for @citer

[cashewlater]

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[cashewlater]

[ a weary smile, also sympathetic. he knows full well how terrible it must feel, when this is something they decided to do together, but some things cannot be foreseen, and the desert is an incredibly harsh environment. ]

Your company alone has been useful to me. You can make use of yourself in Aaru Village, as well, so try not to worry too much.

[ he offers a hand down. ]

[citer]

[ cyno extends his hand. tighnari takes it. he hefts himself onto hanan's back, carefully arranging himself in the shadow of cyno's body. tighnari winces - in the height of the desert, cyno's usually comforting heat is sweltering. his tail flicks once, then stills. ]

Oh, no, I'm not worried. I'll dry up long before I'm able to. But there are people to question in Aaru village, and eremites pass through periodically enough that I won't lack for people to talk to. It's frustrating to know that I'm useless out there, that's all.

[ a sigh, soft. ] How far away is this oasis?

[cashewlater]

[ dalir is leashed to hanan, and they begin to ride - cyno wastes no time. the sooner they get to the oasis, the sooner tighnari can find some relief. the wind, at least, will alleviate some of the heat, though it, too, is wickedly hot. ]

An hour's ride, if we're quick. Hang in there.

[citer]

Hang in where? [ the bleary flicker of tighnari's ears. ] I only have your arms.

[cashewlater]

[ heh. cyno manages a dry smile, and he cranes his head to press a soft, brief kiss to tighnari's damp temple. such things have become.. absurdly easy. ]

Close your eyes, focus on breathing. We'll be there before you know it.

[citer]

[ despite the stifling cage of heat - the kiss bleeds through, something cool and kind. tighnari sighs. his hand squeezes cyno's, before it falls away - best not to trap heat further. ]

I'd hope so; I don't want to be lucid for every moment of the journey. But if I close my eyes now, I might fall asleep. I might never wake again.

Pose me a question.

[cashewlater]

Honestly. The dramatics.. [ falling asleep sounds like a fine idea, to cyno. ] But very well. What's the first book you remember reading?

[citer]

Ah... first book. [ thinking through mire is a slog - but the question focuses tighnari's tired mind. he leans back against cyno as he considers this. ] It must've been a picture book, though I couldn't describe it as reading. There were humans in the book. It wasn't the first time I've seen them, but I remember thinking that I didn't know humans had hair in those colours. Blue, green, silver...

Though if I open my eyes right now, I would see an example of the latter colour, wouldn't I. Or would the sun have me see red and blue instead?

[cashewlater]

[ a soft huff of a breathless laugh. ]

You'll simply have to see for yourself. [ no more desert for you, tighnari.. ] A picture book, then. And when did you first discover your love for the natural world?

[citer]

[ at this, the curve of tighnari's smile is a felt thing: ]

When I'd just learned that something as small as a little red mushroom could poison someone, obviously. [ obviously!! ] There seemed to be plenty of uses for that sort of thing. Mind you, I wasn't interested in seeing anyone dead - but a week's worth of discomfort would have been nice for certain researchers who

Ah, you're making me think. An overdose of Henna berries could be terrible, too.

[cashewlater]

[ cyno huffs a soft sound, turning his mouth and nose against tighnari's hair. ]

Remind me to never get on your bad side.

[citer]

Didn't you already do that? [ but it's light, for all the heat and drama. tighnari leans back into cyno's touch. there's a odd purr to his bottom lip as he considers this. ] I didn't even take a single bite out of you, so I'm not sure what you're so worried about.

[cashewlater]

That hardly counted.

[ it was only a tiff!! but tighnari will feel cyno's smile curving against his hair. ]

I can kill a man in a thousand different ways, but none of them involve poison.

[citer]

Isn't that why you have me?

[cashewlater]

It is now. [ cyno chuckles, breathing in tighnari's scent, and hums. ] Rest. We'll be there soon.

[ in fact, the glimmer of water can just be caught on the horizon. ]

[citer]

[ for a moment, tighnari's attention prickles. the stillness comes at a stifled beat. odd, he thinks - he knows cyno's motions. he knows the warmth of cyno's embrace. the sun flickers, and tighnari lets his eyes lid.

no, the moment passes. the oasis stretches just beyond the horizon. tighnari looks.

it turns out that there are more than just fungi ringing the little oasis that springs out from the middle of two, flanking sand dunes. alligators with their teeth spread wide - desert foxes scurrying away for the shade of the ajilenakh palms. tighnari dismounts gratefully, taking no time at all to make his way into the water. his ankles stir up mud. the waters are cool; he could submerge himself, though he would have to fight an alligator. he might just do that. ]

Bring the waterskins. I know you have three on you. [ and then - ] Are you truly so unaffected by the sun?

[cashewlater]

[ the oasis is a breath of fresh air, the wind itself a few degrees cooler where it blows off of the water. they dismount, and lead the horses to the shallows, where they drink gratefully beneath the shade of several ajilenakh palms. cyno eyes the wildlife around them, but nothing is approaching, so he unhooks the waterskins and carries them forward. ]

Of course not.

[ the heat takes its toll on cyno, as well, and its weight is writ across his face, skin flushed warm, sweat dampening the hair that clings to his skin. he drops his hood and takes a breath. ]

I feel it, just as you do. I'm simply good at bearing it.

[citer]

[ tighnari takes the waterskins. his fingers skim cyno's - the warmth there is like that of a little sunburst. he wrinkles his nose. ]

Has there been heat you could not bear?

[cashewlater]

Mm. Only once.

[ stripping off his cloak, cyno drapes it over a low slung palm and steps into the water just enough to submerge his ankles. ]

Heatstroke, when I was very young.

[citer]

[ in turn, tighnari fills their waterskins to the brim. he passes two along to cyno, and has the other one sit next to him as he dips the tip of his tail into the water. it's wonderfully cool.

a thoughtful murmur: ]

This would be before or after the Akademiya took you from the desert?

[cashewlater]

Before. Just before.

[ when his parents left him alone to die in the sands, and take his hellish power with him. the waterskins are replaced, one at his hip, another hooked to hanan's saddle. dropping low, cyno cups water in his hands, splashing it over his face. ]

Are you going to soak? I can keep the beasts at bay.

[citer]

[ just before. the heat is an inexorable blanket upon the alacrity of tighnari's mind, but even he cannot miss the implications. he lets his tail trail, and then, shaking his head, breathes out. even his breath feels scalding. it lingers between his teeth. ]

Do I need you to? I'm of a mind that I will wrestle them myself it they interrupt me. [ and then, because he's tighnari, there's no modesty in the world that prevents him from bending down and submerging his head entirely. he re-emerges with a gasp his ears flicking water up and out like a miniature rainshower. ] - ah.

That's better. I can think.

[cashewlater]

[ cyno can't help the fondness in his expression as he watches tighnari dip his entire head beneath the water, after insinuating that he would wrestle an alligator. despite how well they've come to know one another, cyno finds that tighnari always finds ways to surprise him with his specific brand of charm. ]

Well then, don't let me stop you, then. I'll enjoy spectating.

[citer]

Will you?

[ because you know what foxes do when their fur is wet?

tighnari begins to shake. ]

[cashewlater]

[ oh COME ON. so much for that swell of fondness. cyno is showered with droplets of fox water, and his expression soon flattens, deadpan. ]

.. I don't need help washing myself, thank you.