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Another flash of light, another crack of thunder outside of his window, and another flinch. Tighnari sighed from where he was trying to muffle the sounds of the storm outside by covering his head with his pillow. It was of no use of course, even with his sensitive ears folded tightly against his head, he could still make out the outside sounds far too well.
Usually, it was an advantage. He was nearly impossible to sneak up on unless he was distracted, which made his job as a Forest Watcher easier when all manner of monsters and beasts roamed the dense forest, but he was also prone to headaches when there was an excess of noise. The other Watchers and most Rangers did their best to tone it down when he needed them to -although he didn't make a habit of asking them, they chose to do that themselves- but none could truly understand what he went through.
Well, Collei did, mostly.
She had been very quiet most of the time when she first came to him, with bursts of yelling when she got overwhelmed -or touched, or felt threatened- that made him flatten his ears a bit, but it was still bearable. He'd never blamed her for this, it was an obvious defensive behaviour, similar to a cornered animal that lashed out in fear.
It was pitiful to see, so he'd made sure to always be mindful of his movements and words around her until she finally lowered her guard around him.
He still remembered the face she made the day she learned that he was noise sensitive. She knew better than most how awful being overstimulated was, what with her touch aversion and anxious disposition. She had never really asked him about it, but since then she was careful not to be too loud in his general vicinity, which he appreciated greatly.
Another clap of thunder made him jump just as he had been falling asleep. Oh well, he knew a lost cause when he saw one, so he got up with a huff and stretched deeply. He eyed his puffed up tail with annoyance, how he hated the way his body reacted to thunderstorms these days. He knew it was a natural response to trauma but that didn't stop him from glaring at his shaking hands whenever lightning flashed outside his window.
Shaking his head, he stood up and walked around his house once, twice, unsure of what to do now. He'd already given up on sleeping anytime soon, but there wasn't much he could do to pass the time. He had already read all the books in his hut and he certainly couldn't go outside when it poured like this... Not that he wanted to.
He could make tea.
Waiting for the water to boil, he silently cursed the heavens whenever thunder roared outside. He hoped Collei was able to sleep at least. She should be, Forest Rangers had to get used to hearing the noises of the forest at night if they wanted any sleep at all. No one ever warned the new recruits of how loud the forest could be at night.
Storms never bothered him before his accident, he couldn't help but think bitterly. Now, he could sleep through rain without issues, but as soon as thunder struck, he was wide awake and trembling like a kid.
He was brought out of his thoughts not by the water boiling like he expected, but by a knock on his door.
He remained frozen for a moment, watching the doorway with wide eyes. The storm covered up any sound that he might have been able to hear otherwise, so he wasn't sure if he'd really heard right. It could've been a branch falling off a tree, that would make more sense. Who in their right mind would go out in such a strong storm?
He unfroze when there was another knock, this one louder and a bit more desperate. He rushed to the door, he wasn't about to let someone freeze to death on his doorstep, but he would surely have some words for whatever idiot was-
Whatever he was thinking was forgotten in an instant, because there, standing in front of his house in one of the worst storm of the year was a drenched Cyno, one of his hand holding a soaked package close to him and the other still raised to knock on the door.
"Cyno?!" He didn't wait for an explanation before pulling his dripping wet boyfriend inside and closing the door. "What in the world were you doing outside?!"
"Nari, I can explain." Cyno looked sheepish, but Tighnari was more focused on the puddle forming under the Matra.
"Sure you can, after you change out of those clothes! Honestly, do you want to get pneumonia?!" He stormed away to find a dry outfit for the other to wear, his tail puffed up in something other than fear this time.
He threw a towel he had grabbed on the way back at Cyno's head, who grabbed it before it could hit him. His boyfriend had shed most of the wet clothes already, so the fox merely handed him the dry clothes he'd gathered and walked off to handle his tea, pulling out a second cup to fill. Thankfully there was enough water for two servings, so he dropped the teabags in and turned back to glare at Cyno.
"Explain." He crossed his arm as he stared at his boyfriend, who jumped when he was spoken to.
"I came to see you." The General Mahamatra spoke while squeezing water out of his hair with the now damp towel. Tighnari was unimpressed by that answer.
"And you couldn't have waited until after the storm passed, why?" The Valuka Shuna raised one eyebrow when the other didn't elaborate.
"You misunderstand, I'm here because of the storm." Cyno spoke while trying to untangle his hair with his fingers.
"Are you now?" How curious.
"Yes, because I know that y-" His boyfriend's explanation was cut off by the loud rumble of thunder just outside his window, and Tighnari flinch harshly at the sound, his ears instantly flattening on top of his head. He cursed himself for his reaction when he saw the worried frown on Cyno's face, his bristling tail trembling against his legs.
"S-sorry..." He mumbled, embarrassed.
"Don't apologize for that, it's not your fault." The Matra gently guided him to sit at the table and brought over the two cup of tea that he had prepared earlier. "Do you always react so... violently?" Tighnari sighed.
"Not really, I just wasn't expecting it this time." He held his cup with both hands, letting the warmth of the tea seep into his tense fingers. "I just don't get it, it's been months now and my body has been fully healed for weeks, and yet I still react like this, like it was yesterday. It's like my mind knows I'm safe, but my body won't listen. I don't know what to do Cy."
Cyno offered one of his hands face up on the table, and the fox took it without hesitation.
"Collei used to do that." Tighnari met Cyno's gaze questioningly. "She would get angry at herself whenever she reacted to something like you just did."
"Oh, she did, didn't she?" He let his eyes drift down to their hands.
He could recall many instances where she would do exactly that. In the beginning of her stay here, she would startle at the mere sight of a syringe-shaped object or a small blade, or at the slightest touch that she wasn't expecting. But despite everything she had gone through, she had still gotten better. Now, she could handle a knife without flinching, and she could touch others without tensing.
She could hug him without trembling, and that never failed to make him smile.
Still, that didn't help his current predicament.
"I wish it would stop, I used to be able to sleep through storms like these without issue before." He huffed.
"You can't force it Nari, maybe you just need more time." Cyno spoke softly, gently rubbing the back of the fox's hand with his thumb.
"I can't just not sleep whenever there's a storm Cyno, I have to be well rested to be able to do my job!" The Valuka Shuna snapped, only to immediately regret it. It wasn't Cyno's fault that this was happening to him. "Sorry."
There was a brief moment of silence, followed by another flash of lightning and rumble that made Tighnari clench his eyes tightly to hold back a flinch.
"I didn't tell you why I came here yet, did I?" The Forest Watcher relaxed a bit and reopened his eyes to look at his boyfriend. "I know you have issues with storms and thunder, so when I heard there was a bad one starting, I decided to come see you. I thought it might be easier if you had company." Then Cyno gave him a soft smile. "Was I right?"
"You're unbelievable, you know that?" Tighnari snorted. "Sure, yeah, I guess it could help." He said with a snicker, feeling his tail sway softly behind him.
"Oh good, because I also brought you a gift." And Tighnari watched him open the damp package he had previously dropped on the table. It was wrapped three times, obviously Cyno had been prepared for the rain, and Tighnari watched with growing curiosity what could be so important that Cyno had protected it more than himself from the rain.
He let out a startled laugh when the General Mahamatra, the feared upholder of justice in the Akademiya, finally showed him a bag of candied ajilenakh nuts with a proud smile. Cyno could be such a dork at times, Tighnari loved that about him.
"There, candied nuts from yours truly." The fox chuckled again.
"Why thank you my good sir. Shall we share those after the tea is cleaned up?" He said as he gathered the two empty cups and brought them back to the kitchen to wash them.
"Of course, shall we head to bed then? It is a bit cold out there." Cyno rubbed his arms as he spoke. Of course he was cold, his hair was still visibly wet.
"Ah-ah-ah, I'm not letting you into my bed until you dry that hair of yours, otherwise you'll make my pillows damp." Tighnari pointed his finger at Cyno, who only looked at him quietly for a second, which usually meant-
"I candy that." A joke...
The fox stared at his boyfriend, who stared back without flinching, before opening his annoying mouth again.
"Do you get it? Because I brought you candied nuts, so instead of saying can do, I replaced it with candy, which sounds similar, so-" Tighnari groaned and pulled at his ears in an attempt to deafen himself. When that didn't work, he started glaring at Cyno and spoke.
"Stop before I end up banishing you from my bed entirely!" That shut him up thankfully, even if the other wore a sly grin that Tighnari wasn't sure if he wanted to punch or kiss. He shook his head, exasperated with his boyfriend. "Just, shut up and dry your hair already, I wanna go to bed."
It took a few minutes and another towel before Cyno's hair was dry enough for the fox, and it took another ten minutes of brushing to untangle the white locks completely. When thunder roared again, his boyfriend held him close until it stopped and he found that it wasn't quite so bad this time.
After all that, finally getting out of the cold air from the storm and under the warm cover felt like heaven. He leaning against the headboard as Cyno got in bed next to him. When they were both comfortable, his boyfriend opened the bad of candied ajilenakh nuts and offered a square of it to him, which he accepted gratefully.
Snapping off a corner to eat, Tighnari sighed as the sugary syrup melted in his mouth and removed some of the remaining tension from his shoulders. He let himself slide to the side and rest his head on Cyno's shoulder.
"Good?" The other asked, and chuckled when Tighnari only answered that by stuffing more of the food in his mouth. "I'm glad."
"How long did you even take off work anyway?" Tighnari spoke around his bite of the sweet treat. He felt Cyno tilt his head above him before he spoke.
"All of tomorrow, I'll need to be back in the city in the morning after that."
"Collei will be happy to see you. She misses you quite a lot, you know?" He wondered how much she would rush to complete her duties for the day once she knew Cyno was visiting. He would be willing to bet that she'd be done by early afternoon at the latest, and she'd probably spend the rest of the day with Cyno and him.
He was as much a parental figure to her as Tighnari himself was after all. It was quite sweet to see her get excited everytime the three of them had an opportunity to spend time together.
"I wish I could come see you two more often." Tighnari thought Cyno sounded a bit sad, even though it was in no way his fault that his work often had him leave for unpredictable amounts of time. Of course, everytime the fox tried to speak to him about the subject, the Matra would avoid the topic by distracting him in some way.
The worst thing is that it worked everytime, even when Tighnari expected it.
"I know." He kissed the other's cheek, delighting in the smile he got at the action.
"I'll try to visit more if I can, promise. Hopefully it won't be as stormy next time, I didn't really enjoy walking in such heavy rain earlier." There was another flash of lightning as he spoke, which made the fox tense in anticipation until the sound of thunder passed.
"And who's fault is that, hm?" Tighnari flicked his boyfriend's forehead after relaxing. "Any sane person would have gone indoors as soon as it started." Sometimes he wondered if the other was insane after all, but then what would that make him? Only an insane man would date another, so maybe that meant they were both insane.
"Hey, you could be a little more grateful, I came here for you remember?" Cyno popped a piece of the candied nuts in his mouth after speaking, making it crunch loudly between his teeth next to his ear. Tighnari straightened up and elbowed him gently in return.
"And that was entirely your decision, you big lummox. If you get sick, you'll only have yourself to blame." He shook his head in disapproval, stealing a bit of ajilenakh nut from the other's hand.
"But you'd heal me if I got sick, right?" Said other tilted his head at him like a dog.
"As if I could refuse, you would just annoy me until I helped like usual." Not that he would refuse Cyno help anyway, that Matra had a way of getting him to agree to pretty much anything. It would be embarrassing if he couldn't also do the same thing to Cyno. Despite his so-called impartiality, the number of time he'd bent or outright broken the laws he was supposed to uphold for Tighnari's sake was surprisingly high.
It was flattering in a way, that Cyno held him in such high regard that he would risk his job for him. Although, now that Azar has been removed and Lesser Lord Kusanali took over leading the Akademiya, he thought that the General Mahamatra had a much lower risk of being replaced if he was caught. From what he heard of his acquaintances in the city, the Dendro Archon was nothing if not understanding.
"You love me too much to refuse." As true as that was, the fox wouldn't give Cyno the satisfaction of being right.
"Whatever helps you sleep at night." Tighnari grinned when the other chuckled. "Speaking of which." He shifted until he was curled up on his side comfortably and the blanket covered his shoulders.
"Think you can sleep now?" One of Cyno's rough hands found its way to his hair as he spoke.
"Mmh yeah." He hummed when his boyfriend started scratching behind his ear, ignoring the low chuckle above him. He stretched slightly before settling back down, one arm wrapped around Cyno's middle, his hand laying on his chest right above his heart.
He could still hear the downpour outside, but it didn't seem as loud as before. The next time thunder rang out above his little home, Tighnari didn't even twitch, too focused on the gentle petting of his ears and the calm heartbeat beneath his hand. It didn't take long until he felt Cyno move into a more comfortable position, wrapping his arms around the fox under the covers. His tail wagged sluggishly for a moment before he closed his eyes again.
It didn't take long for Tighnari to fall asleep to gentle breaths on his head and the sound of the storm raging outside.