#in the canon serious x airhead au haitham and reader aren’t related at all but instead good friends bc reader finds haithams sassiness funny

[abyssruler]

cyno x gn!reader

“You’ll like him, I promise!”

“If he’s anything like you, I suppose.”

“Well…” You trail off, imagining you and your brother growing up and constantly being told how different the two of you are, from your personalities down to your looks. “Anyway! He can be a bit of a dummy, but he means well.”

Cyno nods, a thoughtful frown on his lips as he crosses his arms and waits for your brother to arrive at your meeting spot.

You spy the eye-catching ahoge from a mile away. You beam, raising your hand in a wave and turning to your partner beside you—only to blink as you realize that he left without your notice.

The sound of steel against steel in the distance blares an alarm in your head. Frantic, you whip your head to the direction of the sound and find two very familiar individuals duking it out.

Oh no.

“Big brother Haitham, stop!”

They both freeze at the sound of your voice for two completely different reasons.

Al-Haitham pulls you behind him and points his sword at your very confused partner, uncharacteristically slow to connect the dots. “Choose your next actions carefully, Cyno.”

Cyno completely lowers his weapon as he switches his gaze between the two of you as if in disbelief that Al-Haitham, the so-called Akademiya lunatic who he’s barely spoken two words to, is your older brother. You, the light of his life—but also an Akademiya drop out who only managed to get in through sheer luck after your random answers on the entrance examination turned out to be right—were related to him?

Impossible.

…Or so he would have thought a minute ago before his world was turned upside down and his partner’s brother wasn’t the most suspicious person in Cyno’s eyes.

My brother is really smart like you! He’s really nice and he used to help me study for my tests back when I still went to the Akademiya. A little, um, mean—but he’s actually a good person!

Hah, mean. A large understatement. It would equate to a scholar calling the General Mahamatra benign.

He suppose he should have expected it from you. You do have the tendency to think the best of people, even when they don’t deserve it.

“Brother.” You tug on Al-Haitham’s arm to bring his sword down, but he refuses to do so, unwilling to take his eyes off Cyno. Huffing in annoyance, you stomp on his feet and feel immense satisfaction when he turns his head to glare at you.

“This isn’t the time—”

“He’s Cynie!”

There’s a joke to be made about a pin dropping in the silence after your words and your brother’s dawning look of realization and the skepticism that follows.

He whirls his head to Cyno and points, “That’s Cynie?”

You nod with a growing smile, delighted that your brother finally lowered his sword so you can come up to Cyno and drag him close by the arm. “Cynie, meet my brother, Haitham!”

“…I told you not to call me that in front of others.”

“But it’s cute!”

“Only when we’re alone.” To this, he sends a baleful glare to Al-Haitham that your brother returns with a glare of his own.

“Oh, please. My sibling has told me everything that’s happened in your relationship,” then, as if to add salt to the wound, he strictly emphasizes, “Cynie.”

A muscle in your partner’s brow twitches.

“It’s great that you two are getting along!” You exclaim with a smile that could rival the sun.

They can’t say no to that face. They both have no choice but to reluctantly grumble a hesitant ‘yes…’ that has your eyes shining bright.

“I have our outing planned for today! I saw a promo in a restaurant that said if you can finish some kind of large meal in under an hour, you don’t have to pay for it! Not too sure how big it is, but I know I can eat it all. I also passed by this really cool place yesterday…”

They let you drag them by the arm across the city, shooting glares at each other and throwing subtle barbs when they think you aren’t looking.

You called that day the ‘brothers-in-law bonding day’. They hated every second of it and vowed to never talk to the other again.

Unless you asked them to, of course.

#in case ur wondering reader knows they dont like each other but is choosing not to acknowledge it #reader: i pretend i do not see 😑 #in the canon serious x airhead au haitham and reader aren’t related at all but instead good friends bc reader finds haithams sassiness funny #oh wow there’s canon and non canon versions now…..anyway #i love me my grumpy and sunshine trope it will always remain superior <3 #genshin x reader #genshin impact x reader #cyno x reader #genshin cyno x reader #gn reader #serious x airhead