Thread by @daeneryssed

I said would write this for #cytham / #haino so here it is :)
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"So you have finally been caught, Alhaitham."

Cyno's expression was unaffected as Alhaitham was unceremoniously brought to his knees in front of him, the guards' hands firm on his shoulders, hands tied

behind his back. Alhaitham had expected some smugness to show, but the General Mahamatra had always been known for his clinical professionalism.

Alhaitham, on his part, refused to speak, and only held eye contact with the man defiantly.

"No words of defence?"

Silence was the answer.

"We found him on the outskirts, trying to hide in a cavern," the guard above him spoke. "He put up a fight before we managed to capture him."

"I can see that." Cyno's eyes travelled over Alhaitham, recording the bruise on the scribe's fair face, the

tear at the side of his top, the off-kilter of his usually impeccably-worn cloak. "You did well."

"Thank you, sir."

"Now leave us."

"Sir?"

Cyno turned a critical eye to the guards. "You heard me. I will question Alhaitham now, you may leave."

The guards exchanged glances before one dared to speak. "But sir, this man has shown resistance to capture. It would not be safe—"

"Do you doubt my capabilities in fighting a researcher who has already been defeated in one fight and has his hands tied? Or do you doubt the

durability of the knots you have tied?"

Ah. The General Mahamatra was not in a good mood. The guards exchanged looks once more, a silent agreement to accept defeat, before bowing. "Yes, sir. We will be right outside."

With the click of the door behind them, Alhaitham was left alone with Cyno.

The latter was still standing beside his desk, an open book in his hand, the picture of casualness. The book closed with a sharp snap and was laid to the side. Alhaitham caught the words "Abyssal" on its

cover before it disappeared from his line of sight.

Cyno's feet barely made a sound on the stone floor as he strode over to Alhaitham.

He could have stood up, but Alhaitham maintained the role of a prisoner despite the protest of his knees on the hard ground. Turquoise-gold

eyes looked up into red. Cyno's stoic expression morphed into displeasure the longer their standoff continued.

"What are you doing?" the disciplinary officer finally asked.

"Whatever do you mean?" The first words Alhaitham had spoken since he was hauled in. It was only on

speaking that he noticed how dry his throat was. The heat of the desert was relentless and unforgiving. He should have taken off his cloak before his whole ordeal. Cyno certainly looked more comfortable with his scarcer wear.

Cyno tsked. "There is no way my guards would have been able to manhandle you into submission like this."

"You think highly of my battle prowess."

That earned him a near-scowl. Cyno took a step closer, Alhaitham's face hovering at his lower waist, eyes dropping to bare honeyed

skin reflexively before they were forcefully brought back up. If Cyno caught where his gaze had gone to, he did not react.

"Alhaitham of the Haravatat of the Sumeru Akademiya, wanted for thievery of a protected artifact recovered from the Cataclysm 500 years ago." Cyno rattled

from memory the red alert that had been pinged to the Matra weeks earlier. "Last seen location, south of Sumeru City." A tilt of the head, eyes still boring into Alhaitham's. "From there, there were any number of places you could have gone to. Port Ormos, to catch a ship. Avidya

Forest and further towards Liyue. Into the wilds of the Apam Woods. And yet."

Alhaitham smiled mockingly. "And yet?"

The smile seemed to trigger Cyno. He bent down to grip Alhaitham's chin harshly, fingers digging in. "And yet here you are, on my doorstep."

Alhaitham's knees were really protesting now, his wrists sore from how tightly they were bound, and now the rough press of fingers into his jaw and the tender skin of his neck added to the discomfort.

And still the smile did not slip. "I made your job easier for you."

"No, you did not," Cyno retorted. "Because your presence here is deliberate. You wanted to be brought to me. And that means I will now be caught in whatever scheme you are up to."

He had seen through the scribe's acting easily. Alhaitham may be able to fool many, but not Cyno.

Never Cyno.

It was because of his experience with so many wrongdoers lying to his face. That, and nothing else.

(Not from familiarity. Not from days spent pretending to bicker and hate one another. Not from the lies each told to themselves about their regard of the other.)

A weird silence had fallen over them. Now the grip on Alhaitham's face no longer seemed so harsh. Their glares no longer so hostile. And their positions as captor and captive a mockery of something else. Like this, each had a ridiculous image of their lips meeting, crashing into

one another like they so often did, all resentment, bitterness and yearning—

For something that their pride would never allow.

And just as Cyno thought that maybe he would allow himself a moment of weakness for once, the dastard man at his knees in front of him spoke.

"I need your help."

Cyno blinked. The voice that came out of Alhaitham was different from what he was used to. Gone was the infuriating sardonic tone always present with Cyno. Instead, he spoke plainly, expression grave.

"Alhaitham...what have you gotten yourself mixed up in?"

"Nothing good." A chuckle, eyes closing for a moment, before they opened once again to gaze up at Cyno, expression almost imploring. His tone recovered somewhat when he spoke again, though his voice remained soft. "Will the General Mahamatra sacrifice his personal code of conduct

to assist?"

It had been a gamble to come here, but when standing at the crosswords outside of the city, looking east, south and west, the vast landscape of Sumeru opening out before him, Alhaitham's decision was made almost immediately.

There was none other than Cyno who he could trust to accompany him on this mission. His intelligence, battle skills and knowledge made his the most rational, logical choice.

And yet the choice to come here, ultimately, had been irrational.

For this mission with the Abyss could

spell Alhaitham's end, and before that end...to meet him...

Even if Cyno refused, at least that had been achieved.

Cyno watched the flicker of emotions behind Alhaitham's eyes, the gold in them enhanced in the light of his office, beautiful and captivating. The request was

ridiculous. To ask him to break the law in this manner when he was the one who enforced it, Cyno should send him straight back to the Academiya.

Instead:

"All right. Tell me everything."