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“Alhaitham, please…” Cyno mumbled low enough so that no one around could hear them.
His friend’s rejection was painful. It was no secret Alhaitham was against his decision to have kids –or how he had chosen to go about it–, but Cyno didn’t expect that reaction. Not the silence, not the void that became too obvious whenever he tried to chat like they always did.
Their usual comfortable chats when both couples met had turned into silence, with Alhaitham only saying the bare minimum to coordinate anything related to Collei. Other than that, the Scribe didn’t direct a word to him or, by extension, to Tighnari.
“Please not today, Collei has already noticed something’s going on. It’s not the day for this.”
Collei had noticed. Kaveh had noticed. And of course Tighnari had too. The girl of course only knew the age-appropriate explanation that they ‘had a disagreement’, while Tighnari had only been told the part that Alhaitham didn’t trust him to care for Cyno while pregnant, and Kaveh… who knew what explanation Alhaitham had given him. Cyno hadn’t helped much either when the architect asked and he just answered with vague excuses.
As angry and disappointed as he could be about Cyno’s choices, the matra knew Alhaitham wouldn’t give away his secrets. Not even to Kaveh. Unless, of course he thought that was for the best interest of everyone and felt entitled to decide what was best… but as Alhaitham had told him in a recent fight, he was not responsible anymore for Cyno’s mistakes.
But it was the Akademiya’s welcome ceremony. For fuck’s sake, Collei was finally starting her formal education after all her efforts to catch up with other peers her age. It was meant to be something happy. A day to enjoy and celebrate. As an adult, Alhaitham should at the very least be able to fake it for the hour and a half they meant to be there.
Though of course, his ex thought otherwise. “You shouldn’t have invited me then.”
“I didn’t invite you myself. She’s your daughter too. Don’t you want to be here?”
Alhaitham’s deadpan face wavered for a moment. Of course he wanted to be there. He adored their kid and had diligently supervised her studies at par with Tighnari. They were all so proud of her, there was no way Alhaitham would miss such an event.
“I do.”
Luckily for Cyno, Cyrus out of all people saved his ass.
Cackling and leading both their partners, the professor joined them eagerly – of course without reading the room (or choosing to ignore it).
“Look who we have here!” Cyrus laughed. “The one kid that always forgets to visit!”
As if Alhaitham would ever be bothered to go see him just to hear the latest gossip about Cyrus’ bickering with Professor Zaha Hadi. Though if neither Alhaitham’s depression nor their divorce had changed the fondness the old man had for him, the lack of visits wouldn’t do it either.
Cyrus would forever think of him as family. It had been like that almost from the start anyway.
Well, maybe not when Cyno had first brought his “new boyfriend” home to introduce them, back when he had just joined the matra, and was just ‘a girl’ that had suddenly started to date ‘the Scribe’. Even Cyno would have had his reservations about it. It wouldn’t be unimaginable that the mysterious Scribe was a jerk trying to take advantage of him with his title and influence. But Cyrus’ opinion quickly changed when Alhaithaitham visited for the second time weeks later to accompany him to come out.
Knowing Cyno had had Alhaitham’s support while his own father was unaware of it all completely changed his view of the man. And it hadn’t stopped there. With Alhaitham’s company and support, Cyno had grown into a confident man, proud of his past and fond of his nuances. It wasn’t as if he owed his ex all his accomplishments, but it was true that without Alhaitham’s encouragement, he wouldn’t even have come out to the Professor or transitioned at all. At least, not so soon. And Cyno definitely wouldn’t have ever thought of pushing beyond being just a matra.
Even after their divorce, Alhaitham had encouraged him to not leave it all behind for Collei’s sake… which eventually made him lean more on Tighnari and, in a way, led them to date and later marry and all that, but regardless… Cyrus had seen all Alhaitham had done for him, and all the good he had brought to Cyno’s life. For him, Alhaitham would always be a second son, even more so when he found out Alhaitham’s dad was his close friend. Archons, he even sat on first row on Alhaitham’s and Kaveh’s wedding.
“Oh please. Professor, would you mind? My ears…” Tighnari held his fluffy ears tight to his head in an attempt to make Cyrus’ loud voice bearable. “It’s already bad enough with so many people around, please…”
The Professor loved to playfully rile Tighnari up and he was the one person Tighnari had a hard time saying ‘no’ to. So while Cyrus and Tighnari bickered, Kaveh turned to Alhaitham.
“Babe, are you ok?” Kaveh was likely the only other person in Teyvat able to pick up on the slightest changes of Alhaitham’s deadpan face. Still, the man just groaned and told him to just leave it. “Haiyi…”
But knowing Alhaitham also meant knowing when it was pointless to fight back.
“You’re being childish.” He stated and gave Cyno an apologetic smile before changing topics. “Anyway, we left Collei with her professor in charge and got our assigned seats. It wasn’t easy to find five together, so we’re pretty much in the back, but it’s next to the corridor so I won’t have any problem setting the Kamera there.”
To keep the peace and avoid Cyrus stirring up shit, Tighnari sat between Kaveh (with his Kamera) and Alhaitham, and Cyno and his father.
It was uncomfortable at best –especially given Alhaitham’s immunity to small talk– and the wait while all the other families found their seats felt longer than it should have.
“You never attended one of these, did you?” Luckily, the always caring Tighnari was there for him.
“Only once doing their job,” Cyno happily indulged the conversation by pointing at the matras guarding the hall. It had been mid-course when Cyrus unpromptedly brought a young and shy Cyno to his first class, so he never got to attend any welcome ceremony. Then his time as a regular matra had been short before climbing the ranks and being assigned to more complicated tasks than just… standing in a hall watching families fuzzing about their kids. “You did?”
Nari nodded. “I only remember feeling overwhelmed. It was my first time in the city, so there were too many smells and sounds around.”
If even now Tighnari was still sensitive to all that, Cyno couldn't even imagine how it had been when his partner was just a kid. Instinctively, his hand went to squeeze his husband's thigh.
“How are you doing today?”
And Tighnari, bless that man, just gave him the sweetest smile before rubbing his forehead and nose on Cyno’s cheek and temple.
“I'm too worried about whatever you have going on with Alhaitham to care.”
Cyno only had time to mutter a quick “Sorry” before the lights went off and a scholar went up the stage to introduce the year.
Once the discourses, briefings, and teachers introductions ended and they were waiting for Tighnari and Cyrus to pick up their daughter, Cyno tried again.
“Alhaitham-”
But the one who was meant to be his friend just turned around and started heading towards the Akademya’s doors.
“Sorry,” Kaveh apologized, clutching his Kamera. “You know how he is.”
Yeah. Cyno knew. Too well. And it hurt to be on the receiving end of Alhaitham’s indifference. To know he genuinely disapproved of the matra’s choices to the point of abandoning him with them.
“I’ll try to talk with him again. I know he's concerned, but this is no way to deal with it.” Kaveh was way too sweet.
“No need. The best thing for us now is to stay apart for a while.” Cyno hated to say those words. Kaveh's forced smile didn't help much, and only left a bigger strain on his heart.
Sadly, that was the truth. Neither he nor Alhaitham were willing to change their mind, so the only thing left to do was wait it out. He had enough with Nari and Collei. And soon –if everything went well– he’d have the kits too. Maybe then Alhaitham would come to terms with his decisions. Once he could show him he could have his babies just fine with Nari, things with Alhaitham would go back to normal.
Until then, Tighnari’s support was enough.