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Tighnari was the only Forest Watcher he knew that actually enjoyed nighttime patrols. Others groaned and whinged and tried to wheedle their way out of it or trade off their shift to someone else when their names inevitably showed up on the schedule for night patrol, but not Tighnari. In fact, he welcomed it. Loved it, even. Avidya Forest was both incredibly alive and strangely peaceful at night. On clear nights, the moon filtered down through layers and layers of leaves to mottle the forest floor in silvery blue, while the rainy nights were colored by the percussive symphony of droplets on leathery foliage and the distinct fragrances of petrichor and loamy soil.
It definitely helped that Tighnari was biologically suited for hunting in the dark. Thanks to the tapetum lucidum in his eyes, his night vision was enhanced. He couldn't see perfectly in complete darkness or anything that extreme, as his night vision was a little akin to being red-green color blind, but it was leaps and bounds better than a normal human's vision in the dark.
It also startled the crap out of anyone who decided to playfully shine a light in his eyes and was unaware that it would make his pupils reflect a bright, uncanny teal green.
It was near the tail end of one of these nighttime patrols that Tighnari stumbled across a variety of fungus that didn't look familiar.
He nearly stepped on the luminescent little patch of mushrooms, narrowly managing to avoid them with a pinched "whoa" and correcting his balance just in time to keep from stumbling into the boggy, mossy river bank. Blinking in curiosity, he knelt down to get a better look, very gently lifting the edge of one tiny, frilly mushroom cap with his fingertip. One could almost mistake them for chanterelle mushrooms, but not quite; though they certainly had the signature crinkled shape at the edge of the caps, the color was completely unique from a chanterelle's distinctive orange. He'd never seen this particular shade of cool grey in a mushroom, one that faded to an unsaturated pink in the middle of the cap.
Dutifully, he sank down on the ground next to the small patch of mushrooms and crossed his legs, digging his notebook out of his knapsack. He jotted down a quick description of the mushroom, along with composing a rough sketch and a note of the unusual color. He smiled, regarding the petite fungi again. They almost sparkled in the moonlight. Pretty little things.
Once that was done, he plucked one of the smaller mushrooms, holding up and twisting the stem in his fingers to turn it this way and that. He lifted it to his nostrils, breathing in slowly and deeply with a frown, moving the scent around in his mouth. The scent was woody and earthy, but with a subtle, sharp undertone that made him lift an eyebrow. Slightly poisonous, then, perhaps. That made him think it could be a yet-to-be-documented variety of jack-o'-lantern mushroom, which were very similarly shaped to chanterelles and often got mistaken for them, but were decidedly not edible.
He chewed the inside of his lip, his eye temporarily drawn to the ripples of a tiny dart frog plipping into the water a few feet away from him. Eating a jack-o'-lantern mushroom caused severe cramps, vomiting, and diarrhea. Not exactly the kind of thing you wanted to be afflicted with while alone in the forest in the middle of the night. However, there was no way to know how this mushroom affected the body unless he ate one and documented what happened. He did carry various antitoxins in his bag, and if worse came to worst, he could always just stick his fingers down his throat.
Not very pleasant, but hey, it was part of his job.
With a deep, steady breath of preparation, Tighnari lifted the mushroom to his open mouth.
"NONONO!!!"
Something small, round, and green burst from the thicket in front of Tighnari's face, and his heart rammed up his throat.
He toppled backward in shock, landing on his elbows and scrambling away, the mushroom having flown from his grip to plop sadly into the mud a few feet away.
His pulse raced. His assailant was a...a...sentient cabbage...?
"Do not!!" The cabbage squeaked with a few frantic jumps, prompting Tighnari to look around in alarm. The voice was coming from all around him; if he didn't know any better, he would think this thing was talking directly into his mind. He lurched up and manifested his bow with a flick of his wrist, conjuring a Dendro arrow and aiming squarely between the creature's beady eyes.
"What are you?" He demanded. "Speak!"
The little green thing cowered, quivering in pitiful terror. Now that Tighnari looked closely, he saw that it had arms, which it was covering its dopey face with, as well as the nubbiest legs he'd ever seen and a small hat made out of leaves and twigs.
"D-do not eat mushroom," it mewled. "Valuka Shuna must not!"
Slowly, Tighnari lowered his bow, then let it dissipate. A small, round, green forest creature that called him by his race...
"Are you...an Aranara?" he asked in disbelief.
The creature nodded with a frightened hiccupping noise that tugged Tighnari's heartstrings so hard, it actually made his eyes sting. Poor little thing...
He softened his voice, holding out his hand. "Hey, I didn't mean to scare you. You just startled me."
The Aranara—holy shit, he was talking to a real Aranara—crept closer, reaching out to touch Tighnari's outstretched hand. The point of contact shimmered with a faint, pale green light, tingling the tips of Tighnari's fingers.
"Aradeva forgives," it sniffled. Tighnari cautiously patted it on the head. It sounded a bit like patting a melon. "Valuka Shuna scary."
"Sorry about that." He cast about for the patch of mushrooms, reaching to pick another one. The Aranara squealed, jumping up to hang off of his wrist, stubby legs kicking fruitlessly.
"No! No! Must not eat!"
"I...why not? It's just a mushroom, I have to document it," Tighnari explained. "It really doesn't smell that poisonous. I can always—"
"Seedling Valuka Shuna would return to Sarva!" the Aranara cried, clinging tightly to Tighnari's wrist.
Tighnari's ear twitched in mild frustration, but he dropped the mushroom.
"Okay, okay, fine. I won't eat it if you're so worried. Happy now?"
"Very happy," the Aranara insisted, plopping to the ground and brushing itself off with an air of huffy relief.
In spite of Tighnari's annoyance, a laugh puffed from his nostrils. "You're an interesting little fellow. My name is Tighnari. Yours is...Aradeva?"
The Aranara perked up. "Yes, Aradeva is Aradeva. Narinara is good Valuka Shuna. Seedlings will be safe now."
He always had heard that the Aranara talked in riddles.
As Tighnari was about to speak again, footsteps rustling through the underbrush some distance behind him caused Aradeva to jump away from him and disappear into thin air with a poof of mist that smelled like freshly cut grass. Tighnari quickly pushed himself to his feet.
"Aradeva?"
Only silence and the sound of his own heartbeat in his ears answered him.
"Master Tighnari, there you are." Tighnari looked over his shoulder; Kamran was ducking under the branches in his way as he approached. "My quadrant is clear, do you want my report?"
Tighnari shook his head slightly and forced himself to focus. "Ah. Good, yes."
Kamran cocked his head. "Were you...talking to someone just now, sir?"
"...No. Just myself."
As Tighnari turned away from the patch of mushrooms with a final, perplexed glance, he almost wondered if touching that mushroom had made him hallucinate the past five minutes.
❀
The next morning, Tighnari awoke with a full-body jerk to the taste of acid flooding up his throat, and narrowly managed to slither out of bed and snatch the wastebasket from beneath his desk in time to avoid painting his rug with the contents of his stomach.
"Eating weird mushrooms is bad for your health!" Collei scolded him, holding a wet cloth to his clammy forehead and pressing a cup of ginger tea into his shaking hands.
He stared into the steaming golden liquid, a confused wrinkle marring his brow.
"I'll...be more careful."
❀
The next time Tighnari saw the Traveler, who had returned to Sumeru from Fontaine for a quick visit, he was intrigued to learn that he wasn't the only one who had encountered the mysterious Aranara. When he mentioned his unexpected run-in, Aether eagerly procured an old, worn notebook (out of...seemingly nowhere) that was filled to the brim with notes on the strange creatures, and Tighnari was surprised and pleased when Aether offered to let him borrow it for a while. Tighnari flipped through the notebook, fascinated by the illustrations and sheer volume of information jotted down in neat, slanted handwriting.
"They're quirky little guys, to say the least," Aether remarked.
"Oh, brother, are they," Paimon groaned. "They make Paimon's brain hurt."
"That's because—never mind."
Paimon clenched her tiny fists and stomped the air. "Hey! Say it to Paimon's face!"
"No, I don't think I will."
"Rrgh!"
Aether rolled his eyes, continuing. "Anyway. The way they project their voices into your mind takes some getting used to, but they mean well. I've never met a single one that was hostile in any way. Well, grumpy, maybe, but never hostile."
Tighnari gave a short, soft hum. "This one was very...stubborn. It kept begging me not to eat that mushroom, because...something about going to Sarva, wherever that is. It was quite convinced something terrible was going to happen if I ate it."
"'Sarva' in their language can either refer to Irminsul or the afterlife," Aether said, reaching over with a soft "sorry" to turn to a specific section of the notebook and pointing to his reference notes. Tighnari held his chin, skimming the section. "Maybe it meant the mushroom was poisonous enough to kill you? What exactly did it say, do you remember its words verbatim?"
Tighnari cocked his head and wracked his brain.
"Something like...'seedling would go to...'...no, wait, it said..." Tighnari briefly closed his eyes, frowning. "'Seedling Valuka Shuna would return to Sarva.'"
Instantly, Aether's expression became forcibly neutral.
Paimon piped up. "When the Aranara say seedling, doesn't that mea—arrmphh!"
Aether swiped Paimon out of mid-air and clapped his hand over her mouth, muffling her high-pitched protests.
"Paimon, go see if Collei needs help with washing the harra fruit down by the river," he said quietly.
At his serious tone, Paimon stopped struggling and nodded vigorously, wriggling out of his arms and saluting as she floated backward. "O-okay! Paimon will be right back!"
Once Paimon had zipped out the door, Tighnari fixed Aether with a slightly narrowed gaze.
"What's going on, my friend?"
Aether took a deep breath and held it for a moment, like he was unsure whether or not to speak. Then, he sighed, his shoulders slumping.
"When Aranara say 'seedling nara', they..." Aether faltered, rubbing the back of his neck. The apples of his cheeks stained red. "...um. Usually mean babies. Like, babies that haven't been born yet. But in this case, if it said 'seedling Valuka Shuna,' then, uh..."
Tighnari's world tilted on its axis, and his heart slowly picked up speed. Familiar and unwelcome tightness crept up his throat.
Oh.
Aether coughed. "Could that...be true?"
Tighnari recalled how tired he'd been getting at the end of the day lately. Those seemingly random waves of heightened emotion. His periodic, unprovoked nausea.
The snugness of his waistband he'd been noticing for a few days.
"...it could," he whispered, swallowing hard.
By the Archons.
Aether looked mortified enough to crawl under the table and hide. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to intrude on your personal life like this."
"You haven't. It's alright." Tighnari felt lightheaded, and not necessarily in a pleasant way. More like he'd been struck in the head with a blunt weapon and trails of tiny birds were still fluttering around his head. He rested his elbow on the table and covered his mouth.
Shit. Shit.
"...I need to go to the Bimarstan," he realized softly.
Aether straightened, his expression grave. "If you need to go right now, don't worry about us. We'll be here for a few days, and Paimon and I can help Collei cook something for lunch."
Tighnari was already rising from his chair, seeking out his travel bag hanging on a hook near the doorway to make sure there were rations packed in it and water in his canteen. He slung the bag around his shoulders and ran his fingers through his hair, feeling out of sorts and jittery. "Aether, I'm awfully sorry to run off like this, I—"
"Don't be. This is important." Aether's golden eyes were as kind and understanding as always. Archons bless him, he was such a ray of sunshine. "Go ahead. We'll catch up another day. I'll keep Paimon from blabbing."
With a grateful, distracted smile over his shoulder that didn't quite reach his eyes, Tighnari hurried out the door and up the path to Sumeru City.
❀
Tighnari stared up at the plain white ceiling of the Bimarstan, twisting his fingers in his pulled-up hoodie. The doctor's hands were cool on his bare abdomen, gently cupping the solid distension in his lower stomach that he had stupidly been dismissing as normal bloating. Now that he'd really looked, though, he wondered if his subconscious had just been forcing him to overlook it, because...erm.
Pretty unmistakable without all those layers on.
"You say that it's only been around eight weeks since you engaged in intercourse," the doctor, Rawiyah, said hesitantly as she molded her hand to the fundus of his uterus, "but I have to inform you that you're measuring about five weeks ahead of that. If we've calculated your conception date correctly, I..."
Tighnari heaved a soft, resigned sigh, his energy rapidly depleting. "Multiples."
Rawiyah gave a sheepish nod. "Likely twins, if I had to guess."
With an incredulous little snort, Tighnari covered his eyes with his forearm. His lower lip tried to quiver. His other hand moved to cover the bulge of life in his abdomen.
Twins. Again.
Oh, Lesser Lord, help me.
Guilt stung his eyes. He should've been ecstatic, overjoyed, over the moon. So why did it feel like his heart had been shrink-wrapped in barbed wire? Why was there a two ton boulder splintering his ribs? Why was his stomach sinking through his toes like he'd just been given the worst news of his life?
And yet, underneath all those awful feelings, there rested a scared, trembling little speck of hope, a shred of tentative excitement that he was terrified of even allowing himself to feel for fear that it would all be ripped away from him in a flash yet again.
It very well could have been, if what Aradeva had said was true. If he'd eaten that mushroom...
He swallowed, his throat full of glass.
"You have options, of course." Rawiyah's voice was quiet. Subdued.
Instantly, without even thinking about it, Tighnari shook his head. "No. That's not...no, I'm...I'm okay. Just shocked."
After a moment of understanding silence, Rawiyah spoke again, carefully. "Then, shall I proceed with the routine blood and urine tests?"
Tighnari's heart hammered, but again, the answer was reflexive and easy.
"Yes."
And after that, he had an impromptu visit to the Akademiya to make.
❀
As Tighnari strode through the ornate, bustling halls of the Akademiya, he tugged at his sleeve, self-conscious of the small square of gauze taped in the crook of his left elbow. He was getting strange looks left and right; nonplussed glances from staff members who likely recognized him and outright gaping from green young students who had probably never seen a Valuka Shuna hybrid up close before. Tighnari ignored them all, holding his head high as he headed straight for Cyno's office.
Now that he was aware of it, it was downright impossible to ignore the gentle but solid pressure of pregnancy against his belt as he walked. Good Lord, he'd definitely been in denial. These clothes weren't going to cut it in a couple of weeks. Maybe even sooner, if how quickly he'd started showing this time around was any indication. The doctor had said it was common for second pregnancies to show much earlier, even if the first pregnancy had been miscarried. His uterus still remembered.
Oh, yeah, and there was also the fact that there were two babies in there. Of course he was going to show early.
Twins, twins, twins, his heart drummed in his throat.
Nervous butterflies churned in his stomach, and he resisted the urge to reach beneath his many layers of clothing and press his palm there.
He and Cyno hadn't seen each other in over a month. If they had, he suspected that Cyno would've noticed the belly, even if Tighnari himself was apparently fucking blind to it. He worried how Cyno would take it. It hadn't even been a year since he'd miscarried, for Archons' sake, and that devastating loss had ripped Cyno's poor heart to shreds. Tighnari had never, ever seen him so broken up and listless. That kind of soul-crunching grief didn't heal in a year. Was it too soon...?
That was what they got for going at it without protection, even if they'd believed they were in the clear. Tighnari's body had apparently said otherwise. The first time conceiving outside of his estrus cycle was bad enough; the chances of it happening twice were so miniscule that it was actually ludicrous. The incredulity Tighnari was feeling was dangerously close to indignant anger, if he was honest with himself. Getting pregnant again should've been something that he and Cyno carefully planned after discussing it at length, not...not...this. Not like this.
But he patted down his consternation and took a deep breath, trying to quiet his rabbiting pulse. It would be fine. Everything was fine.
When he reached Cyno's office door and saw that it was closed, he scowled, his jaw ticking. Great, so Cyno had a visitor. So much for getting by without fake smiles and pleasantries, two things that would be absurdly and painfully difficult right now. Oh, well. He didn't care if Cyno was in a meeting with Kusanali herself; he would not withhold this from his mate for a single second longer than he needed to. Not after what happened last time.
He took another calming breath and shook his hand out by his side to dispel some tension before knocking on the door, so it would hopefully sound a little less impatient.
The murmuring from inside ceased, and a shuffling commenced. He could hear Cyno's muffled voice draw closer, then the door opened. Immediately, Cyno's pale eyebrow shot up.
"Nari? This is a surprise."
Tighnari resisted the urge to wring his hands, his tail flipping behind him in agitation. "Are you busy?"
Scarily perceptive as always, Cyno's eye sharpened. "Not anymore. What's wrong, you're pale."
Tighnari looked over Cyno's shoulder into his office, then leveled Cyno with a silent, pointed stare. Cyno turned around, swinging the door open in an invitation to follow.
"Apologies, Alhaitham. We will continue our meeting another time."
The aforementioned man rose from his chair in front of the desk and crossed his arms across his broad chest with the sort of dichotomous, mildly intense annoyance-slash-disinterest only he could achieve.
"Dismissing your Grand Sage. That doesn't seem proper."
If Tighnari didn't know better, he would say that Alhaitham was actually amused, but he could count on one hand the times he had ever seen a smile on the man's angular face, so he was left uncertain.
Cyno looked wholly unimpressed. "Acting Grand Sage. And yes. Right now, he takes precedence over you."
Alhaitham gave the both of them a cool look. "Surely whatever it is could've waited."
"It really, really couldn't have," Tighnari said through clenched teeth, and at the same time, Cyno snapped, "Tighnari would not interrupt my work unless it was very important."
Tighnari didn't dislike Alhaitham on the whole and was on friendly terms with him, but sometimes it felt a bit like he was studying you. Like a scientist would observe a lab rat in a maze full of traps, taking notes on its reactions to different stimuli. Tighnari had never much enjoyed the company of people who were well aware of just how smart they were. Every conversation felt like you were being sized up and condescended, because ninety percent of the time, you probably were.
Poor Kaveh, he muttered inwardly.
After a moment of regarding them with tilted head and impassive eyes, Alhaitham simply shrugged.
"Our discussion was not time-sensitive, so these are acceptable terms in this situation." Alhaitham nodded at Tighnari as he moved past. "I'll be in my office when you're finished, General."
He had the decency to pull the door shut behind himself. Tighnari rolled his eyes and scoffed under his breath, already pissed off and queasy and unsettled enough without Alhaitham's particular brand of mind games on top of it. He pulled his gloves off and rubbed the inner corners of his eyes with a tired sigh. This day had felt like several days long already, and it was barely mid afternoon.
Cyno's hand enveloped his own. "Your hand is trembling. Something is wrong, isn't it."
He opened his eyes to see Cyno watching him carefully. Wordlessly, Tighnari pulled him to the sofa along one wall of the office.
"Sit down," he said quietly. Cyno's eye instantly hardened in alarm.
"Is Collei alright?"
"Collei is fine. She and the Traveler are visiting at home." Tighnari gently pressed on Cyno's shoulders and was met with resistance.
"Are you fine?"
Tighnari sighed. "Please, just sit."
Cyno searched his face with muted desperation, then he slowly sat down. Tighnari picked up one of Cyno's hands to give himself something to hold onto.
"You're starting to scare me," Cyno confessed. Tighnari's heart twisted. It wasn't often that Cyno admitted something like that.
"It's nothing bad," Tighnari assured quietly, reaching to tuck Cyno's hair behind the shell of his ear. "Just...something important I have to tell you."
Cyno canted his head forward in silent question.
Tighnari wet his lips, squeezing Cyno's warm, calloused hand in his own. Closing his eyes in a prayer for courage, he drew in a measured breath before meeting Cyno's worried gaze.
"I'm pregnant."
Cyno froze, barely breathing. A cacophony of emotions twisted his face and widened his eye. Shock. Fear. Awe. Hope.
"Really?" he breathed.
Tighnari's lips pursed in a stressed little smile that wobbled at the corners.
Cyno instantly stood up. "You're not happy."
Already, tears that had been lurking for hours were pooling in Tighnari's eyes, blurring his vision. He gave a weak half-shrug, looking down at their joined hands. A thin, warbly hum leaked from his throat.
Cyno pulled Tighnari into a tight, grounding hug, and he buried his face in Cyno's shoulder, squeezing his smarting eyes shut. Warm lips brushed across his temple, lingering there while Cyno rocked them back and forth. No matter how hard he tried to hold it in, Tighnari couldn't hold back a soft, compressed little sob that made his throat ache. Cyno tenderly shushed him, touching kiss after comforting kiss to his temple and forehead.
"There, now," he heard Cyno whisper, so quietly that no one but Tighnari would've ever been able to hear.
Tighnari hadn't really planned on crying on his busy husband's shoulder today, but here he was. Already, gestational hormones were influencing his mood. That was a lovely sign. For his part, Cyno didn't seem to mind. He simply held Tighnari and rubbed his back while he silently poured out a fraction of the conflicting emotions that had been pressuring his chest since that morning. What a relief it was.
When the urge to cry began to lessen, Tighnari sucked a wet sniffle in, his breath uneven and sharp around the hot coal lodged in his windpipe. "I'm not unhappy, I don't think. Just...I don't know. I'm not sure what to feel right now. It's so...so sudden."
Cyno massaged the bases of Tighnari's drooping ears, pressing a firm kiss to his cheek. "It's going to be okay," he whispered. Then, he leaned back, his gaze roving over Tighnari's face. He looked a bit shell-shocked himself, his lips parted, his eye glazed and a little too bright. "How did you find out?"
Tighnari sighed out a congested, humorless half-laugh. "Oh. That's...quite the story. I'll tell you when you're off work, if you'll even believe me."
"Of course I will." Cyno thumbed a tear from Tighnari's jawline. "And how far along are you?"
With another sniffle, Tighnari wiped his nose on his wrist and sighed. "About eight weeks."
"Hmm. I suppose the next question, then, is how many babies are there?" Cyno's eye was gentle, but shrewd. "Because, forgive my lack of tact, but that's a pretty substantial bump I'm feeling against my stomach." He held his hand to the small of Tighnari's back, pressing them a bit closer and resting their foreheads together. "And eight weeks is awfully early."
Tighnari's face and neck flushed. "You're feeling correctly. As far as the doctor could tell, there are two." His spine tingled with the reminder.
"Two," Cyno whispered, soft and lilting, as if testing the sound of it in his mouth. He then leaned forward to kiss the tip of Tighnari's nose. "Two is a good number." His eye glimmered. "May I see?"
Already, Cyno's easygoing demeanor was calming Tighnari's nerves, slowing his pounding heart, smoothing down the metaphorical fur on his back. He stepped back to unclasp his belt and place it on the sofa, and the immediate, massive relief he felt at the extra breathing room told him that he probably needed to keep it off. After unwrapping the white shawl from around his shoulder and waist, he moved the waistband of his pants down to the underside of the bump, then pulled his hoodie and undershirt up, holding them at his sternum.
Gods, his stomach stuck out even further than it had when he was lying down on the examination table. How had his brain ever managed to convince him he was just bloated?
He supposed grief did strange things to people, even almost a year later.
Cyno sank down onto the sofa and took off his headpiece, his eyes never leaving Tighnari's belly, his expression quietly enraptured. His rough fingertips brushed just beneath Tighnari's navel, pressing ever so gently into the firm flesh. He cupped the bump in his hand, stretching his thumb and middle finger across it as if marveling at its size and shape, then brought his other hand up, resting both hands on Tighnari's hips, rubbing back and forth with his thumbs at the spots low on his sides where the outward curve began.
Tighnari's cheeks burned, unaccustomed to such scrutiny. "You're awfully calm."
"My outward appearance is deceptive; on the inside, I'm running naked through the streets of the city shrieking at the top of my lungs," Cyno replied very seriously, never lifting his gaze.
Tighnari snorted. "I'm right there with you, believe me."
Cyno suddenly leaned forward to rest the softest of kisses on Tighnari's belly, causing Tighnari to shiver at the incredible warmth of his lips. Then, Cyno rested his forehead there, nestling the bump in the curve between his nose and brow and looping his arms around Tighnari's legs. Tighnari's heart fluttered so hard, it took his breath away. He rested his hand on Cyno's shoulder and petted his fluffy locks, fondness for this precious man warming him from head to toe.
If Tighnari's hearing hadn't been immaculate, he probably would've missed the tiny, squeezed-out words that Cyno spoke next, rough with emotion.
"There are really two?"
Tighnari's sinuses pricked with the threat of more tears. He had to take a deep breath and swallow to suppress them.
"Yes. Frankly, I'm surprised there aren't more in there. Multiples are extremely common among Valuka Shuna pregnancies. A woman from my village gave birth to quintuplets when I was a child." Cyno made a strangled, tearful noise that made Tighnari giggle. He pulled Cyno's hair back off of his neck, brushing it to one side. "I agree. Two is plenty."
Cyno's breathing shuddered, uneven and staccato. His arms tightened. "I prayed for this, long ago," he rasped. "I prayed that one day, they might come back to us." His shoulders trembled. "Oh, Lesser Lord, my goddess...thank you for hearing my prayer..."
A tear slipped down Tighnari's cheek. He closed his eyes and hugged Cyno's head against the tiny lives inside him, his face pinching with emotion.
It almost felt like a second chance. A holy blessing, penned and passed down to them by the very hand of their Archon. Tighnari wasn't her most devout follower, but even he sent up a simple, heartfelt prayer.
If these kits really are gifts from you, then...thank you. I promise to cherish them.
Suddenly, Cyno leaned back to look up, his moistened eyes wide with wonder.
"...Nari."
"Yes, dear?"
"I can tell them jokes."
Tighnari pulled at Cyno's cheeks with a good-natured frown, earning a grunt. "You're ruining the moment."
Cyno's words came out slurred because of his stretched cheeks. "You clearly don't understand the implications of this. My jokes will evolve to their highest form. They will be dad jokes. I will be the funniest I've ever been in my entire life. I will be unstoppable."
A long-suffering sigh left Tighnari's lips. "Why did I marry you, again?"
Cyno rested his chin on Tighnari's sternum, his eyes as beautiful as a desert sunset. "Because you love me, habibi."
Unable to keep up the charade, Tighnari cupped his husband's face in his hands, leaning down kiss him soundly. "I do," he murmured against his mouth. "So very, very much."
Cyno's hands rubbed his back. "And I, you," he whispered, touching another kiss to Tighnari's chin. "Are you alright now?"
Air filled Tighnari's lungs and came out in a cleansing sigh. "Yes. I think so." He looked down at his belly, at the solid proof of his and Cyno's love, and smoothed his hand over it, savoring the feeling of life beneath his palm. "Well. We're going to be parents."
A gentle smile lit up Cyno's handsome face. "We are." He nuzzled Tighnari's bump, kissing it once more. "I love them already."
Tighnari chuckled, hugging Cyno's head with one arm as Cyno pressed his cheek to the babies. "I do, too."
There was a lot of stress on the horizon, with doctor's appointments and planning a nursery and buying enough baby clothes and supplies for two, but...somehow, Tighnari was beginning to look forward to it.
With Cyno by his side, it was sure to be an adventure.
...an adventure filled with terribly corny jokes, but an adventure nonetheless.
❀
When Tighnari closed Cyno's office door behind himself and headed down the hall to turn the corner, he was so distracted by how giddy he was beginning to feel that he nearly collided with a short individual, backing up just in time.
"Oh, pardon me." He looked down into the most vibrant emerald eyes he'd ever seen.
The diminutive, pale-haired girl clad in white and gold gave him a soft, tender smile, her eyes sparkling. "No harm done, Tighnari."
An oddly warm chill bathed Tighnari's shoulders and settled in his stomach. "Have we met?"
The girl shook her head, sending her side ponytail swaying. "I've never had the pleasure of making your acquaintance in person. But, I work with the General Mahamatra, and he talks so favorably of you that I feel like I've known you for a long time." Her voice was as petite as she was, with a cool, glass-like tone that was heavenly in Tighnari's ears.
He formed a polite "o" with his lips. "I see. I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name."
"Oh! Please, forgive my rudeness. My name is Nahida." She gave a somewhat stiff, adorable bow, seeming almost nervous, as if she wasn't sure she was doing it right.
Tighnari couldn't help but be endeared to this little sprout, even if he was itching to get back to Gandharva Ville and bowl Collei and Aether over with his exciting news. "The pleasure is all mine, Nahida. I'm terribly sorry, but I'm in a bit of a hurry, so do you mind if I...?"
Nahida beamed. "Not at all. I'll see you another time, I'm sure."
With a smile and a nod, Tighnari moved past her.
When he was almost to the staircase, he heard her speak.
"Oh, one last thing, Tighnari."
He suppressed a slightly impatient sigh, turning around. "Yes?"
Nahida was leaning around the corner to look at him, her eyes and the tips of her hair suddenly illuminated with inhuman, grass green light.
You're very welcome, she somehow said without a single movement of her lips, her voice echoing and ethereal. And congratulations.
Tighnari's jaw nearly hit the floor. Nahida giggled with childlike glee, innocently mischievous, and danced down the hallway to Cyno's office on her tiptoes, knocking on his door and letting herself in after.
After a moment of dumbfounded staring, a incredulous laugh whuffed from Tighnari's chest. He shook his head in disbelief, turning to descend the stairs, carefully holding onto the railing.
You know your day has been crazy when meeting your goddess face to face is second on the list of wild surprises.
❀