Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The headmaster had left the two on that note, leaving no trace of his very presence. Cyno and Tighnari pondered on this very strange situation, and they needed to decide their next course of action quickly. For night had already befallen them, and they didn’t realize how tired they were until they saw the bed.

“I’m not sharing a bed with you.” Cyno said frankly, looking at Tighnari. He obviously felt the same way, especially with scenes from his earlier dream flashing in his brain. But he couldn’t help being offended by the statement for some reason. “We need to make use of whatever we have right now. We’re lucky we even have a bed.” he stated, his pre-ordained morals from childhood coming into play at that moment. “You take it,” Cyno said dismissively with a wave of his hand “I’ll sleep on the floor.”

The floor? The cold, hard floor?! “Don’t be ridiculous.” “I’m not, I’m used to it. Besides, I’m pretty sure princey can’t bear not having a bed all to himself.” Tighnari would get mad, but he actually found himself getting used to his retorts.

He couldn’t help thinking about his statement ‘I’m used to it.’ Why would someone raised in a royal family be used to sleeping on the floor?! It didn’t make sense. He wasn’t just being dramatic either. He was serious, and that made Tighnari concerned. “I’m alright with sharing.” he said calmly “really, its okay.”

Cyno suddenly found his heart warming slighly, no argument or retort this time from Tighnari. He found the actual concern in his voice strange, and he couldn’t tell if it was in a good way or a bad way. It had only been a day the two had met each other, and their relationship was already this complex. Was he faking it, just like Alhaitham did? He had no reason to be nice to him, other than a desire to make things right. After this was all over, what would their relationship even be? He’d probably ignore him.

Was it strange…that despite everything that happened…he wanted more than a situational alliance?

“No,” he shook his head, his tone suddenly becoming softer than usual “I’m fine…your tail would probably take up a lot of space anyway.” he pointed to Tighnari’s incredibly bushy fennec tail, which tighnari internally admitted would be quite annoying.

“But that isn’t fair..” Tighnari murmured under his breath, internally cringing on how goody-two shoes like it sounded. He couldn’t help it, and as cringy as it sounded, he knew he wasn’t wrong “I’ll sleep on the floor too then.” Tighnari’s declaration confused Cyno, to say the least “Whats the point of me sleeping on the floor then?!” he asked. “I’m petty, I’m not THIS petty.”

“It’s not out of pettiness,” Tighnari reassures “And I..I don’t know why actually. It’s not fair for you to wake up aching while I’m perfectly comfortable.” Cyno processed his statement for a moment before letting out a scoff of amusement “You really are a goody-two shoes aren’t you?”

“I suppose I am then.” he replied, actually breaking out into a smile and chuckling. His eyes crinkled at the corner just the slightest, and his eyes seemed to shine just a little brighter. Cyno usually wouldn’t have noticed it, but there was something suddenly so enticing about it. He realized that he had been staring at the boy for too long, tearing his eyes away in fluster.

He was probably just tired. Everything seemed like a weird fever dream at this point. “I wasn’t trying to be funny.” he muttered grumpily, crossing his arms before pulling the blanket “I’m taking the blanket, I get cold at night.”

“I was gonna take the pillow anyway,” Tighnari replied, taking the pillow and fluffing it up before putting it under his head. “It’s better for my neck.” Cyno didn’t say anything, going over to the small overhead lamp, the only thing that lit up the room, and pulled the trigger line. Darkness enveloped the room, and Tighnari could immediately feel himself relaxing, his thoughts drifting off like usual. So did Cyno’s, and their thoughts aligned quite well.

Why had they been sent to that time in particular? What did they have to do to ensure the safety of their timeline? The tension was palapable. They were exhausted, but worries and anxiety held off the need for sleep. Tighnari never had the chance to properly comprehend nor mourn his parents deaths. He was going to do everything in his power to bring them back, so why did he feel so alone and helpless? Alone, helpless, and afraid. He was far from ready for something with stakes as high as this.

He pulled his tail through his tail and hugged it closer to him. Scared. He thought he was just angry all this time, but he was just terrified. Terrified one of them might royally screw up so much they’d destroy life as they know it. That and his teenage tendencies for mood swings, romance and all the other things hormones do to him. AND his animalistic tendencies of course. It all made his blood feel cold.

So..so..cold..

The dread in his chest along with the piercing cold of the hard wood floor. He shuffled a bit to try and get warmer, and found himself looking out of the large glass window that was behind the both of them. The sky looked like something straight out of the paintings Kaveh collected. Swirling bunches of stars littered the sky, flickering in its glorious light. The sky was different shades of dark blue, and dark clouds over it all.

Kavehs paintings….Tighnari never thought he’d miss the boy so much. What had even happened to him in the midst of the chaos?! He didn’t even think of his safety once. He was a bad friend, no, a horrible friend. What if he..no..no..no! He couldn’t handle it anymore. If Kaveh had been killed..he wouldn’t know what to do. Unshed tears burned the back of his eyes, a headache pounding in his head. Without thinking, he let out a tiny sob. He felt horrible and helpless, how was he going to sleep that night?

Cyno wasn’t doing much better, and that was an understatement. He barely had any time himself to contemplate everything that happened that day, and he’d rather keep it that way. He’s literally living in literal hell. Why he said literal twice, he didn’t know. But lets pretend he did that on purpose for symbolism. Every time he looked at his hands, they were covered with blood. He couldn’t get it off, no matter how hard he tried. But he didn’t want this, he didn’t want it! Why won’t it go away? It was sticky and warm reminder of how he won’t be able to make up for his sins, and it was a horrid feeling. He can’t get rid of the image at how everyone looked at his with either absolute fear or disgust at the orientation.Because they knew how horrible of a person he was. He didn’t want to be horrible! Why was he like this? He pulled his blanket tighter around himself. The floor felt hard under his head, and his injuries from earlier were suddenly flaring up in pain.

Every thought that went through his head, ever image that flashed in his memory of that nightmarish day made him want to scream. It wasn’t long until he realized he couldn’t breath and started hyperventilating loudly, much to Tighnari’s shock. “Cyno?!” he said aloud, his protective instincts coming into action. He got up and immediately rushed towards him. This can’t be real. This CAN’T be real. Was he having a panic attack? What should he do?! The other boys eyes were wide and bloodshot, and was clearly having a hard time breathing. Cold sweat was dripping down from his forehead, and he was pulling his hair in strands.

“Look, just..um..” Tighnari stuttered. Focus Tighnari, just remember what your mother told you about these kind of things. “Focus on me, ‘kay? Focus on me, then breath in and out. Breath in for three seconds, then breath out for five seconds. I’ll help you count. One, two, three…” Despite himself, Cyno found himself listening to Tighnari’s instructions. Three seconds of breathing in, then five seconds of breathing out. Then again. Then again. Then again. “Okay, good, good.” he said, feeling himself shiver in relief. He was actually helping, thank god. “Now think of something or someone who makes you happy. Or a happy memory! It’s gonna be alright, we’re safe. We’re both safe.”

Happy….something that made him happy. In that moment, an image of Alhaitham flashed through his mind. He hated him, he hated him so much at that moment. But some of his happiest moments in his life were with him. His first kiss, him reading out his books to him, and him telling him about what it could be in the outside world of Teyvat. His heartbeat slowly decreased a bit, and his wounds stopped hurting a bit. His breathing steadied, and his vision got more stable being able to look at the fennec clearly in front of him.

Then, without a second thought, he wrapped his arms around Tighnari and grabbed him in a hug. You could practically see the ‘window not loading’ banner in Tighnaris head at that moment, as literally every thought he had before vanished into thin air. Was he supposed to hug back? Was he even supposed to touch him? He decided on a soft embrace in return, supporting his neck and bringing him a bit closer. “Sorry..” Cyno muttered against Tighnari’s shoulder. The sadness in his voice practically made Tighnari’s heart break.

That’s when the realization hit: It seemed to be a cycle at this point, Cyno becomes vulnerable, Tighnari feels bad for him and attempts to understand him, then Cyno says or does something stupid that makes him mad. It was tiring. He couldn’t let this go on. They needed a mutual understanding. But he’ll only bring it up later. Definitely later.

Tighnari had the sudden desire for a breath of fresh air, but it was past curfew. And he couldn’t afford to get in trouble in the first day, especially with the headmaster. He didn’t know why, but he had a strange feeling about him, and couldn’t tell if it was a good thing or a bad thing. The way he managed to fix Cyno’s uniform that easily without any visible signs of effort was a difficult feat, yet it was like nothing to Dainsleif. He didn’t know all that much about him from history books, just how powerful was he?!

Crap, he was spiralling again. He desperately needed that fresh air, but could he even afford to leave Cyno alone? Maybe he should ask him. “Hey, uhh, Cyno. Are..are you okay now?” He looked at him and just grunted and shrugged. He didn’t want to interact with anyone right then, he was drained, exhausted and embarrased, covering himself with a blanket as if he was trying to hide himself.

“Ok, I’m just gonna…take a shit. I won’t be long.” he said, trying to control his ears from twitching. He didn’t know why he lied, but he wanted to get away from here. He didn’t want Cyno to blame himself for it either. But the tension was so thick it suffocated him. Cyno nodded silently and rolled over to his side, shutting his eyes tightly.

Tighnari took that as an affirmation, and opened the rotting door before going down the stairwell, the magic fire alighting his path. His steps were slow and careful, making sure he doesn’t slip. He felt exhausted, but restless at the same time. He needed to make use of all the free time he had. He took out a pen and paper he had in his pocket, and started making note of all the passages and rooms on different floors. He always, ALWAYS kept a pen and paper with him. It was especially crucial at this time. They needed to investigate how they could change the timeline for the better, and he needed to remember every single detail for this to work out well with as little repercussions as possible.

It wasn’t long until he reached the schools gardens. All he had to do was go out through the back of the school. As grandiose the place was, it all looked the same everywhere, and that would certainly make it difficult for them. But he was going to figure it out. For them.

The gardens were wonderful, astounding really. Poppies and roses bloomed everywhere. Trees bore the sweetest scented fruit he’d ever seen, and he’d never seen flowers and leaves of so many colors before. The aroma of medicinal plants filled the air. It wasn’t home, but it was certainly the breath of fresh air he needed.

He started doodling the cartography of the labyrinth of a garden, walking aimlessly not paying attention to his surroundings. With a single step, he suddenly found himself colliding with someone or something. He tumbled backwards, losing his grip on his pen and piece of paper, sending them both flying in the air. He rubbed his head, groaning in pain. He’d already been hit in the head too many times today. When he looked up, he saw a boy with brown, messy hair in a ponytail rubbing his head. There were multiple scrolls of parchment littered around the floor.

“Here, let me…” much to Tighnari’s surprise, the other boy shushed him almost immediately “Hush! Quiet, quiet! Shush shush! Do you WANT to get us caught?” he said eccentrically, waving his arms around. He got up and kneeled down to pick up his scrolls. Tighnari picked one of them up and unrolled it. It was a complex schematic diagram of a strange looking object.

He rolled it back and handed it to the other boy, who said “I didn’t think there were others who also broke curfew,” he snickered “What are you doing out here of all places?” The events of the past few hours flashed through Tighnari’s mind in the blink of an eye as he sighed “Just…needed some fresh air.”

The other boy said nothing, gathering scrolls in his arms. Tighnari handed him the last few scrolls he picked up, a silly looking smile stretching across the other boys face “Say, I bet you’re new! I’ve never seen you around before! I’m Cyrus.” he stuck his hand out, a few stray schematics falling through his arms. “Oh no, oh shit, I..awh fiddlesticks” he grumbles, trying to pick them up but ends up dropping more much to Tighnari’s amusement.

“Say, can you help me carry these?” Cyrus asked, scittering all over the ground like a tiny spider desperately gathering everything for the second time. Tighnari’s face scrunched up in contemplation. He shouldn’t be out for too long, more specifically, he couldn’t leave Cyno alone for that long. But this boy….somehow, he intrigued him. “Alright…” he replied hesitantly, scooping a few up, pocketing his pen and paper away from the other boys view.

They walked past a few ombre orchards, gorgeous gazebos, and petite pretty plants before reaching a seemingly secluded area far away from the academy itself. There was nothing there but the soft grass on the ground and something that looked like a sewer hole. “Just put them through there!” he instructed, jumping up and down giddily. Tighnari raised an eyebrow, but did as he said. He turned the hole covering anti-clockwise in direction and pulled the lid open, dumping the scrolls through the hole. After atleast five seconds, he could hear unclear agitated exclamations and a boistrous laughter from the bottom. Cyrus immediately grabbed Tighnari by his shirt and threw him down before launching himself down as well, much to his shock.

He landed on a crumpled heap on a dirty floor, letting a few curses of agony out. He immediately scrambled up and went full defence mode, raising his fists in the air. He was met with the sight of Cyrus grinning sheepishly along with another boy and girl. The boy looked massively pissed off, with a haircut far too similar to Tighnari’s with the largest spectacles he’s ever seen. The girl was covered in multicolored band-aids all over her person, her hair blonde and scruffy with a few red pins in them.

The boy seemed to be repremanding Cyrus for something “I TOLD you not to throw the blueprints down like that! No matter how many times I tell you you won’t listen to me!” he points a finger directly at his face. “Yes Naphis, sorry Naphis.” he cooed, only making the other more agitated than he already was. The girl cocked her head at the sight of Tighnari and stuck her lip out while furrowing her brows. “Cyrus, who the hell is he?” she asked, pointing at him like he was some kind of animal. He was, but that wasn’t the point.

The other boy, Naphis, didn’t seem to acknowledge Tighnari's presence until the girl called it out. He took Cyrus by the collar and started shaking him back and forth aggressively “WHY. DID. YOU. BRING. SOME. RANDOM. KID.” he demands. “We are doing this IN SECRET for a reason!”

“What’s going on here!?” Tighnari demanded more aggressively than he had intended. He was tired of shit. All he wanted was to get some fresh air, and he got pulled into whatever this was. Just like how he just wanted to have his first day of school, and now had been yanked into the past and are in a life or death situation to fix things.

“Illegal stuff!” Cyrus chanted happily, motioning around the room. “Uh, dipshit,” the girl said sarcastically “you know you don’t usually TELL people when you do illegal stuff, right? I might be wrong.”

Cyrus blinked for a few moments, as if the idea of it hadn’t occured to him before. But his bravado came back as quick as it gone away. “It’s fineeee,” he digressed, a shit-eating grin stretching across his face “He helped me anyways! So thank you..um..” “Of course you don’t even know his name Cyrus,” the girl cackled, taking a wrench from a table and twirling in around in her hand. The table was filled with all sorts of tools, gadgets, plants, and strange looking vials. He scoffed and playfully glared at her “Shut your pie-hole Zaha. I know! I’ll guess your name! Uhmmm,”

“No need for that,” Tighnari said frustratedly “I’m Tighnari. Who’s going to..” Leave. He was going to say that he was gonna leave. But he needed people to help them here. And they looked insane enough to answer any questions they have, as weird as it may be. “Who’s going to..?” Cyrus prompted. “Who’s going to…uhm…ask you all what you’re doing that was so illegal?” Tighnari asked. Naphis pinched the bridge of his nose exasperately “You just had to run your big mouth didn’t you?” he hissed as Cyrus just grinned at him dumbly “We’re doing research that’s prohibited by the Academy.”

Tighnari blinked in surprise “Research? How bad is whatever you’ve been doing to be considered illegal?!” he exclaimed, his morals shining through. Zaha rolled her eyes “Don’t go all goody two shoes on us, the academy just hates creativity and innovation.” she drawled, crossing her legs. “So we do this in secret. We’d get kicked out if anyone found out, so don’t go blabbing on about this to anyone.”

“That’s the third time someone’s called me a goody-two shoes today.” “With it being someone like you? Yeah, go figure.” “Yeah! I bet you’re picture is near the word in the dictionary!” Cyrus teased. Tighnari could feel an annoyed storm brewing up inside of him, but he couldn’t afford to piss anyone off. “I’ll be on my way then,” he spat “Wouldn’t want to disturb you three any more than I already had.” “Toodle oo.” Zaha deadpanned with a dismissing wave of her hand. “Come sit with us at lunch tommorrow Trevor!”

“Tighnari.”

“Tighnari!”

“Where the shit did you get Trevor from Tighnari.”

Tighnari sighed, and climbed a ladder that was nailed to the wall. He walked back to the attic, no thoughts swirling around his mind for once. Just…blank. Nothing but blank. It was refreshing, but concerning all the same. The tiredness must have finally hit him. He blinked both of his eyes slowly, hoping he didn’t collapse while he was climbing the stairway again. When he opened the door to the attic, he peeked into the room quietly before walking in silently.

There Cyno was on the floor, curled up with the blanket, sleeping peacefully like a small child. Tighnari could feel a small smile form on his face. He took the pillow he had claimed previously when Cyno took the blanket, went over to him, lightly lifting his head before placing the pillow underneath. Tighnari himself went over to the bed that was left untouched, before hugging his own tail and drifting off into a peaceful sleep.