Chapter Text
Nothing can possibly ruin Kaveh’s day.
He’s spent the entire morning thinking of ways that could ruin it, as is his wont when he’s in charge of new architectural pursuits. A natural perfectionist – obsessive, Alhaitham would say – Kaveh is the type to put his fires out before they start, before a spark can ever strike. Kaveh might not make the best cup of coffee in the morning or sleep at normal, responsible times of the night, but his work and artistic vision are things Kaveh is very much in control over.
Except for those times when they were completely out of his control. Like the time when he ordered Feu de Brèche marble from Fontaine to go in the backs of the hearths of Lord Sangemah Bay’s palace, only to receive the decidedly less prismatic Glänzend Rose of Mondstadt. He'd been livid, morose, inconsolable even, and the damned merchant had the nerve to say, “They're both pink. Quit your bitching.”
Needless to say, now Kaveh prepares for the worst in his head eighty ways to Sumeru before the project is even underway. He will take away every piece of metaphorical flint and tinder and leave nothing of his art to chance. Or disingenuous merchants.
At the border of Caravan Ribat, Kaveh hides from the morning sun with the plans of his most ambitious project yet, a swell of optimism in his chest. Outside, the desert wind pulls gently at his tent, the sound of his workers filtering in with the call of instructions and laughter as the final day of the first phase of the project begins. They've been at this nearly a week now, clearing the land for a new hospital. The new hospital, as it were, commissioned directly from Lesser Lord Kusanali as part of her Desert Reparations Initiative and fully funded with the Akademiya's Mora.
Kaveh still can’t believe that Alhaitham of all people has been appointed to Acting Grand Sage, but he can't deny the perks that his roommate's position holds. Primarily, he hadn't needed to argue with the upper brass on the finer points of his plans. Half of the architecture in Sumeru City has been constructed under his designs, and every one of them was reduced to utilitarian simplicity.
“As long as you do your job, I don't care what you do. However,” Alhaitham said, before stabbing his finger at the outlined budget, “do be so careful not to exceed your limits. Every Mora over the budget I will personally add to your ever-growing rent debt.”
Annoying as Alhaitham’s threat was, it still brings a smile to Kaveh’s face. Every Mora over Kaveh goes, Alhaitham will fund himself, which tells Kaveh all he needs to know about the importance of the hospital’s success.
Somehow, Alhaitham’s unspoken promise makes Kaveh feel nigh invincible. Yes, nothing will ruin this.
Kaveh retrieves his plans and steps out onto the construction site, shielding his drawings and calculations from the wind as he walks and studies. Today, the first phase will be complete. They'll have a clean and hollowed foundation for the hospital, making room for the underground levels. Sections one through seven have been purged of dead flora and boulders, pulverized and repurposed by his Geo Vision users. Section eight will finish their work today while Kaveh checks the other seven’s dimensions for any last-minute errors.
Yara, Kaveh’s forewoman, greets him from below as he approaches the edge of their makeshift pit, dusty and marked with reddish clay from head to toe. She's foregone her Eremite mask in favor of using it as a kerchief, to wipe the sweat from her brow. Her golden eyes are glittering with amusement. “Light of Kshahrewar, indeed! Keep smiling like that and the crew might go blind.”
“Oh, let me have this. No one’s come running up to me saying they’ve discovered an underground Wenut tunnel or a nest of scorpions yet,” Kaveh says. When Yara reaches up he takes her hand and carefully pulls her from the pit, his smile having infected her by the time she rights herself.
“Well, there’s still time in the day for a star to crash on our heads,” Yara supplies. “Or a sandstorm to undo all we’ve accomplished.”
“Please, no sandstorms,” he says and pats her shoulder before turning and walking the perimeter of their work area, his gaze flicking from his diagrams to the landscape around him. Yara follows behind him, occasionally calling out and checking in with her team.
“It’s looking great,” he says before turning back towards Yara. “In fact, I think we may even be able to begin preparation for the foundation in sections one, two, and three. We could, theoretically, begin installing the main load-bearing columns by the tenth hour and wrap up for the day by midday. Yes,” Kaveh says, smacking his papers with the back of his hand, “I do think we can all rest after lunch. A week of work for a few days of play.”
Yara offers him a perplexed tilt of her head, smiling. “You're very optimistic, scholar. I have never seen someone tame this land so well as you have.”
“What can I say? I have a team of hardworking Eremites at my disposal. Ample means to finish ahead of schedule, and I have a bottle of wine calling my name back at my hotel room.” Kaveh thinks on that Alhaitham-promised budget, then adds loudly enough that his voice carries across the site, “Who knows? I might even have extra Mora for the especially hardworking!”
The work crew answers in layers, different dialects of the desert responding with measured enthusiasm, and redouble their efforts on the remaining tasks.
Nothing like coin to motivate the desert-folk. That is something that they and Kaveh have in common.
Yara yells something back in her own tongue, something just shy of Sumeran that Alhaitham would have no trouble deciphering. Kaveh just nods and hopes that it’s all positive commentary on his outstanding leadership, or perhaps his impeccably golden hair, before he continues his checks.
Just as he’s about to make that joke, Kaveh hears a shout from the other edge of the site. He lifts his head as one by one, like beacons, others joined in the confusion. Shovels stop moving, pickaxes stop swinging, and workers stumble to a halt.
Yara’s eyebrows push together as she listens. They’re repeating the same word over and over, but Kaveh can’t quite catch it.
“What?” Kaveh asks, but Yara doesn’t answer right away. “What is it?”
No sooner does he ask than a worker runs up in panic, and Kaveh’s stomach drops like a stone. The man catches himself, hands on his knees, at the edge of the pit and gulps in breaths too big even for an Eremite of his size.
No, no this cannot be. Should he have been knocking on their wooden crates and stools? Surely the man isn’t coming to tell him of a Wenut tunnel now, is he?
The worker wheezes and points back in the direction that he came from. “You must come. We found –” The man struggles for the words. “You must come. Yara, too.”
Kaveh swallows his misgivings before he leaps down into the pit. He hears Yara’s footfalls behind him, though she stays quiet as they walk. Every step they take leads them in the direction of the unfinished section eight, and as he approaches Kaveh has to push and shove past the growing crowd of Eremites. Each person in his way only adds to Kaveh's apprehension. He continues until the worker comes to a sudden halt, nerves pressing against his windpipe in a vice grip, and all around him that one word keeps ringing out, like a chorus or curse.
Jutha! Juthatan!
Kaveh looks down at what they’ve found. Behind him Yara shouts and begins to shove everyone back, while Kaveh is left with his mind reeling. He rather wishes a star would strike him down.
Before he can put his thoughts into words or actions, however, another shout calls out. Hurried, frantic.
Jutha!
And then, a third.
Yara shares a brief moment of disbelief, of dread, with the Light of Kshahrewar.
“Summon the Matra,” Kaveh orders. “Summon them right now.”
There are few things that Alhaitham enjoys as much as having his house to himself. Ever since he acquired his unwanted roommate, he’s had far too little peace and quiet. Between Kaveh constantly complaining about everything under the sun and the ruckus he makes with every single task he completes, most days Alhaitham’s home is entirely too loud. He ends up having to wear his soundproof earpieces to bed far more often than he should. So, on the evenings that Kaveh is away and Alhaitham finally gets some blessed peace, there isn’t much that can convince him to leave his solitary refuge.
An invitation to Cyno’s house for dinner, however, turns out to be one such thing.
It surprises him too – mainly because Alhaitham doesn’t get invitations. Not to dinner. Nor to other people’s houses. Those are the kind of things reserved for friends or colleagues that one wants to curry favor with. Though when Alhaitham stops to think about it, he realizes that he has both of those now. Friends . . . and annoying hanger ons from work who want something from him as the Acting Grand Sage.
Cyno, however, is definitely one of the former. Which means his invitation merits consideration, and when Alhaitham takes the time to think it over, he realizes that he actually would like to go. He enjoys both working with Cyno and spending time outside of work with him, and likes the other man enough that he doesn’t want to risk offering insult by rejecting his invitation.
Cyno seems pleasantly surprised when Alhaitham accepts. He tells him that he doesn’t need to bring anything when Alhaitham asks – mentions that Tighnari will be there too, and that this is a casual affair, nothing formal. Alhaitham’s research (which was how he knew it was polite to ask if he should bring anything in the first place) leads him to believe that it is still appropriate to bring a host gift. Further research, as well as knowledge of Cyno’s preferences helps him decide on a bottle of wine, and then, after taking into account what other company will be there, and his own predictions about the night’s menu, he settles on a nice shiraz. It pairs well with spiced food, which is par for the course in Sumeru, and goes especially well with mushroom dishes. Since Cyno is good friends with Tighnari, there will likely be mushrooms incorporated into the meal somehow. Perhaps it’s cheating a bit, choosing a wine that will make Tighnari happy because that’s the fastest, easiest way to make Cyno happy as well, but this is Alhaitham’s first time visiting a friend’s house, ever. He wants it to go well.
Arriving early, but not too early is also good manners, or so the etiquette books Alhaitham consults say. No more than fifteen minutes, unless you’re helping set up the event, and no less than five minutes seem to be the general consensus. Alhaitham splits the difference and ensures that he is right outside Cyno’s door ten minutes before the time Cyno invited him for. He knocks and the door opens seconds later. There’s a bit of uncertainty in Cyno’s eyes that melts away at the sight of him, and Alhaitham is pretty sure that was because Cyno wasn’t truly sure until that moment that he, Alhaitham, would actually come. Alhaitham knows he doesn’t come across as the social type, and he has no record of actually attending events that would assure Cyno he would be there. There were actually even moments when Alhaitham considered canceling because something like this is so far outside of his wheelhouse, and he’s spent entirely too much time thinking about all the things that could go wrong . . . but he made a commitment to a friend. It takes more than nerves to make Alhaitham renege when he gives his word to someone he respects.
“You made it,” Cyno says, his eyes lighting up, and he steps back, motioning Alhaitham inside. “Welcome.”
“Thanks. I brought this.” Alhaitham holds out the bottle of wine. “For you. We can have it during dinner if you want. Or not if you don’t. I know you said I didn’t need to bring anything. But I looked it up to make sure that refusing wasn’t an unspoken rule that meant I was supposed to bring something anyway. And it didn’t seem like it was, but my research led me to believe I could still bring you something if I wanted to. And I did. So, I got you wine.”
Internally, Alhaitham winces as he realizes just how what he said sounds. Cyno takes pity on him, however, and neither takes offense, nor calls him out on his social inadequacies. Only a spark of his amusement shows through as he accepts Alhaitham’s host gift.
“Thank you,” he says. “This is actually perfect to have with dinner.”
Cyno leads him within and Alhaitham’s sense of awareness spikes as his mind starts automatically trying to catalog everything. This is his first time here, in Cyno’s house. People’s homes tell a lot about them, or so he’s read.
Cyno’s house is neat and orderly. Alhaitham probably should have expected as much. His personal tastes are on display in his decorations – mostly in the form of Genius Invokation TCG merch on shelves. Alhaitham recognizes the tie-in light novels from Inazuma as well as several elaborate deck cases and framed artwork that he believes is limited edition.
There are other books too – those naturally catch Alhaitham’s eye. From the looks of them, they’re light novels as well. Perhaps Cyno took an interest in the genre after getting into it because of the Genius Invokation tie ins? Aside from those, there are also legal reference books, not just from Sumeru, but Fontaine, Liyue, and Mondstadt, and a few legal-themed knickknacks like scales and jackal-themed statuary gracing Cyno’s shelves.
He takes in as much of the living room as he is able to as they pass through it, but soon enough, they enter Cyno’s dining room. Tighnari is already there, bringing food in from the kitchen to the table set for three.
“Alhaitham,” Cyno’s other guest greets him. “Good to see you again.”
“And you,” Alhaitham returns, hoping that is sufficiently polite. “Is there anything I can do to help?” The etiquette books he read recommended at least offering to aid in the menial tasks that must be completed before dinner can be served.
“No, no, everything’s already done,” Tighnari tells him. “We just have the main course left to bring in, then I think we’re all set?”
“Please sit,” Cyno says, before stepping into the attached kitchen. He returns mere seconds later, carrying a plate in each hand. On said plates rest what appears to be a pyramid shaped serving of Tahchin, decorated with sauce to bear the eye motif that Cyno sports on his headdress. He sets one plate down in front of the chair that Alhaitham is hovering behind, and the other down in front of the chair just off to the side. Tighnari also retrieves a plate of pyramid shaped Tahchin from the kitchen and places it in front of the chair that Cyno is currently standing behind. Then Tighnari pulls out the chair behind the plate that Cyno put on the table moments earlier and sits. Alhaitham moves to do the same, with the chair in front of him. Cyno takes a moment to uncork the bottle of wine Alhaitham gifted him and fills their glasses before he takes his seat as well.
Already on the table is a nice spread of other dishes to accompany their Tahchin – a platter of Scented Meat Balls, a Mushroom Hodgepodge plate, and a serving bowl of Selva Salad. Cyno prepared a very nice spread for their meal. They pass the dishes around in the manner that Alhaitham’s books described as “family style,” each serving themselves portions according to their tastes and appetites. Alhaitham takes a bit of everything, because apparently sampling each dish is considered polite. He notices that Tignhari avoids the meatballs, opting to take more mushrooms and salad, but Tighnari is much more familiar with Cyno than Alhaitham is. Tighnari actually seems pretty at home here, in Cyno’s house, and the etiquette rules did indicate that after achieving a certain amount of familiarity with someone, the rules do get relaxed . . .
“This is Cyno’s special dish,” Tighnari tells him, before tucking into his food. “Duel Soul. Have you heard of it?”
“I can’t say I have,” Alhaitham says, after only a slight pause.
“It’s not exactly famous or anything,” Cyno says quickly. “It’s no surprise you don’t know it.”
“It’s pretty well known amongst his friends and the Matra,” Tighnari says. “Because whenever Cyno cooks, it’s what he makes.”
“It’s very good,” Alhaitham tells him. “The texture is perfect . . . as is your spice blend.”
“Thank you.” Cyno looks pleased. “I’m glad you like it. I’ve actually been meaning to invite you over for some time.”
For some reason, that comment raises Alhaitham’s guard. It shouldn’t . . . he knows it’s probably innocent. Still, it suddenly makes what he believed was an invitation issued because Cyno genuinely wanted to be in his company feel premeditated and calculated. He’s probably wrong. He hopes he’s wrong. That’s probably the sort of thing people often say at dinners like these. Small talk about menial things like procrastination.
“Did you have a specific reason for inviting me over?” Alhaitham can’t help but ask all the same.
“Yes,” Cyno says, but before Alhaitham can feel the sting of disappointment, he continues. “You and I are fundamentally very different. Though we are on the same side, we often find ourselves clashing because of our approaches. Yet, despite this, I consider us friends. You have proven yourself, time and again, to be a reliable and resourceful ally, and I very much admire how proactive and innovative you are – especially since taking up the mantle of Acting Grand Sage. I was hoping that we could reduce the number of clashes between us if we could come to understand each other better. Tighnari suggested having you over for dinner.”
“I see. I have no issue with spending time together with the goal of understanding one another better. However, if your intentions were purely for work related reasons then this may not be the best investment of your time,” Alhaitham warns him. “I’ll be stepping down from the position of Acting Grand Sage as soon as my resignation goes through and returning to my duties as the Akademiya’s Scribe. After which, our paths aren’t likely to cross professionally very often, if at all.”
“That’s not . . .” Cyno trails off and glances at Tighnari as if for help, but then continues without waiting for any cues from him. “I don’t see you as only a work friend. I enjoy spending time with you in social settings too. So, even if our time as colleagues comes to an end, this won’t be wasted.”
“What Cyno isn’t saying is that he hopes he can drag you into learning how to play Genius Invokation TCG, and that the understanding he gains of you between now and then will help him defeat you in matches,” Tighnari says, his tone full of good humor and instantly lightening the mood.
Alhaitham can’t help but smirk. “Next time lead with that,” he tells Cyno, who has his mouth open to refute this.
Cyno, seeing that Alhaitham isn’t offended, closes his mouth and calms himself before speaking. “Do you happen to know how to play Genius Invokation already?”
Alhaitham makes a wavering gesture with one hand. “I’ve seen it played. I have a general understanding of the rules, though since I’ve never received formal instruction, there might be aspects of it that I don’t yet know of.”
“If you’d ever like to truly learn –” Cyno starts, his eyes growing bright and starry, right before a knock from the front door cuts him off.
“Are you expecting someone else, Cyno?” Tighnari asks.
“No,” Cyno says as he rises. “I’m not . . . and I explicitly took this evening off. The other Matra know only to bother me if it’s an emergency.”
“Better check then,” Tighnari says.
A glance passes between the two, and Cyno’s gaze flits to Alhaitham momentarily, before he looks back at Tighnari, who gives a nearly imperceptible nod. He wants Tighnari to fill in as host for him while he’s gone and plans to try and keep this quick – whatever this is.
It turns out to be a moot point, however. Tighnari has just had time to say, “Cyno picked up some excellent coffee for after dinner. I’ve heard you like –” when Cyno actually makes it to his door and opens it. Then a familiar, boisterous, annoyingly overdramatic voice drowns out everything Tighnari has to say.
“It’s horrible, Cyno!” Kaveh utters, like an actor on a stage. “You need to come at once!”
“What’s wrong?” Cyno asks sharply. Then, “Perhaps we should step outside to speak –”
“No,” Kaveh says, his voice closer now and coming from inside Cyno’s living room. “Not unless you want the whole street to hear about how my planned hospital site has turned out to be right on top of a mass grave!”
“What?” Cyno asks darkly.
Alhaitham and Tighnari trade glances. Then, without a word, they both stand and make their way toward the threshold.
“Today we broke ground on the final section too!” Kaveh moans. “Excavation was nearly complete, and it was going perfectly – no nasty surprises before this. No delays, no injuries. We were ahead of schedule. Then we began leveling the final section of the site for the new hospital and we started finding bodies. One after another. Three in total, in a matter of minutes – before I could even call for a halt to the work. We suspect there are more, of course. For us to have found that many, in that short amount of time. The weird thing about these corpses though is their faces. All three of them were buried with half masks, but there are these weird red marks on their skin, connecting the masks to them. They look almost like Ruin Guard circuitry and – what are you doing here, Alhaitham?!”
“I invited him to dinner,” Cyno answers before Alhaitham can do more than give his interloping roommate a deadpan stare.
Kaveh snaps his head toward their host in surprise. “Willingly?”
The look Cyno gives him is decidedly unimpressed. “Yes. He is my guest . . . who I’m afraid I’m going to have to be rude to by departing for this. Unfortunately, this does constitute as an emergency –”
“No need to delay on my account,” Alhaitham tells him quickly because he understands completely. As Acting Grand Sage, he’s probably going to get caught up in this mess in some way or another before it’s all said and done with. He’s been working to separate the branches of power in Sumeru – to make sure that the Matra aren’t bound and beholden to the Six Sages, and can conduct investigations without bureaucratic interference, but they’re not completely there yet. Even if they were, however, he would probably still end up having a hand in helping out with this situation somehow. He and Cyno actually work quite well together. Alhaitham can’t even say he minds when Cyno comes to him asking for ideas or insight to help with his more difficult cases.
“I am sorry,” Cyno says anyways. “Please, stay though. You and Tighnari should finish your dinner.”
Alhaitham shifts awkwardly. His etiquette books didn’t say what to do in a situation like this, where his host has to recuse himself for an emergency. He doesn’t know Tighnari nearly as well as he knows Cyno . . . but Tighnari clearly has been appointed as acting host for the interim, so . . .
. . . So he stays, as Cyno requested, while Cyno heads out with Kaveh, presumably to Matra headquarters. If Alhaitham knows him, however, Cyno will be headed toward the excavation site within the hour. Kaveh will probably be back home tonight though – and all nights for the foreseeable future, which is inconvenient to say the least. He hopes that Kaveh will at least go to sleep at a decent hour for the duration of this – whatever this is. Because Alhaitham has the feeling that something extremely troublesome has just fallen into their laps, and they’re going to need all their wits about them to deal with it.
And so it begins . . . ^^
Thank you for checking out my latest fic! This one is actually a collab with Novallion (aka Leonis_Lucidae) – they are the one who has done much cover art for me when I do stuff with my fics outside of AO3. I took the lead with hashing out the plot, but they contributed quite a bit to this fic’s direction too. The first scene in this chapter with Kaveh, and a number of the chapters from Cyno’s POV are written by them.
I hope you’ll enjoy the ride we have in store for you! We’ve done our best to make it a wild one. And as mentioned in the summary, this fic will be updated everyday until it’s done – so, 40 chapters in 40 days.
If you find yourself caught in one of AO3’s update lag spikes, where you can see that there’s a new chapter that’s just been added, but can’t find a path to the chapter through this site, please check out my Twitter. I’ll have links to each new chapter there, that will let you access them as soon as they’re posted: https://twitter.com/StrangeDiamond5
Novallion is on Twitter too and should have a few artistic surprises for you as this fic progresses: https://twitter.com/Novallion_
Thank you again for checking Desert Glass out! Please join us for Chapter 2 tomorrow, when Cyno heads out on the case!