Work Text:
He walks faster to Gandharva Ville, stepping over the grass underneath the shades of trees. It’s been a few weeks since the last time he had a chance to go to Gandharva Ville. Work has been rough for the past few weeks and while he loves his job, he doesn’t appreciate how much time it takes from him. Today though, he has time to see Collei and Tighnari and he’s practically bursting with anticipation.
It had been a strange year since he took Collei from Mondstadt. At first, he thought to take Collei with him to Akademiya. However, he realized that life in Akademiya was not a good place for a kid, especially a kid as traumatized as she was. Moreover, being an adopted daughter to General Mahamatra would give her a lot of expectations and Cyno didn’t want her growth to be weighed down by it.
Fortunately, Tighnari didn’t mind that Cyno brought a kid out of nowhere for his lover to take care of. In fact, Tighnari was elated to have such a diligent and hardworking kid under his care. Everytime Cyno appeared in Gandharva Ville, he could see Collei is growing well under Tighnari’s care and Cyno found himself very proud of it.
He nods towards the forest rangers in Gandharva Ville and steps into the house where he can see Tighnari and Collei bending over a book.
“Cyno,” Tighnari greets first, his ears twitching when he sees Cyno.
“General Mahamatra!” Collei quickly gets on her feet and runs towards Cyno. “Please look at this book!” She shoves the book to Cyno to peruse. “I could discern the difference between Karmaphala wood and Brightwood now!”
“That is good to hear.” Cyno praises her. “But you know I won’t trust those trees,” he adds solemnly.
Collei blinks. “Why?”
“They seem kind of…” Cyno pauses for dramatic effect. “Shady.”
Across the room, Tighnari smacks his hand to his face.
Collei frowns. “I don’t understand.”
Cyno points at the book. “Look at those trees, they’re huge with many leaves. Even under bright sunlight, those trees would cover everyone underneath the leaves. Thus, the trees are kind of shady.”
Collei falls silent then grimaces, “I see.”
“Come here, it’s time for dinner,” Tighnari calls them both and they quickly sit at the dining table full of food.
“What have you learned for the past few weeks, Collei?” Cyno asks as they eat.
“I learned a lot,” Collei says then proceeds to tell Cyno the books Tighnari bought for her and the times she went to the forest to learn about plants and animals in Avidya forest.
Listening to her talking about her days makes Cyno feel conflicted. While he’s proud of her, he also wishes he can be there to see her days with Tighnari and not just come to Gandharva Ville every few weeks because his job takes too much of his time.
“We went to the mountain areas a few days ago to find rukkhashava mushrooms, they’re so hard to find,” Collei pouts.
“Mountains, huh? They’re always funny,” Cyno says. “Because they’re hill areas.”
Tighnari rolls his eyes while Collei repeats ‘hill areas’ under her breath.
“Oh right, I have something to tell,” Cyno speaks. “Collei, do you want to go to Sumeru city? I heard Zubayr Theatre has a new dance performance. Do you want to see it?”
Collei’s eyes widen. “Can I, Master Tighnari?” She asks.
“I don’t see why not.”
Cyno looks at Tighnari. “I want you to come with us.”
Tighnari frowns. “But I have a job here.”
“Come on,” Cyno slings his arm around Tighnari’s shoulders. “It’s been a while since we spent time together. The forest will be fine even if you go out for a few days.”
At those words, Tighnari softens. “Alright, I’ll delegate my work and we can go to Sumeru city together.”
Collei and Cyno cheer.
————
“Sumeru city is tall,” Collei muses. “I’m surprised there are no stairs though.”
“I wouldn’t trust stairs,” Cyno says. “They’re always up to something.”
“Why are you like this,” Tighnari mutters to himself. “Okay, it’s time for us to separate. Cyno has work to do but we can meet in Puspa cafe this evening before the performance starts.”
Cyno sighs. “Alright, I’ll see your latte,” he says and walks the road upward. He has so much work to do today.
————
Cyno stretches after sitting down doing his paperwork for hours. It’s almost time to meet Tighnari and Collei at Puspa cafe. He organizes his paperwork and then goes outside of his office to walk to Puspa cafe.
When he arrives he can see Collei and Tighnari sitting and perusing the menu as the waiter waits for their order. He sits down beside Tighnari. “I want one potato boat.”
“Of course, Sir.” The waiter writes his order. “Please wait for the food,” the waiter says and goes to the kitchen.
Tighnari turns to Cyno. “Have you finished working?”
“Yes for today, but tomorrow there will be more paperwork to do though.” Cyno sighs. “What did the both of you do today?”
“We went to the library,” Collei replies. “And Master Tighnari bought more books in the bookstore.”
“There are new editions of encyclopedias of plants and animals,” Tighnari says. “Collei also likes the light novels from Inazuma so we bought them too.”
“Sounds like you had a fun day,” Cyno says as the waiter arrives with their food. “Let’s eat, I’m famished.”
They finish their food and soon it’s time for the performance. Collei is almost vibrating from excitement as they walk to the Grand Bazaar. Cyno can see so many people already waiting for the performance to start.
Soon enough the music starts and dancers walk into the stage with Nilou as the leading dancer.
Collei gasps. “It’s so beautiful!” Her hands reach to grab Cyno’s and Tighnari’s hands in excitement.
Tighnari looks at Cyno over Collei’s head looking touched and Cyno feels the same. Collei doesn’t like to touch or be touched by people because of her trauma, so for her to reach for their hands means she’s comfortable with them.
Cyno tightens his hold on Collei’s hand.
The dance is beautiful, but under the bright lights, he can only feel warm for these two people close in his heart. He looks at Tighnari and sees that he glances back. He mouths, “If nothing lasts forever, will you be my nothing?”
Tighnari groans.