Tighnari stands at the station in the corner of the room. He has traded his normal gloves for a thinner pair that allows for more control over his fingers. He packs up bags of herbs, wafting the scent into his nose to confirm that he has not confused any of the many plants even though he has barely ever made a mistake in his career, especially not in the latter years when he has honed his craft to near-perfection. The process of smelling is mostly to double-check, but it also soothes some part of his brain that is wired for the prolonging of his patient's life. He doesn't wish for anyone in his care to die or experience unnecessary hardship alongside whatever brought them to his doorstep, so the scent of the beneficial herbs helps Tighnari feel like he's doing his job. There is only so much his hands can do, after all. Sometimes, he has to leave it to the patient's inclination toward healthier habits and the medicinal herbs that he can give away but is unable to force down any throats.

That part is what has never settled fully in Tighnari's mind. He is primarily a healer, so it is with all his best wishes that he wants his patients to heal. But he cannot force that on them. He can only set them down the correct path and hope they do not lose their way before he can see them again. Several of the patients he has lost over the years are because they refuse to take their illnesses or wounds seriously. They will put off taking action until it's too late, and there is nothing Tighnari can do about that. His words will always fall on unhearing ears just as the signs will always be graced upon by unseeing eyes.

"How's it coming along?" A voice asks, startling Tighnari out of his thoughts. The hybrid gently lowers the pouch he was tying together onto the table as he looks up. His close friend, Kaveh, is standing in the middle of the room, halfway between the bed he was confined to for weeks and the table Tighnari is standing at. Kaveh is wearing a half-smile on his face that would have become a full smile if he had not caught Tighnari's expression. Kaveh's lips twitch, and his eyes flash with emotions as they tremble faintly. Kaveh brings his arms to his side, clearing his throat with a dusting of embarrassed red on his cheeks. "Is something wrong?"

Tighnari bites the inside of his cheek to keep from answering. Kaveh is an almost perfect replication of the sort of person the healer in Tighnari loathes. Kaveh would put off all of his problems in some ill-conceived idea of self-degradation and a refusal to fit into his definition of 'selfish,' a completely inaccurate definition, Tighnari attests. Tighnari's fears are not the only reason why he makes this claim. He has literal proof, as evidenced by the way Kaveh subtly leans his weight to one side because one of his legs was more damaged than the other. Kaveh's eyes dart away from Tighnari, anxiety warring internally behind those carmine irises.

"You are to take your medicine every morning and night, Kaveh. I have already told Al-Haitham, so do not try getting out of it," Tighnari says instead of answering, though his words have the same effect on Kaveh as they would have if Tighnari blatantly told Kaveh that something was wrong. Kaveh's face crumples with a wince, and he grabs onto the hem of his shirt, a nervous habit he either learned from Collei or taught her in their time together. Tighnari breathes out his nose, his fingers fidgeting around the knot he tied around the pouch. He doesn't want to hurt Kaveh more than the blonde already has been, so he's trying to keep his words light, but he knows that it isn't working the way he wants it to— needs it to.

"I understand. Doctor's orders, yes?" Kaveh notes, his voice a few tones away from being downright pessimistic. Kaveh dares to take a step forward. Tighnari glances at him, but he ultimately does nothing. Kaveh takes this as a sign to keep moving. He's soon only a few feet away from Tighnari, his shadow falling over the hybrid. Kaveh's eyes seem to shimmer in the darkness, a supernatural afterglow.

"Yes, it is the doctor's orders. You need to take these to finish the healing process. Remember, Kaveh, you—" The word is stolen right from his throat. Tighnari clamps his mouth shut, his teeth clicking heavily in his own ears. He feels them twitch, and Kaveh's eyes dart up to them even as a slow trembling appears across his hands. Kaveh opens his mouth, but he shuts it just as quickly as Tighnari did. Kaveh looks down at his hands. Tighnari stares at them, too. They are moving. They have a healthy flush to them. They are the hands of a living man, yet Tighnari can only see the pale, still fingers lying in a puddle of blood and watery mud.

Tighnari has seen dead bodies before. He has seen them many times in his career as the Vulpes Sage. He will admit that he felt queasy the first dozen times, but it soon became something he could stomach. He would never disrespect the dead, but he wouldn't feel too disorientated around them. That being said, all of those dead bodies had belonged to people unaffiliated with Tighnari. Maybe a couple were names he knew, but they were not individuals he could claim to be acquainted with. They were passing visages in the depths of his memories, blurred by time and a lack of importance to his day-to-day life.

Kaveh is not a stranger. Kaveh has been Tighnari's friend for many years now. Tighnari has shown Kaveh his private garden. He has played cards with Kaveh. He has spent many long nights drinking with the architect, listening to his complaints and indulging in his need for physical affection and keeping those dark thoughts at bay. Ever since that day they met officially at an oasis where Kaveh was going to build new structures, Kaveh has become an intrinsic part of Tighnari's life, as important to him as Cyno or Collei or Sethos. Kaveh was once a stranger, sure, but he became more than that. He became a friend... he became a brother, Tighnari would willingly admit if Kaveh was ever prepared to hear it.

In some strange and macabre way, Kaveh's dead body was part of Tighnari's safety circle. The corpse that made the air almost unbearable for his enhanced nose was still someone Tighnari cared about. Tighnari could blame the sickness he felt on that smell, but he knew that the real reason was because the person he loved was rotting, sinking into the earth as if to be reclaimed from it. Not even the display of power presented by God-King Kusanali and the Lily Nilou could tear Tighnari's eyes away from Kaveh's ashen lips and heavily shut eyes. Tighnari rushed over to the corpse, prepared to perform whatever surgery was needed to reverse the natural order of the world.

Kaveh is alive again, miraculously, through a mix of divine power and Al-Haitham's tenacity, and Tighnari has to keep Kaveh that way. He was entrusted with Kaveh's life, and he wasn't going to fail the architect again.

"Take your medicine," Tighnari firmly says. He laces his voice with dominance as if his orders have ever resonated with Kaveh. Tighnari has little doubt he could get Kaveh to do anything for Tighnari's sake, but he knows he is fighting an uphill battle to get Kaveh to look after himself.

"I promise, Tighnari," Kaveh murmurs. Finally, he steps forward to encroach on Tighnari's personal space. It was always Kaveh's way of asking for a hug. Tighnari didn't understand near the beginning of their friendship, but he soon figured it out after the first time Kaveh got drunk around Tighnari. Kaveh was extremely affectionate, throwing his arms around anyone who passed near him. He was also prone to falling asleep on the closest person's shoulder. In both cases, it was usually Tighnari that ended up getting close. First, it was an accident, but he indulged Kaveh's whims because he was also half-drunk and frankly speaking, he didn't mind hugs or wrapping an arm around the sleeping architect. It became intentional as their friendship deepened, for the aforementioned reasons but also because Tighnari didn't want Kaveh to get into trouble or get hurt by someone sober enough to think of Kaveh as moldable putty.

Tighnari untethers his hands from the pouch. He lifts his arms, wrapping them around Kaveh's shoulders. He pulls the architect down, letting Kaveh's nose fall upon his shoulder. It took forever to get Kaveh to hug him while they were both sober, but Tighnari is as patient with Kaveh as he is with Collei and Sethos. Kaveh, thankfully, sinks into the embrace, exhaling softly as he moves his arms around Tighnari's waist. Tighnari keeps his eyes open as he absentmindedly starts moving his hand across Kaveh's upper back, a soothing gesture meant to pacify Kaveh as Tighnari thinks.

Kaveh is warm underneath him, like all living bodies should be. Kaveh's chest moves steadily, like all living bodies do. Even someone unskilled in healing arts would be able to tell Kaveh is among the living, but a part of Tighnari might always be stuck in that cell with Kaveh's dead body and Al-Haitham's unmoving one as the scribe sunk closer to death. Tighnari lost one friend and was on his way to lose another, a terrible fact that chills him to the core and makes his breath stutter, bringing him closer to the death he's been trying to keep away from the people around him.

Kaveh's dead body put more fear into Tighnari's mind. It was Kaveh and Al-Haitham that day. Who would be next? Will Tighnari be the one called to help the General Mahamatra, only to find Cyno dead before Tighnari could even see him? Will the corruption inside Collei's body flare back up, either killing her or forcing the others to kill her? Will Sethos be lost to the silence of the sands, gone in a way that no one will be able to explain, let alone reconcile with? One family member died, and several more could, and Tighnari is drawn back to one of the main reasons he wanted to be a healer in the first place.

"Nari?" Kaveh asks, his voice pulling at Tighnari's thoughts. The hybrid blinks, turning to look down at Kaveh. The architect is smiling. It's a pleasant smile, Tighnari notes, not a self-deprecating one or the sorrowful one of goodbyes. It isn't his friendly smile, either, not the one he puts on for clients or the regents. It is a smile wholly dedicated to the people Kaveh cares about, the one Tighnari recognizes the best of all Kaveh's smiles.

"Yes?" Tighnari asks, returning the smile without needing to think about it. For all of his fears, Tighnari knows that people are going to die. The people he loves, whom he marks internally as family, are going to die. It is something he had to accept when he became a healer. Some people cannot be saved. Not for a lack of trying, of course, but... Tighnari will do his best, and he will accept that everyone will die. A morbid thought for some, but Tighnari takes it in stride. He smiles even wider as he meets those carmine eyes that helped him as much as he has helped them.

"Thanks for the hug." Thanks for the hug today. Thanks for the hugs all the times before. Thank you for looking after me. Thank you for spending your precious time with me. Thank you for seeing me. Thank you for befriending me. Thank you for being my brother. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for keeping me here.

"No problem." I will always hug you. I will always look after you. I will always spend time with you. I will always look for you. I will always be your friend. I will always be your brother. I will always love you. I won't let you go again.