Chapter Text
It all started with a simple enough idea by the very person Cyno would have least expected it from: Kaveh.
“Cyno, there you are! I’ve been looking for you all over the place!”
Cyno looked up from where he had been inspecting the belongings of the Rtawahist researcher fidgeting next to him in the entrance hall to the House of Daena. An illegal drug created to temporarily boost students’ brain capacity had been keeping the Matra on their toes for days now and they still were nowhere close to figuring out how many had received the product before the capturement of the dealer.
The aftermath of the case would certainly take at least a few more days to take care of but at this point, the matter wasn’t urgent enough that it would prevent Cyno from sparing a minute or two for his friend.
“Hello, Kaveh. What is it that you need my help with?” he asked, curiously taking in Kaveh’s rather disheveled appearance. His hair was as messy as only a pair of hands repeatedly pulling on it would make it and his clothes looked like he had spent at least a few minutes crawling through the dirt recently. Cyno’s eyes stopped for an especially long time on the stack of crooked blueprints Kaveh was pressing against his chest like a lifeline.
Cyno couldn’t help the way his eyes narrowed at the sight - it was merely a look of concern, yet it made the scholar next to him shiver in her shoes. “…Is everything alright?” Cyno added belatedly, earning himself a sheepish grin from the newcomer.
Having built a solid friendship with Kaveh even before the Interdarshan Championship a few weeks ago, this was far from the first time Cyno had encountered his friend looking under the weather.
Kaveh had been dealt a hard lot in life, that much was obvious even to people who didn’t know him half as well as Cyno had come to. Although, unfortunately, Cyno had soon had to recognize the architect’s circumstances as part of life’s unfairness that even the General Mahamatra could only combat in small strides.
Which, of course, didn’t make him worry about his friend any less.
However, as he did so often, Kaveh dismissed his concerns with a blinding brightness that Cyno had rarely come across from anyone else. “Ah, it’s nothing much… I just misplaced my house key. Again. And it so happens that I forgot the project that’s due today at home when I left, so… But luckily, I still had the previous drafts in my office!” Now that he had been somewhat reassured by Kaveh’s usually lively attitude, Cyno raised an eyebrow in slight amusement. He had seen the mess of blueprints that was Kaveh’s office - how the architect found anything in there, he would never understand.
“But that’s not important right now!” Kaveh hurried to continue, waving his arms around in urgent gestures that often accompanied his more passionate explanations. The Rtawahist student flinched away as Kaveh’s thumb just barely missed her nose. “I’ve been looking for you for ages but you’re a really hard man to track down. Not much of a surprise, I guess, with you being the General Mahamatra and all.”
Cyno nodded in agreement. “I returned from my most recent mission yesterday.”
“Yeah, I kinda figured,” Kaveh chuckled, just before his expression was overtaken by the look that Cyno knew screamed ‘business’. Ah, the matter must be quite serious then. “Anyway, I don’t wanna keep you too long, I can see you’re busy. But this is kinda important. I heard you’re on vacation the second week of February, is that right?”
Cyno nodded again, slowly this time, as he turned Kaveh’s words over in his head. He already wasn’t so sure he liked the ring of this. The second week of February… it couldn’t be, could it?
Deciding that this matter demanded his full attention, Cyno motioned for one of the matra that had been sent to search suspects along with him to take over the case of the Rtawahist student. After ensuring that the task would be handled with the appropriate care, he led Kaveh away from the commotion and over to a much more quiet corner of the hall.
Kaveh hardly spared the exchange a second glance. Immersed in his thoughts as he was, he didn’t seem to notice Cyno’s growing doubt about their conversation, either. There was a glow in his ruby eyes that Cyno had only seen on him in the midst of planning a particularly challenging architecture project.
“You see, Nilou and I gathered a bunch of people to throw a party for Alhaitham’s birthday. He’d just ignore it completely otherwise, that grouchy birthday grinch. But at the end of the day, we’re all really happy he was born… I’d have frozen to death out in the streets by now if he hadn’t been. But thanks to him I have a roof over my head. …well, most of the time.
Anyway, the planning for the party’s all done and your role will be the most important: you’ll distract him for us while we set everything up.”
So it was exactly as Cyno had feared. Kaveh approaching him about his vacation was connected to Alhaitham’s birthday. Then again… “Excuse me?”
There was still a chance that he had heard wrong, wasn’t there? Besides, it seemed pretty unlike Kaveh to formulate his request as an order, even when he was clearly too enthusiastic about a matter to worry about his phrasing. However, Cyno’s hearing had never failed him before and it wasn’t likely to do so now - which was a fact that he had never thought he’d come to mourn one day, albeit briefly.
This was not a turn in his day that Cyno had expected or would appreciate or worse, knew how to handle easily.
Kaveh remained oblivious to his rising panic so far - Cyno had long learned not to let it show on his face, after all.
“Nilou and I talked about it quite a lot and we agreed that’s our best shot. If you don’t mind.”
Well, Cyno did, in fact, mind. Unfortunately, explaining his reasoning to Kaveh without disclosing information he planned to take to the grave would be a challenge.
Cyno had better try and keep that from happening.
“But why would you think I’m the one best suited for that task?” Surely, there had to be a mistake, after all… “I haven’t spoken with Alhaitham since the Interdarshan Championship and we haven’t had a noteworthy interaction since his demotion.” Which was a shameful fact that Cyno only had himself to blame for. But hopefully Kaveh was unaware of that.
He wasn’t.
“And he hasn’t been shutting up about that recently, always talking my ear off about how you keep turning down his offers to meet up now that you don’t work together anymore. Honestly, I thought it was impossible for him to complain any more than he did before but here we are.”
It was sheer skill, training and determination that kept Cyno’s eyes from widening to the size of saucers in surprise at Kaveh’s words. Alhaitham had been talking about him? It wasn’t shocking, of course, to mention a former close coworker - work partner, even - to one’s roommate on occasion but… from the way Kaveh put it, there was much more to it than that.
Although apparently Alhaitham had only informed Kaveh of how much of an annoyance he considered Cyno. And here Cyno had thought they had emerged from their partnership of leading the Akademiya’s reconstruction as good acquaintances at the very least - friends, even. Was that not the case anymore now that a month had passed?
(No, none of these thoughts made Cyno’s heart pick up its pace and the last one certainly didn’t make his chest sting, either.)
“I’m sorry, Kaveh, I don’t think you should involve me in this.”
As much as Cyno felt bad denying his friend such an obviously heartfelt request, agreeing to Kaveh’s plan would pose a personal risk to him that he wasn’t willing to take. However, he couldn’t deny how big of a dilemma this was: for all that Kaveh complained about Alhaitham - it was a two-way street, really - Cyno could tell how much the two roommates secretly cared for each other. Although he doubted either of them would admit to it out loud even with a knife at their throat - stubborn minds ran in their friend group, it seemed.
But apart from Cyno’s personal affairs, there was something else to consider. Honestly, Cyno couldn’t imagine that Kaveh and Nilou hadn’t at least thought about it.
“And even if I did agree, do you really think Alhaitham would appreciate a surprise like this? Besides, I doubt he’d take long to catch on. Alhaitham isn’t the type to let himself be fooled easily.”
The dismissive, unconcerned gesture that Kaveh chose to respond with couldn’t possibly have been more unfitting in Cyno’s opinion. “Nah, don’t worry about it. We got this! Nilou and I really outdid ourselves with this plan and we’ll make sure even Alhaitham will enjoy it! He might not look it but there’s actually a number of people out there that mean something to him and who he’ll be happy to meet again. But I mean it when I say you’re the key to this, Cyno. You’re the only one who he’ll focus on enough to not notice what we’re up to!”
Cyno heaved a deep sigh. He could already feel a headache coming on. “Listen, Kaveh-“
“No, you listen! I know Alhaitham’s important to you too, Cyno, you’re a good guy like that. It’s been a while so I’m sure you would love to see him again, too!”
Cyno could feel himself being pushed further and further into that metaphorical corner that he had hoped to keep a distance from. If only he could apply the argumentation tactics he had mastered in the matra when arguing with his friends - sadly, in situations like this one, his impeccable success rate as the Marta’s most feared negotiator and interrogator meant nothing at all. To top it off, Cyno would be the first one to admit that he had an especially hard time saying no to Kaveh’s sunshine grins and earnest determination. (Although, to Cyno’s great relief, Kaveh himself didn’t seem to have noticed that fact quite yet.)
Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. Kaveh was right, Cyno had been wanting to see Alhaitham for weeks now. “You’re right, I-“
”Wait, I actually am?!” Kaveh looked as surprised as Cyno felt at his sudden outburst. Although he recovered far too quickly for Cyno’s taste. “Wow, that’s what I call a lucky guess!” So, to make matters worse, now Cyno had been played? Archons, he was really starting to lose his touch.
“I mean it, though, Cyno, you’ll be doing a lot of people a big favor if you agree, yourself and Alhaitham included!” There it was again, the ace up Kaveh’s sleeve that never failed to do Cyno in: that earnest glimmer in his eyes, that wide honest-to-the-gods smile.
And just like that, Cyno knew he had lost. “Please don’t make me regret this,” he groaned weakly, pretending that he didn’t smile just a little as well when Kaveh jumped in the air in joyful triumph. “Great! We’re counting on you, Cyno!”
And just like that, after enthusiastically saying his goodbyes, Kaveh skipped off in the direction of the library, leaving Cyno to stand alone in their corner. There he was, staring into the bottomless void that was the awareness of his fate - a fate that he had brought upon himself.
-
The following weeks leading up to Alhaitham’s birthday were spent in quietly lingering agony that only spiked up into full blown panic when Cyno was left alone with his thoughts for too long.
While he would never dare tell Kaveh this, there was a good reason why he had started avoiding Alhaitham after their work partnership had ended: something that he couldn’t risk Alhaitham finding out about. One didn’t need to even know the Akademiya’s Scribe personally to be aware that he was the most intelligent man in the entire nation. It was no use hiding from him because somehow, he was bound to find out either way.
If Cyno showed up around Alhaitham and ended up acting completely differently from how he usually did because of those new feelings inside of him, Alhaitham would know. Alhaitham would know that something was up and eventually, come to discover the ginormous crush for him that Cyno had developed for him.
He counted himself incredibly lucky to only have understood those unfamiliar feelings after the end of their work relationship.
There had been a build up, sure, of Cyno having thoughts that he wasn’t accustomed with: for example, the frequent wish that his time together with Alhaitham wouldn’t have to end, even if they had simply been sorting through files in Alhaitham’s office, the silence interrupted only by the shuffling of paper and the scratching of pens.
Or the realization of how much he appreciated and admired certain parts of Alhaitham’s character, such as his quick mind, his independence, even his stubbornness. (The moment he watched Alhaitham vehemently refuse Kaveh’s demands of getting rid of particular pieces of their furniture and thought of it as endearing, he should have known he was in far too deep.)
Then there had been the moments when Cyno looked at Alhaitham and noticed how fair his skin was, how long his gray eyelashes were. Times when Cyno had suddenly realized just how incredibly attractive the man was with his broad shoulders, his tall and muscular build, his perfectly symmetrical face with sharp features, with those piercing turquoise and crimson eyes and those soft-looking curls of gray hair.
And suddenly Cyno had found himself wondering how it would feel to touch - to run his hands through Alhaitham’s hair, stroke a thumb over his sharp cheekbone, press his lips to that strong neck in a show of appreciation, entwine those long fingers with his own.
Unfamiliar as he had been with those new urges, it had taken him a while to know them for what they were. A few weeks later after the phenomenon had first come to his attention, he had been listening to Collei telling him about a romance novel she had been reading and it had simply clicked. The realization that, oh, Cyno was absolutely infatuated with Alhaitham.
He hadn’t thought much of it at first - it wasn’t like he felt the pressing need to do anything at all about those feelings. What did people do with such feelings? How was Cyno supposed to act?
Unfortunately, it was this very indecision that, somehow, had rendered Cyno incapable of normally interacting with Alhaitham at all. What was normal, anyway? How had he been behaving around Alhaitham before, what had been their ‘normal’? Cyno couldn’t seem to remember - which mostly ended up with him acting like a useless, mostly mute puppet the moment Alhaitham appeared in the vicinity. His body failed him while his brain went into overdrive, resulting in a complete mess of thoughts and no helpful conclusions to speak of.
A few disastrous encounters later - none of them longer than two minutes before Cyno had made a strategic retreat - there had no longer been any doubt in his mind: Things couldn’t continue like this. Apart from the fact that Cyno was making a complete fool of himself, he had no way of hiding anything at all from Alhaitham if he didn’t even know how to act around the man anymore.
However, there was no doubt in his mind that Alhaitham noticing his feelings would eventually lead to Alhaitham completely cutting Cyno out of his life. If there was one thing that Cyno had learned about Alhaitham by sticking close to his side for work purposes, it was that Alhaitham didn’t appreciate receiving too much affection from a single individual. There were few he tolerated as close acquaintances and even less he called his friends.
And Cyno, who barely even fit in one of those categories, let alone the other, was far from irreplaceable in Alhaitham’s life. If Alhaitham felt that it would be a challenge to keep Cyno at arm’s length like he did most people, he would most definitely prefer not to interact with him at all. Much like Cyno had never gotten another glimpse of the poor souls who had gone out of their way to confess their love to Alhaitham.
But all of those problems were temporary, Cyno was sure of it. He just needed some time and space to get his feelings back under control, time to form a devise a plan of action. A foolproof plan that would allow him and Alhaitham to return to whatever their status quo had been and continue their friendly-acquaintances-maybe-more relationship where they had left off. Where they had stood before Cyno had bolted with his tail between his legs.
He could manage all of that - he would. Eventually. In due time.
A time that had not yet come.
Hence, Cyno simply couldn’t help the fear he felt every time he tried to imagine the countless ways in which Alhaitham’s birthday could go horribly wrong for him.
-
His nerves shoved no signs of calming down by the time the fateful day rolled around and he was off to his doom, equipped with nothing but his casual wardrobe, his keys and a few mora.
He was at least grateful for the fact that, when he arrived at the entrance of Alhaitham’s residence, it was just in time to witness Kaveh’s unsuccessful attempts at kicking Alhaitham out of the house. The scene served as a distraction from Cyno’s worries, if nothing else.
“I told you, you stubborn mule, I can’t focus with you here!” Kaveh complained loudly as he put all of his strength into pushing Alhaitham into the direction of the open house door. Alhaitham, his expression looking the least impressed Cyno had ever seen, didn’t budge even an inch from his spot next to the wardrobe.
But no matter how slim Kaveh’s chance of success seemed, his determination didn’t falter. “There’s this super important project I really have to finish by tomorrow and I can’t ever work properly with you lurking around giving me those judgmental glares!”
Alhaitham arched a perfectly angular eyebrow at him in clear skepticism, still refusing to give Kaveh even an inch. “You do realize this is my house that you’re trying to kick me out of?”
Kaveh groaned from both frustration and exertion. He gave Alhaitham’s muscular form a final push then conceded for the time being, in order to catch his breath.
That was when Alhaitham first noticed Cyno’s presence, no longer distracted by Kaveh’s ministrations. His eyes widened just slightly in surprise at the sight of him. This, Cyno knew, was the most emotion he ever allowed himself to show in his expression.
“Cyno,” Alhaitham greeted him and if Cyno hadn’t been so busy trying not to get lost in Alhaitham’s sharp eyes, he would have noticed that Alhaitham sounded just a little breathless now, too. “I haven’t seen you around in a while. What brings you to my humble residence today of all days?”
Cyno tried very hard not to blush at Alhaitham’s attention alone as he attempted to formulate an answer. Words over words were tumbling over each other in his head but none seemed quite right - Kaveh convinced me, I’m here to spend time with you, I’ve been wanting to see you.
Nope, he couldn’t really say either of that.
Before Alhaitham could notice his inner struggle and question him, Kaveh must have sensed his chance to finish his task, now that Alhaitham was distracted. He bounced back from his moment of panting heavily and dramatically clutching onto his left side to shove Alhaitham a few steps towards the door.
“I got Cyno here to keep you busy while I work, don’t you dare come back before sunset, you disturbance, you!”
Cyno couldn’t help but think that Kaveh’s approach was about as subtle as a raging sumpter beast. Then again, it had saved him from having to answer Alhaitham’s question so he was hardly in a position to complain.
Even now, Alhaitham’s eyes hadn’t left Cyno and he had to fight the urge to squirm under his piercing gaze. Had Kaveh been right when claiming that Alhaitham was angry at him? Had Cyno hurt his pride, denying his requests to meet up time and time again?
“So that’s how it is. Although I do wonder: have you even asked Cyno what he thinks of this arrangement?”
This time, it was Cyno’s eyes that widened slightly in surprise. What was Alhaitham getting at? Was it normal for him to be so conscious of someone else’s feelings in a situation like this one? The last time Cyno had checked, that hadn’t been the case.
Kaveh, meanwhile, seemed more scandalized by Alhaitham’s question than anything else. “Nuh-uh, that ain’t workin’ on me, you sly hawk!” he raged, pointing an accusing finger at Alhaitham. “Don’t you try and guilt-trip me into calling this off. You’re not fooling me so easily, mister!”
This was taking too long. The longer the conversation continued, the more time Alhaitham would have to question both Cyno’s and Kaveh’s motivations. At this rate, he would find out about the surprise party before Operation Distraction had even started - if he hadn’t already. It was about dear time for Cyno to step in.
“I’ll have you know, Alhaitham, I’m more than capable of making my own decisions, according to my own wishes,” he ended up pointing out, a little more sharply than necessary. It did the job, at least.
The look that crossed Alhaitham’s face in response was unreadable - even for Cyno who had spent months trying to figure out the man’s expressions. “Of course,” he answered eventually with an unexpectedly polite nod. “In that case, shall we depart?”
Cyno blinked in renewed surprise as he watched Alhaitham grab his coat from the coat rack before making his way towards Cyno. He wasn’t even bringing a book?
Kaveh behind him looked as confused at Alhaitham’s reaction as Cyno felt. That had been… strangely easy?
Kaveh only recovered by the time Alhaitham had passed the threshold. Still looking puzzled, he shuffled after his roommate to close the door behind him. “A-and I mean it! Don’t you dare come back before sundown!”
With a last glare at the two of them that he must think was threatening, he shoved the door in their faces.
The silence that enveloped the pair after the bang of the door being forcefully shut was thick enough Cyno could have cut it with his staff.
Once again, his brain was back to the struggle of finding appropriate words. Alhaitham didn’t quite seem to share his sense of urgency.
“Should we be on our way, then?” Cyno managed at last, sending a silent thanks to the Archons that his matra training had taught him to keep his voice steady even in extreme situations. “Have you had lunch yet? If not, we could head to Lambad’s Tavern?”
The look Alhaitham directed at him remained completely unreadable. It was unnerving, to say the least - Cyno had believed that he had gotten pretty adept at reading Alhaitham. He must have been mistaken, considering that this was the second time in not even five minutes that he found himself at a complete loss.
“I haven’t eaten. In fact, I was just about to prepare lunch when Kaveh started making a ruckus. Let us head to the tavern.”
And so they did.
The silence between the two of them returned as they walked down the busy midday streets, keeping an appropriate distance between each other despite the people rushing past them. It was awkward, to say the least - to Cyno, that was.
There was no denying that the fact irked him since he had never felt the need to fill the silence between himself and Alhaitham with conversation before. In fact, it used to be one of his favorite parts about their interactions: being able to work next to each other in companionable silence and having no issue with it. Besides, it wasn’t like Alhaitham had ever been one to appreciate pointless smalltalk, straightforward as he was by nature. (It was one of the many things Cyno cherished so much about him, not that he could ever let Alhaitham find out.)
Then again… “How have you been lately? You’re right, we haven’t seen each other in a while.” He couldn’t help asking - not when this very question had been circling around his mind for weeks, demanding to be answered. Now he could only hope that Alhaitham wouldn’t end up asking why Cyno had been denying his invitations lately. If he did, Cyno would be forced to make up an excuse about work - which was about the least desirable turn of events he could think of.
Then again, Alhaitham strongly disliked discussing work matters out of the office so would he even bother answering Cyno’s question?
“There’s been nothing out of the ordinary. I have yet to fully dispose of the mess my replacements have caused while I was working as the Acting Grand Sage. Unsurprisingly, the scholars haven’t been any less impertinent than usual, either. These days, I find myself unable to approve more than one out of ten theses I receive.”
Cyno found himself hiding a smile at the familiar complaint. That did sound like Alhaitham, alright.
The next second, he felt the urge to pinch himself. Since when had he been one to smile mindlessly at something as simple as this? It was like he was asking to be found out.
However, when Alhaitham’s eyes found his, there was no hint of anything but genuine curiosity to be found in his expression.
“How about you? I’ve heard that the Matra have been busy assisting the Corps of Thirty with a case of missing valuables around the Grand Bazaar.”
Once again, Cyno could hardly suppress his surprise. Alhaitham wished to continue their conversation about work? Even more, he truly seemed to care for Cyno’s answer. Had Kaveh been wrong, after all, and Alhaitham wasn’t actually mad at Cyno? He could only hope so.
Gods, how much he had missed even just having simple conversations such as this one with Alhaitham, how bitterly he had missed even just feeling Alhaitham’s sharp gaze on him, the knowledge of it making Cyno’s skin prickle so much more than the cool winter breeze brushing past him, carrying the scent of padisarahs. How much Cyno had missed peaceful moments like this one, when the noise of the busy street around them seemed to fade into the background, when nothing seemed important but Alhaitham’s next answer.
Cyno hadn’t thought that it would take him meeting Alhaitham again to realize just how much he had truly missed the man.
“It makes sense that you would have heard of that. Yes, I have a great number of people working the case. We suspect the losses to be up to 500 thousand mora at this point. Our first assumption was that the culprit was merely an especially skilled pickpocket - however, I’ve been rethinking that conclusion lately. It seems unlikely that a single individual could cause such damage without us even having a suspect. In fact, we are starting to consider…”
Cyno couldn’t help feeling both surprised and unspeakably relieved at how easy it was to talk to Alhaitham even with his own complex feelings in the mix. Then again, hadn’t that always been the case between the two of them? Alhaitham was a good listener when he wanted to be, easily capable of reacting at the right times and interjecting to ask questions that often required Cyno to stop and think for a moment. His answers were well thought through and of great consequence to whatever topic they happened to be talking about.
From work, they moved onto the events of the Interdarshan Championship and their effect on Kaveh. (Which was yet another proof that Alhaitham cared about his roommate more than he let on.) Next was the infrastructure projects in the desert and the great success they had been so far - an achievement that the both of them were greatly responsible for.
It seemed like hardly any time had passed when they reached Lambad’s Tavern, buzzing with visitors around lunch hour, the air rich with the scent of perfectly cooked meat and spices. Cyno couldn’t help but feel nostalgic at the sight of their familiar corner booth remaining unoccupied - he and Alhaitham had come to the tavern daily to share lunch during their work partnership. It was yet another one of their shared times that Cyno missed dearly: the lazy flow of conversation of the other patrons as the two of them toasted to a new, better Sumeru.
They took their seats across from each other with practiced ease - the feeling was as natural as it had been a month ago. Despite the many other guests, it took only a few minutes until the waitress arrived at their table - she, too, was a familiar sight. She must remember the two of them as well, seeing as her eyes lit up notably as she spotted them. “General Mahamatra, Acting Grand Sage! It’s a pleasure to welcome you again after such a long time!”
“I’m no longer-” Alhaitham interjected at the same time as Cyno began to protest, “Actually, he isn’t-”
They cut themselves off to look at each other in baffled amusement. Had the corner of Alhaitham’s mouth just… quirked up into a fond smile? Must be a trick of the light.
The waitress stifled a giggle at their reactions. “Excuse me, of course you’re no longer the Acting Grand Sage, Scribe Alhaitham,” she corrected herself with a cheerful smile. “It’s been so long since the two of you last visited that I feared there might have been trouble in paradise. I’m glad to see that’s not the case.”
Upon hearing those words, Cyno somehow managed to choke on his own spit and, in consequence, have a violent coughing fit. In an instant, Alhaitham was by his side to pat his back and help him get some air back into his lungs. Cyno was currently too preoccupied to think anything of it.
The waitress couldn’t possibly be hinting at what he thought he was, could she? How did she even come to that completely absurd conclusion? Way to instantly remind Cyno of just how awkward he should be feeling right now. How in the world should he even respond to that? Deny it and prolong the discussion on the matter? Wave it off with all the nonchalance he could muster? Ignore it completely?
Then again, none of that would work when he was still close to suffocating.
Fortunately, Cyno knew of a way to both distract from the waitress’s comment as well as successfully diffuse the tension. He had spent years making sure he had countless jokes at his disposal for situations like this one: this was his specialty.
As soon as his breathing had evened out, Cyno schooled his face into his best serious expression as he opened his mouth to speak. It was time to deliver - maybe he could even impress someone as stoic as Alhaitham with this one. “I didn’t think this would be all it takes to almost kill the General Mahamatra.” He paused for effect, savoring the stunned silence between the three of them for just a moment. “Well, chokes on me.”
Instead of the amused laughter from the waitress that Cyno had expected, maybe even a little chuckle from Alhaitham - Gods, how he would have loved to hear that - there was silence. Well, that was alright. It wasn’t unusual for people to fail to understand his jokes but he would have expected more from Alhaitham, at the very least. It couldn’t be helped.
“You see, the joke is that I was at the receiving end of a negative incident that could arguably be considered funny. Because of that, I am the subject of this joke, which means that the idiom applies to this case. On top of that, I made a pun out of it. The incident in question was me choking so after I connected that to the most similar sounding word of the idiom, I instead received the combination of ‘chokes on you’, with the ‘ch’ of ‘choke’ having replaced the ‘j’ of ‘jokes’.”
When the silence stretched further despite his undoubtedly impeccable explanation, Cyno had to admit that he was beginning to worry. Did they not consider his joke funny at all? That couldn’t be the case, considering that this had been one of his best works in a long while, so what was the matter?
The waitress seemed at a complete loss for words, while Alhaitham… Alhaitham had a grave expression on his face like he had been confronted with another stack of reports to sign five minutes before the supposed end of his workday.
“There are multiple reasons why this supposed joke isn’t funny in the least,” he responded, his voice having taken the neutral tone that Cyno knew he reserved for all matters business. “If you wish for me to do so, I will gladly give you a detailed explanation on each one of them. Most important, however, is the fact that the subject of this joke is your own death. Knowing of the situations in which you like to tell your jokes, your audience will either be your co-workers or your friends, none of whom will find anything even remotely funny about the prospect of you dying. As such, the first correction you should make to your joke is to use euphemisms in the first sentence of your joke or change your wording entirely, for example ‘So the General Mahamatra’s arch enemy turns out to be a little cough? Chokes on me.’
On top of that…”
Baffled as Cyno was at Alhaitham’s reaction - this was him helping Cyno to improve his joke, wasn’t it?! - he couldn’t help but hang on every single one of his words. Yes, this was why he adored this man so much, why warmth pooled in his chest when Alhaitham was around, why his heart was picking up an unusual pace again.
The waitress took another minute to break free from her confusion, her head snapping from Alhaitham to Cyno and back as Alhaitham’s suggestion developed into an animated conversation between the two of them. Finally, when she apparently remembered the fact that she had other customers waiting for her, she loudly cleared her throat. Cyno, who had just been explaining to Alhaitham the great effects of a well thought-out joke, trailed off and turned to look at her. At some point in the conversation, he had believed that she had left, only Alhaitham remaining at his side. It seemed that wasn’t the case.
“Would you like to order?”
Cyno was glad that Alhaitham hurried to answer for the both of them - he was a little preoccupied fighting down the heat that had started rising to his cheeks.
“Of course. The two of us would like to have the usual dish: one fish roll each. On top of that, we would like a bottle of sweet plum wine.” Sweet plum wine… Cyno’s favorite. But… hadn’t Alhaitham mentioned that he wasn’t too big a fan of the beverage himself? His tastes must have changed since the last time they had shared alcohol.
Still, the fact that Alhaitham recalled Cyno’s usual order this clearly made another wave of warmth spread through Cyno’s entire body. The effect these feelings had on him when Alhaitham was around… it was a truly terrifying thing. But not too unpleasant, either.
The waitress’s winning smile was back in full force. “It seems you two are still on the same wavelength. Sorry to have assumed there was trouble in your relationship.”
Cyno avoided choking once more by a hair. By the time he had regained his composure, the waitress had left.
As they waited for their food to arrive, Cyno tried not to think too hard about the fact that unlike him, Alhaitham had had the time to correct her assumption but had made no move to do so.
-
The remaining time they spent at the tavern passed without incident. Instead, Cyno soon found himself enjoying some great food and wine, along with the best conversation he had had in quite a while.
In the end, Alhaitham insisted on paying for their meal, which startled Cyno so much that he had no chance to object before it was too late. This was just another matter in which Alhaitham had been acting a bit… odd today.
The same applied to the look Cyno spotted on his face as they left the tavern: a thoughtful frown that Cyno had only seen on him a few times so far, none of which had led to anything good. This expression… it implied there was a matter Alhaitham thought needed to be dealt with swiftly but there was a dilemma that kept him from doing so.
It was not a look Cyno liked on him.
“Is something the matter?” he found himself asking, his usually impeccable brain to mouth filter failing him for the second time that day.
To his great surprise, Alhaitham looked torn, like there were words on his tongue that he wasn’t sure if he should voice them. Alhaitham, one of the most direct people Cyno knew, enough so to often come off as rude, was holding back his words? How odd, indeed.
“If I’m, being honest, Cyno, I-” Cyno had never heard him sound so insecure and hesitant before.
Therefore, it wasn’t much of a surprise but still a small disappointment when Alhaitham cut himself off after a few words, his expression hardening. “Nevermind.”
What was going on? What could be so incriminating that even Alhaitham didn’t dare say it? Or was this a matter of who he would be saying it to? Had he stopped himself because he didn’t trust Cyno?
No, that was not a train of thought he should be taking. It was not his position to question what Alhaitham had chosen to keep from him. Besides, they were months away from having to question their trust in each other. If Alhaitham wanted to tell Cyno something, he would.
Speaking of secrets… had Alhaitham really not caught on to Kaveh’s plans yet? He would have undoubtedly called off the entire party if he had, after all.
But instead, he hadn’t mentioned wanting to return to his house even once so far. Could he possibly be having fun spending time with Cyno like this, even remotely as much as Cyno did? It would make sense, considering the companionship they had built between them during all of those shared work hours and lunches.
“I suggest we pay a quick visit to Puspa Café next, if you don’t mind,” Alhaitham’s voice snapped Cyno out of his thoughts after a few seconds. “I prefer to drink a special Mondstadian type of coffee that is hard to come by for most merchants so I usually order it from the café.”
Now that he mentioned it, Cyno did remember Alhaitham bringing up his tastes in coffee at one of their lunches once.
“Sure, why not?” he agreed easily. It wasn’t like he had any big plans for where to head next. He should have asked Kaveh to compile a list, while he was at it - hopefully this lack of foresight wouldn’t come back to bite him later.