struggled to find his words, only half heartedly saying, "Have a good study session..."

With that, Cyno left to go to his bedroom. As he was walking, he could hear Tighnari whisper something to Collei, but he couldn't make out what they were saying, but as he thought about it, he struggled to find the motivation to care. His emotions had gotten the better of him today, and whilst he usually tried to keep them under control, he had let them get the best of him, and he was exhausted from it.

Dragging himself to his bedroom, he didn't even bother closing the door properly on his way in, he laid down on his bed and stared up at the ceiling. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt so overwhelmed with his emotions. When dealing with case studies of criminal scholars, no matter how gruesome or cruel the content was, he was able to disassociate the emotions from the content of the case study, yet when it came to personal matters, he struggled to get his words out effectively; they never matched his true thoughts.

In the distance, he could hear Tighnari and Collei starting their tutoring session, and it acted as a nice background noise. Idly, he flicked his phone on and saw it was 4:42pm, but it didn't bother him, when normally he would try to make the most of the day. Cyno simply put his hands behind his head, closes his eyes and fell asleep.

...

Knock knock knock

...

"Cyno? You left your door open but I'm knocking anyway... Wanna talk?" Tighnari's voice came through the air and almost startled Cyno in his sleep. As he awoke, he stretched slightly, feeling sweaty and sticky from sleeping in his regular clothes in bed. Rubbing his eyes, he could make out Tighnari's figure by the door, his distinctive ears and tail instantly recognisable to Cyno as he sat up in his bed.

"Ah... Hello Tighnari" Cyno muttered as he quickly ran his fingers through his hair, trying to swipe away the loose strands of hair stuck to his forehead.

Rather clinically, Tighnari slowly wandered inside, looking around the room briefly before raising an eyebrow at Cyno; this time however, he didn't have his typical quizzical glare, this time he seemed more sympathetic.

"Something's wrong and I can tell. We don't have to talk about it, but I'm here if you want to... dude" Tighnari spoke with a slightly playful grin on his face when he said 'dude' in a slightly lower voice, clearly trying to make Cyno smile slightly.

Although it wasn't successful in making Cyno smile, he did gesture to the end of his bed, where Tighnari sat down on it, with his legs crossed.

"Collei told you what startled me and you put 2 and 2 together." Cyno stated, although probably better phrased as a question, he just wanted to get straight to the point.

Tighnari appeared slightly surprised but swiftly nodded, "Exactly that... You can read people well can't you?"

"Not always, but with you I can tell" Cyno muttered, not intending for his words to come across as endearing as Tighnari found them, but it caused him to become slightly flustered as he looked away.

Thinking for a moment, Tighnari looked back at his friend, "It's not a big deal... Admittedly, I should've told you the meaning behind the Moons-Glow Orchid"

Straight away, Cyno shook his head, "You aren't obligated to... I'm guessing you didn't want to make the conversation awkward, likely how it would've come out anyway"

"Fair enough... But I appreciated it as a gift regardless. I ended up pressing it between one of my textbooks." Tighnari couldn't help but smile as he spoke, clearly trying his hardest to control his tail which had begun to gently sway.

Cyno allowed himself to smile, but only slightly as he still struggled to maintain eye contact with his roommate, "Why'd you press it?"

Tighnari shrugged indifferently, "I wanted to keep it, its a very pleasing flower to look at. Besides, it was going to wilt soon anyway... You could get me another one though, alive of course"

Cyno raised an eyebrow as he quickly looked into Tighnari's eyes. He seemed geniune and honest, not a hint of malice in his eyes or body.

"Sure" it was the only word Cyno could get out as he nodded quickly. Deep inside, he wanted to tell Tighnari about his day, as he figured out he was queer at the gym and about the potential fast track he could get to become a Mahamatra, but the mental fatigue of the day was still looming over him, "I've had a... Strange day. Don't know how to talk about it and I don't feel ready to. I don't know how to get my words out"

Tighnari smirked slightly and nodded, "You're very different to Kaveh... That man wears his heart on his sleeve. It's easier for some than others. I won't pressure you into saying anything however, so don't fret"

"Good..." Cyno yawned again slightly, but seeing how he just had a 3 hour nap and it was only starting to get dark outside, he knew he probably wouldn't be able to sleep, so he wanted to spend the rest of the day relaxing, "Want to play some Genius Invocation TCG?"

Chapter Text

Tighnari was proud of his work, after all he had always been good with his fingers. Despite being bullied on a regular basis as a kid for having fox features, that wasn't something he ever felt insecure about, but his fingers, however, were something he used to be insecure about, as they were skinny and slightly boney. Maybe being a pianist was his true calling, but for the time being, wrapping Christmas presents felt like a better use of his dexterity.

It was the 20th of December, and with Christmas around the corner, the vast majority of students had left their accommodation and decided to spend the holidays with their family or friends. For Tighnari, it was a time to give gifts and show his appreciation for his friends, especially since his usual method for affection was being as sarcastic and petty as he could.

With most of the academia emptied out of its occupants, there was finally a serene silence in the air; no background yelling, music or footsteps. The only noise that really bothered him was the insistent rain or barking wind late at night, but his ear protectors did a decent enough job at keeping out the noise.

He paced around in the kitchen, double checking that everything was clean and tidy for when he was to leave later on in the day, although he knew Cyno was going to keep the apartment tidy regardless. Speaking of which, Tighnari had agreed to exchange gifts with his friend today, since he was going to be spending his Christmas at the academia. Delicately, Tighnari stirred a pot of hot chocolate on the stove, using some tongs to pick out the bundle of lavender, some cinnamon sticks and a few sticks of clove.

"Tighnari, I've got my gifts..." Cyno spoke up as he approached the kitchen, holding 2 wrapped gifts.

Turning around, Tighnari gave a pleasant smile, but as he saw the gifts, he swallowed and tried his hardest to keep a good smile. Cyno was holding both of the presents precariously, the two of them poorly wrapped, with strands of sellotape sticking up and the wrapping paper torn and clumpy on the corners.

"I did offer some help if you needed..." Tighnari mentioned as he poured out some hot chocolate into 2 mugs for them, "I wouldn't have minded"

Cyno simply tilted his head slightly as he glanced down at his gifts, "Are they wrapped badly? I haven't wrapped up gifts in a long time... it's quite the finicky process"

Tighnari decided to swallow his criticisms as he slide a mug across the kitchen counter for Cyno, and gently blew on his own mug, "It's good don't worry, they're gonna be opened soon so it doesn't matter..."

Shrugging, Cyno placed the gifts down on the kitchen counter as he picked up a mug of hot chocolate and took a sip, a small smile creeping on the edge of his lips, "Good job... Reminds me of being a kid again"

Tighnari gave a small nod and a pleasant smile as he took a sip from his drink, "I'll take that has a compliment then..." Tighnari paused slightly as he looked around the apartment. It was cold in appearance, with no sunlight from the outside world and only heavy rain, a thick gray hue hung over their shared living space. He couldn't help but shiver, despite some heat coming from the mug in his hands, "Are you going to be alright here, by yourself?"

Cyno shrugged slightly, placing his weight onto a different foot as he looked down to his mug of hot chocolate, "Gives me time to reflect and prepare for the upcoming semester. Cyrus normally prepares his version of a 'Christmas Dinner' anyway, if you can call it that..."

Tighnari gave Cyno a sympathetic look. Cyno is a loner, after all, but Tighnari couldn't help but feel guilty leaving his friend alone during a holiday meant for togetherness, but before he could speak up, Cyno spoke for him.

"Ah, you're worried about your plants? Fear not, I've looked over the instructions you left for me... I even looked into some of your research" Cyno spoke carefully as nodded his head towards the multiple sheets of instructions Tighnari had left for him.

"No no... You fool, it wasn't that. I just don't like leaving friends behind at the holidays. After all, this holiday is all about being with your lov- friends and such..." Tighnari said, quickly correcting his slip of the tongue. Don't want to be too hasty.

Luckily, Cyno didn't seem to notice, too busy glancing around the room, "You've got my phone number, if you want... Give me a ring"

Tighnari smirked a bit, taking another sip as he examined Cyno; He's definitely gotten better at hiding his flustering... Or perhaps Tighnari was overlooking this whole situation, "Deal. I'll give you a phone call on Christmas"

Cyno held out his hand as he spoke with a serious expression, "Do you promise?"

"I promise Cyno" Tighnari held back a chuckle as he shook Cyno's hand, his grip as strong as usual, "Anyways, let's exchange presents then, my friends will be picking me up soon"

Tighnari smiled warmly as he gently picked up his gifts for Cyno, 1 large box shaped one, and then other a small sachet of seeds. Internally, he was also quite interested to see what Cyno got him; just how well does Cyno actually know him?

With a tinge of apprehension, Cyno slide 2 medium sized gifts across the table. To Tighnari, with his gifts placed next to the ones Cyno wrapped, it looked like a parent had done half the wrapping, and then let their kid do the rest.

"Which one you want first? The big one, or the small one?" Tighnari asked politely as he sat down, gesturing to the gifts he got for Cyno. Interestingly, Cyno took a couple of seconds examining the two presents carefully before speaking.

"I've heard the phrase 'Go big or go home' before... and considering I'm already home, might as well also go big" Cyno spoke as Tighnari cringed, sliding the bigger gift across the table.

In comparison, the two gifts Cyno had gotten for Tighnari were both jar shaped, that and Tighnari could see part of the lid poking out that Cyno didn't cover in wrapping paper.

Together, under the candle light, the two boys began to open their gifts, with Cyno completely silent as he unwrapped his first gift. Tighnari didn't notice, but he did audibly mutter when he looked at the gift Cyno had got him.

It seemed to be some type of moss, or gel, in a tall, rustic looking jar. The gel inside was light green, with speckles of dark green throughout it. To be honest with himself, Tighnari's first thought was that Cyno had scooped up some pond water and dumped it into a jar.

"You... You... Tighnari. Where did you buy this?!" Cyno's voice echoed out in the quiet room, startling Tighnari who then smirked and twiddled some of his hair.

"I remember from Kaveh's party, you just kept your TCG cards in some manky old tupperware box... Thought you could do with an upgrade" Tighnari smirked as he looked at the excited, yet bewildered Cyno.

"This is the limited edition, prototype box though! Leather imported from Port Ormos, and a silk interior, made from silk flowers imported from Liyue... These were all sold out... How on Earth did you find it?!" Cyno spoke with the most enthusiasm Tighnari had ever experienced, it took him back a bit as he simply shrugged.

"Well, I have my connections... Do you like it though?" Tighnari asked, slightly carefully as this eccentric side to Cyno was something he hadn't witnessed before.

"Tighnari... This has been my dream TCG box for months... No, years. I... I'm speechless... Thank you Tighnari" Cyno calmed himself down, speaking with such a heartfelt manner it made Tighnari's tail wag slightly.

"It's... my pleasure, I'm glad you like it.." Tighnari said, but he quickly drew his attention to the strange Mason jar in front of him, "And uhhh.... What... Is this?"

Cyno smirked as he stopped fiddling with the leather straps of the TCG box and nodded, "Shake it"

Tighnari raised an eyebrow as he slowly picked up the jar, and gave it a light shake. Almost instantly, the jar light up, like a lamp, shining a calming green light out from it. Tighnari couldn't help but smile too, "Bioluminescene Bacteria, from... Let me guess, Northern Sumeru?"

"Indeed... I read about them whilst flickering through one of your textbooks and I thought you'd like it, so I got you a jar of it... It's supposed to stay lit up for a couple of hours after you shake it" Cyno tried to explain to the best of his knowledge. Admittedly, Tighnari knew all of this already, but he just liked listening to Cyno talk.

"Impressive... Perhaps you'll become a student of mine one day? I can tutor you alongside Collei" Tighnari teased as he shook the jar a little bit harder, the green light getting brighter, before he placed it in the middle of the table.

Cyno cleared his throat and seemed to be distracted fixing his shoe lace or something like that. Not that it could fool Tighnari though, he saw a flash of blush on his friend's cheek. After a couple of seconds, Cyno re-emerged from under the table and nodded formally as he slid his other gift across the table to Tighnari.

Tighnari thought it was best not to make another teasing comment; his last gift for Cyno was certain to make him fluster anyway.

"Here... I got you something else too, something more practical" Cyno mentioned as he crossed his arms and took the other gift Tighnari had got him.

Tighnari couldn't help as his feet tapped under the table with glee. Cyno had got him spot on, whilst he appreciated cosmetic gifts, he also enjoyed a good practical gift, as it was a true test on whether or not Cyno knew him truly. As he unwrapped it, careful to not let his fingers touch the stickiness of the sellotape too much, it was another jar, this time, containing a thick, opaque gel.

Cyno decided to wait this time to open his second gift, as he looked at Tighnari, "It's a gel to stop fur from getting wet when it rains... I noticed that you always seem extra snappy when your tail is wet..."

Tighnari let out a short laugh as he conceded, "Fair enough, you're right with that... This stuff seems pretty good, I haven't used it before..." Tighnari examined the jar carefully, reading the basic instructions on a label on the back, with a sentence underneath stating '9/10 dogs love it!'

...

"Cyno... Did you buy this from a pet shop?" Tighnari quizzed as he leaned forward and rested his chin on his hands.

"I did ask the employees if this was also suitable for people of Valuka Shuna descent and he didn't know what I was talking about... But he did say it works on all types of fur" Cyno mentioned as he crossed his arms, a small smile curling up at the side of his lips.

"If this doesn't work, I will just assume you think of me as nothing more than just a dog who can speak" Tighnari spoke with sarcasm as he took off the lid and gave the gel an idle sniff, and to his satisfaction, it was unscented. Last thing he wanted to do was walk around smelling like a dog.

"You'd have to be barking mad to assume I think you're a dog..." Cyno mentioned as he smirked slightly, "I'm hoping that pun would get a pawsitive reaction from you?"

"... Be quiet..."

"...Okay..."

Tighnari smirked as he gestured towards the last gift he got for Cyno, "Go ahead, I think you'll like this one a lot"

Cyno seemed pretty excitable as he hastily peeled away the wrapping paper, and found a little sachet inside. With care, he opened it up and saw just a sprinkle of seeds inside.

"Seeds... What do they grow into...?" Cyno asked as he poured them onto his hand. There was only a few, each one not bigger than a sunflower seed.

"The Moon-Glows Dew Orchid. I liked the first one you got me, so I wanted to see if you could grow me one... They only take a couple of months after all" Tighnari spoke, choosing his words carefully. After all, Tighnari was essentially just asking 'Hey, if you grow me these flowers I'll go on a date with you', since Cyno now knew of the fairytale behind the flowers. Despite trying to word it carefully, he was met with silence as Cyno just stared down at the seeds.

"Alright... I'll grow one of the orchids for you... If that's okay...?" Cyno spoke with a slight pause in his voice. Did Cyno really know what Tighnari was asking for with these seeds? Who knows, but the poor boy did seem on edge...

"Yes of course its okay... It's why I gave them to you in the first place" Tighnari spoke, trying to soothe his friend with his words, but Cyno seemed as rigid as a house right now, "You don't have to... It was just a proposition"

"I want to." Cyno responded almost immediately, like he was trying to defend himself, "What I meant to say was... I can grow them, of course I can, but would you like to see them, after they've grown?"

Tighnari could help but smile, an infectious grin spread across his face, despite trying to contain it, "Absolutely, I'd love to see how well you can grow one"

Cyno gave Tighnari a smile back, relaxing himself slightly for the first time. Sure, they were both dancing around the fact that this could result in a romantic relationship, but by doing so, Tighnari has seen that Cyno had finally been able to relax when talking about this type of subject.

Just as Tighnari was about to joke about growing one of the orchids himself, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He checked it, and sure enough, some of his fellow forest watchers were outside the academia, ready to pick him up.

"Damn it... I've got to head off now, Nasrim and the others are here to pick me up..." Tighnari muttered under his breath as he packed away the bioluminescene bacteria jar and the gel into his backpack, which he swung over his shoulders. Personally, he wished for another hour or two to chat with Cyno, maybe hang out for a bit longer, but with the rain outside only getting worse, and his friends waiting for him, he didn't have a choice.

"Need a hand carrying your stuff down?" Cyno offered, already standing up and ready to help before Tighnari could reply.

"You know what? That'd be great... If you could just take that small suitcase down, it would be amazing" Tighnari smiled, despite noticing he slightly overpacked his rucksack.

Cyno grabbed the suitcase by the handle without any strain and opened the door for Tighnari, "Just remember to give me a ring on Christmas... It'd be nice to hear from you"

"Of course I will Cyno"

Chapter Text

It shouldn't take that long to find a huge village in the middle of the rainforest, right?
Cyno took out his map once more and flapped it about, checking his position. He would've checked his phone but the signal out of the city was patchy at best; he couldn't even listen to his current favourite podcast - 'Why I became a Matra'. He was on the right track, well at least he hoped so. Since the bus stop about 20 minutes ago, he had been following a small dirt trail, but with how thick the foliage is, it was difficult to tell if he was about to arrive in Gandharva Ville, or if he was going to end up in the abandoned mines of Liyue. Regardless, he had told Tighnari he would see him today, and he'll be damned if he doesn't arrive on time.

The future Mahamatra tread carefully, he didn't want to damage the birthday gift he had gotten for Tighnari, although admittedly it had been a couple of days since his birthday. It took him a while to muster up the courage, but he did give Tighnari a ring on his birthday... To no response. Cyno had chalked it up to be the lack of signal, but deep down he was slightly disheartened. Just as these thoughts were beginning to creep up, the tops of some village houses began to peak over the tips of foliage.

"...Cyno?"

Cyno quickly darted his head around, and quickly spotted Collei, who was sitting just a few meters away by the riverside. She had some old fashioned headphones around her neck, with a dark green turtleneck, a couple of friendship bracelets and a dark grey denim skirt hanging down to her knees.

"Collei... I didn't spot you there" Cyno said with a hint of authority in his voice, but he knew damn well he should try to hide it.

Quickly, Collei scrambled to her feet and stuck her hands in her pockets, looking up and down the dirt path, "It's okay... I had just... Well... I wasn't expecting you to visit on a day like today..."

It didn't take Cyno long to realise he should loosen up a bit, so he forced a weak smile and nodded, "It's the Biryani factor... It's rice to meat stew again"

Collei blinked a few times and furrowed her brow, "Oh..." was the only thing she could mutter out as she felt Cyno's gazing red eyes descend upon her, where she then coughed up a pitiful excuse for a laugh. However she quickly realised where this was heading, and by remembering what Tighnari had said about Cyno explaining jokes and she walked up the path slightly, "Tighnari said he was waiting for you up in the village, I can walk you there if you'd like!"

Furiously, Cyno nodded and walked with a brisk pace behind Collei. His lack of experience with small talk and his last encounter with the first year student meant that he knew well enough that it was going to be an awkward journey, but would silence be even more awkward?

"So how was your Chr-"
"Did you need hel-"

Cyno ineptly fumbled an apology under his breath as he realised that the two of them had come to the same conclusion: Neither of them wanted to walk in awkward silence.

"Sorry... What were you going to say Collei?" Cyno tried his hardest to speak softly and with a smile, but he felt the corners of his mouth twitching.

"No no it's okay... I just wanted to ask if you needed a hand carrying anything" Collei said, looking down to one of Cyno's bags he was carrying in his hands.

Grateful, Cyno nodded his head and passed her the bag, where she took a couple of seconds getting a decent grip before continuing the walk, with a slight pant. By now, the uncomfortable duo had reached the outskirts of the village, where rows of crops were planted in between trees and bushes.

"Oof... This is kinda heavy... How many nights are you sleeping over for again?" Collei asked, her body swaying slightly with each step she took.

"Just the one... You can never be too prepared" Cyno confirmed as he spent most of the walk looking around. The village houses were quaint and cosy, each one built using wood harvested directly from the rainforest, and they looked like the perfect place to settle down.

"That's true... But overpacking leads to exhaustion... I've seen too many tourists and travellers get weighed down by their stuff far too often..." Collei spoke as she recalled the details through her mind with a slight cringe, "I tend to overpack too though..."

"Is that so?" Cyno asked, mostly with an absent mind as after the long travel, his brain felt foggy and sluggish.

"Mhm! Almost my entire wardrobe is at the Akademia... I didn't realise there would be so many clothes shops in the city..." Collei spoke as she began walking to a bigger building near the centre of the village, with a big, slightly overgrown plaque that read "Forest Watchers" above the door entrance. Collei opened the door and held it open for Cyno, as he quickly bowed a thank you and entered.

Inside, many forest watchers were busy at work, gathering around maps and plans, as well as observing the plethora of books resting on the bookshelves. Thankfully for Cyno, Tighnari was just up ahead, discussing some secretive plans with a couple of other forest watchers. The job of forest watcher was a slightly out-dated term, as the appropriate title should be 'Environmental Scientist' or even 'Tour Guide' since Gandharva Ville was branching out into tourism, but it seemed to be a long standing tradition to use the title of Forest Watcher instead.

As soon as Cyno had spotted Tighnari, he turned around, giving a warm smile to Cyno and Collei before passing on the schematics of whatever he was writing about to another forest watcher.

"Ah, well if its isn't my expected guest with my student" Tighnari beamed as he walked over to greet the two. He exchanged a quick glance with Collei, causing her to pipe up.

"Oh Tighnari, I'm gonna be helping out in the kitchen tonight to prepare for New Years Eve, but we're low on cutlery... Are we going to need extra forks, knives or spoons?" Collei asked, with a slight nervousness in her voice.

It was a strange question that Cyno couldn't quite wrap his head ahead the meaning of it all... Unless they were speaking in code...

"We'll need plenty of forks don't worry, and then maybe some spoons later on when it gets late... Don't bother with any spare knives" Tighnari spoke with a casual air about him, his ears not even twitching as he gave his answer confidently.

This all but confirmed Cyno's thoughts, that the two of them were speaking in code, but he decided not to press the issue as he was just a guest staying for the night.

"Tighnari... I didn't know you lived in such a nice area... A very nice green-array of flora" Cyno spoke with a modest tone as his lips quivered into a smile.

For once, Tighnari seemed slightly puzzled, but eventually sighed and looked down to the ground as he rubbed his forehead with disappointment, "That was in the bottom 3 of your jokes... Only slightly better than when you tried to rhyme studying with watering..."

Cyno nodded in defeat as he took his rucksack off his back and opened it up. Internally, he was getting used to his jokes yielding no results, but that didn't bother. He knew one day he could make a joke that would put a smile of Tighnari's face. "It's a couple of days late, but here... Happy late Birthday"

Cyno gently pulled out a thick, flower pressing book from his rucksack as he passed it to Tighnari, with a birthday card gently taped to the front. He decided to skip on wrapping it up since his wrapping skills weren't just going to improve over night.

Gratefully, Tighnari accepted and looked over the book, flickering through a couple of pages as Collei leaned forward and tried to look at it as well, impressed. "Thanks Cyno, I will admit I wasn't expecting this... I think you and Collei are the only two people who don't lump my Christmas gift and birthday gift together these days..."

"They're two separate occassions! Of course we have to get you two separate gifts!" Colleo chirped up as she looked up to Tighnari with a warming smile.

"Tell that to Kaveh and AlHaitham... I don't even get separate cards from them anymore, and I knew them both before they got together" Tighnari sighed as he spoke, peeling off the envelope containing the birthday card off the front of the flower pressing book.

Crossing his arms, Cyno shook his head in displeasure, "You're their friend, that seems slightly unfair"

Nodding, Tighnari rolled his eyes exaggeratedly as he adjusted his hair, "It's fine... They both mean well, just means their budget for any future gifts will be reduced... Also if you put any sort of joke in this card I'll escort you out of the village personally... There's a lovely tree I know of you can sleep under" Tighnari said with a sharpness in his voice as his eyes slowly looked over to Cyno with a slightly intimidating glare. Holding strong, Cyno shook his head.

"It was tempting... But I thought you deserved a break from one for today" Cyno smirked mischievously as he looked back at Tighnari, who seemed unconvinced at best, and dreadful at worse.

Tighnari opened up the envelope quickly, using a nail to slice across the top as he pulled out the card. To his surprise, Cyno was telling the truth, the front cover of the card was of some cute, digitally drawn flowers and plants in a variety of different pots. Inside, Cyno had decided to keep the message simple and clear.

'To Tighnari
Happy Birthday
From, Cyno'

Little to Tighnari's knowledge, Cyno had spent 20 minutes at his desk thinking about what to write. He did contemplate a joke for a long while, but decided against it. He wanted to ensure that it was perfect, at one point even tempting to add a 'Love from Cyno' at the end, but considering his mixed thoughts of love, he decided against it. When he was thinking about it, he realised the only person who ever said 'Love' to him was when Lisa was writing him letters or cards, but that seemed to fit Lisa's personality better than his own. Besides, if he was going to say the l word to Tighnari, he wanted it to be special.

"That's such a cute card! Did you get it from that gift shop opposite the pizza place?" Collei asked as she looked up at Cyno, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"I did, they've got some nice gift related stuff there anyway..." Cyno spoke casually as he kept his focus on Tighnari, trying to gauge his reaction.

"I've got to agree with Collei, it's a nice card, I'll keep it on my bedside table I think... Next to my alarm clock" Tighnari smiled, his tail giving a small sway as he quickly exchanged a glance with Collei, who nodded as she quickly excused herself to go sort out some of her research, but not before Cyno thanked her for carrying his bag to the village, "I'm guessing you're gonna want to dump your baggage off, and then I can give you a tour"

Cyno nodded as he slid his rucksack on, having to adjust it slightly as he spoke, "That'd be nice, I think I overpacked a bit"

Tighnari smirked as his tail wagged slightly, picking up Cyno's other bag before his friend had the chance, "You don't say... Looks like you packed enough to spend the week here...", he huffed slightly as he tried to adjust his grip correctly as he began to lead the way out of building, opening the door and allowing the floods of sunlight to come in.

As he followed him, Cyno couldn't help but notice how the sunlight highlighted his figure and body. Aside from the rays showing off his friend's waist and hips in a way that Cyno didn't even know was possible, it was also the little things he noticed. How the green in Tighnari's hair and tail fur turned a lighter shade, almost like the colour of fresh pond algae, and how his typically pale skin had a warmer glow to it. Even if it made his arms seem more red in spots from where he had shaved, Cyno liked the way he looked; and he knew he would still like him no matter how he looked.

"Just a quick 5 minute walk and you'll be able to rest your feet for a bit" Tighnari spoke as they walked down a pavement that had grass and the occasional flower creeping up on the sides.

"I'll be fine, I'm more excited to get a tour of this place from you" Cyno said as he couldn't help but admire all small thing they walked past, from the trees stretching overhead to the lampposts. Since most of his later childhood memories were of being in the hospital or the Akademia, this type of environment still felt foreign to him.

"I didn't expect you to be so interested by my little village... Admittedly, maybe I got a bit bored of it for a while, but I like this place. Feels like the place I'll settle down at, you know?" Tighnari mentioned as a group of kids came running past them, all of them waving up at Tighnari as they sped past.

Pondering this, Cyno glanced back at the kids who ran past them. They weren't scared of him when they saw Cyno. Their carefree and happy attitude strung a chord in Cyno's heart, but not a chord of reminiscence, but one of longing. Longing for his childhood that seemed to be long gone in the depths of his mind.

"From what I've seen so far, it does seem like a nice place to settle down... I might have to consider it" Cyno mentioned absentmindedly as he distracted himself with the quaint little houses built nearby.

Tighnari almost allowed himself to get caught off guard by what Cyno said, but he decided instead to lean into it, "Well we're expanding a lot recently, thinking about reserving a house?"

Cyno shrugged as he continued to walk, looking to his side to see Tighnari chatting, the sunset still illuminating him beautifully, "Not for a while... My plan has always been to work my way up as a Matra to a Mahamatra and then see where things go from there... Maybe I'd even become a sage"

Tighnari smiled respectfully, making eye contact with her friend, his head bobbing up and down as they walked, "You've got some pretty big goals... I'm not doubting you though, you seem very headstrong, especially with that thick skull of yours"

Cyno blinked a couple of times but smiled back eventually, "I know what I want out of life, you've gotta plan ahead"

"True true, but life doesn't always go according to plan. Life throws you a curveball and you've gotta deal with it" Tighnari said as they arrived at his house, as he unlocked the door, "Not that I'm doubting you, I hope everything goes according to plan"

"Likewise" Cyno mentioned as they enter his house. From the outside, Cyno noted how calming and 'homey' the house looked, and it was clear Tighnari spared no expense with decoration.

Approaching the house, Cyno noticed how, much like all the other homes, Tighnari's was unique. Thick, peeled logs acting as the main frame for the porch, with the colour reminding Cyno of freshly harvested wheat. The panels of the house were painted with a jade coat, and the texture rough and raw of jaggered wood. Lingering in the air contained the scent of timber, mixed with floral notes and light spices. A stone chimney had been constructed to the side of the house, and although clearly a personal job from Tighnari, with patches that looked amateur at best, the whole appearance of it generated the look of personalised home. A home Tighnari helped to build by himself, for himself.

The inside was equally mesmerising, as Cyno quickly clocked in where Tighnari got his inspiration from when decorating his dorm room. A beautiful contrast of sleek, pastel coloured appliances with the earthy tones of his furniture. Cyno could hardly contain a little 'woah' that came out of his house as he clumsily dumped his rucksack on the floor, too preoccupied with the gorgeous living space he found himself in.

"Hey space cadet, you want a drink? Need to stay hydrated" Tighnari called out as he walked over to the kitchen. The home had an open plan to it, with only 2 rooms other rooms; Cyno had assumed were a bathroom and a bedroom.

"Ah uh.. Yeah sure" Cyno stuttered out as he joined Tighnari in the kitchen, who was bent down getting a glass out of a lower cabinet. Naturally, Cyno's eyes followed him, and to remain respect, Cyno looked at the back of his head as his ears twitched slightly due to the higher heat today.

"Considering we're in the middle of winter, I wasn't expecting it to be so hot today... Global warming huh?" Tighnari casually remarked as he shook his head, filling up two glasses with tap water as Cyno smiled gently.

"I didn't realise you have an undercut" Cyno pointed out as Tighnari handed him a glass of water.

"Oh yeah... I used to cut it myself using a mirror and some old barber's scissors. It's to try and give my hair some airflow" Tighnari spoke gently as he took a sip of water, trying not to gulp it all down aggressively. He still wanted to look good for his new guest.

"Sumeru's heat getting to you huh? It's not the heat that gets you, it's the humidity" Cyno pointed out as Tighnari's face immediately scrunched up as if he had just bitten straight into an unripened lime, with his ears falling slightly.

"You sound just like my dad when he would return from the desert on one his stupid bug hunting adventures... Oh I'm sorry, I meant 'important entomology discoveries' " Tighnari shook his head with displeasure as he looked back at Cyno.

Ah. Definitely not the comparison you want from the guy you're crushing on. Cyno took a long drink of water to calm himself down, not that he needed to, as he had perfected the stoic face at this point. He quickly decided to change the topic, "If the heat bothers you so much, why hadn't you always had an undercut?"

Tighnari smirked as he quickly pulled out his phone, "You might not believe this, but I used to have quite long hair. But, over time, it got more and more difficult to manage, so one day I said 'Fuck it, I'm done with this' and cut it to its current length" Tighnari scrolled through his gallery as he then showed Cyno a picture of himself as a first year. Younger, with no eyebags and his skin was definitely a few shades healthier, and with gorgeous, silky hair that went down to collarbones. This also confirmed Cyno's previous thoughts, he'd love him no matter how he looked.

"Huh... I didn't really expect that... Even with a tail and ear fur, you keep your hair is good condition all the time..." Cyno mumbled as he admired the picture.

"Just takes trial and error with different brands and a good routine... I really like that Emelie brand stuff from Fontaine, even if I have to order it online. Smells great and even works on my tail fur" Tighnari smirked proudly as he turned slightly and let his tail gently sway, the fur flowing with the movement like waves of water washing up on the beach.

Cyno tried to not get distracted with the urge to feel Tighnari's tail once more as he spoke, "I just stick with the local brand stuff. Its cheap and does the job well enough"

Tighnari crossed his arms and leant forward a bit, sniffing the air as he nodded, "3 in 1 shampoo, body wash and conditioner?"

Amazed, Cyno raised an eyebrow as he took another sip, "You could tell that just from the smell?"

"Oh no, I've just seen the bottles in your bags when you come back home from shopping... My sense of smell isn't too much more impressive than an average humans" Tighnari smirked deviously as he set his empty glass on the counter behind himself.

"Oh... fair enough..." Cyno admitted in defeat as he also quickly finished his glass of water, looking down at the ground as he took a modest deep breath.

"Unless you fancy talking about shampoo brands and haircuts for a while longer, I think it's about time I showed you the true beauty of this place" Tighnari leered, refilling a water bottle as he grabbed a fleece, "The sun is about to set soon, so I'd recommend you grab a jacket. It'll be wet and cold by my guess."

Cyno nodded as he grabbed his ochre bomber jacket and threw it onto his shoulder. Whilst not one to care much for fashion, he secretly got his inspiration from any trouble makers at the Akademia and used them as a way to develop his own fashion sense. As he followed Tighnari, he quickly tied his hair up with a loose hair tie from his pocket, his nervousness causing him to sweat slightly. The duo were met with the dazzling sunset glow, casting a golden shine across the different the pavement and trees.

"Seems like we've been chatting for too long... Might have to be a quicker tour than I was planning" Tighnari mentioned as he checked his phone, shaking his head slightly.

"That's fine with me. If not, we can walk around in the morning" Cyno mentioned as he blocked out some of the sunlight with his hand, before looking back to Tighnari. The sunlight touched his figure better than before, his cheeks almost glowing in the light and his hair wavering slightly. Yet again, Cyno felt his stomach tie up in a knot, catching a gulp in his throat as he looked back down the pavement, "Let's get going. I'm interested to learn more about your quaint little village"

Tighnari smirked, raising an eyebrow as he began to lead the tour, "Little village huh? Well I hope its up to your standards as a city boy"

"City boy?" Cyno stated plainly as they walked down the pavement, admiring the variety of plantlife, "I'd like to remind you that I've spent a good amount of my time out in the desert... I'd like to see you in the desert for as long as I have"

"Pffft... Good luck... I'm not spending any longer in the desert than I need too. Even Aaru village is too much for me" Tighnari shook his head with an unamused look on his face. Tighnari took Cyno down a pavement that lead to the village centre, and to Cyno's pleasure, it really was a sweet village. No big superstores, instead there were speciality stores, with one bakery, one post office, one butchers and so forth.

Cyno tried to listen to Tighnari explain the history of the village, but he was stuck between getting distracted by how peaceful Gandharva Ville looked, and how Tighnari seemed completely in his element: Calm, Intelligent and Informative.

Soon enough, nightfall came and the hours ticked by, with the moon high in the sky and a light drizzle falling down. Tighnari had taken Cyno to one of the main streets, which was lit up by the orange hues of the streetlights, and many people had gathered around and looked rather excited as they waited in anticipation.

"Hey Cyno, you mind just waiting around here for a bit? I've got some... things to attend to" Tighnari mentioned, smiling as he looked around at his neighbours.

Unintentially, Cyno crossed his arms as he gave Tighnari a stoic look, "Are you sure you don't need a hand?"

Tighnari gave a light chuckle as he gave a light smile to Cyno, "It's a surprise! Ah I know it now, you're nervous to socialise?"

"Nervous is a stretch" Cyno immediately rebutted, "Just... New people aren't my speciality"

"And I'm not asking you to become a social butterfly in a snap" Tighnari put a hand on his hip as he gestured to the villagers gathered around, "This isn't the Akademia, no one fears you here"

Cyno couldn't bring himself to look at Tighnari. Although he was right, no one seemed scared of Cyno here, with kids often looking at him and waving, but this was an unique environment from him. He could become a new person here, all be it for just a day. It was a difficult moment for Cyno, and not one he anticipated.

"Fine. I'll try to socialise then" Cyno eventually mentioned, finally letting his eyes meet Tighnari's, who seemed satisfied enough with this response.

"Excellent, well I hope you enjoy your mingling, I'll be back soon enough so you can see the surprise" Tighnari spoke with excitement in his voice as he waved and walked off, weaving In-between trees and bushes as he disappeared.

And just like that, Cyno felt strangely alone as he looked around, surrounded by people once more. A let out a tight sigh as his vision bounced from all the groups of people near him, but deep down, he knew he was better off waiting in silence.