for @citer

[cashewlater]

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[citer]

[ he gathers them into his hands as if they are but minute treasures. the little brown packets smell of earth and vine and temple incense. he flips it to the back, and cyno's scrawl, cramped handwriting provides context.

tighnari smiles. ]

Arrowroot will be a fine addition to my garden. The people of the village by the Vissudha river often eat poorly; the children will be able to sleep better at night for it. As for the Goeppertia kegeljanii, you have set a challenge before me. They're temperamental plants to raise. You must think that I'm terrible bored when you're away.

[cashewlater]

Aren't you?

[ he teases, gently, then brushes past tighnari to retrieve his customary sleepwear: underclothes, and those comfortable loose black cotton pants. ]

You like them, then.

[citer]

It's a grand gift. Thank you, Cyno.

[ tighnari says, as he walks past cyno. his tail brushes gently against cyno's shin, a moment of grace. ]

Come to bed, and lie down on your front. I'll have to make sure this massage is a good one.

[cashewlater]

[ cyno's work days are always long. one day feels like three, and these past four have been longer than most. he'd hardly realized how much he'd missed tighnari's haughty presence, his company, until now. he moves past cyno, smelling sweet, of lotuses and earth and petrichor.

tugging on his clothes, cyno obeys, climbing onto their bed - gods, has it always been so soft? - and stretching comfortably, before lying forward on his stomach. ]

You spoil me too much.

[ but his aching shoulders and back scream out for attention. ]

[citer]

[ as cyno lays himself out, he retrieves the scented oils that knead into muscle and unknots the tension there. cyno's a lean, sun-kissed figure upon the bed. he unlaces the back of cyno's bedclothes, revealing just enough back for him to begin work, rubbing the oils between the palms of his hands to warm them before he runs his palms over cyno's back. ]

If you call this spoiling, then your standards are low. Well, we've only had a month; I haven't had a chance to raise them, so I can forgive you.

[ he begins to knead, testing out the knots in cyno's back, and then settling into bed so that he can put his weight into it with firm, uncompromising twists. ]

How goes the case? Were you able to find their den?

[cashewlater]

[ the scent of the oils is pleasant, and tighnari's hands are warm, and soft. they press against his skin with ease and confidence, and soon enough he's pushing harder, drawing a low, slightly pained grunt from cyno, followed by a hard exhale. ]

Mm. Good. I've zeroed in on their location. In two days time, I infiltrate.

[ tighnari's weight is on him now, and it's sweet, pleasurable agony as he works through the hard knots there. much as it aches, it also feels good in a way he's only just recently begun to understand, since tighnari has walked into his life and begun to spoil him. ]

And then - nn - then I'll show you what you want to see.

[citer]

[ in two days' time. he'll have to pay attention, then, these next two days. wounds, fatigue, changes in behaviour. cyno is taciturn on the best of days, the sort of man to bear his difficulties in silence. it's not a comforting thought, though tighnari knows that is in part due to his own nature, the part of him that wants to know, to understand, to solve problems as they arise.

he presses into another knot, carefully teasing it apart. ]

You've made up your mind?

[cashewlater]

Yes.

[ cyno's eyes close, and he hums, low and soft, lost in the feeling of tighnari's strong fingers pressing into his back. ]

Once the den is secured, I'll take you there, alone. You can see whatever you'd like to see.

[ it goes without saying that this is a fierce display of trust, that cyno has taken the time to weigh tighnari's heart and not found him wanting. many people have attempted to bribe cyno in the past, to win him over with kindness and charm and all manner of things, and he has had to learn how to cut through a person's facade to the meat within. the truth. what they've built here together is not only something comfortable, it's something real. ]

Be ready by the end of the week.

[citer]

[ in truth, tighnari knows that he does not understand the full implications of the decision. he has no way of doing so. a month is time enough to build a friendship; it is not enough time to call a palace a home. but what he does not know, he supplements it by knowing cyno. cyno, steadfast, who walks through desert storms and ignores the needs of his own to find two packets of seeds for tighnari's garden, simply because he thought tighnari would like them.

cyno has made a decision. there's something rare and humbling in it that has tighnari's hands pause in his ministrations.

he smiles. ]

You may promise to secure the place, but I'll be bringing my bow regardless. Who knows if there's something that pops out of the woodwork that needs burying.

[cashewlater]

Of course you will be.

[ cyno wouldn't have it any other way. now that tighnari has learned how to use a weapon, cyno would prefer he keep it handy at all times. he has no doubt of his own ability to keep tighnari safe and well-protected, but all the better if he knows how to defend himself, as well. secure or not, things happen, and there are plenty of dangers between here and there. ]

And your dagger. Have you been practicing?

[citer]

Of course. Isn't it the reason why the head of the household and the chef have gone conspicuously missing? I can't imagine how else I would be feeding the plants.

[cashewlater]

Very funny. I'll have to test your improvement.

[citer]

Best out of five. I had someone come around with a Sumpterbeast to flatten the little courtyard in the back, to better provide footing. I'm running low on targets to practice on, however. The cloth archery targets you brought last time are now more hole than cloth - and I don't have the expertise to repair them.

[cashewlater]

Glad to see you've been making - ah - good use of them..

[ tighnari's hard work is paying off. though cyno is aching all over, he's slowly beginning to settle against the bedding, the stiff tension in his shoulders bleeding away, his breathing slowing, softening. ]

We'll get you more. Straw ones, this time.

[citer]

[ his hands run over cyno's back one last time, a rub of scented oils that help with sleep. tighnari laughs. ]

Will the straw ones hold up, I wonder. I've managed to have the arrows split. It's made quite a dent in the back.

[cashewlater]

Better than the cloth ones will. If you destroy those, too, we'll go from there.

[ it just pleases him to know that tighnari is using them at all. exhaling roughly, cyno slumps against the bedding, his eyes stinging with fatigue. ]

Will you come to bed?

[citer]

I will, in a moment. [ he returns the oils to their appropriate place, wiping his hands off with a bedside towel. they use far too many towels, he thinks - there must be a better alternative than having to clean these on the regular. but that's another thought for another day. he carefully places the seeds where he will fetch them tomorrow, then slips into bed with cyno.

his hands are warm from having exerted themselves. it feels nice, comforting. his hand brushes cyno's side. ]

Sleep in tomorrow. You need to give your body rest. We can then break fast together.

[cashewlater]

[ through lidded eyes, cyno watches tighnari as he moves, wiping his hands clean and setting the seeds aside before he's gliding into bed. cyno rolls onto his side to face him, his heavy head resting against one curled arm. tighnari's hand against his skin raises light goosebumps. ]

I'll try.

[ he's absolutely one of those people who wake up at the crack of dawn without an alarm. sleepy, exhausted, and comfortable, cyno lifts a hand to run his callused thumb along the soft slope of tighnari's jaw. his skin feels like cream. ]

Knock me out if I wake up too early.

[citer]

[ it's instinct to lean in. he allows cyno's fingers to trail, his own eyes lidding in the warmth of it. like being graced by the gentle glow of the morning sun, he thinks. his ears lower, a sidelong canopy, as his tail curls between them for warmth. ]

I will. [ he promises with a smile. ] Good night, Cyno.

[cashewlater]

[ tighnari's plush tail comes between them, and cyno drops his hand to it thoughtlessly as his eyes close, his rough fingers carding through soft, dark fur, a sound like something warm and content moving in his throat. already his body feels heavy, like he's sinking into the mattress like a stone. ]

.. good night.

[citer]

[ mornings are an odd, competitive thing - two early risers and a rising sun to chase means that it's a coin's toss as to who's up and about before the other. if tighnari wakes first today, however, it's because cyno's exhaustion must've taken the man far. he spends a few minutes observing the rise and fall of cyno's chest, listening for labour, and then critically examining him in the morning light. he seems like he's resting well, his hand having wormed its way into his tail sometime in the night and has yet to displace itself. extracting himself from cyno's grasp is a tricky thing, but he thinks he's managed it - pads across the room to begin his morning ablutions, and then, once he feels refreshed and has put on some proper clothes, he begins to harangue the kitchens.

he brings in hearty, well-baked flatbreads on stone trays, piled high with crumbly feta cheese, eggs, a smattering of walnuts and creamy sasheer smeared on a dried lotus leaf. he had fought the disapproving head chef, and won, the right to two namkeen lassis despite the early morning, along with a bowl of fruit sourced from the orchard in the outlying villages. the smell of a robust and hearty breakfast wafts throughout their shared room; he balances the trays on the low sitting table, and sets to wake cyno proper. ]

Cyno.

[cashewlater]

[ it's a testament to his exhaustion - and comfort in current company - that cyno does not wake when tighnari leaves the bed. he's an incredibly light sleeper, not only by nature, but by necessity. he's the dictionary definition of the phrase sleeping with one eye open. there are too many people who would take advantage of him in a vulnerable state. he does not move while tighnari observes him, nor when he leaves the bed, nor when he returns with laden trays piled with fragrant food.

it isn't until tighnari calls his name that cyno stirs against the bedding, his scarlet eyes cracking open, blinking blearily. he's normally the sort of man to be fully aware within seconds of waking, but this morning he is groggy, his body heavy, still both sore and satisfied from tighnari's massage. ]

'Nari.. [ he murmurs, and turns his face into the pillow with a yawn. ] .. morning.

[citer]

Ah. [ says tighnari, as he laughs. he pads over to the bed so that he can get a look at cyno proper. ] Your hair looks like a jadeplume terrorshroom.

[ his finger skims the line of cyno's hair, and then along his cheek. a quick tap to his forehead, and he leans back once more. ]

Get out of bed, and come to the sitting room. Breakfast is here, and it won't be kept warm for much longer.

[cashewlater]

[ cyno chases those fingers, leaning his head thoughtlessly into tighnari's touch, still far too bleary to follow anything but pure instinct. the moment passes quickly. ]

Mm. All right.

[ his voice is rough, and cyno clears his throat, sits up, and runs both hands through his wild hair, before he's sweeping the blanket off of his legs. ]

Thanks.

[citer]

[ cyno wakes as if he has a kshahrewar puzzle embedded in his head - flip of a switch, and his body moves to vacate the bed, an animal following its ancestral trail by instinct alone towards its destination.

tighnari shakes his head, and makes to set the table. ]

Cyno, bring out a towel when you're done. They overdid it with the oils for the flatbread, and I don't want your table to stain.