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Admittedly, the thought had crossed his mind from the very first moment Aether had met Tighnari.
His mind was frayed and overwhelmed, weak from passing out, uncomfortable with the bitter medicine lingering on his tongue. He wasn't exactly.. in the best of states, to begin with. So when that tall eared forest ranger showed up, Aether's eyes drifted up, and perhaps stayed there a bit too long judging from the side glance he received a few moments later.
Aether recovered quickly though, and the conversation continued, with no one lingering on his glance at the ranger's ears. Well, except for Aether that is.
_-_-_-_
The second time was a little more incriminating, in all honesty.
Tighnari had started on one of his many lectures about plant life, this time focusing on Nilotpala Lotus, a type of flower that grew in the forest around water bodies. And Aether was determined to listen!
Unfortunately, he had neglected his sleep recently, too focused on exploring this new region. Tighnari's words faded into the background, becoming a welcoming hum into the land of sleep. His eyes blinked with sleepiness, and his mind drifted a bit, perhaps a bit too much. Because as his mind drifted, so did his hands, raising up to reach for the fluffy fur that decorated Tighnari's ears.
A hand soon grasped his wrist, stopping his arm's ascent, and Aether quickly blinked away the sleep dotting his vision, glancing up to meet Tighnari's eyes.
"A-ah.." Aether mumbled, unsure of how to respond. Tighnari looked down at him, a faintly amused look in his eyes, before they narrowed in scrutiny.
"Traveler, exactly how many hours of sleep have you been getting recently? And be honest."
"Um." Aether paused, how exactly could he phrase this? 0 hours might be correct, but it definitely wasn't the answer Tighnari was searching for.
"Enough?" Aether tried, an awkward grin on his face.
Tighnari stared, an uncomfortable pause resting between them, before sighing and speaking.
"Alright, come back to Gandharva Ville with me, you can rest in my room once again." Tighnari's hand on his wrist tugged, pulling Aether along with his brisk pace.
"Huh? Wait, but I can just rest in my Teapot!" Aether protested, tugging at his wrist, to no avail. Tighnari, despite his appearance, had a firm and unyielding grip, even to the Traveler.
"Oh, and you'll rest in there, instead of sneaking off to do other jobs instead of resting? No, better you're with me." Tighnari didn't give Aether one moment to protest, continuing to pull him along.
Leaving Aether to his sputtering, unable to deny the truth, Tighnari had read his intentions entirely.
_-_-_-_
The third time he tried, Tighnari wasn't even there, and somehow that wasn't even the most humiliating part.
Aether had recently met Ulman once again, and with some iron coins, he was able to once again befriend a Mini Seelie. It was the Moss Mini Seelie, an excitable little pale green friend, that seemed perfectly happy to accompany him through his travels in Sumeru. This little guy seemed especially interested in plants though, often drifting to stare at them for a while, or circling around some for a decent period of time.
It was quite accurate to say, the seelie was rather fascinated, often darting about when the Seelie discovered a new plant.
It was exactly this affection for plants that prompted Aether to give the seelie a new name.
"Nari!" Aether called out, the Moss seelie instantly darting over to rest in his outstretched palm. Aether smiled, finger reaching out to pat the seelie's ears.
Did he name his seelie after Tighnari? Maybe.
Aether petted the little seelie's ears, smiling at the sounds of contentment and purring he heard.
Did he regret it?
Absolutely not.
_-_-_-_
So Aether had figured out the solution to deal with his.. ear touch tendencies. Namely, any time he felt the urge to touch Tighnari's ears, he called for Nari and snuggled with the seelie for a little bit, petting and rubbing the seelie's ears till the craving went away, leaving simple happiness behind.
There was.. one issue with this solution however. When Tighnari was nearby, Aether's thoughts of ear touching went up substantially, and therefore so did the amount of pets Nari received. And, as Aether just discovered today, if Nari receives too much affection in too short of a time, the seelie gets a little.. hyper affectionate.
Namely, the seelie starts flittering constantly around him, making crooning noises and snuggling his cheeks. Adorable, but a bit distracting considering he was supposed to be paying attention to Tighnari's lecture, as they traveled through Avidya Forest.
Aether was certain Tighnari had long since noticed his little distraction, but the Ranger had yet to mention it, suprisingly.
Suddenly, Aether was pushed out his thoughts by a gentle nudge at his cheek, the seelie snuggling again. Giggling, Aether unconsciously laughed at the easy affection. "N-Nari!" Aether protested, in-between laughter.
Tighnari's ear twitched, the Forest Watcher pausing in step for a second, before continuing on. Uh oh.
Aether actually hadn't ever mentioned his new seelie's name around Tighnari yet. And it definitely didn't take much to figure out where the inspiration came from. The thought made Aether tense a little, worried about how Tighnari was going to reach to this development.
Tighnari turned to him, a smug look decorating his face. "Nari, hmm?" The man questioned, staring at him with a certain look Aether couldn't quite decipher.
"Aether, I am going to ask you a question, and I'd like you to be truthful to me."
Traveler gives a hesitant nod, Nari the seelie resting in him palm.
Tighnari places his hands on his waist, giving a deadpan stare. "Yes or no, do you want to touch my ears?"
"Ah!" Aether began, shocked. "You read me so easily.."
"It's easier than you'd think. Despite being rather silent, your face has a lot of tells. Especially considering you're travelling with a seelie named after me, and you keep petting it after glancing at my ears." The smirk on Tighnari's face this time was definitely smug, and Aether could only feel shame at how predictable he was.
Oh but wait, did this mean?
"So.. I can do it?" The traveler questioned, hands inching closer.
Tighnari just smiled, closing his eyes as he tilted his head down.
Aether was finally able to pet the ears (and tail too). It was quite a memorable day for both Tighnari and Aether, sticking in their memories for a while. If Aether ever wanted to be reminded of it, he'd simply glance at Nari, the seelie purring at him. Then he would remember.
He'd remember that it was soon time to visit Tighnari again.