Work Text:
“Truth or dare?”
“Truth.”
“Alhaitham, are you a virgin?”
“No.”
Tighnari's jaw dropped open. He looked over at Kaveh, expecting the blond man to provide an explanation, but he was just as shocked.
<>
With Collei and Wanderer out of the house for a tour of the Akademiya (Scara wanted to show her around the school and surrounding city before her first days there), their respective parents and parental figures decided to have a little get together. Usually, they would play Genius Invokation, but Kaveh forgot his cards at home, so the group wanted to do something besides just drinking in silence.
“How about we play spin the bottle?” Kaveh asked.
“We’re nearing our thirties, not thirteen,” Alhaitham replied back. Kaveh glared at him, but didn’t take the bait.
“Hmm,” Kaveh hummed. He took a sip of his wine. “20 questions?”
“No, that’s so boring,” Cyno whined. “How about truth or dare?”
The four men looked around and nodded. Even Alhaitham seemed to like the idea.
“Who will start?” Kaveh asked.
“How about you spin a bottle to see who you’ll ask?” Tighnari suggested.
Kaveh nodded and grabbed an empty wine bottle. He placed it on the ground and spun it, landing on Cyno.
“Alright, General ,” he said, slurring his words a little bit. “Truth or dare?”
“Dare,” Cyno replied with a glint in his orange eyes.
Kaveh paused. “Tighnari, what’s the spiciest thing you have here?”
Cyno sucked in a breath as Tighnari walked to the kitchen, tail swishing behind him. He returned with an unlabeled bottle filled with a bright red liquid. When he opened it up near Cyno’s face, the electro user’s eyes started to water.
“What is that?” He asked.
“A new hot sauce I’m working on perfecting. It’s made with Jueyun chilis, imported straight from Liyue.”
“Take a sip,” Kaveh commanded, leaning back against the couch Alhaitham was laying on. Cyno sighed, but relented. As soon as the liquid touched his mouth, his eyes started to tear up.
“Are you ok?” Tighnari asked, concerned.
“Yea, I just-” Cyno coughed out. “Just give me a minute.”
He took some deep breaths, waiting until the spice subsided a little bit. Then, he spun the bottle. It landed on Tighnari, next to him.
“Truth or dare?”
“Truth,” Tighnari replied.
“Fuck, marry, kill with the three of us.”
Tighnari brought his hand up to his chin and looked up. “I feel like there’s an objectively correct answer to this.”
“Now, what does that mean?” Kaveh pressed. Tighnari ignored him.
“Fuck Kaveh, marry Cyno, kill Alhaitham,” He said. Although Alhaitham ignored this, Kaveh and Cyno started to debate their placements.
“I would be such an amazing husband!” Kaveh cried out.
“You would make an awful husband,” Alhaitham interjected.
“At least I know that Tighnari doesn’t just keep me around for my body,” Cyno replied.
“Maybe he doesn’t like your body at all!”
Cyno turned to Tighnari. “You like my body, right?”
“I didn’t say truth.”
Cyno bit the inside of his cheek. “Just spin the bottle, ‘Nari.”
Tighnari obliged, spinning the bottle, where it landed on Alhaitham.
“Truth or dare?”
“Truth.”
“Alhaitham, are you a virgin?”
“No.”
Tighnari's jaw dropped open. He looked over at Kaveh, expecting the blond man to provide an explanation, but he was just as shocked.
“WHAT?!” Kaveh shouted out. “No, no, no. There’s no way you’ve ever slept with someone.”
Alhaitham just shrugged. “If you want more information, you have to ask me truth or dare.”
Kaveh balled his fists up. But before he could get another word out, Alhaitham spun the bottle and it landed on Kaveh.
“Truth or dare?” He asked.
“Dare.”
Alhaitham hummed. “Do ten pushups.”
Kaveh’s face dropped. “What the fuck?”
“Scared, architect? I’ll do it with you.” Alhaitham did not wait for an answer, getting on the ground, and starting to do ten push ups. Kaveh pushed him, taking advantage of Alhaitham’s weakness, and rolling the other man over.
“No! I can do it myself!” He huffed, proceeding to do 3 good pushups, 4 mediocre ones, and 3 very awful barely-a-push-up push ups.
Before anyone could make fun of him for his pitiful attempt at proving that he did more than sit at a desk all day, Kaveh spun the bottle.
It landed back on Alhaitham.
“Truth or dare?”
“Dare,” Alhaitham smirked.
“I dare you to tell me who you slept with.”
“That’s not how this game works,” Cyno said sternly. As General Mahamatra, he was quite fond of enforcing the rules.
Kaveh pouted. “Ugh, fine. Alhaitham, I dare you to give Tighnari a lap dance.”
Both Alhaitham and Tighnari’s faces were pure disgust. Yet, not wanting to disobey the rules of the game, Alhaitham got up and sat on Tighnari’s lap. While he robotically swayed his hips from side to side, Tighnari tried to look anywhere but Cyno and Kaveh’s faces.
“Eugh, enough, enough,” Cyno said, waving his hands. Alhaitham got up, returning to his spot on the couch. Tighnari shifted in his seat, very clearly only embarrassed by the display.
“That was less sexy than I expected…” Kaveh said.
“Sexy? From Alhaitham?” Tighnari replied. “You’re crazy.”
“Well apparently not only does he know what sex is, but he’s had it!” Kaveh threw up his hands. Alhaitham did not wait for Kaveh to be done being exasperated before he spun the bottle again. It landed on Cyno.
“Truth or dare, General Mahamatra?”
“Truth,” Cyno replied, not wanting to eat more hot sauce.
“Do you have feelings for anyone in this room?”
“Yes,” Cyno replied. Although there was a much more logical answer, Alhaitham immediately assumed that Cyno meant Kaveh. He knew that Kaveh thought the shorter man was quite attractive and despised the thought of Kaveh going to Tighnari’s house and ending up in bed with the other two. That was the reason he first started coming to their game nights. He stayed for the happy look Kaveh would give him as they walked home at the end of the night.
Cyno grabbed the bottle and spun, landing on Alhaitham.
“When is it going to be my turn?” Tighnari’s tail was twitching.
“Truth or dare?” Cyno asked.
“Truth.”
“Was the person you slept with a good fuck?” He smirked.
Alhaitham pursed his lips together. His answer was forced, almost as if Cyno was dragging it out of his mouth. “Yes.”
Kaveh looked back at him, even more shocked.
Before another person could get a question in, Alhaitham spun the bottle.
“Finally!” Tighnari’s ears perked up.
“Truth or dare?”
“Dare,” the hybrid replied, tail swishing behind him.
Alhaitham paused, then stated. “Take a piece of clothing off everytime Cyno makes a bad joke.”
“Hey! My jokes knock your socks off!”
Tighnari groaned as he removed said socks. When he spun the bottle, it landed on Cyno.
“Truth or dare?”
“Truth,” Cyno answered, very quickly.
“What’s your biggest turn on?”
“Oooh, getting spicy ?” Cyno held up the hot sauce. As Tighnari removed his shirt, he answered, “Biting, but it doesn’t really work with my work outfit.”
“Really?” Kaveh pried. “Couldn’t you be the one doing the biting?”
“Spin the bottle, Cyno,” Alhaitham cut in.
“Alright, Kaveh, truth or dare?”
“Truth.”
“What’s your biggest turn on?”
Kaveh thought for a second, then replied, “I guess I like it when my partner is a pillow princess. Like, don’t get me wrong, I like being fucked, but I also like taking care of someone.”
It was clear that he was already feeling the effects of the wine. He would not have answered that question sober.
When he spun the bottle, it landed on Tighnari.
“Truth or dare?”
“Truth.”
“What’s your secret fantasy?”
“No more idiot tourists trying to take photos near Rishboland Tigers,” Tighnari replied, deadpan.
“Oh, come on,” Kaveh rolled his eyes. “We all know you want that. But what’s your real fantasy? Secret and sexy.”
“It’s not like you don’t already know them. But I guess a threesome would be fun.”
“What do you mean, already know them?” Alhaitham asked. He had turned his full body towards to Tighnari.
Tighnari did not care that he wasn’t asked truth or dare. He shrugged. “Kaveh and I used to be friends with benefits. At the Akademiya.”
“Used to?” Alhaitham continued to press.
“We’ve both been so busy,” Kaveh said, looking back at him. “The last time we did it had to have been before I designed the Palace of Alcazarzary.”
Alhaitham leaned back. Yet, he wasn’t able to truly rest, as the bottle landed back on him. Expecting another question about sexual enjoyment, he answered truth.
“Who did you sleep with?”
Alhaitham was not happy with this question.
“It was a one night stand. We were both drunk.” He attempted to save a little bit of his dignity. “I didn’t know who it was until the next morning.”
“Ooh, walk of shame,” Kaveh teased. “Who was it?”
Alhaitham sighed, sparing a quick glance towards his former bedmate.
“It was Cyno.”
Once more, Kaveh cried out. “WHAT?!”
“Like I said, we were drunk and didn’t realize who the other was.”
“Have you only slept with Cyno?” Kaveh’s eyes were wide.
Alhaitham nodded. Tighnari was silent. In shock.
“I’m glad it was a one time thing, because I can’t stand him,” Cyno took advantage of the moment. “Get it? Like a one-night stand-”
Tighnari covered his mouth with one hand and proceeded to struggle with removing his pants. Cyno blushed as he saw the skin tight boxers Tighnari was wearing.
Kaveh brought his hands up to the sides of his head, looking down in horror. “I don’t think I can do this anymore. This is an alcohol induced hallucination.”
“Alcohol can’t induce hallucinations,” Tighnari replied. “I have some mushrooms that can, but I haven’t tested how they interact with alcohol.”
“No,” Alhaitham and Cyno said, in unison.
Alhaitham spun the bottle, and it landed on Cyno. “Truth or dare?”
“Dare.”
“Spend the rest of the night on Tighnari’s lap.”
Cyno obliged, setting himself on Tighnari. Almost instinctively, Tighnari curled his tail around Cyno.
When Cyno spun the bottle, he leaned forward, wiggling his ass. Tighnari hoped he didn’t notice any physiological reactions, yet Cyno remained ignorant of his perceptions. When Cyno asked Kaveh for his choice, he had to wait for Kaveh to finish downing a bottle of wine. Clearly he did not want to remember tomorrow.
“Truth or dare?”
“Please dare me to kill myself.”
“Ok, I’ll ask you a truth, because I don’t think any of us want to see that,” Cyno paused. “Hottest guy you know?”
“Lambad.”
Alhaitham’s eye twitched. “Really?”
“He’s a provider,” Kaveh bit back.
“I provide for you,” Alhaitham said, suddenly softer. Cyno and Tighnari pretended that they did not exist.
“All you provide me with are problems.” Kaveh ignored any further protests as he spun the bottle not once, not twice, but three times, hoping it wouldn’t keep landing on himself. In protest, he decided to ask himself. “Truth or dare, Kaveh. I think I’ll pick dare, Kaveh. Oh Kaveh, I dare you to leave.”
“That's not how this works,” Tighnari spoke up from under Cyno.
Kaveh glared, but stayed. The bottle landed on Cyno.
“Truth or dare?”
“Truth.”
“Would you sleep with Alhaitham again?”
Cyno paused, clearly trying to think of a humorous joke. Instead, he thought of an unhumorous joke. “I guess if he ever came around to liking me.”
Everyone had a completely different reaction to this. Alhaitham was less disgusted than expected, but still disgusted. Kaveh still looked like he wanted someone to dare him to kill himself. Tighnari was hoping that everyone else forgot that he had to take his clothes off every time Cyno made a joke. He did not want to be naked. Nakedness was freeing unless you were drunk with your four closest friends while you uncovered old secrets as the very weird not-exactly-sexual tension in the room rose.
Lucky for him, no one seemed to notice. Cyno spun the bottle again, shaking his ass intentionally as he leaned for the bottle. It landed pointing back at him, but this he just took as a sign that it was Tighnari’s turn.
“Truth or dare?”
“Truth.” Tighnari hoped it wasn’t something sexual. He was already trying to focus his mind away from that realm, hoping the warmth in his stomach would dissipate. Cyno would not let him think of something innocent.
“What was your favorite part of sleeping with Kaveh?”
Tighnari hummed. Alhaitham looked like he was ready to pop a blood vessel. Tighnari didn’t want Alhaitham to snap and kill him, so he thought of the most neutral answer he could. “Afterward he just looks so pretty all fucked out.”
Kaveh blushed, looking down. He was not having a good time. He opened up another wine bottle, ignoring the others.
When Tighnari spun the bottle, it landed on Alhaitham.
“Truth or dare.”
“Dare.”
“Kiss the hottest person in the room.” It was a gamble. If Alhaitham had feelings for Cyno, Tighnari would be squashed under that . If Alhaitham thought Tighnari was hot, then poor Cyno. Tighnari could only hope he found Kaveh hot.
Luckily, the best possible option (for Tighnari) was what turned out to be true. Alhaitham reached down, cupping Kaveh’s face and pulling him into a hungry kiss, clearly worked up by the prior discussions. When the kiss broke, Kaveh looked less miserable, but more confused.
“What?!” For the third time that night, Kaveh cried out. “Me?”
Alhaitham nodded.
“Why?”
“You’ve always been my equal, my mirror. Why else do you think I keep you around?”
Cyno made a fake gagging noise. “Ugh, take it to the bedroom!”
Kaveh glared. Tighnari sighed, “Not my bedroom.”
“I’m sure it wouldn’t be Kaveh’s first time in your bed,” Alhaitham snapped. Tighnari smiled with teeth. A positive gesture for people, a threat for foxes.
“Guys please,” Kaveh pleaded. “Just spin the bottle.”
Alhaitham spun it and it landed on Kaveh.
“Truth or dare?”
“Truth.”
“Would you fuck Tighnari again?”
“Yes! No! Maybe?” Kaveh was very, very confused. “We never officially ended being friends with benefits.”
Alhaitham exhaled sharply, his nose wrinkling as if he smelled something gross.
Kaveh spun the bottle before he could protest. It landed on Tighnari.
“Truth or dare?”
“Dare,” Tighnari replied, confidently. Kaveh took this opportunity to make Tighnari suffer.
“Kiss Alhaitham.”
“Just a peck?” Tighnari replied.
“No,” Kaveh said sternly. A real kiss.
Tighnari shrugged. When Cyno removed himself from Tighnari’s lap, he hoped no one could see the tautness of his boxers. He was wrong.
Objectively, the kiss with Alhaitham wasn’t bad. It was rough, Alhaitham had his hand on the back of Tighnari’s head, pushing their lips together. Yet, Tighnari had to do most of the work, as Alhaitham just laid there.
When the kiss was broken, Tighnari’s lips were sore. He returned to his spot, where Cyno quickly returned to his lap.
“I’m glad I wasn’t a part of that,” the white haired man said.
Alhaitham huffed. “I’m sure you’ve missed me.”
“I won’t deny that, but I’ve got my eye on someone else.”
“It better not be Kaveh.” Now that everyone knew he was in love with his roommate, Alhaitham didn’t care to hide his feelings.
“Oh, I wouldn’t dare to sleep with him. I wouldn’t want to be a homewrecker . Get it? Because he’s an architect-”
“Yes,” Kaveh sighed. “Someone kill me.”
Tighnari opted to ignore Kaveh’s pleas for death. Using his superior deductive reasoning skills, he figured out that Cyno was in love with him. Well, that made him feel better about the bulge in his pants.
Cyno also ignored Kaveh’s pleas, choosing instead to spin the bottle. Yet, in a horrid stroke of luck, it hit one of the table legs and shattered.
“Shit,” Cyno said. “I’ll clean it, ‘Nari.”
As Cyno moved to go get a dustpan, Tighnari tried to put his pants back on. Alhaitham stopped him.
“The game isn’t over yet.”
“When is it gonna be over?” Tighnari asked, genuinely curious. Kaveh was much too drunk to make it home and Alhaitham was too drunk to take care of him. The two men would have to stay the night. Cyno usually did.
They also only had one bed. And the couch. But Kaveh was too much of a princess to sleep on a couch and, after the night’s events, Alhaitham wouldn’t let him sleep alone with Tighnari and Cyno.
“When we’re hungover tomorrow,” Kaveh replied. “When I will have hopefully forgotten this.”
As efficient as always, Cyno quickly cleaned the broken glass. “So, you guys are staying the night?”
“It seems so,” Alhaitham replied. Without waiting for any confirmation, he removed his shirt. Clearly, he slept without it. Walking to the bedroom, he called back, “Goodnight.”
The other three looked at each other, and followed him, clearly having the same reasoning. Although they hoped the others wouldn’t talk about it, none of them would fall for that. Their relationship wouldn’t be the same, ever again.