Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Cyno is exhausted. And hungry. Very hungry. But he will be there soon. He will be home soon. He can already see the lights coming from Gandharva Ville. 

He knows Tighnari can hear him approaching and Tighnari said that it's his home too, he could just go inside the cosy hut without knocking on the door, but seeing his husband open the door with the most beautiful smile whenever he comes back home is worth hearing that line over and over again.

Cyno is now very close, two Forest Rangers walking opposite of him, to start their night patrol. They both wave at him as they pass each other on the road, Cyno nods at them courtly.

Years ago, when Tighnari moved here after finishing his studies at the Akademiya and Cyno visited him here, the Forest Rangers and other inhabitants of the little settlement were all terrified of him. They all thought the General Mahamatra was investigating someone, mainly Tighnari because he was seen coming in and out of his hut. Some even approached poor and confused Tighnari if he was alright and that they will protect him in court if it comes to that. Then one day one of them saw the two kissing, Tighnari's back pinned to a tree. The rumor spread about the General sexually harassing their new and very capable recruit. The Forest Rangers assembled together and gathered all of their courage to plan to corner the fearsome General when he comes over the next time. 

But that next time didn't come for a while, the General got work somewhere else. In the meantime, Tighnari reformed the system of the Forest Rangers’ and they appointed him as Chief Officer of the Forest Watchers. 

Then after a month, one day Kamran spotted the General trotting in the direction of Tighnari's hut. He immediately told the others about it and gathered together to monitor the interloper. The General had something in his hands: a pot with a strange plant. It wasn't from the forest, none of them recognised it.

When the General arrived at the hut, he hid the plant behind his back then he lifted his hand to knock. But before he could do that, Tighnari opened the door with so much strength, he almost yanked it out from its hinges and literally jumped on the other man, who lost his balance for a moment and almost fell backwards from the impact. He still managed to hold up the fox with one hand - the other one being occupied by the plant – and reciprocate the kisses he was being attacked with. 

The Forest Rangers looked at each other and agreed that they probably misunderstood something. 

Since then, Tighnari's colleagues weren't so wary of the General, especially after he brought little Collei. 

Now, Cyno is finally taking the wooden stairs up to Tighnari's hut. He lets out a tired sigh before knocking on the door. His husband immediately opens it with the sweetest smile and Cyno feels that familiar warmth in his chest. He steps forward to cup the other's cheeks and plant a soft kiss on Tighnari's lips. 

“Welcome home” murmurs Tighnari, putting his hands on Cyno's hips. 

Cyno humms and kisses him again. “Good to be back.” 

Tighnari helps him get the helmet off from his head, then they gravitate back for a long hug. Cyno buries his face into Tighnari's neck and takes a deep breath. Rain, plants, some flowery smell and slightly sweaty. Tighnari. Home. 

His husband gently caresses his hair (that will need a thorough washing later). “Tired?” 

“Mhm.” Cyno could fall asleep like this: being petted on the head and embraced by his lover. Even standing up. 

“Are you hungry?” 

“Like a wolf.” As if his stomach knew, it lets out a faint grumble. 

Tighnari chuckles. “Alright. Go sit down at the table, I'll heat up the leftovers from dinner.” 

When Tighnari disappears into the kitchen, Cyno walks to the table. The Forest Watcher left his notebook there next to a plate of mushrooms. Probably some snacks while working. Cyno usually brings or sends him candied Ajilenakh nuts from the desert, maybe he ran out of them already and snacks on the mushrooms instead. The General isn't that fond of mushrooms as his husband but he pops one into his mouth to chew on it while he waits. He has to admit, this one isn't that bad. He eats some more. 

Tighnari appears with a plate of food and utensils in his hands. The fox gasps and rushes to the table, hastily putting down the dishes. 

“No! Spit that out!” He hits Cyno's back, who starts coughing from surprise. “Spit them all out!”

He is seconds away from getting the mushrooms out from Cyno's mouth with his bare hands, like from a misbehaving dog. 

“What?” coughs Cyno with teary eyes. “I already ate some.” 

“Oh, Kusanali help me!” Tighnari massages the bridge of his nose. 

“Am I going to die?!” 

“Not from this particular one, no, but next time you do something like this, you might be! If not, I'll be the one killing you for being so reckless!” He takes a deep breath. “My dear husband, how many times have I told you not to eat anything from my work table?! Especially if my notebook and papers are next to it?!” 

“... I still have so mushroom for improvement.” Tighnari looks at him with very scary eyes that makes Cyno believe if he says one more joke, Tighnari might not wait for the next mishap to put him out of the way. That would be a grave mistake from Cyno. 

“So these ones weren't poisonous?” he asks instead. 

Tighnari sighs again. “Fortunately for you, they aren't. They only caused me a severe headache but it ceased after a few hours.”

“That's great.” 

“Not great!” His tail puffs up in anger and irritation. “What if you really eat one that's poisonous and I come back to you laying on the floor, unconscious?” His ears lower to the side like wind glider wings. “What would I do if I lose you? Like this… What will the matra think? They would arrest me for murdering my own husband, for murdering the General Mahamatra! Because it would be my fault!”

Cyno stands up and cups Tighnari's face, gently stroking the apple of his cheeks with his thumbs. 

“Hey, hey” he says in a low voice. “It's okay, I'm here. Nothing happened.”

Tighnari closes his eyes and leans into the touch. After he takes a shaky breath, he opens his eyes again. Cyno smiles and kisses him. 

“I'll be careful next time,” he promises. “But you should be careful too. I don't want to arrive home to bad news either.” 

The fox tilts their foreheads together. “Don't worry, I thoroughly examine every new thing before I proceed to the eating test.”

“Good.” Cyno tilts up his head to kiss the other's nose, Tighnari lets out a small huff. He always does that when Cyno kisses his nose. Adorable. 

Tighnari steps back. “Now, eat the food ! I'll bring you some water and painkillers for later. After dinner take a bath then come to bed!”

“Yes, General Watchleader!” sits down Cyno. Tighnari rolls his eyes and pokes his annoying husband's cheek with a finger, then leaves for the kitchen.

Tighnari wasn't joking about the “severe headache” thing. This shit hurts. And if that's not enough… 

“Habibi…” Cyno groans. He is laying in bed already, face buried in the crook of his husband's neck. He feels like his head is going to explode. He is never eating mushrooms. Ever again. 

“Hm?” Tighnari massages his scalp and it makes the pain a little bearable. 

“Did your lower back also hurt?”

“I'm getting old, Cyno. Of course I have pain in my lower back.” 

“No, I didn't mean, regularly, but after you ate the mushroom.”

“Oh… Maybe? I don't know… I get back pain a lot, but could have been because of that too. Why? Does it hurt for you right now?”

“Mhm” he nods. “Also 38 is not old.” 

Tighnari sighs and positions Cyno to lay completely on top of him, so he can rub his husband's lower back. “I'm getting more and more wrinkles.”

“They look very sexy on you.” Cyno already knew it but Tighnari has very skilled hands. If it weren't for the headache, he could either fall asleep or get aroused from this massage. 

“My hair is greying.” 

At this, Cyno lifts his head to stare into the other's eyes wordlessly. 

Tighnari chuckles and brings one of his hands up to pat his husband's white hair that has been like that since he can remember. “Okay, you win.” Cyno lays back down. 

“I have noticed your grey hairs too. I find them also sexy.” 

“You think everything about me is sexy.” 

“That is completely true.” 

His husband plants a kiss on the top of his head and he drifts closer and closer to sleep thanks to the fox's gentle ministrations. 

Cyno wakes up slowly. First, he hears the birds chirping outside, a usual phenomenon whenever he wakes up at home in the rainforest. But were they always this loud?

He buries his face more into Tighnari's fluffy tail and hugs it more tighter. It doesn't have its usual flowery scent. Odd. Maybe Tighnari changed the oil he uses? 

He can hear sounds coming outside the bedroom. It can't be Collei, she is at the Akademiya right now, maybe Tighnari is making breakfast. 

Wait… 

He feels around the bed with his hand. No one is there, except him. But if Tighnari is outside, then… 

Cyno opens his eyes and he is greeted by… white fur. He sits up fast and the white fluffy thing moves behind him. He follows it with his eyes, twisting his back just to discover that… thing… attached. To his lower back. Just above his butt. Exactly where he felt pain yesterday night. 

He knows he is starting to panic when his breathing quickens.

What in the… 

Then he remembers that not only his back hurt yesterday. He slowly reaches up to his ears.

They aren't there. There's nothing on the side of his head, under his hair.

Nothing.

He reaches more upwards and… 

His eyes go wide. 

“NARIIIII!!!” he yells, pressing his hands on his head with all his strength, breathing heavily. 

There's a loud noise coming from the kitchen – that he hears muffled – then loud trampling as Tighnari rushes into the room, holding a frying pan in his hand like a weapon. 

“What-” he starts, then he sees the hyperventilating Cyno sitting on the bed – but nothing dangerous. Tighnari walks to his husband, puts the pan down on the floor, and crouches down so he can look into the other's eyes. 

“Hey” he says gently, cupping Cyno's cheeks. “Breathe with me, okay, azizam?” Tighnari takes a deep breath, holds it, then lets it out slowly. Cyno can't hear anything but sees what the other is doing and tries to follow it. It takes a while for his breathing to calm down, his heart is still racing but at least he isn't hyperventilating anymore. 

He feels Tighnari's thumbs stroking his cheeks, the fox smiles reassuringly but Cyno still notices the wrinkles around his mouth and between his brows that only show up when the Forest Watcher is worried. 

“HmMm, good job” says Tighnari. “You did well.” He waits in silence some more minutes for Cyno to come back to reality. It helps that he keeps on caressing his cheeks and gently scratches at Cyno's nape with his nails. When Tighnari deems him ready, he asks: “What's the matter? What happened?” 

Cyno doesn't answer verbally, he just lifts up his hands from the top of his head. He can feel as the two long, fluffy ears spring up as they are being freed. He feels a little relieved, it didn't hurt to keep them pushed down but it was uncomfortable nonetheless. Now he understands Tighnari's complaining about the hat during Akademiya years. 

The said man in question looks up at the new appendages with wide eyes and mouth slightly ajar. He falls back down on his butt from his crouch in surprise. He looks down, into Cyno's eyes, then blinks when he notices the fluffy white tail nervously swaying behind the other. Then he looks back and forth between the ears and the tail, his face getting more pink by the second. 

What?

“... Nari?” Cyno tilts his head. 

Tighnari blinks and finally looks into his husband's eyes. Then blinks again, lifts one of his arms and pinches his own skin very hard. 

“Ow… So it's not a dream this time…” he mumbles, but now with his new ears, Cyno can hear it. 

What?? 

“This time?” Cyno asks, to which Tighnari looks back up at him, then away, while his face gets even more red. “Nari?” 

The fox sighs and holds out his arms. Cyno automatically helps him stand up. Tighnari sits down next to his husband on the bed, still averting his gaze, but stealing glances at the new appendages. Cyno notices it, so he reaches behind his back, grabs the tail that started to wag faster when Tighnari sat down, drags it forth and plops it down on the surprised Tighnari's lap. But it doesn't stay put, it constantly moves, hitting Tighnari's thighs and stomach. Like it has its own will. 

Cyno tries to hold it down with his hands. 

“How do you control this thing?” he asks in despair. 

At this, Tighnari finally snaps out of his surprise and laughs. He gently lays his hands on the tail in his lap and pets it. Cyno slowly releases his hold, the tail stays still. 

The pets feel nice. It calms him down, too.

“Every Valuka Shuna learns to control it when they are still a little kit” says Tighnari. 

“Where do I sign up for that class?” 

Tighnari snickers. “They learn it from their parents and by instinct. Although the thought of you sitting among the little ones in a class about tail control is a very amusing picture.” He smiles teasingly at Cyno. “Also I feel flattered that you get this excited when I'm close, even after all these years.” His tail sways in content behind him, sometimes brushing up against his husband's back and arms. 

Cyno leans closer, gently holding the other's chin between his thumb and forefinger. “For you, always.” He plants a soft, long kiss on his husband's lips. Because of this, his own tail comes to life again and starts to wag in Tighnari's lap which makes the fox chuckle and ends the kiss to turn back and treat the appendage with his full attention again. 

“Hm, it's not as soft as in my dreams” Tighnari muses while stroking the tail. 

This again… 

“What dreams?” Cyno asks. 

The Forest Watcher freezes. “Uhm… I-... I'm…” He goes completely red.

Interesting. 

Cyno leans in and kisses his husband's temple. “It's okay. I won't get mad.” 

Tighnari sighs. “It's not that you will get mad, it's just… a little embarrassing.”

“Tell me!” 

The fox sighs again. “When I first saw you, as a student, I thought your helmet was real, that those ears were real.” 

“Yes, I remember you mentioning it to me. That when I first took off my helmet when I was with you, and you didn't see the long ears under it, you felt a little disappointed.” 

Cyno remembers that conversation from years ago. Tighnari told him his insecurities, how he felt out of place, like a spectacle with his animal traits. The reason why he felt comfortable with Cyno at first – even after being interrogated by him – was because he thought he is also like him. It was understandable for him to feel disappointed. 

Tighnari nods. “After the Akasha got abolished and we started dreaming again… When you went on longer missions… and I missed you a lot… I have dreamt of you.” He blushes. ”And in most of those dreams you also had ears and a tail. Like right now.”

“Oh, really?” Cyno nuzzles Tighnari's face with a shit eating grin. “What did I do- What did we do in those dreams?”

The question makes Tighnari more flustered but still leans into the touch by instinct. 

“We did… things we both enjoy.”

“Oh, so we played Genius Invocation TCG?” Cyno teases him more, leaving feather-light kisses on his neck. 

His husband huffs. “I said ‘both’.” Cyno nips at his neck as revenge. 

“Then camping with Collei?” 

“Still a no. And don't talk about her while you are doing this to me.” 

“Doing what?” he asks innocently while gently biting at his husband's clavicle. 

Tighnari regains his confidence, grabs Cyno's chin and tilts his face up to look into his eyes. “The kind of things you did to me in those dreams” he answers in a low voice. 

“Oh?” The General smirks. “Could you please demonstrate what else we did? I'm a visual learner.” 

“With pleasure” the fox smiles and leans down to kiss… the corner of Cyno's lips. “But not right now, habibi. As much as I would love to spend the day with you, we just got a new recruit and I have to introduce her to the tasks and responsibilities of the Forest Rangers.”

Cyno pouts. “Can't you pass that to Ashpazi? He is your second in command.” 

“No, I'm the leader and it's my job. You know that, we have got newbies before and it was always me who broke them in.”

Cyno sighs, defeated. “Yeah, I know.” He tries his best puppy eyes that work on Tighnari most of the time. “But I also have an eary problem. I found myself in a hairy situation.” 

“And whose fault is that?” 

The General doubles on his “kicked puppy” expression. It helps that now he can fold his ears back like a real dog. Tighnari sighs because he can't resist his husband and quickly kisses that pouty mouth. Cyno tries to keep the expression on his face still but his tail starts to wag. The traitor. He really needs to learn to control it if this state will stay on for long… 

“But really” he sits up straighter. “This” he points at his new ears and tail “is a problem.”

“A very sexy problem that can wait. It was probably caused by the mushrooms from yesterday and the reason I didn't get affected by it when I tried them out is because I already have those parts. So I only got a headache. If it isn't causing you more than a slight discomfort, it can wait.”

Cyno leans close to the other and lowers his voice, trying to sound flirty. “So you find my problem ‘sexy’?”

Tighnari gravitates towards him, noses touching, their lips only a breath away. “Well, I can't deny how attractive those long ears look.”

“Are they more attractive than in your dreams?” 

“Certainly.” Their lips brush together for a blissful moment. “Although, your tail was more fluffy in my dreams” he purrs. “But I have to admit, I like the real version better.” To demonstrate, he reaches behind Cyno, slides his hand down his back, grabs the base of the tail and tugs . The new, pleasurable sensation zips through Cyno's entire body like the electro from his vision. His next breath comes out in a staccato. 

Now he understands why Tighnari likes the not-too-firm tail tug Cyno does occasionally during their intimate times. 

The fox enjoys teasing his husband, he softly presses their lips together in feather-light touches, gently nips on the other's lower lip, meanwhile his hands wander around the oh so familiar body of his husband. 

Cyno hopes this is part of the “dream demonstration”. 

Their foreplay gets interrupted by a soft knock coming from the front door. In surprise, Tighnari bites down on Cyno's lip so hard that it draws blood and it makes both of them wince. 

“Ow!” 

“Sorry, sorry!” He kisses and licks away the blood drops. 

“Master Tighnari?” they hear the muffled voice from outside the hut. 

“I'm coming!” Tighnari shouts so loud, Cyno's ears fold backwards. 

“I wish you had said that with a different tone and meaning.” 

The fox laughs and stands up. He quickly dusts off and corrects his clothes. He leans back down for a last kiss. “Tonight” he promises. “I'll be back in the afternoon or by the evening. Until then, try to get used to your new additions. And do not eat more from that mushroom!”

Cyno lifts his hands in defense. “Didn't plan on doing that.” 

“Good.” 

It's fortunate that Tighnari has already left the room while he said that because Cyno's tail started to wag hearing the compliment. He feels so embarrassed. He really needs to learn to control that thing.

Chapter Text

Cyno is bored.

After he dealt with the… khm… standing   “problem” that Tighnari often causes, he brought the frying pan back to the kitchen and made himself breakfast.

And now he doesn't know what to do. He can't go outside like this. He has one of his cloaks here and there's also his helmet, so he could hide but he hasn't worn those in years inside Gandharva Ville – only when he is working – so the citizens would know something is up.

So Cyno stays inside Tighnari's hut – well, their hut because they are married and it's as much of his home as Tighnari's. 

He looks into the mirror for the first time that day and what he sees, still seems surreal. On the top of his head two long, white and fluffy ears stand. They aren't as long as Tighnari's, and they are more slander, similar to the jackal ears on his helmet – they are probably jackal ears. They twitch at every noise he hears. Everything is louder. Whenever he hears something similar to human talk or steps, he thinks it's his husband coming home earlier and his tail starts to wag. Like a dog. Pathetic. 

He sighs. 

Well, that comes with being married to the love of your life for almost fifteen years and still being down bad for them. 

He looks back at the mirror. 

The white tail isn't as fluffy as Tighnari's but still great to cuddle – as he experienced it in the morning. 

Are they really that attractive as his husband claims?

He does see the appeal, he married a Valuka Shuna after all, but he finds it rather cute than sexy. Also people still approach Tighnari thinking they could get a fun night with him, even after knowing he is married. Cyno didn't start to be friends with him because of his animal traits. It was just a cute bonus. 

Maybe it's different for hybrids? Are they more attracted to others of their kind? Seems logical. Tighnari was already attracted to Cyno, so it's understandable to dream about his mate with the added animal features of his kind.

And Cyno has to admit, they kinda look good on him. He is curious how long it will last. 

As he tries moving his new appendages, he discovers that it's not that different from how an arm or a leg moves. Although they are extremely reactive to his feelings, so when it comes to that, it's more difficult to control them, especially the tail. 

It's late in the evening when Cyno finally hears Tighnari arrive. Just in time, he just finished making their dinner. After he puts down the dishes on the table, he walks to the door to greet his husband with a kiss and a hug. 

Tighnari looks tired, he slumps into the hug. 

“Long day?” 

“Mpf” he nods into Cyno's neck. “The patrol with the newbie took longer than expected because we ran into some fungi, then an adventurer who got lost and started a campfire in a place he shouldn't have so I had to reprimand him in front of Sudabeh.” He sighs. ”I hope I didn't scare her off. We are always in need of new people.”

“I don't think you can scare someone off with just that. That adventurer had it coming.” Tighnari chuckles at Cyno’s answer. “You also scold me if I do something wrong. Like yesterday. The only exception is Collei.”

“No, I also had to chide her too sometimes. But differently, especially at the beginning so she won't go back to her shell.”

“And now she tells off reckless adventurers and patients, just like you.”

“You are still salty, she chose Amurta over Spantamad.” 

“A little bit” he admits. 

“Hehehe.” Tighnari lifts his head to kiss him on the mouth then lays it down back on his shoulder. “I miss her.”

“I know. Me too.” 

“It's been four years but I still couldn't get used to the fact that she is so far away and isn't here every day.”

Cyno's tail curls around them in comfort.  “Can she come home this weekend?” 

“I'll send a dusk bird to ask her. I'll tell her you are home too.” He looks at Cyno, lifting his head. “How long are you staying this time?”

“I don't know.” One of his ears twitches and Tighnari's eyes dart there. Cyno smirks. “We will see if I will be allowed outside your bed after tonight.” 

The fox blushes and puts one palm on Cyno's face to push it back. “Don't be ridiculous!”

Cyno chuckles and frees his face from the palm by turning his head then dips to kiss Tighnari's nose which makes the other do the adorable scrunchy face and huff. 

“But in all seriousness, I don't know when I have to go back, I didn't know even before this” he points at his ears “happened. I just wrapped up a long case, and my subordinates will send a dusk bird for me if there's a need for me. I'm trying to put more responsibility in Alia’s hands, I plan to make her my successor.”

“Oh?” Tighnari lifts one eyebrow mockingly. “Are you getting old too, my General?”

Cyno pouts. “I'm older than you. But no, it wasn’t my choice. Nahida and Alhaitham wanted me to choose a successor. For safety reasons. The missions are dangerous and although I don't feel like that, they say I'm really getting old.” 

“Oh, my poor husband” Tighnari coos. He cups Cyno's face. “Well, if it reassures you, I like your wrinkles too.” To put it on emphasis, he gently strokes said wrinkles and crows feet around his husband's eyes and mouth with his fingers. 

“Glad to hear that” he leans into the touch. “Now come to eat dinner before it goes cold. I can hear your stomach grumbling. After that we can send the letter to Collei.” 

“You cooked dinner?” the fox perks up. “I love you.” 

Cyno bathes first so while it's Tighnari's turn, he can prepare everything for their fun night. He puts the lube and some of the toys they like to use on the bedside table, he brings some washclothes, a pitcher of water and two cups. He arranges the sheets and pillows on the bed for it to be comfortable but won't bother them. Then he takes off all of his clothes, lays down on his side, puts the stem of a sumeru rose between his teeth, strikes a sexy, inviting pose and waits. His tail hits the bed with quiet thumps in nervous anticipation.

When a few minutes later Tighnari walks out of the bathroom, toweling the ends of his damp hair, and spots Cyno in all his glory, he stops for a second. Then he smirks, like a predator who just spotted its prey, and throws the towel behind himself without looking away from his husband. 

“Oh, what do we have here?” He approaches the bed slowly, his tail swaying back and forth. “I wanted to be the one to take off your clothes but” he holds Cyno's chin between his thumb and forefinger to lift it “I won't complain about this view.” The fox then takes the flower out from between the matra's teeth to sniff it. “Hmmm, sweet.” Tighnari touches the silky petals to Cyno's face: cheeks, temples, forehead, eyelids, nose, lips. The feather-like touches slowly slide down his neck when Cyno finally feels the soft press of lips on his own. “Hmmm, sweet” Tighnari repeats with a purr.

The petals slide lower and lower on his body, gently caressing the skin on his chest, following the mounds and valleys of his abs. The fox teasingly averts the direction of the flower before it reaches his already standing erection and continues its path on his hip and leg. While he is looking into Cyno's eyes the whole time with a mischievous smile. 

When he can't reach farther with the flower anymore, he brings it back up to his nose to breathe in its sweet smell. Then he tosses the flower over one shoulder, leans close, pretending it to be for a kiss but the wicked fox pushes his husband to lay flat on his back. While Cyno moves to be in a comfortable position, Tighnari hastily takes off his sleeping shirt and pants and climbs on top of his husband, his knees bracketing the other's hips. 

Cyno might be biased but Tighnari is the most beautiful person he has ever laid his eyes on. The strong muscles on his upper body that come with being an archer, the various scars he got during combat… Cyno follows a long one on the other's muscly thigh with his fingers. The Forest Watcher got it during a fight against a Rishboland tiger, trying to save a reckless researcher. It had to be stitched together and Tighnari couldn't go back to work for months. For the first two weeks, he couldn't even leave the bed without help. It was a very frustrating period for him. But Collei, Cyno and the other rangers were there for him to help in everything. 

Tighnari senses that his mind has wandered and gently cups his jaw with one hand, leans down and kisses him on the mouth. It starts out slow and gentle but soon grows heated and passionate. 

“You are so beautiful” says Cyno when they part for air. “I love you, ya ruhi.” 

Tighnari doesn't say anything, just smiles and dives back to continue the kiss. 

They have been intimate with each other countless times but they can never get tired of each other. Their hands wander around the familiar naked body of their husband like it's their first time together. Or almost the first time. Because after all these years, they know the other's body more than their own. 

Cyno knows that there is a spot on Tighnari's left arm that's ticklish. He knows that if he rubs a spot near the base of his ears, the fox falls asleep in less than a minute. Peppering his inner thighs with kisses and gentle bites makes his breath hitch. If he gently strokes his stomach close to his belly button, Tighnari starts purring and relaxes. Then there's that spot deep inside him that at first touch makes him moan in the most beautiful voice and then with continued touch in a certain rhythm makes him come undone with a scream of his name so wondrous, Cyno thinks about it on lonely nights. 

Tighnari snakes a hand between their bodies and grabs Cyno's straining cock to position it to his hole while lifting his hips up, only to sit back down after, engulfing his husband's member in tight wet heat. 

Cyno lets out a surprised “Oh.” 

The Valuka Shuna leans forward, closer to him, peppering his neck with kisses. “I prepared myself for you in the bathroom” he purrs and rolls his hips in a way that leaves both of them breathless. 

“Good boy” he praises his husband. His hand slides down on the other's back to stop at his thighs as Tighnari sits up straight with a pleased smile, tail swaying behind him. Both of them moan as the movement slides his dick deeper, fully sheathing himself. 

As Tighnari gets used to the intrusion, he takes Cyno's hands off his thighs and presses them on his hips. The fox holds onto those hands while he slightly lifts himself up, until the head of Cyno's cock is almost outside, then slams back down. 

“AAH!” they both moan simultaneously.

Tighnari repeats this a few times to get adjusted, then he releases Cyno's hands and places his owns on Cyno's abs for support. Then he starts to ride. 

The General Mahamatra is seeing stars. He holds onto his husband's hips like his life depends on it and tries to match the other's brutally fast bounces. He rolls his hips up in a certain way that makes the other's knees buckle and lets out a sharp “ Ah!” 

Cyno smirks. Bingo! 

He continues the movement until both of their rhythms become erratic and Tighnari finally takes his own neglected cock into his own hand. It takes only two strokes and he is cumming with a yell, Cyno following him not that much later, shooting his seed deep inside. 

Tighnari collapses on the bed next to him, breathing heavily. 

When they come down from the high of their orgasm, Cyno reaches for one of the rugs to clean themselves then fills both cups with water, giving one to his still panting husband.

After the drink, they cuddle up. Ten years ago they would have already gone for the second round. They are really getting old, aren't they… 

“So this was your dream?” Cyno asks. Tighnari lifts himself up on one elbow to look at him. 

“... Yes?”

“But it was what we regularly do.” 

“Yes.” Tighnari furrows his eyebrows. 

“So your sexy dreams about me were what we usually do with the added de tail .”

“Yes” answers Tighnari again, ignoring the pun. “You sound a little disappointed. Did you not like it?” his ears droop. 

“Nonononono, it's not that! I enjoy our sex life! It's just… I thought that if you dreamed about me having them, you would… implement them?”

“Who said I didn't?” 

“I thought-” 

“Did you think that was all?” Tighnari raises one eyebrow. 

“Well…” 

“Oh? But we have just-” Tighnari flips him over to lay on his stomach with one flawless move “-started.” 

“Oof” Cyno is caught off-guard. The fox climbs above him, putting his knees between his thighs to part the General's legs. “I see. It's my turn. Do you get it? It's because you turned me over and it turned me o-” 

“You won't see anything” the other reaches for the blindfold on the bedside table and wraps it over his husband's eyes, tying it securely, careful not to tug on his hair. One of Cyno's ears twitches. With his new sensitive ears, he can hear every little movement his husband makes. 

Tighnari grabs the white fluffy tail and tugs, lifting Cyno's ass to be in the perfect angle. 

“Ah!” he moans, breathless from the sensation. He is already half hard. “I und ear stand now.” 

The fox sighs and Cyno hears him uncork the bottle of lube. “I should have put that cloth around your mouth instead.” 

“It's still not too late to shut me up.”

A silent click sound as the vial is placed back on the table. 

“Oh, do not worry” Tighnari grabs the tail again. “I will make sure, you will be only moaning my name.”

Then he inserts the first finger.

Chapter Text

The morning arrives too fast, Cyno just wants to cuddle with his husband in bed. But Tighnari has to get up early, taking the new recruit on patrol again. Every time a new member comes, they go on patrol every day for a week with Tighnari. Then they are passed around the other Forest Watchers and Rangers: go on patrols, collect samples, do the cooking, train the dogs, cleaning, helping at the medical hut and other duties. They are never to be left unsupervised, they are only allowed to work alone after a minimum of six months into their training. If they wish so. Because some of them just like to work in pairs or in a small group. There are some exceptions too. Like Tighnari. He was so talented and capable that they allowed him to work alone after two months. Then he was chosen to be the leader in just seven months of him being there. He is just a genius. 

The rain gently knocks on the rooftop, the sound of it makes Cyno want to stay more in bed. But Tighnari is already up and dressed, ready to train the new Forest Ranger. The fox is sitting on the bed next to his still lazily dozing husband, carefully combing the waterproof oil into his tail. 

Cyno groggily sits up and puts his arms around Tighnari's torso. He buries his nose into the other's neck, breathing in his lovable smell. 

“Good morning,” says Tighnari in a soft voice, "Sleeping Beauty.” 

Cyno wants to say that it's him who is a beauty but he decides to give him a gentle kiss on his nape instead. Tighnari pats his head and caresses the fine fur on his new jackal ears. 

“Will you go out today, or are you still staying in?”

He finally lifts his head up and places his chin on Tighnari's shoulder when the fox focuses back on combing his tail. 

“I don't know.” 

“I think you should go out. We don't know how long this situation will last, might as well get used to others seeing you like this.” 

“You are probably right.” 

“I that case,” he finishes his tail-combing, shakes it a few times to fluff it back up a bit, “I should waterproof your tail too.”

“That's a good idea.” Cyno knows about tail-care, he has helped Tighnari with his routine countless times, so he could do it for himself but the idea of having his husband's gentle hands on his tail makes said appendage wag and escape from under the covers. 

“Then you should let me go, I can't properly reach your tail like this.” 

Cyno buries his nose back into Tighnari's neck, it makes the other giggle. 

“Just let me stay like this a little more” the matra mumbles. 

“Okay, okay” Tighnari pats his husband's ears, amused. “But not too long, Sudabeh will be here soon.” 

Cyno gives up and sighs, leaving a kiss there before he releases Tighnari. He is about to turn around so the other has access to his tail but Tighnari catches his face with his hand to pull him back for a long ‘good-morning’-kiss. 

After they part, Cyno turns around on the bed, laying his tail in Tighnari's lap. The fox applies the waterproof oil with gentle hands, spreading it to everywhere on his fur, then finishing the procedure off with combing it in, getting out the tangles as well during the process. 

If Cyno could purr, he totally would be right now. He understands why Tighnari enjoys his tail-care, especially if someone else (Cyno or Collei) does it for him. 

The pampering ends too early for his liking but his husband really has to go to work soon. While Tighnari stands up to pack away the oil and comb, Cyno inspects his freshly groomed tail. It looks a bit more shiny and a lot more fluffier. It happily sways behind him as he too, stands and walks up to his husband to take his face between his palms and show his gratitude with sweet kisses. Tighnari smiles against his mouth. 

“You should put on some clothes” the fox gently caresses Cyno's sides and back with his fingertips and nails. “As much as I love to see you naked, I don't think we should scare the newbie away on her second day.” 

The matra chuckles. “Alright.” With a last kiss, he goes to their shared clothes-chest and searches for a shirt and one of Tighnari's pants, like yesterday. His own pants don't have a hole for his new tail. Yet. Because if it goes on for long, Cyno will need his own clothes modified. 

They talked about it a bit yesterday during dinner and they came to the conclusion that if his appendages don't disappear after a week, Tighnari will look more into that mushroom and maybe try to make an antidote. If Cyno doesn't wish to stay like this, that is. He mentally sighs.

As he finishes dressing up, there's a knock on the door. Tighnari is still packing into his backpack so he asks Cyno to open it. 

The young girl on the porch is surprised by who opened the door, she almost drops her umbrella in her haste to stand correctly. 

“G-General Mahamatra!” 

Oh. So she recognises him. Most people don't recognize him without his uniform. 

Then her eyes wander upwards, to his ears. Her eyes widen to the size of two plates and her mouth falls slightly open in surprise. 

Cyno clears his throat. 

“You are probably Sudabeh. Tighnari will be he-” 

“Yes, yes, I am here!” said person interrupts him, appearing next to Cyno at the door, adjusting the straps of his backpack. “Ready to go?” 

“Oh” she blinks. “Yes, uhm” she searches in her pockets and brings out a letter. “The Ranger with the dogs gave this to me, sorry I forgot his name. He said this letter is addressed to you, Master Tighnari.”

“That's Amir.” Tighnari reminds her of the Forest Watcher’s name while accepting the letter. “Oh, it's from Collei!” his eyes light up as he recognizes the handwriting. Cyno reads it over his shoulder. “She just finished with an exam and doesn't have to study for another one for a while so she is coming home tomorrow for two days!”

“That's fantastic!” says Cyno. “I'll check if we have all the ingredients for her favourite meal. If not, I can go to the city to buy them while you are working.” 

“That is a nice idea but are you sure you want to go to Sumeru city like this?” he subtly gestures with his hands at his ears. 

“I can hide them there with my helmet. And I didn't turn into an ostrich, I have to come out of my shell.”

Tighnari rolls his eyes fondly. “Okay, be safe! I'll be home in the afternoon!” He accompanies his goodbyes with a quick kiss. Cyno didn't know it was possible but the teenager's eyes grow even bigger than they were previously at this gesture. 

“You be safe too!”

He waves to the two of them as they depart. Cyno hears – even through the heavy rain – as Sudabeh whispers to Tighnari:

“Master Tighnari, are you dating the General Mahamatra?!” 

He can hear the amusement in his husband's voice. “No.” 

She tries to look back subtly. “But…” 

“I'm not dating the General Mahamatra. I'm married to him.”

The girl gasps.

He doesn't hear the continuation to this, they are now too far for that. Maybe if it wasn't raining… 

He closes the door. 

As he promised, he checks if they have all the ingredients for Pita Pockets. Luckily, they have everything, so he doesn't have to go to the city. Yet. 

He really has to get used to being seen like this because if it doesn't go away until he is summoned back to work, then… 

He will go out today. Just here in Gandharva Ville. 

When later the pouring rain calms to a drizzle, he really goes out to get some fresh air and to inquire if there's something he could help with. The rangers’ eyes widen when they see him during his walk and when they ask him about why he has tall ears and a tail suddenly, like their boss, he tells them about the mushroom-mishap. The rangers nod somberly, they know Cyno got a serious tongue-lashing. They know their Chief Officer. Some of them even pat him on the shoulder; a decade ago none of them would dare to do that, they were still afraid of him. The newer ones are still skittish around him sometimes, but seeing their older colleagues being calm and friendly towards him, the new ones also slowly warm up to him usually. 

He visits granny Umm in her hut, and takes her out on a walk, one hand pushing her wheelchair, holding the umbrella above her with the other. A few years ago she fell down the stairs and broke her leg, but her old bones didn't heal properly and she can barely stand on her own. The inhabitants of Gandharva Ville take care of her, like she did with them when they were young. Luckily, her mind is still sharp as ever. She laughs at the story of how he acquired his new animal features. He tells her about Collei's visit too. 

After that, he goes back home to clean the hut a little. They can't have Collei visiting them in a dirty house! When he deems everything clean and organized, he heads for the kitchen to prepare dinner for Tighnari. 

The next morning Cyno still looks the same. To Tighnari's delight. Because Cyno wakes up to his husband hugging his white fluffy tail, instead of his own. Or him. Tighnari should be hugging his husband! Not his husband's tail! 

Cyno can't believe he is jealous of his own tail. 

He should wake the other up to start preparing for the day with the newbie ranger but he looks so peaceful while sleeping, burying his nose into the fur like it's a pillow. 

But as Cyno shifts on the bed, Tighnari wakes up, hugging the fluffy appendage closer to his chest. 

“You really like my tail, huh?” Cyno teases him. Tighnari just sleepily buries his face into the fur as an answer and takes a deep breath. Cyno chuckles. “You have your own, you know.” 

“It's not like you don't hug my tail sometimes” he quips back, his eyes still closed. “And it's… different,” he adds, hesitating. 

“How so?”

“Because that is mine and this is yours. It feels different. Not because yours isn't as fluffy as mine or that it has a different shape, it just… feels different. Because it's yours. Do you… understand what I'm trying to say?”

“Hm, I think so.” Cyno gets the idea of it but can't really comprehend the full meaning of it. Maybe if he was born this way, with the animal features, like his husband, he would truly understand it… 

Tighnari exhales, relieved. 

Cyno twists his body to reach his husband's temple for a kiss but in a way that the other doesn't have to let go of the tail. It's an uncomfortable position but worth it to see the small smile that blooms on Tighnari's face.

“And we don't know when it will disappear so I need to get every opportunity to enjoy it.”

“Oh, I'm sure you are enjoying it.”

Tighnari raises one eyebrow with a smirk. “Are you jealous?”

“No” he fibs. “Why would I be jealous of my own tail?” 

But his husband sees through him. Of course he does. 

“Awww, habibi” he lets go of the tail and gestures with his hands. “C’mere!” And Cyno does. He turns fully, his tail is finally freed from between them, and puts his head in Tighnari's hands. His face immediately gets peppered with little kisses, the last one is long and loud and ends up on his mouth. “You know that I love you, ya ruhi.” The fox gently strokes his cheeks with his thumbs. “And it makes no difference if you have animal ears and tail, or not.” 

“I know, I know.” He closes his eyes. “My brain just does this sometimes.” 

“I know, my dear” his husband smiles faintly, understanding. He has witnessed those times during their years as a couple and as friends, and he was always there for Cyno to reassure him about the opposite thing his brain tells him, or just to simply be there and hug him until it ends. 

Cyno's ear twitches at a sound coming from outside. 

“Collei will be here soon” he changes the subject. “And Sudabeh, too. We need to get up and be a little more ch ear ful .”

Tighnari huffs with a mix of annoyance and fondness. He had time and opportunity to perfect this huff over the years. But he eventually lets go of Cyno's face after a last kiss and both of them get out of the bed to start the day.

Tighnari is already off with the trainee ranger when there's a knock on the door. It must be Collei. 

Cyno abandons tidying up Tighnari's bookshelves – again – (it's always a mess, especially after Tighnari is very invested in a research), and goes to open the door. 

“Collei!” Cyno greets her. 

“Cyn-” Her wide smile turns into wide eyes. “What happened?!” 

Ah, yes, they forgot to mention it in the letter. He steps aside to let her in. 

“I ate a mushroom.” 

“You what?!” She looks horrified. Because she knows her master/dad. “Master Tighnari wasn't delighted, I wager.”

They sit down at the table. 

“Oh, no, he wasn't, I can assure you I got an earful.” When Collei only reacts with a grimace to his pun, he continues: “But when the next day I woke up with these…“ he gestures to his ears and swishes his tail, “... he was fascinated, so to say.”

“I- I did not need to know that.”

Cyno chuckles. 

“So how long will it last?” 

He sighs. “We don't know. Tighnari is busy breaking in the new ranger so he doesn't have time to study that mushroom.”

“Oh.”

“But! You are in Amurta, maybe you can help!” 

“I study human biology, not mycology, Cyno.”

“You have held seminars about plant recognition before you even went to the Akademiya.” 

“Mushrooms aren't plants. And I taught them how to recognize them, not what to do if one of them turns them into animals after eating it.” 

Ah, she is so much like her father. 

He sighs again, pretending to be disappointed. “That's why you should have chosen Spantamad!” 

Collei shifts on her seat. “Uhm… about that…” Cyno raises his eyebrows. “I had to take some Spantamad classes and you said if I have a question…” 

“Yes, of course, you can ask anything.” 

She takes out her notes from the backpack she brought. “I have asked it from my professor too and he answered it and I did it that way during the exam but I still don't understand why it is going like that.”

He brings his chair closer. “Let me see!” 

Hours later the two of them still sit at the table, Collei telling Cyno about her studies and her friends at the Akademiya, and little mischiefs that the General Mahamatra probably shouldn't hear. But right now, he isn't the General Mahamatra, he is just Cyno, one of Collei's caretakers (dads). Over time, Cyno put his tail in her lap after noticing her eyeing it. At first, she was shy but now she is petting it like how she has done it with Tighnari's, whenever he plopped his tail in her lap the same way. 

This is how Tighnari finds them when he finally arrives at home, a little earlier than the previous days. 

Collei stands up and runs to hug him. Who would have known that the timid little girl who didn't like other people touching her, would willingly initiate a hug? Although she still doesn't let anyone touch her (which is good), only those who are close to her. The little girl – who isn't so little anymore – embraces her father figure with so much joy like they haven't seen each other for years. She has to lean down a little, she grew taller than both of them, now she is almost as tall as Lisa. Tighnari reciprocates the hug and pats her hair affectionately. 

Cyno goes up to them and puts his arms around both of them. They stand like that for a while (it's been weeks since the three of them met), and when Cyno starts to sway them back and forth, the other two chuckle. 

“I missed you so much, my little sprout.” Tighnari tightens his arms around Collei before letting her go. He reaches up to sweep her hair away from her face. “Ah, you have grown so much, I shouldn't be calling you sprout, you are a flower now.” 

“A Colleiflower.” Tighnari swats his husband with his tail. “Ow?”

The fox clicks his tongue then turns back to Collei. He leads the three of them back to the table to sit down. 

“Tell us about your days!” he props his chin in his palms, tail slowly swaying behind him contently. “I know we write letters but it's not the same. I want to hear the stories from you!” 

Cyno doesn't mention that Collei has already told him some, Tighnari needs to hear them as well. 

“Yes, yes, tell us! We are all ears!” He even twitches said ears for demonstration. 

His husband doesn't appreciate his funny idiom: he gets narrowed eyes and lopsided ears. Collei understands the joke, she chuckles. 

Then she enthusiastically starts recounting her experiences at the Akademiya and the shenanigans with her friends. 

Oh, how much he had missed her!

Chapter Text

“Can we go with you today?” Cyno asks Tighnari while they are getting ready in the morning. Collei is already dressed and eating breakfast: the leftover pita pockets from yesterday. 

Tighnari is making fresh ones for himself to take on his patrol. 

“We won't bother you!” Collei chimes in. “Or the new ranger.” 

“We will just… tail along.” The fox narrows his eyes at Cyno. 

“We can even help collect samples!” 

“Yes! And Sudabeh probably knows Collei, you said she is from Vimara village like Rana. Collei went there a lot to patrol while she was a ranger before the Akademiya.”

“Sudabeh is the new ranger?” Collei lights up. “I have known her since she was this tiny.” She holds out her hand almost as high as the table. 

Tighnari smiles. “Well, she is definitely taller now.” 

Collei gazes into space. “I'm getting old.” 

Cyno and Tighnari glance at each other and chuckle. 

But it's a good thing. That she is getting old. There was a time when they thought this wasn't possible for her. If Eleazar didn't get cured, maybe she wouldn't be sitting here with them, talking about the friends she made at school. 

But thank the archons (and the Traveller), Eleazar has disappeared, and she is alive and healthy and happy. She is so… free. 

“What?” she asks. 

“Nothing” they say in unison. 

“So, can we go? I have to go back tomorrow and want to spend time with you. Pleeeeease?” She is using her ‘kicked puppy’ expression. She might be resembling Tighnari more but at least she learned something from Cyno as well. To support her, he does it too, and to enhance the effect, he folds his ears close to his head and slowly sways his tail. 

Tighnari looks between the two, hesitating, but in the end, he can't resist them. He sighs. 

“Okay, you two can come with us.” 

“Yaaay!” They high-five. 

“But!” Tighnari points at both of them. “You will behave! Do not disturb Sudabeh, you can talk but don't avert her attention. She is still here to get a good grasp of what we do, what we have to do.” Cyno and Collei nod excitedly. “So I'll give you a list of things of what we need samples from. And look out for any disturbances! There haven't been any new Withering zones since Lesser Lord Kusanali was freed, but we can never lower our guard.”

“Yes, General Watchleader!” they salute. 

Tighnari sighs and puts his hands on his hips. He waits a little before saying: “Now, shoo! Pack your bags! Sudabeh will be here soon!” 

They scurry off to do just that. 

The Forest Watcher shakes his head fondly and sighs again. “I swear, sometimes I feel like I have two children,” he mumbles. 

Cyno hears the comment and walks back to him, hugs him from the side and plants a long and loud kiss on his husband's cheek. Tilting his head up, he murmurs into the other's ear: “We can try for a third one tonight, if you want to.” 

“Oh, you two are enough for me.” He smirks. “But I won't say no to practicing the method.” He turns his head to give Cyno a kiss on the lips. Their tails brush and coil around each other. It's Tighnari who steps back from the embrace in the end. “Now really go and pack your things, I have to write a list.”

Cyno steals one last kiss then scuttles off.

To say that Sudabeh is very surprised to see the General Mahamatra ready to go on patrol is an understatement. It's very obvious that she is nervous because of his presence, so he trails along a little further; Collei notices this and falls behind to keep him company. 

They chat as they look around and collect the samples Tighnari asked them. The other two are far ahead now, but Cyno can still hear them: his husband rambling about the various flora and fauna they see, how important it is to look after and keep watch of the rainforest. Sudabeh attentively humms at the correct places, sometimes even asks things too. 

It's weird – no, unusual for Cyno to have hearing this sharp. He not only hears the two rangers’ chatter but their steps too. To their left, there are four shroomboars, two together, the other two separated and a little farther. On their right there's a Rishboland tiger, walking further away from them. Various birds are chirping high above them on the trees. 

Does Tighnari also hear like this? No wonder he gets overwhelmed in the loud city. 

His tail helps him keep his balance when going over the bumpy road. 

Honestly, Cyno could get used to this. 

Around noon they stop for a lunch break. Collei sits down next to Sudabeh to chat and give her advices as a former Forest Ranger. Cyno takes his place next to his husband who is unwrapping the pita pocket he made in the morning. Cyno doesn't really like public display of affection but they are not really in public so his tail curls around the other's. Tighnari's cheeks take on a light pink hue and smiles as he bites into his food. His tail also wraps around Cyno's, the tip moving slightly. 

After eating, Tighnari doses off a little, like he often does. Most of the time he climbs on a tree for safety but now he just lays his head on Cyno's shoulder. 

The General lifts his index finger before his mouth to sign to the girls to keep quiet. They lower their voices; he can still hear their chatter. 

He looks at his slumbering husband. He lifts his hand to sweep the hair out of his face. It's getting long, it almost reaches his shoulders now. He knows Tighnari will cut it soon, it's more practical, although Cyno misses the long hair the fox sported during his Akademiya years. He has more and more grey hairs as the time goes on and Cyno adores every single one. There are some in his tail too.

As much as he can from this angle, he studies his husband's face, his relaxed expression, the forming wrinkles around his eyes and between his brows. He wants to caress them with the tip of his fingers but doesn't do it this time – he doesn't want to wake him up (also the girls are looking at them and he knows they are gossiping about them). 

Sudabeh isn't afraid of him anymore; he is glad. 

Tighnari wakes up after maybe half an hour. At first, his ear twitches, bumping into Cyno’s face. Then he takes a deep breath and sits up straight, yawning, rubbing one eye with his knuckles.

“Good morning!” Cyno says teasingly.

“Hmmm, how long did I sleep?” he tries to blink back to reality.

“Not long, don’t worry.”

The fox suddenly straightens his spine, alarmed. “Where are the girls?” he looks around, a little panicked.

Cyno puts his hand on his husband’s shoulder. “They are exploring the area. Don’t worry!” he repeats. “Collei knows the forest, and they are still in hearing distance.”

Tighnari stops, his ears moving to locate Sudabeh and Collei. After some seconds, he exhales, relieved. He slumps against Cyno.

“Next time do not let them wander away! Sudabeh is under my charge. Collei too. Although she is an adult now. But she is still my apprentice. My daughter.”

“Mm. I wouldn’t have let them go if I didn’t have these ears.”

His husband chuckles. “They are quite useful, aren’t they?”

“Certainly.”

Tighnari sighs, content. They enjoy the lively ambience of the rainforest for a moment. Then the fox reluctantly straightens again and stands up, supporting his weight on Cyno's leg. He stretches out his limbs and Cyno admires his husband's body. He knows what's under those clothes, how those muscles move when taut or relaxed, the way his skin gets goosebumps when Cyno touches him tenderly, how red he gets on the throes of pleasure…

They need to get home quickly. 

Tighnari, unaware of Cyno's dirty thoughts, turns in the direction they hear the two girls and cups his hands before his mouth. 

“Collei! Sudabeh! Come back! We are continuing the patrol!” 

They hear two pairs of feet rushing back to where they are, and moments later both of them walk out from between the trees. All of them pack their stuff and continue onward, Tighnari and Sudabeh leading the way. 

Cyno doesn't have to fall behind anymore.

Chapter Text

“It's just the two of us now” says Tighnari in a low voice and wraps his arms around Cyno's neck suggestively.

His own hands automatically gravitate towards his husband's waist. “We are alone, indeed” he murmurs back. 

After they arrived back home, they invited Sudabeh to dinner. After they finished eating, the girls left to the new trainee ranger's hut to have a slumber party, but before leaving, Collei told them that she will say goodbye tomorrow morning before she heads back to the city. She has a shift at the Bimarstan. 

Tighnari's tail sways lazily behind him, he gently scratches Cyno's nape with his nails, giving his husband goosebumps. “I have an idea how we could spend some quality time together.”

“Oh? I am open to any suggestions.” Cyno's tail wants to wag so bad , but he controls his emotions and only lets it sway the way Tighnari's does. 

“This idea consists of me” he takes a step back, Cyno following him “opening my legs” another step back “for you” step “and you ” step “opening me up.” He takes one more last step, his legs hitting the end of the bed. He leans in, his warm breath ghosting over Cyno's lips. “And since you were a good boy today, you can taste a special kind of mushroom, different from the ones you ate a few days ago.” 

Oh, archons… 

Now Cyno really can't keep his tail from wagging. Tighnari chuckles at his reaction. 

“Well?” his husband asks, teasingly. “What do you think of this idea?” 

Cyno can't hold back anymore. “I love your brain” he surges forward to finally capture his husband's mouth with his own. Tighnari laughs into the kiss. Then his laugh ceases as he concentrates on exploring the inside of his husband's mouth with his tongue. He tangles his fingers into the matra's white locks, bringing their mouths even closer. Cyno grunts as he feels Tighnari bite into his lower lip with his sharp fangs.

He crouches down a little to hook his hands under his husband's thighs; Tighnari understands: he hops a little and wraps his legs around Cyno's waist. They both moan in pleasure as their clothed, half hard erections press together.

Cyno kneels on the bed and gently lays his husband down on it, hovering over him, mouths never separating. But in the end, they also need to breathe, so they break away – just for Cyno to pepper kisses down the column of his husband's throat. The matra enjoys the sound of the other's pants and little whines as he licks his pulse and sucks the delicate skin between his teeth, lowering the turtleneck to reveal more of the fading hickeys. 

The fox tugs on the collar of Cyno's shirt at his nape. Cyno straightens up, sitting back on his heels, bringing Tighnari up with himself because the man is still hugging his neck. But then Tighnari unwraps his legs to also kneel on the bed, straddling Cyno, then helps him get rid of his shirt, throwing it somewhere in the room. His warm hands roam around the matra's naked torso, following all the dents and swells of his body, gently caressing the scars of old battles, knowing their places without looking.

It was Tighnari himself who had treated most of those wounds. 

Now his husband is leaving butterfly-kisses on his heaving chest, licking and sucking on each of his sensitive nipples while he undoes the button with one hand above Cyno's tail. And since his hands are already there, Tighnari sinks his fingers into the white fur, stroking and gently tugging on it. 

Cyno's breath stutters and his dick twitches in his pants from the sensations. He can endure nipple play for quite a while (the record is around one hour, Tighnari was in a lazy and patient mood that day; his nipples were swollen and extra sensitive for a few days after) but now with the added… tail-play… Well, Cyno feels he won't last very long. 

“Haah… Nari… Aah” Cyno tries to speak. 

Tighnari just humms, his lips around one of the sensitive buds, teasing it with his teeth. The vibration of that sound sends another jolt of pleasure to his groin. 

“Aaah!” he moans. “Nari… Hahhhh… Nari, if you- hhhhh- If you want me to be inside of you in less than thirty minutes aaaah… Then you should- you should stop this right now aah-!”

His husband's mouth separates from his nipple with a silent, wet pop, a thread of saliva still connecting them together, the hand in his tail stops. 

“Oh?” his eyebrows shoot up with a mischievous glint in his eyes and he licks his lips. He slowly slides one hand into the front of Cyno's pants, grabbing his rock hard dick. The matra lets out a loud moan. “I see.” Tighnari releases him with a smirk. “In that case…” Leaning back a bit, he reaches for the hem of his shirt and quickly takes it off, throwing it away. He unbuttons his own pants too at his tail. Meanwhile Cyno holds him at the waist to help him keep his balance as the fox frees himself from the last pieces of his clothing. 

Tighnari slides one hand to Cyno's nape and reclines on the other one, slowly leaning down on the bed, dragging his husband down with him. In the process, he reconnects their lips in a lazy, sweet kiss. 

As Cyno lays with all his weight on his husband (he knows the other likes that), their sweaty, hot skin touching as many places as possible; Tighnari's hands roam at the expanse of his back, nails grazing along his spine from his nape to the base of his tail and the hem of his loosened pants. Those naughty hands slip under to grab, to squeeze each of his asscheeks and to push him down, bringing their crotches closer, even more. Cyno is seeing stars; they moan into each other's mouth. 

The matra understands the signal: his husband already wants him inside. But first, he needs to be prepared to welcome him. 

He breaks away from the kiss and mouths along the fox's jawline, down his throat, then he sucks a hickey on his collarbone, listening to the sweet pants and whines of his husband. He pauses for a moment on his chest to feel the other's fast heartbeats with his lips. Then he goes down, down, down the soft stomach, following the happy trail under the navel and just as he reaches the part where his husband wants his mouth the most, Cyno takes a detour and rather focuses on the squishy thighs. 

Tighnari shows his displeasure with a groan, Cyno just smirks as he nips on the sensitive skin, leaving red marks along his way.

But he can’t tease the other forever, at least not now, so he slowly travels up with his lips, until he reaches the base of Tighnari’s darkened cock, or the “special mushroom” as he mentioned it earlier.

Cyno kisses upwards along the shaft, making eye-contact with his heavily breathing husband. The matra curls his fingers around the base and takes the head of the “mushroom” into his mouth, licking off the beads of precum. Tighnari inhales sharply and one of his hands flies to Cyno’s head to grab his hair. Cyno lifts his head off of his husband’s cock to smirk at his partner and sultrily licks his lips. The fox seemingly has had enough because he guides (pushes) his mouth back down on his dick, Cyno obediently opening wide to welcome it in his mouth as deep as he can. Tighnari does not force him further, only pulling at his hair as Cyno pleasures him. With every little bob of his head, he sucks him in deeper until his nose reaches the dark pubic hair.

He locks eyes with Tighnari above him, trying to blink away the tears forming, and relaxes his throat to swallow easier around the thick member, heavy in his mouth, filling him completely. Tighnari moans as Cyno continues bobbing his head, still looking up at the other.

“You look so sexy like this” Tighnari heaves. “Swallowing me all the way so perfectly… Like you were born to suck my dick.” He smooths his thumb over the back of Cyno’s fuzzy ear, making the owner close his eyes over the praise – one tear escapes and slides down the matra’s cheek. “Ah- you are doing so good, habibi.” Cyno grunts around his cock and it sends a shiver down Tighnari’s spine.

Cyno extends one of his arms, laying it down on the bed, palm up, and makes grabbing motions. Tighnari automatically places his free hand in it. The matra huffs, a little amused. It’s not what he wanted but it’s endearing. To signal better what he wants, he slides his other hand from his husband’s waist to his hole and slowly circles it with one finger. He makes the grabbing motions again with his extended hand. It takes some time for the fox to know what the other means but he eventually gets it. 

“Oh- OH!” His husband might be a genius but this slowness is very understandable, namely most of the blood from his brain is in his dick right now. Tighnari reaches over to his bedside table, opens the drawer and blindly searches through it. Then he finally places the bottle of lube in Cyno's waiting hand. Cyno gives his thanks with a long humm – his husband enjoys the vibration of it around his cock very much: his whole body trembles and lets out a long exhale. 

After uncorking the bottle, Cyno coats his fingers with the lubricant and rubs them together to warm it up. First, he circles around Tighnari's hole, slicking it up. The fox tries to move his hips but the matra's hand on his pelvis forbids it. 

“C-Cyno…” His tail trashes around the bed, desperate. “Please, please…” 

He can’t tease his husband for forever so he finally inserts the first finger and Tighnari welcomes it with a moan. A lot more follows it as Cyno slowly opens him up, later adding two more fingers, hooking them the right way – while still continuing the blowjob.

Tighnari is on the edge: he is gripping the sheets so hard, he is almost tearing them, and the matra’s white locks are under the same danger. He is leaking more into Cyno’s mouth as well. Then Cyno feels urgent taps on his head.

“Cy-no… I-I’m…”

That's the sign. He hollows his cheeks for one more time, taking his husband fully into his mouth, and pokes his prostate with his fingers.

These two things tip the fox over the edge and he finally cums with a loud scream, Cyno dutifully swallowing all of it, his fingers slowly moving in and out, helping his husband through his orgasm. He is also praying that he doesn’t have a bald spot because he definitely heard the bedsheet tear under Tighnari’s claws.

He lets go of his husband's softening cock at last, taking deep breaths and moving his tired jaw. With his free wrist, he wipes off saliva and some escaped cum around his mouth and chin. 

Tighnari squirms in overstimulation so Cyno takes his fingers out of his hole, which makes the fox mewl at the empty feeling. Cyno leans over him, planting small butterfly kisses on the other man's face. 

“Don't worry,” his voice is hoarse and has a sore throat because of the activity he just did. Despite these, he never regrets blowing his husband – let it be his mind or his dick. “You will be stuffed full again soon” he promises as he noses along Tighnari's jaw and neck, leaving open-mouthed kisses in his wake. A shudder goes through the Forest Watcher from these words. “I will let you rest for a bit.”

“ Me? ” Tighnari wheezes. “I think you are the one in need of rest, old man!”

Well, that is partially true. Tighnari recovers his arousal quicker than Cyno, but it always has been this way! It's not because he is old! And his erection is still standing, thank you very much! 

“So you don't want a break, I see.”

He straightens up to take off his pants, his dick finally springing free of its confines. Tighnari’s eyes lit up with hunger as he propped himself up on his elbows, his tail lazily curls in and out, the sound of it occasionally thumping on the bed accompanies the deep rumble of his purrs. His legs automatically open wider and Cyno sees the other's spent member twitch and start to fill up again. 

The matra smirks as he positions himself over his husband, forcing the fox to lay back down. It flatters him to know and see how much his husband is still attracted to him, even after all these years. 

“I would rather like you to break me ” answers Tighnari in a low voice, his tail brushing against his lower back and teases the other's white tail. Cyno lets his own tail play with and curl around the fluffy appendage. “I want you to rearrange my guts.” He puts his arms around Cyno's neck to bring him closer. 

“As you wish, ya ‘albi.” Cyno obediently leans down to seal their lips in a heated kiss.

As both their tongues and tails dance with passion, Cyno takes his – khm, other tail in his hand and positions himself before Tighnari’s hole. The fox sighs into the kiss at the feeling, then that sound turns into a moan as Cyno finally enters the tight heat. He slowly moves his hips, going deeper and deeper until he bottoms out and stops so Tighnari can get used to the intrusion. His mouth trails down on the column of his husband's neck but Tighnari turns his head to capture his lips again. Then the fox winds his legs around Cyno's torso to signal that he can now move. 

And moving, he does. 

He knows how his husband likes it. 

He starts out with slow, shallow thrusts then progressively increases his speed, finding his rhythm, and occasionally adjusts his pace and strength at Tighnari’s moaned out words. As always, being inside his husband feels so incredible. So warm and so tight. Those little contractions squeezing him… like his hole doesn’t want Cyno to leave. It doesn’t matter how many times they have had sex, he can never get tired of this feeling.

Not to mention how his husband looks while he is enjoying their intimate activity. The red blush on his face spreads down till his chest, ears folded to the side of his head. His beautiful, forest-colored eyes are either half-lidded or entirely shut, it depends on how close he is to the peak. Mouth open, letting out the most wonderful moans and whimpers as he is getting pounded into the mattress – or his lips are sealed together with Cyno’s in sloppy, wet kisses, those moans being swallowed up by Cyno. Sharp nails are scratching at his shoulder blades – he hopes they will leave a mark. 

As they both approach their climax, the rhythm of their hips become erratic. 

“Cy-Cyno… I-I'm-” Tighnari whines in pleasure, his hold on the other man's back getting stronger. 

“It's okay, habibi” Cyno reassures him, one of his hands sneaking between their sweaty bodies, grabbing his husband's aching cock. “You can let go. I'll follow you.” 

It takes two strokes for Tighnari to cum again, moaning Cyno's name so loud, probably all residents in Gandharva Ville have heard it. Cyno follows him not long after, snapping his hips in a final thrust, burying himself deep, and collapses on the top of his husband. 

As they catch their breath, Tighnari plays with Cyno’s white locks and leaves small kisses on his head where he can reach. When they start to feel icky and uncomfortable, they get up to clean themselves in the bathroom. After that, they change the bedsheets together in comfortable silence, then climb in, Tighnari laying on his back and Cyno on the top of him, burying his nose into his husband's neck. The fox drapes the cover over both of them. 

Cyno is already half asleep when he feels gentle fingers carding through his hair and a kiss on the top of his head, between his jackal ears.

Chapter Text

A loud knock on the door rouses Cyno from his sweet dream. With a grunt, he buries his face more into his husband's neck, flattening his ears to his head. 

Tighnari’s arms around his back strengthen. “Who could it be this early?” the fox murmurs sleepily. “The sun isn't even up yet.” 

“Maybe if we ignore them, they will go away,” suggests Cyno. 

“Good idea…” He doesn't even finish the sentence and he is already back to sleep. 

But then another sharp knock breaks the silence. 

“General Cyno!” comes Amir's muffled voice. 

The married couple groans in unison. With a defeated sigh he lifts himself off of his husband to get up from the bed- or just tries to get up because the fox is still clinging to him. 

“Nnnnoooooooo” Tighnari sleepily protests, winding his arms and legs around Cyno.

“Let me go, habibi, I have to answer the door.” 

“No. Stay here! He can come back at a reasonable hour.” 

Cyno sighs. “What did you eat yesterday? Because it looks like it turned you into a koala overnight.”

“Mmm.” The fox nuzzles his neck.

“Do you want me to open the door like this? Carrying you while we are both naked? I can do it” he threatens. 

This just makes Tighnari cling to him even more. “Hm. That way he will learn not to disturb us at ass-o'clock.”

He sighs again. He has to use his most effective weapon. 

“Have you heard about the koala scientist?” 

“Hm?” 

“He is winning a big prize for his koalatative research!”

Tighnari immediately releases him with a groan and kicks him out of the bed. “Go away!” he murmurs then turns on his side, tugging the cover over his head. 

Cyno snickers then struggles to put on his pants. Amir knocks again when he is already on his way, and opens the door, rubbing one sleepy eye with his knuckles. 

“What is it, Amir?” 

“Sorry to disturb your sleep, General, but a dusk bird just arrived with a letter for you.” 

Cyno accepts said letter from the Forest Watcher. It has the matra's seal on it. He sighs internally – they are calling him back. 

“Thanks, Amir. Now go to sleep!” he shoos the man away. 

“Yes, sir!” He jokingly salutes like a matra and heads back to his own hut. 

Some years ago Gandharva Ville's postal service got renewed after so many dusk birds and trained pigeons from Mondstadt got lost in trying to locate the various Forest Rangers who were on patrol at that moment. So now every letter arrives to Amir who volunteered for the job – he is already training the rescue dogs, he can deal with the birds too. Cyno either receives his letters in his office or if he isn't in the city, they get delivered here. He gave the command to Amir that if a letter for him has the matra seal, it has to be delivered to him as soon as it arrives. Though he still gets letters to his old house in the city (it's still under his name after all) but luckily they aren't considered urgent and Collei inhabits the place since she started studying in the Akademiya so those messages also find him quickly.

As he walks back to the bedroom, he opens the seal to read the letter. Tighnari curiously sits up on the bed, the cover pooling in his lap. Cyno sits down next to him, the fox scooching closer, putting his arms around the matra and leaning over his shoulder to take a peek.

“What is it?” he asks. 

Cyno sighs, tired. “The usual. A scholar fled to the desert, they need me back.”

“So soon…” 

“I'll deal with it quickly.” He rubs his eyes then throws the letter on the bedside table. “But I'm not going right now, I'll depart with Collei in the morning. Now, let's go back to sleep!” 

Tighnari agrees with a humm and pulls him back to lay down. Cyno turns around so he can also hug his husband as they quickly drift back to sleep. 

Tighnari helps Cyno put on his helmet, carefully tucking in the fluffy ears. He moves them around, the ears of the headpiece moving along. The fox reaches up to touch the fabric covered appendages. 

“How is it?” 

The helmet sits on his head perfectly as always, the fine cloth of the fake ears brush against the real ones as they move. Cyno wouldn't say it's uncomfortable but it is certainly a weird feeling. He tells it to his husband. 

“It will need some adjustments. My hearing is a little bit muffled like this but still sharper than my normal one.” 

Tighnari gently caresses one ear through the fabric, the tickling feeling makes the ear twitch from time to time. Cyno's eyes soften as he looks at his husband's face. He really adores his new jackal ears, isn't he? He will be so sad when the mushroom's effect goes away and Cyno will look normal again… 

“I will hurry back,” he promises. 

The fox's hand falls down and he directs his attention to smooth out and correct the matra uniform on Cyno's shoulders and chest. “You do that.” 

Tighnari always wears this melancholic face when Cyno has to go on a mission, he always worries, even when he knows it will be an easy job and he won't be going alone. He has his very capable matra and of course, Hermanubis. 

Cyno cups Tighnari’s cheek with one hand to tilt his face up a bit so they can look into each other's eyes. 

“I'll come back in one piece.”

Tighnari huffs. “You better be!”

“When I get back and I still have these” he moves his jackal ears under the helmet, “we could meet up with Kaveh and Alhaitham and try to convince them that I have always had these.”

His husband chuckles mischievously. “I'm in” he grins his answer, then leans in to give a looooong goodbye kiss. When they separate, one of his fox ears turns to the side. “Now go! Collei is waiting for you.” 

The matra steals one last kiss from his husband and walks out the door to his waiting daughter. 

The walk back to Sumeru city is uneventful, they reach their destination quickly. At one point, they go on their separate ways: Collei to the Bimarstan, Cyno to his office. 

His matra colleagues greet him when he arrives. He sees that they noticed that something is off with him but they can't put their mind to it yet. Cyno chuckles inside – he is very curious who will realise the difference first. 

He turns to one of the matras standing guard outside his door. “Please call Alia, Nayab and Aarav into my office!” 

“Yes, General!” the youngster salutes and scuttles away. 

According to the letter, Alia and Nayab are leading the investigation against this Vahumana scholar, who fled to the desert. The man, called Badr, is accused of corruption. He accepts and encourages bribery among his students for better grades and extended deadlines. Badr, getting a sniff that he is being investigated, did what most of the criminals do: he ran away to the desert. 

And Aarav is one of Cyno's most trusted men, he was already a matra, when Cyno got inaugurated as the General. A few years ago he got so seriously injured on a mission, he could barely walk for almost a year, and still uses a cane on worse days. His wife wanted him to quit, she even begged Cyno to fire him but Aarav wanted to stay a matra, he said, he can still serve their archon and the Akademiya. So Cyno assigned him to paperwork and constantly asks for his insight on cases. 

Cyno is sitting at his desk, looking over the papers of other assignments when he hears the four pairs of feet and the rhythmic knocking of Aarav's cane approaching. Then comes the knocking on his door. 

“Enter!” he calls out as he collects and puts the papers away for later.

Nayab, Alia and Aarav confidently step in, walking to his desk, the guard stops at the entrance to salute and closes the door. 

“Good morning!” Cyno motions to his subordinates to sit down on the chairs before him. “Now, please tell me everything about this case!” 

As Alia explains in detail everything about the investigation, Nayab butting in with added information here and there, Cyno notices that she looks rather distracted, darting her eyes between his helmet and his face. Aarav is looking at him with furrowed brows from behind his glasses, and Nayab looks just as confused as the other two. 

Cyno tilts his head to the side, the jackal ears twitching a little. 

Alia blinks rapidly and tries to continue her report but fails. 

Cyno puts his elbows on the table and props his chin on his closed fist. He raises his eyebrows. “Go on!” he encourages. He is secretly enjoying it. Who will be the bravest to mention the elephant in the room?  

He doesn't have to wait long to find out the answer to that. 

Alia can't take it anymore, she interrupts her own report. “I am very sorry for what I am about to ask, boss, but I can't decide if my eyes are deceiving me or if it has always been this way and I didn't notice, but… Did those ears on your helmet just move?!”

The General Mahamatra smiles. “Yes.” He twitches said ears for emphasis. 

The three of them let out a collective gasp. 

“Oh my archon!” 

“Wow!” 

“How? Did you put some machine in it?” Aarav inquires. 

“No, these are my real ears.” 

“Bullshit!” Aarav yells, then notices what he just said. “Excuse me for my language. But!” He points at Cyno. “I have seen you before without your helmet, boss, and you have human ears!”

“Are you sure?” 

“A hundred percent!” 

“Really?” His tail lifts up from the chair to be visible for the others. 

They gasp again. 

“General?!” 

“What's that?!” 

Cyno looks behind at the fluffy appendage. “My tail?” he answers casually as if it's normal, said tail swaying behind him lazily. 

“Since when do you have a tail?” Aarav is about to lose his mind. 

This conversation is fun. He should say the same things to Kaveh and Alhaitham when they meet up next time. He is very curious how those two will react. 

“Since… always?” he asks back, feigning confusion, like he doesn't understand why the others are asking about his body all of a sudden. 

“Are you fucking with us?” 

“The only one I'm fucking with is my husband.”

Alia snorts, Aarav is finally losing his mind and Nayab is still looking confused. 

“Cut the crap, boss!” Aarav really had enough. “What the fuck happened?”

Cyno still isn't very used to a swearing Aarav but since the man's son stepped into his teenage era, he got stressed easier, hence he swore more. That little rascal is a troublemaker.

“It is completely earrelevant as of now.” Alia snorts again at his pun. “We are here to discuss how to catch that scholar.” 

“Right…” 

“So, according to reports from the Corps of Thirty, he was last seen in Caravan Ribat, heading in the direction of Aaru Village. But Candace hasn't seen any person around that fits the description” Cyno summarizes. 

“Yes” nods Alia. 

Aarav cups his chin between his thumb and forefinger. “He is still probably around there though, we barely found any relation between him and the desert so he might be sticking close to civilization for safety.”

“Very likely” Cyno agrees. 

“It is also feasible that he got caught by eremites or treasure hoarders” Nayab quips. 

“Treasure hoarders aren't operating around that area” says Cyno. 

“They are, boss” Aarav affirms. “We got multiple reports on sightings of them so we are keeping an eye on them, but they haven't done anything criminalistic.” 

“I see…” the General nods, thinking. “Send a dusk bird to the scouts and ask them if they have seen a new person among the treasure hoarders with the appearance of the scholar!” Aarav nods in understanding. “Depending on the information we get, Alia and I will-” Cyno can't finish his sentence because he hears footsteps hastily approaching his office, then there's a sharp knock. 

“Enter!” he calls out. 

A newbie matra, Fariha opens the door and salutes. “I'm sorry to interrupt the meeting, General, but we just got information about the fleeing scholar's whereabouts.” 

“Please, tell us!” 

She nods. “The scholar, named Badr, was seen near Caravan Ribat with a group of eremites to the north. He is presumably in a hostage situation, he isn't bound but isn't allowed to leave the camp either.”

The four of them look at each other, then back at Fariha.

“Anything else?” asks Cyno. 

“No, that is all, General.” 

“Thank you, Fariha. You can leave now.” 

She salutes and wordlessly walks out the door. 

They turn back to each other, and Cyno unrolls his map about the desert on his table. Aarav, adjusting his glasses, points at a place, on the north of Caravan Ribat.

“This is where we got reports of an eremite camp last week. It looks like they are still there.” 

“Excellent. Alia, you are coming with me. Pack lightly, we are leaving in 30 minutes for Caravan Ribat. We will see if we can “kidnap” the scholar back from them without a fight. If we have to negotiate or fight then it will be. Nayab, come after us with backup but only interfere if we ask for it or if it's necessary! Got it?”

His subordinates nod in unison and stand up to leave and get ready. Aarav stays a little behind, it's more difficult for him to stand up, then halfway to the door he turns back to Cyno.

“It looks like we won't need that dusk bird” he huffs, then his expression turns serious. “Take care, General! I don't want to inform Al-Tighnari about bad news.” 

“You won't have to. I have Hermanubis, my vision and Alia is a promising talent. And we will have backup.” 

Aarav smiles, nodding. “Alia is indeed very promising, she reminds me of your early years at the matra.”

“You are only three years older than me, and joined the matra only a few months before me.”

Aarav ignores this comment. “You are training her, aren't you? That's why you are bringing her everywhere with you on missions.”

“Yes.”

“You plan to make her the next General Mahamatra.”

“Yes.” 

“Good choice. Though she won't be the youngest General, you will still be holding that record.” He chuckles then sighs, melancholic. “I can't believe it's been more than 20 years! You were just this small youngster… Well, it's not like you are much taller now… But less of a youngster...”

“Thanks”, says Cyno dryly. “I repeat, you are three years older than me.” 

“But I'm glad, you are thinking of the future. We know, our work is dangerous, you just have to look at me. And we won't get younger either.”

Cyno's eyes soften. “I know. But I can't retire just yet. Sumeru still needs me.” He huffs a laugh. “And my conscience wouldn't let me either. I'm only approaching 40! I am still young! I am still capable!”

Aarav chuckles, agreeing. “Yes, we are still capable! Although it's not a bad thing to leave the brunt of the work to the youngsters.”

“That's why I'm bringing Alia with me.” 

His long-time coworker/friend laughs. “Good, good. Now, please tell me what really happened to your ears?” 

The General sighs. He can't escape the answer to this, can't he? 

“I ate a mushroom I shouldn't have.”

“Ayyy” Aarav grimaces, he knows Tighnari’s temper. The man has witnessed countless times as the fox barged into the room, hearing about an injury Cyno came back with from a mission – let it be only a small cut or life threatening ones. The building was always loud from his nagging while he was treating his reckless husband, or after he woke up from the sweet world of unconsciousness. “Your husband wasn't happy about that, I wager.”

“Oh, at first, he wasn't endeared . But the next day when these side-effects showed up, he got very intearested , so to say.” He lifts up his brows suggestively. 

At this, Aarav lets out a booming laugh. Not because of the pun, sadly. “Then I suppose you intend to hurry back home, hahaha!” 

“As much as I can, yes.” 

“In this case, I'm not holding you back any longer.” 

He leaves the office, still chuckling, and Cyno starts packing for the mission.

Chapter Text

Twelve eremites, plus the suspect. Badr is sitting by the campfire, bothering the flames with a stick in his hand. He feigns boredom but his eyes dart around nervously, looking for a chance to escape. Four of the eremites are standing watch around the camp, other four are cleaning and sharpening their weapons, two are playing TCG with one watching them, who occasionally stands up to stir the pot of food cooking on the fire, and the last one just went inside a tent. 

When Cyno was in his prime – 10-15 years ago – he could've dealt with them alone and still would've captured the scholar. But now… He feels deep down in his consciousness that even Hermanubis agrees that they can't deal with all the eremites, just the two of them and keep Badr from fleeing again in the chaos. 

He turns to Alia. The young woman is crouching next to him, hiding behind a hillock, squinting a little to see in the settling sun. 

“What do you think?” he asks. 

“Hm, there are twelve eremites. Our suspect is at the campfire. Guards at every side of the camp, armed. I can't see any opportunity for us to sneak in unnoticed and get the scholar out.” Good observation. Cyno nods, encouraging her. “The two of us could deal with the eremites but the suspect would get an opportunity to escape. We will need Nayab's backup, at least two more people.” 

“Good thinking” he phrases her. If she were Collei, he would even ruffle her hair too. Cyno turns around and positions the golden plate on his armband to catch the sunshine and moves it back and forth to relay his message to the others in code. After he finishes, he turns back to look at the camp. Nothing changed. Good. He puts the helmet back on his head to prepare for the attack – he took it off to hear better and in case the eremites notice the ears, they would be less suspicious of white ones, the dark ears of his helmet are quite widely known after all. Alia eyed the appendages with a special glint in her eyes, the same ones she had when she first met Tighnari – or every time she spots a cat. 

“Can you hear them?” asks Alia now, nodding her head in the camp's direction. 

“Yeah, I can. These aren't just for show” he twitches the ears. Then he sighs. “But they aren't talking about things we could use or about their hostage. They probably talked it out earlier, we were late for that.” 

“Ah.”

“But can you see the two who are playing TCG?”

“Hm, yes. What about them?”

“The one on the left is losing the game.”

“How do you know that?” she raises one eyebrow. 

“He sacrificed a card to turn one dice and the opponent snickered. It was probably a good card.” 

“Oooh, so the guy is getting desperate. Well, if we attack, both of them will lose, hehe.”

Cyno sees answering flickering lights from the corner of his eyes. The other matras are ready. Alia notices it too and takes out her sword, her pyro vision glowing in anticipation.

“Alright! Time to arrest our suspect!” she grins. 

“We shouldn't get too overload” he looks at her. “Do you get it? Because pyro and electro make an overload reaction and the word is similar to ‘overboard’.” 

She snorts. “Boss, care for a TCG duel after this?” She stands up.

The General stands up too. “I thought you'd never ask, kid.”

“Nice.”

They stealthily walk closer to the camp, trying to get noticed as late as possible. When they are almost at the edge of the camp, one of the lookouts spots them and notifies the other eremites with a loud yell. 

“Shit! That's the General Mahamatra!” Cyno hears someone shout. 

“Well” says Alia. “Let's get this party started!” 

Cyno lowers himself to a fighting stance. “Surrender! Judgement is upon you!”

They didn't surrender. But the Matra still booked a winning fight.

As Cyno and Alia knocked out the eremites, two other matra took the suspect by surprise, who – just like they have predicted – wanted to flee during the commotion. 

Now the scholar is tied up, kneeling before Cyno, begging. 

The General Mahamatra hears the same excuses from his mouth as many others have spat out before him. 

“Saying your reasons here is futile. Your sins weigh upon your soul” the General tells the man. He looks at his subordinates. “Bring him back to the Akademiya and submit him to judgement! As for his eremite friends… They will wake up soon. Leave them tied up and when they wake up, ask them what's their relation to the suspect. If they have no correlation with him let them go. If they have, bring them to the Akademiya too for further interrogation!”

“Yes, General!” His men salute and do as they were told. He sighs and puts his weapon away. He needs to write a report about the mission, he can't go home until it's done. Cyno puts a hand to the bruise at his hip, where he unfortunately took a punch. Tighnari won't be happy about this. 

He sighs again then starts to walk back in the direction of Caravan Ribat, the twinkling desert stars guiding his way. 

It takes three days to wrap up the case.

The eremites do know the scholar: the man owes them a good amount of mora for guarding and guiding him in the desert during his secret research. That's why he started accepting bribery from his students. When he showed up without the next portion, the eremites planned to take him to their boss to deal with him.

The secret research was about old deshretian machinery. Badr promised the helping eremites that they will get a good portion from the money he will be granted when he finishes the research. But of course, the current Grand Sage and the Akademiya did not approve of this research. So he needed another way to get mora to pay the eremites. And of course – against the stereotypes – the desert folks aren't stupid, they found out the scam. 

The Matra let the eremites go, they got paid off with the scholar's remaining mora and most of his jewellery. He won't need those in the jail cell he is being confined for the foreseeable future. 

Cyno can't go home while they are wrapping up the case, so at night he sleeps on the couch at Collei's place, his old house. While he is in the city, he makes a visit to a tailor and commissions new pants for himself, adjusted to fit his tail. It's been more than a week, who knows how long it will last? And he doesn't want to wear Tighnari’s pants forever. 

One morning he sees Kaveh at the market while shopping but the architect is in a hurry so Cyno only asks if he and Alhaitham have free time one of these days to have a meet up with Tighnari and him. Kaveh zealously promises to ask his husband about it. He doesn't notice the bodily changes on Cyno, the ears safely tucked in the helmet and the tail hidden under his shendit. Perfect. 

As he continues his shopping, he can not notice that the city really is loud. Tighnari was right all along. 

Vendors yelling to advertise their wares, customers making deals, old citizens meeting and shopping together, friends chatting and gossiping…

Talking about gossiping… 

One of Cyno's ears twitches as he catches someone mentioning his name. 

“Oh, look! That's the General Mahamatra!” the young woman says to her friend. 

“Yeah” answers the aforementioned, not really enthusiastic friend. 

“What do you think he is doing here? Is he investigating someone?”

“He is clearly shopping. Like all of us.” 

“Oh, you are probably right. My bad. Haha.” 

“What is it with you? Why are you acting like this all of a sudden?” 

“I don't know… He just looks… Kinda hot? If you know what I mean.”

The friend sighs, tired. “Nala, he has a husband and a daughter about our age. He is too old for you.”

“I know, I know! But… you know… There's this certain hotness and attractiveness in a dilf…”

“Oh, Dear Kusanali help me!” the friend murmurs. 

Cyno doesn't pay attention to the rest of the conversation because he gets distracted by that word. 

Dilf. 

What does it mean? 

Collei arrives home from her study session in the House of Daena just as Cyno is setting the table for dinner. 

They mostly eat silently, Collei being tired from classes and studying, and Cyno still wondering about what he heard at the market. 

Speaking of which… 

“Collei?” Cyno clears his throat. 

She puts another portion of food in her mouth. “Hm?” 

“When I was shopping in the morning, I heard something,” his ears twitch for emphasis. Collei rolls her eyes fondly in a way that reminds him of Tighnari. “Two girls were talking and they said a word I don't understand. It was probably slang, and you always help me out with new slang words, so you might know what it means.”

“Of course. What was it?” She brings her cup to her mouth to drink. 

“What is a ‘dilf’?” 

Collei chokes on her water and starts to cough violently. Cyno is on his feet immediately, rushing to her side to pat her back.

“Collei? Are you okay?”

His daughter nods, still coughing a little and reaches for her cup again to take a sip. “I'm okay” she croaks and takes a few deep breaths. 

Cyno squeezes her shoulder for a moment then walks around the table to sit back down. 

“So… is it a bad word?” he asks. 

“No…” She averts her eyes, her cheeks still a little pink from the coughing. “It just… caught me a little off-guard.”

“So it is a bad word.” 

“No, it really isn't.” She still doesn't look at him. “Uhm… it's rather… flattering? I could say…”

“Well, then what does ‘dilf’ mean?” 

This is when Collei gives up: she covers her face with her hands. “Oh, sweet Kusanali help me!” she mumbles but Cyno still hears it. 

“Collei?” he asks, worried. She never behaves like this. 

“I'm okay, I'm okay” comes her muffled voice from behind her hands. “I just can't believe it's this word I have to explain.” She takes a deep breath and finally drops her hands but still doesn't look at Cyno, her face beet red. “So. The word ‘dilf’ really is a slang but not really a word, rather an acronym. ‘Dilf’ is short for – I can't believe I'm saying this in front of you – the term ‘Dad I would like to fuck’.”

“Oh.” 

“People use this term on older men around 30-50 years who are most likely fathers and they find them very attractive.” 

“Oh.” Cyno's face heats up. Does this mean that people – who aren't Tighnari – find him attractive? Like this? 

His silence draws Collei's attention and she finally glances at him. She makes a funny grimace seeing his blush.

“Please don't say those girls were talking about you…” 

It's his turn to avert his eyes. “Well…” 

“Oh, my archons!” she buries her face back into her palms, embarrassed. 

“Wait, does that mean that Tighnari is a dilf for me?” 

Collei lets out a whine. “No,” comes her muffled voice “for you, he isn't. For others, he could be. You don't really use that word on people you actually… do… that with.”

“Oh, okay.” Cyno quiets for a second, deep in thought. “Then can I use that term on Kaveh or Alhaitham, for example?”

“Why are you asking me these things?” Collei is still suffering from embarrassment. 

“I just want to understand today's youth. It's not easy to interrogate students if I don't understand half of what they say.” 

“Okay but in what scenario would dilf come up during an investigation?” 

Cyno shrugs. “That's classified.” 

Collei snorts and finally emerges from behind her hands, still blushing furiously. “To answer your question: yes, you could use that for uncle Kaveh and uncle Alhaitham. But please don't, at least not in front of me. Although they don't actually have children – if you don't count Mehrak –, they are at that age so people can use that word for them. And since professor Kaveh is very popular, I have no doubt he gets called that among the students.”

Cyno raises his eyebrows. “Good to know.” 

His daughter sighs. “And while we are at it, there's a version for women, too: it's ‘milf’. Actually, it was used first then came the dilf.”

“Hmm, I see.” 

“Can we please change the topic? I can't do this much longer or I'll have to burrow myself in Pardis Dhyai out of embarrassment.” 

Cyno chuckles. “Of course. Then tell me how was your study session? Do you need any help?” 

She sighs, relieved.

Chapter Text

The house is dark and empty when Cyno arrives at home in Gandharva Ville. Tighnari is probably still out, working. 

He packs away his things, putting the new commissioned pants into their shared clothes chest, then changes out of his work uniform to finally put on comfortable clothes. 

It's late in the afternoon. Time to start preparing dinner – Tighnari will be hungry when he gets home. 

And oh, he is so right. 

Not much later, he hears his husband's approaching steps. Cyno finishes prepping the ingredients then goes to the door to wait. Tighnari either hears him walking back-and-forth or notices that the lights are on because his steps speed up, pounding at the wooden stairs. Cyno braces himself for the impact when the fox flings the door open and launches himself with the speed of light into his husband's waiting arms. The door flings back and closes itself with a loud bang. Tighnari buries his face into the crook of Cyno's neck, arms wound tightly over his shoulders, then relaxes and drops all his weight for his husband to hold. It's not a new thing, Tighnari does this a lot, especially after a hard day or if Cyno was away for a long time. He calls it “recharging”. The matra leaves a little kiss on the other's shoulder where he can reach it. 

That's how they stand there for minutes, not saying anything, just hugging and breathing in each other's scent. At last, Tighnari takes a deep breath and his tail starts to sway leisurely behind him. The recharging has finished. 

Cyno feels a mouth wander on his neck, leaving wet kisses behind. 

Yeah, definitely recharged. 

“Did you miss me that much?” he teases. 

“You… have no… idea” the other murmurs between kisses. Cyno chuckles and tilts his head so the fox has better access to his neck. 

“Oh, I have some ideas. You always turn into a neckromancer when- Ow!”

“You were saying?” Tighnari nonchalantly licks the bite mark he just left on Cyno's skin. 

“I love you.” 

“Mmm” The fox now peppers the other side with kisses. “I love you too.” 

“I was about to make dinner.” 

“Oh? But I see it's already finished?” He sticks his nose under Cyno's jaw and inhales deeply. “It smells very delicious.” 

Well, his husband is definitely hungry but not the kind of way Cyno thought of. 

“I meant dinner with actual food. That you can eat.” 

“I can eat you out.” 

The matra snorts. “Oh, I know. But I have already prepared the ingredients.” 

“Hm, really?” The dark tail is swaying back-and-forth. 

“And I'm certain that we could enjoy this more if there's something in our stomach.” 

“Well, I can suck you off to get something in my stomach.” 

Oh, archons! 

Cyno chuckles and pries his husband off of him, keeping him at arms length, the man making a voice of disappointment. Finally seeing the other's face in a sulky pout drives another chuckle out of Cyno. 

“You are insatiable when you are this aroused and I adore you for it but now I have to be the voice of reason between the two of us and say that we both had a long day and are in need of nutrition so let's eat that dinner. After that, we can do anything you desire to do with me. Deal?”

Tighnari seems to blink away the horny fog a little bit before he finally nods. 

“Okay, then let's go make dinner!” Cyno claps.

Cooking with a horny husband isn't an easy task. As Cyno puts the ingredients into the pot little by little, Tighnari crowds him to the stove, hugging him tightly from behind, hands wandering around on his torso, sinful mouth delivering kisses and soft bites to his nape, neck and shoulders – long white hair swept to one side. He wouldn't say it isn't affecting him, he is pretty much getting aroused too, not mentioning the little hip thrusts and feeling his husband's bulge poking at his ass is not making it easier to concentrate on cooking. Tighnari’s breathing is becoming ragged, he might just cum by dry humping him. That would be very sexy. 

The fox nuzzles his nape. “You smell so good! I love your smell.” 

Cyno smiles fondly. “Mhm, you have mentioned that before.” He stirs the pot with a wooden spoon. “Actually, has my scent changed since I grew the jackal ears and tail?” 

“Hm?” Tighnari sniffs him. “Huh, now that you mention it, maybe a little? Not a big difference, you still smell the same… maybe the undertones changed a little, it's even more pleasant than before… I can't really describe it. But probably I'm the only one who would notice it.”

“Mm, I see. Maybe that's what pushed your horny button this tim- Aaaah!” he yells as Tighnari pinches one of his nipples through his shirt. 

“I will push that button inside you” Tighnari says that like it's a threat but in the matra’s opinion, it's actually a treat. Now Cyno is also impatient, could the dinner hurry up and get cooked faster? “You know I get these moods from time to time” the fox mumbles. 

Of course Cyno knows, his husband has told him about it and experienced it during the long years they have been together. Tighnari, being a Valuka Shuna – and with that, part animal –, his animal traits doesn't stop with the visible parts. He has a kind of cycle, like a rut, but it's kind of irregular, given his stressful job. During these times, he gets aroused easier, therefore he initiates sex more, and it's more likely for him to take charge during intimacy. He gets more clingy and instinctively (and mostly unknowingly for himself) rubs his face to people and/or their clothes. It's mostly Cyno who gets this treatment (obviously) but Collei, Kaveh and Alhaitham have also experienced this behaviour a few times. The first time it happened to Collei, she was still a pre-teen and had only been living in Gandharva Ville for one or two years. She told Cyno that her Master is acting weird and when he reassured her that he does that sometimes and he is just marking his territory and his favourite people, he swears he saw happy tears in her eyes. (But Cyno also told her that if someone ever touches her without her consent, she can tell him and he will deal with that person.) Nowadays if she is here for that period of time, she rubs her face back like how she saw Cyno do it too on a few occasions, and it makes Tighnari purr. Kaveh finds it cute and doesn't mind it but for Alhaitham… it makes him uncomfortable. So Tighnari tries to control this instinct around him. But being a nice friend, the man always brings a cloth for the fox to rub his face on and Alhaitham puts it on his wrist so as not to make the other sad. 

So yes, maybe it's that time of the year again. And Cyno is not complaining, he knows he is about to have a very fun night. 

“I know,” he says at last. He tries to turn in the tight embrace a little to plant a small kiss on his husband's nose. With the move, his tail gets freed from between them and as he turns back to the stove, it curls around Tighnari's leg. 

They finish eating dinner surprisingly fast, and the moment Cyno puts his utensils down onto his empty plate, Tighnari is already on him, straddling his lap and kissing the living daylight out of him. Cyno returns the kiss with matching enthusiasm, tilting his head back for a better angle. 

“Oh, archons” Tighnari whispers between kisses. “You are so sexy… You are so sexy!” His hips buckle, desperately searching for friction. “I want you… I want you…. Please! I want to… I want to-!” He bites his husband's lower lip in frustration. 

“Then we” Cyno answers, also between kisses. “We should… take this to… to the bedroom.”

“Yes. Yes! We should. Yes. Bedroom. Now!”

He abruptly stands up, then taking Cyno's hand, he leads them to their bedroom. He doesn’t even wait for the door to properly shut, he is already on Cyno again, crowding him against the wall.

“Hi” says the matra in the most flirtatious voice and Tighnari answers by showing his tongue in his mouth. 

Their hips slide together in an oh so familiar rhythm, Tighnari stepping between Cyno's parted legs to be closer. He gently holds his husband's face in his hands, fingers buried in long white locks at the back of his head to cushion the meeting point with the wall; Cyno's own hands wander under Tighnari’s shirt. 

Tighnari abruptly ends the kiss with wide eyes, pupils dilated to the max, ears upright. “I have an idea.” 

“I love your ideas” Cyno pants.

The fox doesn't need more confirmation, putting his hands on his husband's waist, he maneuvers both of them to the bed. Those hands slide under the matra's shirt to slowly lift it up, and – out of habit – he whispers into the air close to where his human ears would be, but of course, Cyno still hears it. 

“We will do both of our favourites.” 

It's not like they haven't combined those before but Cyno's heart still skips a beat, his breath hitches, his dick twitches in his pants and – to make it more embarrassing – his tail starts to wag like crazy. 

Tighnari chuckles fondly at his reaction and leaves a couple of kisses on his jawline before stepping back to finally free him of his shirt. Then those hands are back on him, at the hem of his pants to pull it down together with his underwear in one move, making eye contact the whole time. Cyno steps out of the clothes pooling around his ankles. He is now totally naked, Tighnari still fully clothed. A shiver goes down his spine but not because he is cold. 

Archons, he is so turned on. 

Tighnari purrs as he gently bites the other's lower lip once, then leaves to get the stuff they need from the bedside table, taking the warmth with him. Now that shiver is from the cold. The fox tosses the lubricant on the bed and steps back to his waiting husband, a familiar dark cloth in his hands. He lifts it up, tenderly places it over Cyno's eyes and ties it behind his head with expert fingers. 

Cyno feels warm hands cup his face to guide it to a soft kiss that turns heated very fast. He is made to back up until his legs bump into the corner of the bed. Tighnari gently lays him down on top of the covers without breaking the kiss, shifting both of them to be in comfortable positions. Feeling Tighnari’s clothes brush against his sensitive skin arouses him more – if it's even possible – and involuntarily moans into the kiss. 

Tighnari takes both of his hands by the wrist and puts them above his head on the pillow. His breath hitches and the fox breaks the kiss to look at him from above like he often does when they are in this position. Then he hears the unmistakable sound of a vision being activated. The vines slowly wind around his wrists as Tighnari releases them to make way for the plants. They connect him to the headboard; Cyno tests the strength of it with a few tugs – they are tight just the right amount: it will leave scrapes on his skin but it's not too tight that he can't escape if need be. A situation like that has never happened before but it's better to be safe. Sometimes his legs or torso also get bound but it seems like it's what Tighnari is in the mood for right now. 

He feels gentle hands slowly caress his body, leaving goosebumps where they go: starting with small massages on his ears, then down his bound arms, his face, there’s a light pressure on his neck, then it slides down his chest, thumbs playing with his hardened nipples, later venturing to his abdomen. There it stops. 

“Oh?” says Tighnari in a reproachful voice. “What's this?” And he touches the healing bruise on Cyno's hip. Uh oh. 

Cyno licks his lips. “A bruise.”

His husband clicks his tongue. “I can see that. Why didn't you tell me?” 

“Well, I didn't have time for that.” It is true. “And it's already healing.” 

“Does it still hurt?” 

“No.” 

Tighnari puts pressure on the bruise and Cyno hisses. “It doesn't hurt, huh?” 

“Only if you press on it that hard” he corrects. 

“Still, you lied to me and kept it a secret. That makes you a bad boy” he lowers his voice. There's a shift on the bed, the mattress dips on both sides of Cyno's head and he feels a warm breath close to his face. “And bad boys need to be punished.” 

Cyno can't help it, his tail loudly thumps on the bed. 

A silent chuckle. “From your reaction, people would think I called you ‘good boy’.” 

At that, the thumps become faster. Cyno is mortified. He hates how expressive his tail is. 

Another chuckle. A gentle hand cups one warm cheek, a soft kiss on the other. “You are so adorable. What would the people of Sumeru think if they knew their fearsome General Mahamatra is just a puppy?” 

“What will be my punishment?” he breathes, changing the topic back. 

The smile against his cheek travels upwards to his ears. A whisper in a low voice: “You aren't allowed to cum until I say so.” 

Cyno audibly swallows. 

That really is a punishment for him, he isn't good at holding back and Tighnari knows that too well… During their very first time Cyno came as soon as he was fully buried in his lover's tight wet heat. He knows now that it's quite normal at first times (he did his research) but at that moment he was so ashamed. Luckily, his beautiful and amazing partner took that as a compliment and kissed his embarrassment away. They had multiple rounds after that – with better finishes. 

So, yeah, orgasm denial isn't his favorite. It's a real punishment. 

“Hm, well, where was I?” purrs Tighnari. “Oh, right, down there.” 

His husband shifts on the bed, the muscly thighs that were previously bracketing his hips now are demanding space between his legs and Cyno opens them dutifully. He hears clothes rustle – Tighnari is finally taking off his shirt. And from the moves and dips on the bed, his pants come off too. 

Eager hands grab at his thighs and hips as the other makes himself comfortable between his legs. A warm breath on his aching dick is the only warning he gets before Tighnari licks it from base to tip. Cyno keeps his mouth shut to not let the loud moan escape. 

“No, that won't do,” says his husband. One hand from his hips travels up to his face, thumb prying open his lips. A warm breath at his cheek murmurs: “Let me hear you! Or better, let everyone in Gandharva Ville know how good their Chief can make their General Mahamatra feel!”

In Cyno's opinion, they already know it after all these years but he won't argue about this right now. So he just nods.

Before the thumb could leave his mouth, he sucks on it gently. This earns him a reward: a kiss on his neck. Then his husband slides back down to his previous place and unceremonously grabs his dick at the base which makes Cyno moan again, but this time he doesn't hold it back. Tighnari lets out a satisfied purr, his tail swishing back and forth, brushing against Cyno's legs rhythmically.

A wet tongue licks the leaking slit. The matra doesn't even have time to react to this before lips close around the head of his cock. His hips automatically buckle up but two strong hands prevent him from doing so. He lets out a frustrated noise that makes his husband chuckle around him, mouth slowly going down, down, down until the tip reaches the back of his throat. There he hollows his cheeks and swallows. 

Cyno yells in pleasure, his back arching away from the bed. 

As Tighnari continues to suck him, he hears the dendro vision activate again. The vines wrap around his hips, confining him to the bed, not allowed to move. The hands who were there are now massaging his balls, his thighs. Then the hands disappear and he hears the familiar sound of a bottle uncorking. 

A thin object, coated in a cold and slippery remedy carefully circles around his entrance before it slips inside, causing Cyno's breath to hitch. One hand is back on his right thigh, thumb drawing soothing circles on his heated skin. The finger inside him slides in and out in a slow rhythm, easing him up little by little to welcome a second, then, after careful scissoring, a third one. 

Cyno is fighting real battles to not to cum. He tries to avert his mind, to think of something else but it is so hard (pun intended) to think of other things when his body is being stimulated at so many places. His wrists are sore from being tied up, his ears hear every sound they make – his own heartbeats, his husband's slurping and swallowing, both of their tails thumping on the bed and the squelching sound of diligent fingers pumping in-and-out, in-and-out. In-and-out. In-and-out. 

Tighnari’s mouth is moving on his dick in the same rhythm. Up-and-down, up-and-down. Up-and-down. 

In-and-out. 

Up-and-down. 

In-and-out. 

Up-and-down. 

In- Those fingers find the specific bundle of nerves. 

Cyno yells out again, squirming and fighting against letting go. 

“Ah…! Ti-” he tries to communicate, breathing heavily. “...Nari! I- I'm- Ah!”

His husband seemingly understands him because the warm mouth pops off his cock for good and the fingers inside him slow down but don't stop, avoiding his prostate by a little just to keep him on the edge. 

“Okay” croaks out Tighnari, gasping for air too. “Okay, you are doing so good, habibi.” His free hand pets the white tail. 

“Please!” Cyno whines, trying to move his hips but failing because of the vines. 

“Please what, my love? Tell me!” 

“I- Ah! You-haah… Please!”

“Please what?” his husband repeats patiently, free hand now lazily stroking his chest and abdomen. 

“You… Me… Inside! Aaaah!”

“Oh? You want that? Do you think you are ready for me?” 

“Yes. Yes!” he rasps desperately. 

“Alright, ya ruhi.” 

The fingers retreat, Cyno mewls at the emptiness, legs squirming, wanting to close them. 

Gentle kisses are pressed to his lips, soothing words are whispered in his mouth. “It's okay, it's okay! I'm here. You will be stuffed full again” he promises. “It's okay.”

Cyno calms down when he hears the bottle of lube uncorked again. The vines retreat from his torso, his hips are lifted to put a small pillow under them. 

The head of Tighnari’s slicked up cock touches his hole. Then he pushes in. Cyno moans at the feeling of the tip finally popping in, he tries to breathe as Tighnari makes little hip thrusts to push deep deep deep deeper inside him until he bottoms out. He stops there for a bit, waits for Cyno to get used to being almost split open. And full. Oh so full. 

They are both breathing heavily, skin coated in hot sweat. Gentle fingers sweep his damp bangs away from his forehead, sweet, lazy kisses are planted all over his face. Between those kisses he hears his husband murmur:

“You are so beautiful… Like this… So beautiful… Under me… Taking me… Perfect… So perfect… You are mine… Mine.”

His own dick twitches at the words, his tail wags as much as it can. “I'm yours” he whispers back. “Yours.” 

Tighnari purrs, satisfied, his lips finally wandering to Cyno's for sloppy, wet kisses. Cyno tastes himself on his husband's tongue. The fox probably feels the other relax around him because he slowly treats back until only the head of his cock is in, then snaps his hips back with a quick motion, swallowing down all of Cyno's moans with the kiss, nipping at his lower lip after. He doesn’t repeat the quick snap again, he rather keeps his thrusts slow but still hard, angling his hips to reach the right spots inside his husband. 

When they can't keep on kissing anymore, they separate for air. Tighnari straightens up a bit and Cyno feels his legs being lifted and placed on Tighnari’s shoulders, the fox then leaning back over him, folding him in half. The heavy dick inside him slipping even deeper with the position change, making both of them moan loudly. 

An open, wet mouth pants at his neck. “You are still so flexible. So sexy of you.” Then he tilts his hips and the next thrust brushes against his prostate. His eyes roll back in pleasure under the blindfold, letting out an uncharacteristically high pitched whine every time his g-spot is touched; mouth agape. 

The familiar, warm pressure in his groin builds up quickly. 

He will… 

He needs to… 

“Nari, I-” he tries to talk. “I need- I need to-” 

But his husband understands. 

“Sssshhhh.” A kiss on his neck. “It's okay. You were a good boy.” A hand snakes in between their warm bodies, grabbing his aching member. “You can let go now.” 

It doesn't even take two strokes for Cyno to burst with a loud groan, thick ropes of cum splattering on his abdomen and chest, and he is certain his husband is coated in them too. Tighnari dutifully fucks him through his orgasm, pace now faster and erratic until he finally cums with a last hard snap of his hips, painting his mate's insides white. 

Then he collapses on top of him, panting heavily. 

They lay there for a few minutes waiting for their breathing and heartbeats to slow down. The vines retreat from Cyno's wrists, his arms fell asleep a while ago so he tries to move them to get his bloodflow to come back. Tighnari helps him take off the blindfold – Cyno trying to adjust back his vision with rapid blinks –, then he massages his arms and hands through the tingling feeling, kissing the reddened skin on his wrists. 

Then their lips connect again in a slow, lazy kiss, still feeling a little high after their orgasm. But, as always, they start to feel the uncomfortableness from their spilled fluids and drying sweat. They both groan as Tighnari’s softened cock slips out of him, Cyno grimacing as he feels cum flowing out of his hole. 

He looks over himself and his husband. If he would be younger, this sight alone would make his dick fill up halfway again. “It looks like we are in a sticky situation.” 

Tighnari snaps his gaze at him, he was previously eyeing his leaking asshole. “If I wouldn't be this tired, I would stuff it back into you and seal it with a buttplug from this comment alone.” 

Cyno swallows. “Ah…” His spent member twitches, interested. His husband raises his eyebrows. The matra shrugs. 

Tighnari huffs a small laugh. “Not now though, I just want to clean up and sleep.” 

“Same.” 

So they help each other clean themselves up, trading soft kisses in the meantime, and after a change of sheets, they snuggle up close under the blanket, limbs tangled together and tails draped over each other's waist. 

They fall asleep quickly, in the warmth of their lover's embrace, hearts beating in sync and breaths evening out. 

Meanwhile in the closest hut to Tighnari’s, a forest ranger still lays awake. He got used to this, being the neighbour of their married Chief for long years now. When he first heard them having fun, he was mortified, he couldn't even look at the couple for the next few days, but after a long while the noises can get annoying. He knows he could get earplugs but there could always be an emergency in the forest. And – thank the archons –  they aren't always this loud.

And most importantly, he likes to know when their Chief will be in a better mood for days (if reckless adventurers don't ruin it). 

So he murmurs his usual little prayer before sleep finally claims him, mentally saluting:

“Thank you for your sacrifice, General Mahamatra!”

Chapter Text

It's a lazy afternoon. The reclining sun shines on the sofa where Cyno is lounging, reading the latest issue of Prince of Invocation – the sequel to King of Invocations. Tighnari is sitting at his desk, not far away from him, studying the special mushroom that caused Cyno's transformation. But judging by the sighs and huffs, it's not going well. 

He knows Tighnari has given up as of now when he drops his pen and the pipette down on the desk louder than necessary and leans back on his chair with a huff, tilting his head back and putting his arms over his eyes. 

The matra waits. He turns the page, the sizzling of the paper loud in the relative silence of the room. (Relative, because the forest outside is loud. Especially with the door being open.) 

Then, a faint murmur, knowing the other will still hear it with his new sensitive ears:

“Cyno, could you come here for a bit?” 

“Of course.” He puts a bookmark into his book before putting it down on the cushions and stands up, walking to his husband. “What is it? Do you need more samples from me?” 

“No” he straightens up and takes off his gloves. “It's a personal thing this time.” 

“Oh?” 

He reaches up with his hands. “Could you please lean down a bit?” Cyno lifts his eyebrows but does as he is asked. Tighnari cups his face and drags him down for a sweet kiss. 

“Well, now it was worth standing up.”

Tighnari huffs a laugh. “That wasn't my actual intention, just a little bonus.” 

“Then why did you call me here?”

“For this.” 

He starts to rub Cyno's cheeks with his thumbs.

“What are you doing?” he asks, confused. 

“Research.” 

“Research what?” 

“We will see,” his husband answers mysteriously. 

So Cyno lets him do what he wants. It's quite nice, actually. He closes his eyes, enjoying the touches.

Knuckles and thumbs fondle with his cheeks, fingertips rub and scratch gently under his jaw. 

Ooooooh

Hmmm

Mmmmmm

Mmmmmmmmmmmm

It's really really nice. 

Mhmmm. 

Cyno sinks into the feeling, pushing his head into the lovely hands, melting into the touch, ears folding back but still catching his husband's silent chuckles. 

“You are so adorable,” the other says fondly. “If jackals could purr, you would be doing that right now.” 

The matra doesn't say anything, just tilts his head to get more rubs. 

“I had a hunch, you would get this reaction” Tighnari admits with a smile in his voice. 

“Whatdoyoumean” Cyno murmurs. 

“My mother did this a lot when I was a kit. I had the same reaction as you now. I was curious what other animal features you gained outside the obvious.”

“And? Howsthatresearchgoing?”

“Well…” A small kiss on his lips. “I noticed that your canines got a little sharper, like mine.”

“Mhm.” He noticed that too. 

“The change of your scent was caused by your increased pheromones. It is probably what triggered my rut-like behaviour.”

“Mhm.” He tilts his head to the side, one hand slips into his hair, scratching at his scalp at the bottom of his ear. 

Oh, that's 

Mhm mhm

There

Right there

Mmmmmmmmhhmmmmmmmmmmm

Tighnari continues to giggle. 

His limbs feel like jelly. He will collapse on the floor if this continues. So he climbs into his surprised but delighted husband's lap, straddling him on the chair. He places his arms around the other, laying his head on his shoulder and tucking his nose to the crook of his neck. This way, Tighnari can't really continue rubbing his face so he adapts by putting one hand on his nape, thumb stroking the end of his jawline, the other one stays in his hair, gently caressing his scalp and ears. 

Cyno never felt more relaxed in his almost 40 years. 

His breathing starts to even out. 

“Did he just fall asleep?” the fox whispers to himself. 

“Not yet” he mumbles back and that earns him a chuckle. 

“You big baby.” He starts to rock them sideways. 

“Now I will fall asleep.”

Tighnari laughs and stops his motions. 

“Anything else on the mushroom research?” Cyno asks. 

The fox sighs, tired. He continues to play with his husband's white locks to calm himself down. “Nothing on why it did this to you. It only contains a toxin that causes headaches but not transformation. No signs of anything else. It's really a mystery.”

“Hm, that's odd.”

“And, you know, if I can't find why it happened, then I can't-” his voice cracks and doesn't finish the sentence. 

But Cyno knows what he is thinking about. “Then you can't make an antidote.” Tighnari nods, silent. “It's okay.” 

“No, it's not okay!” Tighnari bursts out suddenly.

Cyno lifts his head from his shoulder to look at his husband, who has unshed, frustrated tears in his dual-coloured eyes. He gently cups his face in his two palms.

“But it is, it's okay” he tries to reassure the other. 

“No” the fox sniffs, his ears drooping to the side. “It's been almost two weeks and you are still like this! Who knows how long it will last? What if it just disappears when you are mid-battle, it fucks up your balance and you get injured and possibly die?!”

Oh. Tighnari has been worried about this for a while. 

He doesn't let Cyno answer because he continues his rant: “And you don't like it! I know! I have seen you staring at your tail or your reflection in the mirror!” A single tear escapes and Cyno wipes it off with his thumb.

“That might have been true at the beginning” he admits “but I got used to it. I kinda like it now. I wouldn’t mind if I stayed like this forever.”

Tighnari sniffs again, round eyes looking at his husband. “Really?”

The matra nods, wiping away another silent teardrop. 

One more sniff. “Are you sure? Would you be really okay staying like this?” 

He shrugs, smiling. “It grew on me.” 

The fox narrows his eyes, another tear escapes from the motion. “Was this a joke or you are being serious?” 

Cyno smiles wider. “Both?” 

Tighnari rolls his eyes with a sigh but Cyno notices the small upward tilt on the corner of his mouth. 

“But in all seriousness,” says Cyno “it's true, I like it. I might be mad at my tail for being too expressive but I can work on it. And it helps that I know you like my current look.”

The fox averts his eyes shyly. “‘Like’ is an understatement” he murmurs. 

Cyno kisses his nose to see him scrunch up his face. 

“I know you are very mesmearised.”

His husband gives him the side-eye. “One more and I won't be anymore” he threatens. 

“But you can't help but love me!” He similarly rubs Tighnari’s cheeks with his thumbs like the fox did it for him before. 

Tighnari gives in with a sigh, his eyes closing from the pleasant touch. “That's your only luck.” 

Cyno grins. “I love you, too, habibi.” Then he turns Tighnari’s head so he can attack him with rapid and loud cheek kisses. 

It makes the fox laugh and he pushes at Cyno's chest with no real power behind it. “Stop, stop!” 

He does stop eventually, but only after he deems he gave enough kisses, for now. He looks at his husband's happily flushed face and his eyes soften.

“You are the most beautiful person on Teyvat.” 

Tighnari looks away, face reddening. Cyno might have said this to him countless times but he still gets shy at this compliment. “Even if I go bald and will be full of wrinkles?” 

“Especially then, because I get to do that together with you.” 

His husband tilts his head curiously. “Do you think you will go bald?” 

That makes Cyno pause. “... I hope not. But if it happens, it will happen” he shrugs. 

“Even if- Hm, how do the youngsters say? Ah! And would you still love me if I was a worm?” 

Cyno leans back, serious. “You know everything has a line.” Tighnari giggles and Cyno smiles softly, leaning close again. “You would be the most beloved worm that ever crawled on Teyvat. I would build the most beautiful flower garden for you to live in.”

Tighnari’s smile widens, showing off his fangs, his tail swishing behind him. “You are such a sweet talker.” 

Their noses bump together. 

“Not only my talks are sweet.” 

Their lips brush, separated only by a hairline. 

“Oh, really?” 

“Mm. Let me demonstrate.” 

Cyno closes the remaining distance between them to seal their mouths together in a sweet kiss. It doesn't stay sweet for long, though, Tighnari tilting his head to deepen the kiss, tongue eagerly licking into his husband's mouth. Warm hands slip under the matra's shirt, touching the callused skin. Cyno holds his love by the nape of his head, the other hand caressing the long, downturned ears. 

“Master Tighnari! You got mail from Sum- OH MY ARCHONS I AM SO SORRY!” 

Their lips separate with a loud pop, Cyno scrambling away from Tighnari, standing for a few seconds, then sits back down on the couch, hastily putting one of the pillows in his lap. His husband, suffering the same predicament, curls his tail in his lap. Both of their faces are flaming red. 

They finally turn in the direction of the intruder: the young girl showing her back to them and, for good measure, covering her eyes with her hands. 

Tighnari clears his throat. “Sudabeh!” he greets her like nothing happened. “Nice to see you! May I know the reason for your visit?”

“Good afternoon, Master Tighnari, General Mahamatra! I am very sorry for interrupting but you got mail from Sumeru city.” She holds up two envelopes above her head, still not turning around. 

Ah, yes, today she is helping Amir with the received letters. 

“Oh, thank you, Sudabeh, you can leave those there for now.” 

“Where?” 

“Uhm… You can just… drop them… on the floor, we will get them later.”

“Okay!” She crouches down and puts the letters on the floor. Then she stands up. “Now I gotta go! Sorry again for interrupting!” And she is out. 

The couple exhales at the same time, Tighnari leaning forward and burying his face in his palms.

“Did we just traumatise your new recruit?” asks Cyno. 

“Absolutely.” 

“We shouldn't leave our door open ever again.” 

“Agree.” 

“Well” Cyno stands up with a sigh. “I'm going to take care of myself in the bathroom.” 

Tighnari stands up too. “I'm going with you.” Cyno raises his eyebrows at him and the fox shrugs. “I need to do that too, so why not do it together?” 

“In that case,” he holds one of Tighnari’s hands and leads him deeper into their house “we could take that to the bedroom instead.”

This ignites a fire in his husband's eyes, his tail swishes behind him. Then he remembers. “But first, I'll close the door and lock it for good measure.” 

“Excellent idea.” 

The fox rushes to do that then takes Cyno's hand again and lets himself be led into their bedroom. 

After their quick fun time, they read the letters. 

One of them is from Collei, telling them about her recent and upcoming exams and how she got praised at her latest shift at the Bimarstan for treating a patient flawlessly. 

They draft an answering letter about how proud they are of her. 

The other message is from Kaveh and Alhaitham, asking them if they are free the next evening for their long awaited get-together. They write a positive answer and Tighnari quickly brings the two short letters to Amir to send off. 

The next evening is perfect for the meeting because both Tighnari and Cyno will be away from Gandharva Ville for the day, the Forest Watcher leaving for Pardis Dhyai to check up on things there (and Karkata), and Cyno goes back to do paperwork and supervise how the training for the recruited newby matras are doing so far. If needed, he will also demonstrate some things. At the end of the day Tighnari comes to Sumeru city to regroup with his husband and the two of them can go to Lambad's tavern together. 

extra:

Sudabeh arrives back to Amir with a strange expression on her face, eyes vacant. Amir knows this expression.

“Were they…?” he doesn’t have to finish the question.

“Yes” she nods, looking into the distance.

The Forest Watcher sighs and pats the young girl’s shoulder. “You will get used to it. And always knock when General Cyno is here, even if the door is open! Did you knock?”

“I- I forgot…”

He pats her shoulder again. “It’s okay. You will learn.”

Sudabeh sighs and goes back to her stash of letters that are waiting to be delivered around Gandharva Ville or to be sent away with a dusk bird.

Chapter Text

The matra trainees are doing great, Cyno observes from the sidelines. Feroz turned out to be a great trainer, Cyno made a good decision appointing him this job. 

One trainee notices him – luckily, not mid-fight. “General Mahamatra!” he yells and salutes, the others turn in his direction too, and also seeing their boss, rush to stand in formation and salute. 

Cyno huffs, there goes his stealth. Is he slacking off or is the newby just that good? He will have to keep an eye on him. 

“Good morning, rookies!” he walks up to them. “I hope everyone is doing great and works hard for the upcoming exam that will determine if you are staying or leaving.”

“Yes, General!” 

“They are quite a promising group” Feroz praises them. 

“Excellent. In that case…” Cyno circles his shoulders and stretches his arms a bit. “I originally came to just observe but since I have been noticed, why not help with the training?” He summons his polearm, putting the end of it down with a loud bang. “Who wants to have a fight with me?”

He can't hide the wolfish grin that shows up on his face seeing the dread on some of their faces but he is satisfied when the other half starts to fight each other to be the first one. He takes some steps back to get momentum and then vaults over their heads with the help of his polearm, landing flawlessly in the middle of the training ground. 

“Why not come at me all at once?” Cyno spins his weapon before positioning himself in a fighting stance. The trainees are baffled, Feroz just huffs and smiles. He already got used to the General showing off before the newcomers. “Don't worry, I will go easy on you!”

Cyno wasn't lying, he really went easy on them. And still kicked their asses. Okay, one or two times he had to use his electro vision but he didn't need Hermanubis’ help. 

The General dusts off his hands, standing proud, as all the matra trainees are lying on the ground, groaning in pain and embarrassment. 

I still got this, he thinks. Hermanubis humms in pride. 

“Well, it was a great fight!” he says. The trainees groan again, some of them are already sitting up. “You still need to improve a lot but not so bad at all. If you keep up and work hard, all of you will have a good chance of passing the exam in a few months.” This cheers them up a little bit. Then Cyno starts to point at some of them. “You need to work on your balance! You are too rigid! You have to find your center of gravity, otherwise you will be easily knocked off your feet! You, get a different weapon, that one doesn't suit your style! And you! Have you tried using your other hand instead? Maybe you are left-handed.”

“Woah!” their eyes sparkle. 

“And don't forget that not every case needs a fight, you need to train your brains too” he taps his temple with his index finger. “We are not just dumb Sumpter beasts of the Akademiya, even if people think of us like that.” The trainees nod enthusiastically. “Now, you get a ten minute break, but after that, back to practice! All of you need to work on your stamina.” Hearing this, some of them fall back down with a sigh to continue laying on the ground. 

Cyno snickers to himself and walks up to Feroz. 

“They are really a good batch this time” he pats the trainer's shoulder. 

“Yes” he nods with a smile. “Thanks for doing a demonstration, it really fired some of them up.” 

He cackles. “Maybe one of them will even get a pyro vision.” 

“Well, Alia did get her pyro vision after fighting you for the first time so anything is possible” the man shrugs. 

“Ah, I remember that day!” Cyno sighs, nostalgic. 

Feroz looks at him from the corner of his eye tentatively. “She will be the next General, right?” 

Cyno sighs again. “You people like to gossip, aren't you?”

The other matra grins. “You know us, boss.” He shrugs. “And it's basically an open secret, you trained us too well to not to notice these things. Did you tell her or she will get to know it through gossip?”

“Yes, yes, she knows. I told her a few months ago, a few weeks after I started giving her more of my work to test her. Lesser Lord Kusanali, the Grand Sage and the Scribe also know about this decision.” 

“Does that mean you're retiring?” Cyno detects a kind of sadness in his voice. 

“Not for a few more years” he reassures the other. “You won't get rid of me that easily!” 

“It's not like that!” the matra raises his hands apologetically and a little panicked. But Cyno just laughs. 

“Do not worry! I will be only retiring as the General, I will still work for the Matra as an advisor, and if need be, a joke master.”

Feroz grimaces. “I think we will be fine without that.” 

“You deeply hurt me, Feroz” Cyno puts his hand on his chest with a straight face. 

“I'm sorry, General, but it's the truth.” 

“Your loss” he shrugs. “Anyway, I'll leave you to continue the training. Just one more question before that.”

“Yes?”

“What's his name?” he points with his chin at the boy who noticed him. He was also one of those who fought so well that Cyno needed to use his vision. “The one with the braided ponytail.” 

“That's Ranjit.” 

“Ranjit” Cyno repeats. 

“Why do you ask?” 

Cyno turns to leave but before that, he pats the other's shoulder again. “Just keep an eye on him. He has good potential.”

“Will do” he nods. 

As he walks away, he catches some of the comments from the trainees. 

“The General Mahamatra is so cool!” 

“Yes, he is so cool! Have you seen the move he did while fighting Sadira? I want to learn that too!” 

“I saw him arrest someone when I was a kid! He was soooo terrifying! That's when I decided to join the Matra when I grow up!” 

“I'm so glad he is still the General and I can work with him!”

“Did you know he was only in his teens when he was appointed to be the General? The youngest ever!”

“So badass!” 

“And he is from the desert, just like me!” 

The voices fade away as he gets farther and farther from the training ground and Cyno smiles to himself.

The youngsters still find him cool! 

He is swamped by paperwork when he hears footsteps approaching, then a faint knock on the door. 

“Enter!” he calls out as he puts away a finished document just to reach for the next one. 

The door opens. “I see, you are busy” comes Cyno's favourite voice. 

He finally looks up from his desk and smiles. “Never busy for you. But don't you have work too?”

Tighnari walks up to him, going around the table. “I finished early at Pardis Dhyai so I thought I could wait here with you until we go to meet up with the others.” He puts a deliciously smelling bag on the last free space on the desk. “And I figured you probably forgot to eat lunch so I bought you something on the way.” 

Cyno's stomach rumbles at the thought of food. He looks in the bag but he already knows what's in it from the smell: shawarmas. He turns back to his husband and reaches out with his hands. Tighnari leans close, letting his cheeks get cupped within callused palms, and follows the gentle pull that drags him down for a sweet kiss. Or two. Or three. 

“I have the perfect husband,” Cyno murmurs into Tighnari’s mouth. “You are the best!” 

The fox smiles against the chapped lips, pressing one last kiss. “Take a break and dig in!” 

“You don't have to tell me twice!” 

As Cyno finally eats, Tighnari brings one of the chairs from the deskfront next to his husband, making himself comfortable. Then he gasps. 

“Wha'isi’?” Cyno turns to him, his mouth full. 

“What did you do?!” the fox asks, shocked. The matra just blinks, chewing forgotten. “What happened to your tail?!” 

The man looks at said appendage, moves it a little bit and swallows his food so he can talk. 

“I think it looks normal,” he says. 

“Normal? Your fur is all tangled up!” 

“Oh.” 

“Yeah, ‘Oh’! What did you even do to make it like this?” he puffs and reaches for his bag. 

“I fought with the newbies.” 

“Again?!” 

“It's a different batch from last time” he explains. “They are the newest.” 

“Ah, I see.” Tighnari finally finds what he has been searching: a comb and a vial of oil. 

“Why did you bring those with you?” 

“I always have these in my bags for emergencies like this.” He brings his chair closer to his husband, gently putting the white tail in his own lap. 

“Does this count as an emergency?” Cyno takes a bite from his shawarma wrap. 

“Yes! You are new to actual tail care but you will understand with time. If you have the opportunity for it, that is.” The fox shakes his head to chase away the melancholy that appeared in his voice. “Anyway, I can't let you meet our friends like this! It will be their first time seeing you with your new additions!” 

“I suppose, you are right,” Cyno agrees. Tighnari looks pleased with that admission and starts to apply the oil on his husband's tail, his own fluffy appendage swinging contently behind him, no longer furious. He is even humming a faint melody while grooming the white tail. 

Cyno narrows his eyes but doesn't say anything, just turns back to his food. 

He feels like his husband had ulterior motives with this conversation. He steals a look over his shoulder at the happy fox. 

Yeah, he definitely had ulterior motives. 

Cyno smiles to himself fondly. 

Lambad's tavern is bustling as always. Cyno goes ahead to open the door for his husband, the fox enjoying his attention – as always. 

“Oh, what a gentleman!” he smiles, his tail swishing behind him. 

“I try to impress” he reaches out to take hold of the other's hand. 

“I'm very much impressed” Tighnari accepts the hand and they walk further into the tavern. 

A conversation catches Cyno's helmet-covered ears:

“Why can't you do this to me too?” comes a woman's nagging voice. 

“Darling, you know they are the most lovey-dovey couple of Sumeru. We can't compete with that” says a tired man. 

“I'm not saying we should overromance them, just that you could do more romantic stuff for me. Like holding the door or buying flowers! You aren't really straining yourself since we got married a few years ago! And look at them! Still so in love even after decades!” 

A sigh. “Okay, okay! I will buy you flowers!” 

“Hmpf!”

Tighnari also hears the couple's quarrel (of course) and they smile at each other knowingly. They don't often show affection in public because they prefer being private but sometimes they just can't help it. Given their high ranks, they are quite famous in Sumeru and although their marriage was a small ceremony with friends and family, it was still big news for the whole nation. They got congratulatory letters for months. 

They spot their two friends at their usual table and walk there. The couple had been sitting there for a while, according to Kaveh's half-finished mocktail. The architect hasn't drunk a single sip of alcohol for almost five years now and his friends are very proud of him for that. The first year was the worst and hardest but they all helped him pass through it. At that time, neither of them drank alcohol in front of him – now they can, although Alhaitham still abstains, only getting a sip or two on work occasions (to where he already rarely shows up anyways). 

Kaveh animatedly talks to his husband about a student who wanted a third extension for an essay deadline. “Not even a model! An essay! I'm telling you, Haitham, these students are getting out of hand! When I was a student, I wouldn't even dare to ask for an extension!”

“Well, I told you not to give him the second extension” says the Scribe, not looking up from the menu, his reading glasses perched on his nose. 

“Oh, we haven't even sat down and Kaveh is already complaining about today's youth?” Tighnari teases as they arrive at the table. 

“Nari! Cyno!” Kaveh stands up to greet both of them with a hug. Tighnari slightly rubs his cheek to Kaveh's like he always does around his rut, then Cyno does the same out of instinct which makes the matra pause for a second. Huh. Luckily, his friend doesn't notice it but Haitham looks at him with narrowed eyes above his glasses. 

When they finally sit down, Cyno's tail escapes from under his shendit where it was tucked away from view and curls around Tighnari's. Alhaitham reaches into his satchel for the small cloth he keeps at his person and offers it to the fox. He happily accepts it and after throughoutly rubbing his cheek on it, he gives it back to his friend. But Alhaitham, instead of tying it on his wrist like he always does, holds it out for Cyno as well. 

All three of them blink at the Scribe, baffled. 

“Uhm, Haitham? What are you doing?” Kaveh asks, confused. 

The Scribe is still looking at Cyno. “You also rubbed your cheek on Kaveh,” he gestures with his head “didn't you?”

Now it's the matra who is blinked at with wide eyes. 

“I- I didn't…?” he stammers, eyeing the offered cloth. To be honest, the thought of getting his scent on it – and by extension, on Alhaitham – is very appealing. 

What a strange feeling. 

Haitham raises his eyebrows. “You are a bad liar.” 

Cyno purses his lips but then after a few seconds of contemplating, he begrudgingly snatches the cloth from his friend. He puts the soft material to his face and- oh! 

He can smell Tighnari’s scent on it and there's an undertone of ink, paper and coffee mixed together that's probably Alhaitham, and also a tiny portion of Kaveh's perfume. But he can't smell himself. That won't do. He brushes his cheek against the cloth, eyes closed in concentration, and doesn't finish until he feels satisfied; a little smile braced on his face. 

But that smile falls off when he opens his eyes to give the cloth back, and sees his friends’ stunned faces. His husband watches him like a hawk, intrigued. Cyno feels himself blush in embarrassment. 

Tighnari and Kaveh speak at the same time:

“I have to write this down.” The fox dashes for his notebook in his bag. 

“THE FUCK IS HAPPENING?!” 

Yeah, I would like to know that too, thinks Cyno. 

Haitham ties the now scented cloth on his wrist.

Kaveh is still flabbergasted. “I know couples tend to take on each other's habits but you two have been together for decades and I have never seen Cyno do that.”

The couple in question look at each other from the corner of their eyes. They planned to tell it to their friends but first they wanted to play a little trick on them. It seems, they have to skip that. But that does not mean he can’t be a little bit dramatic about it. 

Cyno sighs. “Something has… changed within me. Something is not the same.”

After a few seconds of silence the architect's eyes widen. “Wait wait wait! Does this mean that-?” He gazes at Cyno's midsection through the table. 

Pause. Maybe their plan is back on? Only with a little change of script. 

But why this was Kaveh's first thought? 

The waiter chooses this moment to walk up to them and ask for their orders. While their friends are distracted, Cyno looks at his husband and raises his eyebrows at him suggestively. The fox purses his lips to fight back the smile that is threatening to appear on his face, his dual-coloured eyes glinting mischievously. 

When the waiter walks away, they all turn back to each other. 

“So…?” Kaveh asks tentatively. 

The married couple smiles at each other, Tighnari tenderly placing his hand on Cyno's. 

“We wanted to tell you, guys, but didn't know how.”

“Wait a second! FOR REAL?! HOW?” 

Cyno smiles. “You know, Kaveh, when two people love each other-”

“I know how that happens on the regular but that's not possible for you two so… How?!”

The matra side-eyes his husband with a smirk. “There was a… special mushroom involved.” 

Kaveh, thinking it's an innuendo, deadpans. “Yeah, obviously.” 

Tighnari can't hold his chuckles back anymore.

Seemingly Alhaitham has had enough of their play, he rolls his eyes, taking off his reading glasses to leave it hanging at his chest from the little beaded chain. “Cut the crap! Kaveh, don't believe them, they are making fun of you! Cyno is not pregnant. And I'm very certain” now he redirects his attention to Cyno “that your new behaviour is connected to the reason why the ears on your helmet are moving, am I right?” 

The architect gasps, looking at said helmet. 

Cyno plays on it more, widening his eyes and covering his stomach with his arms in mock offence, drooping his ears as low as he can with the helmet on. “Alhaitham! You deeply hurt us!”

Tighnari’s laugh is bordering on hysterical now. Cyno's heart sings at the sound of it. 

This gets another eyeroll from the Scribe. “Stop it and tell us finally what's up with you!”

The fox wipes a teardrop away from the corner of his eye as his laughter dies down and nudges his husband's shoulder, still smiling. Time to tell them. 

Cyno sighs, contemplating how to deliver the news to their friends and decides that just straight up showing them is the best option.

“To be honest, it really was caused by a special mushroom.” 

He reaches up to remove his helmet and puts it down on the table, moving his ears freely. When he finally looks up, his two friends’ stunned expression welcomes him – even Alhaitham. He has to laugh. 

Kaveh blinks a few times to test if he sees it right. When the white ears don't disappear from the matra's head, he turns to Tighnari. “I know now that he isn't pregnant but did you still manage to fuck your genes into him throughout the years?”

“I wish” the Forest Watcher mumbles, then louder, he says: “but no, it was from a real mushroom.”

“And it's not everything!” Cyno untangles his tail from his husband’s and lifts it up so it can be seen above the table. After swaying it back and forth a little bit to further amaze their friends, he curls it back around Tighnari's dark tail. He likes the feeling of it, almost like holding hands but a little bit more intimate. 

It's a rare experience to see Kaveh speechless or Alhaitham slackjawed and he just caused both of them to do that at the same time so Cyno counts it as a win. 

He can hear Tighnari’s faint purrs as the fox looks at him, his chin resting on his palm, elbow on the table. Cyno has a sudden urge to nuzzle his husband's nose but he doesn't act on it. They are in public. After they get home, he will do that. Yes. And also kiss him silly. His beautiful husband deserves to be kissed at every millimeter on his body. 

But it's not the time for these thoughts! 

He focuses back to the present and as their order arrives, Cyno tells the story, Tighnari occasionally chiming in. 

“So you didn't find anything in that mushroom?” asks Alhaitham, putting more of his biryani in his mouth. 

“No,” the fox shakes his head. “Also this is a new species, I haven't found anything about it either in the House of Daena or in the notes at Pardis Dhyai. I even asked Master Naphis but he doesn't remember a mushroom like this either. He said, I quote: ‘You are the mushroom expert in all of Teyvat, you should know!’” He sighs. “That old bum! He is still salty that I declined the Amurta Sage title after he retired.” 

Cyno nods, solemnly. “You can't know everything either. All of us still have mushroom for improvement.” 

His husband looks at him unimpressed. “You have already told this joke two weeks ago.” 

He pouts. “But this is one of my favourite jokes to tell you… But if you want to hear another, I can think of one.”

“Please don't.” 

Cyno looks at him with his puppy eyes, his ears lowered. “Do you not belief that I can do it?”

He can see in the other's eyes that he is fighting not to fold to Cyno's expression. He feels smug. 

Their friends notice the hesitation too. 

“Ohohoho!” teases Kaveh. “He knows your weakness, Tighnari!”

“Of course, he knows,” the fox sighs, turning away. Cyno grins at his win. “It's not like he uses this method on me on a weekly basis… And now it's more effective…” He blushes and Cyno's tail wants to wag but stays curled around his husband's. 

Kaveh coos. 

Tighnari gets defensive. “If he would look at you like that, you would also fold like a piece of paper.” 

The architect laughs. “I wouldn't. He only has power over you now, I haven't been swayed by his puppy eyes in over a decade.”

“But now I have an added detail.”

Tighnari puts a hand on Cyno's shoulder. “You are not helping with your bad puns to prove it.” 

“It still wouldn't work on me” their friend shakes his head. 

The fox raises one eyebrow. “Do you want to bet?” 

Haitham looks up from his food, this is getting interesting. 

“Bet on what?” the blond leans forward. 

Tighnari taps his chin in thought. “If you win, you can redecorate our house.”

“Nari?!” Cyno yells, surprised. 

“Really?” Kaveh's eyes light up. He has been nagging them about it for years, since he visited Liyue and learned about something called ‘fengshui’. From Cyno's understanding, Kaveh thinks their hut in the forest has ‘bad fengshui’ and draws in misfortunes. In Cyno's opinion – and Tighnari shares this – their home is perfect as it is. 

“Really” the man nods, his husband next to him gapes at him. 

“And what if you win?” Haitham chimes in. 

“Then Kaveh will pay for our next five outings together, this one included,” he smiles. The matra can already see the calculations behind Alhaitham's eyes – they can definitely afford it but he likes to know their budget – even if it's Kaveh who is better at math between the two of them. This means that the Scribe thinks Cyno will win the bet. 

He almost lets a wolfish grin show up on his face. 

“I'm in” decides Kaveh and shakes hands with Tighnari. 

“Okay, habibi” Tighnari leans close to his husband with a sly smile. “Hit him with the power of the puppy eyes!” 

Cyno dutifully looks at their blond friend. “Buy me dessert!” 

Kaveh scoffs. “That's it?” Then one second later the color drains from his face and his eyes widen as Cyno's expression changes. The matra pouts, his lower lip sticking out a little bit, red eyes shining with unshed fake tears, pupils dilated. “No” the architect whispers in disbelief. The white fluffy ears fold back, close to his hair for a better effect. “How?!” Kaveh stares at him for a few more moments. “Archons above!” 

He suddenly stands up, hitting the table with his hand loudly and walks up to the counter. 

The three friends left at the table burst out laughing. Even Alhaitham lets out a chuckle. 

A few minutes later Kaveh comes back, grumbling, a plate of charcoal baked ajilenakh cake in his hands. He puts it down before Cyno. “How on Teyvat are you able to do this as a middle aged man?!”

“It's a secret~” he sing-songs and picks up his fork. “And I'm nut going to tell you.”

Kaveh groans, holding his forehead. 

“It's true, he won't tell you” confirms Tighnari. “He only told it to Collei.”

“I see. Wait, he didn't tell you?” 

“No.” He furrows his eyebrows. “He said, my stern glare is effective enough.” 

“That is true” agrees Alhaitham which gets him said stern glare. The man lifts his hands with his palms up and shrugs. “See?” 

“But wait,” says Kaveh. “Cyno also has the stern glare as General.” 

“It's not effective on everyone or for everything” answers Cyno after swallowing the bite of dessert. “It depends on the person and the situation. For example, the stern glare never works on Tighnari, he outglares me.” The fox huffs. “And the puppy eyes, beside Tighnari, only work on a few close coworkers, the others and the criminals would think I have been kidnapped by a fae and replaced by a changeling.”

Alhaitham nods, scratching at the stubble on his chin. “I would also think something similar if he would look at me like that all of a sudden.”

All of them cackle at his comment. 

They continue to chat late into the evening, sharing stories, complaining about students and coworkers, enjoying each other's company. But they have to say goodbye at one point, all four of them have work the next day. 

When Cyno and Tighnari finally arrive at their humble abode, they are too tired to do anything but take a bath then curl up on the bed and trade some goodnight kisses until sleep eventually claims them.

Chapter Text

They disappear exactly one month after it happened, if Cyno's calculations are correct. 

He is on a mission, deep in the desert with his trusted colleagues, criminals already apprehended, heading back to deliver them to the Akademiya. 

One morning he wakes up and feels disoriented, like something is missing. At first, he doesn't know why. Then he notices: his hearing is duller. He sits up, a little dizzy, and sees that the fluffy thing isn't curled around him anymore, nor behind him. 

They are gone. 

The mushroom wore off. 

A deep melancholy washes over him, and there's a phantom pain within his soul, like he just lost a limb. Which is kind of true. 

He can feel Hermanubis’ sorrow too. He also liked the special body parts – probably more than Cyno himself, but not more than Tighnari. 

Tighnari. 

Oh. 

How will he tell him? He has a few days to think about how to deliver the news but he already knows it will bring so much sadness to his husband. 

The Matra continue on their journey back, tracking through the sand dunes. They notice their boss’ distress but don't comment on it, especially after they all realise that the helmet's ears don't move anymore, only swayed by the wind, and the white fluff they got used to seeing isn't swinging behind the General. Because it's no more there. 

A week later he finally arrives at Gandharva Ville with heavy steps. The door to their home is already opened before he reaches it, his husband curiously looking at him from the distance, catching the weariness in the sound of his steps. The curiosity turns into worry as he gets closer. 

Tighnari leads him into their house where they greet each other with a long hug. Cyno feels bone-tired, all the suppressed sadness that he had to hide at work catches up to him at last. A tear escapes from one of his eyes, gliding down on his cheek, falling on his husband's shoulder. The dam breaks. 

His husband, his angelic, fantastic, amazing husband doesn't say anything, only holds him through the silent sobs, fingers gently caressing his hair and back. 

When his tears and sobs quiet down, Tighnari lifts Cyno's head off his shoulder, thumbs sweeping off the wetness on his cheeks. “What's wrong, hayati?” he asks, worried. It's rare for Cyno to cry like this, it only happened a handful of times since they started dating, the last time was two years ago when Cyrus-

It's better not to think of that right now. 

He feels like there's a big knot in his throat, he can't speak. His arms feel heavy when he lifts them to take off his helmet. To share the news. 

The fox lets out a silent gasp when he spots it. Or, to be precise, spots the lack of tall ears. He looks behind Cyno and when he doesn't see the white tail, he directs his attention back to Cyno's face, the corner of his eyes downturned. The fox unintentionally lets out a quiet, sad whine. 

The matra purses his lips to suppress another sob but he can't hold back the tears to fall again. He buries his face back to Tighnari’s shoulder, he doesn't want to see the other's disappointment. 

“Oh, dear” Tighnari sighs, voice cracked. He continues to soothingly pet Cyno's hair. “It's okay. It's okay.” He turns his head and plants a little kiss on the human ear, then he repeats in a whisper: “It's okay.” 

“It's not” Cyno finally croaks out faintly. 

“We knew it would happen eventually.” 

“I know! And I thought everything would go back to normal.” 

“But… ?”

“But it hurts!” 

“It hurts? Like the day before they grew on you?” 

“No.” A sniff. “It's different. Like it's- Like someone ripped out part of my soul.”

“Oh.” Tighnari’s arms fasten around him. A few moments later he says: “Maybe it's a side effect, it will probably pass.” 

“It's been like this for a week” Cyno mumbles, the fatigue catching up to him. 

“Oh, habibi.” Another small kiss is pressed on his hair. “We will talk about this later, okay? Now you need to sleep a little, I can see that you are very tired. Let's get you to bed, alright?” 

That sounds nice. 

Cyno nods. 

Without letting him go, Tighnari maneuvers them to the bedroom, and sits Cyno down on the bed, wrapping the cover over his shoulders while kissing his forehead. 

“I'll bring some snacks and water, I'll be back shortly, okay?” 

Cyno can only nod again. He feels so tired. And… hollow. And like something is pulling him down. He tilts sideways to lay on the bed, tucking his legs close, he hugs himself. 

Although his eyes are open, he doesn't register when Tighnari comes back, only when the bed dips under his weight as he also climbs in. The fox hugs his husband close to himself, Cyno's face buried in his chest, legs tangled together. His eyelids grow heavy in the warm safety of his husband's arms. 

There's a gentle kiss on the top of his head, the place between where the jackal ears were. “It's going to be okay” Tighnari whispers while playing with Cyno’s white hair. “Everything is gonna be alright.” 

Cyno sleeps for a whole day. 

It really gets better after several days. He still feels that hollowness but it dampens down to a dull sizzling at the back of his mind.

Hermanubis goes back to his dormant sleep. 

They talk about it with Tighnari, both for the fox's research about the strange mushroom and for Cyno's mental health. 

Still not a lot of data about it but they both come to the conclusion that the mushroom probably brought out the jackal part of Hermanubis. 

But it would need more research to be precise and the Akademiya wouldn't approve of human research. Even if it involves the General Mahamatra himself. And, to be honest, the theme would be too close to one of the six sins: interfering with human evolution. 

Weeks, months pass by, Cyno catches criminals and trains Alia, Tighnari watches the forest, looking out for the flora and fauna. And the reckless adventurers. Sudabeh learns fast, she likes training the dogs at best but she also likes to help Nashrin take care of the sick and injured. 

Tighnari still collects those strange mushrooms from time to time to study them. He doesn't get farther with the research but it doesn't dampen his curiosity. 

One night Cyno suddenly wakes up; the sky is still dark outside. In his arms, Tighnari sleeps soundly, breathing out little puffs of air, bushy tail laying across both of their waists. 

He slowly slips out of the bed, careful to not to wake his husband. He walks to the kitchen and pours himself a glass of water. From the corner of his eyes, he spots the mushrooms on Tighnari’s work table. Hermanubis humms in his consciousness. 

Feeling drawn to the strange fungi, the matra puts down the half-drank glass and walks to the table. He lifts up one of the mushrooms and contemplates. 

There's a chance that it might happen again. 

Also there's a chance that it was just a one-time thing. 

And although his husband was very enamoured with his temporary look, Tighnari would be against Cyno consuming the mushroom on a whim – again. 

But it's not about Tighnari. 

It's about him. About Cyno. And Hermanubis. And about that strange feeling, that something is missing, and that it has not gone away during these long months. 

He puts the mushroom in his mouth, chews and swallows, not paying attention to the taste. He repeats it two more times, not daring to eat less or more of it than the last time. Going back to the kitchen, he finishes his glass of water and puts it in the sink. 

When he slips back to their bed, Tighnari rouses. 

“Where were you?” he mumbles, eyes still closed. 

“Just went to get a little snack.” 

“Snacking in the middle of the night isn't good for you, you know.” He turns on his back and sleepily reaches out. 

Cyno huffs a silent laugh. “I know,” he says. Then he climbs on top of his husband and lays on him with all of his weight. Tighnari lets out a satisfied purr, immediately falling back to sleep; Cyno buries his face in the crook of his neck. 

If it works, he hopes he will sleep through the pain. 

“...no!”

There's a nudge at his shoulder. He is slowly waking up, the background noises getting sharper each second. He doesn't want to wake up yet, he is lying so comfortable. 

“...yno!” Another nudge, now stronger. 

“Mmmmmm…” He nuzzles into his husband's neck, breathing in his delicious scent. 

He hears an irritated but fond sigh. 

“Cyno! Wake up!” 

His shoulders are lifted up by two strong hands, tearing him away from the warm neck. He shows his displeasure with a whine, and finally opening his eyes, he pouts, looking down at his husband. 

“Do not give me that look! You know what you did!” Tighnari seems very angry. Cyno tilts his head, not understanding. 

“That midnight snack… You ate the mushrooms, didn't you?” One hand reaches up to his head and gently touches one jackal ear. 

Cyno's eyes widen. It worked! He looks behind himself and under the cover, he sees the tail move; his heart starts to beat faster in happiness. He turns back to his husband under him who gazes up at him with a faint smile that doesn't reach his eyes. 

Tighnari cradles his face, Cyno leans into the touch. “Why?” he whispers. “Why did you do it?” 

“I had to” Cyno croaks out. 

The fox shakes his head. “No, you didn't. You said months ago that the side effects faded away.”

The matra looks away, feeling a little guilty. “They faded, yes, but it never really disappeared.” He clambers off his husband and sits at the edge of the bed. Tighnari sits up too, moving behind him, putting a hand on his shoulder. 

“Why didn't you tell me?” 

“I didn't want to burden you with it.” 

“Cyno, we are married, you know it's part of it that we should burden each other with things like this.” 

“I know, I just…” He sighs. As Tighnari scooches next to him, he lays his head on his husband's shoulder, the fox circling his arms around him, pulling him close. “I really didn't want to bother you with it, especially that the research isn't going well.” 

“The research doesn't matter in this. I'm always here to listen to your problems.” He sweeps the hair out of Cyno's face and presses a kiss on his forehead. 

“Do you remember when I said I felt like a part of me got ripped out?” 

“Yes, I remember.” 

“It faded after a few weeks but the feeling that something is missing stayed.” Tighnari reassuringly rubs his arm while he lets Cyno speak. “It was always sizzling in the back of my mind, Hermanubis was also a little off. He was very pleased and kind of happy when I got the ears and tail, then when they were gone… Maybe I reacted so strongly because of him. It was like he was mourning the loss. But now, he is buzzing with happiness again.”

“So our theory that the mushroom's effect is caused by Hermanubis is true.”

“Most certainly.”

“So you did not do this for me” Tighnari concludes. 

“Sorry to disappoint you, my dear husband, but your love for my jackal parts only counted a little bit in my decision. The world does not revolve around you, even if I try to make it like that” Cyno teases. 

Tighnari huffs a fond laugh. 

“And you have told me that I am allowed to be selfish sometimes.” 

“Yes, I did.” Another kiss is planted on his hair, close to the white ears. The fox gently nuzzles the fluffy ears that makes Cyno giggle. “And now what? You are going to eat this mushroom until you die or what?” 

“Or until the forest runs out of them but yes, that's the General plan. Do you get it? It's because I'm a General and it's my plan.” 

Tighnari falls back to the bed with a big sigh, pulling Cyno with him too. 

“You are giving me more gray hairs each day.” 

The matra turns, hovering above his husband and smiles. “And I'll love every new piece of them, just like how I love you.” 

“You better!” He reaches up to cup Cyno's face in his hands and drags him down to seal their lips in a long and gentle kiss.