Chapter Text
Twenty Minutes After Carnegie Hall; January
“I’m done,” Tighnari handed over the papers outlining the termination of his contract. His chest seized as he let them go, as he snapped and shredded the last of his connection to this part of his life.
It was like saying goodbye to himself, just as he had ten years before.
“What?” Sucrose gasped from behind him, and he heard something fall to the ground. He turned to find her case of music fallen open, pages scattered around her feet.
“This was my last performance, I’m retiring.” He sighed, because even as he wanted to stop himself from making this decision he knew he couldn’t.
Tighnari snagged his violin case, and looked at Sucrose. She had tears in her eyes, and he shook his head slightly. She was too young yet, to have the expectations of this industry on her shoulders.
“You’re amazing, I expect to see you here again in the future.” Tighnari squeezed her hand. “My time in the spotlight is done,”
He didn’t mention the money left by Naphis, and refused to elaborate beyond what he’d already said.
Sucrose reached up and hugged him tightly, and his stage manager stared down at the papers. He tucked his head into Sucrose’s shoulder, snorting as both of their ears twitched when they brushed against one another.
“I’ll see you again?” Sucrose asked, looking up at him as she pulled away.
“When you have your first show, I’ll be there in the front row, kiddo.” He agreed, gathering his things.
An hour later he’d found himself settled onto a bench, waiting through the weather delay of his train.
His phone buzzed in his hand, and Tighnari lifted it to his ear.
“You crazy son of a bitch,” was how Kaveh greeted him.
“So you’ve heard?” Tighnari forced the smile into his voice, as he watched the snow drifts outside.
“Yes, I’ve heard! Haitham comes home tonight all huffy and that’s how I find out that my best friend has ended his contract with The Akademiya?”
“Why was he upset?” Tighnari asked, dodging the allegations.
“Because Amurta is lacking in classical musicians with even a shred of the talent you possess,” Kaveh bit out accusingly.
“I’m sure they’ll find someone,” Tighnari pursed his lips. And after a beat: “Hey, you’re still between jobs right?”
“No need to rub it in that we’re both unemployed now,” Kaveh muttered.
“Want to come help me move in to my new place?”
He pulled the phone away from his ear as something crashed on the other side.
“Sorry, that was Mehrak,” Kaveh apologized, and then paused. “You got a new flat in Seattle?”
Tighnari chuckled. “I sold that one, actually. I bought a place in Albany,”
“Where?” Kaveh sounded clueless as Mehrak meowed in annoyance. “Stay in there,” He muttered at his cat and a door clicked shut.
“The capital of New York?” Tighnari clarified. “I thought it was time for a change of scenery.”
Kaveh audibly spat out what he had been drinking.
“What-?” He choked for a moment, pausing. “I’ll be there as soon as I can, but only because I love you.”
Tighnari laughed, and smiled. He watched the announcement flash that his train was finally ready to board. “Thank you,”
“I feel like we’ve both definitely done crazier things than move half way across the country for fun,” Kaveh answered, his own version of ‘you’re welcome.’
“I’m about to head out, I’ll call you after I get to the new place tomorrow?”
“Get there safe,” Kaveh said, making a sloppy kiss noise into the speaker before hanging up. Tighnari rolled his eyes and tucked his phone into his pocket.
He had to suffer through the child screaming in the back of the car for the first hour, but as the city lights dispersed behind them the whole car seemed to fall asleep.
The lights of the city below him glowed like the buildings had been made from stars. It was so much more peaceful when you couldn’t hear- or smell- it.
Ten years ago, a sixteen year-old boy auditioned at Juilliard and began his career. He’d left his life behind, his family and his roots, to study music. Now, Tighnari had retired from performing and was on a train to leave everything behind all over again.
If there could be one thing Tighnari learned from life, it would be that change may be treacherous, but it is as sure as leaves dying with autumn.
Maybe he’d teach, he pondered the idea as the world flew past his window. After he got the shop up and running. No matter if he gave up performance, piano and violin were woven into his blood. It’d be impossible to ever truly forget them.
As the city faded into the distance, Tighnari finished the paperwork he’d needed to send off for his final PR tour. It was a small parting price to pay, from abandoning his contract.
-
Cyno stared at Dehya as the checks for both of them sat in sealed envelopes on their kitchen counter.
“I have no idea how much it is,” He stood with his hands on his hips. His T-shirt still damp on his shoulders from the melting snow in his hair.
“It’s royalties, it can’t be that much,” She sighed, tying her dark hair back into a braid. Though even her voice sounded skeptical.
“On three?” He grabbed his envelope, and she nodded.
They counted down together, and both tore through the paper.
“Holy shit!” Dehya screeched, staring at the numbers on the check in her hands. Cyno followed suit and his mouth dropped open. Two pairs of eyes, one blue flecked with gold and one crimson red, met.
“There’s no way,” He stared at her, and then they both immediately lunged for their phones.
Dunyarzad and Candace answered immediately, and after a series of rushed confirmations, they hung up with promises to be at the apartment as soon as they could.
“We fucking did it!” Dehya cheered, grabbing Cyno by his shoulders and pulling him into a bone crushing hug.
Her laughter was infectious, as they both realized that years of scraping by had just maybe come to an end.
-
The Teyvat Post
New and Upcoming Band, Desert’s Children, Shoots to the Top.
By Lumine
We’ve all been abuzz in the music community as of late. With famous pianist Tighnari leaving behind Amurta , which you can read more about here , and Navia announcing new music (article by Aether here ). The Akademiya as a talent company has been facing a surge of new spotlight attention.
None as much as our newly famous quartet, Desert’s Children . The Teyvat Post has inquired already about an interview with the group, and are waiting on a response.
So what do we know about this band that has caught the world’s eye?
Their lead singer, Cyno, has been posting music online for several years after initially being a production assistant. He graduated from Sumeru University four years ago, and definitely made himself familiar with the industry. Around a year ago, him and his band mates began posting across platforms under the name ‘Desert’s Children.’
The band is compromised of him, Dehya, Candace, and daughter of the Homayani family, Dunyarzad.
Longtime fans have said that Cyno and Dehya have known each other since university, where Dehya played both women’s basketball and hockey. She was expected to go professional with basketball but had to retire from the sport following a car accident, according to our sources. The two post content together regularly, and many have speculated about them being more than longtime friends? Regardless, Teyvat Post is definitely intrigued with the drummer.
Candace has so far proven to remain the most civilian. Her social media is private, and what little we do know is this: She used to serve in the Air Force, and has since retired to further her education in New York where the rest of the band also resides. She is an incredible guitarist, and seems to be the introvert of the band from what we can see online.
Dunyarzad Homayami has had fame and fortune following her around for her entire life, descending from old money and being considered one of the most eligible women of her own generation by Celestia . (Read their article here ) I wonder what we can expect from the keyboardist, as she emerges in the limelight.
With their self titled album ( Desert’s Children ) having topped charts within its genre and the Top 100 nationwide, we can’t wait to see what comes with this crew. The lead singles, Burn Scars and Sunlight , have had a fiery start; leading us to suspect a tour announcement soon from these new faces.
~ Lumine
(Find her profile on The Teyvat Post here)
-
Tighnari’s train arrived in the early morning, and he caught a cab to his flat. Most of his furniture had been set to be delivered tomorrow- or later today at that point.
He groaned, and dug through the few boxes he had. A small air mattress tumbled out, and he doubted he’d ever fit it back in the box. He set his violin case on the kitchen counter, and started to work.
Dragging the thing to the wall and plugging it in took quite a bit of time, and Tighnari collapsed to the ground as he waited for it to inflate.
The light from the street peeked through his blinds on his window, as he leaned his head back on the wall.
Tighnari decided that this was an okay place to start over.
He slumped over onto the mattress and promptly fell asleep, his tail curled around himself.
-
Desert’s Children (Self-Titled)
- Sunlight
- Drowning
- Burn Scars
- Ruins and Ruination
- Guilt of the Gods
- Scholar’s Grief (ft. Layla)
- Shabah
- In the Shadow of Death
- Make Me
- Lupine
- Jackal Eyes
-
Cyno’s life became a rush of publicity and performance. With the album’s success he’d completely lost any time he’d had for himself. A part of him missed simply strumming over chords on midnight livestreams.
He and the girls had been shuttled from interview to photo shoot and back. Stylists prodded at them and Cyno thought he’d lost his mind. It felt like a dream, and a nightmare. He’d never craved fame, he’d simply enjoyed making music.
Now, Cyno sat on stage, the girls on the couch beside him as they waited for the camera to roll.
“Hello, everyone,” The interviewer, a young woman named Amber, grinned as she waved to the camera.
She turned towards them and the camera panned, Cyno grinned and waved while the girls smiled- well Dehya was smirking.
“I’m here tonight with Desert’s Children , if you didn’t see the beginning of tonight’s show,” Amber held her note cards up. “We’ve got some questions from the public, and a few of my own, to ask Teyvat’s newest showstoppers.”
They all smiled on cue, and Amber made a show of flipping through her note cards.
“Oh, this one’s interesting.” She pulled it out. “Do you all collaborate on writing the songs, or does one of you do it?”
Dunyarzad piped up first, “We’ve all contributed to every song on the album, sometimes lyrics for one song come easier to one of us than the others but it all balances out.”
Cyno nodded. “The girls would be impossible to write without, it’s a very collaborative environment.”
“I probably do the least of the actual lyric writing, but even I helped out on that part of some of the songs.” Candace added.
Amber smiled. “So if you all work on everything, do you have favorite songs on the album?”
Dehya grinned, “ Sunlight and Burn Scars were my favorites before they became singles, but I’ve got a soft spot for Make Me . It took us so long to agree on the direction it should go,”
“ Lupine is my favorite,” Cyno continued. “I think it shows a pretty big contrast from some of the other songs, but still displays our strengths as a group.”
Dunyarzad looked to be in serious contemplation as she finally shrugged. “ In the Shadow of Death has such a strong meaning to me, and to so many of our fans, so I think it has to be mine.”
Candace watched them all answer and took a sip from her coffee. “I like Drowning , it tells a good story.”
Amber continued to smile at the group, “ Sunlight is my favorite for sure.” She plucked the next question card and her brows raised in mock surprise. “What are the dynamics like within your band? What do you guys look like when you’re not on camera?” She peered curiously at them.
“We spend a lot of time together at one of our apartments, we’re close friends outside of music and have known each other for a long time.” Candace said, keeping it plain and simple.
“Yeah, surprisingly enough I’m the newest addition to the group and I’ve known Dehya since our first year of university,” Cyno chuckled.
“Me and Candace grew up knowing each other,” Dehya nodded. “And me and Dunyarzad were close friends in high school.”
Amber raised a brow. “Not to spread rumors, but is it true you two live together?” She pointed between Dehya and Cyno.
“Yeah, rent in New York is expensive,” Cyno laughed. “She’s like my sister, with the nagging to clean up my clothes and everything.”
A silent prayer went up to their manager that he hadn’t botched his answer.
Amber pursed her lips, contemplating digging further but instead setting the card down.
“You guys collaborated with Layla on this album, are there any more planned collaborations in the future? If you could each pick someone to make music with outside of the band who would it be?”
“We don’t have anything confirmed in the works yet,” Cyno answered the first question, while the others took on the second.
“Oh, Nilou for sure,” Dunyarzad clapped her hands together. “She’s a phenomenal performer on stage.”
Amber nodded, looking at all of them.
“I’d have to say Yun Jin,” Candace smiled. “She has a great vocal range that I think would compliment Cyno well.”
Dehya hesitated. “I think it would be sick to work with a really big singer like Venti, someone who knows the industry really well.”
Amber raised a brow curiously, then joked. “I’ve had him on the show before, maybe I’ll put the word in.” She looked at Cyno expectantly.
“I’m not totally sure, but I guess Albedo would be fun to experiment with style wise.” Cyno shrugged, throwing out the composer’s name randomly.
“You like classical music?” Amber gaped, looking genuinely surprised by his answer.
“I like all music,” Cyno shrugged. “He’s undeniably talented.”
Amber considered him, before blinking back into her performer persona.
She held out the cards to them, “Pick one, so it’s random.” She winked, even though they all knew she’d scripted every question.
Dehya reached into the stack and plucked one. “Did you scrap any songs on the album?”
“Yeah, a few,” Cyno nodded. “They were good pieces but just didn’t suit this album.”
The cards got passed to Candace and she plucked the top card. “How did the band form?”
Dehya grinned and leaned back. “Cyno dragged me into percussion after my accident, Dunyarzad came into the picture shortly after that. We were all a little tipsy and loved music, so why not start a band?”
“I came home to return to school and they made me break out my old guitar,” Candace chuckled.
The questions continued to get passed around, the discussion carrying throughout the evening until the cameras finally clicked off.
“Oh, thank god,” Dehya groaned, rubbing her eyes.
They picked themselves up and Amber met them center stage. “Thank you for coming in,” She shook their hands.
“Thank you for having us,” Cyno smiled, pulling his hair back from his face and tying it into a ponytail. The product crusted into it caused him to cringe, but at least it was off his neck.
The group hurried off the stage and into the parking lot, a silent agreement to flee their last interview of the week. Candace unlocked her car and that was when Cyno heard the camera. It was a sharp flash and he hesitated in disbelief before clambering into the backseat.
“Paparazzi?” Dehya questioned. A second click sounded, followed by a flash; and that was the answer.
“You are all lucky I have tinted windows,” Candace muttered, driving away and ignoring every request their manager had begged them to respect. ‘Don’t leave right away,’ it was too late for that.
They all fought for the Bluetooth connection, and eventually got stuck in traffic on I-95.
“We’re famous,” Dehya said from the backseat. As if she was just now realizing it, under an overcast evening sky you couldn’t see because of the city lights.
-
Tighnari’s phone buzzed incessantly by his ear, and he squinted against the morning sun.
“What do you want?” He groaned, rubbing his eyes as he answered the call from Kaveh.
“Well, good morning sunshine,” Kaveh snarked. “Me and Haitham can fly in tomorrow morning, if you still need the help?” His face popped on screen. He shifted his phone to show him his laptop.
“How the hell-?” Tighnari trailed off, pulling his phone back to check the time. “It’s noon,” He mumbled his observation.
“It’s only nine here,” Kaveh corrected, as Mehrak climbed on screen. “Wait- are you on the floor?” He sat up straight, staring at Tighnari.
“Yeah, furniture is getting delivered today,” He muttered, standing up and carrying his phone to the bathroom.
“You’re like rich now, Tighnari-“ Kaveh shook his head. He was the only one Tighnari had admitted the story about Naphis’ inheritance to. “You could have rented a hotel room?”
Tighnari opened his mouth to retort, and then closed it. “I’m not going to blow through all the money irresponsibly,” He said nonchalantly.
“Yes, I’m so glad one of you is reasonable.” Alhaitham’s voice cut through the speaker, and Kaveh glared at him off screen.
“Rude,” He huffed, turning back to Tighnari. “So, what you’re saying is that you may or may not have a place for us to crash if we fly across the country to help you?”
“My furniture is literally getting delivered in two hours, I’ll have the spare room set up.” Tighnari set his phone down on the vanity, and splashed water into his face.
Kaveh tutted, and glanced down at his computer. “Well, fuck it.” Tighnari heard him click away, and then the blonde turned back to his phone. “We should be there at ten tomorrow morning,”
Tighnari stared, wide eyed, at the other.
When Tighnari had first moved out to Los Angeles to pursue his musical career further with Amurta , he’d met Kaveh in a shabby bar. They bonded over shitty liquor and humble beginnings, realizing that they’d both grown up outside the city limits.
Now, here they were.
He sighed. Kaveh believed firmly in ‘ride or die,’ and they’d both shown up more than once at each other’s doorsteps for ideas filled with more madness than this.
“I’ll see you then,” Tighnari nodded.
-
Cyno, Dehya, Candace, and Dunyarzad stared at the schedule.
“Are you insane?” Dehya barked out.
“No,” Their stage manager, a brunette woman named Lisa, shook her head.
“This has us booked out every weekend for the next two months,” Candace frowned.
“If you four want to keep the spotlight, you have to actually be in it,” Lisa shook her head, looking at Cyno; expecting him to be the voice of reason.
“We have weeknights off, and she’s right.” He held his copy of the paper. “If we want to keep people interested enough to go to the shows on tour, we need to do publicity.”
They all went quiet, and Dunyarzad picked up the other tentative schedule. “When do we get to announce the tour?”
Lisa smiled, her annoyance getting tucked away. “This interview,” She tapped on the paper. It was on a Saturday night in two weeks, with a woman named Lumine.
They all exchanged looks, a silent conversation between the girls before Dehya turned to Cyno. It’s your call, she said with her eyes alone. The other two dipped their chins subtly, and he pursed his lips.
“Give us off this weekend, for Dunyarzad’s birthday.” Cyno tapped at an interview in the first week of March. “We’ll each make posts, and do our own publicity for the weekend,”
It was a silent demand, a bargaining chip on the table. Lisa regarded him with a curious stare, one that knew more than she’d let on, before she smiled. “I can make that work.”