Work Text:
The moment the sand dunes began sparkling more than a mirage could ever dream to, Cyno knew his days were numbered. There was no escaping his fate. Preoccupied with hunting down a dangerous scholar, he could not turn back or stop to rest.
One might wonder what someone in such an impossible situation is to do, and how they survive. The answer was simple and harsh: he had to survive. Most would argue that he couldn't work with a migraine, but he absolutely had to.
With such urgency, it was easy to push down the throbbing of his skull. As long as Cyno didn't think about it, immersed himself in his surroundings and goal, and refused to acknowledge the symptoms, he could persist in his important work.
There was no time to rest. There was no time to eat, not that he was particularly hungry. Forgoing these needs, he swiftly caught up to his target. Subduing them was no problem when Cyno simply ignored the migraine and exerted his usual power. From there, he faced the grueling task of getting the scholar back to Sumeru. More endurance and stoicism were required now than for any other point in the mission. Guarding his prisoner at all times, never showing a sign of weakness or providing a chance to escape. This was going to come back to bite him later in the worst way possible, and Cyno was prepared for it.
The moment he handed over the scholar in Sumeru, his head became a ticking time bomb. With his guard let down, his body would consider it finally safe to express the full severity of the neglected migraine he had compounded with sleeplessness, hunger, stress and exertion. Cyno walked hastily to the destination he had in mind. Whether or not he would make it as the symptoms quickly set in was another matter.
He had a long walk ahead. The aura returning, rays of light shimmering through the canopies and the footpaths glowing beneath him, was his first warning. Cyno persevered with fierce resolve. When the ground began to rock like a ship, he maintained his footing, but he knew time was running out. Still, there was nothing to worry about until he got nauseous. When the nausea hit, it would be game over. He had that much time left.
His heart raced as the footpath turned to dirt. He was so close, and the pain was setting in, a steady pulse in his head. Cyno thought only of his destination. He chanted that name like it was a heartbeat keeping him alive. It was so close, now. The throbbing in his head was becoming excruciating, even nauseating. That was not a good sign.
As Cyno staggered into Gandharva Ville, his tunneling vision spotted Tighnari's house in the distance. That was close enough. He collapsed to his knees with a deep gag, dropping his polearm by his side.
"Back to be patched up again, General Mahamatra?" Halima, another forest watcher, teased him. It was impressive how contagious Tighnari's snark was. He may as well have stopped here if he had been looking to be mocked. Cyno nodded, delaying the inevitable vomit by not speaking. "I'll go fetch your fox for you!"
Cyno collapsing in Gandharva Ville was an embarrassingly common sight for forest watchers. Fortunately, none of them were interested in spreading the word, and even made efforts to keep his treatment as discreet as possible. It was well understood how important it was to the order of Sumeru that the Mahamatra maintain an intimidating, powerful image.
Cyno leaned over, letting bile drip into the dirt. Something terrible was writhing up inside his chest.
"Did you get another migraine while working out in the desert?" Tighnari called in exasperation. It was a relief to hear that reprimanding voice approaching. "Stop dragging yourself to me on death's door! Just lie down at your place!"
Cyno gagged again as he struggled to resist his churning stomach's commands. Tighnari crouched beside him and lightly rubbed his shoulder.
"You made it, as stupid as it was to try. You can relax, now." He spoke softly.
Cyno leaned into the encouragement, relaxing his body. His stomach immediately lurched into his throat.
With a gurgling belch, watery vomit splattered onto the ground. Cyno coughed and choked, squeezing his eyes shut against the sheer pain and misery assaulting his senses. Beside him, Tighnari sighed. It was a comforting sound, exactly what he had dragged himself to Gandharva Ville for.
He convulsed as a stream of sick was forced out of him, coughing and spluttering.
"Have you been eating, Cyno? You're not bringing up anything substantial." Tighnari observed calmly. It made sense, given he had been running purely on water, but it wasn't any less embarrassing.
"Are you analysing my vomit...?" Cyno panted weakly.
"It tells me things that you won't." Tighnari hissed.
As careless as it was to have not eaten lately, it certainly made this process slightly more bearable. There was nothing to get caught in his throat, only effortless surges of burning liquid.
"That's it. Once you're done, we can get you inside." Tighnari murmured. Cyno moaned in pain over the muddied ground. He wanted nothing more than to lie down. The searing headache, the light assaulting his eyes, his tired muscles and cramping stomach, were all telling him he needed to rest, yet that was not feasible right this second.
He curled in on himself as the next heave was particularly violent. Tighnari cautiously removed his helmet, then picked up his polearm and walked off with them, preparing Cyno to be moved inside easier. Even just the momentary absence was distressing in his frail state. He came here to be doted on specifically by Tighnari; he wanted his full attention.
There was then a momentary lull in the vomiting which Cyno found worse than the act itself. The nausea was so crippling he found himself gagging again and again, drooling helplessly on his hands and knees and wishing for death.
"Almost done?" Tighnari asked when he returned to his side, and Cyno wondered if perhaps he was. Maybe this inaction meant it was finally over, but his stomach had not settled. It was still writhing like a pit of snakes.
"I don't-" Cyno's confused words devolved into a strangled gag, followed by a cathartic heave that sent more vomit splattering onto the ground. This was the final piece of evidence he needed to believe that actually being sick was more of a relief than managing not to be.
Tighnari patted his back firmly. "It's okay. There's no rush," he soothed. Much to Cyno's own embarrassment, a despaired whimper escaped him. He had come to Tighnari in worse states than this and still managed to keep a straight face. It made no sense for him to be crumbling like this, but Tighnari saw no shame in it, only seeming to soften accordingly.
"Hey, you're okay," he hushed. "It's alright,"
Cyno coughed up another mouthful of foul tasting acid. It had gotten all through his long hair. His nose was running. His eyes were watering.
"You're shaking like a leaf," Tighnari remarked, contributing to Cyno's mental surveying of the damage. The humiliating performance was concluded with a wet belch dripping with bile. Finally, his body relaxed, stomach empty.
The exhaustion hit him like a flying brick. Cyno's vision simply went black, and Tighnari barely saved him from collapsing into his own mess.
"I take it you're ready to go inside?" Tighnari asked sarcastically. This told Cyno he wasn't completely unconscious, although he should have been by this point. At the very least, he was so far gone that he couldn't manage a reply.
Tighnari draped one of Cyno's arms over his shoulder and pulled him upwards. He couldn't even lift his head, but he forced himself to stand, knowing his only other option was getting dragged. The residing nausea was still extremely unpleasant, as was the aftertaste. As he trudged forward on trembling legs, clinging to Tighnari for dear life, it felt like they were spinning through the air. Cyno was certain his eyes were open, but he simply couldn't see. All he could do was trust Tighnari to guide him safely home.
The greeting of wooden floorboards to his feet was joyous. Within a few more strained steps, Cyno was falling onto a soft bed that smelled like Tighnari.
"You're all dirty, too! You may collapse into bed like that at your place, but not my bed! You're getting cleaned up the moment you can crawl!" Tighnari complained.
There was a chance Cyno could have responded, but in this particular instance he decided it was advantageous to let Tighnari think he was still too sick to speak. As he rested, Cyno was met with a wet cloth to the face, wiping away his sweat, snot and vomit.
"Oh, and it's all in your hair, too!" Tighnari realised in horror. "This can't wait. You're getting bathed right now."
Exhausted and drained, Cyno hated this news. He even uttered a tiny moan of defiance. Tighnari pulled him back up and guided him to the bathroom. He stripped Cyno where he lied in the empty tub, which was easier than trying to undress the dizzy man upright.
"Can't I have painkillers first....?" Cyno mumbled.
"You might be too delicate for that yet," Tighnari explained. "I don't want to introduce a new challenge to your stomach and then jostle you around."
A warm bath was surprisingly therapeutic. Cyno had expected it to make things worse, but he actually felt the pain in his head reduce and his body relaxed. He definitely fell asleep in there, especially when Tighnari began washing his hair. The forest watcher made it especially pleasant, not just washing the dirtied parts but his entire head, complete with a scalp massage gentle enough that it didn't hurt his head which felt like it was made of jelly.
Cyno whined sleepily when the cold absence of bath water awoke him.
"Good morning," Tighnari teased as he dried Cyno off in the tub. "I hope you don't just fall asleep in bathtubs like that when you're alone."
"Nope...." Cyno lied. With all his strength and power, bathtubs really were the biggest threat to his life.
The throbbing in his head was beginning to intensify again, but fortunately, Tighnari had decided it was safe to give Cyno medicine at last. He put Cyno to bed without bothering to dress him, then gifted him a syrupy spoonful of pain relief. Cyno took the spoon from him and licked it as clean as he could before Tighnari took it back.
"Calm down, it's not a lollipop."
Now, they were settled. Cyno discovered he could see again, and upon finding Tighnari's home was as blinding as the outdoors, decided it was best to keep his eyes shut after all. Tighnari kept him company with a bucket, stroking his hair in peaceful silence. There were three days of sleep to catch up on. With his work done, clean and cosy, the promise of pain relief kicking in soon and Tighnari by his side, Cyno was looking forward to the best sleep ever.
He wouldn't remember this later, but this medicine was particularly strong. Tighnari knew how severe Cyno let his migraines get and had made sure to treat them appropriately, so he was unsurprised when Cyno began to talk softly to the ceiling.
"What... What do you call a doorway... that's... outside..."
Tighnari snickered. "I don't know. What?"
"Lost!" Cyno wheezed so hard he started choking. He could hear Tighnari laughing beside him. Whether it was with him or at him, he did not know, but he was happy to be making him laugh either way.
"Does your head still hurt?" Tighnari checked.
"No... Thank you..." Cyno muttered, and then began giggling again.
"What's the matter?" Tighnari asked, voice tinged with amusement.
"Just... ehehe! Lost!" He burst into laughter again. "The doorway is lost! Because doorways aren't supposed to go there!" This was possibly the purest form of Cyno's amusement, him laughing and smiling freely. Judging by the way Tighnari's hand trembled beside his head, it was contagious.
"Go to sleep, Cyno," Tighnari giggled, but Cyno couldn't stop laughing. "Shhhh." He resumed stroking Cyno's hair in an effort to settle him, and it was rather effective.
"Doors... hehehe..." Cyno smiled as Tighnari continued to hush him. When he still didn't stop laughing, Tighnari tried silencing him again.
"Go to sleep. You need rest." He whispered. The gentle assertiveness with which he spoke between hushes and affection was incredibly relaxing. Cyno wanted to listen, even as he still occasionally laughed about doorways. Tighnari made him feel so safe. He was glad he persevered through his migraine for so long and came all this way to see him, and he would always choose to do so.
Cyno slept like a rock. He had arrived in Gandharva Ville at midday, but he didn't awake until late the next day, naked and confused.