[ like a titian sunset, tighnari thinks, and smiles. ]
Not yet. But I've convinced myself that the kalpana lotus trellises still being tortured under this roof can survive one more night in the shade. I need a bath something fierce. Have you left me any warm water?
[ tighnari has a lovely smile. cyno can't help but feel a little privileged to see it, to be the cause of it. he brushes past tighnari, toward where the clothing has been left beside the door. ]
All things considered, there should be plenty. Enjoy.
[ he takes his time with the evening ablutions. it feels good to comb the oils of his hair and fur, and to rub the dirt and grime from his elbows. as valuka shuna go, tighnari is well aware that he is not as fastidious as most. there are those that would spend hours grooming every inch of their fun, braid their long hair into something resembling works of art in front of a mirror. but his evening ablutions end when he's tired of being wet and bedraggled, and his grooming consists half of wishing that his tail were somehow waterproof. perhaps, he thinks, some kind of plant compound derived of lily wax. he'll have to think about it in the coming week, perhaps ask for some materials to experiment with.
he comes out with his tail half its volume, but passable to be walking around without dripping like something the storm dragged in, his robe already trailing behind him.
[ while tighnari takes his time in the bath, cyno sees to drying his body and dressing for bed, in little more than light linen pants. he doesn't like the feeling of too much clothing, it chafes him, and he's grown used to wearing little enough while he works. by the time tighnari emerges at last, cyno is nearly ready for bed, tending to the fire in the hearth opposite the bed, seeing to it that it is well fed enough to last through the chilly sumeran night. its flickering orange light dances off of his profile in smoldering rim light when he turns his head to glance toward tighnari.
even without his lovely silks and silver accoutrements, he's still a vision. ]
Hm?
[ cyno secures the fire's guard, then unfolds himself and stands, the light catching from off of his gold ear clasps and nipple studs as he approaches. ]
[ they match, tighnari thinks. it's an odd flyaway of a thought, a blink of a moment and nothing more - him in his silvers beneath his sleeping robes, and cyno's with his gold. it matches the glint of his eyes and the warmth of the fire. cyno, thinks, is a creature that speaks of standstorms, and everlasting flame vigils in ancient temples. he is of sumeru's desert. there is nowhere in the world that would else match him.
tighnari slips onto the bed. he folds his tail next to him, hold out a fresh towel to cyno with a tilt of his ears. ]
Help me dry it. It will be a team effort - I have far too much fur for a single pair of hands, and I'm assuming you would like to sleep before dawn.
[ tighnari slides onto the bed with the confidence of a man who owns it, and cyno marvels, for a moment, before he joins him. ]
All right.
[ with towel in hand he sets to work. cyno's palms and fingers are rough, callused from his polearm work, from harsh sand and sun, and his hands are very strong. yet he's gentle as he works the towel over tighnari's tail, careful not to crush or tug, but firm enough to rub the moisture away. this feels.. intimate, in a way, like he's being trusted with something special, something private, yet it somehow feels comfortable, as well. they'd met only hours ago, yet there's already an easy familiarity between them; they fit together well. ]
[ together, they bleed moisture from tighnari's fur, cyno with his towel at tighnari's tail, and tighnari with his towel at his ears. it's not the first time he's had someone help, but cyno's a quick learner, deft with his hands, and he can feel each rub of the towel gain in confidence as he susess out what will hurt and what will not.
by the time they finish, he feels significantly lighter, literally. his tail flicks, swishes back and forth as he tests the feel of it, and the smile he gives cyno is a brilliant one. ]
You're a natural. Thank you. Perhaps you ought to have been the one born with a tail instead. [ he takes his combo, and begins to run it through his tail, teasing out tangles here and there. ] I should warn you, though - I do shed.
[ this, cyno thinks, will perhaps become a regular happenstance, so he may as well grow accustomed to it. idly, he runs a hand over tighnari's tail to smooth the fur once he's pulled the towel away, then quickly catches himself, and withdraws. ]
I'd assumed as much.
[ with fur that plush, he must shed, and there's already evidence of it on the towel. folding it up, cyno tosses it onto a chair beside the bed, before he's slipping back against the sheets to get comfortable. the sheets.. which are very white. ]
Perhaps we ought to consider darker bedding.
[ though given the way cyno sheds his very white hair, neither black nor white will survive them. ]
[ ... he has to laugh at that. it's a conclusion much unlike the one that he had been thinking, which is to invest in a set of fur rollers. but neither dark nor light bedding would survive between the two of them, and the irony is a pleasing one. ]
Fur on the bed won't necessarily stay in it. I was thinking more along the lines of you finding green hairs in everything you own from now until I go bald. You've never kept a pet, have you.
[ but he slides into bed next to him. the comb is put aside on the nightstand. he feels the bedding - much better than the silk from before - and adjusts the blanket as he goes. ]
[ though not for lack of caring. cyno's actually quite fond of animals, he's simply never had the time available for such a responsibility. reclining comfortably on his side, cyno tugs the blankets up over his hips, though not much further; he tends to run warm. ]
I don't mind. I'll carry you with me into the desert. [ a beat, and cyno's eyes soften around the edges. ] It's been very nice to meet you, Tighnari.
[ his eyes soften around its corners. cyno reclines in rest, his shoulders relaxing into the bedding, and the world seems softer for it. perhaps kinder. ]
Mm. [ he rumbles, his eyelids heavy, though he watches tighnari's face, for a moment, through thick, pale lashes, before they close at last. ] Goodnight.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Not yet. But I've convinced myself that the kalpana lotus trellises still being tortured under this roof can survive one more night in the shade. I need a bath something fierce. Have you left me any warm water?
no subject
All things considered, there should be plenty. Enjoy.
no subject
he comes out with his tail half its volume, but passable to be walking around without dripping like something the storm dragged in, his robe already trailing behind him.
he flags cyno down with a wave of his hand. ]
Will you help me with my tail?
no subject
even without his lovely silks and silver accoutrements, he's still a vision. ]
Hm?
[ cyno secures the fire's guard, then unfolds himself and stands, the light catching from off of his gold ear clasps and nipple studs as he approaches. ]
What do you need me to do?
no subject
tighnari slips onto the bed. he folds his tail next to him, hold out a fresh towel to cyno with a tilt of his ears. ]
Help me dry it. It will be a team effort - I have far too much fur for a single pair of hands, and I'm assuming you would like to sleep before dawn.
no subject
All right.
[ with towel in hand he sets to work. cyno's palms and fingers are rough, callused from his polearm work, from harsh sand and sun, and his hands are very strong. yet he's gentle as he works the towel over tighnari's tail, careful not to crush or tug, but firm enough to rub the moisture away. this feels.. intimate, in a way, like he's being trusted with something special, something private, yet it somehow feels comfortable, as well. they'd met only hours ago, yet there's already an easy familiarity between them; they fit together well. ]
Good?
no subject
by the time they finish, he feels significantly lighter, literally. his tail flicks, swishes back and forth as he tests the feel of it, and the smile he gives cyno is a brilliant one. ]
You're a natural. Thank you. Perhaps you ought to have been the one born with a tail instead. [ he takes his combo, and begins to run it through his tail, teasing out tangles here and there. ] I should warn you, though - I do shed.
no subject
I'd assumed as much.
[ with fur that plush, he must shed, and there's already evidence of it on the towel. folding it up, cyno tosses it onto a chair beside the bed, before he's slipping back against the sheets to get comfortable. the sheets.. which are very white. ]
Perhaps we ought to consider darker bedding.
[ though given the way cyno sheds his very white hair, neither black nor white will survive them. ]
no subject
Fur on the bed won't necessarily stay in it. I was thinking more along the lines of you finding green hairs in everything you own from now until I go bald. You've never kept a pet, have you.
[ but he slides into bed next to him. the comb is put aside on the nightstand. he feels the bedding - much better than the silk from before - and adjusts the blanket as he goes. ]
no subject
[ though not for lack of caring. cyno's actually quite fond of animals, he's simply never had the time available for such a responsibility. reclining comfortably on his side, cyno tugs the blankets up over his hips, though not much further; he tends to run warm. ]
I don't mind. I'll carry you with me into the desert. [ a beat, and cyno's eyes soften around the edges. ] It's been very nice to meet you, Tighnari.
no subject
The pleasure is mine, Cyno.
Shall we rest?
no subject