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You hissed out as Tighnari disinfected the wound, eyebrows knit with a focused look, giving him a much angrier expression than you knew he felt. "What were you thinking , actually don't answer that. It's clear you weren't. You should know by now where the avidya leopard territory is, but no, you just go waltzing in and seem to be surprised when one of them tries to kill you!" Mouth remaining in a firm line, you wisely said nothing, knowing it was far better to let him chew you out than attempt to argue- interrupting him would only make him angrier after all.
When he accidentally pressed harder into the wound in his frustration, you genuinely cried out, attempting to muffle it by sinking your teeth into your hand. Fuck that hurt! Startled Tighnari stopped and stared up at your face, ears drooping when he realized he had caused more pain than he had really intended.
"I'm sorry…" He muttered quietly, far more gentle as he brushed a healing ointment into the wound, or rather wounds . The leopard hadn't been kind when it pounced and began to maul you, enraged that you had dared to cross into its territory so close to its cubs. Now it hadn't been your intention to do so, you had simply been exploring the surrounding area and accidentally crossed the line without even realizing it, but if it hadn't been for Tighnari hearing your screams as you fought for your life, there was a high chance you would have died. The thought made you genuinely ill to think about.
Tighnari's hand leveled gently against your spine to direct you to straighten, you did so, unaware you had begun to slouch in on yourself. "Slouching will only aggravate your wounds." The harsh tone in his voice had returned, however there was a strange waver in the words, an emotion you couldn't pinpoint. "Now hold still while I bandage you, your wounds are deep and will need much tending to not become infected." When he began to wrap he caught sight of you sinking your teeth into your skin once more and irritably stopped, swatting your hand out of your mouth and offering a thick chunk of leather.
Blinking you glanced between the leather and his eyes, conveying confusion as well as your pain medicine addled brain could muster. Tighnari rolled his eyes and pinched open your jaw, placing the strip of leather in before gently guiding your mouth to bite . Suddenly understanding you did so, cheeks flushing as he gave you a nod of approval. "Thank you…" You muttered hoarsely around the leather, wincing at the harsh grind of your voice against your own ears.
His head lowered, eyes closed as he took a deep breath before continuing with your bandages. A guilty feeling arised, it was so clear that he was genuinely upset that you were hurt, was angry because he cared , and the idea of putting him through such stress made your heart hurt . Tears welled up in your eyes unbidden and you began to silently cry, the adrenaline finally dying down enough to let you feel your emotions clearly. Damn it, you despised crying in front of others, but you had been so damn scared.
A teardrop fell from your chin and onto one of his pointed ears, he jerked a little bit but finished the bandages, and then swiped a hand over his ear blinking confusedly at the wetness. Then he looked up. Tighnari's face instantly contorted into a look of horror as he swiftly stood and took the leather away from you, brushing the tears from your eyes, before he gently clutched your face to his chest, holding you firmly and gently shushing you. "Hey hey, there's no need to cry, I'm very sorry if I hurt you too badly when I was bandaging you, there's… no excuse for that and I understand if you don't forgive me."
"Shut up." You hiccuped, and you could practically feel the way he frowned down at the crown of your head. "Don't apologize to me. I'm the idiot here. I'm the one who almost got-" A sharp inhale and harder, finally audible sobs cut off your sentence. "Archons…" As you reached up to hold him yourself.
Tighnari flustered for a moment, clearly unsure what to do, but settled on sitting on the bed next to you and gently adjusting you into his lap while being cautious of your wounds. A soft humming came from deep in his chest, low and rumbling, following a tune that sounded as sprawling and comforting as the forest that surrounded you both. When he began to gently rock you he chuckled at your indignant and hiccuped "I'm not an infant!" Before he continued right on, smiling as your sobs slowed and your breathing began to even. He wasn't very surprised when your head thunked against his chest, body having finally given up trying to stay awake as the stress and exhaustion finally put you to sleep.
"And you said you weren't an infant." You were slowly adjusted to lay down on his bed, a wince crossing your face as he shifted you to lay on your back. Tighnari then blinked at your figure, sighing as he realized he likely wasn't going to get to sleep in his bed with you laying th- his thoughts paused as one of your hands laced with his. “Tighnari..” You murmured softly in your sleep.
"Trying to keep me here, hmm?" He gave up attempting to move, even though he easily could have, and instead lay down next to you. Eyes fluttered over your sleeping face as he leaned over you, and then he placed a cautious kiss against your forehead, treating you as if you were glass. When you hummed and tried to shift a little in his direction he did it before you could, in an effort to keep you from hurting yourself of course, no other reason.
His cheeks flushed a blistering red as your face turned towards him, so close . From this close he could see the way your eyelashes fluttered in your sleep, movements delicate and slow. At least there were no nightmares yet. With a quiet hum the forest ranger tapped his forehead against yours, holding it there as he closed his eyes and allowed himself to sleep.
—
When you woke, the first thing you noticed was the soft puffs of breath against your cheeks, then you felt how hot you were. It wasn't just rainforest humidity at this point. Eyes fluttering open you felt yourself tensing and scrambling away- of course you would have, had it not been for the debilitating pain causing you to halt. A pained squeak left you unbidden and suddenly you were staring into beautiful, calculating eyes.
"Well that's one way to teach you not to move abruptly while injured." Tighnari said dryly, sitting up as he stared at your embarrassed expression. "How are you feeling? Aside from the sudden pain."
Pushing your embarrassment at being in the same bed as the forest ranger away for the moment, you began gently flexing and taking account of what you were feeling. "Huh." He raised an eyebrow, waiting for you to elaborate. "Everything feels, less painful than I had expected. I know the injuries are there, and sudden movement is out of the question, but they're not too painful. Your medicine really is something!"
“Hmm.” He looked pleased, reaching forwards to fix some of your hair, much to the bane of your burning cheeks. You watched his eyes narrow as a playful expression came to his face, “Are you sure you’re feeling alright? Your cheeks are rather red, I hope you didn’t develop a fever from infection.” Tighnari slid his hands down from your hair, gently stroking your cheeks, only worsening your situation, but smiled and held his hands still when you embarrassedly stopped them.
“TIghnari,” You whined.
“Yesss?” He dragged out playfully, and he genuinely laughed when you swatted his shoulder.
“Stop teasing me..”
“Oh? And what would you prefer I do instead?” His voice lowered, eyes taking on an intimidating expression you couldn’t quite place as his head dipped lower closer to yours. “Tell me and I might just grant it, I’m feeling rather lenient this morning.” Truthfully he was in a rather good mood, almost as if waking up besides you had eased some of his stress.
“Can you-” You couldn’t resist the way your eyes flickered down to his lips, remaining there as you tried to gather the courage, missing the way the forest ranger’s eyes lit up with a happy expression.
“Now, now. I can’t grant it if you don’t even ask. Speak up!”
“Can you kiss me? Please .” The way your last word came out as a whine truly didn’t help the state of your cheeks, but you could only continue it as his lips gently locked with yours. Fingers flying to his hair you tugged him closer, despite the protest of your arms, all but mashing your lips against his when he groaned, though you had to pop open an eye to figure out what on earth was brushing against your-
Giggles burst from your chest, causing Tighnari to pull back with a rather miffed expression, “What are you giggling about? I kiss you and this is the thanks I get!”
“Nonono come back, 'Nari!” He raised an eyebrow at the nickname but decided to hear you out. “I’m sorry it's just- I was enjoying the kiss very much, but I felt something brushing against my arm so I opened my eyes and just saw your tail wagging. It was so cute I couldn’t help but giggle, realizing you were so excited to kiss me was just so cute! I’m just happy that you feel the same.” You glanced up at him with warm cheeks, but your expression was full of joy.
It now seemed to be his turn to be embarrassed, as his ears drooped and cheeks began to redden. His tail continued right on with its wagging however, much to Tighnari's frustration. Taking a deep breath he decided to try directing the conversation away from his tail's antics, face growing serious once more. "Please don't do that again, I heard your cries and I was terrified. "
Your eyebrows pinched together as you sighed, trying not to let your eyes water again. "I'll do my best to stay away from that area in the future, I don't think I could even look at it without shaking." When you looked back up you found his eyes on you again. "Can you kiss me more, please? It felt really nice."
Sighing irritably at the increased thumping of his tail he leaned down, only to stop just shy of your lips. "You'll have to promise to not go near there for at least a year."
With a huff you raised a bandaged forearm to clutch the front of his shirt, "I'll only agree if you agree to keep kissing me, forever."
"Well I can't kiss you for-" The rest of his comment was cut off as you yanked him into a kiss, a fire starting to burn in your belly at his sudden choked moan. "Hey! None of those antics, you need-" You cut him off with another kiss, "you need to rest and heal before-" This time both of you moaned as tongues entangled and nips were exchanged.
"O-oh!" A startled young voice called from the door. You split in a panic to stare wide eyed at Collei standing at the door. "I- I'll um, I'll be leaving now, sorry!" And without further ado, she was gone.
"Oh, Archons, now I'll have to try and keep her mouth shut about this." Tighnari shot you a withering glare, it only deepening at your stifled laughter. "I hope you're happy."
"Extremely, but I could be happi-'' Though you had attempted to make the hand sliding down your side seduction worthy, you failed to remember your very present wounds. "Ow!"
Tighnari snorted, not bothering to quiet his laughter, "Try that when you're actually healed you little vixen."
"So you'll have me when I'm healed?" Though you tried to smirk, the goofy smile won out.
"Try again when you're healed ." He leaned down to press a gentle kiss to your forehead before he stood to leave. "I'll be back with some food soon, I need to catch Collei and make sure things are running smoothly. You behave yourself." A finger was wagged in your direction before he slipped out of the doorframe.
"Not like I can do anything else!" You hollered after him, cautiously adjusting yourself to a much more comfortable position and shutting your eyes for the time being. A warm tingle persisted in your middle despite the very clear insistence of ‘
try again when you're healed
,’ you couldn't
wait
for that.