Archive of Our Own ^beta

I’m running out of time.

Slamming a fist into the stone above him, Cyno gasped. The stone didn’t give. Instead, the mosaic of a guardian’s face stared down at him with blank eyes. Come on, come on! He punched at the rock again.

His bad leg gave out.

Head crashing underwater, Cyno was swallowed by dark, icy water. His lungs spasmed, chest seizing. Bubbles flew from his throat. Clapping a bruised hand over his mouth and nose, trying to keep himself from losing any more air, he held out his other hand. His fingers brushed against rough stone, the edges of collapsed walls and rubble. Come on, Cyno. Get up, find your way up again. His good heel struck the floor as he sank.

Desperate, he kicked off of the floor and reached out for the water’s surface. His fingers broke it. Kicking harder, Cyno scrabbled for the ceiling. His bruised, scraped fingertips hit smooth rock again.

Finally, finally, he got air. Gasping, he grabbed for a grip on the rock. Please. Archons, please, I need to get out of here, he coughed, choked on water lingering in his lungs. His fingers lost their grip. Thrashing, Cyno grabbed for the rock again. He found the grip. When he tried to haul himself up, though—he lost. Again. Cold water crashed over him. No. No, come on. Please. Throwing a hand out, Cyno managed to snag the grip again. Curling his fingers into the rock, he hauled himself up. Under the water, he managed to find a foothold as well.

Clinging to the wall, resting his head against it, Cyno squeezed his eyes shut and prayed he could hold on long enough for someone to find him.

+

Tighnari hadn’t spoken in three days.

Standing at the doorway between their kitchen and living room, Alhaitham watched Kaveh try to coax some lavender tea into him. They’d tried food earlier. Nothing happened. Tighnari hadn’t even acknowledged it was there. He hadn’t looked at Kaveh, either.

Collei was worried, to the point where Amber had showed up with Aether in Sumeru. Someone had decided that Collei…probably shouldn’t see Tighnari in that state. So, she was kept away, with Amber and a kind-looking woman with brown hair and purple clothes watching over her. Alhaitham and Kaveh, meanwhile, were meant to be watching over Tighnari. If Cyno were here, he’d be doing the same.

Then again, if Cyno were here, they wouldn’t be having that problem.

Cyno had been missing for…about a week before the announcement. He was meant to only be gone for two days, to check in on an ancient temple somewhere in the desert that had only recently been found by the Traveler. Once it had been seven days, and there was no sign or letter from him, though, it had been announced that Cyno was considered dead. Since then, Tighnari had not spoken a word.

Turning on his heel, Alhaitham went to their pantry and began rooting through it. Sure, he couldn’t cook—but he wasn’t trying to make anything for Tighnari. He wouldn’t eat it. Alhaitham wasn’t going to try and force him.

Instead, he was getting food for Kaveh.

They couldn’t help Tighnari if they didn’t help themselves. Kaveh hadn’t been helping himself. So, Alhaitham was going to have to do it for him. If he added some extra, in case Tighnari’s appetite finally returned to him, well—good. Tighnari needed food, too.

Mostly, it ended up just being small things. Cheese slices. Little bits of meat. Toasted crackers. At a party, they would have been wolfed down without so much as a second thought, and as Alhaitham selected a few strands of grapes and put them on the plate, he glanced back into the living room. Kneeling in front of Tighnari, head ducked down so they could look at one another, Kaveh was still pleading with him softly. He wasn’t even trying to get the tea into him anymore, he was just asking Tighnari to look at him, please, just focus on me.

The reaction made sense.

Ever since the moment where Tighnari had been wounded, struck by lightning, he and Cyno had…something going on between them. They weren’t together. Not quite. They were talking, though, the way that Kaveh ranted about the characters in the romance novels he read did. There was a phrase…the pair were dancing around one another.

He couldn’t imagine how it might be if either of them had something they wanted to say, and then didn’t. Of course, he and Kaveh had their own issues. They’d talked about it. From what he knew, however, Tighnari and Cyno had not. Now, from the look of it, Tighnari was regretting not saying whatever he had been hiding.

When he returned to Kaveh and Tighnari’s side, the tea was still untouched, and he had added some strips of jerky onto the plate. Just in case. He didn’t say anything until he went to the pantry and returned a second time, a water in hand that he passed to Kaveh. “Take a break, Kaveh.”

Red eyes met his. They narrowed, slightly, and Kaveh opened his mouth to protest. Glancing at Tighnari, Alhaitham shook his head without a word. Gaze dropping, Kaveh studied the carpet for a moment. Then, he nodded in turn, pushed himself up, and went to a nearby chair to settle down with the water.

Alhaitham turned to Tighnari.

There was this…blank look to his friend’s features. A sort of deadness to his eyes, like the light had just been ripped out of them. There were some small, thin braids done by gentle hands in his hair, when Kaveh had managed to get Tighnari into bed and helped him wash his hair in the sink. He was exhausted.

Reaching out, Alhaitham gently touched Tighnari’s knee. Dulled eyes met his own. Lowering his voice, Alhaitham spoke softly, “I know that you’re worried about him. He’s alive, you and I both know it. So does Kaveh.” He paused, swallowing and then continuing once he was sure his voice wouldn’t shake, “We’re going to go look for him, Kaveh and I. If you want to come, then you need to eat and get your strength back up, because we’re not going to be able to care for you both.”

Something about Tighnari changed at that.

It wasn’t like Kaveh wasn’t trying his best. He had been, and he’d done a pretty good job. As much as Alhaitham had tried, he wasn’t able to get so much as water into Tighnari and Kaveh had been able to get him to eat and drink for the past several days. He’d been the only one to get him to sleep, sitting by him at night and napping when Alhaitham was watching him. After a few days of Cyno missing, even Collei hadn’t been able to do that. It was just the past day and a half that Tighnari had begun refusing food and water.

But Alhaitham wasn’t against leveraging seeking out Cyno like Kaveh was. If it got Tighnari eating, then it got him eating. Alhaitham wasn’t about to feel a lick of shame for keeping a friend alive. And, thank the Archon, it worked.

With shaking hands, Tighnari reached for the tea.

+

Cyno’s arms were giving out.

Panting, he pressed his forehead against the stone. Small pebbles and rocks pressed into his skin. His headpiece was long gone, somewhere at the bottom of the pool he was currently swimming in. It and the attached cloak he’d brought with him had been caught in the falling rubble, soaked through and choking him, so he’d had to let it go. Whatever. He would have to recommission it. An annoyance, but a worthy one if he made it out of the situation he was in.

He just had to hold on, just a little longer. Someone was coming. They had to be.

His arms were shaking, legs numb from the chill of the water. If he didn’t succumb to the water by drowning, he probably would by freezing to death. Even his bad leg didn’t hurt as much anymore. His fingertips were numb. Different reason, though. He’d probably lost a lot of blood just from how scraped up they were.

If he got out, he probably wouldn’t even have to go and do Matra work without his headpiece and cloak. With how damaged his fingers and hands were, let alone his leg, he was…probably going to be on bed rest for a while. Tighnari would make sure of it.

Archons, Tighnari. He was going to be devastated if Cyno didn’t make it back. Had he been looking in the desert? I should have told him. I shouldn’t have waited.

Archons, I’m a coward.

He slipped again. White hair plastered to his face, his nose, his mouth. Coughing, spitting, Cyno clambered for the wall again. One hand met the grip he had been clinging to.

The other’s shredded fingers found—nothing.

Eyes snapping open even in the darkness, Cyno kicked a foot against the wall. Pain shot across his skin, the first feeling he’d had in it for a while. Mouth falling open, he gasped, grabbed onto the grip he had found, and launched himself up and forwards.

When he surged forwards, there was still nothing. No walls, no blockages, no rubble keeping him from hauling himself up. I must have moved, he realized, dragging his hips over the edge of the pool and then collapsing on the floor. Cold stone pressed into his cheek, mosaic tiles pressing into his skin. Sometime when I dropped under the water, I must have come up in a different spot and not realized it. Reaching out again, he searched for another blockage in the space.

Still, nothing.

More than that, when he cracked his eyes open again, he could just see a little bit of light. It was dim, and far away, but it was there. Raising his head, propping himself up on his elbows, Cyno stared at the light. It didn’t move, and it was a spike of light beaming down into where Cyno was trapped.

He rested for a little while, dropping back down to the floor. Around him, the air was cool, but not freezing. He’d have to move eventually. For now, though…he needed to take a breather.

Time passed. Minutes, hours probably. Still, when he could feel his arms a bit more, he pushed himself up again and started dragging himself.

Even though he couldn’t feel his legs anymore from the cold, he wouldn’t be able to use them anyways. Reaching above his head, his hand would quickly meet fallen sections of the temple. He couldn’t stand. Well, for multiple reasons. One was the wound to his right foot that he had just taken when he kicked off that underwater rock. As for his left leg, there was a stab wound to his calf. He had taken that before the collapse, thanks to a fight with some sort of…undead thing? It was a stab wound. He’d wrapped it with a section of cloth from the side of his shorts. From the stinging feeling in that same ankle, though…he had a feeling it might have been broken.

I’m getting out, though. And Tighnari’s probably going to complain about it while worrying, Cyno forced a laugh. There was a wheeze to his breath. Not great. Shaking his head, he continued to drag himself towards the light. The entrance was getting larger and larger as he got closer, though. If he had to guess, it was large enough for him to force his way through, or at least clear enough of a way to do that. Kaveh and Alhaitham are going to be fighting over something dumb, because Kaveh’s going to have stressed himself out over something and Alhaitham’s going to be trying to distract him.

The stone tiles under his hands were cold. He was lucky enough that the area he was stuck in wasn’t trapped. That, or all the traps had been triggered. The cold and water seemed to have kept anything else from getting in along with him.

He and Tighnari were going to talk when they got back.

Cyno was done being a coward. He hadn’t said anything because he was the Mahamatra. He had work to do that put a target on his back. Yes, Tighnari could handle himself, he was a good fighter and he was plenty capable. He had survived worse than what Cyno’s enemies could throw at him. Still, Cyno had been too nervous to talk to Tighnari properly, to speak to him about what he should have, because he was scared. He was afraid of something happening to him, of being made to sit by a hospital bed in the Bimarstan and wait, hoping and praying, for news that he would be okay. It was bad enough finding out Tighnari was hurt and that he couldn’t see him. Going and seeing him, only to be able to do nothing to help…he’d thought that was his worst fear.

There were worse things than Cyno having to sit by Tighnari’s bedside while he was hurt.

Namely, him not knowing anything about what Cyno felt because Cyno had never told him. He deserved the truth, he deserved that much.

Maybe Cyno was just trying to find one single thing to keep himself going, and maybe that was it.

He reached the beam of light and needed to take a rest again. Sure enough, like he had hoped, the gap was big enough for him to drag himself through. He didn’t even need to worry about shoving his shoulders through. Alhaitham was significantly more broad-shouldered than he was, and Cyno knew Alhaitham could make it through. So, he could as well. He’d make it.

Okay, Cyno. Take another break. Check over the injuries. Let’s move. His eyes burned a little bit. Wrinkling his nose, Cyno pulled his hands into the sunlight and looked down at them. They’d been shredded, he’d need to wrap them as well. His nails were ragged, a bit torn. His fingers had begun to turn purplish-blue. His left ankle was swollen and purpling as well, and his right foot had a long scrape along the front and its own swollen, darkening sections.

Man, the healers are going to have a field day, Cyno grimaced. Checking his pockets, he found a small roll of bandages. Enough to wrap his fingers, and maybe the scrape to the front of his foot. Everything else was going to have to handle itself.

He didn’t even have a splint.

Maybe when I get back Collei can learn a bit more about the healing side of Forest Watcher work. The thought did make him smile. When they had tried to teach Collei more of the healer’s work, it had been…interesting. Kaveh passed out because of a needle. Somehow, Alhaitham had narrowly managed to avoid another assassination attempt only to a) almost walk off a cliff and b) nearly set his house on fire trying to boil water. Laughing, Cyno shook his head.

Alhaitham and Kaveh sure did make a mistake playing with fire. Alhaitham cooking? Sure way to get burned.

It wasn’t a funny joke, it was awful even for him. He laughed anyways, weakly. There was still a rattle in his lungs.

Closing his eyes, he bandaged his fingers and tipped his head back to look through the gap in the rocks. Beyond it, he could see clear blue sky. Okay, Cyno. You can make it.

Let’s do this.

+

Tighnari was struggling.

Watching Alhaitham as he walked in front of them, Kaveh glanced over at Tighnari. Even though he had eaten, Tighnari was still suffering the effects of it. The sun was beating down on them all. Even Kaveh was beginning to feel the heat. (He was sure Alhaitham was, too, just that he wasn’t mentioning it.) As it was, they didn’t have much time. Cyno had been out in the desert for a week, he hadn’t come back, and they technically weren’t even meant to be out there. They had alerted Collei and Nilou, warned Candace that they might end up having to find her for her help, and then left.

“Here,” pulling out his water, Kaveh handed it to Tighnari. He stared at it for a second, blinking like he didn’t quite understand what was going on, and then took it. “I’ve got extra, don’t worry about me.”

There was a small nod. A thank you and an acknowledgement of what Kaveh had said.

Up ahead, there was a massive dip in the desert.

It was hard to spot at first, a massive hole like a giant child had taken a bucket and just scooped a hole from the earth. As they continued to get closer, Kaveh could see some more details. “Alhaitham?” He called ahead. Pausing, Alhaitham turned back to him, “Is that what I think it is?”

“A dip in the desert?” Alhaitham asked, voice deadpan and a little tired.

Focusing him with a flat look, Kaveh replied, “A sinkhole that wasn’t there last time we searched here. What usually causes sinkholes?” Alhaitham stared at him for a second. Then, it hit him. (Okay, Kaveh decided, when we get all three of them back to the house, I’m making them sleep. Everyone is getting naps. And food. And—)

“You think that he was underground?”

“He was checking out a temple, wasn’t he?” Kaveh prompted. Next to him, Tighnari perked up a little bit. He made a move to start running. Kaveh grabbed him before he could bolt. “Careful, Nari. We need to make sure you don’t get stuck, too.”

Tighnari stared at him. Then, sighing, he turned away. Something in Kaveh’s chest twisted at that, but he grabbed Tighnari’s arm gently and pulled him along. Alhaitham almost just stood there, so Kaveh grabbed him, too.

“Wh—I’m going, I’m going! You don’t need to drag me!” Alhaitham protested.

“Clearly I do, considering you were just staring at me like I grew a second head!” Kaveh remarked, dragging them both along the sand. Still, Tighnari said nothing. His eyes focused on the path ahead, rather.

Something made him pause.

Then, yanking free of Kaveh, Tighnari sprinted across the sands.

“Cyno!”

Alhaitham and Kaveh both snapped their heads around to look at him as he sprinted. Then, they ran to follow him. The sand was hot under their feet, and awkward to run on. It didn’t matter.

Tighnari ran up to Cyno first. Voice rough from disuse, he called out again, “Cyno!”

The man himself looked up. He was missing his telltale headpiece, and his cloak. Sections of his trousers had been stripped away, and he was limping badly. Honestly, Kaveh wasn’t even sure he should be walking. Despite that, as soon as Tighnari’s hands landed on his arms, Cyno reached up and grabbed his shoulders. The look on his face was like he didn’t have anywhere else he would rather be.

Tighnari, meanwhile, snapped right back into his old self.

“Kaveh, I need the first aid supplies, now!” He barked. Rushing over, Kaveh handed them off, helping Cyno sit down on the sand. “You fool, what have you done to yourself?”

“Well, I know we’re in the desert,” Cyno paused and then winced as Tighnari checked his left calf. There was a wrapped stab wound there—Kaveh could tell by the blood spatter. At that, he turned his head away so they wouldn’t have two people to care for. Or three, if Tighnari collapsed. Meanwhile, Cyno continued, “but I didn’t realize that I was that hot before.”

“Cyno, I swear to the Archons I’m going to bite you if you don’t sit still.” Tighnari snarled, ears pinning back as he struggled to wrap Cyno’s leg with shaking hands. Reaching over, Alhaitham touched his arm. At first, Tighnari yanked away, biting out something about “doing it himself”.

“Take care of his foot, it looks like he’s got a break. Let me handle this.” Alhaitham said, voice steady. For a second, Kaveh thought Tighnari might go for his throat.

Instead, he nodded and pulled away.

Cyno tilted his head to the side. A cough wracked his shoulders. Removing his own cloak, Kaveh put it over him. “Thanks, Kaveh. Y’all are just too cool for me, looks like I’ve caught a cold.”

Touching his forehead with the back of his hand, Kaveh hummed, “More like you’ve caught a fever as well. Where were you, Cyno?”

“The temple was underground. I got lost and then it collapsed in on me, and I ended up getting stuck in this underground river or something. Almost drowned in a desert of all things.” Shaking his head, Cyno continued, “I can barely believe it now. How long was I gone?”

“Ten days.” Tighnari said. His voice was still a bit gravelly, even with the quick use. Moving to Cyno’s other leg, he added, “Your ankle is broken, you have a stab wound to your leg, and this foot is broken. What happened?”

“Ten days?” Cyno kept looking at Tighnari. “Your voice sounds off. What happened?”

“Stopped talking for a bit,” Tighnari shrugged, like that was normal. “Yet yours sounds normal.”

“I was screaming. In case someone heard me.” Turning away, Tighnari hesitated for a second. His hands went back to Cyno’s ankle, and he kept working. Kaveh glanced between the two. There was a soft look in Tighnari’s eyes, past the exhaustion. They’re definitely going to have something to talk about once we get back home, he mused.

“Well, you won’t have to worry about that when we get back. You both can take my bed.” Cyno and Tighnari glanced at each other, then him.

“We don’t need—”

“I know that look in your eyes and I’ve seen Tighnari over the entire time you were missing. The two of you have something to talk about. If you need to, then you can take opposite sides of the bed and put a pillow between you, but in the meantime both of you need a soft surface and need a good nap.” With a shrug, he added, “I can figure out my own thing.”

Alhaitham reached out and touched Kaveh’s shoulder. Meeting his gaze, Kaveh managed a tight smile. Alhaitham, meanwhile, raised his eyes. With a shrug, Kaveh went to turn back to Cyno. When his roommate’s grip tightened, though, he drew his eyes back to him. This time, Alhaitham was the one who shrugged, nodded at Tighnari and Cyno, and then had…just an odd look. The message was clear enough.

Apparently, Tighnari and Cyno weren’t the only ones going to share the bed.

“We should probably get you back to Sumeru and get you checked out somewhere.” Alhaitham eventually prompted, once they had fixed Cyno up as much as they could. “Tighnari, you lead the way back. Kaveh and I can support Cyno between us.”

Turning, Tighnari opened his mouth to protest. This time, it was Cyno who quieted him with a hand on his knee, “Nari, it’s better if you lead us back. I’m going to need help anyways, and you’re shorter than both of them. It’ll be easier on my side.”

(Tighnari still didn’t seem happy about it, although he didn’t complain about it on the way back.)

+

Leaning against the doorframe, Kaveh watched Cyno and Tighnari as they slept.

It sounded creepier than it was, to be honest. From what he could tell, Cyno was doing well enough. He had an anemo mask pressed to his face, a thin clear thing that the Bimarstan had given to them when checking Cyno out. It wasn’t the only thing connected to him, either. There were a few needles leading to a hanging IV bag by the nightstand, mostly saline but also some antibiotics to fight off the bacteria he had taken in when he swallowed water. From what Kaveh remembered, the bottles on the nightstand had also been gifts from the Bimarstan—glucose tablets for the hypoglycemia, some fever reducers, and painkillers.

For now, though, Cyno and Tighnari were dead to the world in the right way. Tighnari had decided to curl up around Cyno, one leg thrown over Cyno’s hip and his arms looped around the man’s neck. Carefully, Kaveh slipped into the room, grabbing a blanket from one of his chairs. He laid it over both of them, tucking it around them carefully.

Tighnari stirred. Eyes half-opening, he looked up at Kaveh with probably the angriest look Kaveh had ever seen him give. To be fair, he had heard Tighnari talk angrily in his sleep, so apparently he was…not one to wake up. Giving him a smile, Kaveh touched his shoulder and then finished tucking in the blanket, whispering, “If you need me, I’ll be in the other room. Sleep well.”

He paused long enough to smooth a section of Cyno’s hair away from his eyes, then backed away. Pausing at the door long enough to make sure that Tighnari had gone back to sleep, he smiled. Then, it was back to the hallway.

He picked his way carefully into Alhaitham’s room. Alhaitham was still awake. Looking at Kaveh, he tilted his head to the side. “Tighnari and Cyno?”

“They’re fine. Sleeping.” Picking his way over to the bed, Kaveh made his way under the covers. He looked at Alhaitham for a second. Then, humming, thinking about Cyno and Tighnari, he decided to the Archons with it. “Alhaitham? Stop me if I’m doing something dumb.”

“What?” Alhaitham looked at him as Kaveh reached up, touched his cheek, and leaned in.

Alhaitham beat him to it—he leaned in the rest of the way.

Kaveh was not going to tell him that he was a bit awkward at the start, teeth colliding with Kaveh’s own for a moment. Which, not too great, but then he sort of figured out what he was doing.

Let’s hope Tighnari and Cyno can work their everything out this easily.

+

When Cyno woke, he was lying on his side in Kaveh’s bed, and Tighnari was toying with his hair with a soft expression.

“Hey.” He murmured, reaching up to feel the anemo mask strapped to his face, nose wrinkling. Saying he didn’t like the smell of the mask was a bit of an understatement. He loathed it. Usually, those masks meant pain, meant gasping into it while doctors tried to keep him from bleeding out, meant watching someone else struggle to breathe. That had happened with Tighnari once, a poacher’s crossbow bolt driving deep into his chest. He’d nearly died, Cyno had spent almost two days in the Bimarstan waiting room with Kaveh and Alhaitham. He’d sacrifice all his cards never to have to see Tighnari like that again. He’d do the same if he could guarantee he would never have to see Kaveh, Alhaitham, Collei, or anyone else he cared about in such a state, either.

Tighnari poked him between the eyebrows with a gentle touch. “Stop thinking so hard, you’ll hurt yourself.” He cautioned. Looking at him, Cyno smiled weakly.

“I feel like I should be telling you that.” Pausing, he added, “Or maybe not. You’ve got such a sunny disposition, after all. You know, because the sun makes your skin—”

“Should I be worried that you’re feeling well enough to make jokes? Or worried that they’re even more awful than usual?” Tighnari prompted, but there was a smile tugging at his face. Returning it, Cyno went to move. Pain shot out across him. Gasping, he grabbed for the mask, for Tighnari—Tighnari’s hand curled around his, he was gently pushed back to the bed. A hand touched and scanned over his left leg, then his right. “It’s okay, you’re okay. You haven’t torn anything, you’re fine.”

He sounded like he was trying to convince himself, not Cyno.

“What—how bad is it?” He prompted. For a moment, Tighnari paused. He glanced his way, shifted awkwardly. “Nari, please. I’ll find out eventually.”

“I—” Tighnari closed his eyes. “Some of it you know. Your fingers are shredded. You had hypothermia, dehydration, and a mild case of hypoglycemia. A stab wound to your left calf. Your right foot and left ankle are broken as well. You have a fever and a cold. I don’t…I don’t know how long you’re going to have to take off from work. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. None of this was your fault.” Cyno pointed out, slowly shifting his legs. He could feel the splints, now that he thought about it. His legs felt stiff. “Hey, Nari. Can you help me sit up?”

He did, wordlessly. The entire time, he didn’t meet Cyno’s gaze, like he was still ashamed of something he hadn’t caused. If anyone was at fault, it was Cyno. He had made the choices leading him to being trapped underground. He had been the one to drag himself out of the temple and mess up his fingers and his legs while doing it. He had made every single choice leading him up to where he was, lying in Kaveh’s stolen bed, and the fact that Tighnari was blaming himself was offensive.

Pulling the covers away from his legs, Cyno looked down at the splints. They were the standard Bimarstan ones. When he tilted one leg to the side, he could see some stitches. He didn’t even really remember the surgery, or getting home from the hospital. At least they let me come home. Or, well, not quite home. Close enough, though.

Next to him, Tighnari sighed softly.

“This isn’t as bad as it could be.” Cyno hummed, shrugging. Beside him, Tighnari frowned and turned to him. His mouth opened. Before he could talk, though, Cyno continued, “I’m still here, Tighnari. I’m going to be fine.”

“You were dead, Cyno.” Tighnari forced out. “Everyone thought you were dead.” He was propping himself up on shaking arms, staring at Cyno with the kind of desperate expression Cyno had only ever seen when he brought missing lovers back to their partners. “I thought you were dead.”

“I’m sorry.” Cyno said pathetically. He almost hated himself with how weak the words sounded. Sure, he could apologize. He could apologize until the desert returned to the ocean and the stars had burned out of the sky. It wouldn’t change that he had terrified Tighnari. He’d been the one to do this to him. “I’m so sorry, Tighnari.”

Tighnari shook a little bit, looking down at Cyno’s hands.

Oh. He might still be in shock. His own fingers trembling, Cyno reached out for Tighnari. He paused before touching him. Tighnari reached out, clutched his hands like a lifeline with tears in his eyes. A shaky gasp left him. Slowly, Cyno moved closer to him, never releasing his hands as he moved. He raised Tighnari’s hands to his mouth, kissed one of the scars on the back of a knuckle.

Tighnari let out a sob.

Inhaling weakly, still trembling all over, he held onto Cyno that much tighter. “It—it’s okay, I know. I just—I can’t—” Dropping his head and shaking it, he continued crying. When Cyno pulled him into a hug, he didn’t fight it. He barely even protested Cyno pulling his hands away. Instead, he buried his face in the crook of Cyno’s neck and shoulder and let himself be dragged backwards so the both of them were lying down again. “I’m just glad you came back.”

“I’m glad, too.” Cyno said, looking up at the ceiling. They stayed like that, quiet, until Tighnari’s breathing grew less ragged, and he relaxed against Cyno. Biting his lip, Cyno took a slow breath. “So. Tighnari. Why did the lifeguard have such a hard time with the alphabet?”

Tighnari took a slow breath. Then, a confused, “Why?”

“He couldn’t get his eyes off of sea.” Cyno paused. “You know. Because—” Tighnari sucked in a sharp breath. A groan, a growl against Cyno’s neck that he would love to hear under other circumstances. Still, he continued, “you know, sea because he couldn’t—”

“Cyno, if you don’t stop, I’m going to leave.” Tighnari threatened with a wet laugh. Cyno grinned at him anyways.

“And leave a man recovering from hypothermia? I think I’m still half-frozen—you wouldn’t leave me in the cold, would you? I think my lips are blue!” Something crossed Tighnari’s face. It was the kind of expression he got when he was about to do something that Paimon would describe as unhinged.

“Alright, then. Give me a kiss, I’ll see if I can warm them up for you.”