Work Text:
Tighnari’s tail swished from side to side as he sat at Collei’s bedside, pressing a gloved hand to her forehead and underneath her cheeks and jaw before pulling away. She scrunched up her face and turned her head away and breathed out a discontent sigh. Her eyes were tightly shut.
He knew he shouldn’t have let her come on that patrol with him. She couldn’t overexert herself and her condition always worsened after such bouts of exhaustion. Even then, she was doing so well lately, and he wanted to test her limits as she had begged him to.
A sigh left him.
It was his fault for this.
His gaze fell upon the empty cabinet that once held her many, many medications and remedies. It was depleting and it only depleted more with each major episode and breakdown of her condition that she had. It was only a matter of time until it all ran out and he’d have to go run around and get some more for her. Things were running scarce lately anyhow.
He doubted he could find as much as he used to. He might even have had to import some things, but he didn’t want things to reach that point.
His tail swished and swayed more in frustration and worry. How could he have let things get this bad? Was her condition, her disorder, worsening with each step she took? Before he knew it, his mind retreated to a dark place; an abyss with no end in sight. He was responsible for all the people here in one way or another and Collei was no different.
So what had he done wrong?
His ears flicked back when they picked up the sound of footsteps. He turned around in his seat.
“Tighnari,” whispered Cyno, standing tall and great and almost like a beacon of divinity. In one of his hands he held a basket full of various plants and herbs and in the other hand he had a basket full of different..foods? He came into the small house, “I heard about Collei.”
“So you..came all the way here?”
“Yes. I picked up a few things on the way.”
“You didn’t have to.”
“I still did it anyway.” He set the baskets down on the wooden table. “I knew you were going to stay here and watch over her and forget about yourself in the process. How long have you been sitting there?”
“..a few hours at most, from the moment she fell asleep because her fever worsened and she couldn’t stay awake any longer. I had to make sure she ate and drank water too.”
“A few hours? Have you eaten and drank something by any chance?”
Tighnari didn’t reply, eyes narrowing before he turned his gaze back to Collei. Cyno made a small noise of indignation, “Tighnari.”
“It was only in the morning,” he admitted, “she fell ill by noon. I had no time for it.”
“You cannot keep doing this, forsaking your livelihood for others.”
“Don’t come at me with that bullshit,” he snapped, “you’re one to talk.”
A beat of silence.
Tighnari felt the sharp anger dissipate into thin air. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize,” Cyno finally came over, pressing a hand to his shoulder and squeezing it before reaching for his own hand, rubbing his thumb over its gloved surface, “you’re under some stress. You need something to eat and something to drink. Collei will be fine if you look away from her for a while.”
“I don’t know, what if - ”
It was too late, he was already moving out of his chair by Cyno’s discretion.
“She’ll be fine. Think of yourself for a moment.”
He conceded just like that.
His gloves were taken off as he sat at the table with the other, being served some of the food that was brought alongside some water. He leaned on Cyno’s shoulder, they were sitting next to each other, and he muttered, “this is the worst episode Collei has had during her time here.”
“I have no doubt it is,” he replied, “I came here the minute I heard. I had a bad feeling about it.”
“..I’m glad you came. If her condition had worsened and deteriorated even more..”
“I’m sure she’ll get through this one. She has a bit of a warrior’s spirit.”
“I hope so. I truly do hope so.”
He sipped some of the water more, trying to ease his nerves. With Cyno’s presence here, he was put at ease, but even then he still feared for Collei and her life. There were so many things that could go wrong and he didn’t know if he wanted to think about them. He pressed himself into Cyno’s shoulder more, looking for comfort, trying to stave away the negativity plaguing him.
At some point, his eyes had closed briefly. His own exhaustion was catching up to him. The cup nearly slipped out of his hands had Cyno not caught it and set it down safely back onto the table. He struggled keeping himself conscious.
“Tighnari,” he sounded concerned, “you need some sleep.”
“But Collei - ”
“I’ll watch her. You need sleep.”
“..okay. I’m still staying here though.”
He was obviously frustrated with both himself and the entire situation, but who was he to deny the fact that he was obviously struggling to just keep his eyes open right now? He stood up from the table shakily and pulled out a new seat for himself, propping up on it and exhaling. Cyno sat in his former seat by her bedside, keeping his end of the bargain.
Sleep would be nice..
And without another thought, he fell asleep.
He woke up in a different position and spot. He was on the ground, sitting up against the wall, and surrounded by a bunch of pillows and blankets. Cyno was beside him, face pressing against his hair and body pressing against his own and he was soundly asleep. Collei was..up and moving around?! He blinked the sleep out of his eyes.
“Collei..?”
She jolted when she heard him, “Mr. Tighnari! Um..last night, I finally woke up again, and General Mahamatra was watching over me and you were sleeping! I didn’t want you to be uncomfortable so..he moved you onto the floor and he helped me collect some pillows and blankets for you to sleep on. I told him to get some sleep too..”
Gods, she was too sweet.
He wanted to cry. And hug her. And also thank literally everything that she was moving around and looked to be recovering just fine.
“How do you feel?” He asked.
“I feel better!” She smiled. “Not..pitch perfect yet, but still better!”
“That’s good. I don’t know what I’d do if you weren’t feeling any better by now.”
And that was the truth.
While Collei continued resting and recovering, Tighnari woke Cyno up and the two cleaned up and left with the one basket full of herbs and plants, leaving the one with food in it for Collei. They headed out of the house and into Tighnari’s own place, setting the basket down there. A look of relief was etched on his face.
“Thank you for being here,” he said to Cyno, cupping his face with one hand and pulling him forward to kiss him, “are you going to go now since Collei seems to be recovering alright?”
“I plan to stay here for a few days, actually.”
“..really?”
“Of course. Someone needs to tell you when to stop throwing away your life for others.”
“Ironic,” he deadpanned, “last I checked, I didn’t get nearly fatal wounds fighting a beast ten times my size.”
“And last I checked, I’m not the one collapsing from stress and sleep deprivation.”
“You’re a pain in my ass, General Mahamatra.” He said, gaze somehow softening with affection. “I love you.”
“And I love you.”
Ugh, Tighnari hated him and his sappiness that was so, so clear in his eyes. To be fair though, he knew he himself looked just as lovesick. He kissed him again for the hell of it. With that, they got set to organizing and labeling the plants Cyno had brought, seeing which ones could be made into remedies for Collei and her ever so shaky health.
There was nothing to fear. He could breathe a little easier now.