Work Text:
I won’t make it back to Sumeru City this year. Work is keeping the entire office more busy than expected.
Just try not to spend Christmas Eve alone, alright? Ask Tighnari or Collei or whoever to keep you company.
I’ll see you soon.
Cyno took one last look at the message displayed on his phone screen before determinedly pushing the object out of his sight. For good, this time, he decided - like he hadn’t gone back and forth between the documents on his desk and this very message all morning. Similarly to the rest of the three days since he had first received the text.
He blamed the lack of a proper distraction on this particular workday. It was like even the criminals had decided to take the day off for Christmas Eve, judging from the uninterrupted, monotonous cracking of the walkie-talkie next to him.
As a result, Cyno was the last person still remaining in the office, as far as he could tell. For the simple reason that other than his colleagues, he had no reason to postpone his few remaining tasks of the year for another couple days and hurry home to prepare for the festivities.
As their superior, his workload was the one that piled up rather than any of the other officers, anyway.
Cyno managed to continue signing reports without further interruptions for about an hour - until Dehya came storming into the office, accompanied by what felt like all the festive spirit of the city and a gust of snow. She stopped in her tracks just by his desk, looking utterly baffled by his presence.
After a minute of confused staring, her expression eventually turned into an overly joyful one.
“Cyno! Man, it’s great seeing you here!” she exclaimed, every bit of her enthusiasm obviously genuine. “What are you still doing at work, though? Even workaholic police chiefs like you need a break once in a while, you know? Besides, it’s Christmas! Go out and have some fun!”
The utterly unimpressed look Cyno directed her way, thankfully, made her shut up quickly enough.
Grumbling something along the lines of “Geez, no need to look so pissed about it, I was just trying to help,” she made her way to the door next to his desk, reappearing after a couple of minutes with Candace beside her.
“Archons, Cyno, go home,” was his secretary’s first comment when she set her mismatched eyes on him.
So she had still been working, too? Ever the responsible one.
“Yeah,” Dehya immediately supplied. “Spend time with your family for once - it must’ve been a while since they’ve seen you, you’re working every single time I come by.”
Cyno glared. Funny of her to assume he would’ve left the desert for Sumeru City and stayed even after finishing his education if he had a family to return to.
But her words were true, he assumed - he witnessed Dehya stopping by to accompany her girlfriend home from work every day. Not that it was any of Dehya’s business - despite having technically known her since high school, Dehya and Cyno were good acquaintances, at best.
Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said about Candace, part of whose job description was, in fact, to make sure he remained as consistently efficient in his job as possible. Not to mention, she wasn’t unofficially titled the “mom of the office” for nothing.
“Cyno, I mean it, take today and tomorrow off work. I bet Tighnari would be happy if you asked to spend some time with him,” she insisted, her gaze equal parts imperious and kind - a combination that only she was capable of.
For Cyno’s liking, though, her words were far too similar to that goddamned text message he was trying to forget.
Knowing that arguing with the combined might of the two women could only ever be a losing battle, Cyno slowly started sorting through and stacking the files on his table and grabbing his belongings.
He took a quick look at his wristwatch - the pointers were stuck at 11:47 p.m. Oh, right, it had stopped working about half a year ago. He still wore it every day out of habit - the symbolism of it, too, remained even now that it was far beyond repair. It also happened to be the only watch he had ever truly owned.
“I’m coming,” he hissed when he could no longer bear the way Candace’s eyes grew more and more narrow as she waited for him to follow her outside.
Like he would not go home at all if she didn’t watch him lock up the place. Which… probably wasn’t too far off the mark.
“Want my help preparing the turkey this time, dear?” Dehya questioned halfway through the entrance of the station, causing Candace to direct a wary glance her way. “If you promise to follow my instructions.”
She had to stop walking, then, or Dehya’s sudden embrace would have made her stumble.
“I’m really glad we get to spend Christmas together this year, too,” she muttered quietly into her girlfriend’s ear. However, not quietly enough for Cyno a few feet away to miss it, to his utter dismay.
Clearly, the supposed joy of Christmas had overtaken those two as well.
“I’ll see you at work,” he told them before abruptly taking his leave, pretending his sudden irritation was completely reasonable.
It was bad enough that he had been forced off work early, no way was he also watching those two being disgustingly lovey-dovey in public.
-
Navigating through the streets packed with cheerful people doing some last minute Christmas shopping and trying to decide on a satisfying dinner idea proved to be rather difficult. Yet, if anyone could theoretically manage getting home under these circumstances without being bumped into, it was Cyno. Key word: theoretically.
“Imbecile, look where you’re- Oh, it is you, General.”
Cursing everyone, the world and holidays in his head for the umpteenth time that day, the young man in question turned to face the shameless woman who had the nerve to blame him for their collision. Like she wasn’t the one typing away at her phone while walking.
To his dismay, he found he did indeed recognize her small stature and long, ice blue pigtails. Faruzan, his mind helpfully supplied, a former colleague of - no, he was not going there.
“I am not normally one to indulge in pointless chatter, especially since my dear grandparents await me, however…,” she continued talking to Cyno’s utmost horror.
If she usually didn’t do smalltalk, why the hell was she talking to him now? They barely even knew each other at this point and had last spoken years ago, for Archons’ sake. Besides, their last encounters hadn’t exactly ended on a pleasant note.
Why should he care about her Christmas plans? Was she bragging? It sure seemed to fit her personality, at least.
“...tell me - how have you been doing? I assume you’ve spoken with Alhaitham recen-"
“I’m in a hurry right now,” Cyno interrupted her, knowing very well that he was being rude but not finding it in himself to care.
Spoken with Alhaitham recently? His ass. Like that jerk ever bothered calling.
Cyno was capable enough of self-reflection to know that he was being inappropriately disrespectful to more than one person today - which he blamed on all the overtime he had been (voluntarily) working lately.
He pushed past Faruzan without another word, his hand sliding into his pocket to grab his phone.
Time to rely on Tighnari to lighten his mood. (And to distract him from certain thoughts but Cyno was not taking that into account now.)
-
Usually, a cup of coffee with his best friend at the city center Starbucks did wonders in making Cyno feel like a halfway content human being again. Tighnari’s familiar, melodic voice, combined with the expressive movements of his fennec ears always did the trick when he was feeling horrible and refusing to admit it.
Usually.
This time, when Tighnari informed him about how the researching of some newly discovered plant was coming about, the excited twitching of his long, dark ears only made Cyno feel restless. Not to mention the agitating effect of the colorful Christmas decorations all over the room, including the staff’s attire.
“Collei used to be incredibly curious about the coloring of this specific specimen. She will be delighted to hear my theory. You see, she invited me to join her and her friends from Mondstadt on their Christmas party tonight. According to her, my interest in research aligns with some of theirs.”
So it seemed even Tighnari hadn’t been left untouched by the festive spirit. He seemed more lively than usual, which was… good.
“So I see you’re busy tonight,” Cyno pointed out on a whim when his friend took a break from speaking to sip on his matcha latte. He ended up regretting it the next second, however, when Tighnari perked up at the words.
“You must have plans, too, if you’re off work this early?” he questioned, frowning just slightly in thought.
“Nothing, really,” Cyno admitted, his expression grave. He might have brushed Tighnari off a little too quickly, though, judging from the way the man’s frown deepened.
“I could offer you to join us for tonight, of course, but-”
“Yes, because a room full of drunk, celebrating strangers is the exact place I’ve always wanted to spend an evening in,” Cyno interrupted, with an amount of sarcasm that made his friend’s eyes narrow in both worry and distaste.
“That’s not funny, Cyno, and you know it,” the raven responded, deep in thought. Cyno was, unlike most of the time, not in the mood for jokes, anyway.
“But what about Alhaitham? Are you two not-”
Cyno huffed in irritation even before Tighnari could finish his sentence. He certainly didn’t need to hear this.
“He hasn’t been back to Sumeru City in a year, what makes you assume he would be now? He cares about Christmas even less than I do. Besides, we’re not as close as you seem to think.”
Those words, for once, had Tighnari at a complete loss. Cyno could clearly see the confusion etched into his features, even before Tighnari snapped out of his momentary daze to ask, “But what about-“
“Don’t bother,” Cyno cut him off, knowing well where his friend’s question would lead. “Work keeps him too busy to really do anything else at all, from what I’ve gathered. He said he would quit soon - a year ago. No idea what became of that. Consistent contact with him is hard these days. As I said, we’re not that close. Not anymore.”
It was true: these days, any text to Alhaitham went unanswered for days. Not to mention, having the other reach out to Cyno first was apparently too much to ask.
This time, Tighnari took far too long to respond for his liking. The way the researcher’s brows furrowed looked more than just suspicious now, too.
When he finally spoke up, while his voice was unusually tense, his words gave off nothing but nonchalance. Like he had decided it was not his place to call Cyno out on the obvious issue thickening the air between them.
“Government officials sure have it hard.”
Cyno simply nodded, thankful that Tighnari didn't force him to elaborate.
“It would seem that way.”
“Are you sure you’ll be fine?” his friend pondered, leaving it up to the other to interpret the context of the question.
Cyno, of course, chose to go with the far more convenient option.
“Of course I will. I don’t see why I shouldn’t be fine spending another evening by myself.”
Archons, Tighnari acted like far too much of a worry wart today. Cyno was completely fine on his own. He had always been a loner and very content with it, had never minded spending his few free evenings by himself. So what made his friend assume that this time was any different?
Predictably enough, Tighnari still didn’t look even remotely satisfied. At this point, though, he must have decided that Cyno, as a grown adult, was responsible for his own wellbeing.
“If you need anything at all, give me a call,” he tried, one last lifeline for Cyno to grab onto if he ever changed his mind.
Because Tighnari wasn’t one to ever leave someone without help when it might be needed, especially not his best friend. Cyno appreciated the thought, truly - but even so, he remained convinced that Tighnari was overreacting.
After another minute of glancing right into Cyno’s ruby eyes, trying to decipher his friend’s thoughts, Tighnari took a glance at the time on his phone screen.
“I’ll have to take my leave now, Collei would be devastated if I arrived late even after promising her to help out with decorating,” he explained.
Cyno, too, checked his watch - oh, right, it was broken.
Once more, he found himself at the receiving end of his best friend’s attentive stare, mixed with equal amounts of suspicion and worry. Then, with one last “Call me, Cyno, I mean it,” he maneuvered his way through the semi-busy café.
Just before he vanished around the corner, Cyno saw him hesitate before lifting his phone to his ear for a call.
The white haired man, meanwhile, was left to brood to himself in a room far too filled with festive colors.
-
The afternoon came and went, leaving darkness to engulf the snow-covered world. Even now, tiny flakes of white were still falling from the cloudy sky.
Like every other day, the temperature was dropping as Cyno marched up the street and then the stairs to his tiny apartment on the outskirts of Sumeru City. Like every other day, the door needed a little (violent) convincing to be unlocked.
Only when arriving in the dark and unusually uninviting living room and snuggling up in his tiny patchwork armchair was Cyno reminded that this evening wasn’t quite as ordinary as he wanted it to be.
Sure, he was home alone as per usual, yet far earlier than he was used to. Even an hour-long trip around the city’s fast food restaurants hadn’t changed that. He felt exhausted from endless days of work and overtime, surely, but not enough so to drop into his bed and fall asleep on the spot. Not enough so for sleep to keep out the thoughts he had otherwise become a master at ignoring.
This wasn’t the kind of usual, free evening that was well spent on his own, killing time watching some random, trashy TV show. The people he had met that day, every one of them without exception, would certainly agree from where they were sitting right now, enjoying the festivities with their loved ones.
Thinking about it… Cyno hadn’t spent Christmas Eve by himself last year, either - or the years before that.
He should just go to sleep and return to work early the next day. This time, there would at least be no coworkers around to disturb him and no Candace or Dehya to stop him.
In the dark, just barely visible thanks to the moon shining through the window, Cyno glanced at his watch - only to be reminded that if he wanted to know the time, the object would no longer be of any help.
He grabbed his phone then, fingers working to unlock it of their own accord, finding a familiar message glaring back at him once more.
I won’t make it back to Sumeru City this year. Work is keeping the entire office more busy than expected.
Just try not to spend Christmas Eve alone, alright? Ask Tighnari or Collei or whoever to keep you company.
I’ll see you soon.
Just try not to spend Christmas Eve alone, huh? Clearly, Cyno had masterfully succeeded in that department, sitting by himself in his cool living room, the lights off, thinking that maybe, just maybe, he wasn’t all that fine after all. That maybe Tighnari had been right. That maybe, Cyno felt lonely all by himself whenever he actually thought about it. That maybe, he drowned himself in work to ignore those facts. That maybe, he hadn’t learned from his past mistakes, after all.
Maybe, over the past year, Cyno had become just a little too good at lying to himself.
Just try not to spend Christmas Eve alone, alright?
Who was that hypocrite to demand something like this when he was the one who hadn’t even given Cyno a call in a month and had last texted him days ago? Was Cyno truly the only one to blame for the pathetic situation he now found himself in?
I’ll see you soon.? Lies.
Suddenly, he felt the painfully prominent urge to push the phone, that godforsaken message, away with all his might, then curl up into a tiny ball and cry himself to sleep.
But Cyno was a mentally and emotionally strong adult who hadn’t cried in years so of course, he did neither of that.
He simply sat, unmoving, staring into the shapeless darkness, asking himself if he hadn’t tried hard enough this time, either.
Until the shrill sound of his doorbell split through the silence and made Cyno jolt upright, almost tumbling off the armchair in the process.
It took him a long minute to gather his thoughts and get onto his feet. Who in the name of the Archons could that be? Needless to say, Cyno did not expect any visitors - hadn’t in quite a long while now. The reason for this disturbance was probably a lost relative searching for the home of one of Cyno’s neighbors.
Whatever, he better get this over with sooner rather than later.
Who he had not expected to be standing outside his door, covered in snow, ears and nose red from the cold, was a familiar face. Especially not one so familiar Cyno could have painted every millimeter of it in his mind and yet so foreign, like someone he had known in a different lifetime.
Stunned as he was, it took Cyno a while to find his voice again but even so, he was the one to speak up first.
“Alhaitham,” he breathed. The sound of the other man’s name was almost delicate enough on his lips to be drowned out by a soft gust of wind.
This seemed to startle Alhaitham into action.
“Tighnari called me a few hours ago. He informed me that you were about to spend the night alone and he… asked if everything was alright between us,” he hesitantly explained, looking as lost and unsure as the situation made Cyno feel.
It was, honestly, the second most shaken that Cyno had ever seen him. Alhaitham usually was all but the type to avoid eye contact.
Archons, how long had it been? That, Cyno found himself wondering while he stared at the unexpected visitor, hypnotized by the way snowflakes caught in Alhaitham’s long, gray eyelashes. Those guarded, crimson and turquoise eyes looked just the same as Cyno remembered, and yet so different. Like a hundred years had passed, as well as no time at all.
To be honest, Cyno knew how long it had been by heart - 357 days. He had tried to forget, hard, but a small, treacherous part of his mind had never stopped counting.
No, wait, timeout. Angry. He was supposed to be angry - no, furious. He had every right to be, after all - Alhaitham had been the one distancing himself from Cyno over the past months, despite the promises that they had made each other.
What gave him the right to just show up in front of Cyno’s door without further notice on Christmas Eve of all days?! (Not that Cyno cared about this day more than any other, but that was beside the point.)
“What are you doing here?”
That was it - just the right amount of icy indifference, projected by both his tone and his words.
Likely as it was, however, he hadn’t expected Alhaitham’s expression to promptly transform into his usual, unreadable stone-face in response. “May I come in?” he questioned, his voice matching Cyno’s cool tone. Only it felt like he was pulling it off much better.
No way! and Yes, please! was what Cyno’s mind screamed. Not answer at all, was what he did on the outside.
In the end, Alhaitham carefully pushed past his frozen form, placed his boots aside and trudged inside, anyway. Shameless as ever.
“It’s cold in here,” he pointed out matter-of-factly after Cyno had gathered the presence of mind to close the door and follow him. By the time he arrived in the living room, Alhaitham had moved to turn up the heater. Like he owned the place. One way or another, Cyno noted with very mixed feelings that Alhaitham still knew even without much light where to find the controls.
“You didn’t turn on the lights, either,” was his next comment. Like Cyno wasn’t well aware of that fact. However, instead of going for the light switch, Alhaitham leaned forward to place a small object on the table. There was a quiet crackling, then light flooded the room, albeit a small one: A lit tea candle, a single light in the dark.
“Kaveh thought it funny to send this to me, knowing how little interest I have in Christmas traditions,” he explained after another minute of silence. Cyno had nothing to respond - his mind was completely blank.
When Alhaitham didn’t say any more, either, the silence returned. A much more awkward silence than Cyno could bear. Which was why, eventually, he again ended up as the one to break it.
“You still haven’t answered my question. Why are you here?”
Looking up at the taller man’s face turned out to be a grave mistake. Alhaitham’s unusually unruly gray hair was still the slightest bit wet, making it shimmer in the light of the candle. Combined with the warm glow the flame cast upon his perfect face, he looked… in lack of a better word, ethereal.
Curses, Cyno shouldn’t have let him in. Now he was growing weak, his anger about to fade completely. Then that earnest expression Alhaitham’s eyes… and Cyno knew he had long lost.
“I’ve missed you. We haven’t seen each other in a year.”
Cyno’s breath caught in his throat. Here he was, the Police Chief of Sumeru City, rendered completely useless by two sentences out of Alhaitham’s mouth.
Still, there was no way he meant it, not after that past year.
“What about your job?” he tried, his voice reduced to a mere croak. Only for Alhaitham to surprise him even more. “I quit.”
Cyno gaped, utter disbelief fully overtaking his system.
Alhaitham just shrugged nonchalantly. He was moving closer now, nearing Cyno who had been standing motionlessly at the entrance to the living room for at least five minutes.
But Alhaitham wasn't done with his explanation yet.
“I’ve been asking the Ministry to move me to a position in Sumeru City for two years. Now they chose not to give me time off around Christmas despite my demands… So I quit. It was long overdue. I only stayed for this long because of my current project, in the first place. Clearly, it was not worth the effort.”
There was no way.
Yet, Cyno simply couldn’t think of a plausible reason why Alhaitham would lie to him in this particular case - although the mushy state of his brain might be to blame for that.
“I’ve missed you, Cyno,” Alhaitham repeated, slowly and clearly this time, like he wanted the words to sink into the smaller man’s mind and take root there. The way his name sounded on Alhaitham’s tongue made Cyno shiver all over. It had been so unbearably long…
The same, and yet not quite, could be said about the soft touch of Alhaitham’s hand on his upper arm when the gray-haired man reached out for Cyno the next second. He was so close now that his scent filled Cyno’s nostrils. He still smelled the same - ironically enough, as the city child he had always been, like the forest. In his very own way. And yet, like home.
Still, the one remaining, determined part of Cyno that even now kept his knees from giving in was also what stopped him from giving in quite yet.
“You never called. Barely even texted,” he stated, knowing very well how pathetic he sounded.
“I was busy and exhausted trying to finish that project sooner and escape the bindings of my contract,” Alhaitham sighed and if he wanted to, Cyno could pretend his tone was regretful. The cool, big hand on his arm had moved to his cheek now, long fingers caressing thick strands of white hair. It took all Cyno had in him not to moan in relief at the gentle touch. “I’m here now, aren’t I? Is it to late?”
Cyno, finally startled back into awareness by the cool sensation, glared at Alhaitham, even though he had a feeling it was pointless. At least, that was what the ghost of a smirk on his boyfriend’s face, barely visible in the limited light, told him.
“No need to act all smug. If you’re going to be an asshole, get out,” Cyno hissed, trying and failing to calm his racing mind.
This was really happening. Alhaitham was finally back, after a year, a godforsaken year. Archons, how Cyno had missed him. Every single fucking day, no matter how hard he had tried to deny it.
And now, Alhaitham was back for Cyno. Just because of a phone call. Or by the sound of it, this had been planned even before? Hadn’t Alhaitham just said he had quit his job? Did that mean he wouldn’t leave again?
No, Cyno shouldn’t get too ahead of himself.
“I brought you a present to make up for it,” Alhaitham whispered into his ear, making Cyno tremble all over. Not necessarily in an unpleasant way.
Before he could react, the Alhaitham had pressed a square-shaped gift box into his hand, roughly the size of his palm, then stepped back for Cyno to inspect the object in the light of the candle.
The dark, elegant box opened easily when Cyno, still confused, pulled off the top to reveal-
Once more, his breath caught. A watch. Not too big or flashy, but all the more beautiful with a case of wood and golden ornaments. In fact, it looked notably similar to the old watch currently sitting on his wrist that Alhaitham was now fondly eyeing.
“It seems my hunch was correct,” he noted, a small but genuine smile on his lips. “I knew you were the type to let old habits die hard so I had a feeling you would still be wearing it, even though it is too old to be repaired now. I gave it to you in high school, after all. But considering that its function has never been the sole reason you wore it...”
Cyno was still frozen in place, overwhelmed by the waves of emotions now overcoming him, when Alhaitham carefully but skillfully exchanged the watches, and placed the new one around Cyno’s wrist. “I thought it was time for some new memories to patch up the old ones.”
Why did Alhaitham always have to be so damn right? It annoyed Cyno beyond belief but at the same time… Archons, he was beyond all hope.
“I… appreciate it,” was all he got out in response. He felt like his vocabulary wouldn’t suffice to put his feelings in words, anyway.
The next thing he knew, he was in Alhaitham’s arms - finally, his mind cheered. Those familiar hands on his back and in his hair, holding him close - how could he ever get enough?
“Speaking of new memories,” Alhaitham murmured against Cyno’s forehead a minute later, pausing where he had been breathing soft kisses against gold brown skin, “You’re off work tomorrow, correct?”
Well, if he asked like that, maybe Cyno was.
Under one condition - Alhaitham would have to get a new job in the city. After all, it had turned out he was the type to seldom contact Cyno when far away - the logical conclusion being that Cyno simply couldn’t let Alhaitham leave at all.