Chapter Text
Tighnari hummed as he scanned the papers in his hand as he stood inside his home. Behind him, Collei played a game of thumb wars with herself as she observed his expressions with an intensity of an Inazuman tanuki, eyes wide and watchful as she stared.
He hasn’t picked up the pen yet. Her mind goes as her heart hammers in her chest, and watches with a blooming grin as Tighnari hands the papers back.
“Revise questions 12, 18, and 20, and on the last one it asks you to emphasize Immortality and Transience and how the book explains its difference through the story. It’s not a question based on personal opinion.”
Colleis expression falls a little, her determination that she had gotten every questions right due to the lack of ink being added to her test to circle her mistakes falling into a pit filled with all of her past, low-graded, tests. “Yes sir…” She says, forlorn as she takes the test from Tighnari’s offered hand to look over her answers.
“I thought you would have gotten that one right because it’s a tale from Mondstad” he comments as he walks back to his desk, pulling the chair aside to look over the reports Collei and a few other members made yesterday in his absence.
“Just because I went there doesn't mean I know all about the place, and I wasn’t there for very long.” She comments as her voice returns to normal again, coming to stand next to him. “And I'm pretty sure I learned more about the Desert in the short period of time Cyno taught me when we were on our way here to Sumeru.”
“Are you saying that I haven’t taught you enough?” Tighnari calls, his tone indicative as Collei’s eyes widen before a laugh nervously and loudly bursts out of her.
“O-of course not! You’ve taught me so many more things about Sumeru as a whole, and all about the other nations too! Though history books, geography, Agriculture, biology and botany- and you even taught me how to read and write! And I'm still learning so much right now!” Collei explains, her voice set in a sing song tone that makes the fox chuckled at her poor attempt of convincing him to not assign her more homework. Not that he really planned to add to her workload in the first place, but if things were starting to get too easy for her, it meant that he needed to change a few things in his teaching methods.
“Alright, good to know, but now that you’ve finally finished this and that I've come back, I’ll need your help with picking the best candidates for the reforestation at the falls. Most of it came from above and we managed to get some pictures of the damage. Look over them and tell me what you think and then we can put our heads together on what to do next.” Tighnari hands over the photos, careful with the lamination before standing his full height again. Collei shuffles through them as a breath of amazement falls from her lips.
“To think it ate through tree roots too…” She whispers.
“More like rotting than eating. A few trees were reported to have been cut down after strong wind from a storm revealed just how many fell over because the roots couldn’t take the weight anymore. Now that the problem is gone, all we have to think about is the next step.”
“And take notes! You’ll be doing this a lot more in the future as you grow.” Tighnari adds before he heads for the door again.
“I won’t let you down, Master Tighnari!” Collei shouts as he ducks from the entryway, and despite himself, his eyes go to your hut. He ponders for a few minutes as his tail twitches tirelessly until he feels his body pushing itself forwards, making a decision he wasn’t yet conscious of making.
Two seconds pass before he groans and walks in the direction of the pathway that leads to your hut, silent as he keeps to his thoughts aside from greeting the people he meets on the way.
Even if nothing really happened last night, I've been put in a corner where I'm the one that needs to make the first more and apologize so this whole fiasco can come to an end. Tell her that I wasn’t trying to accuse her, and apologize for the slip up. He nods to himself as a hand comes to his chin as he makes a turn to walk back in the direction of the lowest hut of the whole village.
And it’s not like we’re friends, she said so herself by calling me her- her neighbor! So I don’t really understand why she had a grudge against me for all of yesterday and then left without a word. Tighnari couldn’t understand for the life of him why an otherwise complete stranger could be so angry at him for trying to brush your question away. He answered in the most statistical, matter of fact way, not because he found it annoying, not necessarily at least, but for the amount of times he’s had to say the same thing to various others in the past.
When he reaches your home, stopping in front of the half torn leaf for a door, Tighnari takes a deep breath. …maybe she’s just sensitive. He brings a hand against the wood and knocks twice.
And I have been told that I can be insensitive and blunt when it comes to certain things. “It’s Tighnari.” he calls from outside as he retracts his hand, ears perked and still to catch any noises coming from inside.
“I came by to talk about yesterday.”
It’s quiet from the other side so the fox leans forwards with a turned head to get a closer listen with a flicker to his ear. Nothing. I knew she was quiet but this is absurd. Tighnari frowns as he looks at the entryway in offense.
“And to apologize since I didn’t get to yesterday.” He says before he nods, deeming his choice of words to be the ones you most likely wanted to hear the most. It’s human nature for people to avoid being the bigger person to be the first to apologize.
But, when he can’t even hear a peep coming from inside, Tighnari calls your name with a voice that almost sounded worried before he lifted a hand to part the leaf and braved a look inside. He feels something fall inside him when he sees that the hut was empty.
“Ah, I guess she must be busy somewhere in the village.” Tighnari trails off as he steps back out into the sun and turn to walk back down the bridge. He debates whether he should wait for you, but the pain in his shoulder and the things he has yet to finish tells him that he could try again at a later time when you were home.
Reaching the grassy grounds again, Tighnari’s gaze looks up again before he pauses at the void space behind your home where you usually had your cart parked. His stomach sinks as his eyes widen.
You weren’t just missing from your home. You hadn’t come back at all .
Which, in turn, wouldn’t be a problem if it weren’t for the fact that he knew that there were two ways to reach Gandharva ville; the Ravine where he and the rangers walked down following the water, or the dirt trail above Ghanda Hill.
The one that leads straight into a downhill road and into a cavernous ditch.
And considering he didn’t see you at all with the sumpter beast or the cart, that’s also missing from your house, meant that you didn’t take the Ravine route.
Tighnari races back to his hut, his legs pumping at the amount of uphill ground he has to cover to reach it, and flings the flaps of his door to the side and rushes inside. He almost runs into Collei, to which he has to quickly maneuver around when he hears a yelp of surprise coming from her as she backs away from his sudden appearance.
“Master Tighnari!” She shouted, sounding startled before watching as the fox rummaged through his drawers and shelves, grabbing rope and a grapple along with bandages and vials of liquids to stuff in a bag. She grows worried as she steps away from the wall, keeping her distance as Tighnari's boots thump around the room.
“What- Did something happen? Do you need help from anyone?” She questions, growing audibly nervous when she catches Tighnari's expression. It’s grim and serious, his brows pulled and eyes set as he goes through all of the mental protocols of what he might need.
Tighnari doesn’t answer as he looks into his bag and counts what he has in hand, the hut falling deathly silent as his eyes flicker to all of the materials before he pulls the strings together tight until the bag turns into golden glitter, falling from his grip as he entrusts it to his vision.
He repeats this same process with his bow and arrows before he goes for the door, straps heavy. Collei follows as anxious flutters bubble into her stomach, calling his name as he takes off in a run down in the direction of the Statue.
“I’ll be back !” Tighnari yells, his voice sounding far away the further he runs, and Collei’s shoulders go slack in a gesture of hopelessness.
The fox pants hard as his boots thump against the ground to try and match the pace of his heart as it beats against his chest like a drum. The other side of the trail isn’t far, and with a leap over the stones lining the sides, Tighnari’s boots drag a cloud of dust as he slides before he takes for the opposing end of the entrance. The sun does little to illuminate the cave inside, his eyes blinking to adjust to the sudden lack of its bright light, but it’s narrow enough for him to navigate through without much problems.
After a few twists and turns, Tighnari slows when the cave widens in width until he reaches the very edge and slides to a stop before frantically looking around with a loud swallow as he heaves for breath.
It’s much bigger on the inside then he remembers, with light that came from all of the vegetation inside. When his eyes travel down, his heart sinks when he sees the deep waters covering most of the ground below with very few islands floating above, but those too were occupied by trees and the like.
Tighnari's thoughts take a dark turn when his eyes catch sight of clothes that he knows belong to you hanging off of a rock of the opposing entry cliff as they sway from the light wind circling inside the cavern. He doesn't think twice as he hops backwards, digging his feet into the ground for a moment as his eyes are set on the piece of clothing-- ripped, soiled, or perhaps even bloodied-- before taking a running start to the edge of the steep cliffside and jumping.
His glider pops open with a flutter and he guides himself around the cavern walls to not fall into the water, before landing just a few feet away from where he wants to be and stumbles over towards the rock. Heart ringing loud in his ears, Tighnari all but snatches the cloth from the rock and immediately inspects it, his nose telling him that they really did belong to you, while his eyes noted the dry, clean, pristine patterns on the pair of pants.
He doesn't take his eyes off of it for a long while before they go to the ground around him, mind repeating body. Body. A body somewh- his eyes catch a patch of picked flowers and he immediately walks to them and crouches to grab hold of them.
These were hand picked. His mind offers as he inspects the glowing petals and pollinated cores before he brings them up to his nose to give them a sniff. He tenses as he thrusts them back to his line of sight.
She picked these . Tighnari's head swivels around the area around him, ears turning every which way as his tail goes stiff behind him. She’s still here.
He stands as his hands clutch at the cloth in his hand, eyes flickering left, right, up, down and watching for shadows, listening for your breath, but the first thing he’s able to catch is the movement of water and his head snaps in it’s direction.
You were far, but the last thing he expected was to see your head popping up from the water and swim to the nearest shore before slowly emerging. Tour shoulders and back are the first thing to come out, visible through your soaked shirt, before it’s followed by your waist, hips, and legs.
Exposed and pale as they shone from the water running down in droplets to your bare feet, and suddenly the air Tighnari was slowly regaining was stolen from him again as his cold sweat turned hot in an instant.
He can’t even seem to put his emotions back together between his panic, the fear that coursed through him when he assumed that you had fallen into the ditch and drowned in the waters with your own blood, and then actually being able to see you. Completely fine as you swam, half naked need he add, into the very water he thought you had died in seconds ago.
Tighnari only finds his voice when he notices that you have started to climb the tree on your hands and knees, finding balance easily as the trunk grew in a sideways arch.
“What do you think you're doing?!” Tighnari’s voice echoes and watches you freeze in place as it bounces off the walls of the large grotto before your head turns his way. He can’t see your face, but the switch in color between your hair and face was enough to give it away.
“Tighnari?” You say, sounding surprised, but the fox doesn't heed your low voice as he continues.
“Do you have any idea how worried you had me when I realized you took the one road to Gandharva Ville that’s impossible to trek through- and then here I come to find you swimming with- with-! who knows what, down there!” He yells and he swears he can hear a huff of pure annoyance coming from you before you turn around and continue your climb.
Tighnari was at a loss for words.
“Did you seriously just come here to berate me?” You ask as Tighnari has to make an effort to look away from your butt, trying not to think about the color of your undergarments as he tries to focus more on the frustration bubbling into his stomach rather than under it. “Because if you are, you can forget it. I’m not going to sit here and let you belittle me , my feelings, or my intentions again.”
Ok, fair- But Tighnari isn’t worried about that at the moment as he watches you from the corner of his eye continue to climb up the tree, rising higher and higher off the ground.
“I didn’t come here to do that- but will you please get down from that tree and tell me how you even got here, or why you didn’t think to turn around to come back home?” Tighnari pleads, trying his best to keep his eyes averted even as the silence stretched for a second too long.
“I’m collecting these flowers.” You say eventually before you grunt, making Tighnari's ear turn your way to listen. “And I did think of turning around when I noticed that the road didn’t continue, but the flowers here made me think otherwise, and here I am.”
“So you’re down here on purpose.” Tighnari clears up, trying his best not to sound irritated, but it doesn't come out as planned when you reply with a snarky ‘ yea’ to imitate his tone. His eyes go back down to the bouchē of flowers at his feet.
“Well, I think you’ve collected more than enough to keep in your vases.” And as a forest watcher, he’s pained to see all of these flowers ripped from their home. He’s already had to tell people to refrain from doing so, instructing them that it’s best to take the soil and roots along with the flower so it could thrive even in the comfort of your home in a cozy vase.
These… were done for and most likely already starting to rot.
His attempt at keeping his eyes away from your form is broken when he hears your voice wobble, followed by a slip of the foot as he turns to see you reach new heights from the tree, hugging the branch as it becomes thinner and thinner the higher you go.
“Ok, I really think you should get down from there now.” Tighnari says with a warning tone in his voice as he calls your name, his heart starting to beat again as he slowly walks in your direction.
“ No, I still- Ngh- need to get-”
“If you go any further you will fall.” Tighnari warns further as he looks down to see where the water was most shallow to walk on, picking up his pace as he treks through the uneven ground. It reaches his knees at lowest before the ground rises back up again when he reaches the same little island you were on, still climbing that tree.
Despite all the reservation he had earlier, he looked up to see that you had stood up again, balancing with a high reaching branch that extended from the tree with little foliage covering the tips.
You didn’t look like you were going to listen any time soon, so he clicked his tongue before he started shrugging off the white sash, unraveling it from around his body before quickly undoing the blue tucking from his pants and pulling it off his shoulders. He left his boots on his feet, knowing the soles were well built for climbing, and was left with only his pants and tight undershirt as he started following after you.
Obviously hearing and feeling his footsteps against the trunk as it vibrated and shook under the weight, you turned around to watch him climb his way over to you.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m getting you down from there. It’s dangerous.”
Tighnari gains his footing easily, head facing down to watch his every step and the space between you both closes in half the time.
“It’s more dangerous if we're both up here! Go back down!” You shout, urgent, and Tighnari takes a moment to look up to see the fear he wanted to avoid start to build in your expression the further he climbs. At a particular slip of his hand, the same branch you held onto wobbled in effort, and a yelp came from you as you gripped it tight, legs shaking as your eyes closed.
Tighnari stopped where he was and looked at you- really looked at you- and decided to take a break in lieu of calming you down. The last thing he wanted was to let you slip and get injured for real this time.
“If you’re getting scared, why are you still climbing?”
“ I’m not!”
It was loud and it echoed through the cave as you yelled, but Tighnari could hear true fear in your voice, and it almost sounded like you were on the verge of a breakdown from the way your breath started to pick up. Just what were you planning on doing all the way up here?
“Hey.” You hear Tighnari say, his voice so low the cavern can’t catch his voice to repeat it. You don’t want to look at him. You can’t, especially when he whispers your name so gently that it reaches the deepest depths of your being, fueling the embarrassment swirling inside.
“I don’t know what you're doing, but let me help you back down.” he goes, and after a while, “And I promise I wont say anything else unless you want me to.” and in a last ditch effort, “ Please.”
Your eyes blink open slowly to look down at where he is, and you see that he has hand extended in offering for you to take hold of. You don’t say or do anything as you simply look, between his pleading, worrying gaze, and the gloved hand stretched your way in a constant flicker, unsure of what to do before you look down. It was high from where you stood, but it wasn’t what scared you.
You didn’t know what it was, but the feeling inside was pounding for attention.
Tighnari calls your name.
You look at him, maroon-green on yours as his head ducks in a small nod before his hand tries to extend further. Pursing your lips, you look down at the branch you stood upon before shifting your feet, dragging them forwards bit by bit before your hand shoots out to grab onto his, gripping it tight enough for it to shake in effort.
“I-” Your mouth opens and closes like a fish out of water before you shake your head. “I’m stuck, I-”
“You’re not stuck, I’ve got you now. Just step down.”
Your eyes go down to the murky waters below before they focus back on your feet before you ant-crawl your way over. Every drag of your foot against the branch, you got closer and closer to the fox as you held on tightly onto his hand, his grip matching yours reassuringly.
“That’s it, keep going.” But when your other hand stretches behind you to keep a grip on the branch, you huff as you go immobile again, no longer knowing what to do or where to go.
You’re sure that if you’re to let go, you'd fall off balance, and you aren’t sure if you’d be fast enough to let go of Tighnari's hand and drag him down with you without hurting him on the bark of the tree. He’s close now, enough where the hand holding yours was pulled against his chest as his body now hovered just above your feet.
“Alright, now we’ll go down together.” his gaze goes away from yours to look at the waters directly below the both of you. “And even if it would be easier to just jump down from here, I'm not sure if it’s deep enough.”
Tighnari turns his head back to look at you. “Ready?” he asks and you nod silently as you lick the water from your lips.
Slowly, he guides you closer to him before he goes to stand up on his two feet before asking you to do the same. With a bit of straining and your shaking arms and legs, you manage to stand with him. The gravity of the tree and your position being higher than Tighnari's, your feet drag you closer to him until you’re face to face, slapping a free hand to his shoulder as your body tips over. Tighnari helps you regain your balance with a noise of alarm, his other arm gripping yours as he steadies you both, before chuckling. It’s nervous, but the look he gives you is an unspoken question asking if you were alright. You nod as you hold onto him tightly.
He pants as he offers a light smile before looking behind him. “Alright, I'll have to be quick, but I can make a run down this tree slope while holding you.”
You blink as you watch him turn to face you again. “Ready?” And then he goes to bend in a means to cup the back of your knees into his arm, but you're quick to back as far away as your arms allow you to, even as they refuse to release your only source of balance.
“Wha- no! Are you crazy?”
“I can make it. And if it comes to anything, I can simply turn and fall into the water so no harm comes to you.”
“How can you be so sure?!” You shout, watching as his ears turn to face backwards while his expression remains the same.
“Believe it or not, but I've been called many times to save both people and animals from trees.”
You look down at the small space between you both. “And you do that by defying gravity and running sideways down a tree?” You question, voice a little shaky as your hold on his tightens when he doesn’t seem to move from his slightly crouched form, ready to grab you and go.
“Of course not. Usually if have gear with me and then I glide back down depending on the size of the person or animal. And I can’t do that with you because we're both full grown adults, so the second option is the safest one we have right now.” Tighnari looks back down and starts to bend further, and you panic as his arm successfully goes behind your knees, grabbing him fervently as if to try and stop him as you shout.
“We’ll go down on my three.”
“ No- don’t you dare. ”
“One.”
“Put me down!”
“Two.”
“ Tighnari!”
“Hold on tight- Three !”
You scream as your body is thrown off course, legs slipping off from above the tree as your feet kick the air as wind blows past you both. The world around you goes dark as your eyes shut closed, and when you feel that your grip of the fox holds strong, you bring the body closer to yourself as your scream falls into a tight-lipped whimper as you wait for the impact to come.
There’s a hiss in your ear, and before you know it, you feel your body jump suddenly before it tilts.
“Hold your breath!”
You’re almost too late as cold water hits you like a freight train, shocking you as it swallows your body whole. Bubbles blow past your lips, and in the safety of the water, you go to push up to swim to the surface, but find that one small push from your knee and your head and chest are above the water.
You pant for breath as you blink your eyes open to look around you and see that you made it to the end of the tree and into the water like Tighnari had said. Your head snaps back when you hear a spurt of water to see Tighnari come up for air from under you as his eyes squint to blink. He doesn't even take the time to breathe when he makes his remark.
“See? No one’s hurt.”
Neither do you. “You almost got us killed!” You shout, panting as your chest heaves for the breath it’s lost.
Tighnari doesn’t answer as he shakes his head to make his hair and ears rid of any water residue, having them flap like a dog as he does so. When he finally comes back to look at you, he leans back against his arms and hands, and you take notice of how shallow the water was now that you register that you were sitting. Tighnari looks at you up and down.
“You look well and breathing, no?”
“Yes- but that wasn’t my point-”
“Then there’s nothing to worry about.” Tighnari interrupts, easy as you frown from above him. You want to retort, tell him that what he did was reckless, but you’re caught off guard when his eyes flicker down onto your chest. You follow his movement and notice the shirt you wore was soaked through with two pebbled dots lined perfectly onto your covered breast. You blush, feeling like you were the impersonation of a scandal as you went to cover your chest with both of your arms and sit backwards to put space between you both.
Tighnari’s head was averted when you looked back, cheeks lightly puffed as his lips were sealed shut, most likely feeling as uncomfortable as you did at the moment, before he stiffened suddenly. He stays like this for a few moments before his ears fold behind him as his voice comes out in a husked mumble.
“You should really- get off of me if the adrenaline has worn off….” He trails off and before you can question him, you feel his legs shift from under you where you sat. His pants rub against the exposed skin of your legs and you jump when it gets too close, and all too suddenly, you’re made aware of the fact that you were missing some vital parts to your outfit.
You pull your shirt down to cover your front as the other arm remains in front of your chest as Tighnari pulls himself from the water, just as soaked as you were but not half as dressed.
He stood there for a few moments, making a visible attempt at keeping his eyes off of you, before he turned away completely to speak up.
“If you don’t have anything else to- wear, you can have my frock.” A hand gestures to the pile of discarded clothes over by the shore as he still stood in the water for the sake of letting you have your space.
His ears swivel backwards as he hears the water lap and shift before your feet reach dry land, padding lightly on the moss there before there's a brief pause.
“You don’t have to do that.” You tell him as you grab hold of your pants, slightly grateful that Tighnari had brought them there even if it was most likely a completely coincidental accident. You slid them on quickly before crossing your arms on your chest to hide from the cold a wet shirt brings.
“It’s alright. The shirt I'm wearing is waterproof and I still have the tunic I wear on top.” you watch as he looks down at his pants. “Good thing I took that off, otherwise we’d have to make the trek back home soaked in water and risk catching a cold. This way at least, we can travel back dry.”
He finds logic in this, and you turn to look back down at the other two garments on the floor, one blue, the other an off white.
“Are you sure…?” You ask again and Tighnari nods firmly with a grunt.
Biting your lip you pick up the white sash before glancing back at the fox, his ears twitching as the tip of his wet tail floats above the water surface, moving slowly and consistently. Before you can say anything else, you turn around and take off the soaked shirt and replacing it with the white tunic as you tuck one end into your pants before wrapping it tightly around your body, crossing it from behind your back and chest until both sides create a large ‘X’ as you tuck the decorative end at your side. Feeling secure, you let the fox now that you’ve finished.
Tighnari doesn't miss a beat as he turns to face you, taking a moment to see your work with a wide blink before coming your way.
“Wonderful work.” he comments as he seems to admire your attire, his eyes not once averting even as he bends to grab the blue piece of his outfit from the ground. Before long, he gets to work as well, pulling his own pants down without so much of a warning, and throwing the tunic above his head.
You turned around quickly when your eyes caught the skin on his stomach and gave him the same privacy he offered to you with warmed cheeks.
Neither party could speak a word as Tighnari helped you climb the steep cliffs, counted all of the picked flowers in your hand as you walked, or when you reached the caravan still strapped to the Sumpter beast and made your way back down the trail to reach the ravine.
Tighnari accompanied you all the way to your lone hut, even going as far as helping you unlatching all of the belts on the Superbeast before taking hold of the reins. When you went to reach for them, Tighnari was the first to speak as he kept them from you.
“I can take him back to Darina, don’t worry. I wouldn’t want to delay putting those in a vase.” He gestures at the flowers in your hand, their glow lost now that the sun reflected the remaining drops of water. You look down, giving him a short ‘oh’ before you shake your head and put them on the edge of the caravan.
“These are going straight into the boiler so there’s no need to worry too much about that.” You reach for the reins again, but Tighnari blink confusingly.
“Boil- what reason could you possibly have to boil flowers? And one’s as beautiful as these, no less.” He looks at them. “I would have at least let them live out their colors before making them into handy bookmarks.” He explains as he switches hands to hold the leather before going to pluck a single flower, inspecting it as he weighs it in his hand. And despite its appearance, the petals held a lot of weight.
“What kind are these anyway….”
No longer able to take hold of the Sumpter Beast, your hand retracted as you let it fall next to you before watching the fox stare at the flower with intense scrutiny. After he puts it back with the others, you speak up with a quirk to your brow at his mumble.
“For an overseer of the forest, I'm surprised you don’t know what they are.” You glance back at the flowers before you humm. “But , they do originate from the Chasm so it makes some sense.”
“The Chasm.” He repeats, intrigued, but you shrug as a sense of unsureness overcomes you.
“I read that there’s a lot of plant life like this one from down there, and that cave is really close to it. They glow to survive, acting like a kind of replacement for the sun to support each other- or something like that anyway. I’m not-- when it comes to this kind of stuff I can be a total nut job.” You say before you take a deep breath to regain your thoughts again. “Long story short, I collect these not because I think they might look pretty in my house. I do this as a- hobby of mine, if you can call it that.” You laugh awkwardly, but give no further explanation.
A hobby? Tighnari questions himself. What kind of hobby is boiling flowers?
“...I see.” Perhaps it has to do with why she smells like flowers all the time? “In that case, i’ll leave you to your boiling while I bring him back. It’s on the way home anyway so there’s no real trouble.” Tighanri continues, going back on topic.
You look back at the sumpter beast, looking troubled as you gnaw at your cheek, leaning on your heels before giving in with a sigh.
“Alright. You probably want to get home and change out of that soon huh?” you offer and Tighnari nods with a light chuckle.
“Yes, it’s not the best to walk without anything protecting my legs from the lower branches and bushes around the forest.”
He’s more worried about walking around without any pants as a protective precaution rather than the nude aspect of it. Tighnari is a truly baffling person, but looking at the facts, you still feel a little bad and you go to bring your hands together in front of you as you fiddle with the sash still around you. I still have to give this back.
“I meant to apologize about earlier. Even though I went down there knowing I wouldn't be getting a third party involved in my escapades, you still went through the trouble in helping me out of there. So, uhm, sorry for being unreasonable earlier.”
“I’m just glad that my worries were without grounds. But,” Tighnari takes a moment to look away, pursed lips as his eyes go to the ground as he thinks about his words. You wait patiently, and after a few seconds, he slumps. “I should also owe you an apology- and I know I promised I wouldn’t bring it up again, but I already told myself that I would at least say that much to you. What happened yesterday- my words- they were harsh without provocation and I'm at fault for having the aftermath go as far as it did.”
Your expression is open, eyes slightly wide as they blink at him and his words. “Oh…” is the only thing that manages to get past you, and for whatever reason, Tighnari nods at it.
“I wasn’t trying to accuse you or anything like that.” he bows his head in an apologetic gesture. “I’m sorry for causing this misunderstanding between us. I consider you to be a dear companion and an excellent contributor for this village and don’t wish to drive you away or make you feel unwelcome because of it.” With one last bow to his head, he looks up to see a genuine look of surprise and sincerity on your face, so he knows that his apology seemed to have held some fort in your consciousness. He only hopes that as you think about his words and mull over on what to do next, your response comes sooner rather than later.
With nothing else to say, Tighnari excuses himself before pulling the Sumpter Beast along as he makes his way back home, eager to change out of his clothes and give them a proper wash. He nearly makes it a few yards to your hut before he hears your voice, and his ears turn to it before his head could.
“Do you think you can come over for some tea later?” you shout before your voice lowers now that his attention is on you. “I’d like to show you something.”
Tighnari's eyes close as his next words come out. “I don’t think I can make any time today.” He had just finished clearing the Withering and he still has yet to even start on his final report on his findings. Not to mention the new assignments for the reforestation protocol, checking over the rangers' condition of those who were injured, and going through the homework he needs to assign to Collei.
He watches as you falter from where you stood and is quick to search for another solution before his ears perk.
“You could come to eat with me and Collei. We’ll be going to the city and meeting a few people there to celebrate today's success.” Tighari offers in turn, but you turn it down just as quickly.
“A-ah, no, that’s alright.” You say and now it’s Tighnari's shoulders that shrink. “I’ll- see you around then?” You ask, hesitant, but Tighnari is vigorous with the nod he gives you.
“Of course.”
“Great. Have fun, then!” You say, turning around as you wave goodbye at him to make your way inside the hut.
By nightfall, when you were all cleaned and the flowers left to boil, you lay in your bed in silence, facing the ceiling before Tighnari's voice rings true in your ear. You curse to yourself with a grumble.
Who rejects an invitation to dinner?!