Trust
No plot, just vibes inspired by this incredible artwork
When Cyno is finally let go from the Bimarstan, he stands in the middle of the road. He’s a little bit lost, doesn’t quite know where to go now, and it doesn’t help with the shaking in his fingers.
The bandage around his ankle feels restraining, the one’s around his forehead and on his face itch and Cyno wants to tear them all off. He knows he shouldn’t but–the urge is there.
Cyno is going to crash soon; he knows it and even the restless feeling inside of his chest won’t be able to stop it. He needs to go somewhere that brings him comfort, that makes him feel not quite so–afraid is the wrong word but he does feel haunted.
It’s not usually this bad after a mission only barely gone right and Cyno isn’t quite sure what triggered this specific episode but he only just catches himself checking over his shoulder as if some danger was still hiding behind him.
He forces himself to take a deep breath. Sumeru is safe these days; Azar and his people long banished and peace restored to their Archon and the nation. There’s no need for him to suspect an ambush everywhere and especially not inside the city.
Still, Cyno has half a mind making the track to Gandharva Ville, only partially to check that Azar and his henchmen are well and accounted for. He is sure that Tighnari would offer him the kind of comfort Cyno is craving right now but he knows that it would be stupid to go there in his condition.
He’s exhausted and the various scrapes and injuries on his person would make it more painful than the comfort such a foolish thing would promise him.
Before Cyno can make a conscious decision as to where to go to instead his feet have already started moving. There’s an urge in his chest that leads him straight to the House of Daena and he lets out a weary sigh when he realises where his treacherous feet are taking him. Despite the positive changes that have happened in the past several months there’s only one person in this building that he trusts and so it’s not really a surprise when he comes to a stop in front of the Grand Scribe’s door. Cyno briefly debates if he should just turn around and leave again, pretend as if nothing ever happened, but his injuries hurt and there is this nervous flutter in his gut that lets him know rest and relaxation will be hard to come by if he stays on his own.
And so there’s only really one option. He pushes the door open.
It seems he caught Alhaitham during his break because there’s a book in his hand instead of his usual quill and Cyno isn’t sure if that’s lucky or not.
It certainly doesn’t feel lucky when Alhaitham raises his gaze to pin him with his look.
His gaze briefly touch all the visible injuries on Cyno and it makes him want to fidget under that piercing gaze.
“You’re injured,” Alhaitham then states the obvious and it doesn’t go unnoticed when his grip briefly tightens on the book in his hand.
“Shut up,” Cyno gives back, suddenly tired beyond words and his rudeness is only met with a raised eyebrow.
But Cyno doesn’t feel like explaining himself; he doesn’t feel like anything at all, at the moment, except closing his eyes and resting.
And maybe here now, he can.
So he makes his way over to Alhaitham, nudging him slightly to the left when he comes to a stop next to his–still unnecessarily large–chair, though Cyno supposes he shouldn’t complain. It will come in handy for now.
Alhaitham moves, even though the question is so very visibly written on his face and Cyno tries not to think too much when he sits down next to him. He very pointedly does not think anything at all when he slightly turns to the left and curls up into Alhaitham’s side, his feet up on the chair and his head resting against Alhaitham’s chest.
“Ah,” Alhaitham breathes out and then slightly curves himself around Cyno, making it even more comfortable for him.
Though it isn’t until Alhaitham puts his arm around his shoulder that the haunted feeling finally goes away. It doesn’t help with the fluttering in Cyno’s gut though.
Still, Cyno closes his eyes, and he loses a little bit of time, with Alhaitham’s steady breathing in his ear and the occasional rustle of the pages as he reads and he only comes back to himself when Alhaitham puts the book down.
“I have to get back to work now,” Alhaitham whispers into the quiet of the room. “Do you want to stay?”
“Ask what you really want to know,” Cyno mutters back and he feels more than he hears Alhaitham chuckle.
“Why are you here, Cyno?” Alhaitham very predictably asks, but Cyno can’t fault him for it.
They didn’t have that much dealings with each other since Alhaitham stepped back as Acting Grand Sage, so of course Cyno showing up in his office, injured and clearly weary, curling up into his side would raise questions.
Cyno opens and closes his mouth several times without speaking before he decides to state it in the most simple terms he can. There’s just no use in talking around it, anyway.
“I trust you,” Cyno whisper and wonders if Alhaitham will push him away after this. “I feel safe with you. I just wanted to come here.”
There’s a beat of silence and it lasts for long enough that the anxiety completely wakes Cyno up.
“I see,” Alhaitham finally says and pulls Cyno more securely into his side.
Cyno can feel his cape move against his back and even that only serves to make him feel safer.
“Thank you,” Cyno whispers, reaching up to tangle his fingers with Alhaitham’s on his shoulder.
“Sleep,” is the only answer he gets, but Cyno could swear that he feels Alhaitham’s lips at the crown of his head.
That is something they are going to talk about later–and then Cyno will demand a proper kiss as well–but for now he does exactly what Alhaitham tells him, safely cradled in his arm as he is.
