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The first thing Cyno did was go and find his husband.
He knew his husband was going to be in the Akademiya. As soon as Alhaitham had heard that the Matra were going to be back, he had sent Cyno a letter. It was an immediate reaction. As soon as Cyno got the letter, as soon as he read that Tighnari was going to be doing a presentation, he knew what he was going to do. He knew. He knew exactly what he was going to do, he was going to cause so much chaos, he was going to make Tighnari and Kaveh so angry and it was going to be fantastic. Alhaitham might be angry at him, too, actually. Maybe not because he was causing the chaos.
More like because he was going to finally do something.
Someone had been flirting with Tighnari. A woman had been flirting with Tighnari. That wasn’t even the problem. The problem was because Tighnari was married. To Cyno. They were very much married, and Cyno enjoyed that, and they had been apparently a little too subtle about it. There was subtly and then there was apparently being so discrete that it took people years to realize that they were married. Dehya hadn’t thought they were married. Layla hadn’t thought they were married. Lesser Lord Kusanali hadn’t realized they were married, and she was the Archon of Wisdom.
Striding through Sumeru City, he ignored pretty much every one else. He wanted to find his husband as soon as he could. Sure, he could probably find Nilou, Dehya, Candace, or anyone else because they were also his friends and they deserved to know that he was back. They deserved to know he was home, they deserved to know he was okay, because the Matra had been on a rather stressful mission.
They had been hunting down a murderer. Someone who had been trying to kill Tighnari, specifically. Half the reason that Tighnari was even at the Akademiya and not with the other Forest Rangers was because there was an assassination attempt. He had taken a stab wound to the shoulder that didn’t have a scar. Unfortunately, now that shoulder did have a scar. Of course, Cyno couldn’t just let them get away with that, so he took the Matra and they started hunting the person down.
They got him. Michael Clear. Some dumb man from…Fontaine, Cyno was pretty sure? He was pretty sure there had been another Fontainian who had tried to kill one of Lumine’s friends not that long ago. They hadn’t been called in for that one, but Lumine had mentioned it and it had been…an interesting story, to say the least. Was a story really the correct description for him? He didn’t know. It was the brother of that one redheaded emo boy. Kaeya, was that his name?
(Cyno was kidding, he knew his name. The guy was pretty funny. Ironic, sarcastic, but funny. Cyno liked him. So did Lumine, which was the more important part, because Kaeya tended to tag along with her on her missions around the continent and he was probably a better travel companion than Paimon was.)
Of course, from what he knew, Tighnari was also lecturing the Akademiya students about not trying to make friends with the Avidya leopards.
It had been the sixth time students had gotten attacked in the past three months. Tighnari was already stuck in the Akademiya. They “might as well use him”, Alhaitham had said.
Ducking into the Akademiya, Cyno exhaled softly as the cool air of the room washed over him. He glanced around. As he did, as he walked, students gave him curious, sidelong glances. The Akademiya tiles were ice cold under his feet. He could feel them through the bandages.
Hopefully, Cyno could get a kiss in before Tighnari realized he had been hurt and stabbed him.
He tucked himself into the back of the classroom. In front of him, the room was filled with students. All of them were paying rapt attention to Tighnari in the front of the classroom. Sighing, Cyno leaned against the wall. He watched his husband pace around the front of the classroom. He looked better. The stab wound to his shoulder wasn’t wrapped anymore, not that he could see. He was standing straight up, shoulders back and relaxed, though with the bit of tension that Cyno saw every time they were in Sumeru City.
A slash on his shoulder pressed against the pole behind him. “—any questions?” A hand was raised. Sighing, Tighnari said, “Is this about trying to tame the Avidya leopards?”
“Would it be possible?”
“Okay, you might be able to tame one of them. One. And it’s a big maybe, I would not suggest it—” Tighnari snapped, pinching the bridge of his nose. One of his ears flicked, tail lashing like a cat’s. Snorting, Cyno noted some of the students in the back row glance at him. One of them scowled. Then, she seemed to recognize him. Eyes widening, she stared at him, then looked at Tighnari. Holding up a hand, Cyno did a sort of half-wave, then turned back to his husband. He saw the girl mouth something to the student behind her, awed.
“But you could domesticate them. Like a cat.”
“No, you cannot domesticate an Avidya leopard.” Lips forming something Cyno doubted even the sharpest-eared of the class could hear, Tighnari took a slow breath. “Avidya leopards are not like cats. They are wild cats, they are significantly larger, and they will eat you. Why are we having this conversation again?” He stared at the class, eyes narrowing. Then, something crossed his face. (Irritation. Plain and simple. Cyno had seen that look plenty of times when his puns were going a little too far, though normally Tighnari’s face had more softness to even it out.) “Ravi. We are not having this conversation again.”
“But—”
“No, we’re not. We—” Sighing, Tighnari said, “Can we please have another question? Not about taming creatures that cannot be tamed. And Ravi, if you start talking about taming Jadeplume Terrorshrooms, I’m going to lose it.”
And that’s my cue. Cyno slipped carefully down the steps. Whether it was for the better or the worse, Tighnari was so used to Cyno’s footsteps that he tuned them out automatically. The students glanced at him a few times. Thankfully, Tighnari was distracted by some papers in front of him. Distracted by the words, caught up in his research, something like that. Maybe he was looking at names.
Sneaking around, Cyno covered Tighnari’s eyes.
The reaction was immediate.
Hands landing on his wrist, Tighnari flipped him over his shoulder. The world spun. His back slammed into the tile floor. Cold tiles, he could feel them pressing into his bandages. At least he had worn a shirt, because Tighnari was going to kill him when he found out. If he didn’t already because of the blood.
Eyes widening, reflecting all the pretty jade brown that they were due to the shiny tiles and Akademiya lights, Tighnari reeled back. “Cyno. Hi.”
Grinning up at him, Cyno replied, “Hi. Mind letting go of my arm so I can get up? I mean, you’re so amazing it always floors me, but this is a bit literal even for my taste.”
Tighnari’s smile dropped, expression flattening in that fond annoyance Cyno was so familiar with. “Cyno. Alright, up.” He dragged him upright. Then, frowning, he glanced him over. “Are you bleeding? Alright, class dismissed. All of you—I don’t know. Go write and essay and try not to get yourself killed by a leopard.”
The students fled, giggling and laughing softly as they ducked out of the room. Leaning against the desk, Cyno sat down on it and watched his husband. He traced his gaze over his shoulders, down his back, over his arms as he moved to pack up his papers. In the bright lights of the lecture room, his lightning scars (they shouldn’t have been there still, it had been so long since the original strike, but he supposed that was what happened when struck by lightning from a Gnosis. If that idiot of an Inazuman Archon hadn’t given her powers up—and yes, Lumine explained it, because she didn’t like the Archon either—then Tighnari wouldn’t have those scars. If Cyno ever met the woman, well…he would have some words) were pink against his tanned skin.
“I didn’t realize you were back already.”
“Just got back today.” Sliding off the desk, Cyno slipped over and slid a hand around Tighnari’s waist. He pulled him close. Their eyes met. “Missed you.”
“Hmm.” Lifting a hand, Tighnari touched his cheek, leaned in. Breaking the kiss off way too early for Cyno’s preference, he looked him over. Then, his eyes narrowed. “Why do I smell blood?”
Cyno froze. “I can explain.”
His husband’s mouth twisted into a pout that really was cute…if only Cyno didn’t know there was a lecture for him coming, too.