Modern AU, Meet Cute, Fluff

"Kaveh. Al-Haitham." The names all but spilled from Cyno's mouth, dripping with apprehension and confusion. "What in Kusanali's name have you signed me up for?"

"Aw, c'mon, Cyno!" The architect elbowed Cyno, a playful grin on his face. "Don't be like that! We're just trying to help you out!"

Al-Haitham nodded his head solemnly, crossing his arms over his chest. "For once, I have to agree with Kaveh."

Cyno's eyes narrowed into slits, his red gaze piercing through both of his friends. "What could you possibly be trying to help me with that involves speed dating, of all things?"

"Oh, pfft!" Kaveh waved his hand dismissively, his eyes flickering all over the place. "Y'know! We just-"

"You've been intruding on our relationship for too long."

Kaveh whipped his head to Al-Haitham at a pace that could've probably broken a bone or two. "Al-Haitham!" he scolded, swatting at his lover's shoulder. "You can't just say that!"

Al-Haitham merely blinked. "But I just did."

"Oh, you-"

"Anyways," opting to ignore the raging blond by his side, Al-Haitham turned his attention back to Cyno. "Don't get me wrong, here. After everything you've done for us, Kaveh and I consider you to be a good friend. But as of late, it feels as if you're spending more and more time with us. It was fine at first, but after a while the constant tagging along and shitty jokes started to annoy us. We think that you need to get out a little more, but we know that you can get a bit awkward in social situations, so we decided to put matters into our own hands, that's all."

Kaveh looked as pale as could be. "Oh, great!" he whined. "Now look at what you did, Al-Haitham! He looks as if he's plotting to kill us!"

It was true to a degree- with a hand to his chin and his lips pursed tightly together, Cyno did appear to be plotting something. Yet, the previous hostility in his gaze had now vanished, replaced with nothing but a blank stare. The silence from his contemplation was deafening in comparison to the commotion behind them, leaving both Kaveh and Al-Haitham to wait with baited breath for his next words. A few more seconds passed by in an agonizing silence, until Cyno finally bowed his head in acceptance. "I apologize for bothering you guys." he conceded, eyelids fluttering shut.

Kaveh let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "So, you're not mad at us?"

Cyno's eyes shot open in an instant. "I never said I wasn't mad," he uttered under his breath, watching intensely as Kaveh startled backward. The corners of his lips etched upward into a smile as he lifted his head back up. "Relax, Kaveh. I'm only joking."

"Dammit!" Kaveh roared out, gripping his hair in frustration. "See, this is what Al-Haitham meant when he said your jokes weren't funny!"

"Are you kidding me?" Al-Haitham hummed, the faintest trace of a smirk on his face. "If anything, this has to be one of Cyno's best jokes yet."

The blond threw his head back, groaning out toward the sky. "Both of you guys suck! That's it, I'm outta here!"

With no room for any protests, Al-Haitham and Cyno were left to watch as Kaveh strutted away from them, the former bringing his forefinger to his temple. "Sometimes, I regret ever asking this guy out in the first place," although it was a comment meant to be heard by no one, Cyno's ears were still able to pick up the words. "I digress," he cleared his throat, shaking his head and sparing a glance at Cyno. "I'd like to apologize as well, Cyno. We weren't sure you would agree to this if we asked you, so we simply decided to surprise you. Sorry to leave you like this, but I have to make sure Kaveh doesn't get into any trouble. We'll be back in around an hour. Good luck."

"Wait-" Before Cyno could get another word in, Al-Haitham had already turned tail and hurried off in pursuit of his boyfriend, leaving him all on his own. It was fine, he supposed, sighing under his breath as he turned back around to the scene before him. Watching the mass of people chatting happily amongst themselves made the apprehension from earlier resurface, nipping at his chest. He wasn't even sure where he'd begin- from the looks of it, it seemed as if everyone else was already in conversation.

With each passing second, Cyno felt his throat get more dry. He swallowed nervously, curling his fist at his side and exhaling shakily. He had dealt with matters worse thanks to his job- surely speed dating of all things couldn't be any worse.

Amidst the indistinctive conversations, Cyno managed to pick up a voice from the throng of people- a voice calling out his name. His head swayed this way and that, trying to locate where the voice had come from; until his red eyes finally came into contact with a pair of purple ones that lit up almost instantly.

"Cyno!" The voice in question belonged to a girl seemingly younger than him. He watched as she shuffled past a few people, his mind drawing a blank as to who she was. Once she was right in front of him, she spoke again, an excited gleam in her eyes. "It's been so long since we've last seen each other!"

Now that she was standing so close to him, everything clicked in his mind. Although there was a lot different from when he first met her, there was no mistaking who she was. "Collei?" he breathed, relief washing over him from seeing a familiar face. "Archons, you've grown so much that I almost didn't recognize you. I take it your training in the forest is going well?"

"Yep!" Collei chirped excitedly. "I'm still a trainee, but I'm getting out in the field a lot! It's really exciting, I love my job so much!"

Cyno gave a nod of his own. "That's good to hear. So, what brings you to the city? Wait-" Cyno paused mid-sentence, his brow furrowing in concern as he saw a sign in his peripheral that reminded him of where he was. "Are... Are you here to speed date?"

Collei's eyes widened in horror at the question, her face flushing as she frantically waved her hands. "N-no!" She sputtered out, shaking her head every which way. "I'm not here to speed date! I'm actually here with my mentor!" She craned her neck in order to look behind her, searching for the person in question. When she couldn't see him, she turned back to Cyno with a cheeky smile. "He's a smart and capable forest watcher, but he doesn't have many friends, so I decided to bring him here."

Cyno couldn't help the huff that escaped his lips. That sure as hell sounded familiar. Before he could make a comment of his own, however, another person beat him to it.

"You know I can hear you, right, Collei?"

The girl in question jumped up, purple eyes widening in surprised as she turned toward the voice. "M-Master Tighnari! I didn't realize you were right there!"

"Of course you didn't," Tighnari flicked at his ear in annoyance. "It's so loud in here, no wonder you didn't hear me coming."

As the two talked with one another, Cyno could only stare in awe at the newcomer. He was around his height, save for his large ears sitting atop his head. His black hair framed his face rather nicely, and the green highlights in his hair complimented his eyes. Watching as he smoothed out his sweater vest, his case of a dry throat had suddenly made itself present again. To say he was mesmerized would be an understatement. If anything, he almost didn't notice that they were now both looking at him. Clearing his throat a bit awkwardly, Cyno stuck his hand out, a faint blush dusting his cheeks. "The name's Cyno. It's, uh, nice to meet you."

The way Tighnari's gaze traveled up and down his body made him shiver. The forest watcher smiled sweetly, grabbing Cyno's hand and shaking it. "The pleasure's mine. Call me Tighnari. How are you liking it here so far?"

Cyno pulled his hand away and ran it through his unruly hair (which he was now suddenly a little self-conscious about). "I just got here, actually. I've gotta say though, you weren't kidding when you said it was loud."

"I know, right?" The way Tighnari's tail flicked made Cyno's heart flutter a little harder than it needed to. "It's starting to give me a headache, honestly."

"Well," Cyno's hand slid down to the back of his neck. "We could ditch this place and go somewhere quieter if you'd like?" he offered, uncertainty laced throughout his words. "I know a café near by that's nowhere near as noisy."

Damn, now he really understood what Al-Haitham had meant when he said he needed to get out more- what the hell was he thinking, already offering to go somewhere private with someone he had quite literally just met?

Much to his surprise, instead of meeting him with disdain, Tighnari chuckled softly- the noise making Cyno's heart skip a beat or two. "Leaving a party as soon as you get there?" he brought his hand up to his mouth in an attempt to stifle his laughter. "Now you're speaking my language," his eyes glinted as he pulled his hand away from his mouth, tail swishing side to side. "Lead the way, Cyno."

Cyno stood there for a moment or so, dumbfounded by the fact that his atrocious socialization skills had somehow actually got him somewhere. From the corner of his eye, he could see Collei giving him a very enthusiastic thumbs up. A surge of confidence had washed over him, prompting him to step forward and take Tighnari's hand in his own. "It's not too far from here."

He couldn't wait to see how Al-Haitham and Kaveh would react when they found out about this.

Author's Note

I'm back! Sorry for the random break, finals week took its toll on me LMAO. Anyways! There's not much cynonari in this one as this chapter was written as a gift for my lovely friend Sakura_luna01 on twt! We did a gift exchange and she drew me THE CUTEST NILOU PORTRAIT IM YELLING?2?!2! What's also cute is my new gf btw, if ur reading this then Hello Cutie! ALSO: next chapter will have FANART so look forward to it!

Word Count: ~1.7k Words