Work Text:
Tighnari’s left leg is sore.
He opens his eyes, blinking slowly. The stretched fabric of the Gandharva Ville Forest Watcher’s tent greets him, fuzzy at first before his eyes focus.
The ends of the canvas are crusted with a grey mildew again, and Tighnari makes a note to have Amir or one of the trainee rangers treat it again.
When he sits up, a shooting pain runs through his leg.
Wincing, he looks down where the leg of his trousers has been rolled up and pinned. His leg has been bandaged neatly — most likely by Collei, who has spent some of her time training at the Bimarstan recently — with no signs of bleeding through or significant injury. Tighnari sighs and nods to himself. It was better for him to clear out the Withering than anyone else at their camp, regardless of how much both Collei and Amir asked to help.
“You’re awake.”
Tighnari knows that hoarse voice anywhere.
“Why are you here, Cyno?”
Cyno physically stumbles as he walks forward with a cup of tea, nearly spilling it, and his eyes widen as if Tighnari has struck him.
Tilting his head to the side in confusion, Tighnari runs the words over in his mind. He has a tendency of saying things bluntly but he thinks that he asked the question matter-of-factly and without annoyance, although Cyno is being a bit obnoxious about a small injury. The hurt expression on Cyno’s face has no logical explanation.
“I came to check on Collei and see how she’s doing,” Cyno says, handing Tighnari the mug. It’s crooked and has a crude drawing of Cuilein-Anbar on it — one of Collei’s many half-finished craft projects. Cyno smiles at him wanly, half-confused and half-stern General Mahamatra.
Silence stretches between them and Tighnari sips his tea slowly, waiting for Cyno to say something else.
Tighnari doesn’t like it, and doesn’t understand it. Any silence with Cyno, even during their most stressful days at the Akademiya, has always been comfortable.
“Where is she?” Tighnari asks.
“She went to talk to one of your forest watchers, Rana.”
Tighnari narrows his eyes at the mention of Rana’s name. Rana had left with the traveller several months ago and hadn’t returned. He hadn’t expected the worst — Rana was capable and the traveller was an experienced fighter — yet, it was unsettling that she didn’t return. Usually her trips to Vimara Village take a week, if that, Port Ormos a bit longer and Sumeru City a bit shorter depending on who she’s escorting.
From what he remembers, she had been planning on visiting her family in Vimara Village.
“I should receive her report—”
Cyno’s hands are immediately on Tighnari’s shoulders, firmly pushing him back onto the spare cot in the forest ranger station.
“—Collei can do that. She’s still a trainee and can learn from the experience.”
Frowning, Tighnari looks down at his hands. Someone — Cyno, probably — has removed his gloves, leaving the blisters and calluses from his bowstring visible.
“What happened?” he asks, flexing his fingers.
Cyno winces. “You don’t remember?”
Tighnari closes his eyes and opens them again, tilting his head back. The mildew on the ceiling is still there.
“I went to clear a Withering zone towards Gandha Hill,” he says slowly, realizing that he doesn’t remember anything beyond the intent to clear it. “I have a concussion.”
“And a leg injury. I was going to break the news to you with a good joke,” Cyno says, sighing loudly. “But I couldn't think of anything that had the right impact. I stopped while I was ahead.”
The discomfort between them immediately shatters as Tighnari groans and Cyno bursts out laughing.
Tighnari loves Cyno’s laugh. It’s harsh and hoarse and almost like a cough but Cyno’s entire face lights up when he tells one of his awful jokes.
“That’s a new low, even for you,” he says.
“That means it’s some of my best material,” Cyno retorts. “You love my jokes.”
Tighnari does, but will never tell Cyno this.
Somehow, Cyno knows anyway.
“Why are you here, Cyno?” he asks again, trying to sound less harsh as he says it.
They usually meet at Pardis Dhyai — “halfway between the desert and the city” Tighnari had once said when he proposed it as a practical meeting place — whenever they want to see each other. Their respective careers make it difficult. Tighnari sometimes wonders why Cyno bothers with their relationship at all, not out of romantic self-flagellation, but in the pragmatic way that he approaches everything. The difficulty for many would outweigh the meagre benefits, although Tighnari can’t imagine not loving Cyno, regardless if they are together in any capacity or not.
Perhaps it’s the same for Cyno, although he visibly struggles with the strain more than Tighnari.
“Are we officially a couple?” Tighnari asks, parroting Cyno’s words back to him. “What, so this sort of thing needs official documentation now? Okay then…”
Tighnari stands up from where he was leaning against Cyno, the two of them looking up at the stars. He gestures towards Cyno with a stern expression.
“Well, hand over your ‘couples certificate.’ I assume it'll need my signature.”
A stunned look slides off of Cyno’s face as he flushes so brightly that it’s almost purple and then laughs loudly. Startled, a nearby messenger bird at the gardens takes flight.
“That answers my question then,” Cyno says, squeezing Tighnari’s hand.
For all of the General Mahamatra’s gruff and steely ruthlessness when tracking down criminals of the Akademiya, Cyno is a warm person at heart.
Much warmer than Tighnari could ever be.
Cyno sighs and visibly swallows and Tighnari knows that whatever comes out of his mouth next will either be another abysmal joke or something so sincere, he’ll have a difficult time hearing it.
“Because I want to be here,” Cyno says.
The latter then.
***
Rana’s report is incomprehensible to Tighnari, but he’s unwilling to discard it fully. Cyno, who Tighnari had sent after Collei under the pretense of making sure that Collei collected as detailed of a report as possible and not at all because Cyno’s hovering was annoying, corroborates Collei’s retelling and Rana’s new dendro vision.
“Do you believe in the Aranara?” Tighnari asks Cyno after Collei leaves to prepare a fresh poultice for Tighnari’s leg.
Cyno shrugs, grimacing as he slowly unwraps the bandage around Tighnari’s leg. “You would know about them more than I would.”
“It sounds too fantastical to exist,” Tighnari muses. “Yet, I sometimes see flashes and small movements in my periphery vision. I used to dream about them often.”
As a child, Tighnari had all sorts of dreams. They faded during his adolescence at the Akademiya, but have oddly returned now that he lives in Gandharva Ville.
“It’s interesting to think of an entire species guarding the forest,” Tighnari continues. “They would have to be entirely self-sufficient and additionally, work around myriad researchers all while remaining undiscovered. Fascinating when you really think about the possibilities. I’ll have to keep an eye out again the next time I clear out a Withering zone.”
Tighnari watches Cyno’s eyes narrow and flicker back towards Tighnari’s open wound. It’s not the worst Tighnari remembers having, but it will need attention so it doesn’t get infected.
“You might want to stay away from Withering zones for a while,” Cyno says, thanking Collei with a nod as she hands him the fresh poultice, still in its mortar.
Humming through the pain, Tighnari shakes his head. “They’ll need attention soon enough. And I heal quickly. You don’t need to stay any longer if you don’t want to.”
A flash of hurt flickers in Cyno’s eyes. It’s expected and while it doesn’t make Tighnari feel guilty per se, he does feel badly about hurting Cyno’s feelings so easily.
Still, Cyno has no fewer than ten ongoing investigations at any given time. For as much as Tighnari despises the Akademiya, he values Cyno’s time.
“You didn’t see yourself when they carted you in,” Cyno says grimly. His voice goes hoarse again, like it did when they first met and Cyno was wearing the mantle of General Mahamatra fully as judicator. “I’m staying.”
Tighnari feels Cyno’s hand tighten in his, daring Tighnari to tell him off. A few steps away, likely pretending that she can’t hear or see any of this, Collei putters in front of the small brazier, preparing shroomboar meat for their dinner by wrapping in it broad green leaves.
“I’ve heard you have the latest Genius Invokation expansion,” Tighnari says. He doesn’t care for the game at all and sees it as a waste of time. “Want to teach me and Collei how it works?”
The answering grin from Cyno is worth the next few hours of horrible jokes and sensational card descriptions.