Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Love sick. It was never a word that I thought I would have to use to describe myself. If I knew how to, I would have found a cure long ago, it makes productivity levels fall. Truly, I’ve never thought of myself as someone who had the time or energy to fall in love. Living in Gandhara Village has only taught work must be my top priority. Identifying and discovering new plants, using them to follow the footsteps of a crime, it’s all routine for me. Despite this, it still monopolizes my life and makes it difficult for me to form coherent relationships with those around me.  My name is Al-Tighnari. I'm 25 years old, and Sumeru's leading forensic botanist. I operate primarily out of Gandhara Village, spending much of my time with my nose up plants. I was taught everything that I know by my Mentor in Sumeru city. I could care less about personal relationships. I don't have time for them. My life revolves around my work and that makes me happy. I live a quiet life by myself, and truly wouldn't have it any other way.

Working as one of few forensic botanists in Sumeru, I have no time for menial tasks nor musings that my co-workers bring to me. This was until he arrived. He was a few years younger than I, and his demeanor caught my eye. He carried himself elegantly with a massive and intimidating aura. I had been around many people in my lifetime that could be described as such but this one– he was different. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but for whatever reason, he was now all I could think about. 

In a lapse of better judgment, I turned to my intern, Collei, to see if she could identify the man. I rose my hand to tap her lightly on the shoulder, but caught myself, choosing to instead whisper gently in her ear.

“Collei.” She still jumped, as per usual. I expected nothing less. A specimen does not tend to differ from its normal behaviors unless in certain circumstances.

“Yes Dr. Tighnari! What can I assist you with?” She tumbled over her words in an attempt to collect herself from the scare I had given her.

“Who is that officer right there?”

“That’s the General Mahamatra, Sir. You’ve never met him?”

“I don’t believe I’ve had the chance. You know how little I interact with officers, Collei. I submit my findings through the mail. I typically don’t ever meet them face-to-face.” 

“I suppose that’s true. He commands the force here in Sumeru, opting to spend much of his time in the desert. I hear most people are quite intimidated by him. ” I pondered this for a moment. I’ve of course heard of him, I’m just surprised I’ve never met him in person. My social interactions with those in the precinct are limited, I don’t know why I would know anyone from outside of it. I do prefer the company of my plants, which I’m positive is evident. 

As I continued speaking quietly with Collei, I found myself startled when a fair haired man gently tapped me on my head. I perked my ears up and turned my gaze towards him. The General was standing in front of me with a slightly gruff look on his face. “Oh. Hello General,” I looked him up and down quickly, he was staring at me with a puzzled look on his face. “I don’t believe we've met sir, I am the head forensics botanist of the Gandhara Village Precinct, Dr. Al-Tighnari. It’s a pleasure.” I extended my hand to him, which he shook. 

“Dr. Tighnari, it’s quite nice to make your acquaintance, I believe your reputation may be greater than mine.” I chuckled and shook my head, “This is plausible seeing as I had no idea who you were until I asked my intern,” I gestured to Collei who waved shyly, “What can I do for you General?”

“I believe you would be of great assistance to the case that was just brought to my attention. I would like to ask you a few questions about the plants involved.” I turned my head and then smiled at him, “I suppose I can make some time to indulge your curiosity.” 

“Perfect,” he nodded and started to turn away, “Please meet me at the Cafe in Sumeru City at 8 a.m. sharp tomorrow morning.” With that, he left the long hood he had on his head gently swaying behind him. Collie glanced at me with a smug look on her face, I rolled my eyes back to her, “Collei, don’t give me that face. We have work to do before the morning. Now hurry.” I quickly began walking, with Collei yelling something behind me as we went. 

        ~~~

“General.” I approached the General Mahamatra at 8 a.m. sharp, as per his instructions. He looked quite different from his previous appearance yesterday. He was wearing sneakers and a hoodie, his long hair tied up into a ponytail on top of his head. 

“Hello Dr. Tighnari. I see you’re punctual. I expected nothing less from you.” 

I sat down, “I appreciate your sincerity. I wouldn’t dare be late to something work related, no less with the General Mahamatra,” he chuckled, “Mr. Tighnari, you need not be so formal with me. We are technically colleagues. Please call me Cyno.” I quickly remembered that I hadn’t known his name before now. 

“Then I suggest you drop the Mr,” I allowed a small smile to play onto my lips before returning to my normal stoic gaze, “Cyno, why did you summon me here today? I assume that it’s quite important for you to need someone from out of your district, is it not?” 

“Yes, it is odd. I’m afraid it required expertise that lies outside of the capabilities of those in the desert. Please take a look at these photos,” he pulled out an envelope containing, obviously, images from a case, “These were taken from a scene in Dar-al Shifa. Do any of these plants look familiar to you?” I took the photos from the envelope and examined them as carefully as I could. 

“That looks like a Pardisarah. In Dar-al Shifa? Are you certain?” I turned my head to the side in confusion, “This is quite unlikely, Pardisarah’s only grow in the regions closest to Sumeru City.” I took a look at more of the photo’s, there were Pardisarah’s in each image, the amount growing larger as I flipped through the stack. “Cyno, what was the actual scene? I can only see parts of what I can only assume are a dead body, as these are only photos of the Pardisarah’s.” Cyno took out another envelope and withdrew more pictures of the crime scene, only this time, they were close-ups of the gory crime scene that I had previously only gotten a glimpse of. 

I grimaced, as someone who typically only deals with the plants collected that are brought in from the crime scene, I found the sight in front of me appalling. I saw Cyno glance at me out of the corner of my eye, “You don’t work with gruesome crime scenes often, do you?” I shook my head, “No, I don’t. I usually end up examining drug cases, and illegal growing activity. There aren’t enough murder cases to begin with, not ones that require my assistance anyways. It just catches me off guard whenever I do look at images such as these. Not to worry, I’m well. We can continue.” 

Cyno and I continued examining the details of the case, mostly staying on the topic of the Pardisarah’s. “Tighnari, what do you think happened here? I’m waiting on results from the toxicology lab in the desert region, but those won’t be due back for a few weeks.” I set my elbows on the table, folded my hands, and placed my head onto them, “At first glance, I would say drugs, however, I’m unsure of the purpose of growing Pardisarah’s in the desert. Yes, they possess many properties, making them optimal for use in medicine, but I have yet to encounter a case where they were being used for drug making. In my professional opinion, based on my expertise, my current conclusion is that they’re a distraction for something bigger. Something more catastrophic.” 

“Tighnari, you were the correct person to inquire with. It seems that my judgment is truly never wrong,” Cyno leaned forward, “May I ask you a personal question?” I was taken aback, but nodded. “Are those real?” I raised my eyebrow, “I’m sorry?” 

“Your ears, are they real?” his face had a slight glimmer to it, “Yes they’re real, Cyno. I’m a descendant of the Fennec Fox of the old ages.” I realized very quickly that I maybe shouldn't have been so surprised by his question. I had seen the back of his hoodie. It had giant ears on the back of it. “Do you…uh…like them? I noticed your hoodie when I walked in.” He cleared his throat, “No, no of course not, I was just uhm.. curious.” I raised my eyebrow again, watching as he turned away, a slight blush spreading across his cheeks. 

“I expected better from you,” Cyno snapped his head back to attention, “You’re the General Mahamatra after all, I would expect your lying abilities to be better than that.” I could feel my lips turning up into a smirk, and couldn’t help but laugh. He looked mortified. I had mortified one of the most feared and powerful men in all of Sumeru. “I am only joking, General. There are not many like myself around still. I’ve heard of those descended from cats in Mondstadt and dogs in Sumeru, but we’re a novelty these days. I’ve not met anyone like myself in a very long time. I am willing to answer any questions you may have, Cyno.” 

I finally allowed myself to smile. It was humorous, messing with him. “I need to be on my way out. Thank you for meeting with me, Dr. Tighnari.” He stood up quickly and made his way out of the tavern, leaving me by myself. I sighed. I thought we were having a nice conversation. Maybe it’s just m-... No. I shook my head and made my way out of the tavern. I would not allow that to happen again. I will continue to focus on my work and only regard him as my technical superior. My work is more important than my feelings. My work can help people. Besides, I need to get home and continue my experiment. I must keep working.

Chapter Text

I hadn’t slept. I spent the evening researching what may cause a Pardisarah to manifest in the desert, but obviously, found no answers. My research toiled long into the night and before I knew it, the sun had risen over my treetop home. I yawned and stood up from my chair, cracking my back in the process. I wandered over to the mirror in my bathroom and stared at myself. My hair had grown longer as the circles under my eyes grew darker. I pulled down on my eyes and shook my head, “God, Tighnari, you’ve really let yourself go.” I turned away from the mirror, pondering my life choices in the process.

Making my way to my closest that was filled to the brim with pristine white lab coats, when I remembered that I never got any of the casework from Cyno the night before. I smacked my hand onto my forehead, “Goddammit,” I picked a coat, “Fuck, how could I be so ignorant? You went there on business and didn’t even get the paperwork you needed.” I continued to swear under my breath as I left my home.

I arrived at the office late, not that it mattered anyway. There wasn’t much to do today, at least that’s what I thought until I stepped into my office. In front of me was a heaping pile of paperwork that hadn’t been there previously. I sifted through it and found a note from Collei. “Dr. Tighnari! Please see me at my desk :)”. I scoffed and trudged out of my office.

“Collei, what in Lord Kusanali’s name is that stack of paperwork doing in my office?” Collei jumped up, clearly startled. She settled down when she saw that it was just me, “Oh, Doctor, wonderful! The General Mahamatra dropped this off this morning. He asked me to let you know it was about the case you discussed yesterday morning.” I scoffed, I suppose this is why he didn’t give me any of it last night. “Thank you, Collei. I will start on it right away.” her face lit up with a beaming smile, “Of course, Doctor! Please let me know if you need any assistance.” I nodded and waved her off, heading back to my office. I sat down at my desk and quickly started to sort through all of the documents. “He truly did extensive research… It’s overwhelming.”

~~~

I let my body swing forward, my elbows making a loud ‘thud’ on the desk before me, “Finally finished. Dear Lord, I thought it would never end.” I pushed my hands up on my forehead, making my bangs flip up in the process, remembering that Collei had said goodbye to me many hours ago. I let my hands fall and stood up, “Time to pack all of this up and head home,” I grabbed all of the files I needed for home and put them into my traveling bag, “And this time of year… It’s time for experiments.” I left my office, and entered the empty lobby. Everyone was gone. Not surprising considering the fact that no one else got a stack of paper taller than Liyue’s Mnt. Hulao. I trudged my way out of the building, and carried myself home, grateful for the upcoming week off.
Once I arrived home, I set my things down and undressed. It’s mating season for descendants of fennec foxes, which means I have to find… Other means to take care of myself as I have no desire to find a romantic partner. I’ve moved away from that part of my life, and have genetically modified a vined plant to fulfill my desires on my own. I stepped into a small room and was greeted by my heat companion. I began the process of arousing the plant, running my hands over it, licking the vines. The act that I was to partake in was disgusting, but necessary. After a few minutes of arousing the plant with my touch and scent, it started to wrap its thick vines around my body. I let a small noise out, pathetically mystified by the sensation it was providing. It suddenly snaked itself inside of me, allowing a startled moan to escape my lips. I felt myself tear up and the vines began moving in and out of me. I loved the feeling I got from the penetration from the plant. I was dirty and ashamed, however, my body continued to writhe in pleasure as I was pleased. The strong and thick vines were suspending me in the air, now infiltrating my mouth and other holes. I was no longer able to moan, only gagging and choking around the quintessential tentacle in my mouth. I was unaware of how many times I’d released, but I did know that my body was covered in liquids produced by me.

~~~

I returned to work after a week off, brushing off greetings of pleasantry as I navigated to my office. I entered my office and sat down at my desk, quickly organizing all of my recent conclusions on the case that I had received from the General. I was brought out of my trance by a gentle knocking at the door, “Doctor,” I raised my head and before me was the dark-skinned, white haired man that I had met with a week prior, “Do you have a spare moment? I came last week, but was informed that you were out for your yearly leave.” I waved him in, “Please shut the door,” he did so, and I briefly thought to myself “How obedient…” before I shook my head and focused my attention back on him, “What may I do for you, General?” Cyno took a seat in one of the chairs across from my desk, “How has progress been coming along on the case?” I showed him all of the work I had done, “This is everything I was able to complete while I was out, it wasn’t much due to… personal reasons, but I’ve come to the conclusion that the flora found in Dar-al Shifa was likely genetically modified and planted by an organization such as the Fatui. Despite coming to these conclusions, they're only my best scientific guess, I cannot say for sure that that is the case. If you bring me a sample, I can come to a more accurate conclusion.”

Cyno stood up, “Done. Whatever you need is done, because we have another death on our hands. Pardisarah’s at the scene as well.” I shook my head in disgust, “You will accompany me until the end of this case, is this alright with you?” I raised my eyebrows, but decided to not protest. I had never been involved in field work, so that would be entirely different for me, “Yes, I believe that I can do that. I believe it is pertinent to inform you that I never do field work. Everything that I need is usually brought to me or gathered at my own leisure. I will need to be assisted.” Cyno nodded, “Of course, as I said, whatever help and resources you need will be provided to you,” I caught him clenching his fist, “I want to serve the Divine Justice to the lowly creature who would commit a heinous crime such as this,” he sighed and handed me more files, “This is everything we have collected from the sight thus far. We will start our work tomorrow at 12 p.m.. Please expect to meet me in Dar-al Shifa then. I will await your arrival.” With that, Cyno turned around hurriedly, his long white hair trailing behind him. I huffed and sat back in my chair, preparing myself for the interesting time this would be.

Chapter Text

“Why in the name of Kusanali would I agree to this?” I huffed as I trudged up a sand dune, following Cyno as we made our way to Dar al-Shifa, “Doctor, it’s only a few more dunes, do you think you can hold out, or must I carry you? I am not opposed to doing so if it makes you more comfortable.” I felt my ears twitch at the suggestion, but declined. “I am a grown man, I can make it through this,” I opened my canteen and took a long swig, “I think.” I heard the man ahead of me chuckle, presumably to mock me in some fashion.

We finally reached the peak of Dar al-Shifa after another regrettable hour and a half climbing the sand dunes on our way up. As I stood atop the cliff, I turned my attention to Aru Village and suddenly exclaimed, “This was it? This was where we hiked to? It took that long?” I turned my body to face the General who was glimmering in magnificent beads of sweat as he wiped his forehead, “I cannot believe I feel this exhausted over that amount of hiking. That is nothing to me in Avidya.” Cyno cocked his head and peered at me, “It feels much different than the forest because of the heat. Plus, getting here would have maybe taken me forty-five minutes if I hadn’t been walking with you.” I felt my jaw collapse. Only forty-five? That seemed simply impossible. I took another good look at him and realized why it only takes him so long to traverse Sumeru’s unforgiving desert. He was toned and muscular, but not too much, just enough to recognize that he’s a hard worker. His light brown skin shimmered in the light, displaying his natural and complexion, coupled with the kiss of the sun.

“This is where the crime took place. As you can see, it’s been dealt with, however…” he trailed off momentarily before regaining his voice, “There are elemental traces nearby, please stay close to me, Doctor,” I obliged, watching him pull a polearm from off of his back. I could barely feel my ear perk up to a distant ‘woosh’ before Cyno was forcefully shoving me behind him with one arm, the other hiking his polearm into the air, sending it careening into the forehead of an Eremite. He glanced at me for a split second before rushing off to collect his polearm. “Tighnari. Quickly, we must find a safe place for you at once.” All I could do was nod as I was pulled from the bank of sand where I had been lying. Cyno dashed down the dunes, dragging me behind him. It was almost artistic, as if he had spent his entire life doing this. Right.

It took him no time to find an abandoned ruin that he deemed safe to put me in, firmly ordering me to stay put. I did not want to be on the receiving end of his polearm should I disobey, so I sat quietly, waiting for his return to the dark ruin. I could hear the distant sound of flesh being penetrated by Cyno’s polearm, the wails of Eremite’s as they met their demise at the hands of the General Mahamatra.

~~~

“Tighnari? Al-Tighnari?” I could feel myself being shaken awake, a panicked voice slowly fading into my consciousness, “Tighnari?” I blinked back to my senses, a blood covered Cyno staring down at me, “Tighnari! Thank Lord Kusanali you’re alright. I could not bear the burden of knowing that Sumeru’s best botanist died on my watch. How are you feeling? Are you hurt?” I shook my head and laughed, “Cyno, I fell asleep. Do you have any idea how long you were outside for? I have a very taxing schedule, so I took the opportunity to rest up.” Cyno sat back on his heels as I sat up, “I thought you’d died.” I chuckled, “General, how could I have died whilst in your meticulous care? I was in here, safe and sound the whole time you were out risking your life.” I watched as he placed his palm to his forehead, “Still, you should have been on guard. What if someone had slipped past me and got into here? Then what would you have done?” I shrugged, “Bash their face in with a rock.” Cyno shook his head, “I am not taking you on field work with me again. You will tell me what you need and I will bring it to the lab.”

I felt my heart warm up and put my hand to my chest, which instantly alerted Cyno. I didn’t respond as he pelted me with questions about my condition. When was the last time I had felt like this? Ten years ago? With…him? No, it cannot be possible. I simply wouldn’t allow it to be. I refuse to let myself feel those naive feelings that I felt in my youth. I did not need to feel the warmth of another caring for me, myself has always been enough. Has it? It has. Myself and my work. My plants, the very things that keep me tied to this land. I loved every part of them. That is the only love I need in my life. Anything else is trivial. Plants continue to grow and evolve while people… they never change. Allowing myself to fall back into that unhealthy mindset was suicide.

“Tighnari,” I was brought back from my own head by the soft tone of the General's voice, his coarse fingers brushing against my neck as he pushed my hair behind my ear, “Are you sure you’re feeling well? You look quite pale. Please allow me to find you medical attention.” I recoiled away from him on instinct, “Uhm. No, that won’t be necessary, General. I’m in perfect health, really.” Cyno furrowed his brow and then raised it, “I promise, I’m fine. I was not harmed in any way, shape, or form. You needn’t worry so much about me.” Cyno averted his gaze and rubbed the back of his neck. He’s blushing. I’m aware of this. It’s faint, but you can tell. Something took over me, something non-human.

“Cyno, do you find me attractive?” I could hear both of our hearts skip.