Chapter Text
Days on patrol vary like a knee knocking into the leg of a table. Sometimes, the entire surface quakes like the earth in the Chasm. Cups are upended with a grand splash. Cutlery is knocked onto the floor. Plates are rattled and everything turns to ruin. The mood becomes entirely soured by the clean up, and recovery never settles quite right. There’s always something left lingering in the air.
Sometimes though, nothing is disturbed. The peace is maintained until the food and drink is all settled into various stomachs. Everyone leaves content and satisfied.
There was once a time Collei wished for something in between. Enough of a disturbance to be productive but not enough to exhaust them. A flexible balance in interest, where she could engage in being the responsible problem solver with an easy safety net at her back.
She doesn’t wish for that anymore.
If everyday could be as placid as this past one, she’d be content until her first day at the Akademiya. Peaceful days on patrol mean that she gets to go on patrol consistently, and she’s exhausted from being made to rest after the slightest bit of excitement.
The leaves on her doorway settle behind her, cutting off the eyes that stay pinned on her back. She dumps her backpack off and trudges to her wash basin. The water in her pitcher is cold as she clears the dirt from her face and hands. The chill, however, leeches the tension from her limbs. The forest can hardly be considered private with all the creatures that lurk within, but Collei’s hut is a sanctuary from the eyes that follow her.
Something catches her eye as she pats her skin dry. On her desk is a single page, out of place from her neatly stacked stationery. She picks it up. It’s a flier—based on the layout—and it takes her a minute to work out the words printed on it. A… research exhibition… on carnivorous plants. At Pardis Dhyai, starting tomorrow. She skims it twice more before she lets the thrum of warmth spread through her chest and shoulders.
Collei isn’t sure how long it’s been since she’s been to Pardis Dhyai—probably since before she went to Port Ormos. And the topic! Carnivorous plants are so strange and interesting and new to her. Her botany book has a little on them, but not a whole lot. It’s like the perfect combination of things that would finally get her out of the village, and—
Master Tighnari must have left this for her.
He’s always been cautious about presenting things directly to her. Something about him not wanting her to feel pressured to accept things that she doesn’t want? She doesn’t remember, but maybe he finally has. Maybe this is the first step back to being normal.
She tucks the flier into her pocket as she rushes out the door.
Ashpazi is still cooking while Nasrin helps dish out portions. The other rangers mill about the various mismatched sitting places that make up their little canteen area. Her master sits in his spot—one of the few chairs with even legs—sipping on a cup of water and idly watching the others. His ears turn to her before his eyes do, and the glaze of idleness burns away.
“You seem excited, sprout,” he comments with a smile.
Collei doesn’t hesitate: “Can I go to Pardis Dhyai tomorrow, please?”
The light in his eyes fades with the drooping of his ears, taking her heart with them. “Why?”
She fishes the flier out of her pocket to offer to him. Gently setting his cup to the side, he gently takes it. His lips twitch slightly and his eyebrows pinch together. Finally, he echoes, “Tomorrow?”
“W-well, it’s the first day, and I’m just so excited, and—”
She cuts herself off as he sets the flier to the side. Collei has no idea what to make of his expression. He should be excited. He should be jumping to tell her yes. He should be reminding her to report back with any interesting research papers she thinks he’ll like. He should be like he used to be.
Collei has made dozens of trips to Pardis Dhyai on her own. She used to regularly run Tighnari’s responses to various scholars’ questions to the greenhouse and back without any hesitation. If she wanted to take a day off of patrol herself to study something there, even when an Eleazar flare-up could strike at any moment, he used to happily let her go.
“Could it…” Tighnari meets her eyes with that strange pinch still in his eyebrows. He clears his throat. “Could it wait until this weekend? So we can go together.”
“Sure,” she agrees, despite the pang of disappointment. She forces a smile on her face. “We can go Saturday, yeah?”
The strange pinch in his eyebrows vanishes. His ears perk up to their normal position. “Sounds like a plan.”
Collei nods, picking up the flier again. So much for a return to normal…
“Are you hungry?” He stands, gesturing for her to take his chair. “I’ll get you a plate.”
He brushes past her. Collei sighs, pulling out her own chair to sit. Suddenly, she’s thirteen again and struggling to let Tighnari take care of her. She didn’t want his help at the time. She’d fight tooth and nail against him by forcing herself to try and do everything. She spilled medicine, dropped plates, and refused rest until she finally gave in.
When she did, they grew together.
She grew to appreciate his assistance and even ask for it. He modified and adjusted everything so she could feel like she’s doing it herself until she actually could. When she grew up, he let her do as much as she could herself, including patrolling on her own. He even entrusted his duties to her at just the beginning of this year so he could spend a week with Cyno.
Now, she’s thirteen again. He sets her plate and cup down in front of her and hands her the cutlery. As soon as it’s settled in her grasp, he turns to get his own food.
Collei sighs again. There’s no sense in letting whatever this feeling is put a damper on her excitement. She gets to go! Hanging out with Tighnari is fun, after all. Just because it hasn’t been recently doesn’t mean it won’t be this weekend.
Maybe, just maybe, it’ll just be what they need to go back to normal.
/\
Collei rises with the sun on Saturday. She can’t help it; the moment her eyes open excitement fills her veins. It’s been forever—as in a couple of months—since she really left Gandharva Ville. Not that she doesn’t love her home, but she just hasn’t been allowed to go anywhere .
The prospect of a full day away sends her out of bed with little fanfare. She does her stretches and her hygiene with gusto before checking her backpack one last time. It’s a good thing she did, because she almost forgot to exchange her patrol notebook for her school notebook.
Shouldering her bag, she heads out for breakfast. Not all the rangers are such early risers, but a few mill around their designated lunch preparation station. She lands quietly, trying to blend into the group, but she cannot fool the ears of this morning’s chef.
Tighnari turns from his place over the stove. “Good morning, sprout! Breakfast is almost ready.”
“Morning,” she greets with a wave, although she quickly ducks her head down. She busies herself with making them both lunch. Not that there won’t be food at the exhibition, probably, but it’s good to pack one just in case.
More rangers pile in as the smell of breakfast strengthens in the air. Collei stashes both lunches in her backpack and retreats as the others begin to make their own lunches. She drops her bag by her usual chair.
The sky is slowly changing from red to blue with the rising sun. It’s a sight she sees often, but one she appreciates each and every time. Cyno likes to say that each day is a gift, so that’s why it’s called the present. Despite the eye roll she gifts to him each time he says it, she agrees.
Today is a gift, and she’ll make the most of it.
Collei waltzes over to the kitchen area, humming a little. “Can I help with anything?”
Tighnari smiles in response. “Sure. Can you set out the bowls?”
She pulls out the stack of bowls and lightly sets them on the counter. Then, she grabs the cutlery trays and sets those out, too. Tighnari starts to turn, and she offers one of the large serving bowls to him.
“Oh, thanks,” he says with an extra little flick in his tail. After he pours the chickpea stew into the bowl, she drops a ladle in.
“Food’s ready,” Tighnari calls out to the group. Collei passes him a bowl and a spoon. He serves himself a portion, then gestures to her. “Here, give me your bowl.”
“I can get it,” she weakly protests, but he gives her a look. She holds out her bowl. Instead of ladling in stew, he takes it from her to fill. Then, he passes the ladle to the next ranger in line and carries both bowls to their usual table.
Collei watches him go. She's thirteen again, counting his steps and adding ten so she knows how many she’s going to have to brave to get to her chair. It’s a habit born of a time she needed to measure every movement she makes, but she doesn’t need to know now. It doesn’t matter.
“He’s just trying to help,” Shirin assures as she serves up her own bowl. “He’ll come around eventually.”
“Yeah,” Collei responds, taking her first step away. “He will.”
Despite the sun shining, something cold lingers over their table as they eat. It’s not unusual for them to eat breakfast quietly; it’s practically a daily thing that they enjoy the morning together. Today, though, it feels like there’s a storm on the horizon. It’s like the entire forest is holding its breath waiting for the first lightning to strike while the sky is perfectly clear,
Eventually, Tighnari clears his throat. “So, what are you looking forward to learning today?”
“Uh,” Collei thinks for a moment, idly scraping up the remnants of her stew. “Well, you said the, uh, what were they called? The ones in the water with the leaves?”
“ Utricularia stellaris ,” Tighnari responds. “Star bladderwort.”
“Right! My book says that they are carnivorous, but I’m not sure what they do.”
Tighnari leans forward, a mischievous glint in his eyes. “Well, I could tell you now…”
“Don’t you dare!” she fires back, trying to match his energy. The giggle seems to stick in her throat, but she forces it out.
He laughs, too, sitting back in his seat. “Speaking of, we should probably get on the road soon. Are you done eating?”
“Yeah, I’m good.” She nudges her bowl towards him, and he stacks both of them.
“Are you packed up?” He asks, and Collei huffs. She doesn’t get a word out before he holds up his hands. “I’m just making sure. Measure twice, cut once and all.”
“I know, I know. I have my canteen and both of our lunches—”
“And your school notebook, right?”
Collei stands. “Yeah, I’ve got it, and two back-up pencils. I’m ready; let’s go!”
Tighnari laughs, shaking his head. He returns their bowls to the sink before waving for her to join him to head down the road.
They walk in silence, although Tighnari’s ears are on a swivel, more so than normal. Every little sound seems to make his ears twitch and his eyes follow right after them. Slowly, Collei’s shoulders stiffen. She peers around, looking for danger she knows doesn’t exist. The road from Gandharva Ville to the City isn’t the busiest thoroughfare. Any bandit looking to steal some money would end up poorer than they started.
Then, Tighnari’s ears snap forward, relaxing almost immediately after. Collei follows his gaze to the side of the road, on the edge of the crossroads to the city. The General Mahamatra stands there like a marble statue with his arms folded. The back of Collei’s neck prickles. Then, his head turns towards them.
Cyno waves, and the pins and needles fade. She waves back, picking up her pace to meet him. “Cyno! Good morning!”
“Good morning, Collei-flower.” He offers his hand to her, and she squeezes it. Once she lets go, he hugs Tighnari.
“Oh, are you coming with us?” Collei asks. Immediately, Cyno leans back from Tighnari to meet his eyes, but Tighnari is already looking away. “I wish I’d have known so I could’ve made you lunch.”
Tighnari coughs. “I, uh, wanted it to be a surprise. I packed a lunch for him, don’t worry, sprout.”
“Right,” Cyno drawls in the way he does when he knows someone’s lying but doesn’t want to call them out on it. “We should get going; we have a tight timetable if we want to make it to Lambad’s on time tonight.”
He gestures for them to follow him down the road. Collei skips a couple of steps to walk beside him. “Lambad’s?”
“For dinner with Kaveh and Alhaitham?” At her confused expression, Cyno sighs. “Another surprise, I suppose.”
“Right,” Tighnari weakly agrees.
“ Kaveh’s coming?” Collei breathes.
Cyno’s eyes sparkle. “I confirmed our plans with Alhaitham yesterday morning. He’ll be there, flower.”
Collei forces herself to walk normally instead of spinning around in joy. She never really realized how constant of a presence Kaveh was until he wasn’t there anymore. He used to visit the village all the time to hang out with her master and, by extension, her. Kaveh celebrated many of her milestones with them, and then he was suddenly gone.
With Alhaitham’s reassurances a few weeks ago, she had written Kaveh a letter. He responded very quickly, so they’ve been talking like that for the time being. It’s not quite the same as talking with him in person. His exaggerated stories about Alhaitham are way less funny if he’s not telling them with all his embellishments, and his rants about art aren’t as enthralling without seeing how his eyes light up and hands wave about for magnitude and emphasis.
But she’ll see him tonight, definitely. Even if Tighnari says that they’re going home, she’s going to Lambad’s!
They reach the Ardavi River in what feels like no time. Tighnari frowns. “We should walk down to Vimara Village, there’s a bridge there.”
“No need,” Cyno replies, gesturing to the large mushroom in front of him.
Tighnari grimaces. “I’m not in the mood to get wet today. Besides, do we all even have gilders?”
“Master, I always bring my gilder with me!” Collei assures.
Cyno only sighs. He walks forward to a large mushroom and rests his hand on top. In a flash of violet, veins light up along the cap. “This will suffice; the extra bounce will not leave mushroom for error.”
“Is it on right?” Tighnari steps closer to her, as if to check, completely ignoring Cyno’s joke.
“It is!” Collei ducks away from him to head towards the mushroom. She takes a running start. With a mighty leap to land on top, she’s launched up into the air. She cheers as she deploys her glider to smoothly sail to the other dock.
She waves for Cyno and Tighnari to jump across, too, but a flash of red from the corner of her eyes distracts her. A small prickle rolls up her spine at the Eremites lounging nearby. She shakes her head, dismissing it.
Her memories of the events of Port Ormos are frustratingly—blessedly, according to Tighnari—foggy. There’s bits and pieces that float around, enough to know who her captors were. Still, she doesn’t have any reason to fear these strangers or any Eremites at all. Dehya is a friend of hers, after all, and she’d never hurt someone with no reason no matter how much money she would be paid.
In one of Kaveh’s letters, he relayed a story from Alhaitham that day. When he told her what had happened, Dehya had snapped the staff she was training with. Kaveh said he was glad the Matra collected those Eremites, because who knows what would’ve happened if Dehya got to them first.
Tighnari lands on the dock next to her, blocking her view of the Eremites, although one of his ears stays turned towards them. Cyno lands on her other side.
“As I was saying, Tighnari,” he says, “there is no cap on my jokes.”
Tighnari groans. “Come on, Collei. We don’t have to listen to him.”
She follows Tighnari onwards, while Cyno lags behind them. “Collei-flower, gill you stand with me?”
“Maybe you should stop telling jokes that are so spore -ing,” Collei says back, cringing immediately.
Tighnari gasps like she just shot him. Cyno, however, actually laughs. “Way to take a stem against him!”
Collei joins in on his laughter, the lingering cringe of her terrible pun soothed away by the sound. She can’t remember the last time she heard Cyno laugh at anything, even his own jokes.
Even Tighnari is softened by it, smiling despite complaining, “How could you do this to me, Collei? How could you go against me?”
Collei shakes her head as she giggles. “I was led to the dark side!”
“Well, you certainly didn’t pond er it for very long,” Cyno says, gesturing to the pond that splits the road. Collei didn’t even realize they walked that far.
Tighnari groans, rolling his eyes. He starts walking around the edge of the pond, but Cyno has a very different plan. He dashes past her and makes a grand leap onto a rock in the pond. Gracefully, he hops from rock to rock across to the other side. He sticks the landing, wheeling around to bow to them.
Collei claps, to which Tighnari scoffs. “Don’t indulge him. Come on; this way.”
“Be boulder , Collei-flower!” Cyno calls from across the pond. “Don’t be a stick in the mud!”
Tighnari’s eyes seem to bore a hole in the side of her head as she drifts a step forward towards the pond. From the corners of her own, she sees him open his mouth to say something. Probably warning her to be careful. That she could slip. That she could get wet, and then sick.
That she couldn’t make it across if she tried.
“Don’t,” he warns as she springs forward onto the first rock. Her momentum easily carries her to the second one, then the third. On the fourth rock, her foot slides on the mossy surface, and she wheels her arms to stay balanced. Her eyes find Tighnari on instinct. His ears are back in a way they only go when he’s worried about something. His hands are up, as if he could reach out to stabilize her from the side of the pond.
“You’re doing moss ome, flower!” Cyno calls from the side.
Tighnari visibly swallows. Then, he nods. “Just a few more, sprout. Go ahead.”
Collei leaps between the last few rocks easily, jogging off her momentum on the other side. Cyno holds out his fist, which she delicately taps with her own. With a resolute nod, he praises, “You rock .”
“That was so fun!” Collei says with a laugh. “We should—”
“Get to Pardis Dhyai before you two have any more harebrained ideas,” Tighnari comments as he walks past them.
The playfulness drains out of Cyno, and he rushes forward to fall into step next to Tighnari. They exchange words just too quiet for her to hear as she trails behind them. A weight has settled in her chest, threatening to crush her lungs. She knew he didn’t want her to do that; why did she do it anyway? He’s disappointed. She disappointed him.
Still, Tighnari takes tiny glances back at her, as if making sure she’s okay. It only serves to weigh her down more. After a while of walking, he holds up his hand. “Hilichurls.”
Cyno’s fingers flex by his side. “Do we fight?”
”No,” Tighnari answers almost too quickly. “They’re far enough from the path that we should be able to sneak around, but be careful.”
“Yes, master,” Collei agrees.
As a group, they sneak towards the nearby ladder up to the bridge to Pardis Dhyai. Tighnari doesn’t even bother to climb it. Instead, he puts his hand over his vision and glides up to four-leaf sigil at the top. Collei and Cyno do the same, although Collei can’t quite suppress her giggle as Cyno reaches behind him to grasp his vision—it’s very silly.
At the top, Collei checks behind them. Not that she doesn’t trust her master’s perceptions, but she does watch two hilichurls chase each other around while a mitachurl sits next to its shield and watches them. She swears as it surveys that it looks right up at her, but it doesn’t move. It only tilts its head to the side as if acknowledging her.
“Collei,” Tighnari calls. She turns, and he waves her to follow behind Cyno on the bridge. The bridge is mossy and old, but it doesn’t even creak under their feet. It’s solid as stone.
Collei can hardly contain herself once they get to the other side. From here, it’s such a short distance to Pardis Dhyai and the exhibition. She bounces on her feet, shaking out her hands, and Cyno gives her a soft look.
“We’re almost there, Collei-flower.”
Tighnari smiles. “Full speed ahead.”
“Hope you can keep up,” Collei teases as she picks up her pace into a jog. Tighnari’s laugh follows her as they approach the gates of Pardis Dhyai. She skids to a stop in the entryway.
Tables with posters line both walkways in front of the greenhouse. Scholars with shining, Amurta green badges explain their posters to whoever walks up—other scholars, old people, and even an entire class of children. Pardis Dhyai is always filled to the brim with living things, but it’s truly alive today in a way that fills Collei’s bones. Crowds of people that she would normally avoid seem so inviting compared to the quiet of Gandharva Ville.
“Well, color me impressed,” Tighnari says behind her. “How long did you say they had to put this together?”
Cyno hums. “They only got their permit approved last week, but I’m sure they were prepared for it long before that.”
Collei drifts forwards a few steps. Her heart is fluttering with her excitement and clouds her mind. What does she want to do first? What should she do first?
”Hey, sweetie,” someone says, and a scholar fills her vision. She has kind, brown eyes and a kinder smile. “Welcome to Feed Me: An Exhibition on Carnivorous Plants ! Here, take this map.”
She offers it, but Tighnari takes it before Collei can. The scholar eyes him curiously, then her entire demeanor seems to shift as she offers Cyno a map. Her smile becomes shakier, and she glances around as if looking for somewhere to run.
The scholar coughs. “Anyway, that booth right over there is the introduction to the topic, and all the other general information booths are over there. The advanced research is on the lower walkway. Let us know if you have any questions!”
She backs away quickly to attend to other guests. Why was she suddenly so nervous? It’s kind of weird. Collei suppresses the urge to cringe.
Cyno offers her his map. “Where to first?”
Collei takes it, looking at the numbered booths and the legend on the side. The print is a little smudged and hard to read, but she adjusts. “I-I guess just the introduction?”
She looks towards the booth that’s surrounded by children.
“Are you sure, sprout? It’s pretty crowded over there.” Tighnari’s fingers fiddle with the corner of the map.
“Well, I have to start with the introduction, right?” Collei swings her bag around to pull out her notebook and a pencil. “Besides, it’s not that crowded.”
Situating her bag back over her shoulders, she marches over to the first booth. Off to the side, a scholar sits on a stool and idly watches the other scholar talk to the kids. He seems to perk up when she walks up.
“Hello! Welcome to our exhibition,” he introduces. He looks around, and he suddenly tenses. “Uh, do-do you want the overview, or, um, do you already know everything?”
Collei blinks. Why would he think she already knows it?
Tighnari chuckles. “The overview, please. We haven’t gone into carnivorous flora yet.”
Oh. That’s why. Sometimes she forgets that Tighnari is just as famous in his darshan as Kaveh is in his. Still, the scholar looks no less relaxed. He glances between Tighnari and Cyno— Cyno . How could she forget that scholars tend to be afraid of him? She totally gets it. The General Mahamatra is intimidating for sure, but it’s hard to be afraid of her nerd of a…
Anyway, it’s hard to be afraid when she has to listen to all his terrible jokes and rants about TCG.
“The overview,” the scholar echoes. “Right, well, carnivorous plants are largely insectivores. In response to poor soil and growing conditions, seven families of flora developed carnvivory independently in order to supplement their nutrients.”
”Like nitrogen, right?” Collei asks, scribbling down what he just said.
The scholar nods, seeming to relax slightly. “Yeah, exactly. Most insects are plentiful in nitrogen, but some plants have been known to target magnesium, potassium, or phosphorus instead. It just depends on the soil.”
Collei nods. “That makes sense.”
“Good! Uh, there’s many ways to categorize the plants, like taxonomically, but it’s more common to group them by trap type, although some plants have multiple trap types. The Akademiya recognizes five types of traps: pitfall, snap, flypaper, bladder, and lobster-pot. That’s how our booths are split up today, plus this one and an extra about digestion.”
Collei jots down all five types, leaving plenty of room for notes under each.
“Alright, do you have any questions?”
Collei taps her pencil on top of her notebook. “Uh, I know there are species in Sumeru, but where else do they grow?’
The scholar grins. “Every nation of Teyvat has a species or ten of them. You’ll see at the other booths.”
“Really? Even in Snezhnaya?”
“Even Snezhnaya. The tundra isn’t necessarily rich in nutrients, you know.”
Collei chuckles, and so does Tighnari. “Well, thank you!”
“Of course; have fun!” The scholar waves at them.
Collei goes to step back, but Tighnari softly warns, “Watch out.”
Collei’s head snaps around, but there’s nobody behind her. Still, she dutifully turns before walking off. He doesn’t need to warn her of things like that; she knows how to look where she walks. And there wasn’t anyone behind her anyway. Annoying.
She meets Cyno’s eyes with not quite a plea for help—just for anything he could give. His narrow for a second, then he seems to make a decision. He extends his hand. “Tighnari, let’s go look at the advanced research.”
Tighnari crosses his arms. “You know, the whole point of a family trip is to spend it together.”
“While true, you’re bored here with the basics, and Collei will be bored with the advanced material. It would be a more effective use of our time to split up.”
“W-well, sprout, are you sure you’re okay with being here by yourself?”
Collei smiles, putting up her hands. “I’ll be fine, master! Don’t worry!”
His ears drop back. He looks between her and Cyno for a minute, and Collei is so sure he’s going to insist on staying with her. Then he holds Cyno’s gaze. After a moment, his arms drop. He takes Cyno’s hand. “Alright, shout if you need anything, okay?”
“Yes, sir!” Collei says, turning around quickly to go to the next booth, although his eyes don’t leave her back.
Despite that, she still hears Cyno say, “You’re hovering .”
Collei wants to laugh. It’s a silly word right out of one of her Inazuman light novels. It’s something one of the teenage protagonists would say to their friends about their parents. She tries not to let its aptness resonate for too long as she approaches the next booth about digestion. She assimilates into the crowd of school children to listen to the presentation.
Collei has learned to be very aware of her surroundings when she’s lucid. She had to. Even in the safety of her home in Gandharva Ville, it took a long time for her to stop jumping at every shadow, and longer to actually relax. She knows when she’s being watched, and she’s being watched all the time as of late. Even now as she jots down notes about digestive enzymes, she can feel eyes on her back.
When she turns to walk away from the booth, she looks up to meet Tighnari’s eyes from across the walkway. She waves, consulting her map for the next booth she wants to go to.
Hovering…
She approaches the booth with flypaper style traps. She focuses on the Drosera rotundifolia in front of her and the way the dew shines in the sun. The presenter talks about how insects are attracted to the dew on its surface, and potentially the deep red colors of its leaves. She shuffles in place until the poster forces the eyes off of her. Drawing in a deep breath, she tries to draw the round leaf sundew into her notebook.
While she doodles, a bug flies by and lands on top of one of the leaves. It struggles, buzzing its wings and wiggling further into the grasp of the tentacles. Slowly, the leaf starts to curl up, and the bug goes still. Trapped in a sugary-sweet embrace, it almost looks protected inside. Appearances are deceptive, though. According to the poster, the leaf will soon secrete digestive enzymes and dissolve the bug into its base nutrients.
The weight of eyes settles on her again as she finishes up her sketch. It doesn’t look like much of anything, actually. She’s tempted to erase it, but even something as messed up as this deserves to freely exist, right? She jots down some notes from the poster next to it, before moving on to the next table.
Hovering…
Tighnari stands across the walkway, listening to a student present their research although he meets Collei’s eyes. She forces a smile before the poster blocks her from view. On the table is one of Sumeru’s own pitcher plants, Nepenthes khasiana. The first time she had seen one, she had poked at one of the pitchers to see what was inside. She was about to pluck off one of the pitchers when Tighnari had stopped her.
The eyes return as she jots down notes about how some carnivorous plants use scents to attract pollinators and prey to the correct, respective locations on the plant. On rare occasions, the pollinators that the plants prefer to keep alive will fall into their trap anyway. A singular misstep marks the difference between prospering freely and sinking into inescapable depths. Only certain kinds of bugs can slip inside to snack on the deceased and live to tell the tale.
She draws it too. It’s no better than the sundew sketch, but maybe the consistency will help. She moves on from the table, keeping her head down, not that it deters the one watching her.
Hovering …
The next table is for bladderwort plants. Utricularia stellaris sits proudly in a pot; its star-shaped leaves look pretty in the water. The poster details how the bladder traps work. An aquatic worm or other invertebrate will stray too close and activate the trigger hairs. Then, the bladder opens and creates a vortex of water, sucking it in to be digested. Stifled inside as the water is leached out once again.
Collei suppresses a laugh as she doodles it into her notebook. Stifled. That’s also a word from her light-novels. The protagonists always complain about their parents in them. About how restrictive they are, and how they always seem to be right over their shoulders, waiting to react to whatever they do. It used to be so silly to her. How could anyone possibly complain about having parents who care about them enough to be looking out for them? Tighnari and Cyno are the only parents—if she dares call them that—she has tangibly known, and she’s forever grateful to them for how well they take care of her. They’ve always made her feel safe and protected. Did she really have the right to complain?
She looks across the aisle again, meeting Tighnari’s eyes immediately. She waves again, feeling the weight of his gaze slowly crushing her. Does she have the right to complain? Probably not, considering all that’s happened. But she does have the right to feel like she’s being sucked into a protective embrace that’s slowly going to suffocate her.
The last two booths are informative, and she makes quick work of sketching the plants there. As soon as she puts the last touches on the lobster pot example— Sarracenia psittacina —Tighnari and Cyno join her. She closes her notebook as Tighnari asks, “How’d you like it?”
“It was so interesting!” Collei gushes. “I didn’t know bladderworts could actually create their own, uh, o-osmotic pressure. It’s so cool that they can just pump water out of the traps like that!”
Tighnari smiles and his tail wags. “Yeah! The mechanical mechanism of the utricles are incredibly sophisticated and energy efficient for the plant, considering the trap is purely mechanical.”
“Utricles?”
“The bladders,” Tighnari answers. “You see, the protuberances—”
“We should get going,” Cyno interrupts. “Or else we’ll be late getting to Lambad’s. You can explain on the way.”
Tighnari sighs, but he follows Cyno through the crowds that part before him like water, and Collei follows along next to Tighnari as he explains how the protuberances of the bladderworts are only levers and not actually trigger-hairs like in other traps. Collei listens with rapt attention, all the way to Sumeru City.
The main thoroughfare into the City is always busy, especially in the evenings. Market stalls line the street and the vendors hawk their wares for the customers wandering around. Their blessing comes in the form of Cyno. Even here, the crowds part like hanging vines as he walks a step ahead of them. Lambad’s is also crowded, but they have no issues claiming the usual table for these meet-ups.
And so starts the wait.
Collei is basically buzzing from head to toe as she watches the door. Each time the door opens has the potential to reveal Kaveh and Alhaitham, and Collei doesn’t want to miss it. Yet the excitement teeters right along the edge of anxiety. Maybe they’re not going to show up. Maybe Kaveh is actually avoiding her. Maybe they’re not going to be here because—
“Hey, sprout,” Tighnari gently says. “You alright?”
Collei’s eyes snap over to Tighnari and his twitching ears. It’s loud. Each time the door opens adds to the noise in the room. She’s sure he’s kind of dying right now. Then it registers that he asked her a question. “Oh, yeah, I’m fine.”
“Excited?”
“Yeah…” she admits, messing with the end of her hair. “It’s just… feels like forever since, uh, you know.”
”I do.” Tighnari sighs. He opens his mouth to say more, but his ears go still. He looks towards the door. Sure enough, Alhaitham opens it. Kaveh is gesturing intensely as he walks through, clearly in the middle of one of their “debates.” Alhaitham lets the door close, situating a hand on Kaveh back to guide him to their table while the other holds something under his arm.
“—listening to me,” Kaveh says, the words only barely reaching her ears. “You never do. If you did, we wouldn’t be late.”
“We’re not actually that late,” Alhaitham rebuts. “Besides, your lengthy preparation would have made us late regardless.”
“And you not following directions didn’t help!” With a huff, Kaveh turns his attention to them. “Hello you three, sorry we’re late. Someone couldn’t be bothered to wrap his gift correctly.”
“It’s alright,” Cyno says with a shrug. “Your presents is gift enough.”
The table groans. Tighnari fruitlessly shoves him on the shoulder. “Go order, you big lummox.”
Cyno stands. “Any special requests?”
Everyone shakes their heads, and Cyno walks off to order their usual for the table. Alhaitham sets down a stack of books bound in a shiny green ribbon tied in an elaborate bow on top right in front of Collei. “Presentation is an unnecessary component of gift giving. However, I hope you appreciate it.”
Collei tilts her head to try and read the titles. “Y-you got these for me?”
“Well, I didn’t give them to Cyno,” Alhaitham replies dryly. He pulls out the chair next to her and gestures Kaveh into it.
Kaveh gives Alhaitham a light smack on the shoulder before he slouches in the chair. “Don’t be annoying.”
Alhaitham rolls his eyes in response, sitting himself down next to Kaveh. Tighnari leans over, asking, “Do you need help with the bow?”
Collei shakes her head. Gently, she tugs the end of the ribbon. The bow falls apart, and the ribbon drops to the table. She picks up the book on top and reads the title. “The Flora of Mondstadt.”
She starts making a pile, reading the titles out as she picks them up. “The Mechanics of Wind Gliders. A Guide to Knitting and Crochet. History of Liyuan Archery. And… uh…”
She doesn’t recognize the script, but she does know this cover. “Is this Onibudou?”
“Yes. There’s also an introduction to reading Inazuman as well as a bilingual dictionary,” Alhaitham says with a resolute nod.
Collei is sure that she’s nowhere near ready to attempt to figure out how to read this with a dictionary, but Kaveh beats her to the reaction, “You’re not subtle, Alhaitham. You don’t need an excuse to visit them.”
“I don’t,” Alhaitham agrees. “This allows for a productive use of our time during a visit. After all, the Akademiya’s graduation requirements include language learning. It’s to her benefit to start early.”
“R-right,” Collei stutters out. “Uh, thank you! Really.”
Alhaitham nods in response. “No need to thank me. Your bookshelves are essentially barren.”
Of the five shelves in her room, only two are completely full, while the other three shelves host an assortment of random clutter. She wouldn’t say they’re empty , not the way he made it sound.
“You make it sound like she has nothing to read,” Tighnari points out.
“She needs a broader variety of material.”
“ Alhaitham ,” Kaveh chides with a groan, burying his head in his hands. “You know what? Go help Cyno with our order.”
Alhaitham hums. To Collei’s disbelief, he stands. “As you wish.”
Tighnari tracks him all the way to the counter, like he also can’t believe Alhaitham didn’t argue that he shouldn’t go get the food. Kaveh, though, is completely unbothered as he brings his head up. He looks in Collei’s direction. “What did you do today? Alhaitham mentioned something about an exhibition?”
“Um, yes. About carnivorous plants,” Collei answers, pulling her eyes off of Alhaitham.
“Did you see anything cool?” Despite talking to her directly, Kaveh doesn’t quite look at her. Collei lightly tugs on the ends of her hair.
”Yeah, t-there was a star bladderwort on display; it was pretty awesome.”
Kaveh leans back in his chair, tapping his knuckle on his lips. “I’m not sure I’m familiar, actually. Did you take a picture?”
Collei accidentally tugs her hair too hard. It doesn’t hurt that much, but it's enough to make her wince.
“Careful, Collei.” Tighnari chides. He starts rifling through his bag and pulls out a wooden cube. “Here, take this.”
Collei takes it, folding and unfolding it in her hands. What was she going to say? Oh, right, she was asked a question. “I, uh, didn’t take a picture…”
She trails off, holding back the end of her sentence. What is she thinking? She can’t show Kaveh those sketches! They’re terrible. He’s such a good artist; what if he judges her?
“But?” Kaveh prompts. “It sounded like there was going to be a ‘but’ there.”
Tighnari jumps in. “You drew them, right, sprout?”
Kaveh sits up. “You did?”
Tighnari smiles, turning his head to the side as if to tell her to show him. Kaveh makes no such demand, but he looks so excited to see her drawings. Sighing, Collei digs out her notebook. After pushing her pile of books aside, she opens her notebook on the table. “Uh, see?”
Kaveh leans over her notebook. Slowly, a soft smile blooms over his face. For the first time that night, he meets her eyes. “You drew that?”
Collei fiddles with the cube more. “I tried to. I-I don’t think it looks right.”
“No. No! This looks great!” Kaveh assures, turning her notebook more towards him. “I didn’t know you liked to draw.”
“I-I don’t really draw that much—”
“Nonsense.” Tighnari tuts. “You have those paintings you did a while back in your room.”
“I, uh, I don’t know.” Collei shrugs. “Anyway, that’s a star bladderwort.”
Kaveh hums. “Now that I’m looking at it, it looks familiar. It’s aquatic?”
“Yeah?” Collei says, looking to Tighnari. He nods, so she repeats, “Yeah! Some species aren’t but that one is.”
Kaveh nods, running his fingers over the page. “And this is a sundew, right?”
“A roundleaf sundew, yeah,” Collei says. “I got to see it eat a bug!”
“I hope the sight didn’t bug you too much,” Cyno says as he returns to the table. He carries two wine goblets and sets one down in front of Tighnari.
Alhaitham sets down two goblets on the table. He leans over Kaveh’s back to set a cup down in front of Collei, leaning on him in the process.
“Gah! You're crushing me!” Kaveh whines. Collei can’t quite see, but she thinks Alhaitham kisses him on the cheek before straightening to sit down.
That’s new… right? Collei wracks her brain, trying to remember a time they were so openly like that— when Kaveh is perfectly sober, that is. He’s usually more touchy when drunk to everyone—but her, of course, he never forgets her boundaries. She’s not sure she’s ever seen Alhaitham be like that before. This is very different.
They are different.
Tighnari takes a long drink from his glass. He sets it on the table. With a deep breath, he asks about the conclusion Collei was slowly coming to, “So… when did you two start dating?”
Kaveh’s eyes go wide as his cheeks bloom red. He fidgets, staring down at his hands. “After the, uh…incident.”
“That long, huh?” Tighnari takes another drink. He turns his attention to Cyno. “Did they neglect to tell you, too?”
Cyno shrugs. “I had my theories, but nothing conclusive.”
“ Nothing conclusive ,” Tighnari echoes, almost mockingly. “And you didn’t mention it to me?”
“There was nothing conclusive to share.”
Tighnari sighs. “Well, congratulations on working it out, you two.”
Kaveh smiles, raising his glass. “I’ll drink to that!”
The conversation picks up from there. Kaveh tentatively details how they started dating, then moves on to the latest drama from one of his clients. Cyno started telling a story about one of his junior matra tripping over his polearm and knocking an entire chain of criminals over. The entire table howled with laughter, but Cyno seemed confused. By the time Kaveh finished attempting to explain why it was so funny, their food had arrived. Kaveh goaded Alhaitham into telling a story while they ate about how Kusanali made Hat Guy pick up an entire ream of papers after nearly blowing someone over.
Eventually, once they all finished eating and the plates were cleared away, Cyno scans the table with a particular hopeful glimmer in his eyes. “Are any of you up for a game of Genius Invokation TCG?”
Cyno’s eyes seem to linger on her for a moment before darting back to the others. He knows she doesn’t have any cards. Not that she doesn’t want to learn to play, but she just hasn’t saved up enough to buy her own deck. One day, she’ll be able to ask him to teach her, but it certainly won’t be at the tavern.
Kaveh elbows Alhaitham, and he sighs. “Sure.”
Cyno and Alhaitham start maneuvering plates to set out their TCG cards.
“Speaking of TCG,” Kaveh says, “Are you signing up for the tournament?”
Cyno nods. “I was amongst the first participants to register.”
“There’s a tournament?” Collei asks.
“At the end of the month,” Cyno answers. “I have begun preparations already.”
Tighnari rolls his eyes, but his smile is fond. “Already?”
“Of course. One cannot anticipate victory without the necessary work beforehand.” Cyno finishes laying out his character cards—Yaoyao, Fischl, Beidou—and patiently waits for Alhaitham to finish laying out his.
The game starts in earnest. This is the deck Cyno played a few months ago at the tavern, and he even explained exactly how it worked. Yaoyao and Fischl chip damage off of the opponents while Beidou gets geared up. Then, when Beidou has all of her equipment, she nearly becomes unkillable. Her health is restored every time she uses her skill. As he sets up the combos, he shoots her little glances from the corners of his eyes, and she returns each one with a smile.
Kaveh leans on his hand while he watches the game. He taps his fingers on the table with the other one. Pinky, ring, middle, index. Pinky, ring, middle, index. Collei slides her hand along the table over to his. Once his pinky taps down, she steals it with her own. Kaveh’s hand jerks as his eyes snap over to her. Then, his eyes soften. He shifts his hand so their pinkies are interlocked.
“You know, I was thinking of visiting for a while in a few weeks,” he says quietly.
“You should!” Collei says back, trying to be just as quiet. “I-I mean, it’s been forever since you last visited.”
Something in Kaveh’s smile turns almost sad, but she’s not sure why. “It has, hasn’t it?”
“You don’t have to,” Collei retracts. She squeezes his pinky. “We can come to the City more often. I-I’ll talk to Master, and—”
”No, you’ve convinced me.” Kaveh smiles widely at her. “I’ll visit soon, promise.”
Collei beams at him, but the moment is quickly ruined by a hand snatching Kaveh’s drink. He turns immediately to scold Alhaitham while he takes a sip of Kaveh’s drink. Collei’s smile doesn’t fade though, especially as Tighnari meets her eyes with a shine in his.
Things are getting better. They have to be.