Will You Be My Windblume - One Shot

The sun shined through the windows of the Knights of Favonious library. Three men sat down at a long table as their read through books. 

“I need a small break, reading all of these is giving me a headache.” Tighnari rubbed his temples softly in a circular motion. 

“Sounds good to me, breaks are always important for the body and mind.” A Cyno nodded before crossing his arms across his chest. 

“Okay, let’s have a fun conversation then. Do either of you have any plans on giving Windblumes yourselves?” Albedo's question caught both the Sumeru Scholars off guard. 

“It’s a Mondstadt festival, why would we give flowers?” Cyno questioned, trying to avoid the topic of partners. 

Tighnari only smirked as he interlocked his fingers on the desk in front of him. “Aw, does Cyno not want to admit he has a girl back home?” 

“Oh, so you do have someone? I wasn’t entirely sure if you have a thing between you or with others. I am not the best at reading the room when it comes to romance.” Albedo smiled as he looked between the two. 

“You aren’t alone there. Cyno is the same way.” Tighnari laughed softly as his friend only glared at him. “It might not be a bad idea to pick some flowers for Nilou. She does love the Goddess of Flowers after all.” 

Albedo’s eyebrows raised, “Goddess of Flowers? Please, when this topic is over I would like to hear more about Sumerus history.” 

Cyno only rolled his eyes and groaned at the conversation. “Why did you have to bring Nilou into this?” 

“Need I remind you, you’ve been crushing on her since you met her and she put everything she holds dear on the line to help us. And she threw you a party.” Tighnari crossed his arms and stared his friend dead in the eye. 

This conversation was repeating in Cynos mind as he sat outside of The Cat’s Tail. He did really like Nilou, she was so beautiful, she was kind and generous too. 

He finally decided to stand up when he watched a couple walk past him. They were hand in hand as they went down the stairs. The girl had pigtails, and while she was a blonde they reminded him of Nilous pigtails. 

Cyno took a stroll before he bumped into Tighnari and Albedo. “Let’s say, hypothetically… If I was to pick some flowers from here. Would they keep for the journey home and what flowers?” 

Albedo and Tighnari both looked at each other, both having small smirks on their faces. “Okay so, if we plant them in small pots they should survive the journey home.” Tighnari hummed. 

“As for flowers, Windwheel Asters are a lot of Mondstadter's go-to Windblumes of choice. Sucrose's friend; Barbara, loves Cecilia’s. She and a very popular Bard named Venti shared them as their Windblumes this year. Maybe Small Lamp Grass?” Albedo thought out loud. 

“I’ve seen Windwheel Asters and Cecilia’s, I’d call them true Mondstadt flowers.” Cyno crossed his arms as he talked. “They sound like the best candidates.” 

“So are we going to collect them or?” Tighnari asked with a smug smile across his face. 

“I can collect them myself. I don’t need to be babysat.” Cyno turned on his heels as she made his way out of the city walls. 

He was really careful with how he picked his flowers. He made sure each petal was perfect. No leaves or stems were bent in any way shape or form. Only the best would do for this present, if he was going to follow through with a Mondstadt tradition, he was going to do it right. 

Three hours had passed, not that Cyno realised. The time flew by for him and he walked back into the city to see Albedo and Tighnari sitting at “The Cats Tail” 

“Took you long enough, got ambushed?” Tighnari teased slightly as he leaned over his chair to see Cyno more. 

“No, I wanted the flowers to be perfect. Can we sort them out now?” Cyno asked, not faltering his form or voice from his friend's teasing. 

“Alight, alight. Let’s go.” 

***

It was a long trek home. Cyno carefully carried the flowers by himself, despite both Collei and Tighnari offering to help. 

He wanted to do this by himself, it was for Nilou. He would do anything for the dancer who helped them save Sumeru. 

The trio walked into the Zubayr Theatre to look for the red-headed woman. Cyno had wrapped the bouquet with such care, thanks to Collei's help. He refused to get Tighnari to help him with this part because he didn’t trust him. 

Collei ran ahead to try and find Nilou, but instead bumped into Dehya. She turned her head in the direction the Flame Mane was pointing in to see her. 

The young Forest Ranger tugged on a piece of Cyno’s clothing before gesturing her head towards the stage. 

There, front and center of the stage were Nilou. She hadn’t long started a dance for those watching and it took Cynos' breath away. 

His eyes never left the dancer as she twirled, swayed and moved to the rhythm of the music. It was mesmerising to watch her dance and Cyno didn’t think he would ever get tired of it. 

Nilou hadn’t noticed the trio enter until she ended her dance, her eyes locked with Cyno’s, and her cheeks flushed bright red. Why is Cyno here?! I thought he was in Mondstadt!! 

Her heart started to pound and she saw Dehya send her a thumbs-up before gesturing toward Cyno. That is not what she needed right now, she had been crushing on him since she met him. This was bad. 

“Hey everyone! Hope you enjoyed the performance.” Nilou approached the returning group with a bright smile on her face. She couldn’t help but notice the Cyno was acting differently, she wasn’t used to his behaviour. 

“Nilou, you were spectacular as always. But I hate to cut this reunion short, Collei and I need to visit this stall.” Tighnari stared at collei for a moment waiting for the girl to realise. 

“OH! Yes! Coming Master!” Collei ran off to catch up with Tighnari. She did turn her head to stick her tongue out at Cyno before going back to Tighnari. 

“Mh… That was odd.” Nilou thought out loud before realising it and covering her mouth. “I'm sorry! They are your friends and I don’t know them that well!” 

“No, you are absolutely correct. That is not their normal behaviour.” Cyno responded as he watched his friends walk away. Now or never. “Nilou, can I have a moment of your time?” 

“Sure! Let’s go talk on the stage though, a little more private than down here.” Nilou hadn’t noticed his arm being behind his back so Cyno let her lead the way. 

Cyno cleared his throat before talking. “Mondstadt is currently celebrating their Windblume festival. It’s the festival of romance and free. Mondstadters give flowers to those they care about this time of year.” 

Nilou tilted her head to the side for a moment, unsure as to where he was going with his history lesson. 

“Uh… I wanted to show you some of the flowers from Mondstadt. I know how much you love flowers so…” Cyno pulled the bouquet out from behind his back and looked away from her. He couldn't believe he was being shy now of all times! 

A small gasp left Nilous' lips as she gently took the bouquet from Cynos hand. She took a moment to admire the flowers, she didn’t know what they were called but they were beautiful nonetheless. And the scent was heavenly! 

“Nilou.” 

The woman looked up and met Cynos eyes, she felt her heart jump into her throat as she waited for him to continue his sentence. 

“Will you be my Windblume?” He asked, seemingly confidently, but deep down he was terrified she’d say no. 

“As in like a friend?” Nilou asked, she didn’t really understand the premise of the festival. 

“Romantically. I find you endearing and I wish to get to know you more and explore things with you.” He felt his cheeks redden slightly as he had to explain himself to her. 

“O-oh… I’d like that too… So yes, I’ll be your Windblume.” Nilou pulled the bouquet up to cover her blush as she stood there with Cyno. Their relationship was about to take the next step forward!