for @citer

[cashewlater]

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[cashewlater]

[ cyno hadn't thought this through, when he'd said tighnari would ride with him.

it's not the first time he's felt a warm tension between them. he'd felt it their first night together. he'd felt it again, when he was teaching tighnari the bow, cradling his body and posturing his arms. he feels it now, pressed close as they are, their bodies swaying together, his nose full of tighnari's scent, his pleasant voice so close. he'd have to be a fool to deny the sensuousness of the moment, and the way it makes his stomach tighten, heat flooding his skin beneath his cloak.

cyno swallows it all down. it's inappropriate. ]

Yes, it is not so easy as sitting on her back like a sack of peaches.

[ even his voice sounds tight to his own ears. cyno takes a deep breath, steadies himself, and turns hanan toward the pasture's exit, to get them on the road at last. ]

You're like to be sore by the time we reach the city.

[citer]

A walk will do me good, then.

[ it takes the edge off, to sigh. he had been hoping to stretch his legs, has he not? cyno's hands hold the reins in front of him, and tighnari can't help but reach out for them, gloved fingers first curling over cyno's wrist, and then to the reins themselves.

it's a distraction. it will have to do. ]

May I?

[cashewlater]

[ a distraction, despite the fact that tighnari's fingers, even gloved, leave a tingle behind on his wrist. cyno frowns, but soon assents. as he'd said, tighnari is a quick learner, and they're not moving too quickly. the pasture doors are opened for them to pass through, and they're onto the road now. cyno slackens his grip, and eases the reins into tighnari's hands. ]

Be gentle, Hanan is very responsive, even to very subtle commands.

[ with his hands on tighnari's wrists, cyno gives a gentle tug to the right, and hanan moves immediately with the curve of the road. ]

[citer]

[ hanan curves to cyno's silent command, and tighnari marvels at it. he allows cyno to hold him there as he gets used to the weight of the reins and hanan's movements, watching carefully to see her lilt and tilt down the well-trodden path. around them, the forests of vissudha hill begin to swallow the visible palace - before long, they are alone in the jungle, heading for the outlying villages below the hill. ]

She's a marvel. [ he says, after a breath, ] It's as if she can read your mind from the minute gestures alone. Have you had her since she was young?

[cashewlater]

Yes, we've been together for about fifteen years, now. Professor Cyrus gave her to me as a gift, after I was adopted.

[ tighnari seems to have a good hold on the reins now, and an idea of how to steer the horse, so cyno withdraws his hands, settling them instead on tighnari's hips. unfortunately, there's no better place for them, so they're going to simply have to suffer in unresolved sexual tension!! ]

So we were both young, when we met.

[citer]

[ a gift, tighnari thinks, and the words conjure a sudden sympathy for the horse they are riding on. cyno's treated her like something precious as well. it speaks cyno's character. he is startled out of his thoughts by warm weights on his hip - cyno's hands are like that of little suns.

he smiles at that. ]

She's had to deal with you for so long. What a patient horse. [ there, the horse gets a fond pat to her neck. ] Tell me of Professor Cyrus.

[cashewlater]

You're a cruel beast.

[ cyno says, without any bite to his words. ]

Professor Cyrus.. he's a kind man. When I was found by the Akademiya, many of the sages wanted to use me as a test subject, to better understand the power of Hermanubis, and how I acquired it. Professor intervened, and did not allow them to treat me cruelly. [ there's a soft fondness to cyno's voice. ] Despite the fact that I was desert-born, he educated me, and helped me learn to control my power. He can be stubborn, and as bull-headed as any researcher, but his heart is good.

[citer]

[ tighnari can imagine it as cyno speaks: a younger cyno, wild-haired and stark-eyed, beset upon by the warm, enveloping embrace of a man who cared so much, and so deeply. it's a charming thought, for all of its lonely implications. cyno had been loved. ]

I see. So that's where you inherited your stubborness from. I had wondered.

[cashewlater]

[ he huffs. ]

I don't want to hear that from you. You're the most stubborn person I've ever met.

[citer]

Even though you see your own reflection every day?

[cashewlater]

[ his hands give a squeeze to tighnari's hips. ]

Brat.

[citer]

[ chest-to-chest, back-to-back, hip-to-hip, it's impossible to ignore the way tighnari's full-body shiver. his ears fight against the pins holding them back. he grimaces. ]

Rude. [ and for that, cyno gets a flick of tighnari's tail from under his skirt, a thump of a motion against his leg.

hanan, bemused, begins lilting to the side. is that the order to go left? ]

[cashewlater]

Careful.

[ cyno's hands are up again, over tighnari's, using the reins to gently tug the horse forward again. ]

Hanan, taqadam lilamam. [ a light chuckle, at tighnari's jaw, and hanan settles back onto the path. ] I told you, she's very sensitive.

[citer]

[ tighnari looks up. ]

Ah, she speaks Aaru, and so do you.

[ in hindsight, of course cyno would. he is, after all, from the desert. ]

[cashewlater]

It's my mother tongue. I couldn't speak anything but, when the scholars found me - I had to learn.

[ but he was young, his fresh mind a sponge, and learning had not been difficult. ]

[citer]

Which Darshan were you?

[cashewlater]

Spantamad. I imagine you studied with Amurta.

[citer]

I spent most of my time stalking Amurta herbads, yes. They seemed to study things that fit my interest. In the beginning, I hadn't known the divisions between Darshans - I only wanted to know more about the world.

I heard Haravatat graduates must learn twenty languages before graduation. How many for Spantamad?

[cashewlater]

Not just Haravatat. Twenty languages must be mastered to graduate from any Darshan; Haravatat students often learn more than twenty.

[ the road meanders, as they chat, and in the distance, cyno can spy the divine tree rising high against the sky. ]

Do you have an interest?

[citer]

[ tighnari tilts his head up. the sky seems narrow like this, beyond the canopy of trees. but when vissudha field opens up, it will seem wider. it's all a matter of perspective, he knows. ]

I do. There were quite a few books on medicinal herbs, but written in Liyuen. And I would imagine it would be easier to get a handle on fire as a means of healing forest development if I knew Natlan.

[cashewlater]

Mm. Well, we'll put it on the list, then. I'll bring you some books, and worksheets.

[citer]

Will you tutor me yourself as well?

[cashewlater]

If you'd like. I don't mind.

[citer]

I'd like that. But I'm also aware that you have a day job. Perhaps let me get started on my studies; you can be witness to my progress. It will be grand to have someone to practice with.

[cashewlater]

As you wish. We'll drop into the House of Daena.