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Cyno stood just outside the gates of Mondstadt.
Lisa had called him to discuss a few things. He guessed she mostly wanted to check up on how Collei has been, or everything that happened in Sumeru recently. It had been a while since Cyno assisted in freeing Lesser Lord Kusanali and he had been fairly busy up until now.
“Welcome strange yet respectable traveler.” A guard called out as he walked by. He’d been here enough times to not be questioned at the gate. Cyno simply waved towards the man and continued on his way.
He had made his way up to the Knights Of Favonius headquarters before he had to pause to mentally prepare to talk to Lisa. She was nice by all means, he respected her once as an upperclassman and now as a friend. She was just… eccentric sometimes… ok, most of the time…
“Oh! Mr.Cyno, hello!” A high pitched voice called from behind. Cyno groaned internally. He didn’t have anything against Amber, she was just far too hyper-active for him.
“Outrider Amber.” He nods.
“What brings you back to Mondstadt? How has Collei been? Do you think she’ll visit one of these days? I received a letter from her about how her eleazar has been cured! I’m so happy. Oh while you’re here could I ask you to bring something for her? I have th….” She rambles for a while. Cyno didn’t know exactly what to do so he just stood there. Waiting.
“Oh gosh sorry. You’re probably here for something important and I’m just talking your ear off..” Amber swiftly apologizes. He sighs, “Collei has been fine, her training is coming along pretty well. If you want me to bring her something, drop it off with Lisa, I have a meeting with her shortly.”
“Of course! Thank you so much, Have a nice day!” And with that, Amber runs off to do whatever Outriders do. Cyno turns back, facing the library door before pushing it open.
Considering he just entered a library, it’s fairly quiet. The only sounds Cyno heard were the mindless buzzing of lights and some faint talking. He recognized one of the voices to be his companion.
Cyno walked down the stairs into the lower section of the library to meet with Lisa. He had been a little early, even with Amber’s interruption. Lisa heard his footsteps and looked up from the book she was reading aloud to greet Cyno.
“Ah Cyno. It’s wonderful to see you again. Let me finish up with Razor and we can chat in Jean’s office.” Lisa smiled before turning to a young boy sitting next to her. He eyed Cyno for a moment before whispering to the woman next to him.
“Teacher’s lupical…?”
Lisa laughed, “Yeah, something like that. Well, I’ll see you in two days. I believe some of your friends are waiting for you.” She closed the book and stood up to push in her chair. The kid, Razor, followed her example and stood up. As if he was waiting for instruction, he dashed out of the room as Lisa nodded at him.
“Sorry, I didn’t realize you’d be so early. Did you miss me that much?” She chuckled. Cyno grimaced and turned to walk away. “I was kidding. Anyways, come on. I’m curious about a few recent events.”
—-
Lisa ended up talking his ear off about the Akademiya. Cyno had expected her being upset about what they had done but she looked about ready to commit murder.
“To lock up their own archon out of selfishness. Those power hungry hogs..” She whispered the last part but he had heard it regardless. It never fully dawned on him how seriously the people of Mondstadt take freedom.
“And Lesser Lord Kusanali still just let them off?” She looked towards him. Cyno nodded, “She stripped them of their positions and sent them off to Tighnari.”
“Well, I suppose she never explicitly stated that Mr. Tighnari had help them out while in the wilderness.” He raised a brow at this, “Are you suggesting to just leave them for dead? …i might have to bring that up to him later…”
Lisa laughed and continued, “Speaking of forest rangers, how's Collei doing? Amber told me that her eleazar has been cured.”
“Yes, with the purification of Irminsul, Collei is no longer sick. She’s been training harder than ever. At least that's what I learned while passing through Gandharva ville on the way here.”
A knock rang through the room before either person could continue. Lisa stood up from where she was sitting and opened the door, before stepping aside to let whoever it was inside the room.
The young boy Cyno had seen earlier walked in with his head down, along with a small child sulking behind him. His hair seemed to be singed on the tips and they were both covered in what looked like soot.
Lisa didn’t look surprised in the slightest at their condition, only sighing. “Klee. What happened this time?” The little girl, Klee, looked up in surprise. Either not expecting to be called out or was surprised at Lisa’s voice rather than Acting Grandmaster Jean’s.
“Um..Well.. Klee and Razor were playing with Bennett and um… he’s on fire.” She looked down again as soon as she said the last part. Lisa’s face looked shocked momentarily before she sighed again.
“Klee, Razor, stay here. I need to go get Bennett to Barbara. We’ll be talking about this more later.” She turned to him before rushing out the room, “Cyno do you mind looking after them momentarily?” She didn’t stay for his answer.
Cyno wasn’t the best with children, but he’d rather deal with them than invoke the wrath of his former schoolmate. He looked towards the two, one looking at him with apprehension and another with wonder.
He decided it would be wise to tell a joke in an attempt to ease the atmosphere, however as Cyno was cycling through his jokes, his thoughts were interrupted.
“Are you Razor’s big brother?”
Cyno whipped his head down to face Klee and just stared at her dumbfounded. He didn’t think he had a long lost sibling, but then again he hadn’t really seen his parents in a while. Let alone talked to them.
“Wow! Razor, you’re brother and my brother could have playdates just like us!” Klee said excitedly. The boy in question looked back and forth between the two others in the room in complete confusion.
Cyno had been rendered speechless for the first time in a while. How the hell does one respond to that kind of question anyways?? Cyno just pondered in silence as Klee rambled about what he assumed was her brother.
“I’m back~! Sorry that took so long, Cyno I hope you don’t…” Lisa peeked her head through the door, immediately trailing off in favor of watching the interaction. Another boy appeared next to her, and at that point Cyno could only think about how they kept duplicating.
“My my. Klee, what did you say to silence Cyno. Haven’t seen anyone do that in a while.” Lisa chuckled while crouching down to be face to face with the girl. The new kid, covered in bandages, slowly inched his way to Razor, and Cyno could hear a few whispers, yet couldn’t make them out.
“Huh? I only asked if Mr. Razor’s brother wanted to have a playdate with big brother Albedo… Did.. Did I hurt his feelings?” Klee turned away from Lisa and back to Cyno, “I’m sorry if i made you sad!”
Lisa took in Klee’s answer and promptly started laughing. Everyone looked a little surprised but Cyno just grumbled at his predicament.
“Well, I’ll admit you two do look awfully similar. You even have the same vision…” She went quiet for a moment, studying the two. “Cyno… did your parents ever go on a long… vacation about 16 years ago?”
“Are you implying that my parents had a secret child and just left him in Mondstadt without telling me?” He raised a brow. Really thinking about it, his parents had been adventurers, so long trips were fairly frequent.
“I mean.. I suppose it’s not entirely out of the realm of possibility.” Lisa glanced at Razor before going on. “And if you two do happen to be long lost family members, maybe you would be less of a grouch and Razor could have a real family…” She quieted at that last part.
Cyno glared at her again and turned to the young boy standing quietly in the corner, watching the conversation. “...” He looked a moment longer in silence before sighing for the umpteenth time that day. “Do you know anything about your parents?”
Razor perked up slightly, seemingly debating on whether or not he should answer. “Lupical help Razor make wine..” he whispered. Cyno had no idea what that even meant. He looked to Lisa, hoping she could translate.
“The traveler, among a few others, helped Razor make Thousand-Wind Wine after seeing a half empty bottle of it that his parents had left him.” That made slightly more sense.
“Well I can’t really conclude anything from a bottle of wine that I’ve never even seen…” Cyno trails off. This was awkward and he honestly just wanted to go home at that point.
“Oh, I must’ve forgot to mention it. His parents actually left a whole box of stuff. Razor, do you mind?” He shook his head so Lisa continued over to a bookshelf. “We left it here for safe keeping but it’s very useful right now I suppose.”
Lisa pulled a chest down and set it on the table. She unlocked it and pushed the lid open. The contents weren’t too special, the aforementioned bottle of wine that looked suspiciously like an urn, what looked to be a few balls of yarn, some screws, and a few other trinkets.
What stood out to Cyno was a small wolf plush that looked thoroughly played with. He picked it up and twirled it around in his hands. Everyone in the room eyeing him as he did so.
“Based on your reaction, I suppose that looks familiar?” Lisa spoke up. He could feel her small smirk from across the table.
“...yes. It does…” Cyno grumbled. He set it back in the box and took a seat. This whole trip was meant to be a simple meeting and now he had found out that he most likely had a brother he never knew about? Cyno couldn't catch a break.
He felt a poke of his shoulder and looked to the side. Razor looked at him nervously and whispered something that Cyno almost couldn’t catch sitting right next to him.
“Lupical..?”
He looked at the boy and nodded. Then ruffled his hair and stood up.
“I’m getting something to eat. I’ve had a long day and I need a break. I’ll be back tomorrow before I leave.” No one responded so he took his leave.
Archons, Tighnari was gonna have a field day when he heard about this.
Cyno paused in the middle of the foyer and turned his head around. As expected Razor had followed him out the door, likely curious about his newfound brother.
“Well, what’s your favorite food kid?”