imagine… alhaitham and cyno being rivals… over you. with a twist.
[ author’s note ] — something good’s gonna come out soon so keep your eyes peeled also tagging @telemi for the utter adoration she holds for alhaitham. i’m too kind and generous i know 💃💃💃
imagine… you’re in your final year of high school, riddled with all possible forms of exhaustion after juggling classes, work, your social life and college applications. you really don’t see how on this sweet plane of existence are the two monsters you happen to call best friends, look absolutely fine, fit and dandy while having more on their plate than you do on yours. alhaitham and cyno were just evolved different, and you just so happened to be born normal and without many adaptations to tank the last year in this mountainload of misery. they even seem to have enough braincells and energy to start petty arguements over something your head was too full to pay attention to literally at every opportunity they got. but maybe if it hadn’t been for you having to run to work immediately after school, you’d have noticed how cyno’s usual stoic expression have way to a lot dust of pink across his cheeks and a faint quirk of his lips whenever you started going off about anything, his expression clearly spelling that he was hanging on to every word you said. if it hadn’t been for the rapidly upcoming deadlines for your coursework submission, you’d have noticed how alhaitham’s fingers brushed against yours almost every time he handed you something, a rather… peculiar look in his eyes, at least, for the straight-laced stone-faced boy you knew as a kid. maybe if it hadn’t been with how tired you were whenever you finally finished all your work, perhaps you’d definitely notice how cyno’s signature glare got just a sharper edge whenever you laughed in alhaitham’s company. if your lunchtimes weren’t spent on a few minutes of a resting slumber, you’d definitely see alhaitham’s jaw go taut whenever cyno brushed a stray strand of your hair away, a helpless look painted in his eyes.
you were just grateful to have them, because depsite how hard everything got. alhaitham’s smooth transition from explaining a biology topic into a horrible dad joke always made your stomach hurt with how hard you laughed. cyno’s adorable way of explaining his joke so earnestly whenever you said you didn’t understand it with that hopeful wish for your smile evident on his face always softened your heart.
but the depth of the feeling behind these little gestures was something you didn’t know.
but that was the least of their problems for now, because it appears that there’s someone else who’s eye your charm had managed to enrapture.
what other reason could there be of tighnari ruffling your hair with an adoring smile to you yet a triumphant side-eye to both of them?