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Cyno is a terrible conversationalist.
The only things he knows how to do in conversations is be serious, slightly playful, and most of all, honest.
Honesty was his greatest policy, and also his fatal flaw, especially when it came to arguments.
One day, when he has come back home after getting laid out by an enemy, he had successfully beaten them but not without a decent bruise to his eye, swollen wrist, and scratches everywhere under the sun.
Tighnari stared at him in the doorframe, swallowing softly he grabs Cyno’s uninjured wrist and drags him inside to sit on a chair.
“Cyno, what on earth happened this time?” He asks, carefully wrapping up his sprained wrist first. He winces, then speaks softly.
“There was some Fatui along my path as I was making my way here… I would have avoided injury if I could, but a hammer hit me and now I look like this.” He murmurs, gesturing to his face.
Tighnari sighs and looks at him.
“Cyno, you know Fatui activity has been getting more rampant these past few weeks. Why would you willingly walk through the route I told you to avoid?”
“It was the only way to get home. The other routes were busy with merchants or tigers making themselves at home.”
Tighnari groans, shaking his head lightly as he pats his wounds with disinfectant, cleaning his shallow cuts. The pain he feels is something he’s grown used to, always bouncing back, always getting back up, always winning.
“Do you not believe me?” He asks, uncomfortable with Tighnari’s silence.
He doesn’t answer, too focused on grabbing a light to shove in his face.
Staring in silence, Cyno furrows his brows, confused.
“You have a concussion.”
He raises his brow, watching him walk back to his desk to put the lantern down.
“How do you know?” He asks, more curious than accusatory. Tighnari turns to him,
“Because your eyes are struggling to dilate. Did you pass out when you got hit?”
He sighs and thinks about it, his breaths a little shaky from his concussion.
“I think so. It was a powerful blow.”
Tighnari grimaces, sighing internally.
“Cyno, that’s not good.” He says and comes over, helping him into his bed.
“Do I have to rest?” He asks, and Tighnari nods.
“Yes. This is very serious. Without the proper care and attention it can become much worse. So, please, just lay here.”
He pleas, but Cyno knows he cannot be idle at this moment. With how aggressive the Fatui are being, it is only a matter of time before they come to the village. He doesn’t want Tighnari or Collei to ever be in danger, it is his job to prevent danger, to sniff it out before it even starts. His injury is not an excuse for incompetence, this he ingrained into himself.
“I cannot.” He says and begins to sit up, and Tighnari lays him down as hard as he can, even while knowing Cyno is stronger.
“You must.” Cyno puts his hands on his arms, pushing him off with ease.
“Tighnari, even if my situation isn’t great, I must provide protection for you.”
“But what of yourself?” He asks, desperate as Cyno is already putting back on his uniform.
“What about myself?”
Tighnari scoffs, shaking his head, his frustration peering through his worried expression.
“What about- Cyno, this is your health! Concussions aren’t something you brush off. Not to mention, if you keep using that wrist it will get worse! It could break!”
Tighnari has raised his voice now. This isn’t new to Cyno, as he usually always says something to make someone else mad, even if it wasn’t intentional. This time, it truly isn’t intentional.
“Tighnari, I want to protect you.”
“Don’t give me that! You’re not even thinking about yourself!” He says, frustrated and frankly, angry.
“You are angry.” He says flatly, Tighnari becomes even more frustrated.
“Obviously!” He says then goes up to the door Cyno stands outside of.
“If you keep this up, I’m not going to treat you anymore! You obtuse moron!” He says in a fit of passion and closes the door.
“Come back when you finally see the problem, and I better not see you in those woods!” He shouts behind the door.
Cyno stands there, contemplating the situation. Did Tighnari just kick him out? Or did he kick himself out?
On the other hand, Tighnari had called him “obtuse.” Well, that wasn’t on purpose, and the moron part was a little hurtful. What did he say? How can he fix it?
He asks himself these questions as he returns to the woods, even though Tighnari told him not to, pacing around for a patrol. He doesn’t think he was being that dull. He was just being honest, he thought Tighnari liked that about him.
Cyno sighs deeply, his heart heavy with remorse from the argument they had. He obviously made Tighnari angry, and even if he doesn’t know the reason, he should return with an apology, and perhaps some honeyed dates from the market…
As he’s lost in thought, he hears a twig break in the woods and turns to it. When he does, he’s face to face with the hammer from before and within seconds, he barely manages to avoid the blow. If he got hurt any worse, Tighnari would surely rip him a new one.
Breathing deeply, he steels himself, but as he grips his polearm, his hand twitches in pain and it’s already too late when the hammer is coming down again. Crouched like a helpless animal, his savior appears in the trees, an arrow shooting through the head of the Fatui soldier, flowers blooming from the wound.
Panting softly, Tighnari swings down from the trees and grabs his shoulders.
“Cyno! Are you alright?” He asks, trying to snap him out of it. Cyno shakes it off, nodding.
“Yes, I’m fine—“
“Are you stupid?!” Tighnari immediately shouts, pulling him by the ear back to the village like a child. Cyno mumbles “ow, ow, ow” under his breath along the way before pushing himself off.
“Agh! What are you doing that for?”
“You know exactly why.”
“No, I don’t!” He says back, genuinely confused as he looks at Tighnari. He doesn’t understand, truly.
Tighnari huffs and holds his shoulders again.
“Why did you go back to the woods when I told you not to?”
Cyno swallows slightly and blinks a little.
“I just… wanted to make sure the area was safe.” He says softly and Tighnari looks pained.
“But look at what happened, Cyno. What did I tell you?” He says, and Cyno creases his brow again.
“What do you mean?”
“Look around you, Cy.” He says quietly.
“Open your eyes!” He suddenly shouts, and Cyno snaps awake, Tighnari shaking him.
Looking at him, he can feel his eyes shaking as he groans, holding his head. There is a warm, wetness on his face, touching it, there is blood in his field of view.
“Cyno!” Tighnari says, holding his face.
“Don’t fall back asleep!” Cyno closes an eye, his mouth hanging open as he tries to make sense of this. He was just walking with Tighnari a second ago, what happened?
As his vision clears ever so slightly, he can see the body of the Fatui soldier on the ground, which he knows occurred. However, he also sees a blood splatter on the end of the hammer, his eyes widen.
He can’t think straight, just grabbing Tighnari immediately.
“Are you hurt?!” He tries to say, but it comes out a jumbled mess and all he sees in Tighnari’s gaze is fear.
He shakes his head, trying again, but it keeps coming out wrong. Frustrated, his face contorts with pain and panic and Tighnari pulls him closer.
“Oh, god, Cy.” He says softly and picks him up with all his strength, taking him back to the village.
“Don’t fall asleep, please, don’t fall asleep.” He begs him, and Cyno hears the hurt in his voice. One eye closed from the blood, he can barely move his body, feeling sluggish as Tighnari carries him around like a toddler.
When back in the hut, Tighnari is shouting for nurses and medicine. Cyno can hardly feel what he’s doing, but he can hear the crunch on his head as Tighnari applies gauze to the wound.
Breathing harder, he starts to realize the implications of this crunch and Tighnari looks pained and scared. Cyno wants to reach out, but he can’t move his arms.
Tighnari whispers softly, holding his face as he tries to stop the blood from leaving his head.
“Cyno, it’s okay, you can fall asleep now.”
He whispers, holding back tears. Cyno wants to stay awake, to comfort him, but the temptation of rest is already easing over him like a warm blanket. Wrapping him in its embrace his eyes flutter closed.
He whispers, still jumbled,
“…nari?”
…
Sometime later, Cyno wakes up, his eyes opening slowly as he looks around the sunlit room. Swallowing slightly, his ear hurts and he groans, immediately he hears footsteps and Tighnari comes into view, his breaths shuddering with relief.
“Cyno…” He whispers, and Cyno looks into his eyes, observing with clarity finally.
“Nari…” He whispers, and this time it’s right. He blinks a few times before continuing.
“Are you okay?” He says softly and Tighnari’s eyes well with tears.
“Say anything else, please.” He whispers back and Cyno furrows his brows, then speaks.
“I love you.” He says and Tighnari looks like he could cry, he leans down, wrapping his arms around him.
“I was so scared.” He mumbles and kisses his face.
“Cyno… you were so close to death, it’s all my fault.” He cries and Cyno shakes his head, wincing slightly but brushing it off for the sake of hugging him back.
“No, no Nari it’s not-” He says softly before being interrupted by a groan. Tighnari shakes his head.
“Don’t talk too much. Are you in pain? I have painkillers to fix it. I’ll grab them-“
Just as Tighnari is about to run away, Cyno grabs his arm.
“This was not your fault.” He says firmly, fighting through the pain he’s feeling and pulling him back to him.
“You were angry with me, rightfully so, even if… even if I don’t know why. I need you to know it’s not your fault. Don’t run away.” He says softly, almost desperately. He feels like he’s holding onto a frayed rope, praying it doesn’t snap.
Tighnari breathes a shaky sigh and sits with him. “Cyno, I’m not running away…” He whispers and Cyno feels his face begin to hurt, the blood rushing to his cheeks.
“Then don’t say it’s your fault.” He whispers and Tighnari mumbles quietly.
“But I’m the one who shooed you away.”
“Because I was obtuse.” He says softly, wrapping his arm around his waist firmly, like an anchor.
Tighnari groans, “I only said that because I was frustrated that you keep putting my needs before your own.
Cyno looks up at him. “Do you want me to stop?”
Tighnari sniffs and speaks softly. “I just want you to be more careful.” He caresses his face.
“What happened out in the woods was… was terrifying!” He whisper shouts, trying to keeps his voice down even amongst the fear and trepidation.
“You couldn’t speak, you were just mumbling incoherently all the way home. I didn’t know what to do, until I saw your fractured skull. Cyno, you could have died…!” He whimpers and Cyno knows he’s being earnest. He breathes out a heavy weight in his chest, finally understanding.
“Tighnari, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, I’ll be more careful. I promise.” Tighnari looked at him with tears in his eyes and Cyno stared back, sincere and unshaken.
Cyno’s honesty was his greatest strength, and also his fatal flaw.
Tighnari wraps his arms around him, leaning into the too-small bed with him.
“Don’t even think about getting out of this bed until you’re fully healed.” He whispers, and Cyno grimaces. “But the Fatui-“
“It’s taken care of.” He says, looking into his eyes again.
“Please trust me, and lay still.” He pleads and Cyno feels in his heart how desperate Tighnari is for this. For him to comply not just with his mind but also his heart.
It pains him to see Tighnari so distressed, especially when it is because of his carelessness.
Holding his face in his hands, he pulls him down to wrap him in a tight hug. “I won’t move, if that’s what you ask of me.” He whispers, wanting to mend this fear more than anything.
Tighnari sniffs and sinks into his embrace. “The next time you slip away I’m going to give you major head injury myself…” He sniffs again and Cyno smiles, kissing his head.
“Don’t worry, you’ve really hammered that into me.”
“Cy…” He groans and Cyno keeps going.
“No, wait, really. I think I’ve cracked the code.”
“That’s not funny.” He says, while chuckling softly.
“But you’re laughing.” He smiles. “What are the reper-concussions to your smile?”
“I’m gonna get up and leave.”
“Ah, tough break for me then.”
“I’m out.” He says, getting up and Cyno pulls him back down to hug him again.
“Okay, I’ll stop, please don’t go.”
Tighnari sighs and lifts his head to kiss his lips.
“I just need to get your medicine, don’t worry.” He says softly and Cyno looks into his eyes. After confirming that’s his task, Cyno nods and lets him go.
Watching him walk to his assortment of medicines and equipment, his head sinks into the pillow. The bandages around his face uncomfortable but also a reminder of the lengths Tighnari will go to just to save him.
The soft afternoon light eases onto Tighnari’s figure, his tail swishing tentatively as the light wraps around the dark green of his fur, lightening it ever so slightly. He is perfect, and everything, and all he wants to do is make sure he can’t hurt him anymore, even when it’s just an honest mistake.
His vision dusts with sleep, and he breaths deep, after Tighnari brings him medicine and hand-feeds it to him. His eyes blinking closed.
Before Cyno can fall asleep, Tighnari is cuddled up and whispers softly to himself when he thinks Cyno’s asleep.
“Please don’t sleep too long this time… I can’t see you sleep for a week again…”
Cyno turns his head to look at him, and Tighnari flattens his lips as he realizes he’s still awake, “A what?”