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It was late, just past eleven, by the time Cyno returned home.
He always hated staying at work late, especially on Fridays. But he worked in a funeral home as an Undertaker, so his work was never done. While he was thankful that he would always have a job to support the two people he loved the most in the world, it still made his heart ache to send Tighnari and Collei a text in their family group chat saying that he was going to be home late. Again.
When the Temple of Silence Funeral Home had gotten a call that a body needed to be picked up from Sumeru City’s local hospital, Cyno’s heart had sunk even further. Thankfully, Sethos had offered to do the pickup himself so Cyno could go home.
You’ve been working a lot of hours this week, Sethos had said to him as he gently pushed Cyno towards his car. Go home and spend time with your family this weekend.
Cyno had felt a little guilty leaving his brother with so much work to do, but as he pulled his car into their garage, he felt an overwhelming sense of relief at being home. This weekend, his only job was to be with his Tighnari and Collei.
All the lights were off downstairs, minus one small one in their kitchen, likely left on for him by his husband. Because of the late hour, Cyno knew Tighnari and Collei were already in their rooms for the night.
And before he could go to Tighnari, Cyno had to say goodnight to Collei. Even if she could sleep peacefully without it, Cyno was sure he wouldn’t be able to sleep without giving her a kiss goodnight.
After climbing up the stairs and lightly knocking on Collei’s bedroom door, Cyno heard a low growl coming from inside.
“It’s just me, Anubis.” He said softly. “May I come in, baby?”
“Yes!”
Cyno poked his head inside of the room.
Their two-year-old Pharaoh Hound relaxed and started to wag his tail after realizing that the person at the door was a person that he knew and loved and not an intruder there to hurt his favorite human.
Anubis had come into their lives about a year ago. When they went to the shelter to look for a dog, Anubis, though that wasn’t his name at the time, had fallen in love with Collei right away, immediately wanting pets and trying to lick her face.
They adopted him that day.
Along with Anubis, Collei had two guinea pigs: Pita Pocket and Mushroom. Currently, they were fast asleep in their cage, which sat on a small table underneath the window in her room. Unlike Anubis, they didn’t stir when Cyno knocked on Collei’s door.
“Hi, papa.”
Collei was curled up under a mountain of pillows, plushies, and blankets, with her laptop next to her. She had probably been watching a movie or working on assignments for her classes before Cyno had gotten home.
“Hey, Collei-lily,” he smiled softly. Anubis wagged his tail faster when Cyno kneeled down on the floor next to his daughter's bed. He let out a happy little boof and licked Cyno’s cheek.
“I missed you too, buddy.” The white haired man scratched behind his ears.
After getting his pets, Anubis burrowed under a fluffy blanket and curled up behind Collei’s legs again, falling asleep immediately.
“How were your classes today?” Cyno asked as he carded his fingers through Collei’s green curls.
“They were good. Fischl, Gaming, and Freminet are coming over tomorrow so we can work on our History project.” Collei said, leaning into Cyno’s gentle touch. “Do you have to work this weekend?”
“Nope, your Uncle Sethos is taking care of all the services for the next couple of days.” he told her, brushing a piece of her hair behind her ear.
In the light of the cute bunny-shaped lamp (a gift from her Aunt Amber) sitting on Collei’s nightstand, Cyno saw her eyes light up. “You’re going to be home all weekend?”
“Yes, that’s right.” Cyno tucked her comforter around her. “Is there anything you wanted to do this weekend?”
“Movie night,” Collei said, almost immediately. She nudged Cyno’s hand, indicating she wanted him to keep playing with her hair. “We haven’t done that in forever.”
Looking back, it had been a while since their last Saturday Movie Night, Cyno realized. It was one of their favorite traditions. Collei usually was the one to pick a movie, since Tighnari liked her to always have the choice. They ordered pizza, ate Tighnari’s homemade brownies and ice cream for dessert, and curled up together on the couch under plenty of their softest blankets. Oftentimes, the three of them would fall asleep in the living room.
“That sounds perfect, baby.” Cyno leaned over to kiss Collei’s forehead. “Are you going to bed soon?”
“I’m going to finish this episode, and then I’ll go to bed.” Collei said, yawning. “I’m sleepy, so I won’t stay up for too much longer.”
“What time are your friends coming tomorrow?”
“I think around 10:00,” she said. “They won’t be here long, since we’re almost done with the project.”
“Would you like to come with me to walk Anubis tomorrow morning?” The white haired man asked. “We could go get breakfast for you all.”
Collei’s eyes sparkled again. “Yes, please!”
He chuckled softly at her enthusiasm, and kissed her again, this time on her cheek. “I’ll come wake you two up in the morning, then.”
Collei burrowed her under blankets more. “Okay.”
Cyno got back on his feet, and walked back to the door. As he stepped through the threshold, he turned around towards his daughter once more. “Goodnight, Collei-lily. I love you.”
“I love you too, papa.”
Cyno gently shut the door behind him and padded back downstairs to the master bedroom. He and Tighnari believed Collei deserved her own space and the privacy of the only upstairs bedroom and bathroom.
Getting to lock her door was a luxury Collei didn’t have before Tighnari adopted her, and it was a right that Cyno would make sure was never taken away from her again.
Unlike Collei’s room, which Cyno would never enter without her permission, he never bothered knocking on the master bedroom door. He and Tighnari never did that, since they never had anything to hide from each other.
Cyno never thought he would find someone he felt he could share everything with, but that fateful day in the Avidya Forest, Tighnari’s flower shop, had changed everything.
Because that day, Cyno had met his future husband and daughter.
The white haired man felt a surge of affection for his small family as he opened the door to the master bedroom.
He was also hit with a very familiar smell.
Tighnari must’ve smoked before getting into bed.
Even when Cyno was younger, drinking and smoking never appealed to him, due to the way his birth parents behaved when they did before he and Sethos were rescued from them. But he didn’t mind that Tighnari smoked, especially since it was good at relaxing him when he had a particularly stressful day at the shop.
As an added bonus, the weed made him very cute and cuddly.
“Welcome home, Cyno.” Tighnari glanced away from the trashy late night reality TV show he was watching to meet his husband’s gaze.
“Hey, Nari.” Cyno sat on the edge of the bed, pulling Tighnari into his arms for a hug and kiss. “How was your day?”
Tighnari nuzzled into his neck, going almost completely limp in Cyno’s hold. He let out a long sigh before saying, “long and annoying.”
“You want to talk about it, love?”
“Yes,” Tighnari sat back up, stretching his arms above his head. “I need to vent.”
“Let me wash my face and change, and then you can tell me all about it.” Cyno said, kissing Tighnari one more time.
“Get ready to be annoyed, because this is going to piss you off too,” Tighnari told him as Cyno stepped into their master bathroom.
Cyno did his nighttime routine quickly, and it felt so nice to change into his favorite sweatpants after being in his work clothes all day. When he climbed into bed for the night, Tighnari covered them both up with their comforter and snuggled into his chest, head resting over Cyno’s heart.
“So, what happened today, Nari?” Cyno rubbed the tip of Tighnari’s fox ear between his fingers. “Collei-lily came to work with you after her classes, right?”
“She did,” Tighnari sighed. “And some fucking asshole decided to yell at her because we were out of the flowers he wanted.”
Anger churned up in Cyno’s stomach. How dare someone treat his Collei like that. “What?”
“I was in the back putting together some orders, but I came out to the front counter as soon as I heard the shouting,” Tighnari said. “Thankfully, Dehya was there too, getting flowers for Dunyarzad, so Collei wasn’t by herself, but she was still pretty shaken up.”
Cyno’s heart ached. His poor baby. “Did she come home after that?”
“No,” Tighnari shook his head, sighing again. The look on his face made Cyno’s heart ache even more, it was clear what happened to their daughter was taking a pretty big toll on the florist. “I wanted her too, and Dehya offered to take her, but she didn’t want to be alone. She ended up staying in my office for the rest of the day.”
“She seemed to be feeling better when I went to say goodnight,” Cyno pressed a kiss to his husband's temple.
Tighnari nodded in agreement, and nuzzled into Cyno’s neck. “She just needed some time to decompress. She was back to her normal, adorable self when we got home.”
“That’s good.”
“If that man decides to come into my shop again, I will shoot him.” His tail bristled, as if to emphasize his point.
Cyno tilted Tighnari’s chin up. “I imagine that’s what you told him when you kicked him out.”
The fox-eared man brushed their noses together. “You know me well.”
“Yes, I do.” Cyno murmured softly, pressing his lips against Tighnari’s.
I love you,” Tighnari said as he pulled away.
“I love you too.” The white haired man kissed Tighnari’s forehead, causing him to hum in content. He laid his head back down into Cyno’s chest. “And I have good news.”
“Oh yeah?”
“I’m off all weekend,” Cyno said, smiling when Tighnari’s tail started to wag in excitement. “Collei suggested we should have a movie night tomorrow since we will all be here.”
“I’ll make my brownies in the morning, then.” Tighnari leaned over to his bedside table to turn off the lamp sitting on top of it. Now the only source of light in the room was the glow of their TV.
“Collei and I are getting up early to take Anubis on a walk tomorrow,” Cyno shifted so he was laying down completely. “Would you like to join us?”
“I love the both of you more than anything, but fuck no, I’m sleeping in.”
Cyno laughed softly, kissing the top of Tighnari’s head. He figured as much. “Just thought I would ask.”
Tighnari yawned and wrapped his tail around Cyno’s waist. His eyes were drooping closed. “Do you mind turning the TV off?”
“Of course not,” Cyno murmured, reaching over to his bedside table for the remote, but being careful not to disturb his already half asleep husband. After years of being together, he knew Tighnari could only sleep when it was completely dark in their room.
Tighnari hummed again, his arms and tail wrapped around Cyno even tighter. “Thank you, my love.”
“Goodnight, my Nari.” Cyno whispered, giving his husband one more kiss.
With the warmth of Tighnari wrapped around him, and the comfort of knowing Collei was sound asleep and safe upstairs, Cyno drifted off into a pleasant sleep of his own, excited about his relaxing weekend home.