Love Blooms

Chapter 17

at some point, tighnari had fallen asleep, both of you just napping together peacefully. you had woken up after around 30 minutes, finding yourself hugging the forest watcher. after calming down your rapidly beating heart, you slowly undid your grip and got off of his lap. you looked over and saw haypasia still asleep and in a coma-like state, making you stand up and check on her. luckily she looked to be in a stable condition.

maybe i should get her back to gandharva ville so she's in a more comfortable place.

you scribbled on a small piece of paper, placing it by your bag and decided to help get haypasia back to gandharva ville for her to rest. it didn't take as long as you thought it would, and you returned to pardis dhyai to help tighnari get back as well.

luckily for you, he was already awake by the time you returned.

"Y/N."

"hi tighnari! how are you feeling? i brought back some medicine for you."

he gave you a confused look, grabbing the small glass bottle from your outstretched hand and looked at the liquid. "you know how to make pain medicine?"

"well yes and no," you said. "collei helped me out! well, she read the recipe for me and i did the making, of course. this should help dull the pain for a bit."

"thanks," he said, undoing the lid and sniffing the medicine. "seems like you and collei did a splendid job with it."

he chugged the medicine, the bitter taste filling his mouth accompanied by the scent of herbs. it wasn't his favorite by any means, but he had gotten acclimated to the taste since he tests his own medicine all the time. after grabbing your items, you helped him stand up, throwing one of his arms over your shoulders so he could use you as a crutch to walk around until the medicine kicked in.

"thanks Y/N," he said. "i don't know if i could have gotten myself and haypasia back to gandharva ville all on my own."

"it's no problem! but knowing you, i'm sure you would have found a way without me."

"it probably would have taken such a long time though," tighnari said.

you giggled, "i guess."

around halfway through, the medicine had fully taken effect, allowing tighnari to walk side by side with you. this allowed both of you to get back to gandharva ville faster now that you weren't shouldering his weight.

"you'd better not be lying that the medicine is fully working," you said to him with a small frown. "don't push yourself."

"it only stings a little now," tighnari said, however it stung a lot more than just a "little" bit. he just didn't want to burden you and wanted to get back faster.

you sighed, "paimon was right. the more you know about these types of things, the worse of a patient you are."

tighnari gave you a displeased look, making you giggle.

"but as long as you're not dying from the pain, i'll let it go," you said.

"it's not fatal," tighnari defended himself. "i can handle it. plus the medicine really is working."

"sure it is," you said, rolling your eyes playfully. "let's just get back as soon as possible so we can properly treat it."

"fine fine," tighnari said.

you both continued to walk in a comfortable silence, admiring the scenery and seeing the various plant life around. tighnari at times would stop and collect some plant samples to use for medicine or testing. at times, he'd also explain the history and the properties of specific mushrooms that were around.

"... so this mushroom can be used for cooking and crafting certain medicines, however you can't use too much of it or else the patient can experience hallucinations- ah did i ramble for too long again? sorry that must have been boring."

you shook your head, "it wasn't! i enjoy listening to you talk about these types of things. it's something you're passionate about."

"i know but it must be boring at times hearing me explain the properties of a single species of mushroom."

"like i said, it shows how passionate you are when it comes to these types of things. it's cute."

you clapped a hand over your mouth when you said the last part, a blush filling your cheeks. how embarrassing- agh! i wish a hole would open and just eat me alive i'm so embarrassed.

"it's cute?" tighnari blushed a little from your words, echoing what he said so he could process it.

"you didn't hear anything!"

you sped up your walking, tighnari laughing and following you. "hey! Y/N! can you elaborate on that?"

"elaborate on what?"

"come on! you know what you said!"

"you must have eaten that specific mushroom or something because i didn't say shit."

it was moments like these that tighnari cherished. before he talked with you and reunited with you, he was 100% sure that there was no way he could get over that person. he couldn't imagine feeling content and happy romantically with someone who wasn't them. but now that he was with you, finally deciding to let go of his old feelings, he no longer felt the same way that he did.

where there was a gaping hole in his heart, there was now a small warmth that was slowly growing and filling it.

where there was anguish and despair from seeing and knowing his love was unrequited was now a sense of stability and recovery.

just being around you made him feel like he was healing. he felt happier and lighter, as if that person had always been just a friend to him. he didn't even think about that person unless it was brought up in conversation, and the world only centered around you and tighnari when both of you were around each other. he could be 100% comfortable, not having to slightly change his mannerisms.

"tighnari? do i have something on my face?"

tighnari flinched and he shook his head, oh shit i was staring on accident.

"oh- well did you need to tell me something?"

he contemplated a possible response, and finally he settled on one. "actually yes." he walked up to you and pulled you into a tender hug. his tail wrapped around you once more, making you a little confused from the display of affection. tighnari was never one to hug someone for absolutely no reason.

"h-huh?! tighnari? is something wrong? are you hurting?"

"quite the opposite," tighnari said. "... thank you."

"what for?"

"a lot of things. can we just stay like this for a moment?"

"sure," you blushed, still very confused. "but are you sure you're okay?"

"just be quiet and keep hugging me."