Lupical Cuddle Morning

la story 4 : Home

Home was an interesting situation. With two Mondstadters, three Sumerans, and an Inazuman, finding a way that they could all be home together was different. Cyno wasn't even in the same part of Sumeru as Collei and Tighnari. The Traveller was an absolute godsend in that regard. They had pulled some strings after a while of travel with the small family and gotten them their own teapot. It wasn't anything too fancy. The teapot was small, compared to the Traveller's at least. Only a couple acres of land. In it, there were three buildings. The first was the large main house in which everyone's bedrooms, kitchen, etc were. Next to it was a smaller building for alchemic experiments for Sucrose, though Tighnari was far from a stranger from the building himself and Collei was thrilled to go learn from the green haired Mondstadter. The last building was where the rest of the research was kept, far away from the alchemical lab to avoid damaging the long accumulated books and research from an experiment gone wrong.

In the main house, there were two rooms on the top floor and three below. Four of them had become bedrooms while the fifth had become a kitchen. The living room had a cozy hearth, a warm forest green rug laying on dark wood flooring, and comfy couches in one half with a dining table in the other half for those rare times they could sit down for a meal together.

Cyno had been away for quite a while, nearing a full three weeks. Issues had cropped up and he found himself staying his nights in the house that he had used to live in. It only served as a place to stay whenever he couldn't go home now. He was desperately aware of the ache in his chest every night he couldn't return home. Who knew that once the General Mahamantra had a taste of the domestic family life he'd never be able to go back. The sound of Tighnari patiently teaching both Collei and Razor at the dining table, or Gorou cooking them his specialty ramen on cold nights, or even the sound of the occasional small alchemic explosion from Sucrose was missed. It had become such a part to hear such things either in the morning or in the evening while leaving for or returning from work.

Archons, he missed not being the only one in bed. He had been spoiled, waking up to his partners every morning. Tighnari woke up relatively early but every time he had a day off he'd insist on half of it being spent in bed cuddling or with a book. Gorou would sleep later than Tighnari but was more easily roused and brought from bed, even on his days off. However, every evening, Cyno and Tighnari would take turns grooming Gorou's tail after he'd hesitantly admitted to wanting such a thing. Cyno would be hard-pressed to say no to him, to either of them frankly.

Cyno slumped through the door of his house, looking at the teapot token with longing.

One more week.

He could go home in one more week.

🐾

He almost couldn't believe it when he finally was able to return to the teapot. He couldn't get up the steps of the house fast enough, tipping his head to their teapot spirit in greeting. He slipped through the front door and breathed in heavily. Instantly, Collei and Razor tackled him in a hug, holding him tight. Cyno wrapped his arms tight around the two, enjoying the warmth of being surrounded by his home again after a month away.

"Cyno!" Collei exclaimed. "Oh, I should get Master! He's in the lab with Sucrose."

He hesitantly let her go so she could go get the rest of the family but Razor stayed firmly plastered to his side.

"Razor missed you," he said, his words muffled.

"I missed you too," Cyno said. "Where's Gorou?"

Just as he said that, Gorou peeked out of the kitchen. A mixture of excitement and relief entered his expression and he moved completely out of the kitchen to join the hug.

"Welcome home Cyno," Gorou said, his voice steady, though the fierce wagging of his tail gave away how happy he was. It was incredibly endearing.

The front door opened as Tighnari came running in, jumping into the mix while Collei and Sucrose giggled behind him. Razor left the hug pile and joined the two women off to the side.

"Archons, I missed you all so much," Cyno muttered, Tighnari's ear flicking against his nose.

"Get your ass home quicker and you wouldn't miss us so much," Tighnari grumbled.

Cyno snickered, "if you didn't want me to miss you, you'll all have to stay here with me fur-ever."

Tighnari groaned in annoyance.

"Nevermind, get the hell out," Tighnari said, now attempting to escape the hold Cyno had on his waist.

"Nari," Cyno whined.

"Nope. Out."

"Nari, didn't you say you miss-" Gorou started, however his mouth was promptly covered with Tighnari's hand.

"I did not. Shouldn't you be finishing up dinner?"

"Oh!" Gorou escaped from Cyno's hold to head back to the kitchen.

Reluctantly, Cyno released Tighnari as well. He turned to the last family member in the room who hadn't been properly greeted yet. He opened his arms for Sucrose and she shyly came closer, hugging him.

Slowly, Collei and Razor joined the hug and they all stayed like that until Tighnari was helping Gorou bring bowls of ramen out from the kitchen.

🐾

That night, Tighnari sat behind Cyno, running a comb through his hair, gently removing tangles. Gorou sat in front of him, his tail laying in Cyno's lap for Cyno's own careful grooming of it. Sucrose, Razor and Collei had all gone to bed themselves so the house was rather silent.

He was home.