for @citer

[cashewlater]

Comments

[citer]

I find myself wanting to travel with you. If you have no issue with it, and I have no issue with it, then it should be fine, right?

[ tighnari smiles. ]

I wish to go see the Bimarstan. I heard they have a new skin grafting technique to treat those with Eleazar. There's a doctor there I've been meaning to speak to to see his opinions on it; I wonder if he will have a moment.

[cashewlater]

[ at last, the hard line of cyno's shoulders begins to soften, though a quiet storm still thrashes behind his eyes. still, there's no need for the food to go to waste, so he sees to his sarsheer again, taking a healthy bite. ]

The Bimarstan, then. As you wish. We can leave as soon as we've eaten, and I'm dressed.

[citer]

Oh, so you don't intend to walk out in your night clothes. I wondered.

[cashewlater]

You're funny.

[citer]

Funnier than you are. [ tighnari grins. ] Have the rest of the flatbread. You haven't had anything to eat since yesterday, Archons-knows-when. We'll find foodstalls in the city, I presume. I expect you to show me how to purchase street food, and demonstrate to me how people eat it.

[cashewlater]

That's hurtful, you know.

[ 8( HE WORKS SO HARD ON HIS JOKES. but cyno finishes off his sarsheer regardless, and digs into the flatbread, while enjoying his lassi. ]

[citer]

So you won't be my example?

[ says he, with a handful of cashews. ]

[cashewlater]

I shouldn't be, after that remark. You're such a brat.

[citer]

Yes, yes. But that's not a no.

[cashewlater]

Hmph. Of course I'll show you.

[citer]

[ his eyes soften around its edges. of course they do. ]

Thank you, Cyno. You're very kind. I suppose you don't get told that often.

[cashewlater]

No, I can't say that I do. Most are wary of me. You'll see for yourself, soon enough.

[ once they head into the city, and people keep a wide berth. finishing off his lassi, cyno sets down the empty glass. ]

I don't mind.

[citer]

[ tighnari thinks about this for a moment. cyno, with his shoulders set, justice-made and alone. ]

It gets lonely though, doesn't it?

[cashewlater]

[ ... ]

.. yes. I have my work to keep me company. And you, now.

[citer]

You do. [ as he rises to collect the platters, he allows his tail to brush against cyno's shoulder. a moment of grace, here and at last. ] Go put on some clothes. I'm looking forward to stretching my legs for the first time in a while.

[cashewlater]

[ the brush of his tail is warm, and eases cyno's mood, but it is brief, and soon enough he's rising to his feet, touching his fingertips to tighnari's back as he passes behind him. ]

I'll be quick.

[citer]

[ leaving behind on tighnari's skin a spot of sunburst warmth.

he clears the trays, and begins his own preparations. a cloak and hood for his head, hise ears carefully pinned back. a long, woven skirt so that his tail will not show. gardener's clothes that he had asked for as he spent so much time working with plants. he takes his bow. the dagger's sheathed and hidden beneath the folds of his cloak, just added insurance, though he suspects that cyno will be on guard today. he is that sort of man. tighnari finds that he trusts him. of course he would.

he checking his bowstring by the time cyno emerges again. ]

Did you know that your hardworking household staff have been housing and feeding horses here at your palace all this time?

[cashewlater]

[ cyno, of course, wears his usual garb, his shorts and shendyt, collar and bolero top, though he leaves his helm behind today, in favor of his jackal-eared cloak. he's slinging his polearm over his back as he emerges.. and sighs. ]

Yes, I'm aware.

[ brat fox. ]

I prefer walking. It's what I'm used to. We'll take the horses, today. [ and, approaching tighnari, he frowns, lifting a hand to smooth his fingers along one of his pinned back ears. ] Isn't that uncomfortable?

[citer]

[ almost on reflex, his ear attempts to flick - but tighnari shakes his head as he slips down from where he'd been perched on the divan. ]

No, I'm used to it. I'm more concerned about the noise in the city; the crowds are unpleasant. That - and I don't know how to ride a horse.

[cashewlater]

[ that.. makes perfect sense, actually. cyno learned later in life, as well. ]

You'll ride with me, then, and we'll make it a point to teach you, soon. Come on.

[citer]

Ah, now you seem chipper. [ but he follows, amused. ] Are horses difficult to ride? Will I regret this?

[cashewlater]

Yes, I've recovered from the cruel blow you dealt me.

[ through the estate they go, cyno's gait brisk, the scent of horses strong as they arrive in the stables. ]

It isn't easy as it looks, no, but you're a quick learner. Riding a horse is not a passive activity, you need to move with the animal.

[ and cyno leads him toward his favored horse, a pale, dark-maned keheilan, sturdy and strong as she is elegant. ]

[citer]

[ he's familiar with the horses at the palace insofar as he knows what they are, and that they are fellow living creatures existing within the same general space. he observes the spotted patterns of the horse's coat, dappled like freckles across white, and thinks of cyno's hair.

he rings the horse with abject curiosity. the horse eyes him back. ]

She's a fearless one. [ tighnari says with no little approval as he circles back, his nod a satisfactory thing. ] I've met horses who scented what I am, and immediately decide to bolt. What's her name?

[cashewlater]

Hanan.

[ cyno could call for someone to prepare the horse, but unsurprisingly, he chooses to do it himself, saddling her up carefully, neatly. ]

[citer]

[ having two hands but no knowledge of where to put them, tighnari observes the process - saddle cloth, saddle, straps, bit and bridle. ]

She's beautiful. [ the horse deigns to sniff his outstretched hand, and then allows him to smooth back the puff of her dark mane. ] Did you name her yourself?