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Cyno was rarely tired out from an interrogation.

This was, however, proving to be quite the exception.

He’d brought the man in for a case of suspected plagiarism he’d been pursuing and - much to everyone’s surprise - he had proceeded to immediately confess to numerous other crimes instead.

The plagiarism charge, ironically, had simply been a false accusation.

Cyno stared at the - still expanding - list with distaste. How he and the rest of the matra had missed such a criminal for so long was beyond him. Especially considering how the man’s endless confessions weren’t exactly making him out to be a criminal mastermind.

“Is that it?” Aarav asked for the fifth time once the man paused for a breath.

Across from them, he hesitated, shifting a bit in the handcuffs.

Cyno let out a mental sigh, preparing for more assorted misdemeanors.

Instead, though, the man shook his head slightly.

“There’s one more thing…but it didn’t exactly work out as I planned, so I don’t think I should be charged.”

Cyno resisted the urge to gape at the man’s audacity, that was not how it worked.

“That’s not how it works,” Aarav choked out next to him.

“Acting with criminal intent is a crime within itself. It doesn’t matter how poor your execution of it was,” Cyno expanded, glaring the man down.

He shifted under the look but tried to pull himself together as he said, “I won’t admit to it unless you offer me a deal.”

“Excuse me?”

“A deal. I don’t want to be locked up forever for something that I didn’t even get to reap the benefits of,” he said.

Cyno glanced at the list again. It was long certainly, but there was nothing remotely bad enough to consider any sort of major punishment. So either the man was exceptionally unaware of how the law worked - plausible considering how this interrogation had gone - or this last deed was far worse than the others.

“I’ll even give you some relevant names in exchange,” the man said, leaning towards the two of them - clearly having thought that this would sway them.

Cyno glowered, electro crackling beneath his skin.

“There won’t be a deal. You’re either going to tell us in the next three minutes, or I’m adding obstruction to the list. We’ll find out either way now that a full investigation has to be opened on you. Believe me when I say that, even without a deal, cooperating will be much better for you in the long run.”

Silence settled for a moment, but ultimately, the man cracked only a minute and a half in.

He cleared his throat sheepishly before admitting, “There’s uh- someone I’ve had my eye on.”

Cyno could already imagine the path they were going down.

“Did you stalk them?”

“I wouldn’t call it stalking. We just happened to end up in the same place sometimes, and I happen to have memorized his schedule.”

Cyno wondered if he should hope they found enough evidence for a formal stalking charge. He’d prefer that any victims could get a restraining order, but then again, sufficient evidence to warrant one usually required the victim to have suffered more than the man was currently indicating.

“Did you do anything else to this person?” Aarav asked.

“Well…” The man trailed off, looking a bit sheepish.

Cyno braced himself.

“Have you two ever heard of love potions?”

Cyno desperately wanted to slam his head into the table. Love potions were quite possibly some of his least favorite contraband to work with. They always led to messy arguments and messier sentencing.

“So you planned to poison someone?” Cyno asked bluntly.

“NOT poison. A love potion. He was fine after he drank it,” the man waved off flippantly as if love potions weren’t known for being volatile and unstable most of the time.

“He drank it?” Cyno asked with a frown, “And he didn’t get stuck following you around?”

In his experience, those affected by legitimate love potions tended to be fairly attached to whoever the potion made them latch on to. It was practically unheard of that they’d managed to take this man in and detain him for multiple hours without the victim beating down the door to get to him in the worst case scenario or endlessly requesting to see him at the front desk in the best.

Whoever had been affected must have quite the strong resistance to them, considering Cyno hadn’t been called for any such visitors so far.

The man eyed Cyno with a strange look.

“Well, he did drink it, but I couldn’t get him to look at me after,” the man admitted with a dreamy sigh.

“See, he’s smart. He’s so smart. I think he knew what it was right away, he wouldn’t open his eyes and look at me at all. I shouldn’t have done it in such a public place, I just got so eager. I planned to wait him out - see him cave and look at me but his friends arrived and-,” he sighed forlornly, “I had to run before he broke.”

Cyno frowned further and caught Aarav shifting uncomfortably beside him. They were used to cases born from obsessions, but it never got more comfortable listening to them.

“Did he latch on to someone else then?”

That could be better if perhaps he had latched onto someone such as his actual significant other, or it could potentially be a bigger issue if another victim had also been roped into this mess.

“Well, funny enough-” the man’s voice lowered, “I’m fairly certain that he latched onto you actually,” he said, pointing a finger directly at Cyno.

Cyno stiffened, “What-”

“That’s why I’m here actually,” he said excitedly, leaning over the table to get closer to them, “I wanted to ask what he’s been like. Is he needy? Affectionate? Has he been blushing? I’ve seen him do it before, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was blushing a lot with you. And don’t get me wrong - I’m pretty angry things didn’t go to plan, but he beat me fair and square, and of course I love that part of him too. If going to prison for a while means I can get more details about him then it’s worth it so-”

Cyno raised a hand to cut the man off, feeling distinctly as though he needed a shower just from hearing that.

Ignoring the sinking feeling in his stomach, he asked directly, playing along a bit just to ensure he’d get an answer, “To make sure we’re on the same page here - who is it exactly that you’re referring to?”

The man rolled his eyes, “Obviously we’re talking about Grand Scribe Alhaitham.”

An unnatural smile took over his face.

“Now, General, about those details I was asking for-”

***

Cyno, obviously, did not give the man any “details.”

Of course, the main reason was that the man was a criminal asking for personal information about someone whom he claimed to have victimized. But also, Cyno couldn’t offer any details even if he wanted to because Cyno didn’t actually have any.

He sincerely doubted that Alhaitham had latched on to him - if he had truly been subjected to a love potion at all.

They had gone for drinks last night along with their usual group of Tighnari and Kaveh, but nothing about Alhaitham’s behavior had struck him as odd at the time and nothing unusual had happened since either.

He’d passed Alhaitham a few hours ago with nothing more than a short wave occurring between them. He recalled a time when it took four matra to separate a woman from someone who had given her a love potion.

If Alhaitham HAD been afflicted, it almost certainly wasn’t directed toward Cyno.

Of course, Cyno still had to confirm it directly. Considering the nature of the suspect’s claim, he erred on the side of caution and sent other matra members to check in on Alhaitham while he stayed back to look through the man’s records.

This was, by all accounts, the safest and most efficient way to conduct this investigation.

Or at least, it should have been the most efficient.

By the fifth and sixth matra who came back from unsuccessfully attempting the simple task of entering Alhaitham’s office, Cyno was starting to doubt the efficacy of their current training regimen.

“They won’t let us in. They just kept saying they were too busy,” the latest returnees explained to him.

“Did you tell them I sent you?” Cyno asked, a bit impatiently.

“We tried, but they said if it was so important you could come yourself,” one explained awkwardly.

Tomorrow was the beginning of a new semester, which generally meant departments such as the Scribe’s office were swamped with last-minute applications and requests of all sorts. Cyno had no doubt that Alhaitham would have set all staff at his disposal to use in sending any unexpected visitors away.

Cyno sighed deeply, to have this many matra unable to reason with staff from the bookkeeping department, he wondered if he should ask Alhaitham for training tips the next time he saw him.

Which, apparently, would have to be sooner than Cyno wanted.

Standing up, he redirected the two towards his own task and called Aarav to accompany him to Alhaitham’s office.

“I’ll convince them to let you in and stay outside while you go in.”

Aarav nodded beside him.

Cyno hesitated before continuing.

“I don’t believe he’s affected, and even if he is, I’m sure he’ll be able to keep some level of control of himself, but be careful - he’s a far better fighter than you probably expect.”

“Really? The Scribe?” Aarav asked curiously.

Cyno nodded.

“We spar whenever I can convince him to. He keeps up with me well.”

Aarav’s eyebrows raised, impressed.

“Understood. I’ll be cautious.”

A moment of silence passed between them.

“Remember you have to run if he starts acting erratically,” Aarav reminded.

Cyno scowled, none of this sitting right with him. A case directly affecting a close friend in just the right way to keep Cyno out of the most active parts of the investigation - he was surprised that it wasn’t intentional.

“I know,” he affirmed sourly.

Aarav let out a small laugh next to him.

The walk, luckily, wasn’t too far. As they approached the door to Alhaitham’s office, one of the department members was already looking at them tiredly.

Cyno could relate, as much as she was probably sick of seeing them, he was also sick of not being able to get anyone in.

“General Mahamatra,” she greeted warily.

“Hello, we need to speak to the Scribe.”

She sighed, “As you are aware, the office today is extremely busy. I’ve been instructed not to let anyone in unless it’s an extremely urgent matter.”

“It is an extremely urgent matter,” Cyno said, wondering vaguely how many rumors would spread that Alhaitham was in some sort of trouble based on how many matra had come to his door today.

She shifted uncertainly.

“Okay, let me make it more clear. I am not leaving until we are able to speak with Alhaitham,” he said firmly.

If it came down to it, he could always force his way in or officially charge her with obstructing the investigation, but he’d prefer to avoid that if possible.

Luckily, she seemed to realize that he wouldn’t be backing down and looked at the door regretfully.

“Fine. You two wait here for a moment.”

Cyno relaxed slightly at that and watched as she turned to grab a nearby stack of papers to bring in with her before tentatively making her way into the room.

“You think it will be okay if she tells him you’re here?” Aarav asked anxiously beside him.

“Mm, it should be fine. I saw him this morning, so I’m confident I’m not the target, but even if I was and he did react - we’re close enough to get him under control before any damage is done,” Cyno told him.

“I’m close enough,” Aarav scolded, “You know you shouldn’t get involved if you’re his target, the target being present only makes the affected person act up more, you know that.”

Cyno slumped petulantly.

“I could get him under control before that happens.”

Aarav laughed next to him.

“I’m sure, but it would cause him more distress when you eventually left, you know.”

Cyno winced at that. That was certainly the last thing he wanted to do to a victim, not to mention one that was a friend as well.

He let out a breath as he reluctantly agreed, “I’ll leave it in your hands then.”

Aarav nodded and landed a pat to his shoulder.

“I’ll keep him safe,” he promised.

Cyno gritted his teeth at being forced to take a back seat but nodded. Aarav was both trustworthy and capable - Cyno had no doubt he could handle this. He simply needed to get his own protective instincts to trust that as well.

The door opened again shortly, and the same woman returned.

“He said you can come in, General,” she said, seeming a bit surprised.

Cyno nodded, “Aarav,” he said, with a nod towards the door.

Aarav barely moved forward before the woman’s hand came up to stop him.

“He told me to only send in General Mahamatra Cyno,” she corrected.

Aarav sent him a wary look.

Trust Alhaitham to make this investigation far more difficult than needed.

“Can you go in and ask again-”

“Don’t bother,” Cyno said with a sigh, “That man is a menace,” he mumbled with a glare at the door.

He turned resolutely to Aarav.

“I’ll go in,” he held up a hand as Aarav immediately attempted to protest.

Guiding him slightly away from the woman, he dropped his voice to a whisper.

“Alhaitham isn’t one to be swayed, believe me. We’ll have to play by his rules, so stay close to the door. I’ll call you in and back out if I get even one sign that he’s affected.”

He kept eye contact as he said it.

Aarav stared back uncertainly.

“Trust me,” Cyno urged.

Aarav relented at that, they had long since learned to do such a thing, “Understood. I’ll be ready on standby.”

Cyno nodded at him, straightening his shoulders and turning around.

“I’m going in,” he told the woman who obligingly stepped aside.

He took one last deep breath before turning the knob to enter Alhaitham’s office.

Stepping in, he saw, as expected, Alhaitham pouring over papers on his desk and stacks of documents throughout the room. He didn’t look up at the sound of the door opening.

Cyno steadied himself, preparing for whatever reaction Alhaitham might have.

“Grand Scribe,” he called.

He saw the man in question jolt slightly and glance up.

“General,” he greeted, “I didn’t think that you’d actually risk coming in. Already confessed it all, did he?” he asked dryly, turning back to his papers shortly.

Cyno frowned, “You know why I’m here?”

Alhaitham hummed slightly, “Unless another incident that I’m unaware of and involves me has occurred, yes.”

“And you didn’t report the incident that you are aware of to the matra?”

“As you can see, I’m fairly preoccupied today. I hardly have the time for a matra investigation.”

Cyno felt his face twitch in agitation as he approached the desk, the palms of his hands landing on it and his resolution to act with caution already forgotten in the face of what was quite possibly the most irritating man in the entirety of the Akademiya.

“Well, you need to make time for one, we believe your safety has been compromised.”

Alhaitham glanced up at him once more, just as calmly as before.

“I hardly think it’s that serious.”

“We’ve had a suspect confess to drugging you with a love potion,” Cyno hesitated as he looked Alhaitham over, “Though that seems to have been a lie, we can’t be certain if he’s done or planned to do anything else to you, therefore it’s imperative that you cooperate with-”

“It wasn’t a lie,” Alhaitham interjected matter-of-factly.

Cyno stuttered in his speech, his frown deepening along with a sinking feeling in his stomach.

“Then the suspect has misidentified the recipient.”

Alhaitham huffed in amusement, leaning across the desk to look closely at Cyno.

“Are you certain?”

Cyno ignored the heat he felt in his face, stiffening slightly as he was abruptly and thoroughly reminded of some not-so-platonic feelings of his own that he’d only recently become aware of and had been attempting to ignore. His feelings were, however, undeniably his own rather than the fault of some outside influence. Clearing his throat, he shoved those thoughts aside unrepentantly and straightened slightly to put some distance between them.

“What are you implying, Scribe?”

Alhaitham gave him a look as he shrugged and turned back to his work.

“Obviously, you are the recipient - though not the intended one, of course. It happened at dinner last night,” he added flippantly.

Cyno stiffened.

“Are you certain? This is why I attempted to send other matra in first,” he complained frantically, backing up further, “Are you alright? Should I leave?”

“No need. I feel fine,” Alhaitham said easily, moving to scribble a note onto the page he was looking at.

Cyno looked him over carefully.

“You’re sure you’re affected? I’ve never seen someone so calm while under the effects of a love potion,” he pointed out.

Alhaitham glanced up at him and his face twitched unhappily, “Quite sure.”

Cyno stared at him doubtfully until Alhaitham sighed and looked up at him fully.

“The feelings are there, and it is mildly unpleasant, but they have such a manufactured feeling to them that distinguishing and ignoring them is hardly difficult for me.”

Cyno had to stop himself from flinching.

Of course unnatural feelings would feel unpleasant, there was no need for Cyno to feel any hurt from such a statement. He didn’t have the time for it now anyway.

“If you’re so certain, why didn’t you report it to me right away?” He demanded instead, moving closer to the desk once more.

Alhaitham looked between him and the stacks of papers on his desk.

“I already told you I don’t have time for an investigation today.”

Cyno sighed deeply.

“Is that why you wouldn’t let any of my matra in? And you only gave me permission because you thought I wouldn’t risk it?”

Alhaitham shrugged.

“Your safety is at risk,” Cyno insisted.

“Was at risk,” Alhaitham corrected, “There’s no issue if he’s in your custody already.”

“You can’t be certain what type of potion he used, or if there will be more effects, therefore, you’re still at risk,” Cyno argued back.

Alhaitham raised a brow before reaching into his desk and pulling out a paper to hand to Cyno. Ignoring the foreboding feeling he had about it, he accepted the sheet from him. Looking it over, he found lines and lines of questions about Alhaitham’s personal life. One question, helpfully, asking for Alhaitham’s thoughts on the efficacy of a love potion recipe - specifically one made up of a mourning flower base.

“...When did you receive this?” Cyno asked, carefully.

“Two months ago,” Alhaitham responded, flipping through the papers in front of him.

Cyno breathed deeply, setting the paper down carefully before he crumpled it.

“You received a letter of this nature two months ago and didn’t report it to me?”

“Mm, in my defense, I was quite confident he wouldn’t go through with it. A miscalculation on my part,” Alhaitham admitted easily.

“You should report it even if you don’t think they’ll act on it,” Cyno gritted out, “This is harassment,” he said, pointing at the letter.

Alhaitham shrugged, “I wasn’t overly bothered. I would have reported it if it escalated.”

“It did escalate! He poisoned you!” Cyno said, hands digging into Alhaitham’s desk.

Alhaitham looked up again.

“I really am fine,” he repeated.

“If he had given you something more dangerous-”

“He didn’t.”

“Alhaitham-”

“I’m sorry,” Alhaitham cut him off, “to have worried you. I’ll report it next time.”

Cyno took a deep breath. Alhaitham accommodating him in this way was such a rare thing, but Cyno took no pleasure in it now. As much as he wished there was, there wasn’t much point in this discussion when what’s done had already been done.

His time at this point would be better spent on continuing the investigation.

Cyno let out one last breath meant to calm himself before pointing a threatening finger at the man in front of him.

“No matter how small you think it is, I don’t care if it’s not even enough to warrant a report - bring it to me right away next time. You owe me that,” he said, leaving no room for argument in his tone.

Cyno was gracious enough to ignore the slight amusement on Alhaitham’s face, though he did narrow his eyes at it.

“Understood, General.”

“Can I get back to work now-”

“Not a chance,” Cyno said flatly.

Alhaitham sighed deeply, slumping onto his chair.

“Ten minutes,” he offered.

Cyno raised an eyebrow, the gall of this man, “We’ll see. Now talk, what happened? From the start.”

“I received a few letters, all similar to that one. Don’t look at me like that, I didn’t even notice most of them. They sat in my mail for weeks before I bothered opening them.”

Cyno resisted the urge to rebuke him for his mail practices, motioning for him to continue.

“He wasn’t attempting subtlety and signed the letters with his real name. To my knowledge, we had one class together in school, and I’ve processed one of his applications for a research project regarding the effects of elemental energy on local wildlife with no other interactions outside of that. I have no ideas for what made him escalate into this level of obsessive behavior.”

“You were discussed a lot in the rumor mill during your time as Acting Grand Sage, maybe something caught his attention. Or he simply saw you doing something that interested him, it could have been anything really,” Cyno said.

Alhaitham shrugged.

“I went through my mail and collected all the letters last night, you’re free to have them if you need, otherwise I’ll simply throw them away. Other than those, I have no information or evidence for you, I never saw him in person outside of the aforementioned cases, and he never approached me to my knowledge outside of last night’s incident.”

“Wait,” Cyno held up a hand tensely as that particular piece of information finally fully registered to him, “you said that before. The current incident occurred last night?”

“Yes.”

“I was with you last night,” Cyno said helplessly.

“Obviously,” Alhaitham said with a frown, “How else would the potion have ended up being directed at you?”

“I didn’t even notice you were affected. When did it happen?”

“Before any of you arrived. I ate dinner first,” Alhaitham reminded.

“Because you missed lunch,” Cyno finished, remembering Alhaitham saying something about it while they ordered.

Alhaitham nodded.

“He’s certainly not a very careful criminal. He signed his name on his letters and informed me ahead of time of his intent to use a potion recipe that’s notorious for its distinctive taste. I noticed immediately and simply shut my eyes before it made me latch on to anyone.”

Cyno frowned, thinking back.

“When we arrived…you said you were resting,” he said with a glare.

“Mm, it wasn’t a complete lie, I was tired.”

“Unbelievable. I could have arrested him if you’d just said something.”

Alhaitham shrugged, “It doesn’t matter much now.”

“I disagree,” Cyno said flatly, “Continue.”

“What else is there to say? I simply waited until you arrived and made sure to look at you before anyone else.”

Cyno blinked.

“What?”

“What?” Alhaitham asked.

“You chose to look at me?” Cyno asked in confusion.

“Would you have preferred to look at a stranger in that situation?” Alhaitham asked.

Cyno winced, “Well no-”

“I was confident the effects wouldn’t be that strong, but it was certainly safer to look at someone I knew rather than a third party.” Alhaitham waved a hand flippantly, “Not to mention that you were the obvious choice given the expected effects, of course.”

Obvious.

Obvious?

Cyno had no idea what made him the obvious choice. In case Alhaitham lost control perhaps? Cyno would be the one most capable of keeping him in check.

He put the thought out of his head, there were more important things to contemplate right now.

“Do you know how he got the potion into your food?”

“I haven’t the faintest. He could have been working at Lambad’s for all I know.”

Cyno nodded, a point that needed further investigation then.

“Understood. Do you have any questions? Concerns?”

“Only about what you’re going to try to recommend,” Alhaitham said, looking at him warily.

Cyno didn’t mince words, “A matra escort until the case closes and an immediate visit to the Bimarstan to make sure the potion wasn’t tampered with or poorly made in a way that would cause you ill effects.”

“No,” Alhaitham immediately rejected.

“Yes,” Cyno said with a glare.

“I’m busy,” Alhaitham reiterated, gesturing at the papers all around him.

“Your safety takes priority,” Cyno insisted, “I can’t believe you, of all people, are being this insistent about working. Aren’t you normally trying to get out of it?”

“I don’t try to get out of it unless it’s something I’m not required to do,” Alhaitham corrected, “If I don’t finish this today, I would have to do overtime, and I’m not doing that.”

“You did overtime with me when you were the Acting Grand Sage,” Cyno pointed out.

“Do you intend to help me with this?”

“I’m not allowed to access those documents unless they’re relevant to an investigation.”

“Exactly. I’m not having your people here disrupting me, and I’m certainly not taking time out of the workday for an unnecessary visit to the Bimarstan.”

Cyno groaned.

“You are the most difficult man I’ve ever met,” Cyno complained.

“You already have the perpetrator in custody anyway, I see no reason for an escort,” Alhaitham continued, ignoring Cyno’s comment.

“We don’t know if he had anything else set up.”

“If he didn’t confess anything else under your interrogation, then I’m sure it’s fine,” Alhaitham insisted.

Cyno got closer again, “We can’t be certain-”

The door swung open hard enough to crash into the wall loudly.

Alhaitham sighed irritably, as Cyno swung half around to see whoever came in while keeping a protective arm extended towards Alhaitham.

“General-” Aarav cut himself off as he looked the two of them over with a frown, “Did you get affected too…?”

Cyno gave him a flat look as he relaxed, moving out of Alhaitham’s space quickly.

Aarav looked between the two of them in confusion.

“Then he isn’t affected either then…?”

Alhaitham and Cyno both spoke up at once.

“I am.”

“He is.”

“Um…”

Cyno shook his head, “Your reason for coming in so urgently?” He prodded.

“Ah. There’s been a mistake with the suspect’s transfer.”

Cyno tensed as Alhaitham sighed behind him.

“What kind of mistake?” He asked.

“There was an incident in the House of Daena while he was being escorted through it. He broke free in the confusion, and we’ve lost track of him,” Aarav reported.

Cyno closed his eyes and spared a prayer for his composure.

“An incident?”

Aarav nodded.

“Some kind of fight, it escalated enough that the escorts got dragged into it with him. He managed to slip from their grip in the chaos.”

“Was it staged?” Cyno asked - it was a rare thing but not impossible, especially for a criminal who turned themself in and knew they’d have to be taken to the holding area.

Aarav shook his head, “We aren’t certain yet. There’s a lot of confusion over how the brawl began though, so it is a possibility.”

Cyno took a breath, processing and reprioritizing in light of the information.

He turned back around to find Alhaitham stubbornly working on his paperwork again, perhaps attempting to ignore them both out of existence.

“A guard is staying with you,” Cyno told him, tone making it clear that he was leaving no room for disagreement in this instance.

“If you insist,” Alhaitham agreed, the picture of nonchalance as he kept his eyes on his work.

Cyno’s eyes narrowed.

“You’re planning to leave the room to get away from them, aren’t you?”

“Perhaps. Perhaps not,” Alhaitham responded, noncommittedly, “Depends on how much they bother me really.”

Cyno rubbed at his face wearily, he wondered how it was possible that every case he worked that involved Alhaitham always ended up giving him such a headache.

“What are your orders?” Aarav asked from the door.

Cyno watched Alhaitham work for a moment as he debated with himself. Which of his staff would be least likely to bother Alhaitham while simultaneously being capable of tracking him down if he ran off? Who would be most capable of protecting him until the suspect was detained again?

Cyno’s hands landed on Alhaitham’s desk again. This time, Alhaitham’s eyes didn’t bother raising to meet his.

“You have two choices.”

“And if I don’t like either of the choices?” Alhaitham asked.

“I am asking as a friend who is worried about you to put up with it anyway,” Cyno came dangerously close to pleading as he said it.

Alhaitham took a glance at him.

“You’re very insistent about this.”

Cyno didn’t bother to respond, simply kept watching him steadily.

A beat passed before Alhaitham huffed and turned back to his work yet again.

“Fine. What are the choices?”

Cyno breathed a sigh of relief.

“Either me or Aarav will stay with you until the suspect is apprehended again. Considering the- ah- circumstances, I recommend Aarav-”

“You,” Alhaitham interrupted.

Cyno shifted.

“Are you certain? We can’t be positive that prolonged proximity won’t enhance the effects of the potion.”

“I can handle it,” Alhaitham said simply.

If it was anyone else, he’d likely doubt it, probably wouldn’t have even considered himself an option to stay in the first place - this being Alhaitham, however, well, suffice it to say he had long since earned Cyno’s complete trust.

“Okay. I’ll stay with you. Let me know immediately if you sense something off then.”

Alhaitham waved him off, and Cyno turned back to Aarav.

“I’m putting you in charge of tracking him down. Use any available staff you need, he can’t have gotten far.”

Aarav didn’t bother questioning Cyno’s agreement to stay in the room this time, simply gave him a firm nod in agreement.

After a quick coaxing of the rest of the letters from Alhaitham’s drawer, Cyno reluctantly handed all of them over to Aarav instead of looking them over himself and offered a few thoughts on what the man’s next actions might be.

“Considering he already risked turning himself in on the off-chance that he could get more information on his target, I think it’s unlikely he’d leave the city when what he wants is still here,” Cyno speculated, glancing over at Alhaitham.

Aarav nodded in agreement, “We’re already searching in the Akademiya, and I’ll also get some of our people to look into any associates or relatives who might be willing to harbor him.”

Cyno listed a few areas he knew Alhaitham frequented to check as well before nodding in satisfaction, it was a good start.

“Come to me with any updates or if you need assistance,” Cyno advised.

“Understood,” Aarav responded, making his way to the door.

Cyno followed him out of the door, where he paused for just a moment to inform Alhaitham’s makeshift door guard of the situation as well.

After showing her a picture of the suspect and advising her to alert him if anything at all seemed amiss, Cyno finally sent Aarav off and retreated back into the room.

“Can I lock this door?” He asked as he came back in.

Alhaitham frowned, “With this much paperwork going in and out? Obviously not. The hassle would slow down progress significantly.”

Cyno sighed as he made his way toward the desk, both for proximity to Alhaitham and a better vantage point of the room.

“I figured you would say that,” he said, unhappily.

Alhaitham didn’t respond, apparently having decided he’d already spared as much time as he could on the active threat to his well-being.

Cyno shuffled in place as he thought.

The quality and effects of the potion were still an active concern. Taking Alhaitham to the Bimarstan, however, was risky now that there was an active threat running loose. Risks aside, Cyno had little faith that anything could convince Alhaitham to go anyway - especially considering he’d already made the compromise to allow Cyno into the room.

Now that the potion had already been ingested, not much of Cyno’s Spantamad knowledge could be of any use. Even with the knowledge of the supposed recipe, Alhaitham’s tolerance made even confirming that his symptoms aligned with that specific potion difficult.

Cyno almost had to give Alhaitham credit for challenging him.

Trying to find a way to check Alhaitham’s health while both of them stayed locked in a room should have been a relatively tricky issue. Luckily, in the Sumeru of today, such a thing wasn’t so difficult for him to solve after all.

He didn’t even have to move from his spot next to the desk for a solution, he could simply say a prayer, explain the situation, and wait.

Alhaitham worked diligently in the silence for a while before Cyno finished his task. He made sure to watch out of the corner of his eye for it.

He wasn’t disappointed when he saw Alhaitham’s head twitch as if surprised after a short time.

“You’re getting Lord Kusanali involved in this too?” He asked incredulously, turning to look at Cyno.

Cyno shrugged unrepentantly.

“Even if you can’t or won’t leave the room, the potion still poses a concern. This was the best way I could think to accommodate you.”

“She surely has better things to do. Just like you, I might add,” Alhaitham muttered petulantly.

“I disagree. She does too, as I’m sure she’s already told you.”

Alhaitham didn’t respond, turning back to his desk again.

It was almost disappointing how preoccupied Alhaitham was today - he didn’t even seem to have time to humor their usual bickering.

More silence settled as they waited. Cyno couldn’t even remember the last time he’d been in charge of a simple guard duty. The feeling was odd, wondering if the suspect had been caught yet in his absence instead of his usual worry that the victims would stay safe while he caught the criminal.

He could feel his spirit roiling at his own sense of urgency to close the case, as it was, however, all he could do was stay with Alhaitham and wait for his matra to get results.

Glancing back at Alhaitham, he was surprised to find the man’s eyes already on him instead of his work.

Cyno blinked.

“What’s-”

A knock sounded at the door before he could finish his question.

He tensed before, “Cyno? Alhaitham? I’m coming in,” a familiar voice sounded.

The door opened, and in came their nation’s goddess, as gentle and joyful as ever.

“Lord Kusanali,” Cyno greeted, relieved that the woman outside hadn’t given her as hard a time as him and his matra.

Alhaitham frowned at her as she came in.

“At least tell me you brought more work.”

“Alhaitham asking me for more work, what an interesting day,” Nahida noted pleasantly as she stood in front of the two of them.

“Simply trying to make sure you’re making the most out of an unnecessary trip,” Alhaitham corrected.

“Seeing friends never counts as an unnecessary trip. Especially if I can ease their concerns along the way.”

“Cyno’s concerns,” Alhaitham nodded.

Cyno glared at him, “My warranted concerns.”

Nahida simply laughed at their argument, moving behind the desk to stand next to Alhaitham’s chair.

“I agree with Cyno. Even a small mistake can damage the crops.”

“You’re the crops in that metaphor,” Cyno pointed out, just to annoy Alhaitham.

“Don’t worry though, I did, in fact, need to see you about something anyway, Alhaitham,” she reassured.

“The final admission numbers?” Alhaitham asked.

“Astute as always,” Nahida confirmed.

“I’m still working on them, but I can give you an estimate,” Alhaitham offered.

Nahida hummed in agreement, “Your estimates are usually on point.”

“Before any of that though, would you allow me to take a look?” Nahida asked, pointing at her own head in indication.

Alhaitham’s face scrunched slightly, but he pushed his chair back from his desk to turn towards her.

“At this rate, you won’t get the actual numbers until tomorrow,” he deadpanned, resting his head on his palm, “Not to mention all the research submissions that need to be reviewed as well, I fear our General Mahamatra’s workload would surpass mine in the chaos that came with a delay of those.”

“Impatient and agitated students pose less danger than someone acting with an actual intent to harm,” Cyno said, unbothered.

“Between the two of you and myself, I’m sure the Akademiya will turn out okay no matter the circumstances,” Nahida said, reassuringly.

Alhaitham sighed deeply, “The two of you and your unrelenting optimism that there will be no major consequences. You were like this when we were planning in the desert too,” he added, pointing accusingly at Cyno.

Cyno raised an eyebrow at him, “Good thing we have you with us to account for them then,” he returned.

Nahida laughed lightly as Alhaitham turned his face fully into his hand wearily.

He stayed there for a moment before turning back to Nahida reluctantly. He motioned allowingly with his hand.

“Be my guest. Don’t blame me if you get a headache,” he said.

Cyno had to wonder if archons could even get headaches.

Deciding now wasn’t the time to ask, and that it might be a bit rude to at all, he remained silent as he watched Nahida raise her hands toward Alhaitham.

“Should I step out?” He asked Alhaitham as an afterthought, acutely aware that the other man was already allowing his privacy to be breached by allowing Nahida to take a look in his head.

Alhaitham waved him off, however, “No need.”

So Cyno stayed put, watching the process warily.

Dendro glowed at Nahida’s fingertips as she examined and prodded at Alhaitham’s mind and energy.

“Oh,” she said in surprise, Alhaitham watching her boredly.

Cyno desperately wanted to know what had surprised her, if there was something wrong, but he forced himself to wait patiently as she finished.

The next minutes continued just the same, Nahida carefully checking Alhaitham over, Cyno waiting anxiously, and Alhaitham sitting impassively through it all.

When Nahida finally lowered her hands, she did so with another laugh.

“Alright, yes, I’m done now,” she confirmed, no doubt responding to Alhaitham’s impatient thoughts.

Cyno spared a moment to be grateful Alhaitham was born in Sumeru - he didn’t know much about the other archons, but he had to imagine that not all of them would be as willing as Nahida to deal with someone as headstrong as Alhaitham.

“Well, your mind is certainly as busy as always. You should speak to the Traveler,” she advised.

Cyno tensed. As fond of the Traveler as he was, he was also well-accustomed to the type of issues that usually warranted their involvement.

Extreme and dangerous were the most common types in his experience.

“They visited the Mausoleum of Deshret recently, I’m certain they’d have an opinion on the inscriptions you’ve been looking at,” she continued thoughtfully.

Oh. Or Nahida was simply making a recommendation for Alhaitham’s research.

“Hm, I usually prefer to look for myself, but it would save me a trip,” Alhaitham contemplated.

“Also, the study you were thinking of that you read recently regarding the Pari—“

At this rate, they were going to devolve into a full academic discussion. Cyno cleared his throat as deliberately as he could and the two both looked over in unison.

He should have known, really, no matter how big or small or wise or busy, scholars were scholars at the end of the day. He ignored the rush of fondness for them as he gestured toward Alhaitham expectantly.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Cyno, I got a bit distracted,” Nahida said sheepishly.

“It’s no problem,” he assured.

“Alhaitham is perfectly okay,” she reported, a pleased note to her voice.

“And there you have it,” Alhaitham said blankly, chair already turning back to the desk.

“Perfectly” okay?

Cyno’s brows furrowed, “Was he not poisoned after all then?”

“Oh no, he most certainly is under the effects of a love potion with you as the recipient right now,” Nahida corrected.

Hearing Nahida of all people say it and so bluntly as well filled Cyno with an unexpected sense of embarrassment. Not for the first time, he envied Alhaitham’s ability to let such a thing slide off of him with ease.

“But it’s as Alhaitham said,” she continued, “it’s quite easy to distinguish the artificial feelings from the legitimate. Just as a vision and a delusion can both control the elements, the bearer would remain quite aware of the difference when using the two.”

“Using a delusion is harmful,” Cyno pointed out.

Nahida hummed thoughtfully, her hand moving to her chin.

“True, perhaps I should search for a better metaphor. Rather than being harmed, the potion’s effects are more of a mild discomfort,” she corrected, nose wrinkling in distaste just as Alhaitham’s had when he described it earlier.

Cyno looked back at Alhaitham, once again working peacefully and frowned.

“If it’s such an obvious difference, how are love potions so effective in other cases?” He asked.

Nahida blinked, “Well, Alhaitham has a strong mental awareness that helps him to not fall victim to the effects. And, of course, that’s not to mention that in other cases, the affected person most often doesn't have such an effective frame of reference as Alhaitham does.”

Frame of reference to what?

An experience Alhaitham had at some point or perhaps even similar feelings that he’d had before?

Cyno wanted so badly to ask but forced himself to hold his tongue. Such a question felt like a step too far. Alhaitham hadn’t shown any signs of discomfort from the conversation, but there was no reason for Cyno to take advantage of that to pry further.

Unrestrained pursuit of knowledge was a folly he was well acquainted with after all.

“So there are no concerns? Even with me around?”

“No, Alhaitham’s mind is busy enough that those artificial feelings are akin to a small itch at most. Bothersome, distracting, and unpleasant to dwell on, but not harmful in the least,” she explained.

There that word was again.

Unpleasant.

Cyno continued to ignore it, pushing it to the back of his mind as he breathed a sigh of relief.

“I’m confident that the potion was made competently enough that there would be no unexpected effects unless someone was dosed with it repeatedly. This singular instance should cause no issues and wear off completely by tomorrow,” she said, pleasantly.

Considering the short efficacy period, repeated doses were likely the plan if the perpetrator had wanted to keep Alhaitham with him long-term. All things considered, they should probably think themselves lucky that Alhaitham was the target, with how easily he circumnavigated every effect of the potion.

Not that Cyno felt at all lucky in this situation.

“You said the person who did this to him escaped?” Nahida asked.

Cyno nodded, “I apologize on behalf of the matra for our carelessness. I’ve already sent Aarav to track him down.”

“I can attempt to assist in locating him,” Nahida offered.

Alhaitham looked up at that.

“You can help after the contract for the new students from the Temple of Silence is complete, I hope you mean. Sethos should be arriving soon to discuss it with you,” Alhaitham reminded.

“Yes, I haven’t forgotten. My methods of search are often slower than the matra,” she mused, “it’s akin to looking for a single leaf in a forest, really. I’ll simply have it running in the background just in case,” she assured.

“If you have the time to provide it, your assistance would be welcome,” Cyno said sincerely, relieved to have her on that side of the investigation when he couldn’t be there.

“Of course. Thank you for alerting me to this, Cyno. And thank you for permitting me to ease our concerns, Alhaitham.”

Alhaitham waved her off in favor of instead offering her a paper he’d been writing on.

“Your estimates,” he explained.

She took it with an approving nod.

“Apologies for all the interruptions. I’m certain Cyno will make sure that this man won’t be able to interfere with your life any further.”

“Of course he will.”

Cyno sighed at the certainty in his voice, he was beginning to believe that Alhaitham saw him as some sort of miracle worker who never allowed bad things to happen.

Nahida laughed slightly.

“Good luck, you two, I’ll let you know if I get any more information.”

“Thank you for the assistance, Lord Kusanali,” Cyno said as Alhaitham gave a noncommittal wave goodbye.

The door shut behind her and left the two of them alone once more. Cyno tensed when he spotted Alhaitham’s eyes on him again, a flat look directed his way.

Cyno simply shrugged unrepentantly.

“You would have been even more annoyed if the potion caused a preventable issue later. I simply compromised with your unwillingness to leave the room.”

“I feel that I’m not getting much out of these “compromises” of yours,” Alhaitham muttered.

Cyno huffed at him, “Is there something you want that I can provide without risking your security then?”

Alhaitham hummed thoughtfully, twirling his pen in his hand.

“Yes, actually.”

Cyno narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Experience already made him aware that Alhaitham’s definition of what could or could not risk his security certainly didn’t match Cyno’s own.

His suspicion only grew as Alhaitham stood from the desk with a short stretch. He didn’t bother with an explanation as he moved to the corner of his office, cleared a few books off of a spare chair, and dragged it back to the desk to sit next to his own.

Alhaitham sat in his own chair while Cyno stared at the new one uncomprehendingly.

He caught Alhaitham rolling his eyes before he gestured indicatively at the chair.

“Sit.”

Cyno narrowed his eyes, “Why?”

“Take your pick: It’s difficult to focus with you hovering behind me. You’re a friend and I’d rather you have a chair than be forced to stand over an issue that is barely a concern to me. I’m afflicted by a love potion and want you to,” Alhaitham shrugged, “Whatever reasoning gets you to do it.”

“...It’s against the standard matra protocol to sit when on lookout.”

“Just come over,” Alhaitham insisted tiredly.

Cyno looked between him and the chair.

The chair had been moved close to Alhaitham. Close enough that Cyno had to wonder if there was a sliver of truth to the love potion remark.

Both Alhaitham and Nahida had made it clear that the potion was working. No matter how effective Alhaitham had been at keeping it under control, it was still active.

The bothersome feeling, the itch that Nahida described - Cyno doubted that his presence made those things any easier to tolerate.

The chair, perhaps even Alhaitham’s earlier choice for Cyno to be the one to stay, it wasn’t impossible that those were simply Alhaitham’s attempts at easing the effects.

Guilt clawed at his insides.

He was tempted to at least move the chair further away, for a better vantage point or simply as an attempt at maintaining Alhaitham’s personal space. But memories of the distress caused by rejection in other love potion cases he had worked kept him from doing it.

The simple idea of being a cause for Alhaitham’s distress even indirectly had him moving to sit down before he’d fully thought the decision through.

Alhaitham simply nodded approvingly at him and went to shuffle through the files on his desk for something.

Cyno had been right, they were close, nearly close enough for their shoulders to brush. He ignored the temptation to let himself be distracted by it and instead simply faced forward.

“What would you have done if I hadn’t cooperated?” He asked curiously.

“Complain,” Alhaitham responded immediately, causing Cyno to huff in amusement, “Then I would have tried to get away from you and work somewhere else,” he finished unapologetically.

Figures, really.

“I would have tracked you down,” Cyno replied.

“I know,” Alhaitham returned.

“You technically have the right to deny matra protection at any point,” Cyno pointed out.

“As if that’d stop you.”

“As the General Mahamatra, I would have left you alone.”

“And as Cyno?”

“I would have taken the day off to do this anyway,” Cyno confirmed.

“Hence, my decision to allow it. Less hassle and this way you’re at least getting paid for it,” Alhaitham said, rolling his eyes again.

“Now, assuming all of your pressing concerns are satisfied, I’m turning on my headphones now. Shake me if you need me.”

Cyno motioned for him to go ahead and settled into the chair stiffly.

From the corner of his eye, he caught the slow way Alhaitham’s attention shifted away from him until, as he’d been trying to this entire time, he was focusing solely on the work in front of him.

Cyno examined the layout of the room again. He felt a rush of relief as he confirmed that his new position shouldn’t cause him any issues if something happened. Even with the desk in front of him, getting past it would be an easy enough task.

As a bonus, with how close the two of them were now, Alhaitham was perfectly within reach of Cyno should anything come his way.

He felt himself relax slightly and resolved himself to the next few hours of waiting vigilantly for updates.

The time passed slowly, nothing but the scratching of Alhaitham’s pen and the occasional transfer of documents in and out happening in the office. Cyno kept himself still all the while, focusing on listening and watching for anything unusual.

He felt idly impressed by Alhaitham’s work ethic, determinedly persistent and efficient in his pursuit to avoid overtime.

In the midst of wondering if the whole day would pass in a similar fashion, Alhaitham abruptly stopped, pen dropping where it had previously been writing in the middle of a sheet.

Cyno’s head whipped over to him, “What is it? Is something wrong?” He asked, leaning closer.

Alhaitham raised an eyebrow at him.

“It’s lunch time,” he pointed out.

Cyno frowned, backed up to put space between them again.

“I’m guessing you’re planning to leave for lunch?” He asked.

“Yes,’ Alhaitham confirmed, not hesitating to push his chair back to stand, “Anything you’re in the mood for?”

Cyno blinked, “You’re asking me?”

Alhaitham shook out his hand a bit as he replied, “I expect you to eat too, so yes.”

“I didn’t intend to. I’m working,” Cyno pointed out.

Alhaitham huffed, “You can do both. Come on,” he said, nudging at Cyno’s chair with his foot, “Unless you’re letting me go alone?”

“You’re the only person I’ve ever met who reacts like this to being under my protection,” Cyno muttered unhappily to him as he complied and stood back up.

“Forgive me for wanting you to not skip meals,” Alhaitham replied sarcastically.

As they rounded the desk, Cyno caught hold of his arm and pulled until he could catch Alhaitham’s eyes.

“I have some conditions: I go through doors first, we don’t go anywhere too crowded, we don’t go anywhere where we can’t watch the food be prepared, and anything - anything - that seems unusual you point out to me right away. Any questions?”

Alhaitham examined him for a moment.

“Alright.”

Cyno frowned.

“Always so doubtful,” Alhaitham complained, “Yes, I understand. I’ll act at your discretion,” he assented.

“So if I told you to run, would you?” Cyno asked him, his fingers curling tighter into Alhaitham’s arm without really meaning to.

Alhaitham stared at him again.

“It depends,” he answered.

Cyno’s head fell in defeat as he sighed deeply.

“I don’t know what I expected you to say.”

“Would you have preferred I lied?” Alhaitham asked.

“No,” Cyno said, shaking his head.

Far be it from him to discourage honesty simply because he didn’t approve of the answer. Besides, so long as Alhaitham was honest about his intentions, Cyno could prepare for them accordingly.

“Just stay close to me at least then,” he tried.

“To the best of my ability,” Alhaitham agreed, and Cyno had to wonder if he said it that way to annoy him or not.

“Fine,” Cyno said with a sigh, finally forcing himself to release Alhaitham’s arm, “I’ll leave a note in case Aarav comes looking for us.”

“Treasures Street would likely have the best chances to meet your standards,” Alhaitham advised.

Cyno thought about it for a moment before nodding his assent.

“That works,” he said, walking back to Alhaitham’s desk, borrowing his pen and a sheet of paper to scribble the information down.

Alhaitham walked over to look over his shoulder curiously.

“Matra code?” He asked.

Cyno nodded, glancing back at him.

“You already know how to read it, don’t you?”

Alhaitham shrugged.

Cyno shook his head at him, moving the note to an obvious spot on the desk before motioning Alhaitham toward the door.

Alhaitham raised an eyebrow as he stopped right in front of it.

“Testing me, are you?” He asked.

“Had to make sure you were listening before,” Cyno said unrepentantly as he moved in front of Alhaitham to open it first.

Once again, he was met with the same woman from before who had been acting as the Scribe office’s delivery system and door guard for the better part of the day.

“Lunchtime. Be back in an hour,” Alhaitham told her.

“Ah, understood,” she replied, glancing back at the two of them a few times as she walked away.

Cyno frowned at her back, “...Is she trustworthy?” He asked Alhaitham lowly.

Alhaitham let out a breath of amusement, shutting the door behind them before pushing Cyno to begin walking.

“Yes. Though there’s a very high chance our names will be all over the rumor mill tomorrow.”

“Ah,” Cyno replied.

They walked in silence for a moment.

“What is there to start a rumor about? The case?” Cyno wondered.

Alhaitham turned to look at him.

“I highly doubt that the rumor mill would be interested in that,” Cyno continued.

“No,” Alhaitham agreed, “They’re more likely to be interested in the fact that we spent so much time together after I was affected by a love potion.”

Cyno felt another small rush of embarrassment, “There’s no way to know who the effect landed on. Even if she spreads your connection to the case, she doesn’t know the details. And none of the more…sensitive information will be in the public case file.”

“Mm, but my alleged involvement combined with the fact that the General Mahamatra spent the whole day in my office instead of tracking the criminal will likely be enough for them. Bringing in a person’s actual significant other is commonly effective at countering the effects of a love potion, isn’t it?” Alhaitham pointed out.

Cyno stared at him with wide eyes.

“The rumor mill has gone off less before,” Alhaitham continued, easily.

“That’s- well…” Cyno trailed off, unsure of what to say.

“Don’t worry. I doubt it will last long. There’s not enough information about either of us for them to get too out of hand with it.”

“I see… I could ask her to sign a confidentiality agreement,” Cyno offered.

“Hm, you’d better hurry to catch up with her if you want to do that. I’m sure she’ll be talking about it during her break,” Alhaitham said.

“Already?”

“She’s fond of gossiping.”

“That doesn’t bother you?” Cyno asked.

Alhaitham shrugged, “She’s also highly competent at her job.”

“Huh.”

A beat of silence passed.

“I’m sorry, it didn’t occur to me to be wary of the rumor mill,” Cyno admitted.

His actions likely wouldn’t have changed. Alhaitham’s safety would still have taken priority over any potential embarrassment. He’d heard many things said about him throughout his life, rumors and suspicions about him were hardly new territory in his case - though the nature of this one would certainly be a break from the usual.

“No need to apologize. I don’t care what people think of me,” Alhaitham replied.

The silence relapsed.

“Though,” Alhaitham unexpectedly continued, “even if I did, being called your partner is hardly something that would offend me.”

Cyno kept silent, and Alhaitham didn’t elaborate further.

A remark like that had to have been a result of the potion. Cyno continued to remind himself of that fact as they navigated out of the Akademiya and onto the street.

Cyno kept an eye on the passersby and steered Alhaitham toward less populated routes until, finally, the bustling atmosphere of Treasures Street came into view.

With the slow breakdown of the rift between the desert and the rainforest, the street was busier than ever. Cyno reached over to tug Alhaitham slightly closer, and the man followed along easily.

Together, they passed a few stalls until they landed on one that Cyno was familiar with, that was sufficiently out of the way, and quick with its service.

Alhaitham proceeded to make two orders for the both of them and, before Cyno could protest, pay for both as well.

“I’ll pay you back,” Cyno offered.

“No need, consider it repayment for agreeing to eat with me.”

“I never actually agreed to that,” Cyno pointed out.

“Well, there’s no point saying no now and wasting the food then,” Alhaitham shot back.

Cyno huffed at him and moved closer to the stand in order to keep a careful eye on the stall owner as he prepared the orders, he certainly wasn’t looking for Alhaitham to be poisoned twice.

Alhaitham, though, held no such concerns, looking between Cyno and the sky in equal measure - apparently content to leave any sense of vigilance in Cyno’s hands instead.

“I can never figure you out,” Cyno told him tiredly.

Alhaitham looked back to him, “I’m not sure why. I think I’m fairly easy to understand.”

“I’m not surprised that you think that,” Cyno replied, taking their order of two wraps from the stall owner with a quick thanks.

He nudged at Alhaitham with his shoulder until he got the hint and began walking alongside Cyno. He didn’t bother asking where they were going, he simply fell into step and let Cyno lead the way.

“If there’s ever something you want to know, then you’re free to ask me about it,” Alhaitham offered.

Cyno frowned.

“What? Anything?”

Alhaitham made a welcoming motion with his hand.

“You’d answer me honestly?”

“I’m certain you’d be able to tell if I didn’t, but yes.”

“And if I ask something you don’t want to answer?” Cyno asked.

Alhaitham raised an eyebrow at him, “If I didn’t want to answer, then I wouldn’t.”

They lapsed into silence as Cyno considered that.

“You aren’t normally so accommodating,” he pointed out.

“Call it respect for your curiosity.”

Cyno blinked.

“What makes you think I’m so curious?”

“You keep staring at me today. I assume there’s something you want from me,” Alhaitham told him bluntly.

Cyno forced himself not to react to that, continuing to walk forward calmly.

“You’re a target in this case. I have to keep an eye on you.”

“Certainly, you are doing that,” Alhaitham agreed, “It’s simply a guess on my part. Feel free to tell me I’m wrong if you disagree.”

Cyno kept silent, debating his options.

“I was curious,” he admitted.

Alhaitham nodded.

“It’s a strange incident-”

“And you have a habit of seeking truths,” Alhaitham finished.

Cyno nodded, “There were a few things about it that have stood out to me.”

Alhaitham once again motioned for him to keep talking, “Ask away.”

Considering it was Alhaitham that he was speaking to, Cyno felt confident that he truly wouldn’t answer anything he didn’t want to and, after only one last moment of hesitation, decided to ask the question that had been bothering him the most.

“Would you have told me about this incident at some point if he hadn’t confessed to it?”

Alhaitham’s face scrunched a bit.

“I don’t usually bother with hypotheticals.”

“Fine. Were you actually planning to tell me in the first place then?”

Alhaitham hummed at that, “I’m not so vain to think he would never move on to someone else less equipped for such tactics than me. I planned to take care of it once today’s work was done.”

For the sake of continuing the conversation, Cyno ignored the implication that Alhaitham would not have said anything about it if he could be certain that he would stay as the target.

“Planned to take care of it yourself or with my help?”

Alhaitham shrugged.

“Depends on how much effort it would have taken. I don’t make a habit of hunting criminals who flee into the desert.”

Cyno sighed deeply, “At this point, I should probably be thankful you considered reporting it at all.”

“I’d prefer not to waste anyone’s time with minor issues.”

“We have differing opinions on what constitutes a “minor” issue,” Cyno said.

“That is the root of the problem, yes.”

“Something you considered to be a major issue then. Would you tell me?”

Alhaitham glanced at him.

“Almost certainly.”

“Almost?”

“I can’t predict every variable. I’m sure there are circumstances where I wouldn’t,” Alhaitham told him.

Well, he had said he’d be honest.

There wasn’t much Cyno could say in response to that, and there certainly wasn’t anything he could say to change Alhaitham’s perspective of it, so again he forced himself to let the statement stand.

He led them straight to the entrance of the Akademiya. With a shift of the food in his hands and a nudge to Alhaitham to move in the opposite direction of his office, he moved the conversation on.

“Earlier, why did you choose me to stay with you instead of Aarav?”

“That surprised you?” Alhaitham asked him doubtfully.

“Yes…based on how Lord Kusanali described it, I can’t imagine that my presence is particularly enjoyable to you right now. Especially when you’re trying to focus on your work.”

“It was a love potion. It isn’t as though it affected my memories or opinion of you,” Alhaitham said with a frown.

Cyno shushed him slightly with a look around, finding that the Akademiya’s entrance area was, luckily, fairly empty at the moment.

“It was designed to positively shift your opinion of someone,” Cyno insisted. “Though considering the way it’s manifested for you, it would make sense if you felt worse about me instead.”

“I fail to see how that makes sense. Even if the feelings caused by the potion are annoying, that doesn’t make you annoying,” he paused for a beat and then finally asked, “Where are we going by the way?”

“That way,” Cyno said, bumping Alhaitham towards the eastern exit.

“Ah. You’re about to make us eat lunch sitting on the ground, aren’t you?”

“Is that a complaint?”

“No.”

“Good.”

When they made it to the door, Alhaitham held it open for him, and Cyno immediately walked off the path and onto one of the tree’s larger boughs.

Alhaitham didn’t voice any concerns or complaints as he followed.

When Cyno finally stopped, he glanced approvingly over the spot he had chosen. It was both out of the way and had ample space should anything occur.

“...Did you bring us to the spot right above my house on purpose?”

“Yes, I thought it might make you more comfortable,” Cyno told him proudly.

“...”

“And we can see the Akademiya’s entrance from here,” he said with a point.

“Ah, trying to see if you can catch sight of your subordinates bringing anyone in?”

Cyno nodded, sitting down and grabbing the edge of Alhaitham’s cloak to guide him to the spot at his left.

Alhaitham laughed a bit at him as he sat.

“Keeping yourself between me and the path to get here?”

“Shut up,” Cyno grumbled at him while handing him one of the wraps, “Eat your lunch.”

“Deflecting,” Alhaitham noted, though he complied easily enough.

Cyno groaned, unwrapping his own. At least the food was still warm.

“Ah, you like these because they’re similar to Collei’s pita pockets?” Alhaitham speculated as he examined the contents of the wrap.

“Are you the one asking the questions now?” Cyno asked, “But yes, I’m surprised you caught on to that.”

Alhaitham shrugged.

“You’ve spoken of them, and she made some for me after I gave her some reading recommendations. They were memorable.”

Cyno nodded in agreement.

“I rarely have time to make them, but she did give me the recipe. I can make them for you some time too if you’d like. Or I could ask her if I can share the recipe with you,” Cyno offered, “I’m sure she won’t mind.”

Alhaitham made another amused noise next to him, and Cyno turned to frown at him.

“What?”

“I’m still surprised,” Alhaitham said, a slight smile lingering on his face.

“About?”

“About you being surprised I chose you over Aarav.”

“Because I offered to make you food?” Cyno asked in confusion.

“Because we get along,” Alhaitham corrected.

Cyno stared at him.

The admission shouldn’t shock him, of course, they got along - they were friends. However, hearing it somehow still stopped him short. He kept staring until Alhaitham’s eyebrows raised in amusement, and he cleared his throat and looked away.

“That’s it? Really?” Cyno picked at the leaves of his wrap, “Us being friends already was enough?”

Alhaitham made a thoughtful noise beside him.

“That was most of the reasoning, yes.”

“And the rest?”

“Ah, well, I suppose I’ll admit the idea of you leaving the room was unpleasant,” Alhaitham said.

Cyno’s head whipped back over to look at him.

Before he could say anything, Alhaitham continued, “Even if I can successfully identify and ignore the feelings caused by the potion - it’s not as though the urges caused by them don’t still exist.”

“So…you just- the potion,” he corrected, “made it to where you wanted me to stay with you?” Cyno asked, feeling a bit absurd for even saying it despite the way Alhaitham had already admitted it.

Alhaitham hesitated uncharacteristically before responding, “To an extent, yes.”

He continued, “Our previous familiarity, your respect for the workplace, and the discomfort at the idea of you leaving made you the obvious choice. Though, for your sake, I’ll point out that you would have been the obvious choice in situations where I am not under any sort of influence as well.”

“I- I see,” Cyno responded.

He had suspected such a thing - that some of Alhaitham’s behavior was a consequence of the potion, but he was still a bit surprised to hear that it was true. He’d lost track of how many times he’d had to change his mind today over how much, if at all, Alhaitham was being affected by the potion.

They lapsed into silence as they ate.

Internally, Cyno debated if he should just ask about those effects or if it would cross a line - though whether the line belonged to him or Alhaitham he also couldn’t be certain.

“If there’s something else on your mind, just ask it,” Alhaitham reassured, wiping off his hands as they finished eating.

“I- apologize if this is too personal,” Cyno warned, but Alhaitham still motioned for him to continue.

“Both you and Lord Kusanli showed no concern over the potion’s effect on you while still insisting that it did have an effect. You admitted it’s easier to keep me close, but you both also said the effects were unpleasant.”

Alhaitham nodded along, affirming each point.

“I don’t understand,” Cyno said, unable to keep the stress from his tone, “What are you feeling exactly? What makes it so easy for you to ignore it while also affecting you enough to want to keep me close anyway?”

Alhaitham’s eyebrows furrowed at that, and he opened his mouth to respond.

Before he could, Cyno's hand shot forward to silence him.

“Someone’s at your house,” he whispered, moving silently into a crouch.

He felt the breath from a sigh brush over his fingers - Alhaitham making sure to find a way to express his frustration with the situation even while silenced. In this instance, with this timing, Cyno could relate.

He kept steady, though, his body tensing at the sound of frantic footsteps below them.

As a fairly frequent visitor to Alhaitham’s home himself, Cyno was acutely aware of the fact that very few people tended to visit the house.

As the residents, Alhaitham and Kaveh did, obviously, but Alhaitham was currently rolling his eyes with Cyno’s hand on his mouth, so he, of course, wasn’t the current culprit. Even if he hadn’t already known that Kaveh was supposed to set out this morning for a trip to Aaru Village, he would have recognized if the footsteps were his.

The Traveler, Dehya, Tighnari, Candace - he could account for all of them, and none should be in the city today either.

Sethos was set to be in the area, but the sound of the footsteps didn’t match his either.

Considering where all their friends should be today, the fact that Alhaitham had made it abundantly clear to any Akademiya staff not to consult him at home for work matters, and that between the two of them, Alhaitham and Kaveh had scared off nearly every door-to-door business in the city - both intentionally and unintentionally - there were few options really for who it could have been.

Before long, the footsteps stopped, and a pounding knocking loud enough to be easily heard even where they were located began. Then, finally, a voice rang out that affirmed Cyno’s suspicion.

“Alhaitham! Come out! We have to leave!” Sounded loudly from below.

Alhaitham’s eyebrows furrowed, and he pushed Cyno’s hand from his mouth.

“At my house? Aren’t criminals normally intelligent?” He asked incredulously, matching Cyno’s quiet volume.

“He’s desperate,” Cyno said back, “He probably knows he should run, but his obsession won’t allow him to go without you.”

“Come on! We’ll make this work if you just give me a chance!”

Alhaitham made a face as he listened.

“You can turn on your soundproofing if it’s unpleasant to hear. I’ll get you out,” Cyno offered, placing a hand on his arm.

“Ah, no, it’s not that,” Alhaitham clarified, “It’s just that he’s being so loud, everyone’s going to know where I live at this rate,” he said sourly.

Cyno sighed as he grabbed Alhaitham’s arm more firmly to guide him to his feet.

“Let’s focus on the main issue first,” he suggested, “Stay quiet and close to me, I’ll guide us inside where we can find another matra.”

“Ah, wait,” Alhaitham asked, staying firmly where he was as he dug a pen out of one of the pockets on his belt.

Putting the pen to the wrapper, he paused to listen for a moment.

“There must have been something - anything about me that interested you! Even if not, I’m sure we’ll find something if you come with me, so just come OUT already!”

More banging sounded, and Alhaitham began to scribble something down. Recording the lines for evidence, maybe? Making a route for them to follow somewhere safe?

Finishing his writing, he placed the pen back into his pocket and turned the wrapper for Cyno to see.

““No, thank you, I have no interest in you at all. Best regards, Scribe Alhaitham”?” Cyno read, “Wait- don’t tell me you want to give that to him?” He asked, watching Alhaitham fold the piece up.

“I do. Perhaps a direct denial will assist in his eventual recovery,” Alhaitham replied.

“And now? When it will likely just agitate him? What about that?” Cyno whispered back furiously, catching Alhaitham’s wrist as he moved to throw it down.

Alhaitham looked him in the eye, a hint of mischief in his face that had Cyno regretting coming into work today in the first place.

“I’m sure you can handle it,” he told him and - before Cyno could register what his plan was - a flicker of dendro energy surrounded them.

Alhaitham’s note, safely kept between his fingers, blinked out of existence and reappeared through a chisel light mirror that manifested in the air a few feet in front of them, too far for either of them to reach.

Cyno didn’t bother to watch it fall, simply groaning as loud as he dared and dragging Alhaitham behind him as he ran back into the Akademiya.

A part of him hoped the man simply wouldn’t notice the small wrapper and would continue shouting himself hoarse in front of Alhaitham’s house until a matra or Corps of Thirty member intervened.

“You are the worst person I’ve ever been in charge of,” Cyno told him as they reentered the building.

“Apologies,” Alhaitham responded, not a hint of apology in his voice.

Cyno skidded to a quick stop in the entrance hall, abrupt enough that Alhaitham bumped into him slightly.

Changing their direction, he dragged the man over to Shohre, who seemed to be on her way to the House of Daena.

“Shohre!” He called out.

“General Cyno…?” She jolted and looked over, eyes bouncing rapidly between the two of them and the vice grip Cyno was keeping on Alhaitham’s wrist. He ignored her confusion in favor of relaying the situation.

“The suspect from this morning is nearby and should be coming this way,” He explained, pleased to see her immediately shift to be more serious.

He hesitated before giving her orders. He was tempted to leave her to protect the civilian while he caught the criminal. His spirit roiled inside him in expectation of that as well. That would be the usual way this situation would go, but…

“I’ll lead the Scribe somewhere safe. Can you handle him?” He asked.

She only looked surprised for a moment before managing to reel it in, “I can handle it. Aarav should be nearby too, he’ll likely come to help if he hears about it.”

Cyno nodded, relieved by her confidence and the likelihood of backup.

“He’ll likely be agitated - this one’s fault,” Cyno informed her, giving a shake to Alhaitham’s wrist.

“Sorry,” Alhaitham offered.

“Ah, that’s alright?” She responded to him in confusion before turning back to Cyno with much more self-assurance, “Thank you for the tip.”

He nodded.

“I’ll attempt to contact Lord Kusanali to send Aarav your way. Stay safe,” he said, forcing himself to turn away from her and the entrance.

“You too,” he heard her yell behind him as he once again began running while dragging Alhaitham behind him.

He avoided both of their offices as he navigated through the halls. Absently, he spared a moment to be thankful for his frequent walks throughout the Akademiya, intentionally taking them down the most complicated route he could think of felt nearly second nature to him.

Finally coming across a suitably unassuming old storage room, he threw open the door and yanked Alhaitham inside with him, quickly shutting it behind them and locking it with a breath of relief.

He immediately tensed after the brief moment, “Lord Kusanali,” he remembered, muttering quietly to himself.

“I already contacted her. She said she’ll work on sending Aarav over and let us know when things are resolved,” Alhaitham informed him from nearby.

“Ah, okay,” Cyno said, the slight relief returning even as he remained tense, one hand still lingering on the lock and his other-

“Isn’t this a bit redundant by the way?” Alhaitham asked.

Cyno glanced at him only to be surprised when he found him so close.

“I am already under the effects of a love potion, I doubt attempting to seduce me will be very fruitful for you,” Alhaitham deadpanned from his spot pinned to the wall beneath Cyno’s arm.

Reflexively, Cyno almost backed up before changing his mind and instead grabbing Alhaitham to push him further into the room while Cyno remained at the door, burning in embarrassment.

“I wasn’t trying to-”

“I know. I was joking,” Alhaitham cut him off, a damnable half-smirk on his face.

“You feel the need to joke now? Of all times?” Cyno asked him.

Alhaitham shrugged, “You like jokes,” he pointed out.

And, well, that was true.

But again, now?

“Consider it repayment for how you are - again - not allowing me to complete my work,” Alhaitham said accusingly, leaning back onto an old desk.

“I’m not hiding you from a criminal in your own office,” Cyno replied, “With such a solid grasp on his location, I’m sure we won’t be stuck here for long.”

“Certainly, we wouldn’t be if you had gone after him. Why didn’t you?” Alhaitham asked, face unreadable.

Stuck in the room as they were, it felt almost like an interrogation - though he wasn’t sure what Alhaitham was after with the question.

“At this point, I’m too involved in the case. I only would have aggravated him. Better for everyone that I stay with you instead.”

“Everyone,” Alhaitham mused, “Even him?” He asked.

Cyno shrugged, “You’re the one that brought up helping his recovery with your little note stunt - which, by the way, I do not forgive you for. If I got involved now, it’s possible it could agitate him enough that he might act more aggressively and add to his charges.”

Alhaitham smiled slightly, “I didn’t expect you to approve in the first place, it’s just a habit of mine to correct mistakes when I see them.”

“...Mistakes?”

Alhaitham nodded, “Yes. His feelings are irrational, they aren’t rooted in any actual connection between us and they’re causing difficulties in lives far beyond his own,” he gestured between the two of them and the storage room around them, “Acting on your wants is one thing, impeding the ability of yourself and others to live their lives peacefully is an issue that requires correction,” he said simply.

Cyno stared for a moment before sighing deeply, though he was acutely aware of the unintended affection that bled through the action.

“You’re a strange man. That sounds just like something you would say.”

Alhaitham shrugged.

There was only a beat of silence before Alhaitham spoke again, “Did you stay with me for my benefit too?” He asked curiously, apparently still contemplating Cyno’s earlier statement.

Cyno shrugged, “You did tell me that you didn’t want me to leave,” he pointed out.

Alhaitham blinked at him as if he was surprised.

“I did say that,” he agreed, “Apologies then.”

Cyno frowned at that, settling against the wall behind him.

“For what?”

“You prefer to be the one chasing. I’m sorry you felt the need to stay with me because of something I said,” he said with a shrug, “Not that I dislike this result.”

Alhaitham had a habit of vocalizing things about a person that way. Cyno didn’t exactly mind it, but he always felt a bit of embarrassment whenever the man managed to read him so easily.

“Ah, well, I do tend to prefer taking action over waiting around-”

Alhaitham huffed and rolled his eyes at that.

“Maybe in some ways,” he muttered.

“What does that mean?” Cyno asked, narrowing his eyes.

“Nothing, sorry, continue,” Alhaitham said, motioning him along.

Cyno huffed back at him. Annoying man always acting so cryptically.

“Everyone has been telling me to rely on others more. It’s a good chance for that, especially since a friend is involved,” he obligingly finished explaining.

“Oh? I would have guessed that a personal connection to those involved would make you want to be in the field more than usual?”

Cyno shuffled slightly, wondering how best to explain.

“That’s true to an extent,” he agreed, “But when someone I care for is put into a dangerous situation, I find it difficult to leave them behind - even if it’s to get rid of the thing threatening them.”

“Ah-”

“I like to think one of the benefits of knowing me is my ability to protect you,” he continued, meeting Alhaitham’s eyes, “Failing in that regard is unacceptable to me, and I don’t intend to allow it to happen again.”

Alhaitham stayed silent as he digested that, so Cyno took the chance to continue.

“You don’t have to apologize for saying what you did before, my actions would likely have been the same without having heard it,” Cyno smiled wryly as he continued, “For once we seem to be on the same page - you don’t want me to leave, but I’m not exactly keen to either.”

Alhaitham cleared his throat, eyes straying from Cyno.

“I’ll adjust my apology then.”

“To what? Apologizing for giving your location away to the suspect earlier?”

“No.”

Cyno huffed again. Shameless.

“I’m not exactly in the practice of taking other people’s feelings into consideration. I neglected to realize how it would make you feel that something happened, even if it was inconsequential to me. I’ll try to act with more caution in the future.”

“Act with more caution by telling me about it or by keeping me from finding out?”

Alhaitham shrugged, “Whichever is more suitable based on the circumstance.”

Cyno sighed deeply.

“Well, with that response at least I know it’s you and not the potion saying all of this.”

Alhaitham huffed a bit at that.

“You worried that it was the potion?”

Cyno shrugged.

“I brought it up before, I don’t understand how it’s affecting you.”

“Ah, before we were interrupted,” Alhaitham recalled.

Cyno nodded.

“What do you want to know? A love potion is fairly straightforward, isn’t it?”

“It’s supposed to be,” Cyno complained.

“You keep telling me that it isn’t affecting you much, but you’ve also been more…open with me today. It makes me wonder if the effect is stronger than you believe it to be and you just haven’t noticed due to our preexisting bond.”

Alhaitham’s eyebrows furrowed.

“You think I’ve intermingled my preexisting positive feelings about you with artificial ones caused by the potion to make me overall more open and trusting of you? And that it was a subtle enough shift that neither I nor Lord Kusanali noticed?”

Cyno hesitated, “I-something like that. I don’t know exactly. You told me you want me around more, I assume there are some other things you’re doing that are the potion’s fault.”

The proximity, the conversations, even the joke when they came into this room, none of it felt exactly typical for the two of them regardless of how minor they were compared to other love potion incidents he’d witnessed.

Alhaitham frowned, “So you think that, though the effect was slight, all of my actions today have still been caused, or at least influenced, by the potion?”

Cyno faltered slightly, “...Yes? Or…maybe just mostly? Why else would you want me so close?”

Alhaitham straightened, leaned forward to meet Cyno’s eyes deliberately.

“You can’t think of any other reason I might go along with such an urge?”

Cyno’s mouth felt dry as he dodged away from the eye contact, only to hear Alhaitham huff at him as he did.

“You’re under the influence of an outside factor,” Cyno reminded.

“Barely,” Alhaitham retorted, “But I know you won’t believe anything I have to say on the subject while I am so I’ll refrain from wasting both of our breaths by continuing to debate it now.”

Tentatively, Cyno glanced back at him.

He hesitated before replying, “I don’t mean to doubt the things you say. You have my trust, you know this,” he insisted.

Alhaitham frowned, “Just not right now,” he corrected.

Such a statement, said in such a resigned tone, sat so wrongly, so painfully that Cyno stepped away from the door - forgetting himself in his urgency to correct him.

Halfway between Alhaitham and the wall, his anxiety forced him to stop in place - unwilling to venture too far from the barrier that was keeping Alhaitham safely out of reach from the outside world.

His hands, however, continued to twitch toward him as he spoke, “You still have it, even now. I may not trust the potion, but I do trust you,” he insisted fiercely.

Alhaitham shifted, and Cyno desperately hoped it wasn’t in aversion to his approach.

“I trust your honesty with me, I trust your capabilities, I only doubt the influence it has on you,” he continued almost pleadingly.

Alhaitham looked at him for a moment before sighing, “Apologies, I didn’t mean to push you. I know you well enough to know the concerns you have in this situation,” Alhaitham said, “I lost my patience,” he professed.

Cyno shook his head at him, “I should have been more aware of your feelings. I spoke carelessly.”

Alhaitham made a frustrated noise as he ran a hand through his hair.

“The two of us having to speak so carefully to each other - I don’t think it’s been like this since the desert. This whole ordeal came with more trouble than I expected.”

Cyno made an agreeing noise, stepping resignedly back to the door.

“It’s almost odd to remember how tense things were between us back then. Now even this slight tension feels odd,” he said, slumping back against the wall.

Alhaitham hummed in agreement.

“I didn’t account for how much it might affect our dynamic, perhaps if I ever find myself in another similar situation, I should look at someone else instead,” Alhaitham mused.

Cyno’s eyes widened at the statement and shot toward him.

“I mean- it’s a temporary issue, I’m certain we’ll get past this with ease. It’s possible looking at someone else would have been more difficult for you, and of course, I’m not bothered by any of this-”

Alhaitham laughed, cutting Cyno off from whatever hole he had begun to talk himself into.

“I-” he felt his face heat in embarrassment, “I’m sorry, of course, it’s up to your judgement though ideally I’d simply hope you’re never put into this situation again,” he corrected.

Alhaitham laughed some more, quiet sounds spilling past the hand he’d raised to muffle them.

“You shouldn’t worry,” he got out a bit breathlessly after composing himself.

At this point, Cyno would be surprised if not worrying for Alhaitham was at all possible for him anymore.

“Despite all the trouble, so long as you’re an option, it’s almost guaranteed that you’ll be my first choice every time.”

Cyno’s fingers dug into the wall slightly. A statement like that, how was he supposed to take it?

As a reinforcement of the trust they shared?

As a sign that the potion still had a hold on Alhaitham? Maybe even as a sign that the effect was increasing from their prolonged proximity?

His head spun with the options, with what they could be implying.

He wanted so badly to ask.

He shook off the urge - opted instead for a safer response. One that kept away from the uncertain territory between them but was just as honest as all of the questions rattling around in his head.

“Even if that wasn’t the case, I’d still be there to help you every time too.”

Alhaitham offered him a rare smile at that, looking immensely pleased over a fact that was likely obvious to the both of them even before it was spoken aloud.

He opened his mouth to respond before a small sound from the hallway caught Cyno’s attention.

Quietly as he could, he shot towards Alhaitham, shushing him lightly.

Summoning his polearm, he kept it ready in one hand while the other maneuvered Alhaitham behind him.

“Stay,” Cyno instructed, squeezing once at Alhaitham’s arm as he let it go to have both hands at the ready.

In response, a hand landed gently on his shoulder. Light enough that it wouldn’t impede his movement, just a reassurance of the presence behind him.

And Cyno suddenly remembered that when they were on the same page, they really worked quite well together.

More sounds came from beyond the door, approaching steadily.

There was something nagging at the back of his mind about the noise, something about it…

The prolonged nature of this case and the day of worry for someone he cared for had begun to fray his nerves.

Ignoring the nagging, his body tensed when the noises stopped right in front of the door to their room.

He held his breath, could hear - could feel - Alhaitham do the same.

And then, from the hallway,

“Cyno? Alhaitham? Are you in there?” A familiar voice called.

The feeling in the back of his head. The Ba fragments.

“Sethos?” He called back.

With anyone else, he might have asked them to identify themself first, but well, the fragments within him knew Sethos just as well as they knew Cyno.

“Yeah, it’s me! Lord Kusanali told me you’d be around here. Oh wait, Aarav gave me a knocking code. What was it again? Three then…four? Or three again?” He mumbled to himself.

Cyno breathed in relief. Giving a brief acknowledging tap to the hand on his shoulder, he moved away to unlock the door.

The sight of Sethos eased the last of his anxiety as he ushered him in, making sure to shut and lock the door again behind him.

“Ah, no more need for that, Cyno, I’m here to let you know your man has been caught,” he explained with a quick pat to Cyno’s shoulder to greet him, “Hey Alhaitham, I hear you’ve been having a busy day.”

“Busy and yet far from productive,” he said dryly, with a short wave.

“He’s in custody then?” Cyno asked, swiftly bringing them back on topic before Alhaitham’s complaints could continue, “Has he made it to the holding area yet, or are they still transporting him? How did you get involved?”

“I don’t know all the details,” Sethos said, raising his hands to stall his questions, “I was in a meeting with Lord Kusanali when she received a message from Aarav for you that a criminal you and Alhaitham were after today had been detained. Since it’s easy for me to locate you and I was coming through this way anyway, I offered to deliver the message for them,” he said with a shrug, holding a paper toward Cyno.

He accepted it with a nod, wasting no time in flipping it open.

Scanning the page, he reported the most pertinent details out loud, “The suspect has been detained and placed in a holding cell with a guard to be posted directly outside until I say otherwise. Any further processing in the meantime will occur in his cell without transferring the suspect to reduce any further chances of an escape.”

He let out a breath of relief as he said it, finally feeling himself relax from some of the stiff tension that had been set in his shoulders the whole day.

Alhaitham let out a similar breath from nearby where he’d wandered back over to Cyno, though Cyno suspected his relief was less based on concern for himself and more to do with the potential to get back to his office.

This suspicion was quickly proven correct with Alhaitham’s next words.

“Now that that’s sorted, you have no more complaints about me getting back to work now, correct?” He asked Cyno.

Sethos blinked at him in surprise and looked back at Cyno questioningly.

“What’s with him?” he asked bluntly, “I’ve never seen him so eager to get back to work.”

Alhaitham frowned, “Everyone’s acting as if I never do my job. To be perfectly clear, I only oppose extra work, anything stated in my contract to be my responsibility is always completed in a timely manner in accordance with the Akademiya’s regulations.”

Cyno rolled his eyes and clarified, “There’s a lot to do since the new semester starts tomorrow, he’s trying to avoid overtime.”

“My required hours are in my contract. I see no reason to devote any more than that when it doesn’t benefit me in any way,” Alhaitham said, crossing his arms against his chest.

“Oh, so he’s the same as ever then. Don’t scare me like that, that came across so strangely hearing it from you,” Sethos said, laughing good-naturedly.

Reminiscing on the day he’d had, Cyno would argue that Alhaitham was not, in fact, the same as ever.

Alhaitham waved Sethos off in favor of looking at Cyno expectantly.

“Protocol necessitates that I bring anyone involved in a case in for an interview as soon as possible to gather any additional details-”

Alhaitham immediately opened his mouth to protest, but Cyno cut him off before he could.

“However, for this particular case that will not be scheduled until next week in light of the suspect’s detainment, the conflict with your schedule, and the time required for your full mental and physical recovery from this ordeal.”

“Recovery?” Sethos mouthed next to them.

“Recovery,” Alhaitham repeated with an eyeroll, “I suppose I can’t complain since it’s getting me what I want, but really?”

Cyno shrugged.

“Protocol dictates that you are currently unfit to be interviewed - as I said before, these…situations are normally more severe, so there’s a mandatory recovery period required before any official interviews can occur,” Cyno clarified, while also attempting to maintain the confidentiality of the case despite Sethos’ presence in the room.

Alhaitham sighed deeply, “A mandatory recovery period I can’t even take full advantage of. I’m taking a vacation after all this is over,” he said, as he strode toward the door.

“Oh, you should come by the Temple of Silence if you do. Cyno could show you the way,” Sethos suggested easily.

“Are you volunteering my vacation days?” Cyno wondered as he followed Alhaitham to the door.

Sethos followed as well, shrugging, “Tighnari says you’ve been working too much lately. It’d kill two birds with one stone for you to go along with him.”

Cyno hummed in thought, reflexively catching Alhaitham by the shoulder as he grabbed the doorknob. He pulled him behind himself so that he could instead open the door first and glance around the hallway before allowing him out.

As he looked at the empty hall, a tap landed on the back of his head.

“The suspect has already been detained, General,” Alhaitham reminded, a hint of amusement in his voice.

“Ah-” Cyno said, moving aside sheepishly to let Alhaitham pass, “Sorry.”

“It’s alright,” Alhaitham reassured, a slight smile playing at his lips as he stopped to stand next to him in the hallway.

Sethos looked between the two of them as he shut the door to the storage room behind him.

“I thought you had just been working on the case, Alhaitham. But with the things you two have said, were you a witness or something?”

“Victim,” Alhaitham corrected blandly while Cyno sighed at him.

Sethos blinked.

“Oh, I guess that explains why you two were hiding in a storage room. Are you alright?”

“Yes, no need to worry. I’m completely fine.”

“Glad to hear that at least,” Sethos said, landing a hand on Alhaitham’s shoulder, “Kaveh tells me your job leads to a lot of dissatisfied scholars. The passion of some of them that drives them even to crime,” he sighed, “I’ll have to keep a close eye on things as the Temple of Silence increases our collaborations with the Akademiya.”

“Hm, you aren’t wrong to have those concerns, but I’ll clarify that this situation wasn’t caused by anything related to my position,” Alhaitham corrected.

Sethos’ brows furrowed, “Oh?”

“I was dosed with a love potion,” Alhaitham deadpanned.

Sethos’ eyebrows shot up.

Cyno sighed deeply, closing his eyes as he already knew what else was coming from this path of conversation.

“And you’re alright…? Because of the distance from the target or…?” Sethos speculated uncertainly.

“No, I caught on when it happened, so rather than the one in custody, I made sure the effects were directed toward Cyno instead,” Alhaitham corrected boredly, pointing at him as Cyno tried very hard to keep from making eye contact with anyone else.

“Ohh, that makes sense,” Sethos said, nodding along.

Cyno looked back at him helplessly.

“And by that you mean…?” He asked.

Sethos laughed at the question.

“Well, you know,” he said, gesturing at the two of them.

“I do not,” Cyno insisted, crossing his arms petulantly.

Sethos waved him off dismissively. “I’m sure you’ll figure it out. I’d love to stay and chat, but I’ve got to get back to sort a few more things out before tomorrow,” he said, lifting a few files he’d been carrying in indication.

“Convenient,” Cyno muttered, narrowing his eyes.

Sethos laughed at him again, “I’ll make it up to you. I’ve got a few prospective TCG players at the Temple of Silence next time you visit.”

Cyno perked up a bit at that.

“And I just traded with an Eremite group for some new tablets they found. They’re pretty unique,” he added, shifting his eyes to Alhaitham.

“I don’t need to be coerced to take a vacation,” Alhaitham stated.

“No, but you do need to be coerced to travel during your vacations,” Cyno pointed out, knocking their shoulders together.

Alhaitham simply huffed in response.

“I’ll come around soon,” he relented.

Sethos nodded in approval.

“Though you should know that I don’t field work-related questions when I’m off the clock,” he added, narrowing his eyes.

Sethos laughed again, “We’ll see about that!” He called as he began turning away.

“Cyno, make sure you come along with him, we’ll need a mediator when we argue about it! See you two, good luck with your work!”

A quick wave later, and Sethos was out of sight, leaving them alone once more.

“Is roping me into a vacation revenge for today?” Cyno joked.

“I take no responsibility for that, take it up with Sethos,” Alhaitham responded with a languid stretch.

“Now,” Alhaitham began, straightening back up, “in the interest of returning to work as soon as possible, I’d like to request that you leave here first,” Alhaitham droned out unhappily.

Cyno blinked at him.

“Leave?”

“Yes,” Alhaitham agreed, “I assume you have to go get a start on whatever paperwork this incident created, and I have to finish processing all of the documents needed before tomorrow. Unfortunately, you seem to have had a point with your concerns earlier. I’m still fully in control of myself, of course, but the idea of me walking away from you is more unpleasant than I have the energy to deal with,” Alhaitham admitted, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Oh,” Cyno said blankly, still not fully accustomed to the way the blunt remarks tugged at his own feelings.

“Yes, oh,” Alhaitham agreed, “So if you could be on your way-”

Cyno shuffled slightly in place, glancing down the hallway in the direction Alhaitham was attempting to shoo him toward.

“If that’s what you want, I’ll go along with it,” Cyno said with a frown, “But I wasn’t intending to leave you yet.”

Alhaitham stared at him, and Cyno shrugged.

“You can’t argue that I’m still in danger in any way,” Alhaitham pointed out accusingly.

“You aren’t,” Cyno agreed, “But if it was something that would make things easier for you, then it was something I wanted to do. I told you earlier, I am in no way eager to leave your side today.”

Alhaitham stared at him, and slowly, the slightest hint of red painted his cheeks as he scanned Cyno’s face, clearly searching for something in it.

Cyno’s eyes caught on the color.

Despite the fact that he couldn’t claim to be the cause of this blush, that it was more than likely just some false thing created by the potion manipulating Alhaitham’s sensitivities - he couldn’t help but be ensnared by it. Couldn’t help the wonder he felt at seeing such a reaction on Alhaitham, couldn’t help how much he thought that such a reaction suited him.

“You said that to me when there was a criminal on the loose. He’s been detained now,” Alhaitham pointed out, eyes drifting away from Cyno as he said it.

Reining his thoughts in, Cyno reoriented himself as he responded.

“Nonetheless,” he breathed, “If it causes you distress for me to leave then I don’t want to leave. And,” he paused, “even if it doesn’t, I simply had the urge to stay with you. It’s- ah, not uncommon for me after someone I care for is in danger,” he admitted.

“I’m fine leaving you though, of course,” he quickly added, “So if that’s what you want-”

“No,” Alhaitham interrupted, that damnable blush only getting darker as they spoke and wreaking havoc on Cyno’s ability to focus.

“If you’re offering, I’ll take you up on it,” Alhaitham said.

“I am,” Cyno confirmed, though he didn’t have to.

“Great, now that we’ve established that,” Alhaitham said, clearly eager to move on from the last few minutes.

His hands landed on Cyno’s shoulders, and he gave a light push to move him forward.

“Lead the way,” he said.

Similarly eager to rein himself back in, Cyno complied.

A rogue part of his mind wondering if Alhaitham had moved him in front to hide those expressions from him.

Again, he ignored such thoughts - though he was beginning to lose count of how often such a thing had happened today.

They stayed quiet the rest of the way to Cyno’s office, the chance to catch his breath and calm his mind welcome after such a whirlwind of a day.

Aarav’s eyes caught them as they entered the matra’s section of the building.

“General,” he greeted, eyeing the two of them questioningly and moving to walk alongside them.

“Hello, good work,” Cyno greeted, not wasting time as he beelined for his desk, Alhaitham’s patience for small talk when so much work had to be done was sure to run short quickly.

“Ah, thank you, Shohre did a great job locating him,” he explained.

Cyno nodded, the note Sethos delivered having said something similar, “I plan to speak to her about it tomorrow and thank her.”

Aarav nodded, glancing again at Alhaitham who was silently waiting while Cyno rummaged through his papers.

“Are you planning to conduct his interview now…?” He asked uncertainly.

“No, not until the allotted recovery period has passed,” Cyno reassured, grabbing a few blank forms and adding them to the pile he was making, “But I’ll be accompanying the Scribe for the rest of the day. If you need me, I’ll be in his office.”

“Uh,” Aarav hesitated, glancing between them, “I can understand it before, but is it such a good idea now?”

Alhaitham huffed a bit and Cyno shot him a look.

“The presentation of his symptoms is both mild and differs from the norm. Both he and Lord Kusanali have attested that he’s in control of the situation and both myself and the Scribe agree that this is the best course of action to limit any unnecessary distress and ensure the quality of his work is maintained despite the circumstances,” he paused before adding, to Alhaitham’s slight amusement judging by the ensuing quiet huff of laughter, “Not to mention that I can handle him should anything unexpected happen.”

Of course, he neglected to mention the personal motivations behind the decision, but he was confident the rest of their reasoning was objectively sound, and he wouldn’t have gone along this route at all if he had any doubts for either of their safety.

“If you’re sure,” Aarav said, sounding not at all sure himself.

“I am,” Cyno replied easily, “If anything were to go wrong, I’d contact you, but I’m certain it won’t. Could I have your notes on this case by the way? I’ll get a head start on the paperwork while I’m there.”

Aarav complied without any further questioning, though he did eye the two of them with a level of curiosity as he did. Cyno had the faint feeling that he’d rather not pry into whatever conclusions he seemed to be drawing and instead simply gathered the rest of what he needed and ushered Alhaitham out as quickly as possible.

At this rate, he wondered if the gossip he was apparently supplying his subordinates with could count as their reward for this case.

“Looks like our subordinates have something in common,” Alhaitham noted as they made their way to his office.

“Even if he’s drawing misguided conclusions, Aarav won’t spread it around,” his eyes narrowed in thought, “Probably,” he added.

Alhaitham laughed a bit more. He certainly seemed to be amused by a lot today.

In the back of his mind, however, Cyno still had to question how much of it was really him.

Alhaitham’s laughter could be sparse, but it wasn’t as though he never laughed at things. Cyno had managed to bring it out before through a variety of means - jokes, idle remarks, stories he told.

But…could he usually manage it this frequently?

He frowned to himself at the thought.

He couldn’t be certain anymore, he couldn’t be certain of much of anything regarding Alhaitham right now - his own anxiety and doubts forcing him to question the closeness that any other day he’d be so certain they had.

A shoulder bumped into him.

“Stop getting into your own head,” Alhaitham remarked simply, reading him as easily as he could read anybody else.

Cyno took a breath, their continued proximity at this point was as much for him as it was for Alhaitham.

“Sorry, thanks,” he muttered.

“It’s fine, it’s just for today, you won’t have to be as anxious tomorrow,” Alhaitham reminded.

Cyno nodded, shifting the items in his arms as Alhaitham’s door finally came back into sight.

“Apologies, we’re late,” Alhaitham told his subordinate who was waiting boredly by his office.

After a short greeting and a quick - and heavily redacted - explanation for their tardiness, Alhaitham gave a firm breakdown of the plan for the rest of their day. He took on a level of determination that Cyno scarcely saw in him. In fact, he was fairly certain that Alhaitham was showing more determination to avoid one day of overtime than he was when they were planning an entire coup in the desert.

At the very least, no one could ever say Alhaitham wasn’t committed to his lifestyle.

“Alright, in,” he ushered Cyno as their makeshift doorguard set off to gather a few requested files for him.

“Sorry, but I can’t field any questions or conversation from you for the rest of the day,” Alhaitham warned, guiding Cyno back onto the chair he had sat in earlier before sitting down next to him.

“I expected that already. Do what you need to do, I’ll be here,” Cyno agreed.

Alhaitham nodded, eyed him, shifted his chair closer, and nodded again.

“I’m turning my headphones on, shake me if you need me, but only if it’s something urgent,” he advised.

“Got it. Good luck,” Cyno offered, a fond smile tugging his lips up as he watched him.

Alhaitham offered him one last nod, flipped the switch on his earpieces, and, at last, set himself back to work on the pile on his desk.

Cyno, on far less of a time crunch than Alhaitham, allowed himself a short stretch, minding the far diminished gap between the two of them. If Alhaitham’s chairs didn’t have armrests getting in the way, their shoulders would likely be pressed against each other by this point.

Moving most of the files he brought with him to the floor, Cyno placed one to work on down on the small corner of Alhaitham’s desk in front of him and, following Alhaitham’s lead, switched his focus back to his paperwork.

The time passed more comfortably than he expected.

Alhaitham, of course, wasn’t any sort of bother while he worked, and his assistant only came in about as frequently as Cyno’s own on their busy days, so it wasn’t anything too unusual, although her furtive glances at their proximity were a bit distracting once he accidentally caught on to them.

Next to him, Alhaitham made impressive progress, the stack on his desk being completed to be replaced by another and another and so on and so forth. If the rest of the Akademiya saw the efficiency he worked with now, he wouldn’t be surprised if another movement to elect Alhaitham back to being the Grand Sage began, Cyno thought in amusement.

Working with what was likely far less than the normal amount of breaks he would take, Alhaitham remained focused and, as the end of the day began to draw close, Cyno was pleased to note that they managed to get through without any further incidents.

Or at least, he thought they’d make it through.

An hour out from the end of the Akademiya’s standard office hours, Alhaitham was obviously getting more and more antsy next to him, which, in turn, seemed to also slow down the previously speedy flow of his work.

Alhaitham’s antsiness, like most things about him, was a bit more subdued than it might be for others, however, thanks to the lack of space between them, Cyno caught on to it almost immediately.

He watched Alhaitham uncross and recross his legs for the fifth time, considering if interrupting to ask him about it would be warranted or not. If there was something Cyno could do to help, it might restore his previous pace, but if not, he risked wasting some of the little time that Alhaitham had left to meet his goal.

He caught sight of Alhaitham’s brow twitching in annoyance as he finished off the current page he had been working on before turning abruptly to look at Cyno.

The fierceness of the expression had Cyno questioning if he had somehow caused the lull in his pace. Reaching up to flick off his noise-cancelling in frustration, Alhaitham shot a glance at the clock.

“I have a request,” he said, glaring at the time before turning back to Cyno, who raised an eyebrow curiously.

“Okay, what is it?”

“You’re distracting me,” Alhaitham said bluntly, “Yes, it’s more of a potion effect than a typical feeling,” he preemptively answered.

Cyno frowned, “Should I leave?” He asked, already reaching towards his things.

“Absolutely not,” Alhaitham insisted, a hand landing on Cyno’s arm to keep him in place.

Cyno stared at him.

“Unless you must, but I’m asking you not to,” Alhaitham corrected, still gripping onto him.

Cyno’s frown deepened. The prolonged proximity seemed to be building up, or, his eyes drifted across the flood of papers on Alhaitham’s desk- perhaps the stress of the time crunch?

Whatever the cause, it didn’t change his next actions.

Ignoring the small amounts of doubt he had in favor of sticking to his instincts, his hand landed on top of Alhaitham’s in reassurance.

“I have no plans to leave you. Not until you think I should,” he reassured.

Alhaitham stared at him, apparently settling slightly from the words as the grip on Cyno’s arm loosened to a light pressure.

“No need to request something like that from me, I’m always willing to keep you company when you need it,” Cyno doubled down.

“Ah, no, that’s not the request,” Alhaitham said, looking at Cyno intently.

He wasn’t exactly fond of the idea, but maybe it would be best if Alhaitham looked at someone else if this ever happened again, he thought, his skin tingling from the pressure of that look.

Feeling a small amount of trepidation as he wondered what Alhaitham would request, the hand finally lifted from his arm only to reach closer and closer to him.

Cyno froze, watching as Alhaitham turned his palm up.

“Hold my hand,” Alhaitham requested.

Already stuck unnaturally still physically, Cyno felt his thoughts hit such a state as well.

He forced a breath in.

And out.

Blinked a bit only to find Alhaitham’s hand still in front of him, waiting patiently for him to gather himself. Cyno looked up the man’s arm, following it back to his face.

“If it crosses a line you don’t have to,” Alhaitham said with a shrug.

“No, it’s- I’m fine with it,” Cyno said, a bit surprised by how true it actually was, “It just surprised me that’s all.”

Past the initial hesitation, he reached out with ease, his palm landing on top of Alhaitham’s.

Messy authentic feelings of his and artificial feelings of Alhaitham’s aside, they were friends before anything else, and he wouldn’t deny such an easy comfort to any of his friends.

Alhaitham let out a small noise of relief next to him, dropping their hands onto the armrests that separated them.

After a moment of looking at them, however, he frowned.

“What is it?” Cyno asked.

“Move your chair to the other side, you prefer your right hand, and I have no preference for either.”

“Dual wielders,” Cyno muttered with a playful eyeroll.

Obligingly, he let go, unable to stop the small laugh when Alhaitham’s frown deepened as a result. He dragged his small stack of work and the chair to Alhaitham’s other side and looked at him questioningly.

With barely a glance at the placement, Alhaitham reached out and dragged the chair as close to his own as he could get them, nodded in satisfaction, and put his hand back out in a silent demand.

Cyno laughed again as he sat down but didn’t waste any time before grabbing back onto him.

“Will you be able to work okay like this?” Cyno asked, maneuvering his fingers to interlock them with Alhaitham’s.

“Yes, I think so,” Alhaitham said, assessing their new position, “Certainly it will be easier to manage than a distraction to my thinking.”

Cyno nodded in acknowledgement.

“I’m glad, adjust it or let go whenever you need to, I’ll keep my hand here,” Cyno said.

“Thank you,” Alhaitham said with a nod, his other hand already moving back to turn his earpieces back on and eyeing his work again.

“Good luck,” Cyno offered again right as Alhaitham’s finger landed on the switch.

He paused, “Thank you,” he repeated and flipped it - a repetition of the sentiment from a man who never usually had much patience for them.

With the small change, they both returned to their tasks and managed with as much ease as they could now that they were both effectively one-handed.

Every once in a while, one of them would have to let go for something or the other, and every time Alhaitham’s neutral expression would dip back into that small frown until they could grab back onto each other.

Cyno made sure to catch sight of it each time, unwilling to deny the selfish urge to hang on to those expressions, the blatant showing of Alhaitham wanting him close.

Tedious swaths of paperwork and countless small frowns later, Cyno was in the middle of writing an evidence submission application when a drawn out groan sounded from next to him.

He looked over to find Alhaitham’s head landing on the desk even as his left hand continued to write on the page in front of him. Cyno’s hand inadvertently tightened its grip as he leaned closer in concern.

He almost asked what was wrong before he remembered that Alhaitham’s earpieces would render such inquiry useless.

Before he could give in to the urge to simply turn them off himself, his eyes caught sight of the clock.

Right on time for the end of Alhaitham’s workday.

Considering Alhaitham’s commitment to keeping his focus on his work and that Cyno hadn’t noticed him looking away from it at all recently, Cyno had to wonder if he had some sort of internal clock with perfect accuracy dedicated specifically to alerting him of the end of the work day.

Normally he might laugh at such an idea, but, well, this was Alhaitham after all.

Glancing around, he was both surprised and impressed that Alhaitham’s pile of work that needed to be done was no longer in sight, apparently having been worked down while Cyno focused on his own tasks and the man next to him in equal measure.

He couldn’t help the small bubble of amusement that such a dramatic reaction apparently occurred from having just one single form incomplete before the work day’s end - truly, he didn’t think he knew anyone who stuck to their principles so firmly as Alhaitham.

The man in question pulled himself regretfully up from the desk, muttering to both Cyno and himself.

“This is the only time I’ll make such an exception,” he said in a way that conveyed the same displeasure his actions already had.

Cyno watched as he set back to work on the form in front of him, one hand still latched onto Cyno’s and a frown still set on his face.

Abandoning his own work, Cyno instead chose to watch as the last few sections were diligently filled out until, with one final stroke of his pen, Alhaitham finished the required work for the day three entire minutes past his usual end time.

Throwing the paper onto the completed stack and reaching up to finally allow himself to hear again, he turned to Cyno with an unhappy look.

Cyno raised an eyebrow at him, acutely aware of the amusement showing plain on his face.

“If this is what going along with the investigation gets me, I’m failing to see the appeal of cooperating for any future incidents,” Alhaitham pointed out sourly.

“Well, considering you are capable of complaining to me now on account of not being kidnapped or injured or anything, I’d argue that the investigation led to a favorable result overall.” Cyno retorted serenely.

“I’m not so incapable that he would have been able to kidnap me,” Alhaitham stated without a shred of doubt in his tone.

Cyno huffed, he didn’t fully disagree, but Alhaitham’s ego didn’t need to hear that.

“At the very least, I’m pleased with how things turned out,” Cyno said genuinely, a final sigh of relief released along with the statement.

Alhaitham looked at him, towards their interlocked hands and back.

He shrugged, “I’ll let you know my final verdict tomorrow.”

“Acting cryptically again?” Cyno asked, beginning to gather his things with his free hand.

“No, simply waiting for the final result. You’re the one who insisted I need proper recovery time,” Alhaitham pointed out, similarly packing things away.

“It’s protocol,” Cyno defended, he let go of Alhaitham’s hand to ease their packing up, that frown still making an appearance on Alhaitham’s face in response.

“Sure, sure,” Alhaitham said, waving him off.

“Do we need to deliver those somewhere?” Cyno asked, pointing at Alhaitham’s completed pile of forms.

“Oh? I take your phrasing to mean that you’ll still be sticking around with me? And just outside the door. Since it’s so busy, they place carts outside of relevant offices at the end of the day for paperwork to be placed in. We can leave it there, and someone else will be along to deal with the delivery.”

Cyno nodded both at the question and the explanation.

Slinging his bag over his shoulder, he moved over to Alhaitham’s pile and hefted it into his arms.

“I already told you, I have no intention of leaving you until you want me to,” he reminded.

Alhaitham smiled slightly, again pleased by such a simple thing for Cyno to offer him.

“I didn’t realize that offer came with carrying my things for me,” Alhaitham pointed out, raising an eyebrow at him.

“Hm, well, you are just a feeble scholar, or so I’ve been told,” Cyno joked.

Alhaitham finished the last of his packing up, moving over to hold the door open for Cyno.

“Of course I am, it’s not as though I spend my days chasing criminals all over the country.”

“And yet you can keep up with someone who does in a fight,” Cyno pointed out, placing the pile into a compartment in the cart outside of Alhaitham’s office.

Alhaitham locked it and ushered Cyno forward with a hand.

“I have no idea what you’re referring to,” Alhaitham deadpanned, “I’m going home now by the way, don’t you have more work to do? Are you certain you want to follow?”

“I’m fine with it. I’ll get it done at some point tonight,” Cyno said easily, it wouldn’t be the first time he’d brought work home with him, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last either.

Alhaitham made a face next to him as they walked.

“You work too much.”

“I’m used to it. I don’t mind it the way you do,” Cyno reassured.

Alhaitham huffed, “That doesn’t mean I’m okay with contributing to it. As it is, I’m sure you’d stay with me all day and then lose sleep to get it done,” he said with an eyeroll.

It was an unfortunately accurate guess and Cyno had no response to offer in defense.

“You can finish walking me home, I’ll let you go once we get there,” Alhaitham decided.

Cyno head shot over to look at him.

“It’s really not a problem for me to stay, I don’t mind it.”

Alhaitham smiled lightly, “Of course you don’t. I, however, do mind it when it comes at the cost of you overworking yourself.”

“It isn’t as if staying with you is work,” Cyno argued helplessly.

“No, but I don’t want you to be working late afterwards, and even if you tried to get your work done at my house - which I’d resent by the way - I doubt you’d make the progress you need considering how distracted you were with me in my office earlier.”

His face grew warm at the callout.

“That was- I’m just worried about you today.”

Alhaitham smiled more at that.

“Mm, if you say so,” he said, “Regardless, I’ve already decided this is the most productive decision for both of us. It’s probably for the best that I get some distance from you for the remainder of the potion’s effect as well.”

Cyno kept the defeated sigh to himself, by all rights, Alhaitham should be the one protesting such a plan out of the two of them if anyone had to. There was no reason for him to push when Alhaitham had already determined this was the best course of action for himself.

“It’s not as though I’m particularly pleased with this approach either, though,” Alhaitham added nonchalantly. “I’d like to make another request while I still have you around,” he said, catching Cyno’s eyes and pausing their walk.

“Go ahead,” Cyno offered, wondering if there was anything he’d deny Alhaitham at this moment.

An open palm was stretched toward him again.

Alhaitham shrugged, “We’re technically in public now, I won’t be offended by a rejection.”

He’d barely finished the sentence before Cyno’s hand landed in his again, just as it had in Alhaitham’s office.

“I don’t mind,” Cyno said, “We’re probably already in the rumor mill by now anyway.”

That same breath of relief from before left Alhaitham’s lips as he interlocked their fingers properly and began pulling Cyno forward again.

The path to Alhaitham’s house from the Akademiya, especially at this time of day, was by no means secluded. Despite how both of them tended to keep a low profile, eyes still caught on them, their hands, followed them until they went out of sight.

Cyno was only dimly aware of it. His senses acknowledged it in the background, but mostly he kept his focus on Alhaitham, on the contact between them, on the idle conversation they turned to in order to maintain the normality between them.

He kept his grip firm but gentle, allowed himself to enjoy the closeness and bask in Alhaitham’s presence. There was no need to ponder if anything like this would ever happen again between the two of them, no need to worry if anything would change, or how they’d approach each other tomorrow when Cyno’s feelings remained even as Alhaitham’s artificial ones became nothing more than a small anecdote in their history.

None of it mattered anyway, after everything they’d already been through together, he had no doubt that they could work their way through any problems that might arise.

So he kept any anxieties on the back burner, and let himself live in the moment for now - let Alhaitham be at peace with it as well.

When Alhaitham’s house came into view, a sense of bittersweetness tinged the moment.

“Ah,” Alhaitham made a noise of surprise as they approached the house, “Well, I can’t say I’ve ever disliked how close my house is to my job before. Likely the most surprising feeling of the day,” he noted thoughtfully.

Cyno laughed.

“Of all consequences from the potion to bother you - three minutes of overtime and a second of dissatisfaction when you arrived home, I shouldn’t even be surprised that those are what stuck out to you,” Cyno said, fondly.

Alhaitham pulled him all the way to the front door, unlocking it with his free hand without letting go. Cyno watched him until the door swung open in front of them, and suddenly there was nothing left for Cyno to do for him but let go of his hand.

“Ah, I suppose it’s time for me to go then,” he said faintly, shuffling slightly in place, “Are you sure you’ll be okay? That there’s nothing else I can do for you?”

Alhaitham glanced into the house before turning back to look at Cyno. Cyno was sure they were both feeling relieved by Kaveh’s absence today, he'd probably go into hysterics at the sight of them arriving together with their hands held this way.

“There is one more thing. Just as I asked you earlier,” Alhaitham said.

Cyno’s brows furrowed, “Earlier?”

“Yes,” Alhaitham nodded, “When Sethos left, I asked you to leave me first - I’m asking the same now, for you to be the one to let go and for you to walk away before I have to shut the door.”

Cyno’s mouth felt dry.

It should be easy for him. He hadn’t been struck by a love potion, hadn’t forced himself to be around the target of said love potion all day. He should be the one taking charge here.

And yet.

Every request Alhaitham had made of him today, they were all such small, simple things, but somehow this one turned out to be the most difficult for him.

Despite his uncertainty, out loud he reassured, “I can do that.”

Alhaitham frowned at the response, perhaps still unhappy with the idea of letting go at all due to the potion? Or something else?

“Make sure you drink plenty of water before you go to bed, it will help filter it out of your system,” he advised, “And it isn’t uncommon to get a migraine as the effects wear off or even when you wake up the next day, unnatural effects being forced this way puts a strain on the body.”

Alhaitham nodded along obligingly.

“Go to Bimarstan or Nahida if it’s bad or seems excessive.”

“Cyno,” Alhaitham interrupted.

“...What?”

“I’m already aware of all of that,” Alhaitham told him, voice unexpectedly soft.

Cyno huffed, he knew that, he just…needed a bit more time before he could force himself to move on and leave.

He responded, “You can’t blame me for being worried, you have a track record of not informing people of such things.”

Alhaitham smiled at him.

“Yes, yes, you’ve sufficiently scolded me about it. Please, spare me from more lecturing, I’ve taken your concerns to heart,” he insisted.

“I have my doubts about that,” Cyno said, a bit helplessly.

“I don’t blame you, but,” Alhaitham took a step back, crossing over the threshold to his home, “you’ll just have to take my word for it - I hear you trust me after all.”

He smiled at Cyno - ruefully, gleefully, fondly - Cyno’s eyes were stuck on it. There was something about the expression that felt incredibly authentic, as if Alhaitham was letting him in on a secret that he normally kept behind that solid wall of neutrality, one that he didn’t usually bother with allowing to surface.

“And with that said,” Alhaitham continued, smile lingering but his gaze drifting back to their hands, “I’ll have to bid you goodbye for now.”

Before he could question him or protest, the hand cradled in his own let go of Cyno’s.

Gripping nothing but air, Cyno stared at him, his eyes going wide and feeling exposed in a way he hadn’t in a long time.

“Thank you for today, see you tomorrow, Cyno,” Alhaitham said, a small wave accompanying the parting words.

In front of Cyno, his hand still outstretched, a door closed softly.

His heart pounded in his chest, something akin to guilt or shame ate at him, at his incapability of fulfilling that last request Alhaitham had made of him.

His hand curled into a fist as he brought it back toward himself.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized quietly to the door.

He forced his eyes away from it and urged himself to walk away, the least he could do for Alhaitham now was to not linger.

Barely taking heed of the direction he walked, he sighed deeply.

Leave it to Alhaitham to outdo him at the last moment. For all the strength Cyno had cultivated throughout his life, he still struggled at times to rein in his instincts when needed, to go against them. He wasn’t surprised that Alhaitham had caught on to his struggle, but he was disappointed in himself for allowing Alhaitham to take action against it before him.

He could only resolve himself to apologize tomorrow when he checked in with him. Maybe he’d get to work on planning that vacation Sethos had suggested, it couldn’t fully make up for all the ways Cyno felt he’d failed Alhaitham today, but perhaps an extra stop or two in peaceful areas would at least be a way for him to get Alhaitham some proper rest after all the trouble this incident had caused him.

Pausing momentarily, he shook himself back to the present, breathed deeply, and set his shoulders back. For now, he’d focus on getting his work done. Before anything else, one of the best things he could do for Alhaitham now was to ensure the case wrapped up without any further incidents and with as little bother to Alhaitham as he could manage.

Pivoting on his heel, he redirected back toward the Akademiya from his mindless wandering.

Without looking back, he pushed all of his thoughts and concerns to the back of his mind and instead prepared himself to keep his mind on his work for the rest of the day, everything else could be addressed tomorrow after he’d had time to rebalance himself and Alhaitham had had time to heal.

He mostly succeeded in keeping his mind busy for the rest of the day. He did make himself go home slightly earlier than he usually would, Alhaitham’s complaints about his overworking from earlier lingering in his mind. The evening was a bit more tense without much to occupy him and sleep worse than that, but despite the stress, he still woke up and made his way to the Akademiya with his head far clearer than it had been the day before.

The first day of a new semester always included an orientation ceremony for new students, so he wouldn’t be able to seek out Alhaitham until it ended. Once again, he forced himself to focus on giving his matra assignments during the event rather than letting the anticipation get to him.

Due to his position, Alhaitham always attended and often was forced to speak to the new students about the general rules and purpose of the scribe’s office at the entrance ceremonies anyway.

Cyno was certain seeing him would ease the tension at least somewhat, even better if Alhaitham was forced into one of his…unique speeches. They were often disinterested, blunt, and unexpectedly amusing to the point where Cyno always looked forward to them when orientation came around.

Once he’d entered the hall, however, Alhaitham was nowhere to be found in the crowd. Reasoning that perhaps he was simply running late, Cyno sat through the rest of orientation impatiently.

Nahida called him up to give his own introduction and short explanation about the matra and gave him a peaceful smile - likely unconcerned and unsurprised by Alhaitham’s absence, considering it wasn’t something she would have missed considering how close they were. Nahida’s calmness provided him with all that he needed to know. Alhaitham had either gotten himself out of the ceremony or had gotten himself out of coming in at all.

Sitting back down, he was far less interested in the rest of the ceremony - especially the substitute speaker from the scribe’s office.

After Nahida’s conclusion of the ceremony, she signalled him over immediately, to his relief.

Guiding him to a less crowded corner as the students filtered out, she greeted him cheerfully.

“Good morning, Cyno. Your speech was as effective as always.”

He smiled lightly at her, “Thank you, same to you. I’ve noticed how much your confidence has grown since your first addresses,” he took care to call out, her growth as their leader and archon visible more every day.

She beamed at him, “Thank you! I’ve grown much more comfortable since I the time after I first gained my freedom. I’m impressed by how much we’ve improved the structure of the orientations, though of course, I’m sure you’re quite aware one of our favorite speakers was missing today.”

Cyno nodded, “Alhaitham…did something happen? The after-effects? Or a new case?”

“No, no,” she assured, shaking her head, “Alhaitham is alright. He came to see me this morning and asked me to confirm that the potion was completely out of his system for him - which I’m pleased to tell you that it was,” she informed him with a smile.

Cyno let out a breath of relief.

“He also requested the rest of the day off, saying that yesterday wore him out and that he was due for a break.”

He huffed at that.

“Since he’d already found a replacement speaker, I allowed it, though I admit I was tempted to say no,” she said thoughtfully, a hand raising to her chin, “Alhaitham’s speeches are always so interesting.”

The two of them were likely the only ones attending who were so amused by them, but well, Alhaitham was their friend. Cyno frequently received comments that his work persona was far different than his personal one, but he often thought that Alhaitham’s difference in speaking to Cyno and Nahida compared to the Akademiya at large might be a close second. They often teased him about it afterward.

“Maybe you can ask him to speak at graduation,” Cyno suggested wistfully.

“Hm, I wonder if I could get him to agree…perhaps if I offer a bonus or vacation as compensation…” Nahida trailed off thoughtfully.

After a moment, they both seemed to come back to themselves, remembering the initial point at hand.

“Regardless,” she said, clearing her throat, “I did grant his request in the end, and he asked me to inform you that he was all clear and that he took the day off before he went home. He probably knew you would be worried.”

Cyno blinked, wondering unhappily if that was Alhaitham’s method of indirectly telling him to give him some space.

“Ah,” he said awkwardly, “well I suppose there’s no reason for me to continue seeking him out now that it’s over with then.”

Nahida shook her head immediately, “On the contrary, I got the impression that he was expecting you to come see him later regardless.”

Cyno frowned, “What makes you think that?”

Nahida shrugged, thought for a moment, and replied, “Well, it’s similar to how a fish caught by a worm on a hook doesn’t lose the desire to eat, isn’t it?”

“Uh, forgive me, I’m not sure if I understand that metaphor…am I the worm in this scenario or…?”

Nahida blinked in surprise, “Really? I thought it was quite apt here…Somewhat, yes, you are the worm, but it’s more like the worm is-”

She moved her hand back to her chin, looking deeply in thought.

“Maybe I should try a different metaphor…,” she mumbled.

“Ah, or perhaps you could explain it without a metaphor?” Cyno asked.

Her eyebrows rose at the suggestion, “I couldn’t say it so directly, isn’t that something the two of you should discuss privately?”

At this point, Cyno was at a complete loss for what she was referring to.

She seemed to realize this and patted his arm reassuringly.

“Just go see him after work, I’m sure everything will become clear once you talk to him.”

Though he didn’t exactly want to doubt their archon, Cyno did have his doubts about that. Regardless, he suspected that he wouldn't be able to completely calm down until he saw Alhaitham safe and well anyway. If he seemed bothered that Cyno showed up, he would just have to apologize and leave quickly.

“Alright,” he agreed in resignation, “I’ll go see him after work then.”

Nahida smiled at him and gave his arm another reassuring pat.

“Good, don’t worry too much over it. Alhaitham is your friend, you’re allowed to worry for him and check in on him.”

Cyno nodded and tried to take her words to heart.

After talking a bit more with her, Cyno was eventually called back in to help deal with some of the drama that always came with new scholars navigating and getting lost throughout the building.

He ended up spending barely any of his time in his actual office, and only made it back by the end of the day. Knowing that he wouldn’t make much progress with paperwork until he dealt with the issue of Alhaitham, he reluctantly gathered his things and set out soon after the official work day ended. He received a few surprised looks from his matra as he packed up and wondered if he should take Alhaitham’s complaints about his working tendencies more seriously.

The walk to Alhaitham’s house took longer than usual as he dragged his feet to the destination. Whether Alhaitham didn’t want to see him or if there was simply awkwardness after how close they were yesterday - Cyno couldn’t imagine it being the most comfortable visit he’s ever made to the house.

Unwilling to allow himself to hesitate too much, he forced himself to knock on the door as soon as he arrived to make up for the slow pace.

When the door opened to reveal Kaveh, he wasn’t sure whether to be thankful for the extra moment of stalling or frustrated by it.

“Cyno, I didn’t expect to see you today,” Kaveh greeted in surprise, already letting Cyno know that Alhaitham had not divulged yesterday's events to his roommate.

“Ah, Kaveh, I didn’t know you were back already. Sorry to show up unannounced, is Alhaitham home now?” He asked, glancing at the parts of the house visible behind Kaveh but finding no sign of the Akademiya’s Scribe.

Kaveh waved him off, motioning him into the house quickly, likely trying to hide from anyone passing by, though Cyno was fairly certain that his residence here was fairly common knowledge by this point.

“Things wrapped up earlier than expected,” Kaveh explained, “I don’t mind you showing up, and since it’s just you, I hardly doubt he’ll mind either,” he finished with an eyeroll.

Kaveh’s tone felt oddly familiar to Cyno. He blinked, thinking back before remembering what Sethos had said the day before when he’d learned about Cyno being the target of the love potion’s effects, “That makes sense.” Something about the two reactions echoed the same sentiment.

Cyno shuffled uncomfortably, he wasn’t dense enough to not see the picture being formed by the reactions he’d gotten over the last two days alone - everyone from Nahida to Sethos to Kaveh hinting at--

He shook himself out of his thoughts and brushed off the comment. Such a thing was nothing more than an impression their friends had gotten from the two of them, something that held no weight without either him or Alhaitham confirming or denying it, and he had no such plans to do anything remotely similar to that.

Kaveh, luckily, didn’t seem to notice his internal panic as he continued talking.

“It’s probably good you came by, he’s been cooped up in his office all day,” he explained disapprovingly.

“Well, that’s not surprising for him,” Cyno noted, glancing towards the office door.

Kaveh huffed, “No, but usually he’s at least a little less in his head than he is today. You’re free to try and get his attention, I’m not sure how receptive he’ll be to it today, though, unless it’s an urgent work matter or something.”

Cyno shook his head awkwardly, they’d likely have to explain at least a little of the events to Kaveh at some point but Cyno had neither the permission nor the energy to spare to do it now.

“Just a follow-up from some work we did yesterday,” he said.

Kaveh’s nose wrinkled, “You two and your office work, I could never do it. At least you get out of the city on investigations sometimes, but I imagine your city work gets so boring.”

Cyno would have to disagree, as yesterday was anything but boring for him, though he didn’t say so out loud, of course, instead just offering a polite nod.

“I’ll be in my room working, feel free to tell me if he’s rude to you. I can’t really do anything to correct him, but I can move around the furniture to annoy him as revenge,” Kaveh offered, moving back to his own room.

“I’m sure there won’t be any need for that, but thank you,” Cyno assured.

Kaveh shrugged, “True. Since it’s you,” he said with one last eyeroll and a wave as he shut his door behind him, leaving Cyno alone in their living room.

If he didn’t have a good relationship with Kaveh, he might have assumed that last comment had been meant to agitate his already fraying nerves. As it was, however, he accepted that Kaveh had just been complaining about anything and everything Alhaitham did as they always did about each other.

After convincing himself, he walked to the office door and knocked loudly, not expecting any sort of answer.

For politeness’ sake, he knocked again, louder than before, but still there was no response.

Huffing fondly, he cracked open the door, unsurprised to hear the music leaking from Alhaitham’s headphones before even being able to see inside the room.

He pushed it open slowly to find, as expected, Alhaitham hunched over his desk and scribbling something down rapidly.

The first time Cyno had interrupted Alhaitham in his home office, he had assumed he was on some sort of tight deadline based on the urgent look of his writing. A few inquiries with the man himself and a few more office visits later proved instead that Alhaitham more often than not wrote that way whenever he was working on his personal research.

After Cyno had pointed it out, Alhaitham simply shrugged and said that he didn’t want to lose a thought before he could write it down.

The familiarity of the sight and the memories brought an odd sense of reassurance with them and managed to urge him forward enough to tap lightly on the desk, hoping he didn’t startle the man.

Alhaitham’s pen stuttered then scribbled down the rest of the line it was writing before fully pausing. The man himself glanced upwards and, upon seeing Cyno, immediately frowned.

Cyno tensed at the reaction, attempting to keep his face neutral as he watched Alhaitham’s hand raise to turn off his earpieces.

“...You’re late,” Alhaitham finally said.

Cyno blinked.

“I came straight here when the workday ended,” he pointed out in surprise.

“Hm,” Alhaitham shifted to look at him better, “Must have taken the long way here then,” he said petulantly.

“I-” Cyno stopped, paused, restarted, “I wasn’t sure you wanted me to visit.”

Alhaitham sighed deeply, leaning back fully in his chair and looking to the ceiling. Cyno watched, still feeling wrong-footed from the unexpected way the conversation had gone so far.

“Lord Kusanali must have spoken to you,” Alhaitham told the ceiling.

“She did,” Cyno confirmed.

“And yet,” Alhaitham bemoaned, motioning with his hand toward Cyno.

Feeling more at ease, Cyno moved behind the desk to stand over Alhaitham’s chair and look down at him.

“Are you complaining about me to the ceiling?” He asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

“There’s no one else here to complain to,” Alhaitham said, his eyes flicking across Cyno’s face.

It was certainly an unusual view for them, Alhaitham’s damnably long legs usually forcing Cyno to look up at him instead. He certainly wouldn’t say he disliked this angle, though.

“How are you feeling?” Cyno asked, shifting the subject.

“Fine.”

Cyno narrowed his eyes at him.

“Slight headache,” Alhaitham corrected with an eyeroll.

Cyno nodded thoughtfully, grabbing the side of Alhaitham’s chair next to his head and turning it to face him fully. Holding the chair in place, he eyed Alhaitham critically, looking for any other signs of unwellness.

Alhaitham’s eyes focused on the arm next to his head and followed it back up to Cyno’s face. He raised an eyebrow at him, and Cyno raised his back.

“This again? Thinking it will seduce me more effectively now that I’m not affected by the potion anymore?” He asked with a small teasing smile on his lips.

Cyno looked at that smile and frowned, moving his hand from the chair to press the back of it against Alhaitham’s forehead and cheek.

“Maybe you are still affected? Or you’re having an adverse reaction to one of the ingredients? If the headache is a side-effect of a fever, it could be affecting your judgement or…,” Cyno trailed off, mumbling to himself.

Alhaitham huffed, head moving away from Cyno’s seeking hand.

“I generally agree that knowledge should be shared, but it isn’t as though I love getting my every thought looked through - even if it is only Lord Kusanali doing it. To think that I went to the trouble of letting her in a second time just for you to not believe us.”

Cyno pulled his hand back, sighing.

“Sorry, you’re right,” he took a step back out of Alhaitham’s space, “You threw me off just then. If you and Lord Kusanali both say everything’s fine, then I’ll take your word for it.”

“It is fine,” Alhaitham insisted, “You can put it all out of your head now.”

Cyno laughed slightly, “Logically, I know that’s true, but it’s hard not to worry for you considering-” he waved his hands over Alhaitham as a whole, “-how you are,” he finished tiredly.

Alhaitham shrugged, “The worry comes with the territory considering our feelings for each other. Though that doesn’t mean I think you should allow it to bother you too much.”

Cyno paused, backed up another step.

“I’m sorry, I don’t think I know what you’re talking about,” Cyno responded, dodging his eyes. Alhaitham huffed, his hand moved to wrap around Cyno’s wrist, pulling him back toward him from where he had backed away.

“Surely you don’t expect either of us to believe that you of all people missed something this obvious. Especially after all of that nonsense yesterday,” Alhaitham said flatly.

Cyno shifted, glanced at him. Alhaitham certainly wouldn’t believe any lies Cyno haphazardly fed him.

“It’s not like I didn’t notice,” he admitted tensely, “But I saw no reason for us to address it.”

“Oh? Why do you think that?” Alhaitham asked, curiously, moving his free arm so that he could rest his chin on his hand.

“It’s not as if either of us plans to act on anything.”

Alhaitham raised an eyebrow at him.

“Well, I had plans to act on it. Right now, in fact,” he corrected boredly.

Cyno shifted uncomfortably, “Ah? What?”

Alhaitham blinked.

“Our romantic feelings for each other. I planned to address them today when you came over,” he politely repeated.

“Oh. So you did expect me to come over,” Cyno said faintly, half to himself, unsure how to even begin to address the rest of the statement.

“What? Obviously, I did, I already said that.”

Of course, Cyno thought absently, “obviously.”

“You- I didn’t know you had feelings for me,” Cyno said awkwardly.

“Yes, you did.”

“No.”

“You did,” Alhaitham insisted, “you might not have been able to admit it to yourself, but you knew.”

Cyno felt his face warm and looked away, feeling oddly trapped by Alhaitham despite how light the grip he’d kept on Cyno’s wrist was.

“Maybe,” Cyno offered, unwilling to give him any more than that, “Either way, even if we’re both aware of it now, it just means we have to keep moving on and ignoring it.”

Alhaitham hummed, his fingers began drumming against Cyno’s skin. Cyno glanced at them and looked away and back to Alhaitham’s face quickly, hoping it would be easier to tolerate.

“You don’t want to do anything about it?” Alhaitham asked him curiously, his face keeping any feelings he might have about the statement from showing to Cyno.

Carefully, Cyno responded, “With how much potential there is for hurt and disruptions to our current relationship, I think it would be better if we didn’t, don’t you?”

They were often on the same page, so despite Alhaitham’s actions, Cyno figured he’d see where Cyno was coming from.

He’d forgotten how willing to take risks Alhaitham tended to be.

“No, actually,” Alhaitham reminded him bluntly, “I think we should start dating.”

Cyno felt his body respond to the words - the flip of his stomach, the beat of his heart, the heat on his face. Since he’d entered the office, he’d been suppressing any reactions, but the relentless way Alhaitham was looking at him, touching him, talking to him, talking about them - his composure couldn’t keep up.

“You-” he shook his head to try and gain some clarity to his thoughts, tried again, “So you really want us to start dating each other? And we’d act like a couple and do couple things? Like tell our friends and submit a relationship disclosure form to our jobs and go on dates and kiss and get married after I propose to you in the desert and you would actually be surprised by it for once in your life, but you’d say yes anyway, and then we would get married privately with just the two of us before having an official ceremony with all of our friends? And we’d let Dehya tease us and Tighnari congratulate us and Kaveh get all teary eyed and my father would be there and we’d honor your grandmother and there would be mistakes but it wouldn’t matter because we’re great at accounting for anything that can go wrong and we’d leave early because you can’t tolerate big groups for very long and I’d take you to some of my favorite spots in the city so we could talk before we went home and went to bed together,” he took in a breath, grabbed Alhaitham’s face between both of his hands, “We’d do all of that and what? Live happily ever after or something? That’s what you mean?” He asked, a crazed note to his voice.

Alhaitham blinked, his eyes had gone a bit wider in surprise during Cyno’s rant.

“I certainly didn’t plan to the same level of detail as you seem to have, but yes, generally, that’s what I mean.”

Cyno felt his embarrassment rise further as he processed the statement and the extent of what he’d said before. Worn out, he could only sigh and drop his head down.

“...I need some air. I’m gonna take a walk,” he decided, releasing Alhaitham from his grip, Alhaitham’s hand finally also falling off of his wrist in turn.

“...Want me to come with you?” Alhaitham asked.

“Yes,” Cyno responded, not caring to preserve his dignity anymore.

So he watched as Alhaitham closed his ink and quickly compiled all of his papers. As soon as he finished, Cyno pulled him up to join him.

Gripping Alhaitham’s wrist in a reverse of what they’d just been doing, he dragged the man out of the office and to the living room.

Based on how the past two days had gone, he couldn’t even bring himself to be surprised or embarrassed to see Kaveh there, staring at them with his mouth falling open wide in confusion and his hand raising to point at them.

“We’re going out,” Cyno told him, his unintentionally serious tone apparently deterring any questions as Kaveh’s mouth snapped shut and he instead directed a confused thumbs-up to them.

He heard a quiet breath of laughter from Alhaitham behind him but generously chose not to address it.

Snagging Alhaitham’s cloak from where it hung by the door, he pulled the two of them out of the house and onto the street, passing the garment over but refusing to let go of Alhaitham’s hand.

Alhaitham gave him a look but allowed it when Cyno reached over to help situate the cloak correctly over Alhaitham’s shoulders.

Nodding at his work, he spun around and began walking them away from Alhaitham’s house in the opposite direction of the Akademiya.

They walked quietly, Alhaitham going along easily in whichever direction Cyno pulled him.

Unlike at the Akademiya, where people knew them enough to stare, walking together on the outskirts of the city, Cyno’s hand still gripping Alhaitham, barely anyone ever looked twice at them. Without the level of attention from yesterday and now that the figurative elephant in the room, though not resolved, had been addressed, Cyno felt much more at peace.

The cooling evening air, the quiet bustle of people around them, and Alhaitham’s steady presence next to him eased the panic and surprise that had been running rampant.

Breathing in deeply, he directed them out of the city gates. Alhaitham made a small noise of surprise next to him but didn’t question it. Cyno idly wondered how far he could take Alhaitham before getting a protest, or if they would just keep walking beside each other forever if Cyno didn’t stop them.

Once they made it out of the city, he took them along the path until they reached the river, and then veered off of it until he could find a secluded spot along the bank. Somewhere away from the people but still close enough to not be too far from home.

He stopped abruptly when they reached the spot, Alhaitham bumping lightly into him. Cyno nodded in approval as he took one more glance around before flopping down to sit, his hand falling off of Alhaitham as he went.

Alhaitham laughed lightly at the sudden stop, but still moved to sit down next to him.

Perhaps he was being considerate, or perhaps he simply felt no need to speak with his thoughts on the situation already laid bare between them, but he remained silent.

Cyno looked over at him and frowned, Alhaitham was looking over the water, perfectly at ease and unbothered as he always was.

“I don’t know how to date anyone,” he said.

Alhaitham shrugged, “Does anyone? It’ll be fine, we’re quick learners.”

“I leave the city often, I struggle to connect with people at times, I often have to prioritize my job over anything else, I already cancel plans with friends, and I’m certain I’d have to cancel dates just as frequently,” he pointed out.

Alhaitham glanced at him.

“I already know all of that. If you’re trying to find something that would dissuade me from wanting a relationship with you, then you’ll have to try harder.”

Cyno huffed at him, “I overwork. You hate work.”

“Hm, yes, I intend to try and get you to improve your work-life balance once you agree to a relationship.”

“I’ve already had most people I consider family attempt to do that before. It hasn’t worked so far,” Cyno pointed out.

Alhaitham hummed next to him.

“Then it will be a fun challenge.”

“It would bother you at times,” Cyno insisted.

Alhaitham turned to him, looking for all the world as if he was explaining something obvious.

“It already bothers me at times. We’ve managed just fine despite that, haven’t we?”

“It might be different, more difficult to deal with if our relationship changed,” Cyno said.

“Since when do you deal so heavily in hypotheticals? Maybe it’ll be easier, who knows? I don’t see the point in catastrophizing without proof.”

“So what, you feel optimistic about it?”

“I’m not opposed to optimism when it’s warranted,” Alhaitham explained, “Our history proves how successful we are when working together, I fail to see why you’re surprised by my confidence on this matter considering our track record.”

Cyno turned toward him.

“None of that guarantees that this will work out,” he pointed out.

Alhaitham sighed deeply, falling backwards to lie on his back.

“Obviously not. Nothing is guaranteed.”

Alhaitham frowned at the sky and shut his eyes.

“If you’re that opposed, then we can drop it. But I’m willing to bet on our ability to make a relationship succeed, and bearing in mind a future where it doesn’t, our ability to maintain our friendship despite that.”

He paused, a small smirk appearing on his face, “If you want to run away out of fear, then that’s your prerogative.”

Despite himself, Cyno couldn’t help but laugh at that, crawling close before leaning over to hover above Alhaitham.

“Are you trying to goad me into a relationship?”

“Common sense doesn’t seem to be working,” Alhaitham said unapologetically, eyes cracking open.

Cyno’s smile faded as he looked at him.

“You mean a lot to me,” he admitted, “I don’t have many people in that category, keeping things the same feels like the only way to ensure I don’t lose you.”

“I don’t have many either,” Alhaitham pointed out, “And though I can’t promise it, I highly doubt you could lose me.”

Alhaitham looked him over, smiled lightly.

“I do wonder, by the way,” he said, conversationally, “Now that it’s all out in the open, can we keep things the same?”

Cyno felt Alhaitham’s hand grab his, the feeling hauntingly familiar by this point. Raising them between the two of their faces, Cyno watched, breathing slowly and deliberately, as Alhaitham interlocked their fingers one by one.

“I may have been goading you earlier, but it was a serious remark too. I don’t think of you as someone who runs from a situation,” Alhaitham said, voice clear and probing. He moved their hands away from their faces and landed them on the ground next to his head, as if Cyno had pinned him rather than Alhaitham pulling him closer.

“So, General, will you run? And, if you do, will you be able to forget all of this and move on?”

Cyno couldn’t even blink, not to mention run away from him now.

“My concerns aren’t unfounded,” he pointed out weakly.

“They aren’t,” Alhaitham agreed.

“It wouldn’t be unwarranted or crazy to go along with my plan.”

“No, but I certainly wouldn’t like it,” Alhaitham said, nose wrinkling.

Cyno sighed deeply, his hand unintentionally gripping Alhaitham’s tighter.

“I wouldn’t either,” he admitted.

Alhaitham laughed at him, “I know that, that’s why I argued against it.”

“Yesterday, didn’t you say it was unpleasant? I was surprised you argued with me, I thought you might share my viewpoint on this,” Cyno pointed out, hanging his head low.

“It was unpleasant,” Alhaitham insisted sourly, “I have real feelings for you, the ones from the potion were grossly artificial and cheap by comparison.”

Cyno groaned, “What? Your actual feelings were just stronger than the potion’s artificial feelings then?”

“Yes.” Alhaitham admitted easily, “Though, I admit, it was strong enough to make it more difficult to control myself. If you have double the usual urges telling you to grab someone’s hand, it becomes more difficult to ignore them.”

“That was your struggle? I thought you were upset to have feelings for me.”

Alhaitham grabbed his head with his free hand, raising it so Cyno could see the unimpressed look Alhaitham was directing at him.

“I chose to look at you.”

“I-”

“I told you yesterday, I’d choose you if it happened again. I’d choose you instinctively, every time, which is why I wouldn’t be able to move on and ignore our feelings either,” Alhaitham insisted, his hand moving around to hold Cyno by the back of the neck.

“I- oh.”

“Yes, oh,” Alhaitham said with an eyeroll, “Are you convinced now, or do I need to talk even more sense into you?”

Cyno’s mouth felt dry. Leaning over Alhaitham, their hands interlocked, and Alhaitham’s other hand drawing him closer, he wondered how it might feel to still back out at this point. To be left with just this memory and the infinite nagging knowledge of the potential for how much more they could have been.

There were many nights where he was stuck thinking of his regrets, to condemn even Alhaitham to that pile alongside the corpses and bloody mistakes and experiments that haunted him…he couldn’t bring himself to do such a thing.

“...You win,” he broke, “You…I want you around me all the time, I want you to talk to me, I want so much from you,” he said, the words coming out desperately now that he realized he could say them, that he didn’t have to force them down.

Alhaitham’s thumb stroked absently, reassuringly, where it pressed against his neck.

“I’m sorry,” he said, his head landing against Alhaitham’s shoulder, “I didn’t want to reject you. I didn’t know how to deal with any of this, and that felt like the safest option. Having you…being in a relationship with you, it didn’t feel like something I should have.”

Alhaitham hummed, his hand moved through Cyno’s hair, catching on a few tangles along the way.

“I think it’s something you should have,” Alhaitham said, voice soft in response to the atmosphere.

Cyno breathed deeply, Alhaitham’s scent filling his senses more than anything else.

“If I’m something you want,” he said, a bit incredulously, “then I think you should have me too.”

“Good,” Alhaitham said, voice pleased beyond measure.

“Ask me out then,” he urged, prodding at Cyno’s shoulder.

Cyno laughed, his heart pounding his chest. He moved to sit up fully, but Alhaitham caught him before he could get away, stopping him when they were face to face again and refusing to allow him to pull back further.

“You can do that from here,” he noted, his expression daring Cyno to disagree.

Cyno laughed again, harder this time.

“This is absurd,” he said about the entire situation after he caught his breath.

Alhaitham shrugged, “Maybe,” he agreed in amusement, “Now go ahead, I’m waiting.”

Cyno laughed one last time, his hand landing on Alhaitham’s cheek.

“Please, go on a date with me,” he pleaded.

Alhaitham smiled, “See? That wasn’t so difficult. I’d be happy to.”

Something about the answer, or Alhaitham’s smile, or the newfound freedom he had to express his feelings left Cyno breathlessly eager.

“Go on a second date with me too. And a third,” he requested.

“Easily,” Alhaitham assured.

“As soon as possible,” Cyno said urgently.

Alhaitham huffed at him, “All that convincing and now you’re telling me to speed up.”

“Sorry,” Cyno told him sincerely.

“It’s really fine. You got there in the end,” Alhaitham assured, letting out a breath.

“If you want our second and third date to happen soon, then we need to get our first date out of the way,” Alhaitham pivoted.

Cyno blinked down at him.

“Do you want to go on one now?” He asked, excitement already building in his chest.

“Couldn’t we just count this as a date?” Alhaitham suggested.

Cyno glanced around at their empty spot by the river.

“Shouldn’t a date have more to it than just sitting by the river together?”

“Not necessarily,” Alhaitham shrugged, “I think so long as we’re enjoying it, then it can count as a date. Though I agree this date could be improved with just a little more to it,” he said blandly, looking at Cyno expectantly.

Cyno stared at him uncomprehending until Alhaitham gave a put-upon sigh.

Deliberately, Alhaitham’s eyes shifted down from his, lingered on the spot for a moment before flicking up and back down again.

Cyno stuttered, “That’s- is that a good idea?”

“Why not?” Alhaitham asked, unconcerned.

“I mean, it’s not as if we’re in a private space,” Cyno said.

“No one’s around, you’d hear them if they were,” Alhaitham pointed out.

“I- what if I got- distracted?” He asked, cheeks hot.

Alhaitham’s eyebrows rose, “Oh? And what would be distracting you so much to the point you couldn’t listen for a passerby?” He asked, slightly smug.

“You, you’re going to be relentless with the teasing, aren’t you?” Cyno asked.

“Probably, yes.”

“You already agreed to it,” Alhaitham pointed out.

Taking a deep breath and eyeing him, “Yeah, I did,” Cyno agreed, leaning in closer.

Alhaitham’s breath hitched in surprise. Cyno smiled slightly at the sound before catching Alhaitham’s chin with his free hand and, finally, closing the distance between them just as Alhaitham had asked him to.

He could feel Alhaitham’s grip tighten in his other hand and pressed back in acknowledgement.

The kiss was, frankly, even more distracting than Cyno had been expecting.

He’d meant to keep it light, to not fall too deeply into it, but there was little he could do to stop himself after he got the first taste.

Alhaitham’s fingers tangled into his hair, reciprocating every ounce of energy Cyno was putting into the kiss.

Every breath, sound, and movement caught Cyno’s attention and urged him to try and spur more reactions from Alhaitham.

His hand landed on Alhaitham’s chest, pressing him further into the ground as he leaned closer and closer and-

A hand pushed him back.

They separated with heavy breaths, and Cyno stared down at Alhaitham wide-eyed.

“Footsteps,” Alhaitham explained in amusement.

Cyno blinked in confusion before his brain could process the word. Sure enough, once he listened, he could hear the sound of distant footsteps on the path.

They were unlikely to come this way, but Cyno still flushed in embarrassment at his concerns for not noticing them becoming true.

He glanced down, prepared to pull both of them up only to get distracted by the mirrored blush on Alhaitham’s face.

Raising a hand to it, he could feel the heat radiating from Alhaitham’s cheek as he continued to catch his breath.

“The feelings…were worms…” he muttered inanely, Nahida’s metaphor still in the back of his head.

The hook was the potion, Alhaitham, of course, the fish. How embarrassing that he’d almost gotten their feelings explained to him by Nahida of all people. He could only be thankful that she'd chosen to be discrete.

“...Are you okay?” Alhaitham asked after silence followed the out-of-context muttering.

“Yes,” he said, no reason to embarrass himself in front of Alhaitham further for now, “Do you, uh, want to go get dinner?”

“Would that be our second date? Or is it still part of our first?”

Cyno thought about it, decided he had no idea, and simply shrugged, “Whatever you think would be better.”

“Hm, our second then, might as well pad the numbers considering you took so long to get us here,” Alhaitham said with a shrug.

Cyno huffed at him, finally letting go of him to begin the process of getting up. Somewhere along the way, he had swung his leg over Alhaitham’s hips to pin him down better. Deciding it was better for his sanity to not think too hard about it, he got up without a word and held out a hand to pull Alhaitham along with him.

Once Alhaitham had righted himself, they both looked down at their hands.

“Should we let go? We haven't decided if we want to be public or anything yet…,” Cyno trailed off.

“...We could probably talk our way out of it if anyone asked,” Alhaitham said.

Cyno laughed.

“Guess you’re already hooked on holding my hand,” he joked.

Alhaitham’s eyebrows furrowed, “Why’d you say that like a pun? What is it? “Hook?” How did any of that conversation relate to hooks?” He asked in confusion.

“Ah, it was just something Lord Kusanali said, don’t worry about it.”

“My partner is already keeping secrets from me. I can’t believe it,” Alhaitham complained.

“Partner?” Cyno asked, perking up.

“What? Is there some other way you’d prefer I refer to you?”

“No,” Cyno said, shaking his head, “I’d be happy to be your partner, and even happier for you to be mine.”

Alhaitham smiled at him, pulling him forward, back toward the city.

“Good, because I don't intend to let that title ago.”

Cyno breathed deeply, the last vestiges of tension had finally gone away, and his anxieties were being overtaken by excitement.

Walking alongside Alhaitham, he could breathe deeply, think clearly.

“I’m happy to trust you with it," he told him, squeezing his hand as he did.