for @citer

[cashewlater]

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[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?

[cashewlater]

I managed. I was very fortunate, I think, to have been picked up by the Professor. He gave me a chance at education, gave me a life I never could have had without him.

[ and cyno is grateful for it. carefully, but snugly, he wraps the silk around tighnari's hand with the skill of someone who has wrapped many wounds. his work is neat. ]

Why would anyone be angry on my behalf? Especially on this side of the wall?

[citer]

I was just thinking. [ tighnari's head bows. the tips of his ears nearly alight themselves upon the crown of cyno's head. ] You get angry on my behalf so easily. So it wasn't a learned behaviour.

It's just you.

[cashewlater]

.. mm.

[ it's just him. this, perhaps, is what makes him good at his job - cyno's ability to see injustice and act on it, with all the righteous fury of a god. his hands slow for a moment, as he frowns, before he's working at the wrap again. ]

I was.. jealous, I think. Tonight.

[ a feeling he's never really experienced, before. ]

[citer]

[ tighnari's ear flicks. he looks up. ]

Jealous? [ ... ] Of me?