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The sun was setting over Avidya Forest as night approached. Inside Tighnari's small hut, he was busy having dinner with the two most important people to him: Cyno and Collei. The small family talked about the usual things, such as Tighnari’s research and Collei’s progress in her studies.
Collei looked as tho she wanted to say something, but was hesitant to do so. The fathers glanced at each other, both noticing how she acted nervous and picked at her fingernails.
“Is there something you’d like to tell us?” Tighnari finally asked.
“Uh…” Collei looked up at him, having been staring at the food on her plate. “Well, you see… There’s a performance by Nilou at the Grand Bazaar in a few days.”
“I see. I’ll ask if any of the other rangers would like to accompany you there,” Tighnari replied. Although, he wondered why she seemed so hesitant to mention such a simple thing. It was a normal occurrence for Collei to travel to the city to watch these dances, but Tighnari rarely joined as he disliked leaving the forest unless necessary. Cyno was also usually too busy to join.
“Actually, I was hoping that you two could join me,” Collei said. She looked up at her dads with a pleading look, hoping it would convince them to say yes.
Tighnari and Cyno sat in silence, looking at each other and then back at her. She has never asked them to join her before, and they were a bit surprised. They both thought about it for a while, before Tighnari finally spoke up.
“I would love to, Collei, but… I’m not sure if I can push my duties off onto the other rangers out of the blue like that,” the fox hybrid sighed. “I don’t think I can join-”
“I’ll help you get your job done early in the day,” Cyno interrupted. “With the two of us, we should be able to get things done quickly, and then we can go watch the dance.”
“You have your own job to do, Cyno. I can’t have you do that,” Tighnari shook his head.
“Don’t worry about it, flower. I can ask for a day off. The Akademiya owes me several month’s worth of vacation time with the amount of overtime I do.”
Tighnari thought about it for a bit before agreeing. He was interested in watching the dances that Collei was enamored with, after all.
The family soon finished their dinner, and they worked together to clean up the dishes. Collei went back to her own hut to read some of her light novels, while the couple sat down to play a game of TCG. Cyno won easily, although Tighnari put up a good fight.
“It was a good battle,” Cyno gave a proud smile. “I’m glad to see your skills improve.”
“Sadly for me, everytime I get better at the game, you get better as well,” Tighnari scoffed at his husband’s comment.
The Mahamatra bid his lover farewell, and stopped by Collei’s hut to say goodbye as well. He traveled back to the city, planning to get his work done as soon as possible so he could comfortably take a day off. Collei could barely sleep that night, as she was far too excited about the idea of going to the Grand Bazaar with her fathers.
A few days passed before Cyno returned to Gandharva Ville on the day of the performance. He helped Tighnari clear out some withering zones and gather some herbs, and they quickly checked off the ranger’s entire checklist for the day. Collei also helped with some of the tasks.
Tighnari left a set of instructions for the other rangers to follow for the remainder of the day, and then the family set off to the city with Collei practically dragging them along by the arm.
“The Grand Bazaar is a lovely place, full of wonderful people!” she explained happily to them.
“At first, I was a bit scared with how many people were there,” she continued. “But… then I met Nilou! She’s a very kind and sweet person. I’m sure you two will love her.”
Cyno and Tighnari nodded along. Neither were familiar with Nilou, but they were both happy to see that Collei made a friend.
They soon found their way to the Grand Bazaar, and the men found that Collei’s description of it was very accurate. There were a lot of people, and all were laughing and getting along with each other very well. The trio made their way to the area in front of the stage, getting ready to watch the performances.
Cyno noticed Tighnari’s ears twitching, so he reached out to pet them.
“Are you okay?” he asked the fox.
Tighnari leaned into Cyno’s touch, his face noticeably relaxing from the petting. “Yes, I’ll be fine. I’m just not used to so many loud sounds.”
“Tell me if it becomes too much. We can head out and let your ears relax.”
“I will,” Tighnari smiled at his lover, appreciating the concern.
Soon enough, Nilou arrived on the center of the stage. The music began, and so did her dance.
Everyone in the audience stared in awe at her, including Collei. Cyno and Tighnari loved the performance as well, although their eyes kept drifting to watch the way their daughter’s eyes twinkled. Collei was truly captivated by the beauty of the dance, and the men loved seeing her reactions.
The performance eventually came to an end, and Nilou thanked everyone for coming to watch.
“Nilou’s dances are always the best,” Collei said as she turned to her dads. “She just looks so happy and… carefree. I wish I could be more like her.”
Before Cyno or Tighnari could respond, she spoke again. “Oh, look! Mr. Jut cooked some more tahchin.”
Collei ran off before they could stop her. They decided to let her go, but kept their eyes on her at all times.
“She seems to really like this place,” Cyno spoke.
“I can see why. The atmosphere is great, and everyone is so lively,” Tighnari responded. “Aside from the loud ringing in my ears, I really like this place as well.”
“Tighnari, I thought I told you to tell me-”
“Cyno, relax. I’m fine. Seeing Collei enjoy herself is worth it to me.”
The white haired man opened his mouth to say more, but decided against it. He couldn’t argue that seeing their daughter look so happy would be worth any amount of pain.
“I will look into getting you ear muffs to cover your ears next time we come visit,” Cyno ended up saying.
“Next time?” Tighnari’s ears perked up. “I didn’t expect you to want to come here again.”
“Why wouldn’t I? As you said, the atmosphere is great.”
Tighnari chuckled at this. “Perhaps we can make this a regular thing for us. I’m sure that would make Collei happy. Anyways, didn’t she say something about tahchin? You look like you’re practically drooling at the thought of it.”
Cyno gave him a fake look of surprise. “How could you tell?”
He asked despite already knowing the answer- Tighnari always knew what was on Cyno’s mind, and could always see the shifts in his expressions even when no one else couldn’t.
“That small twinkle in your eyes whenever you’re thinking about something you love never escapes me,” the fox laughed as he began walking to where Collei was. His husband followed close behind.
“I’m sure my eyes twinkle the most when looking at you.”
“Your words of flattery have no effect on me,” the fox lied, half-glad that he was in front so Cyno couldn’t see the blush on his face. However, the wag of his tail gave it away anyways.
By the time they caught up with Collei, she was already eating and talking with Nilou. Both the girls looked up and noticed the men at the same time.
“A-ah!” the red head gasped, dropping her tahchin. “The General Mahamatra? Don’t tell me the Akademiya is trying to shut down the theater again, please. We’ve followed all the rules you guys have given us. I can show you the proof.”
“Nilou, calm down,” Collei tried to soothe her. “He’s not here for anything business related, he’s just my father!”
“Your…. father?” Nilou looked at the other girl in confusion and shock. “The General Mahamatra is your…. FATHER?”
“Yes, I am,” Cyno said. Both girls looked up at him. “I am not here as the General Mahamatra, I am simply here as Collei’s dad.”
“I see,” the dancer nodded her head, still a bit nervous. She turned to look at Tighnari. “And this is…?”
“Tighnari,” the fox spoke. “Collei’s other dad.”
“Nice to meet you,” she gave them both a big smile. “I hope you two enjoyed my performance!”
“We did,” Tighnari nodded. “I’m glad to see Collei making friends here. The Grand Bazaar is a lovely place.”
Nilou giggled at this. “You two are welcome to come again any time! Oh, you should try some of the tahchin.”
“We were planning to,” Cyno replied, and eyed the one Nilou dropped on the floor. She blushed in embarrassment and hurried to pick it up, ready to throw it away properly. “I’ll buy you a new one.”
“Oh, no! No need to, I can just buy myself another one,” she shook her head.
“Too late,” he said as he handed Jut enough mora to pay for three tahchin. “Take it as my thanks for taking care of Collei.”
Nilou ended up accepting the tahchin and thanked him. “It’s no big deal, I think Collei is fun to hang out with.”
The four of them found a spot to sit and eat together. Nilou and Collei chatted happily amongst themselves, as Cyno and Tighnari added a few comments here and there.
“If I may ask, is there any special ingredient that Jut adds to his tahchin?” Tighnari spoke up, eyeing the piece of food in his hands suspiciously.
Nilou looked at him, cutting short her conversation with Collei. She thought about it for a few seconds before replying. “Oh, I remember. He adds a few special spices when he makes it! Why, do you not like it?”
If Tighnari were to be honest, then yes. He didn’t really like it. It wasn’t too bad, since it wasn’t that heavily spiced, but there was enough to make him not enjoy it that much. But he didn’t want to say that to Nilou. If he did, then he’d have to try to explain it is only because of his sensitive olfactory system. However, she might take that as him trying to make up excuses and think he was implying Jut was a bad chef. So, in the end, he decided to not mention his distaste for the spices.
“Oh, no. I’m just used to the way Cyno cooks it,” he said. It was kind of true, after all.
Nilou’s attention turned to Cyno, her eyes lighting up. “You can cook tahchin?”
“Yes!” Collei exclaimed before the man could respond. “He cooks it in a unique way as well! You should try it one day.”
The red head beamed at this, smiling widely at her friend. “I would love to!” She then turned back to Cyno. “If you’re willing to, of course.”
“It’s fine,” Cyno waved his hand. “It’s an easy dish to cook. However, the taste isn’t all that out of the ordinary. I simply shape and decorate it in a special way.”
She tilted her head in curiosity of what he meant by this, wondering what special way he presents the meal.
“He shapes it like a pyramid and draws silly symbols from Genius Invokation TCG on it,” Tighnari explains to her. Cyno looked at him with wide eyes.
“They are not just silly symbols,” he refuted. “They are intricate designs with important meanings to them.”
Tighnari rolled his eyes at this, but Cyno did not stop. He continued explaining the meanings of the symbols, and going on to say how they are crucial to the foundations of TCG.
After a few minutes of listening to Cyno’s rambling, Nilou leaned in to whisper to Collei, “I didn’t know your dad was such a nerd.”
Collei held in a laugh at this. “You haven’t heard the worst of it.”
When she realized the tangent had gone on for perhaps too long, Collei decided to try to interrupt.
“Daddd,” she whined. “You’re doing the thing again.”
Cyno looked away from Tighnari and faced her, finally shutting his mouth. “Sorry, I got a little carried away.”
“Yeah,” the fox snorted. “Just a little.”
“I think it’s fine,” Nilou piped in. “It’s wonderful to have something you’re so passionate about! If you asked me about something dance-related, I could go on for days talking about it.”
“Finally, someone who gets me,” Cyno responded with a small smile, then turned to give a fake glare at Tighnari. “Unlike my husband.”
Tighnari rolled his eyes, but patted his lover’s back. “There, there. You know I love listening to you talk about anything, but I’ll still tease you about it.”
The two girls laughed at their dramatic displays. Eventually, the group finished eating and decided it was time to part.
“It was nice meeting you two,” Nilou smiled at the men. “I hope to see you attend future performances.”
“We will see about doing so,” Tighnari responded. “Although I do have a feeling Collei will drag us here even if we were to say no.”
Collei put her hands on her hips and let out a huff. “Hey, don’t go spilling out my plans like that!”
Tighnari laughed at her response. They finished saying their goodbyes to Nilou, and the family headed out from the Grand Bazaar. As they exited the doorway, Tighnari’s ear dropped in realization.
“I guess this is time to say goodbye to you, too,” he looked sadly at Cyno, who he was currently interlocking arms with.
Cyno looked at him in confusion for a moment, before remembering something. “I forgot to tell you- I also requested tomorrow off from work.”
Tighnari’s ears perked up at this, and his tail wagged happily. “Does that mean…?”
“Yes, I will be staying the night.”
Collei practically jumped in excitement upon hearing this. “You haven’t spent the night in Gandharva Ville in forever! Does this mean you’ll be spending tomorrow with us too?”
“Yes, yes. I’ll be with you guys all day tomorrow,” Cyno smiled down at his daughter.
This only made her more excited, and she skipped the entire trip back to the village. Tighnari’s hold on Cyno’s arm also tightened, a warm fluttery feeling in his chest at the thought of being able to spend the night sleeping in his husband’s embrace after so long.
It was good to have him home.