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One would think that after all these years, all these battles, Cyno would learn to stop getting himself seriously injured.
One would think.
“Archons, Cyno!” Tighnari exclaimed when the General Mahamatra stumbled through the flap of the overflow Bimarstan tent. Cyno was thoroughly covered in blood and walked favoring his left foot, which means something happened to his right foot. Tighnari dropped everything in his hands and rushed to help support Cyno before he toppled over.
“You have got to stop doing this…” Tighnari murmured, though he couldn’t hide his genuine worry under his exasperation.
Cyno looked into Tighnari’s eyes, glassy and unfocused. “Sorry…” he mumbled.
Tighnari expertly guided Cyno to one of the newly emptied beds and sat him down, just like if they were at his home in Gandharva Ville. Cyno had stumbled through those doors in worse conditions, so Tighnari decided to consider himself lucky that it wasn’t worse. He scampered off to find the right supplies needed to patch the general up. He hoped Zakariya wouldn’t mind his prioritization of Cyno, but when they briefly passed each other, the head doctor gave him a nod and a smile. So much for subtly.
When he returned to Cyno’s side with a wet rag and several rolls of bandages, the general was on the verge of slipping into unconsciousness. Tighnari needed him awake. So, just like always, he talked to Cyno, making sure everything was still alright in the mental department.
“What happened this time?” Tighnari asked, nearly deflating with relief when he found that most of the blood covering Cyno was not his own. There were a few nasty gashes, but his earlier observed condition was deceptively horrific.
“Found Azar. He stabbed me.”
Tighnari’s eyebrows shot up. “Azar stabbed you? Really?”
Cyno looked away in shame. “I know.”
“But surely he didn’t do all of this, right?”
“No,” said Cyno defiantly, “He had some mercenaries that were pretty good with their weapons. Must’ve picked the best to protect him.”
“Sounds about right. I’m going to clean this big one around your ribcage, alright? It’s going to hurt.”
Cyno grunted in acknowledgment. Tighnari should’ve known that the general wouldn’t so much as flinch at the sharp pain that accompanied wound cleaning, but he was still amazed every time.
“Have you left the Bimarstan since you got here?” Cyno asked as Tighnari reached for the roll of bandages.
“No. How is it out there?”
“Lord Kusanali has control of Irminsul again, and the Eremites have retreated.”
“She lost control of Irminsul?” Tighnari said incredulously.
“I know. Ridiculous, isn’t it?”
“Beyond ridiculous. You sure it’s not a rumor?”
“No,” admitted Cyno, “But I trust my subordinates.”
“Fair enough.” Tighnari pulled the wrappings tighter over Cyno’s chest. “If you trust them, I trust them. Let me see your right foot.”
Cyno dutifully stuck out his leg and let Tighnari examine it. The ranger held it gingerly, and after a quick observation…
“Cyno, you were walking on this? It’s practically mutilated!” he chastised.
“Meh, looks fine to me. I didn’t put too much pressure on it when I was walking here.”
Tighnari stared daggers at his patient. If Cyno was awake enough to be making stupid comments like that, he had to be fine mentally. The fog around his brain was clearing, but that just meant Tighnari’s headache would start to set in. “I can’t believe you. This probably needs elemental healing, and that’s a luxury I don’t have. I’ll just have to put it in a splint for now, we can find someone to elementally heal it later. Archons, we might have to go to Liyue for that…”
“S’okay, maybe it’ll heal on its own,” shrugged Cyno.
Great. He’s still slurring his words. Maybe Cyno isn’t as recovered as Tighnari thought. “Out of the two of us, who has more medical training?”
“You do,” Cyno replied simply.
Tighnari’s only response was to throw up his hands in exasperation, then stomp off to find materials for a splint. He knew he was overreacting, just a little, but he was worried about that idiot. Cyno isn’t invincible, but with the way he acts, Tighnari was beginning to think that he might be.
The ranger immobilized Cyno’s foot without much issue. A few times, when the noise spiked in the area, Tighnari’s fingers would slip as he flinched, but it wasn’t to the detriment of his work. Tying up a splint was actually strangely comforting. When he was finished, Cyno looked up at him, scooted over to one side, and patted the empty space. They’d done this little routine a thousand times before, Tighnari would patch up Cyno’s wounds, and then the general would wait for Tighnari to sit with him. It was like they mutually mandated the other to rest, and if they couldn’t do it separately, they could do it together.
But they’d always been alone. Here, Tighnari could probably be useful elsewhere, instead of sitting on the bed with his patient while other still writhed in pain. Tighnari flattened his ears to his head. “Not this time.”
Cyno sighed knowingly. “I’m sure Zakariya won’t mind. Just for a minute?”
“Since when do you take care of me?” Tighnari rolled his eyes, but sat down anyway.
The ranger stared at Cyno’s splinted leg. “That ankle is seriously messed up. You need to take it easy for a while,” he said absently.
“Mhm, you too, ‘Nari.”
He barked a laugh. “Once this is all over, maybe. As for you… Doctor’s orders. No walking on that until I can get in touch with an Allogene that can heal.”
“Fine. I’m sure you won’t even need to anyway…”
Tighnari gave him a gentle smack upside the head and stood in the same motion. “Lay down. Sleep if you can, but I understand if it’s too loud in here.”
“Alright.”
And with that, Tighnari whisked himself away, his job wasn’t over just yet.