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As their ship eases into the crowded deck of Narukami island, lines of boats coasted alongsides, Cyno takes in a deep breath to hold in his chest, before he then releases it slowly. "The view is beautiful," he says, as he takes in the sight of Ritou, the Irodori festival just a walks ahead, along with the Inazuman infrastructure and tides surrounding the land. "I'm feeling a bit em-ocean-al."
"We just got here," Tighnari, holding Cyno's hand just at his side, their shoulders brushing along each other's, groans out. He even tries to drop his hand with his irritation, but Cyno responds by gently squeezing him stuck. "Please, at least give me a second to appreciate our arrival."
"I know I shore am appreciating it," Cyno all but continues, turning to Tighnari with a shameless grin pulling at his lips.
Tighnari can only huff, as he ignores Cyno's comment to instead lead the two to follow after the crowd of fellow tourists disembarking their ship, both men holding their respective luggage in their free hands. "You did this same nonsense when we visited Mondstadt just a few months back," Tighnari then adds in, glaring at Cyno who turns his gaze to meet his lover's eyes again.
"Water you talking about?" Cyno says, still with his grin like it never dropped. "I did this back in Liyue, too."
Tighnari's tail puffs up at that response, to which Cyno apologizes by leaning in, the two continuing their walk, and pressing a soft kiss to his cheek. Tighnari rolls his eyes at that, but his frown softens a bit, too. He supposes it's his own fault for not being able to stay mad for too long at his partner, but then again, it's not every day that you get to visit Inazuma for their second rendition of their Irodori festival, their Sakoku Decree having been demolished for over a year now.
Cyno, specifically, has been looking forward to this trip for the longest, since his favorite novel has now been written into a trilogy, that being King of Invokation. He actually had met the author before and had even been the model for the illustrations in the second novel, that one being personally signed and sent to Cyno when it had released. Now, he excitedly told Tighnari when he first heard the announcement of the Irodori festival's return, would be his chance to not only meet the author for the second time and purchase the third rendition, but to meet the artist and get their signature as well. Tighnari could indulge in his lover just this once.
He squeezes Cyno's hand with a delicate touch, as he grumbles back, "I must have mist that."
Cyno actually gasps— albeit soft, but Tighnari's ears catch the sound quick— when he hears that, having caught the pun immediately once it regrettably left Tighnari's lips. He has to fight back the urge to backtrack and take back his words, figuratively biting his tongue, and instead pointedly staring at any and every thing besides Cyno starstruck expression.
"I sea what you did there," Cyno then says back, and Tighnari couldn't stifle back the groan that vibrated in his throat. What had he started? "You're krilling me, absolutely kraken me up with that one!"
"Shut your mouth before I shut it for you, I barely said anything," Tighnari scoffs. He can tell that Cyno's more excited for this shared trip of theirs than he cares to share, because he's completely overexaggerating this one joke of Tighnari's to the utmost degree.
Even more obviously so, as Cyno then drags Tighnari to a stray branch of the deck they were walking across, separating the couple from the lines of people eager to step foot onto the grass of Ritou. He stands in front of a confused Tighnari, the Valuka Shuna wanting to ask why the two had to step aside like this, before Cyno then releases both his luggage and Tighnari's hand to cup his partner's face instead.
"It's o-fish-ial, we mermaid for each other," Cyno says softly, still grinning cheek-to-cheek which crinkles his eyes adoringly. There's love that swims in his eyes, evident only for Tighnari to fish and catch, telling him his thanks just for being by his side, here, in the other nations they'd travelled to together and the many they will in their future, and especially back at home.
Tighnari smiles back at him, small and reserved, meant just for Cyno in all the same ways. "You're a dork," he huffs out with a laugh at the end of his words, as he leans forward to place a chaste kiss to Cyno's lips. "We should get a move on, before any lines start forming," Tighnari breathes out across Cyno's lips, and the other man minutely nods, but stays in place for just a second longer. They're both smiling while pressed against each others lips, basking in their closeness, and Cyno kisses him again.
The two spent their day to the fullest; they were so busy to the point that Cyno hadn't even the time to spare thinking up another joke, not even once. While they had visited Liyue's Latern Rite before and their home nation, Sumeru, hosted their own few events, this was the first international festival they had attended to where they were bustling and rushing into as many attractions as they could.
Embarrassingly enough, they had spent a drawn out moment at the deck sharing kisses, that when they passed through the festival to first make their way to the Ritou Inn to drop off their luggage, lines had already been formed. They made their trip quick, reserving a single bed for a single room straightforwardly, since they travelled to Narukami island on the very first day of the opening for the Irodori festival, making them one of the first bookings. On their walk back, Tighnari chided Cyno for letting them get distracted so easily before they had even gotten to the inn.
Returning to the festival, Tighnari had suggested that Cyno could wait in line for his book signing while he ordered them food. But, Cyno had simply responded that he'd like the two to stay by each other's side throughout the event, to rather wait together than separate for the slightest reason; this ended up being exactly how they enjoyed their day.
Cyno purchased the second sequel for the King of Invokations series, the line having not taken long at all, had a brief conversation with both the author and artist, and happily left with the signed book in his one hand and Tighnari's hand in his other. They also left with their two next destinations in mind: the author, Fukumoto, having recommended them a stall with his favorite Inazuman food, knowing that the two were from Sumeru, and the artist, Asagiri, having gushed about how him partaking in an advice column had helped in his journey in illustrating for their book series, and that the two should meet that author, too.
They had ordered More-and-More, the Okonomiyaki dish they were recommended, which Fukumoto had said was the dish he thought people from Sumeru— the nation that reveled in their spices— would enjoy the most. Along with that, they had bought a limited time drink called Rainbow Aster, a menu item directed inspired off of the light novel Pretty Please, Kitsune Guuji?, which made all the more sense for why it was exclusively made for the Irodori Festival, and, what the vendor called an Inazuman classic dessert, Tricolor Dango. Everything was absolutely delicious, but, of course, Tighnari made the comment that he would've liked a side dish of grilled mushrooms to enjoy with his meal.
As for the advice column that Asagiri had enthused over, Cyno and Tighnari started to realize what an impact it truly had, as it was the most packed location without a doubt. There were various signs confirming what Asagiri had mentioned, that the author was hosting a meet-and-greet for their crowd of fans. Since the couple never wrote to this column, they had no reason to wait in line, and much less to stick around, despite the popularity.
But, just as they turned to leave, they had been stopped by a woman, who hid the sly glimmer in the crease of her smiling eyes just as well as she hid her ears folded into her pink hair. Tighnari's own ears had immediately stood on edge, and his tail puffed up, never having met foxkin that wasn't his own family before; Cyno had caught his unease, and stood in between the two, not as if he considered the tall woman a threat, but more so for both his and Tighnari's peace of mind.
The tension had eased when she had introduced herself, as it was always more comforting when you could place a name to a face. And, with that, she teased Tighnari for his guarded nature, revealing that she wasn't a Valuka Shuna who was oddly born pink, but instead a Kitsune local to Inazuma, and above all, the editor-in-chief for Yae Publishing House.
Tighnari had apologized for his instinctive caution, which Yae Miko had simply laughed in response to, waving her hand dismissively, but he realized later that his own body knew more than he did in the moment.
Cyno had caused the topic change, now having a free opportunity to nerd-out over his purchase and love of King of Invokations, and somehow even ended up thanking Yae Miko for helping getting the series published. This led to her offering to have the conversation in a more comfortable place, outside of the summer heat, which was an agreeable idea, and was actually in the very same building that the advice column author had been taking their break in, leading to all four meeting up.
That's how they unintentionally managed to meet the very popular Miss Hina, or more truthfully, Gorou, who had been tricked by Yae Miko into crossdressing as her depiction of him. They had to make a promise to not tell anyone, which weirdly enough included Gorou, him not having realized he was Miss Hina either until yesterday. Gorou had kept glancing at Tighnari, and he only realized why, when Yae Miko had suddenly asked him if he were ever interested in writing advice columns anonymously.
Cyno and Tighnari left after that, leaving behind Gorou as their sacrifice. The world didn't need a Miss Hina and a Miss Yuki. Now, Tighnari knew why he felt on guard around Yae Miko, but would have never guessed it was because she had an interest in crossdressing beast-human boys to better sell her publishings.
That was the most hectic part of their day, and the rest went smoothly, all without any sudden quests or dangers they would have had to deal with. They shopped for more light novels and bought any that caught their interest, ate more food when the time passed, and it really was Cyno's day, because there was even a friendly Genius Invokation TCG competition set up to honor the trilogy book series. Cyno signing up was a given, but somehow, he even managed to get Tighnari to join him.
The two made it to the semi-finals, Tighnari having lost to a girl who also had pink hair like Yae Miko, but a far softer shade along with a blue gradiant, and Cyno having won against a man who also had white hair, but along with red horns at the top of his forehead. The girl and Tighnari were civil, shaking each other's hands and declaring a good game after their match, meanwhile Cyno had somehow been challenged to a beetle brawl. But, little did his opponent know, Cyno was just as passionate about beetles as he was with Genius Invokation, and carried his very own scarab for special occasions like these.
Tighnari chided him for that, too, after Cyno had won against the sore-loser of a man. After that, the finals for Genius Invokation had actually formed a bit of a crowd, but that didn't deter Cyno's game at all, as he won against the well-played girl. While she definitely made her moves with real life experience behind her hands, unfortunately for her, Cyno was just far more experienced in the actual game mechanics than she was, and secured his win. There was no prize as, again, this was merely a friendly competition, but nonetheless, Cyno held his head higher for the rest of the festival.
The sun started to set, and the day ended with some beautiful fireworks blooming into the sky, and with that, Cyno and Tighnari shared a kiss under the dazzling lights before having returned to their room at the Ritou Inn.
Tighnari's laying on his back with Cyno pressing against him from above, and his knees are bent on either sides of Cyno's hips. He's without his gloves, threading his fingers through Cyno's hair gently and with a slow rhythm, careful with his claws. "You're eager," he says between kisses, his words fanning across Cyno's bottom lip, as the other man refuses to pull back and stays in place.
"I had fun today," Cyno then breathes out, and he's now grinning still while pressing kisses against Tighnari. "I can't name a single thing that could have made today any better, it was just that perfect." He speaks while his hands move, one cupping Tighnari's chin to prevent him from turning away, while the other catches his combing through Cyno's hair, interlocking their fingers.
"Oh, is that so?" Tighnari asks with a hum and while smiling himself, as he glances between Cyno's two eyes. "You're too much of a nerd, you know that? All it takes to get you excited is Genius Invokation, and now you got both a book and won a competition. You're like an activated fungi right now, can hardly keep all that extra energy to yourself." There are some pauses between his words, Cyno continuously having cut him off mid-sentence with all the more pecks.
"Maybe a little," Cyno trails off with a hum, and only then does he pull back, just enough for them to take a full breath without having to steal it from the other's mouth, "but..."
Then, he pulls their held hands up to his mouth, and there, at the back of Tighnari's hand, he places a soft kiss, his lips lingering on his skin. Tighnari watches, his fingers twitching slightly, as Cyno nuzzles his cheek against his hand, all while keeping their eyes locked together.
"It's mainly because I did it all with you," Cyno softly says, looking down at the other man so intently that Tighnari has to tuck back a strand of Cyno's fallen hair, just to gaze up at him properly. "Today only felt so good because I had you right by my side. Even without the novel, the food, winning the tournament, or even the festival as a whole, no matter what, I'd always enjoy my time spent with you. I want to keep travelling like this with you, to every nation we haven't stepped foot in, and once we've visited them all, we'll do the entire thing again. It just can't be anyone else but you."
Tighnari's fingers thread through another lock of Cyno's hair, and he delicately pulls in the ends of that to his lips, kissing the strands. "I feel the same," he murmurs back, doing the same to their held hands that Cyno did earlier, pressing a second kiss to the back of Cyno's palm. "Being with you makes me feel like I can finally take a breath of fresh air, and you alone have that kind of affect on me. When I'm with you, by your side, it feels more right than any other thing I've ever felt. How do you feel about visiting Fontaine in some time, hm?"
"Sounds perfect," Cyno whispers, still smiling as he moves their hands to press another kiss against Tighnari's lips, which have started to swell slightly with how passionate he's been. "I can do some fishing, and you can capture the scenery with your Kamera. And after that, we'll go to Natlan, and then we'll cross the sea to Nod Krai, and then to Snezhnaya."
"It's a plan," Tighnari responds, returning Cyno's slow kisses with a gentle touch, his lips matching every push and pull of Cyno's lips, and their noses just barely grazing against one another's with how close they remain. "We'll go around Teyvat together," he says as he flutters his eyes shut, to put all of his attention in the way that they kiss. "I love you."
"I love you, too, 'Nari," Cyno kisses the words into Tighnari's skin, his hand that had been cupping Tighnari's face now has his thumb tracing along the line of Tighnari's cheek bone. His touch is as delicate as his words, as his kisses, as the love the two of them shared like air.