for @citer

[cashewlater]

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[citer]

[ three simple words, but they carve through tighnari. it's not as if he didn't know. cyno had lain for him and allowed him to put his hands on him. he'd taught him to shoot a bow and to use a dagger. he allowed him to see sides of him that others likely wouldn't. how easy it is for cyno to trust him; how easy can the process be.

tighnari breathes in, and takes cyno's hand as he dismounts. his fingers slot into his so easily. ]

We're being allowed to. I suspect that if anyone were to follow our path here, they won't receive the same welcome, or the same guidance. Did you notice how only our path was lit by flowers?

[ the little round building is lit from the inside. luminescent moth and little leaf-lights that spark when tighnari reaches up to touch them. there's a loft were a few jars full of carrots and radishes sit, a little leaf rug decorating the floor, and a single, wooden bed beneath a small canopy.

tighnari explores, his tail trailing. ]

Oh, mint. [ excellent. ]

[cashewlater]

[ while tighnari explores their little unexpected inn, cyno leads both horses to the nearby brook to drink; they've ridden hard. he is not out of earshot. cyno thinks on these words, and when the horses have had their fill cyno attaches their lead lines and lashes them to a tree to prevent them wandering. they of course have plenty of slack to graze, drink, and sleep comfortably. ]

Aranara, the children call them.

[ he feels a little foolish saying it aloud, for aranara have always been perceived (by adult minds) as faerie tales - exciting, wondrous, magical, but also entirely fantastical, a figment of a child's playful mind. still.. cyno can't help but remember a small desert boy, feral and afraid in a strange, tangled jungle, lulled to sleep by a gentle song. ]

Do you need help?

[ he's refilling their waterskins, and removing some rations from hanan's saddlebag. they're hardly delicious, but cyno is grateful to always have some packed, just in case. ]

[citer]

[ the aranara, cyno says, and tighnari is enchanged. he recalls the annals of his studies, knows that he has never come across such a term, but somehow, somewhere, it resonates, like a single droplet of water on a familiar leaf, sliding from its precarious perch. tighnari knows it like his own name. the aranara, the children call them - therefore, there is no name that adults would call them by, no way of doing so without reaching back for a past they cannot return to.

he nods gratefully at cyno's return, and gestures with his good hand. ]

I found a mortar and pestle, though I don't know how long it's been here. It seems sturdy enough. Can you wash it, and see if you can pick one or two lotus heads? I'd like to make a salve for my hand.

And as for anything else... [ his ears swivel as he looks about, and then, tighnari shakes his head. ] No, we have all else we need. Are Hanan and Dalir alright?

[cashewlater]

[ cyno nods, and takes the mortar and pestle. ]

They're good. Resting, now.

[ and they'll need plenty, to ride hard tomorrow. cyno sets the rations down on a little rickety table, before he's off to the brook again to rinse the tools well, scrubbing them free of dust and debris before returning them to tighnari. ]

You did very well.

[citer]

[ the mortar and pestle are cool to the touch when cyno returns. he takes them with a thankful nod, and begins to take fresh mint out from one of the jars so that he can begin the slow process of grinding it into paste. it's slow work with a single hand. he directs cyno to hold the mortar still as he does so.

tighnari glances up as cyno makes his remark. his ears flicker, pleased. ]

I have a good teacher.

[ ... ] I've never asked: when was the first time you held a weapon in hand?

[cashewlater]

[ cyno is as obedient as ever, of course, holding the mortar with both hands as tighnari works. his question, however, has cyno's expression tightening thoughtfully. ]

Mm.. for the very first time? I can't remember. Very young. But, properly - [ he rolls a shoulder in a noncommittal gesture. ] I began training with a teacher not long after I was adopted. I learned many weapons.

[citer]

Why were you taught?

[cashewlater]

I wanted to be. I asked. I suppose I was.. afraid.

[citer]

[ it is the first time that tighnari has heard cyno say the word. he considers this. ]

Because of Hermanubis? Or because of those who wanted Hermanubis' power through you?

[cashewlater]

[ his gaze drops, brow pinched. ]

Both. When I was abandoned, I had to defend myself against all sorts of assailants, and.. yes, people who wanted to use me.

[citer]

And so you wanted to learn to defend yourself.

[ another click of a missing piece in place - it must be also why cyno wanted tighnari to learn as well. because defending yourself is an intrinsic weave in cyno's life, a piece of thread long-since worn into something inseparable from the fabric of cyno's soul. ]

Did it work, learning how to hone your powers? Have you felt safe since?

[cashewlater]

I never feel safe. Not entirely. But I am much more prepared to defend myself, now. [ his gaze flicks to tighnari's eyes. ] As are you, now, though I'm sorry you needed to see combat at all.

[ and he's well aware that it's his fault that they're in this situation to begin with. ]

[citer]

I feel safer. [ tighnari says, and knows it to be true. ] For being in a world where I can hold a bow and a dagger.

[ a laden beat. and then: ] And for being a world where there is you.

[cashewlater]

[ at that, cyno's brows lift, but then.. he smiles, slow and soft. ]

Thank you. [ it's not often that cyno is thanked for doing what he does, after all. ] I'm glad to have met you, Tighnari.

[ his life is richer, for having tighnari in it. ]

I'd like to learn more about you.

[citer]

[ at this, tighnari smiles. ]

I daresay you know more about me than anyone alive on Teyvat right now. Not enough?

[cashewlater]

Well, I know you, but I can't say I know about you. Your family. Your upbringing. Though I understand if you'd rather not disclose.

[ he knows little enough about valuka shuna - only what tighnari has told him. ]

[citer]

[ tighnari's ears flicker. he considers this. the scent of mint between them is overwhelming. ]

Family... huh. Like you, I don't remember much of that. Family has always been an academic concept. I learned about it in books after I gained access to the House of Daena. Here is the logic of it: all Valuka Shuna must come from other Valuka Shuna. And yet all Valuka Shuna are eventually given away to belong to those within the Akademiya. Where do you think new Valuka Shuna come from?

[cashewlater]

[ oh. hmm. ]

I suppose.. I had assumed that not all Valuka Shuna were given away, I suppose. Is that not the case?

[citer]

I thought the same. [ the paste is done. tighnari adds a little bit of river water to dilute it, and then, mixing it, begins to unwrap the silks of his wound. the layers come apart one by one, dyed first in black, and then the red of something fresh. ]

I thought there would be a breeding stock of Valuka Shuna kept behind. But there aren't enough of us. I'd learn this later. There are five of us left, and not counting myself, three have already been given away.

[ a beat. ] I am capable of having children. If I were to have a child, they would return to being the property of the Akademiya.

[cashewlater]

Five?

[ cyno's eyes widen in abject shock, and soon after his expression settles into quiet, dangerous fury. tighnari's predicament has never sat right with him, but this.. his mouth presses into a thin line. ]

I see. I'm sorry that this is happening to your people. To anyone at all. It isn't right, and once all of this passes..

[citer]

[ cyno's fury is like that of a lit flame. it starts in the startling, titian sunset of his eyes, the set of his shoulders, and it ends in the tension of his hands. tighnari looks at him. something in him stirs. ]

Cyno. [ he calls out to him. ] I understand how you feel. But one thing at a time - Azar has resources, and the Valuka Shuna are one of them. The people that they are given to are rewarded for a reason - they are capable, and they are also at his beck and call. There will be many people to dismantle before you can get to the root of a system like this. We can't rush.

[cashewlater]

[ he knows that there is truth behind tighnari's words, knows it from his work alone, in how long many of his investigations take. he's patient. and yet. ]

I know. But people are suffering.

[ and knowing the truth of it, the depth of it - gods, it makes him feel so helpless. if he could erase all the pain and wrong from the world with the snap of his fingers - cyno sighs slowly through his nose. ]

Just know that it's on my mind. I won't let anyone take anything from you again, if I can help it. Especially not a child.

[citer]

I won't either. [ says tighnari, and he's not surprised that he means it. he smears mint into his wound, and winces at the sting. it is what it is, however. this will prevent infection. tomorrow morning, he will check it in the light, and see how deep the damage is.

tonight, he tears off another strip of silk. ]

And I trust you.

[cashewlater]

[ those words ease his heart, especially after their little spat earlier in the evening. that feels like a lifetime ago, now, despite being only a handful of hours. ]

Let me.

[ he says, taking the silk strip from tighnari's grasp. it'll be easier for cyno to wrap it, with two good hands. ]

[citer]

[ it had been the right thing to do, to verbalise it. there had been a time wherein tighnari had thought he had put all of his trust into the world already. there had only been so much of the world that he could, in fact, trust. but his world has grown wider for it, and there had been a moment tonight where the cold stone in tighnari's stomach had told him cyno, too, could open one hand, and close the other.

cyno had kept both hands open. tighnari had regretted not trusting him. he will, he thinks, trust him. not because he has to, but because he wants to.

he extends his hand to cyno. ]

Thank you. [ tighnari's tail curls around him. the tip rests by cyno's foot. ] You didn't have it easy either, though. Did many people get angry on your behalf?