Archive of Our Own

Things can get quite stressful when you’re in the last year of Akademiya, and Tighnari’s turning it even more stressful by thinking that he doesn’t have any experience with relationships or more than that. He knows that he doesn’t need to know anything about it with only nineteen years, he can do it when he feels comfortable or less stressed. But hearing his friends say that they had their best kiss at the weekend party, makes him curious. How can you say if a kiss is better than the other? Tighnari feels like everything might be the same. Sometimes he wishes he didn’t kiss one guy when he was fourteen and went to more parties. Just to feel what everyone feels.

Recently, he’s been trying to ask the white-haired guy from Spantamad, Cyno, out. Tighnari always kept an eye on him, people used to say that he’s quite intimidating because of his Hermanubis powers and connection with King Deshret, but Tighnari didn’t think this way when Cyno was taking some courses in Amurta just because he wanted to know more about plants. He’s intimidating, yes, but he seems like a nice person after you approach him. And Tighnari didn’t do that, that’s why he can’t just go and ask if Cyno wants to go out with him.

Some days ago, Cyno got announced as the new General Mahamatra, and this took his title as just a scholar from Spantamad, so now Tighnari’s actually trying to ask the General Mahamatra out. It’s common for students to have their first sign of what way they’ll follow when leaving the Akademiya—Cyno’s the one who most follows justice there so it’s no surprise he got this job. The only surprise is that he’s not a renowned researcher, which made some people angry. Tighnari saw some notes in a Public Board Message saying that Cyno wasn’t the right choice, something about being from the desert really made that person upset. Days after, someone replied that Cyno wouldn’t take sides like the Rtawahist before him. Tighnari smiled at it. A lot of people know about the stories behind the annual publication rate.

Tighnari also noticed that people started talking about Cyno’s vision. No one ever saw that he has one, and Tighnari didn’t notice it either. It started to run the hallways as well, saying he got it in the desert. Tighnari asks himself if the other ever heard those rumors and, if he heard them, why does he never clear them? Is he so indifferent with how people perceive him that he doesn’t mind it? Tighnari wish he could be like that. He almost didn’t help a researcher with their wrong information because he thought people would call him selfish. In the end, everyone was impressed by his knowledge and his help was well accepted.

Since then, a lot of students go to him and ask for help, so Tighnari always has a lot of scholars around him. Something about this big group caught the attention of the new general, and his presence at the House of Daena didn’t go unnoticed by the Amurta student with his Valuka Shuna descendance. He cautiously observed the general back; every time he heard his footsteps in the library, Tighnari tried to take a glimpse of him to understand what has been going on, even if the fact of being observed by the justice himself made him anxious.

Cyno stopped after some weeks. Tighnari can’t tell what he was doing and what he discovered, but he’s relieved. At least he didn’t get into trouble in his last year. But he wishes that the matra was there, because it was amazing to know that he was this close and that Tighnari could see him, feeding his desire to have Cyno with him. Even if his mind got distracted by his studies, deep inside he’s still going crazy about the existence of that white hair and scarlet eyes. Don’t ask how he knows the exact shade of red.

It’s late hours when Tighnari decides to go home that day. He likes walking to his house when the city is almost empty. He can hear the water running at Yazadaha Pool, the leaves following the way of the wind and some people talking. It’s nice and calm. He stops at his door and, before entering, he pays attention to the sounds again. This time, he could hear a slow breath close to him, it didn’t feel like danger, but Tighnari didn’t want to risk it so he put his things aside and turned to his right—some steps away, Cyno’s standing there.

“Don’t need to be so defensive. Also, it wouldn’t be a good idea to do this with General Mahamatra,” he starts and Tighnari takes a deep breath. “I just want to clear any misunderstanding. You didn’t get involved in anything, I was just suspecting that you were involved in academic corruption, since your group of friends is too big. I stopped after I realized that you’re focused on his studies. Sorry if that made you anxious or anything.”

“I wouldn’t do that,” he answers and Cyno nods. It’s funny that this is Tighnari’s first talk with the guy he’s been attracted to for some months.

“Yeah, I was thinking how could you do that after growing up on Professor Naphis watch and being such a good student in the courses we took together, but the scholars do crazy things when they’re in their last year,” he says and sighs. “Well, have a good night.”

“Good night.”

He takes his things and enters his house. He can hear Cyno walk away slowly. His footsteps sound tired and Tighnari’s a little worried. Maybe Cyno actually cares about how people see him and, after all the things people said about him, he started to feel lonely—Tighnari doesn’t remember seeing him with someone. He’s just twenty years old and already has all this weight on his shoulders.

“What’s troubling your mind?” That’s his father’s voice.

“Cyno sounds worried,” he answers and looks at the man. “What people talk about him, is it right?”

“I don’t know much about him. I studied with some of the people that are your professors now, so...” They laugh. “But I do know that you should be sleeping now.

“You’re right,” Tighnari smiles.

The man plays with his hair and goes to his room. Tighnari just eats something and goes to sleep too. He’s just two months away from graduation and doesn’t want to mess up things now. But he’s definitely thinking about asking his master about Cyno’s past.

Tighnari’s entering the Akademiya when he notices Cyno talking with three students, he doesn’t look worried or rushed, so maybe the students’ problems are simple. He can also see how Cyno’s smiling at them after saying something, while the students don’t express much reaction to whatever was said, that makes the general get serious again and follow the students, not without looking in Tighnari’s direction for a few seconds. That makes the scholar surprised, when did Cyno notice that he was being watched?

He watches his classes and goes to Chinvat Ravine to pick some mushrooms, since he’s studying about them. It’s almost afternoon when he decides to go back to the city, his notebook in one hand and a sample of the mushrooms in the other. Cyno walks past him and even stops walking, but keeps going after some seconds. Tighnari thinks about what passed through the general’s mind and what stopped him from saying it. And his heart also beats fast at the thought that Cyno’s starting to look at him. Maybe he’ll get the chance to ask him out one day.

He knocks at his master’s door and waits for a reply. After being allowed to enter, Tighnari smiles before saying, “Hello, professor Naphis, I brought the samples you asked for.”

“Hey, that’s perfect,” the man smiles. “We’ll watch them for some weeks, and see how they behave. You caught some good ones.”

“Yeah. I also did the cooking test, my father helped me with it, so I should give him credits for it too,” he says and the other smiles. “Of course we didn’t eat it when it didn’t look edible, so we can’t say exactly the perfect temperature, I think I should do it in a lab next time. I hope I don’t die in the middle of this project by eating a poisoned mushroom.”

“You’re talking really fast, is there something wrong?” Naphis asks and Tighnari looks at him. “Is it about your research?”

“No…” he says in a low tone and the professor just signs for him to keep talking. “I… Long story short, the General Mahamatra was investigating me and he came to my house to clear any misunderstanding because I’ve been proven wrong before he could even talk to me about that… Anyways, his footsteps sounded worried and I wanted to ask you… Are all the rumors right?”

“About Cyno?” He asks back and the student nods. “Kind of. He got his powers from Hermanubis, but I don’t know how. He grew up in the Akademiya with Cyrus taking care of him. His vision… I think he got it recently, at least it looks like it.”

“Oh, okay…” Tighnari nods and watches the way his professor organizes the samples. “It must be hard for him to know everything people think about him.”

“That’s how things go in Akademiya. Some students are too busy thinking about other people’s lives,” Naphis adds and Tighnari sighs.

They start talking about the research again. This time with Tighnari speaking slowly and explaining every detail of what he and his father did to discover how they wouldn’t die if they ate that mushroom without knowing the exact temperature. After reviewing everything, he goes back home and thinks about what Naphis said about Cyno.

Days go by and Tighnari notices the way the general’s observing him. Not in an intimidating way like the first time, he looks approachable now. He’s always talking with other matras or helping a student out, but Tighnari notices when Cyno changes his attention to him for a few seconds and nods to whatever the other person is talking about. Some days he sees the matra reading some books in House of Daena, one of them is for laws and the other is something directly involved in Spantamad Darshan.

“Good morning,” Cyno says when Tighnari walks past him.

“Have a nice day,” he answers.

Tighnari hold his smile. Does he need to be friends with Cyno before asking him out? Is the shared glances enough signs that Tighnari should already have done that? They’ve been building up something between those glances or is it something Tighnari made in his head? How he wishes his father didn’t know who Cyno was so he could talk freely about this with him.

After classes, Tighnari decides to write some new things he discovered about the mushrooms. It’s no secret that, with the right amount of shade and moisture, the mushrooms will grow anywhere. Of course it may vary from species to species, since Rukkhashava Mushrooms only grows in Sumeru’s rainforests, the Starshrooms grows in the Chasm Underground and some places in Sumeru, and the common one is found everywhere around Teyvat, or at least at places that aren’t the desert, because he doesn’t know if mushrooms grow up there. Tighnari’s trying to figure out what’s the perfect way to eat all of them—depending on how much you cook them, they might not be edible, and temperatures may vary from each species.

That’s basically what he wants to do with his project. He can’t change the topic of it and may only update some information about it in Akademiya books, but he’ll be fine with it. He has been studying the forest for himself for a while now and, when he gets his position as Forest Ranger, he’ll be sure that he’ll use this knowledge to help people out and maybe he can change even more books with this. That’s the only thing he wishes to do after graduating, because he likes helping people, even if it’s not directly.

He only stops to get more water and go to the bathroom, going back to his research right after it. While rummaging through his notes, he found one that wasn’t there before—at least he thinks it wasn’t, since it’s not his calligraphy. With a rushed handwriting it says: “Meet me at the small pool in Razan Garden. It doesn’t matter the time, I’ll be there”. Tighnari ignores it for a while, it’s strange to read that someone is waiting for him there and, worse, it doesn’t matter the time. If they’re planning on kidnap him, it’s all wrong. He’s smart enough to not walk to that place after reading it.

Or he thought he was.

He’s currently walking to Razan Garden right now. Maybe that’s the most wary someone with tighnarian blood can walk around. Ears high up, tail doesn’t move and back’s straight. Tighnari usually does that to make sure he’s listening to all the sound around him, but nothing seems different now. Things are going pretty well when he walks up to the place in the note. But he stops as soon as he arrives.

He doesn’t need to walk down the stairs to discover who’s the guy with arms crossed in the corner. He’s looking down to the forest, his expression is the most relaxed it can be, even if his standing position says otherwise. Tighnari walks down slowly, his hands start trembling and he doesn’t even notice. He hates how he feels anxious just by seeing this man around.

“Hi,” that’s all the guy says when Tighnari arrives.

“Please tell me I didn’t do anything wrong,” he pleads and the other laughs.

“You can let your guard down. I’m not working right now,” he says. “I can be Cyno when I want. I’m not always the general.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s just we never talked but you’re always looking at me and I can’t read minds so I don’t know if I’m in trouble or if you’re being nice,” he adds and Cyno nods.

“I understand,” he looks at the pool and focuses on Tighnari again. “I will say that I thought you’re very approachable. Like, after I was sure you didn’t break any rules, I noticed that your heart is pure, because you helped so many people and never expected anything in return.”

“Do you need help with anything?” Tighnari asks and Cyno denies. “Do you know someone who needs help?”

“That’s not it,” he sighs. “I want to be closer with you. Maybe we can go somewhere and talk about each other and start a friendship.”

“Oh. That’s… That’s cool,” Tighnari answers, he still has hope that he’ll get Cyno on a date one day. Maybe. He doesn’t know. He needs to stop thinking before Cyno changes his mind.

“You don’t seem very happy,” he mumbles and Tighnari feels like he already messed everything up.

“No! That’s not it! I… I just got surprised because no one ever said that to me,” he exclaims.

Cyno smiles tenderly at the way Tighnari’s ears and tail got down. He doesn’t know a lot about the Valuka Shuna descendance, but those signs don’t mean good in pets. He takes the risk by saying, “Why are you so anxious? It looks like you just got asked out.”

Tighnari almost says that he wishes that was the case, but he just giggles at it instead. Cyno smiles again. They stay silent for a while, it’s not that comfortable for Tighnari because he feels like his heart is going to jump out of his chest, but Cyno doesn’t seem bothered by it.

“What’s your research about?” Cyno breaks the silence and Tighnari feels more relieved by it. He definitely needs more conversation skills.

Tighnari starts talking about everything. How he read in a book about the mushrooms and the way they could be edible, all their species and where they’re found. Everything that fascinated him about those things that some people see as parasites in the forest. Cyno just hears it, without interrupting him. It’s nice to see someone love a topic so dearly.

“That sounds like a hard job. Did professor Naphis help you with cooking it? Or you discovered it alone?” He asks and Tighnari stares at him. “I’m not going to arrest you if you say he did. You just have to give him credits.”

“He helped me find the ones that were in good condition, I found out the perfect way to cook them,” he replies and watches the way the general nods. “And of course I’ll credit everyone who’s helping on this research.”

“Good. It reminds me of how me and Lisa would try to find the exact amount of things when making potions. Who would’ve thought that I’d be the General Mahamatra now,” he says and Tighnari agrees.

The silence between them starts to be more comfortable. Tighnari looks at some people around them, they don’t seem to care about the two boys there. He sighs in relief—he didn’t want anyone thinking that he got in trouble. Naphis would go crazy. Of course he would. And he can’t even think how his mother would react to it.

“I should head back to the Akademiya, thank you for this small talk,” Tighnari finally says and Cyno just nods.

“I should be thanking you for being so comfortable with me,” he smiles and the other feels like he could pass out right there.

“You are a comfortable person.”

Cyno smiles softly before letting out a “thank you” in a soft voice, which surprises Tighnari, but he just waves and walks back to the library. He feels like he won’t be able to hide the growing interest he has in the general and is afraid that things might change in the future. He’s about to turn his ears upside down if he doesn’t distract his mind—which isn’t an easy thing to do. But he tries anyway. It makes him let out some sighs in frustration. And this is clear for Naphis when he sees the boy enter the laboratory.

“What’s happening? Is your research going wrong?” He asks and Tighnari denies, letting his body fall free on the chair. “Did you get negative feedback?”

“No… That’s not about my research,” he answers and sighs when his ears fall back. “I’m interested in a guy, and he said that he wants to be my friend. I think he’s so handsome and attractive that I know I won’t be able to hide it. And I can’t stop thinking about this fact now.”

“Well, you can ask your friends to go on a date with you, that’s how romance starts” he laughs when Tighnari’s ears fall even more. “Look, I know it sounds impossible, but you can talk with him in the future and hope nothing changes.”

“I think it will change. Why is this happening in my last months? I can’t make any mistakes in my research or I’ll be sharing false information! And with mushrooms I can kill people. I’ll be arrested!” Tighnari exclaims and his master smiles, sitting beside him. 

“Who is this guy?” He asks and Tighnari doesn’t answer him. “Why? Do I know him?”

“I have to finish my things, sorry,” he goes to a table and hears Naphis laughing at him.

Despite trying hard to avoid Cyno, it’s inevitable to find him in the Akademiya or Grand Bazaar, or anywhere around Sumeru City. And Tighnari’s starting to rethink his actions when he sees the general enter the same place as him. The Grand Bazaar used to be his relaxing place just days ago. He’ll start to walk only two directions everyday—from his house to the Akademiya and from the Akademiya to his house. That’s the best way to stop meeting Cyno everywhere.

“Hey, how’s everything going? I don’t see you walking around that much anymore,” Cyno says when he stops in front of Tighnari.

“I’m a little anxious about my research, so I decided to focus on it. I can kill someone if I write wrong information,” he lets out an embarrassed laugh.

“And you’re always so afraid of being arrested so it’s not a good idea,” the general jokes and laughs. “I know a relaxing place, if you want I can share it with you.”

“I’ll accept your offer,” he answers and smiles.

Tighnari starts following Cyno. They pass Treasures Street, the Akademiya and arrive at the gazebos in Razan Garden, the student thinks they’ll stop at the place they met some days ago, but Cyno starts going the way to the Sanctuary of Surasthana. Tighnari takes a deep breath before following him—it’s the first time he’ll see it so close and he doesn’t know how to feel about it.

“Come here,” Cyno says and Tighnari snaps awake. “The Sanctuary is really pretty, but I like the view from here.”

Tighnari holds his hand when passing the safety barrier. He feels like his heart would jump off his chest. Cyno sits at the tree and looks at the view, smiling softly. The younger follows him, letting out a relaxing sigh. It’s truly beautiful. And, also, they’re at the very top of the Divine Tree, which makes them view a lot of the forest and the perfect mountain that divides the forest with the desert.

“Wow… That’s actually so pretty,” Tighnari says and Cyno nods. “I bet it’s a nice place to see the sunset at some point of the year, right? It’ll hide behind the mountains.”

“Yeah. It’s amazing when it happens,” he answers. “We should see it one day.”

“I guess so,” he answers and the general watches his ears moving. “Do you miss the desert?”

“I don’t remember that much, only some flashes. When I go there now it is nice, though. The people in Caravan Ribat and Aaru Village are nice,” he looks at his hands and then looks at Tighnari. “But this is the place where I come to relax and stop thinking about things that make me anxious. I hope it has the same effect on you.”

“It sure is pretty, I get why you feel better here. I feel like I could spend hours talking about all the plants we see from here,” he says and Cyno smiles. “But I won’t talk about it today since I have to meet professor Naphis in a few minutes. Maybe one day you’ll listen to me rant about things.”

“I’d love to hear you rant about your knowledge,” the general answers and Tighnari’s mind goes completely blank.

It is a big deal for Tighnari. No one ever listens to him talk a lot about other things that aren’t related to classes. It’s lonely to talk about it only with his parents, because his father already knows a lot about nature and his mother only looks at him proudly without asking anything more. He can’t say that he has friends, because he’s quite alone when not in the Akademiya, so it’s not easy for him to hear that someone’s interested in what he knows.

“Let’s leave it for another day,” he smiles softly and takes a small notebook. “Can I organize my research while I’m here?”

“Yeah, of course, make yourself comfortable,” the general smiles back.

Cyno watches the way Tighnari’s ears move and his tail waggles slowly while he’s focused on writing the information he gathered. He notices how Tighnari doesn’t write information that seems crucial to his research—he’s curious about the reason behind it. If the student doesn’t know the answer for it, he should find it really fast.

“Do mushrooms grow in the desert?” He asks after some seconds trying to understand what was written in the blank space. Tighnari looks at him for half a second.

“Are you indirectly helping me?” he smirks and Cyno laughs. “I hope you read when people said the Rtawahist before you were doing this too.”

“I’m not helping you. I’m just letting you know that some questions might appear while you’re showing it to the sages and the general,” he says and crosses his arm. “You don’t need to answer. Just remember to add this. I think it'd be nice to have this information too.”

“The books say mushrooms don’t grow in deserts, but one of my colleagues discovered that, if the place is humid, you can grow the common one. Maybe near oasis, but things are different in the desert,” he looks at his book. “I couldn’t go there to see it because I can’t bear the heat. The research will look empty because of that, but I think my health should be in first place.”

“I can pack a bag of things for you when you need to go to the desert,” he adds and Tighnari stares at him. “I mentioned that I’m Cyno when with you.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll be writing that “Cyno” helped me with the desert trip,” he jokes and Cyno smiles. “I’ll talk with professor Naphis and you can write me a note with things that I should bring. Please, take into account that there will be two or more person so I don’t kill myself, my master or someone I don’t even know.”

“Okay. I accept it,” he smiles and Tighnari closes his notebook.

“Good. I need to head back.”

“Let’s go.”

Days after, Tighnari’s with his professor, some colleagues and some members of the Corps of Thirty in a expedition to the desert. Cyno arrives late at the Akademiya, so he slides a small letter in Tighnari’s notebook when the boy leaves it on a table to get something that Naphis asked and talks with someone there just to hide what he just did.

When Tighnari gets back, he waits for Cyno to leave and reads the note. The rushed handwriting makes him feel butterflies—he remembers how he felt the first time he saw this calligraphy. He opens the letter while Naphis still discusses with other students about this trip and repeats the caution warnings they got from the Corps of Thirty.

“So, I hope you’re leaving with more water than normal, because I don’t want anyone to die from thirst there. Also, bring extra food. I know you must have packed a lot, but pack MORE. Attached to this note is a Sumeru Desert map with all the oasis marked. I went there to see before you, but I didn’t find many common mushrooms. There’s only two in the oasis behind The Dune of Carouses ruins. And, wandering around the upper level in underground maps, you can find two more in The Sands of Al-Azif. A friend of mine said that there’s a lot of starshroom mushrooms underground in the ruins and some around Aaru Village. I hope you’re going with some graduated researchers to send them to the ruins. It’s dangerous there, even if you have a vision. If you feel like you’ll faint, search for a shadow and sit down. Be careful.”

He takes a look at the map and puts it in his notebook again, looking behind him and seeing Cyno watch the big group with his arms crossed. He gives Tighnari a small smile and leaves. The student feels like the heat of the desert already got him and that he’ll understand about love before how kisses can be different.

Tighnari buys more food and takes more water before leaving the city with the rest of the group. He’s the one who’s behind everyone—most of the students are going just to see how the desert is, others to better understand the environment there and Tighnari’s trying to make his research more complete. He re-reads Cyno’s note and feels like he was very thoughtful to go to the desert and walk around to see if Tighnari would find any mushroom so his trip wouldn’t be in vain.

The group takes five days to go back, since they waited for some students who visited the ruins with Naphis to see if they could find anything. Everything goes well, except when they’re packing their things to go back to the city and Tighnari feels like he’ll faint. This makes everyone get worried with him and he arrives in the city with two Corps of Thirty members holding his arms to make sure he wouldn’t faint in the way. He can see when Cyno looks at him, his expression showing clear signs that he’s worried and just smiles softly.

“Is everything alright with him?” Cyno asks for one of the men holding Tighnari.

“He almost fainted, but everything is alright now, he just seems a little weaker” the man answers and Cyno puts one of his hands in Tighnari’s forehead.

“Can I take him?” He asks and both nods.

“I’m fine,” Tighnari insists, but Cyno entangles his arms with Tighnari and takes him to Bimarstan.

Tighnari lays down in one of the beds—he gave up on saying that he was fine when Cyno didn’t let him go—and waits while the general talks with some doctor there.

“Your body temperature is too high, we’ll tie your hair up and we ask you to take your jacket off. You probably don’t feel it, but your body’s too light for you to walk by yourself. Take some water and eat this food too.”

He follows what the doctor said, Cyno watches him closely and even holds his jacket for him. Tighnari hopes that Naphis knows that he’s here. He needs to talk with him about some guesses why they only found more starshroom than the common species in the whole desert.

“I should’ve said to you that you should tie your hair up…” Cyno whispers after the doctor leaves and Tighnari smiles. “Do you feel anything more?”

“No. I feel fine. Although my hand does feel light,” he answers and closes his eyes for some seconds. “Can I sleep here?”

“Yeah. It should help you to get better too. Just do that after drinking your water,” Cyno answers and leaves the jacket in a small drawer beside Tighnari’s bed. “I’ll head back to the Akademiya, to see if everything’s alright and make sure that Naphis know you’re here. I’ll tell your parents too.”

“No, don’t need to tell my parents, they’ll get too worried and I don’t want that” he says and Cyno just nods before walking to the Akademiya.

Tighnari recognize one of his seniors from Amurta and thinks that he wants to be helping people like her. It’s the whole point to why he entered Amurta in the first place. Maybe he can get the doctor position in some months or years after joining the Forest Ranges. Or maybe he can just stay in the city and help at Bimarstan.

“I want to sleep, do I need to finish all my water before it?” He asks a younger doctor there.

“Oh, you don’t need to, but I’ll place a wet towel on your forehead, so it helps your blood cool down faster, okay?” She asks and Tighnari nods. He finds it cute the way she makes sure his bangs are placed in a less messier way above the towel.

“Thank you.”

Tighnari can’t tell the time he fell asleep, but he woke up when the sun was setting. He feels better now, like all the weight of his body came back to him and now he’s an actual human being. He sits on the bed and sees Cyno sitting in front of him, watching him silently.

“Hey sleepyhead, how do you feel?” the general asks while getting up. “Any discomfort?”

“I feel fine. Did you get a day off from work to watch a random student sleep after almost passing out?” He jokes.

“There’s nothing too important to do today. I’ll call the doctor to examine you.”

The doctor just checks Tighnari’s temperature and lets his hair down before saying that Tighnari could go to his house. Cyno follows him all the way and makes sure Tighnari enters his house. If you ask the student how he felt about it, he’ll kick his leg and giggle. Focusing on the fact that him and Cyno started seeing each other more and talking more than ten minutes.

Time’s getting shorter while Tighnari makes some minor adjustments on his research paper and makes sure there’s nothing wrong there. He also observes how the samples are behaving to make sure he gets any changes. Naphis says that he doesn’t need to do that, but he wants anyways. The last cooking test was made two days ago and now he has the exact temperature, color and smell the mushroom must be when ready to eat.

He hasn’t seen Cyno in weeks. Although he wants to see him, he also doesn’t. He feels like things are getting way too deep for him and they just started a friendship, he doesn’t want to mess it up now. Even though the fact that the white-haired boy didn’t leave his side while he was sleeping after that one trip to the desert doesn’t leave his mind, he tries his best to pretend it didn’t happen. He also killed himself in his head for the hundredth time this week after feeling his heart beat faster when hearing Cyno’s footsteps around the Akademiya. He needs to stop it.

He also cut his hair, he just started to get stressed with all the hair and decided to cut it in a bob. This is way easier to take care of and, if he ever goes back to the desert, he hopes it’ll be easier to get through the heat. He also tried to understand why it was so hard for him there, because his long haired colleagues didn’t have all this problem, and he assumed that this was because of his fur. Which probably is right. Black absorbs the heat.

He went to a party recently, some of his colleagues called him to celebrate the fact that he’s graduating and he accepted, he needed it. After some drinks, he kissed a guy. He enjoyed it, but his mind could only focus on Cyno. He wanted Cyno to be there. He felt guilty for the guy and left the party thirty minutes after the kiss, he was afraid the boy would ask him another kiss. He liked it, but didn’t feel anything because he only thought about the general.

Now, he’s reading his paper again before going to give it to Naphis. This is his finished work and, after doing this, he can’t get it back and change anything. In one month, he’ll graduate from the Akademiya. He can’t believe this time went so fast. His parents can’t believe it too, but now that Tighnari’s probably going to Gandharva Ville to be a Forest Ranger, they decided they’d be living in Port Ormos. Tighnari got a little sad about it, because they’ll not be there to see him graduate, but he hopes they live happily.

The one who was waiting for him at the exit of the city was Cyno. This surprised him a little—the general should be accompanying the other students that are also graduating. But he’s standing there, with a calm expression and a relaxed position, watching Tighnari approach him.

“Hey, I’ll be walking with you to Gandharva Ville,” he says and fixes Tighnari’s bangs. “This haircut fits you. I was thinking about saying this to you when I noticed you cut your hair, but you were so focused on your paper that I decided I shouldn’t bother you.”

“That’d be fine. I think it would actually help, I felt like I was going crazy while reading everything again,” he smiles. “Sad I didn’t watch the sunset in the place you mentioned.”

“Yeah, we’ll do it someday. I waited for you there while you were finishing your research, but I think you were too tired to do all this walking so you just went home…”

“I’m sorry,” Tighnari says and Cyno moves his head.

“This shouldn’t be a thing to apologize for, I didn’t tell you that I was there. Let’s go,” he explains.

They start walking, Tighnari’s taking only a backpack with his clothes and other essential things, he received a letter from the Forest Watcher saying that the basic things are ready there, so he just packed what he thinks he’ll need.

The way is silent, sometimes they’d share some thoughts about the forest or the living beings there, but it’s mostly silent. Tighnari’s too busy trying to calm his heart and his thoughts about the guy beside him to say anything. He prays to the Archons everyday to give him the courage to confess or maybe the falling out of love thing. He hopes that the second one happens, because he’d die if Cyno says that he doesn’t feel the same. And he also hates that a silly crush got this far.

“Hey, you’re Tighnari, right?” A girl asks when they arrive. “We’ve been waiting for you.”

Tighnari follows her while Cyno watches him. She explains everything she can, starting with all the Forest Watchers and also shows the dog they use in the Search and Rescue Dog Team. She talks about the routes around Avidya Forest and around Pardis Dhyai, their ways of maintaining everything alright in the forest and also how they mark the places with The Withering so they could send someone with a vision to destroy it, since common people can’t do it. Tighnari just nods to everything that she says and talks a little with the rest before going to the house they prepared for him. Cyno follows him.

“What’s your first impression?” Cyno asks while closing the door.

“You don’t wanna hear it,” he answers and the general smiles. “It’s messy!” he starts with a low voice, almost whispering.

Cyno just smiles while Tighnari says that some people go more on patrol than others, and how the way they’re trying to destroy The Withering is wrong because they don’t check the perimeter to see if there’s anything that could possibly be another area of interest for it to grow. He adds how they messed up while putting things in categories because they tried to make things too unique while things in the forest can be two categories at the same time.

“You sure are ready to be a Forest Watcher one day,” Cyno says and watches the way Tighnari organizes his things. “But, except for everything you just said, did you like it here?”

“I do. I think I’ll fit this place because I have sensitive ears and my mom gave me a magnifying glass that I can use when I want to check things closely. Everything’s going to be alright, you can do your job as the General Mahamatra now,” he jokes and smiles.

“You definitely like my company, every time you complained about something to me, I wasn’t included,” he says and Tighnari rolls his eyes.

“I hope you’re honored.”

“To be liked by a hater of everything? Of course I am,” he answers and Tighnari just nods because he doesn’t want to show how his heart beats faster after hearing it. “I’ll be staying here just for today.”

“Okay, after it you’ll actually work, right?”

“I’m starting to think that you put me on your hater list,” he says and Tighnari laughs.

“I’d never do that.”

They go silent, Tighnari keeps organizing his things while Cyno’s eyes follow him everywhere. It feels good to be silent with the general, it’s not that uncomfortable when Tighnari just accepts that his thoughts will never be quiet about how Cyno skin is perfect, and his hair falls so smoothly in his shoulders, and how his red eyes remind him of the sunset.

“Before I forget, can I ask you a favor?” Cyno starts and Tighnari nods. “I really want to write a book with all kinds of plants and what they’re good for. Can you help me?”

“That’s why you took courses in Amurta before you got the general title?” he asks but doesn’t wait for the answers. “Yes, I can help you.”

“Good. I’ll visit you every time I get a lot of plants for you to explain to me,” he says and smiles.

“I’ll probably know more from time to time while I give my suggestions to organize things here,” Tighnari looks at Cyno. “I have a sleeping bag here, but I don’t have anything for you to cover yourself.”

“I don’t get cold easily.”

“Have you ever spent one windy night at Sumeru’s rainforests?” Tighnari asks and Cyno looks at him defeated. “I’ll ask if they have something.”

“Okay, thank you.”

He came back some minutes later, with a blanket. Cyno smiles and organizes everything. Both of them sit together with the rest of the Forest Rangers to eat dinner and talk. Almost everyone was gentle when speaking with Cyno, but they’d go completely silent when they heard a not so funny joke.

“Do you think they’ll like me?” Tighnari asks after he closes the door and Cyno looks at him.

He takes some seconds to answer, “You said you’d be fine. Why are you worried now?”

“I actually care what they think of me, I’ve always been like that. That’s why I always tried to not talk too much when I was with you,” he says and Cyno furrows his eyebrows.

“You couldn’t make me dislike you,” Cyno assures and the Forest Ranger feels his heart skip a beat. “I think you’ll be a great help to them, don’t worry. You can always find me at the Akademiya if something happens.”

“Okay.”

“I’m being serious,” the general adds.

Tighnari nods and sits on his bed, Cyno takes off his hat and lays down, turning his body to Tighnari. He takes a deep breath, “You’ll be fine, Tighnari.”

“I hope so.”

Tighnari lays and looks at the ceiling, Cyno watches him. If the younger boy showed more signs that he trusts him, the general would definitely lay down beside him and try to calm him. He thinks he’d be better in comforting Tighnari if he was physically closer to him.

The night goes pretty well, Tighnari sleeps after Cyno and now he’s sure that he won’t forget the peaceful expression that the matra had on his face while sleeping. He wanted Cyno to be at his side so he could look at every part of his face before sleeping.

“I’ll be heading back to the Akademiya,” Cyno says when he stops at the exit. “If anything happens, you can send someone to call me. I’ll be as fast as possible.”

“Okay. When I have free time, I will watch the sunset with you,” he adds and Cyno looks at him.

“Is that a promise?” He sees the way the Forest Ranger stares at him. “I’ll take this as a promise.”

“I didn’t say it was one,” he tries to explain himself, but Cyno starts walking.

“That’s a promise for me,” he waves without looking back.

“I didn’t say that!”

“Yeah, yeah! Goodbye!”

Tighnari goes back to the village, and waits for the Forest Watcher to talk to him. Being honest, training to be a Forest Ranger was tiring. The fight with some small monsters were fine, his dendro vision helped a lot during it, but just walking around and hearing the girl beside him talk about things they’re studying together with researchers in Pardis Dhyai is a little boring. He wanted to actually do something—starting from organizing everything in their outpost.

Things go pretty well when Tighnari starts giving suggestions for them to be more organized. He likes how everyone there listens to him well and even mentions his study with mushrooms and how this helped them understand what to do with them. It’s not easy to find starshrooms in Avdiya Forest so they just cook the common one and, on better days, the rukkashava one.

In a month, the Forest Watchers and the Forest Rangers start to trust Tighnari to organize the patrols, he also visits Pardis Dhyai to give some samples of new plants or even plants he found in withering zones so the researchers could find the main reason for it. After some time, they believe that just “Forest Ranger” isn’t suitable for him, so some rangers start calling him “General Watchleader”. This kills him inside, because he remembers a certain someone with this and tries his best to ignore it.

Everything is going alright when Tighnari hears a familiar laugh after coming back from his afternoon patrol. His heart beats fast and he takes a deep breath. He can’t believe he’s holding this feeling for over a year now. If he killed himself a hundred times last year, this year it’ll be a thousand.

“Hey, welcome again to Gandharva Ville,” Tighnari says when he gets closer to Cyno, seeing him smile.

“I was talking with Rana and she said about everything you changed here,” he answers. “No wonder you were so known in your Darshan.”

“Thank you,” he smiles.

“It was a pleasure to talk with you,” the general says to Rana and walks to Tighnari house.

“Don’t you think you’re being too comfortable? You don’t even know if I finished my work today,” he says and Cyno smiles.

“Rana told me that this was your last patrol,” he answers and Tighnari just nods, closing his door. “I’m here for you to help me with the plants, and if you know how to make some medicine.”

“Why do you need medicine? Have you been fighting?” Tighnari asks and Cyno looks at him. “What is happening in the Akademiya?”

“Nothing. It’s just that sometimes I walk around the desert and find some monsters, I’m not fighting people,” he answers. “I promise.”

“Okay. I trust you.”

He sits at the bed and Cyno sits at the table. They talk about every plant and how some of it are for medical use too. It’s night when they stop and grab dinner with the rest that are not on patrol. It’s the least anxious Tighnari has been with the general and it feels nice.

“Let’s walk around before sleeping,” Cyno almost whispers to Tighnari and he nods.

The walk is very silent, it’s obvious that Cyno’s lost in his thoughts and Tighnari doesn’t know if he should ask something about it. What if it isn’t something that he wants to know? They’re so fine today that he doesn’t want it to change.

“What’s happening in this beautiful mind of yours?” Tighnari asks and the general furrows his eyebrows. “Is it too serious?”

“I don’t know. If I find the answer I’ll tell you,” he says. “Even Genius Invokation isn’t distracting me from it.”

“So it is serious, I hope it doesn’t distract you from your work. It’s a serious job, okay?” he jokes and watches the smile that grows in Cyno’s face.

“I take my job seriously, it’s not easy to distract me from it,” he smirks. “You shouldn’t get distracted. You can get killed or kill someone.”

“Why am I on this topic? I am not the type of person to get lost in my thoughts.”

“Hum, okay.”

They go back to Tighnari’s house and organize their things to sleep. Since last time, Tighnari keeps the blanket and the sleeping bag in the small house, Cyno thinks that he truly is someone that keeps their words, even if the reason for the matra to be back wasn’t really important.

“Can’t sleep?” Tighnari asks when he notices that Cyno didn’t stop moving in the last minutes. “I can lay down with you, if you’re comfortable with it.”

“It’s fine, you can come here,” he says.

Tighnari lays beside Cyno and he immediately thanks the universe that the white-haired boy doesn’t have the same Valuka Shuna descendance as him, because he would definitely hear Tighnari’s heart now. He bets Cyno can hear it without even having a more sensitive hearing.

They sleep fast after it, Cyno only woke up in the middle of the night when he felt Tighnari’s tail in his legs, but went back to sleep right after it. Both of them never had their mind so quiet like this night and they’re glad about it. They needed a good night of sleep.

After that night, Tighnari felt they got even closer. Cyno started to say how tiring his work started to be after a lot of research got plagiarism accusations and it was hard for him to find where it started, because every student is careful with him, but he discovered where it started after some months. He also trusted Tighnari to take care of a young girl called Collei that arrived in Sumeru some days ago.

She’s affected by Eleazar and was very shy at first, but Tighnari showed her that she could trust him. He changed the patrol times so he could help her every night until she got used to living there. He also started to help her read some history books with more images than words. Cyno visited them at least two times per week, between those times he finished his book about plants and spent more time talking about Collei.

“I’ll go to Sumeru tomorrow, okay?” Tighnari says to Collei and she nods. “If you need anything, you can ask Rana. You can follow her to her patrols if she calls you, okay? Just be careful.”

“Hm-hm. Why do you need to go to the city?”

“I made a promise with Cyno, I’m going there to fulfill it,” he smiles. “I’ll probably be back at night, if not, in the morning.”

“I think everyone would let you take your time there if you mention that you’re going to see him,” she says and Tighnari furrows his eyebrows. “What? You’re not dating him?”

“No? They told you that?”

“All Forest Rangers think you’re together. They said you two have been together since you arrived here,” she answers and Tighnari sighs.

“We’re friends,” he says and Collei makes a suspicious expression. “Well, I do like him, but I never said anything about it.”

“I hope you know that you should’ve said this a long time ago,” she adds and he looks at her. “You never noticed how sweet he’s with you?”

“He has always been like that!”

“So it proves what I just said?” She answers and Tighnari crosses his arm.

“I’ll go to my house. See you.”

“Sweet dreams,” she smiles.

He sees Cyno at the tavern when he arrives at the city, he’s talking with a gray-haired guy, but stops and walks in his direction. He looks more relaxed now and Tighnari’s happy for him.

“I can’t believe you finally came here to keep your promise,” he says and Tighnari smiles.

“Yeah, if I didn’t do it a white-haired general would complain to me until the day that I die,” he answers.

“The city didn’t change anything, so we can eat something at the Café and wait until the sunset,” he suggests. 

“Who was the guy you were talking with?” He asks. “I think I saw him somewhere.”

“Alhaitham, he’s just two years older than you, he was a Haravatat student,” he explains. “We just met by chance some days ago and started talking.”

“Oh, I must have seen him somewhere in Akademiya,” he says and Cyno nods. “Your plans sounded nice.”

“Good. We can see professor Naphis if you want,” he adds. “He has been fighting with professor Cyrus these days for unnecessary things not related to the Akademiya. I think they’re getting old.”

Tighnari laughs loud before answering, “They should retire soon.”

“It’d be good for them. At least for Cyrus. Naphis younger than him, he can take all the stress in the Akademiya for some years more.”

Tighnari nods after letting out a blown laugh and they stop at the Café. The Forest Ranger watches Cyno placing the order before sitting in front of him. He really hopes Collei’s right because he’d risk it today. Something about talking about his feelings woke up every thought he ever had about Cyno. He feels like he’ll pass out if nothing happens between them while he’s in Sumeru City.

They stop at the Akademiya and Tighnari talks with Naphis for a while. The professor also asks if something’s happening between him and Cyno, since it’s known between the sages that the Mahamatra ask for some days off to see someone in Gandharva Ville. It’s almost impossible for Tighnari to not notice something, but he definitely skipped some months of his life to reach this point where everyone thinks he and Cyno are definitely dating.

When the sun starts setting, they go up to the top of the tree. Cyno asks Tighnari to tell him about everything that’s happening in his life as a Forest Ranger while they wait for the yellow-orange sky to appear. The general makes some unfunny jokes while hearing it, but Tighnari just ignores them.

“We can’t look directly at it, because the sun hits us directly, only when it’s behind the mountains,” Cyno says and Tighnari nods. “I’m happy that you’re finally back here, in the city. I feel like I have support today.”

“I feel like this whenever you go to Gandharva Ville too,” he smiles. “It’s good to have someone to trust like this.”

Cyno agrees and they look at the view. Tighnari keeps a small smile on his face and this doesn’t go unnoticed by the general. He’s thankful that the younger one is enjoying this moment. He was starting to get sad that Tighnari wouldn’t see the sunset in this “special place”.

When it starts to hurt their eye by looking at it directly, Tighnari turns his focus to Cyno. He feels all of his body react to the way the matra’s skin is shining in the golden light of the sun. He looks at all of his body, his mind completely forgetting that Cyno is actually there seeing him recklessly stare at his chest and his muscles like that. He slowly goes up, stopping to see how those red eyes are even more beautiful now.

The reality falls in and he clears his throat, “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

He stops when Cyno’s lips meet his. He doesn’t know how to react at first, but he slowly gets more comfortable and closes his eyes, pulling the other closer. His mind’s screaming while his mouth is too busy kissing the general back.

His body shivers when Cyno’s hands hold his hair, he feels like he could understand every rule from Genius Invokation and also every course the Spantamad students pass through their life. Every part of him is reacting to this touch and he asks himself if Cyno’s electro powers are the reason why he feels like a lightning just passed through his body.

Cyno’s skin is soft when Tighnari touches it. His arms are strong, but not too much, and the Forest Ranger thinks that he’d love to be embraced by them every night. His lips are soft and, if it wasn’t for the need to catch more breath, he wouldn’t ever stop kissing them. Tighnari wants to have Cyno this close again right now.

“Thank you for finally giving me a sign,” Cyno says and Tighnari takes a deep breath. “I shouldn’t have started this relationship between us saying that we could start a friendship. I panicked when I noticed that I almost said that I wanted to go on a date with you.”

“You asked me if it felt like you were asking me for one, and I said no. But it did. I wanted to go on a date with you. I answered no because you said you wanted us to be friends,” Tighnari laughs. “We were never friends, at least not deep inside.”

“No wonder professor Naphis asked me how you were doing one month after you started being a Forest Ranger. I think even if we were subtle with our… friendship, everyone noticed something more,” he gives out a blown laugh.

“I directly asked him about you too,” he says and Cyno furrows his eyebrows. “I was curious about your Hermanubis powers but it was just a day after you said that I was suspected of academic corruption so I couldn’t just stop you and ask everything I wanted to know.”

“You know you speak really fast when you’re anxious, right?” Cyno asks, watching Tighnari nod. “I wasn’t angry about this fact, I just got surprised that you asked your professor about me. That explains why you weren’t embarrassed while looking at me some minutes ago. You are not a shy person after all.”

Cyno smiles when Tighnari’s cheeks turn pink. The Forest Ranger wanted to ask if this kiss meant anything to the general or if it was just something he did for desire. He wants to know if the matra loves him like he does. He wants to know if they’re on the same page or if Tighnari should hide his feelings.

“That’s truly a perfect view,” Tighnari says after some minutes in silence and Cyno nods. “I feel a little sad that I lost so many chances to experience it before.”

“Yeah, that’s the price you pay for always being so busy,” he jokes and smiles. “By the way, are you going back to the village tonight?”

“I said that, if I don’t go back tonight, I’ll probably be at my house tomorrow morning,” he answers and Cyno nods. “Do you have more plans?”

“I want to take you to Lambad’s Tavern, if you’re alright with it.”

“Yeah, it’s fine for me,” he smiles and Cyno gives him a slow caress on his cheeks.

They watch the rest of the sunset and walk slowly to the tavern. Tighnari feels like his shoulders are lighter—but he still wants to know what Cyno really feels about him. Tighnari feels like he’d kill for the general. He just wants to have Cyno with him forever.

“You said you’re not the type to get lost in thoughts,” Cyno murmurs and the Forest Ranger rolls his eyes. “Relax, I do want to kiss you more times.”

“Don’t say that in public!” Tighnari exclaims and the other laughs.

“Come in. You can ask for everything you want,” he says while opening the door at the tavern. “They have the best food in Sumeru. Do you drink wine?”

“A little.”

Cyno nods and ask for a bottle of wine and Tighnari choose the food, while looking at the guy beside him to see if everything’s good for him. Cyno didn’t complain about anything so he didn’t change anything.

“You have a good food taste,” the general comments and Tighnari smiles. “I just hope you don’t eat mushrooms everyday at the ville.”

“We eat together everyday there. Just like a family,” he answers. “Stop being so worried, you already know that everything’s alright there. You wouldn’t let Collei stay if that wasn’t the case.”

“You have a great point.”

“Of course I have,” he smiles and Cyno stares at him for a few seconds. “What?”

“You’re so hot, you denature my proteins,” he says and Tighnari holds his smile. “Oh! You liked that one!”

“That one was good. It’s not the best, but it was good,” he answers. “How much time do you spend thinking about it?”

“Not much. Just the same time as I discovered I was half mine and half yours,” he answers and Tighnari stares at him.

“So you’re my family? We’ll be in big trouble if this is true,” he says and the general furrows his eyebrows. “Because if you’re half mine, I have half of your blood running in my veins.”

“What? That’s not it...”

“Oh! I’m your other half… I got it.”

“Why did you suddenly start speaking in biology terms?” He asks and Tighnari moves his head. “I wasn’t even talking seriously.”

“So I’m not half yours?” Tighnari watches the way the other furrows his eyebrows. “I’m joking.”

“You’re not funny,” he complains and the other laughs.

“I’m sorry…”

They stop to eat, sometimes Tighnari shares his thoughts about the food and Cyno just watches him. He’s happy that Tighnari’s at his side—and, also, that they finally kissed. It’s just between him and the Lesser Lord how many times he held himself back from kissing that cute guy. Love does make you blind, because Cyno could’ve done this before without waiting for a “sign” for it.

“It’s really fine for you to stay here, right?” Cyno asks when they arrive at his house, Tighnari nods. “Well, I’ll not send you back to the forest while your cheeks are pink. You’re drunk.”

“It takes more to make me drunk,” he answers and Cyno agrees with a hum, pulling him by his wrist. “Wow… You’re quite strong.”

“I need to be,” he says. “Let’s just sleep, okay?”

“Hm-hm,” he put his arms on Cyno’s shoulders. “Can you kiss me one time?”

Cyno smiles and starts a kiss. Both of them felt like it was the first one again. Their bodies reacting the same way, Tighnari feels his heart beat faster when the general holds him close by the waist. He feels he’ll go crazy while feeling Cyno’s hands all over his body. The white-haired boy gives him a small peck on the lips before moving away.

“Let’s sleep. You haven’t stopped since you arrived in the city,” Cyno says. “You’ll sleep in two seconds.”

“I’m not tired, I could run to the desert and come back,” he says and the general laughs.

“You’re so cute,” he kisses Tighnari again before laying him in the bed. “Stay there, I’ll just get a blanket.”

Tighnari nods and watches him leave the room. He’s a bit drunk, yes, but he still wants to know more about Cyno’s feelings. What if this isn’t as serious to the general as he thinks? What’ll happen between them if Tighnari actually confesses everything he feels? He sleeps before even hearing the answer to those questions.

The sun is high in the sky when he wakes up, Cyno hugging his body close, while his tail is entangled between the general’s legs. He thinks about going back to sleep, but both of them have a job to focus on.

“Cyno, let’s get up,” he shakes the other’s arm. “Hey, wake up. You’re probably late already, but let’s not be too late.”

“Hm…” Cyno answers and hugs him closer. “I want to stay with you.”

“I want to stay with you too, but we need to get ready, I have a long way to walk,” he says and smiles when Cyno complains. “You’ll survive.”

Cyno moves in the bed and gets up, looking at Tighnari for a second before kissing his forehead. He smiles a little, “I think I’m lucky to have you.”

“You are, indeed, liked by a hater of everything,” he says and Cyno’s smile grows. “I just hope you like him the same.”

“Of course I do. Is that why you were so lost in your thoughts yesterday? I really like you,” he says. “You should stop overthinking.”

“It’s not my fault that the guy I was interested in said he wanted to be my friend in the first long conversation we ever had had,” he mentions and Cyno takes a deep breath.

“You always make good points,” he hugs Tighnari. “But I actually think I was a little obvious about my interest in you.”

“I don’t think so…”

“We literally slept together one time,” he says and Tighnari stares at him. “Why’d I let anyone sleep with me?”

“I don’t know? You were anxious.”

“Yeah, yeah. And I sleep with someone every time I feel anxious.”

“You could sleep with anyone if you wanted,” he says and the general denies.

“I only wanted to sleep with you .”

“Corny. Let’s get ready, I really need to go back to Gandharva Ville,” he says. “I’ll miss you too. But we should remember that we are adults with jobs. And even if we were students, we should go to classes.”

“Stop being so serious. We should live our lives.”

“If we don’t have money we can’t live like that,” he answers and hold Cyno’s face with one hand, placing a small peck on his lips.

“We can eat mushrooms and other things.”

“Not like that…” Tighnari laughs. “Come on!”

“Okay. I’ll be ready soon.”

Cyno follows him to the ville, they share a kiss some steps before the entrance so no one would see them. He knows that the Forest Rangers wouldn’t mind them hugging or holding hands in front of them, but kissing sounds more intimate for everyone.

“Good luck for today. I’ll come here in two days,” Cyno says and Tighnari looks at him.

“I have a late night patrol in two days.”

“So I’ll visit you tomorrow,” he says. “I want to see Collei too.”

“Okay. That’s fine for me.”

They share a small peck before saying goodbye and following their ways. Tighnari knocks on Collei door before entering, she’s reading a new novel from Inazuma and she made a good progress since the last day.

“And what happened there?” She asks while Tighnari sits on her bed.

“We kissed,” he answers and she smiles excitedly. “And he also said that he has been interested in me since the beginning of our friendship.”

“At this point you should be dating him.”

“But do you think he loves me? Like I’ve been thinking about it. I like him a lot. Really. To the point that I’d be with him until the end of my life,” he watches the way Collei look at him.

“What makes you think that he doesn’t like you this much? Coming from a third person perspective, both of you have that shining eyes and soft voice when talking to each other. And, also, I don’t think he’d be coming here so much if he didn’t want to see you.”

“I’m the closest person to him after Cyrus. And I don’t think I’d be talking about things that I hate about my job to one of the Sages, even if he’s my adoptive father too,” he answers. “Cyno’s the General Mahamatra, Collei.”

“I know. Stop trying to find excuses to something everyone sees except you. It’s crystal clear to us.”

Tighnari nods and lays on her bed, taking a deep breath before saying, “My mind can’t accept the fact that, out of everyone, he chose me to love. He could have someone in the city, or even a girl if he’s attracted to them, but he wants me? That doesn’t make sense.”

“Cyno would kill you if you ever said this to his face. I think love is making you crazy, rest a little before your patrol and everything will be fine,” she says and Tighnari nods. “I’ll knock on your door if I need any help.”

“Oh, by the way, Cyno will be here tomorrow night. He said he wants to see you,” he says and Collei looks at him with a suspicious expression, making Tighnari smile. “I’m being serious.”

She just nods and he leaves. He hopes that all the archons give him strength to start this new phase of his relationship with Cyno without going full crazy. And he also hopes that he can survive being away from him.

The next day, he arrives at the village and immediately hears Collei and Cyno’s laugh. This warms his heart, they’re so cute together and everyone can see how much they care for each other. Tighnari hopes that the years pass fast so they can retreat and live with Collei until the end of their lives.

“Hello,” Tighnari says and smiles when Cyno holds his waist. “Did she update you about everything?”

“Yeah. She said she’s better at reading and even read a whole paragraph of a book for me. And I can see that you are the one who’s taking care of her because she just complained about everything in Akademiya for me,” he answers and Tighnari laughs. “Don’t be like him, please, enjoy your life.”

“It’s easy when you’ve been reading Akademiya books since you’re nine,” Collei answers and Cyno smiles.

“Take it easy, I know you’ll be able to follow your classmates soon,” Cyno answers and gives her a pat.

“You should get ready for your patrol, Collei,” Tighnari says and she complains. “Cyno will spend the morning with you tomorrow.”

“But I… Yeah, I will spend time with you tomorrow,” the general answers and Collei nods.

Cyno walks to Tighnari house and watches him talking to some people before walking in his direction. Cyno thinks that it’s easy for someone to fall in love with the other, he’s always so gentle with everyone that certainly he has more hearts with him than he knows—and the general feels that he’s lucky to be the one chosen to have Tighnari’s heart with him.

“Is everything alright?” He asks when Tighnari enters the house.

“Yes. They were just saying that the chances of me being the next Forest Watcher and Chief Officer are big,” he says and Cyno smiles.

“Took them long enough!”

“It’s been ten months. That’s a good time to decide things,” he hugs Cyno by his waist. “Well, at least, they were faster than us.”

“Don’t put it like that. We’re talking about feelings . And I feel like this actually helped us to be something, not just strangers who kissed once. I’d kill myself if this happened. I wouldn’t survive kissing you only one time”

“Are you into me this much?” Tighnari asks with a smile. “I also think I wouldn’t survive.”

Cyno smiles back, holding Tighnari close and kissing him tenderly. It feels good, the ranger thinks that he’s starting to understand how a kiss is better than others—every time Cyno kisses him, he feels different things. He likes it, every time, but maybe he’s just blinded by his interest in the general.

“By the way, I brought some Paradisarah and fruits from the city and they said they’d be cooking it for dinner, I didn’t know Paradisarah were edible,” Cyno says and Tighnari smiles. “I used them in some experiments before but I never thought about eating them.”

“That’s why the Forest Rangers exist,” He answers.

Tighnari’s face is too close for a simple conversation and this is making Cyno’s body work against his own mind. The boy is just too pretty that it makes the general lose his mind just by being this close to him.

“Yeah, I know,” he answers and Tighnari smiles again. “You’re so… handsome.”

“Thank you. You too,” he sits on his bed.

Cyno sighs, noticing now that he was unconsciously holding his breath. He stares at Tighnari, something about him today is clearly acting on his body and Cyno is almost physically stopping him from kissing Tighnari now.

“Is anything else troubling your mind? Do you want to know what kind of plant is not edible?” Tighnari asks.

“No. If you didn’t lie when I was writing that small book about plants, I know which one I shouldn’t eat even if someone pays me a large amount of mora,” he answers.

“Yeah, I hope you keep this information seriously.”

Cyno smiles. He walks closer to Tighnari and holds his chin, kissing him seconds after. The way he answers it shows that it’s not just the general that was holding back their desires in the last minutes. He lays Tighnari down on his bed and continues to kiss him.

When Cyno holds Tighnari waist inside the jacket, both of them feel like lightning passes through their bodies, reminiscing this feeling when they had their first kiss. The kisses go down Tighnari’s neck, making his mind go completely blank. Cyno’s lips are even softer while kissing there; he feels like he just discovered a new place to have the general’s lips on.

Cyno places their visions on the table before taking his hat and Tighnari’s sweatshirt off, going back to kiss him. Tighnari’s hands hold his body closer, and Cyno can feel his breath shake a little. He breaks the kiss just to watch how the Forest Ranger is reacting to this moment—he has always been fascinated by the way Tighnari ears and tail shows everything he feels.

He smiles. Tighnari’s cheeks are a little red, his ears are straight but they also fall backwards every time Cyno touches Tighnari’s body. His tail touches Cyno’s legs sometimes. They love feeling all of it and, for the first time, and maybe Sumeru’s rainforests can be a little hotter sometimes, even if the weather shows that it’s probably going to rain later.

Cyno looks at Tighnari before taking the rest of his clothes, the Forest Ranger watches his body for a few seconds before kissing him again. Their breaths are much heavier than when they started it, Cyno wants to say that he likes it, all the feelings that’s coming with this moment. He feels like Tighnari should know how much he’s loving to have him like this.

“You can say anything if you ever feel uncomfortable, okay?” Cyno says and Tighnari nods.

Tighnari hugs him and Cyno trails some kisses from his cheek to his shoulder, caressing his thighs and doing his best to keep things good for both of them. Tighnari let out a shaky breath, looking at Cyno’s eyes and smiling to see his cheeks red. It’s not easy to see this kind of color in the general’s cheeks, so it’s a rare sight.

They kiss again, Tighnari using this to hide the sounds coming out of his mouth. Cyno smiles again. It’s just so nice to see Tighnari enjoying all of it that Cyno wishes he could freeze time and live this moment for a long time. He kisses Tighnari’s chest and watches the way he bites his lips to keep his moans low.

Tighnari can’t think about anything to say now. His whole body shivers when Cyno goes faster, and he can see the way the general’s lips go upwards to hide a smile. And he might be influenced by this moment, but he’s pretty sure this was one of the most hottest things Cyno ever did.

Cyno touches their foreheads and lets out some quiet moans. Tighnari starts a kiss when he reaches his limit, his body shaking from his orgasm. He tries his best to keep everything quiet, even if he wishes to make sure that Cyno knows how he’s enjoying it more than it shows. Tighnari wants to make sure that Cyno understands how he’s making him feel so good.

Tighnari feels Cyno’s shaky breath on his neck when he goes a little faster, followed by some deep moans and Cyno also reaches his orgasm. They share a kiss one last time before Cyno lays down beside Tighnari, trying to calm down his breath. Tighnari takes this moment to close his eyes and let Cyno’s perfume enter his nose, because sometimes he dreams about this smell.

“You’re truly handsome,” Cyno says and Tighnari smiles, opening his eyes and turning his head to look at him. “I’m not saying this because of what we just did. You’re handsome every time.”

“I understand,” he takes a deep breath. “I think you’re handsome. But sometimes my mind just keeps telling me that you’re hot. You should really wear more clothes.”

“Oh, I know how much you like the fact that I don’t wear too much clothes. You literally checked me out two days ago,” he answers and Tighnari stares at the ceiling, his cheeks turning red. 

“We should get dressed and eat dinner before it starts to rain,” Tighnari says. “We can make each other shy after it.”

Cyno smiles and kisses Tighnari’s forehead. “I’m so happy that you’re with me. I wish I could show you how this feeling’s swallowing me whole.”

“I can feel it. And I can understand it too,” he smiles.

They share another slow kiss before getting ready and meeting with the rest to eat. Everyone looks more comfortable around Cyno now, they talk about whatever they want and don’t try to keep their opinions about something. Cyno just listens—he’s also very careful about what he’ll talk about around the others, maybe that’s why he’s always telling jokes.

“I’m so sleepy now,” Tighnari says when they are getting ready to sleep.

“I thought you’d sleep while eating,” Cyno smiles. “Maybe you felt relaxed after everything.”

“I hope you have more time to see me because things will get more stressful when I receive the title of Forest Watcher,” he says and Cyno smiles even more, giving a small peck on Tighnari’s neck. “Not now. I want to sleep.”

Cyno just hums, and Tighnari watches him. He’s almost asleep too and his expression is already peaceful. He feels his heart beat faster just by looking at him this close, he’s kinda thankful that Cyno feels the same way about him. He doesn’t know how things would turn out for him—and for them—if Cyno didn’t reciprocate his feelings.

They wake up the next day with some knocks on their door, following Collei’s voice saying that they should probably eat before any bird eats it first. The sun’s shining so bright in the sky that they can’t believe that Cyno needed to sleep with another blanket because he felt cold in the middle of the night.

Tighnari watches Cyno and Collei read a novel for some minutes before leaving for a patrol. He still thinks that he’d love to spend the rest of his life with Cyno taking care of Collei and, maybe, other small children too, since the girl will have her own life soon.

“Found you,” he hears Cyno’s voice while resting close to Devantaka Mountain. “I’m going back to the Akademiya, okay?”

“Okay. Have a great day,” he says and smiles.

“You too.”

They share a slow kiss and Cyno leaves another kiss on Tighnari’s forehead before leaving. Tighnari watches him for a while before going back to his patrol. He kinda wishes that he was taking care of people in the city as a doctor so he would see Cyno everyday.

Tighnari’s at Lambad’s Tavern now, waiting for Cyno. It was Tighnari’s first day as the new Chief Officer and they wanted to celebrate, so Cyno said that he’d wait for Collei to be out of classes and go with her to meet with him. He feels anxious, but doesn’t know why. Nothing went wrong at the ville today and people actually paid attention to him whenever he talked about something. He just can’t help but be nervous.

He also feels that there’s more eyes on him than usual. Some students in Akademiya uniform look at him and change their focus on other things pretty fast when Tighnari notices. He doesn’t hear his name come out of any mouths, not even a single word about him goes around the tavern. Maybe he’s just overthinking that Cyno said about whatever happened between them.

“Tighnari?” Cyno’s voice wakes him from his thoughts. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I was just overthinking,” he smiles. “Hey, Collei, how did things go today?”

“Good. I have two more books from Akademiya to read, but I’m getting better at reading so I think I’ll not have any problems with it,” she answers and smiles. “I’ll wash my hands first, okay?”

Cyno nods and sits at Tighnari’s side, touching his thigh to get his attention, “What really happened?”

Tighnari notices how Collei doesn’t go towards the bathroom and takes a deep breath, looking at Cyno. He can see when the general watches his ears moving and close his eyes while taking a deep breath.

“What’s bothering you? You know you can tell me everything, I’m your best friend,” he says and Tighnari bites his lips.

“Best friend?” He asks back, Cyno looks around.

“I didn’t go around announcing whatever is happening between us because I didn’t ask you out and also I don’t know if you’ll be comfortable with that,” he whispers. “Do you want me to stop calling you my best friend?”

“No… That’s… That’s fine, I guess,” he closes his eyes again. “I was afraid that you went around announcing it. I just didn’t expect “my best friend” to be out of your mouth like that.”

“I just said it in case someone heard us. I would never call it like that,” he holds Tighnari’s head to keep the guy looking at him. “Tighnari, I don’t want to leave you. Never. Whatever you feel, I can promise you that I feel the same.”

Tighnari sighs when Cyno touches their foreheads, feeling him caressing his hair close to his ears. They stay at this position for a few seconds and wait for Collei to be back so they could ask for something to eat.

“I’ll be going back to Gandharva Ville,” Collei says when they’re out the tavern.

Tighnari immediately turns to her, “I’ll be going with you. It’s dangerous at night.”

“No, that’s fine. The Eleazar isn’t on the stage to make my movements too slow, I can fight for myself,” she answers and sighs when she sees the serious faces on the boys next to her.

“We’ll be going with you,” Cyno says and Tighnari nods. “I will head back tomorrow morning.”

She just accepts defeat, and the three of them start walking to Gandharva Ville. It’s a nice and quiet walk, Tighnari always paying attention to the sounds and making sure that Collei doesn’t step on dangerous areas. She’s walking some steps in front of him and Cyno and they know that’s to make them have some privacy to hold hands—she notices they never do it in front of anyone.

Cyno doesn’t miss this chance and holds Tighnari’s hand. The younger one doesn’t mind it, he even likes the way Cyno caresses his hand with his finger. It’s nice and comfortable. They don’t look at each other, but Tighnari can see in the corner of his eyes that Cyno’s shy about it. His ears are completely red now.

“And… We’re here. Nothing bad happened,” Collei says. “I hope the two of you have a good night.”

“You too. Always remember you can knock on my door if you need anything,” Tighnari says and she nods. “Good night.”

“Night, night!” She smiles.

Tighnari closes his door and watches Cyno take out his coat—he started using this recently after spending more time in the forest than in the desert. It also helps him to go out at night searching for any trouble at the Akademiya or in the city. 

They share a kiss, both of them missing this touch, but going slowly with it. Cyno’s hands holds Tighnari’s face tenderly, making sure he stays in this moment for long enough to make his longing for him go away.

“I missed you so much,” Cyno finally says. “A month is too much for me to be away from you.”

“I missed you too,” he smiles. “Is something happening at the Akademiya again?”

“No. Things are pretty quiet there,” the general answers. “I’m trying to convince Alhaitham to get a job there. He’s one of the geniuses on his Darshan, it’d be good to have him there.”

“He seems the kind of guy that puts him in front of the others,” Tighnari says. “He looks nice, though.”

“He does focus on him. But he doesn’t disregard the others, he just believes that in some situations one’s well-being should come first,” Cyno explains and Tighnari shrugs.

“That’s crazy how he doesn’t mind the other’s life,” Tighnari sits at his bed. “How can you look at, I don’t know, a fight and not try to help others in your team?”

“Some people are like this. But he cares for humanity,” he answers. “Don’t start talking like this, you never talked to him.”

“And why are you so defensive? Do you want to share something with the class?” Tighnari asks and Cyno smiles.

“Are you jealous?” He asks and holds Tighnari’s face. “I only have eyes for you.”

“Shut up,” he slaps Cyno’s hands lightly. “Let’s sleep, you need to wake up early.”

Cyno sits at the bed too and smiles big, “Your cheeks are red… You are jealous.”

“Let’s sleep.”

“Nari, I’ll say it again. I will not leave your side. I want to be with you forever.”

“Nari?” He smiles and Cyno rolls his eyes.

“Do your ears only catch what you want to hear?” The general smiles. “Tighnari.”

“Oh, I liked it. You can call me that,” he answers.

They start another kiss, this time more playfully. It’s followed by other kisses too, until they decide to sleep. It’s getting late and, sadly, Cyno didn’t say to any sage that he was going to Gandharva Ville.

Tighnari wakes up after Cyno, who’s almost fully dressed up when he opens his eyes. The general smiles and places a kiss at Tighnari’s forehead before putting his coat on.

“Good morning. It’s too early, you can go back to sleep. I’ll go back to the city so I can get ready for the day,” he says and Tighnari nods.

“I’ll follow you,” Tighnari says.

They walk some steps after the exit, just to be sure that no one sees them, and Cyno gives Tighnari a small peck on his lips.

“Have a nice day,” Tighnari says and smiles.

“You too,” he answers and gives the Forest Watcher another small peck. “See you.”

“See you.”

Tighnari doesn’t go back to sleep—he’s a morning person anyway—so he helps the rest make some breakfast and wakes Collei. He feels his mind a little quieter than yesterday, and maybe that’s just the effect of sleeping with Cyno. He always felt like the boy could make all his worries go away.

Things go smoothly for a while. But now Tighnari believes he won’t forget the name of a flying creature that resembles a fairy, talks in third person and travels around with a blonde traveler. They arrived at the ville with an Akademiya scholar and the traveler passed out. The Forest Rangers help them and Tighnari hears about the “vision” the traveler had after smelling the incense that the student uses to get contact with the gods. He keeps the truth behind the vision, saying it was just a strange dream, waiting to see if he can truly trust those new visitors.

While Tighnari goes to a harder patrol, the traveler follows Collei on an easy one. Paimon touches Collei’s skin and that freaks her out. The next day, Tighnari explains about the Eleazar and also opens up about his concern for how the withering zones are growing, which makes the Eleazar get worse faster. Tighnari feels like he can trust the traveler now, so he tells the truth about the vision and says that it was probably a memory from the Irminsul. The traveler and Paimon leave to go with the student again.

Tighnari also receives a visit from one of Akademiya’s sages and his subordinates. He tries to recruit Tighnari to some secret project and, even if the Forest Watcher feels like he might disappoint his master, Naphis—who happens to be one of the sages too—, he chooses to not participate. After they leave, Tighnari sees that the traveler is back, and to help them meet the Lesser Lord Kusanali, he sends them to the city.

“Things are getting too worked up. A strange traveler and the Akademiya with a top secret project?” Tighnari says and Collei looks at him.

“Do you think they’re connected?” She asks and he denies.

“It might just be a coincidence. But if anything happens, I think the traveler might be a great help,” he answers. “We need to keep our work either way.”

Sadly, the withering zones get bigger and Collei’s condition gets really worse. Tighnari asks her to stay at the ville, while he goes to Pardis Dhyai to watch Haypasia, since she looked like she was getting too obsessed with the god she got contact with. The Traveler arrives there some days after, and Tighnari helps them fight with some strangers, passing the message that a woman in Adventure Guild clothes left behind. He suggests that they head to Caravan Ribat to go to the desert and he stays to watch Haypasia.

After what feels like weeks, they’re back at Pardis Dhyai and Tighnari feels his heart beat faster when he hears that Cyno’s working with them in what’s happening now. It’s been such a long time since he saw him that he hopes that the general is doing fine, so he agrees to help the Traveler in any way. He also tells the way some Fatui harbingers that took Haypasia went. And, between all this mess, he starts to think about how much he wishes that Cyno was at his side, so he could at least relax at night.

He also gets struck by lighting—now, literally, not just the feeling—and this wasn’t really the best thing that happened to him. He feels alright, but he still thinks that this feeling was better when Cyno’s lips are on his. At least Dehya was there to help him. The Traveler says that they had contact with Scaramouche, the god Haypasia was talking about, and this makes them feel like their plan of trying to find the truth behind everything successful.

After some days, Tighnari meets Cyno again at the dinner that Nilou made in General Mahamatra’s name, since he lost his position for some weeks just to uncover all secrets. It feels good to finally see him again, and Tighnari knows that he feels relieved by it too just by the way he looks at him. The dinner goes well, although it is shocking to know that almost all the sages got exiled, with only Naphis to be there, since the only one that wasn’t involved decided to retire weeks before this started. At least the Lesser Lord Kusanali is among them now and not locked up somewhere while the sages try to control their brains with a system.

Cyno and Alhaitham also say that the latter accepted to run the Akademiya as the Acting Grand Sage while they wait for this mess to calm down. Tighnari look at Cyno, who just taps his thigh so he doesn’t say anything—he can keep his comments on that matter when they’re alone. 

And he actually does that, as soon as they arrive at the ville and closes Tighnari’s door, he starts to talk nonstop, “I guess things can get messier with that Grand Sage there.”

“He’s the Acting Grand Sage. He’ll leave this position after all this.”

“What if he likes this position?” Tighnari asks and Cyno smiles. “I hope Collei doesn’t have to study there with him.”

“Alhaitham doesn’t like this hard work. He’ll not stay there.”

“Isn’t this worse? The Akademiya is a complete mess and he’s there pretending to work” He says and Cyno hugs his waist.

“Why are you thinking about another man when I’m right in front of you? I thought you’d miss me after months without seeing me,” he says. “Guess I should’ve been the one jealous of Alhaitham?”

“I thought you were happy with the fact that you are not in my hate list,” he answers.

“I hope I stay off this list until the day that I die, okay?” He says and Tighnari smiles.

“Of course you’ll never enter this. I love having only four names on my love list,” he says and Cyno furrows his eyebrows. “You, Collei and my parents.”

“Oh. You scared me for a second,” he says and Tighnari laughs.

Tighnari starts a kiss, holding Cyno close. One of his hands holds the general’s hair and Cyno feels all of his body answers to this. And he hopes that the Forest Watcher knows what he started.

They start seeing each other frequently now, and the rest of the Forest Rangers don’t mind it, as long as Cyno keeps getting them fresh vegetables and fishes, they’re good with it. And, just to be clear, they’d love Cyno there even without all this food. They don’t wanna mess with Tighnari, even though their relationship is still referenced as “best friends” by them. Maybe only Collei knows the truth behind everything. And also Alhaitham and his roommate, Kaveh, they got a lot closer now.  Tighnari still has something against Alhaitham, he even hopes that the gods bless Kaveh for living with this man.

“Tighnari!” He hears Cyno scream his name, he’s with two bags of fresh fruits from the city in one hand and some fishes in the other. “Are you done with your patrol?”

“Almost,” he looks at Cyno for a few seconds. “Did you have some problems at work today? You’re using your jacket”

“Some people are selling illegal Canned Knowledge, you know, we got most of them but it’ll take a while for us to get all of them,” he answers and gives Tighnari a small kiss. “I know we saw each other yesterday but I missed you.

“Some people say that this is being in love,” he smiles and starts walking again. “You can go to the ville, they’ll start to prepare dinner soon.”

“I want to go with you,” he complains and Tighnari furrows his eyebrows. “What?”

“Are you hiding something?” The Forest Watcher says and smiles a little. “You don't normally accompany me like this…”

“I’m not hiding anything,” he answers. “Can’t I follow my boyfriend around?”

“You have two bags full of fruits and vegetables, and some fish in your other hand. And let me remember that you don’t know when I’ll finish my patrol,” he adds and Cyno smiles. “What are you planning today?”

“Nothing.”

“Do you promise that?” He stops walking and stares at Cyno.

“... No?” He watches Tighnari laughing. “The only thing I promise is that you’ll know about it soon.”

The Forest Watcher starts walking to the ville direction, “So you are hiding something.”

Cyno doesn’t answer. Tighnari knows that he isn’t ignoring him on purpose, he just doesn’t want to accidentally say what he did so he decided to stay silent for the rest of the time, only talking about something else about the forest or sharing a new joke he learned.

“Hi, I’m back. Cyno’s with me and he brought some fish and other things, if you want to add it to dinner today… I can help you prepare it,” Tighnari says to Shirin, another Forest Watcher and also their doctor.

“It’d be nice. And thanks, General,” he says and Cyno smiles.

“This is the least I can do after all those nights I spent here,” he answers. “Is Collei on patrol?”

“Yes, she is. She’ll probably be back soon,” Shirin answers.

“Okay, I’ll wait for her here. I can help with dinner too,” the general says and Tighnari nods, smiling.

Tighnari just asks for help when settling the table, and Cyno does it without thinking twice. Collei arrives some minutes later and hugs the general tightly—the Forest Watcher thinks, like all other times, that it’d be nice to grow a family with Cyno.

She updates him on everything that’s happening in her life—she makes sure to mention how many pages he can read without Tighnari’s help, but also says that he’s always there to read something for her. Tighnari thinks she does that to show Cyno that the Forest Watcher’s actually helping her and not just having her at the ville. Cyno looks proudly at both of them.

The rest of the Forest Rangers always thank Cyno for bringing them food, and reminds him that sometimes he doesn’t need to pay for fresh fruits, since they can catch some of them on their patrol. Cyno just laughs, saying that he likes to take care of others—that’s his duty as the general. Tighnari says that he can ask him if they need anything, since some fruit spoil easily.

After cleaning up, everyone follows to their places or gets ready to go on patrol. Some of them watch the way Tighnari relaxes with Cyno at his side. The Chief Officer seems to be always single-minded and quiet, ever since his first day he showed how he takes everything seriously, so everyone thought that it’d be hard to make him belong here and see them as a family or a large group of friends. In less than a week, Tighnari changed the way they were thinking, because he showed how much he cares for everyone and every form of life.

Cyno says that it’s not easy for geniuses or respected people in Akademiya to behave this way. Some of them see themselves as gods in their own laboratories, but Tighnari never thought this way and even declined a position at the Akademiya. Maybe that’s what caught Cyno’s attention—for someone who sees how humans can go mad at simple things every day, seeing someone so kind hearted like Tighnari sure is a thing to pay attention to. And, if Cyno would ever wish for anything, he’d wish for Tighnari to not change. They need people like him everywhere.

“What’s on your mind?” Tighnari asks, he’s fixing his hair after washing it and Cyno watches how carefully he brushes it.

“Nothing,” he smiles.

“You’ve been in another world since we met in the forest. Is there anything troubling you?” Tighnari holds one of Cyno’s hands. “I’m here for you, remember that. You can tell me anything even if it hurts me.”

“I was just thinking how destiny was so kind to me. Letting me live this life with you by my side? That was so thoughtful of whoever planned this for me. They surely know that, with all the aggressiveness I see daily, I’d need someone as kind as you to make me feel fine. To actually have hope for people again,” he answers and Tighnari smiles.

“I’m glad I make your life better. I think you only do this job because you actually love humanity,” he says and passes some oil on his tail. “And you’re kind too, you just have to see yourself from other people’s eyes.”

“I actually have things to say to you. I know we don’t talk a lot about our relationship but every time we have some privacy, I feel like our love grows every day. I felt it every night we spent here, talking about our lives or ourselves, while having sex or not. You were always the kind of person to keep things to you but thankfully your descendance didn’t let you hide it,” they both laugh, thinking about all the time Tighnari was too focused on his feelings to care about how fast his tail was wagging.

“Well, if you want to talk about our relationship, we can do it right now. I don’t think we’re going to learn anything more besides that we love each other very deeply,” he says and Cyno nods.

“I want to take it a step further,” he says and Tighnari furrows his eyebrows. “I want to marry you, Tighnari.”

The Forest Watcher sits on his bed, his expression is the most shocked Cyno ever saw, his tail wags slowly, and his ears are moving at the same time as he thinks. The general isn’t expecting anything. Maybe just Tighnari asking him for some time to think, so he actually gets surprised when the other answers, “I want it too. If you’re asking me to marry you, I accept.”

“I… I didn’t expect you to answer like this,” he says. “It’s just that I thought you weren’t ready but I needed to take my chance anyways.”

“If only you knew how much I thought about having a family with you…” Tighnari says and smiles softly. “I was thinking about telling you that, but I thought you’d think that I’m crazy for thinking about this so soon in our relationship.”

“I mean, we already take care of Collei like she’s our child and even fight about which Darshan she’s going to enter soon. We can have more children after we get to our thirties,” the general says and smiles. “We won’t hide it after our marriage anymore, so...”

“People thought we were dating before our first kiss, so it won’t be surprising for them,” he watches Cyno sit beside him. “I only have one question… Am I your first love?”

“Well, I only accepted that I’m into boys when I noticed that I was in love with you, so yes, you are my first love,” the general answers. “Thank you for waking up some questions in my mind that I decided to forget.”

“It was hard for me too. But I accepted it earlier. It was so strange to me to think that I only like boys and not girls,” Tighnari says and sees the general nods. “You told Cyrus about it?”

“What? Us or the fact that I like boys?” He looks at Tighnari.

“Both?” He answers and they laugh.

“I think he always knew that I liked boys. When I told him that I was sure about it he just said “okay”. About us… I always said that we are best friends, at least some weeks after we kissed. He asked me if I liked you and I said that I think you’re pretty. I guess he just noticed that I was hiding our relationship, he stopped asking after all those nights I spent here,” he answers and smiles. “As you said, everyone already knows that something is happening between us. It doesn’t matter if we hide it under the “we’re best friends” discourse.”

“Like the “roommates” for Alhaitham and Kaveh,” they laugh again.

“Yeah…” He holds Tighnari’s hand. “But after we start using a ring, people will know that we’re really close.”

“And I’ll be saying proudly that I’m married to you, everyone in Avidya Forest will know about our love” he smiles and holds Cyno’s face. “You are my first love too. You’re my first for a lot of things.”

“Even before we started talking, I was the first General Mahamatra to think you’re one of the students that cheated on tests,” he says and Tighnari laughs. “Right?”

“Right,” he laughs again. “You were crazy for this.”

“But you really looked suspicious. You always wrote a note to give to the students and after this they just left. This looks like cheating in tests for me!”

Tighnari smiles more and kisses Cyno’s lips. Both of them smile on the kiss, keeping it slow and touching every part of their bodies without having second intentions behind it. They stop for some seconds to look at every detail on their faces, and go back to kissing again. Sometimes they really feel like they’re dreaming all of this.

About five months after it, they started using a ring. Cyno thought a lot about how he wanted it, and made sure that the souvenir shop did it right. It’s a golden ring with some small details in green—he thought it’d fit Tighnari the most and also he wanted something that’d make him feel like Tighnari was at his side every time. When he saw it finished, he immediately felt all those things. He never forgets Tighnari on his travels, but now he’s pretty sure that he won’t.

Cyno wanted to marry Tighnari some months ago, but his past came back to his present and both of them went on a trip to the desert, since Tighnari didn’t accept the fact that Cyno asked them to not follow him. They discovered some secrets about the Temple of Silence and, also, more about Cyno’s past. Before that, Cyno only had half of the Hermanubis powers—a boy named Sethos had the other half—but he won in a fight and now has all of it. On the other hand, they also discovered that maybe destiny planned everything for them before they were even born. Hermanubis followers and the Tighnarians used to live together before the desert got into a big fight and the Tighnarians moved to the forest.

Sethos started to visit Sumeru City more, and he started to hangout with the group too, since Cyno would always bring him to their meetings. Tighnari made sure he’d fit in after calling him to have dinner with them at the Gandharva Ville. Sethos is the one who laughs the most about Cyno’s jokes. Tighnari knows that Cyno can spend a day telling jokes to Sethos and laughing about it with him. Well, at least someone finds it funny.

Now, they’re at Lambad’s Tavern. Candace’s in the city visiting Dehya, Sethos came to the city with some merchants from the desert and Alhaitham left his job earlier just so everyone could meet. They’re having fun drinking and eating, telling everyone about what’s happening in their lives and Cyno knows that this is the perfect time to say they’re married now.

“We have something to tell you guys…” He starts, and watches the way everyone turns their heads to him. “I’m afraid my friendship with Tighnari ended this month…”

“You’re lying,” Dehya starts, while the others stare at them with confused expressions. “No one can ever separate you guys.”

“That’s a horrible way to tell them we’re married,” Tighnari says and shows them his hand, Kaveh’s the first one to hold his hand and look at the ring, saying that it’s pretty. “We got married some days ago. I know most of you never knew we were together in the first place.”

“You didn’t have to tell us that,” Candace says and smiles. “It’s hard to hide when you love someone this much. Every time Cyno visited us at Aaru Village, and left with some honeyed dates, I could tell it was for you.”

“And he never shuts up about you,” Sethos says and Tighnari laughs. “Sometimes I find him in the city with a bag of fruits and he says he doesn’t have much time to talk because he’s going to the ville.”

“It’d be easy if you just made an announcement for all the Sumeru City saying you’re dating me,” Tighnari turns to Cyno.

“I thought it wasn’t that obvious! What can I do if my love for you is so big that it shows in everything I do?” He answers and Collei pretends to throw up, followed by Alhaitham. “Don’t ever do that again, Alhaitham, I’m pretty sure this whole group knows the truth about your roommate story.”

“Fair enough,” he answers and smiles, and doesn’t wait for Kaveh to say something, “Well, congratulations on your marriage!”

Alhaitham holds his cup up and everyone makes a toast. Collei hugs Tighnari tightly after it, saying that she was happy that he heard her and actually accepted that Cyno is in love with him. The dinner is much happier after this and they just leave the tavern after Alhaitham says that Kaveh’s almost sleeping at the table.

Cyno and Tighnari leaves with Collei to the ville and Tighnari’s ears can hear when Dehya says that they look like a family to the ones that stayed behind. He smiles to himself. Maybe it was not a bad idea to wait until he had the courage to ask that white-haired boy from Spantamad out. Or, even better, to wait until the white-haired boy from Spantamad to ask him out.