for @citer

[cashewlater]

Comments

[cashewlater]

[ a bite of dried jerky, cyno chews thoughtfully. ]

Protecting your skin is paramount, we'll get you a good light cloak. The days are searing hot, but the nights are quite cold. Below freezing, at times. The sand is grating, and difficult to walk in, so you'll need light footwear.

[citer]

Ah, I'm being dressed again. It sounds far more practical than all this. [ he waves a hand over his torn silks.

he begins to unclip his earrings. one by one, a little gleaming pile grows. ] The gala did provide us with movable wealth, though. I'm looking forward to unloading all of these trinkets.

[cashewlater]

Mm, we should be able to get our hands on better clothing in Caravan Ribat.

[ they've got a good little pile of valuables indeed, between the two of them. cyno, too, has plenty of gold on his person, and weaved through his long hair. his fine silks could fetch a decent price, as well. cyno polishes off another peach. ]

I'm admittedly not very good at haggling..

[citer]

Oh? I've never tried it myself.

[ but tighnari looks intrigued. his tail flickers, its tuft of a tip brushing the side of cyno's leg. ] But if you provide me with the market value of these, I'll see to it that we get a price close to it. I've been told that I'm good at getting into arguments.

[cashewlater]

[ of course he looks intrigued. cyno chuckles, low under his breath. with his rations finished off, cyno takes a long drink from his waterskin. ]

Oh yes, I think you'd be quite excellent at it, if you'd like to try your hand. Those merchants won't know what hit them.

[citer]

You sounds as if I'd clobber them over the head. I'd at least give them a sporting chance to duck.

[cashewlater]

I'm only saying, I would rather not be the merchant on the other end of your tongue.

[citer]

I'd call you a coward, but I think I've taught you better than that. [ a pleased smile. ]

Alright, finish up your food. We have a long way tomorrow. Help me in the morning to collect some fruits and fill up a jar with water - we can take some with us, but I also want to repay the Aranara for their help tonight.

[cashewlater]

I simply know when I've met my match.

[ cyno nods, and begins clearing up their ration packets and peach pits. the pits can be discarded in the forest, the fabric wraps re-used. ]

You'd make an excellent matra, you know.

[citer]

Me?

[ as tighnari begins to set out their sleeping area - extra leaves as bedding, a small woven blanket to be taken down from where it currently hangs on the wall. ]

Hah. I wouldn't know what to do with all that authority. Do you like it? Being a matra.

[cashewlater]

Do I like it?

[ that's.. a surprisingly good question, one that cyno isn't sure how to answer immediately. he stands, tossing the peach pits out of the door and into the wilds, before he's folding the ration wraps into neat squares and setting them aside. they'll go into the saddlebags tomorrow. after that, he's finally shrugging off his cloak, and beginning to divest himself of his own baubles, setting them on the table one by one. ]

I don't think it is about liking it or not liking it. I feel that I must do it, and so I do.

[citer]

[ it is, all in all, tighnari thinks - a very cyno answer. it seems like cyno has always been like this. perhaps some things are beyond liking or dislike. perhaps it's about purpose, and your fundamental understanding of right and wrong, justice and injustice. perhaps that first day on the balcony had illuminated something about cyno's character after all. the stubborn set of his shoulders, the titian sunset of his eyes, justice made into the form of a man.

that justice knew to return the peach pits out into the wild and to recycle fabric is an added bonus that tighnari hadn't expected. but cyno has always been like this, too. ]

You know what your purpose is. Many people don't; that solid understanding of yourself is enviable. I've always thought this, but you are more like bedrock than sand. Sand slips through your fingers, but bedrock can always be counted on to stay steady beneath your feet.

[cashewlater]

[ cyno huffs a soft sound like a laugh. bedrock.. there are plenty more unflattering comparisons to be made, and though cyno hardly knows what to do with compliments, he's nevertheless glad that tighnari sees him so favorably. ]

Until the earth quakes beneath your feet, I suppose.

[ there's a joke to be made about rocking, but cyno does not find himself in a joking mood. removing the last of his baubles, cyno sets his helm aside, and ties his hair back in a thick tail. ]

If I am bedrock, I suppose that you are water. Calm and nurturing, brimming with life, but if you aren't careful, you'll drown yourself in it. You could erode even the toughest bedrock.

[citer]

Oh? [ tighnari's ears perk. ] Do you find yourself eroded, General Mahamatra?

[cashewlater]

Not yet. Erosion takes time.

[citer]

We'd better make time, then.

[ satisfied with his preparations, tighnari pats the leaf-covered cot. ]

Come, I've made the bed. It's smaller than what we had back at the palace, but I think we'll make shift.

[cashewlater]

[ shrugging off some of his silks, cyno tosses them with his cloak. ]

I don't mind sleeping on the floor, if you'd like more room. I'm used to it.

[citer]

I wouldn't sleep well, knowing that you're on the ground. Also, do I take up so much space?

[cashewlater]

That isn't what I said. [ but he relents, and sits at the edge of the cot. fatigue is finally beginning to set in. ] But you do kick. [ ehehe. ]

[citer]

Hey. [ a beat. ] Do I? Where do I kick?

[cashewlater]

[ cyno reclines with a sigh, his back popping in that wonderfully satisfying way. ]

Just little kicks. Like a sleeping pup.

[citer]

A pup. [ entirely faux scandalised. tighnari's elbow finds itself into cyno's side as he settles in as well, tucked in against the wall and his tail akimbo. ] At least use the proper term for it - Valuka Shuna children are called kits. Not that I've been one for the past decade, nor do I kick like one.

Here, turn around. Let me see your back. We'll see how hard I really kick.

[cashewlater]

Like a fox. That makes sense.

[ ow! elbow! but cyno can only huff a muted laugh; it's.. nice, to be close enough with someone to be able to exchange friendly banter, cyno can't think of anyone who would dare to elbow the general mahamatra, besides this opinionated brat beside him. it feels.. good. ]

I don't think I will, thank you. How do you know you don't kick? You're asleep.

[citer]

And you are not? Or are you able to perceive things while asleep, now? Who here is pulling my leg, really.

[ but the tone is light, if anything. tighnari settles in, and faces cyno with a sigh. ]

Turn around anyway. Let me take a look at your shoulders; you're tense again.

[cashewlater]

Yes, of course I'm asleep. Until you kick me.

[ whether or not cyno is telling the full truth is A Mystery, but he shifts nevertheless, and turns his back to tighnari. he is, in fact, always tense again. ]