[ Three little words. It's just three little worlds that make a world of a difference. Those words alone transition what they have to something undefined into something more definitive. Something that they've both kept to themselves but expressed in different ways more concrete. Words are not things that can be taken back once spoken out loud.

And, truthfully, Tighnari doesn't know when he actually fell in love with Cyno. He just had realized it shortly before the end of his studies. Right before becoming a Forest Watch. That moment he had simply embraced it; he had recognized that there's really no room for anyone else to occupy that pocket of his being save for Cyno.

Horrible jokes and all. ]

To think that it only took you taking me out on a date outside of Sumeru to finally get you to say it. Remind me of that when we return home, hmm?

[ The feeling is mutual, though. Tighnari can't imagine his life without Cyno in it. Without those horrible jokes. The piercing red eyes that weigh someone's worth with just a glance. It's all in the way that Cyno brings Tighnari things from his work. How he fusses and frets. Cyno knows Tighnari better than anyone else. And the reverse is also true.

There's really only one way that the botanist can respond to that. It's by tugging Cyno closer by the hand to that cheek. There's only one way that Tighnari can also express the same sentiments. That's by giving the other man a rather firm, but gentle kiss. ]

Just so you're aware, that means I love you too, you big lummox.