Chapter Text
It was a peculiar thing. Biology, that is.
Humans spent most of their energy defying it, that they get blindsided when it catches up with them.
And catch up it did.
It was January. And while Cyno had never really paid attention to it, whether it was by chance or by design, he had never visited Tighnari around this time. So with a begrudgedly better mood and a few items for cooking in his bag (somehow Tighnari and Collei never had enough cooking supplies), he had made his way to Gandarva ville.
Usually, he would announce his visit, but he had come by without a notice once or twice before, and it was always fine, so it had to be fine this time as well.
Had to be, even though the villagers stared at him oddly when he entered the perimeter. Had to be fine, even, especially, as he was about to climb up the wooden path to Tighnari's home, and heard the quick stomping of feet on the ground as someone was running to reach him.
And it really really should've been fine, yet when he raised his hand to rapp on the door, someone tackled him from behind and had he not reacted in time to stop his reflexes, he would've thrown the person into the river flowing below the suspended wooden bridge.
Instead, he stilled, looked down to see hands wrapped in familiar gloves, and pried his body out from Tighnari's hug.
That was an unusual reaction. Was he alright?
He was, in fact, not at all alright by the looks of it.
His hair was disheveled, his ears which were normally perked up high, twitching curiously at the sounds of the forest, as well as eyes that normally darted from one place to the next to make sure there were no dangers lurking in the forest, looked droopy, almost tired.
Yet, tired wasn't the right way to put it either. It was puzzling.
Before he could say anything, Tighnari pushed him inside and closed the door.
"You're not supposed to be here."
Simple sentence, straight to the point.
"I know I didn't send any warning of my visit. I'll make sure to send a letter next time, sorry if I interrupted anything important."
Cyno placed his bag on the ground near the door, and moved towards the kitchen almost in auto-pilot, but Tighnari was standing in the way.
"No, I... You can't be here, right now." For a long second Cyno thought Tighnari wouldn't open his eyes again, but when he did it was accompanied by a shiver.
"I'm sorry. I-"
He was interrupted by Cyno's cold hand on his forehead and his neck. He was feeling the temperature, though it didn't really feel like he had a fever.
Cyno was about to ask whether he was alright, when he heard him whimper. Tighnari. Whimper.
What the fuck.
They just stared at each other in silence and Cyno removed his hands.
Tignari didn't wimper. He was no nonsense, maybe a bit of a stubborn idiot at times, but he didn't whimper, didn't ever act like... This.
But he didn't have a fever. So what was it? Food poisoning?
Cyno clearly didn't know enough about medicine and illnesses to figure out what would cause Tighnari to look like he was in so much pain.
"Are you sick? You look like you haven't slept enough recently."
There, that was an option.
Tighnari did one of his slow blinks again.
What in the world was going on with him?
"It's not that", he finally managed to wring out.
"It's... Biological. It's something to do with the non-human side."
He looked embarrassed. As if this topic itself was painful to bring up or talk about. It would explain why they had never talked about it before.
Cyno felt obligated to save him.
"You don't need to talk about it if you want. I can even leave again. I'd advice you to go get some rest though. You always overwork yourself."
Tighnari's response was unexpected and explosive. It even seemed to surprise himself, since after shouting "NO!", he corrected, but swiftly faltered "No, I... I don't... I..."
Cyno waited, but when Tighnari began to wobble a little, something in him snapped.
"Well, no matter what you were going to say: too bad. I'm staying. You clearly don't know how to properly take care of yourself because even I know that you should be in bed."
"Cyno I really think you should..."
"No.", then softer, "Look, Nari. You can't even stand properly. Sit down, or better: go to bed. I'll make you something to drink and something to eat. And then you can tell me what's going on. Because quite frankly, I don't think you could even stand for much longer. Is that alright?"
To his surprise, Tighnari nodded, and tapsed away towards his bed, his fox tail moving to balance him out now more than ever.
Cyno sighed.
He had a week off, more or less. And he had expected to play card games with Tighnari and Collei, or to help the forest watchers clear out some withering zones. Not to be met with a sick Tighnari.
But as much as he was looking forwards to a relaxing evening with friends, Cyno was practical. And Biology, as he was about to learn, did not wait for anyone.