[FINISH] a brand new remedy [ soui + tsuyat&yudueth

[houllow]

With the events of the hatching in the past and nothing new or major looming in the distance, the only thing Soui decided she had to look forward to was the coming of spring and everything that came with it. Allergies topped a very long list of things to be prepared for, as Soui had been studying and learning during her lessons with her Uncle, and the young teen was finding herself practically up to her ears in reading materials. Pem had offhandedly said something about it being in response to her careless actions at the Hatching, her running around and irresponsible curiosity, and thus the girl had taken whatever weird punishment this was without complaint. Still, spending nearly a sevenday reading was taking its toll, and thus she'd sent a small letter to her cousin in an effort to find a way to escape from beneath the piles of papers.

The note was simply enough, with a single statement of 'Please get me out of here somehow'. She'd been smart and sent it with Dominus, the normally fussy green willing to help out the small healer in exchange for a treat, and thus when she got a reply she followed with another just as quick. Her plans for escape included a picnic, something she'd done with her family before Thread returned, and so she thought perhaps Tsuyat and Yudueth would enjoy spending time together outside of work or hatchings or injuries. Even though they were in the same Weyr, the healer knew her cousin had much to do with his Wing, and that his time away was spent protecting everyone from Thread. She knew, but that didn't mean she had to actually like it.

Thus Soui found herself waiting on the beach, on the day she knew to be Tsuyat's free day, and a day that happened to be Thread-free. With a small basket in her hands, she'd hoped that she brought enough to eat for the two of them. It was a little hard to decide what to bring, but she thought perhaps her cousin would be busy and so it'd be better for her to have some of the basics for a meal that they could both enjoy. Poor Yudueth though, she wasn't sure what a dragon was allowed to eat, and so Soui decided she'd make up for not having something for him with plenty of affection and maybe an attempt at catching a fish.

The pair would arrive any flick of a candlemark, or so she hoped.

Hattaki

get ready for the cuteness

 

[Hattaki]

Ever since the Hatching that had happened on that wild island just off the Southern Boll, Tsuyat had been buried in wing maneuvers and paperwork and that had left precious little in the way of free time. To have received a note from his little cousin actually had him jump up and knock his chair over, snapping Yudueth from the nap he was taking and bringing the bronze's irritation over him like a wave. He didn't care though, he knew exactly how to help his little cousin and sent a jab back to his dragon to show some concern for Soui's state of mind for writing that note, since clearly it wasn't in great shape. Or she wasn't in great shape, either way it wasn't good.

Quickly he scrawled out a neatly written missive back to her and handed it to the little green fire lizard before she popped out Between with an indignant noise. It didn't matter, he knew exactly what the three of them should do on his next free day! Lucky for him, Soui also had an idea and he made plans with his loyal bronze to try and make it the best that he could for her as she obviously needed it.

With the sun burning down on a bright spring day of their plans, Tsuyat cashed in a favor that he had with a friend in the kitchens, receiving quite a bit of food despite the small amount that he had actually asked for. The favor was substantial, but he hadn't ever expected that she would have gone above and beyond to such a degree. Stacked in the large basket were sandwiches, roasted vegetables, dipping sauce, some crackers and soft bread, jars of lemonade, and two bubbly pies all covered with a blanket carefully. All of that paired with a kiss to the cheek was more than enough repayment to have him blushing and squaring up to never cash another favor in again if that was going to happen. Not that he hadn't enjoyed it.

Swinging up onto Yudueth's back, waving away the laughter that he received for his blush, and the two leapt up to pop Between over the Weyr and straight down to the beach. Cold entered into him through his jacket like usual but within moments they were circling above the beach slowly, the warmth of the sun making the jacket seem unnecessary as they spun down slowly and landed gracefully on the sand just in front of Soui.

Hello there little twin, are you excited? Because this one is and a 'friend' of his has given us quite a bit of food for this day. Yudueth greeted her sweetly, reaching down to nuzzle her softly as his rider covered his face with a groan.

"Stop it! She's just a friend that needs no quotations." Tsuyat slid down and reached out to wrap up his cousin in a hug, basket placed carefully on the ground beside him. "Besides, today is about getting you out and free of all that reading!"

houllow

 

[houllow]

There had been no small amount of delight that came from Soui seeing her cousin and her twin pop out of the sky above her, and the teen had to resist jumping up and down in greetings. Yudu's landing was instead met with Soui sending as much delight as she could, though it quickly turned to questioning at the words that popped into her head. She could feel those quotations that Tsuyat snapped about, and she raised an eyebrow as he hugged her in an attempt to dodge the statement. "A friend, hmmm? And what about this friend makes you blush so much?" Or have such a large basket. It sort of made her feel like her attempt was unnecessary, or that maybe she was taking up time that her cousin may have preferred to spend elsewhere.

The nervous feelings threatened to invade her thoughts, but the healer did her best to push them out quickly and move along. Yudueth could read her emotions, as far as she could tell, and he wasn't the type to lie or hold things back from others. If she didn't want to ruin the day for either of them she'd need to keep this to herself, down in her stomach.

"I'm only teasing, I'm super happy the two of you were able to come so sudden. Pem has me memorizing all the issues that arise in Spring when you're at a Weyr, and the list is....so long." Some of the wording was starting to drive together, which was troublesome. Soui liked to learn and she felt it was important and good for her advancement as a healer, but enough was too much. Yudueth's nuzzle was returned with one of her own, her face rubbing against his snout affectionately. "Looks like we both brought a lot of food, so if we go hungry I think there's a problem."

It was so much better to focus on something else, really. "Let's go find a nice spot and get settled."

Hattaki

 

[Hattaki]

Even at her questions he blushed, his dark skin hiding some of it at least even if it couldn't hide all of it. Leave it to his beloved cousin to pull the most awkward part of his reaction out into the open, leave it to his dragon to point out what had happened recently in front of his baby cousin!

She's thirteen, that's hardly a baby, Yudueth shot down his thoughts carefully and skillfully.

Glaring up at his bronze, the rider turned to look at Soui and nodded his head, "She's just a rider from my wing, I eased up some pain in her shoulders the other day and when I asked her if she could get some food set up for us for this picnic she actually went a little overboard. Not sure why, I wasn't expecting you to bring food too! Looks like we'll have more than enough to eat today, heck we might even get to have lunch and dinner too if we spend enough time by the beach."

She also kissed him on the cheek, though it seemed pretty chaste and he's just a bit awkward. I doubt there was anything to worry about with that, she's just nice. Her dragon tells me she gives everyone a kiss on the cheek. It might have showed the bronze dragon's own innocence in the matter of human relationships but he didn't see any issue with a friendly kiss as all the humans he knew gave them to him. Not to mention he wanted to calm down the feeling he could sense coming off of Soui when she heard the news and he didn't like it. Reaching down to nuzzle her shoulder and send her a wave of love, he swirled his eyes purple for her. We were so glad that you sent a message, Tsu's been thinking of nothing but this day since you sent him that, he's excited. I am too.

"I hope you'll be able to relax a little bit today before you have to go back and memorize lists again for Uncle Pem. So let's celebrate both of our free days with a feast!" Tsuyat offered, holding up the basket with a wide grin, "I think we should find a little bit of shade though, I know there's some trees down the beach a bit so we can relax in both the shade and the sun if we want."

Pointing down the sand towards the small and shaded alcove of trees, he rubbed at Soui's shoulders, having gotten the cue from his dragon that she wasn't feeling so hot. It worried him, because Yudueth couldn't pick up exact emotions off of her given that she wasn't bonded to him the same way he was. Hopefully a day on the beach would cheer her up and make her feel better, but he would have to watch carefully.

houllow

 

[houllow]

Soui didn't want to think about it, and so she stored away the words Yudueth said and set her mind to what they were going to do once they got settled. She liked wading in the water, at least if there were none of those weird clawed creatures at the shore. Her finger still smarted on occasion when she bent it and the teen wanted no repeats with any other part of her body. Perhaps if she just thought about the unhappiness of the clawed-thing she could swallow properly the weird feeling in her gut. This was supposed to be a very happy day, and Soui wasn't going to let it be anything else.

Not if she could help it, anyway.

"I actually like memorizing things though." Soui finally responded to the conversation as the trio reached a nice spot, and the little healer did agree that it looked almost perfect. Part of her wondered if Tsuyat had scoped it out earlier and a smile spread to her face. "I find when you memorize things it can help in emergencies. Didn't you have to memorize all of your flight patterns? It's sort of like that, only with what to do if someone can't stop sneezing." She pouted her lower lip out, just in case he dared challenge her. "And before you snap, it is something important to know. I doubt anyone would like to sneeze a lot."

The small basket she held in her hand was set down in the shade of some trees, and Soui looked up as the ocean breeze rustles some of the tall branches coated with leaves. She was going to enjoy being out here, she could feel it. Something amazing was sure to happen, even if it was just something small.

Hattaki

 

[Hattaki]

"I memorize things to help the wing, so that I understand, in a way you're memorizing things to keep in mind for when someone ends up wounded or sick in front of you. It's not a bad thing that you're memorizing and you'll need to, but today isn't the day for that." Tsuyat said smoothly, he glanced down at the tiny girl and winked with a smile as he pulled a tightly folded blanket from one deep jacket pocket. He'd managed to get it folded just right so that he could pack it without having to worry about carrying it another way, it was a burden to carry too much when flying Between on Yudueth, even if the dragon would have willingly accepted anything strapped to his shoulders. The basket had been enough.

Flapping it out he laid it in the shade beside where Soui had set her basket and set about folding the corners down into the sand so it didn't move very much on them as they ate and relaxed. That job done he set the large basket down and shed his riding jacket and belt before he went to stand beside her, the wind ruffling the little bit of hair that had grown out on his head in the past month since his shoulder had been threadscored. Shaving was all but impossible when he didn't have the full range of motion, but at least his curls hadn't grown in so much yet that it was unruly, it just resembled a cactus a bit.

His wingmates gave him no amount of flack for it.

"So what do you want to do first? We have the whole beach to ourselves today and I made certain to check and make sure there's not Threadfall over here today." Tsu pointed out over the water to the cresting fins of a pair of dolphins, they were still a way out luckily, so the fact that his bronze dragon was wading into the water wouldn't faze them in the least. He sincerely hoped at least. "Seems Yudueth wants to swim a bit. You already hot there big guy?!"

I don't mind the hot sand, but the water is far nicer on this boiling beach. Spring indeed, we skipped right past that and into summer if I do say. was the bronze dragon's only retort as he sunk further and further into the water until just the nobs on his head were above the water. No small feet for even a smaller bronze as they were just large in general.

"You're so dramatic when you're hot." Tsu waved a hand at his dragon with a laugh and glanced down at Soui to gauge her reaction to his earlier question, they had all the time in the world after all.

houllow

 

[houllow]

"Yudueth, be careful of the....snippy things. They'll get you and it'll hurt!" Soui called after the dragon in the water, her hand raised up to her mouth to allow the call to travel. She had a very faint red mark about the knuckles of one of her fingers, one that was accompanied by the pale purple-blue of a healing bruise. It was clear she was speaking from experience, though by the way she was able to bend her knuckle there was hardly lasting damage, if any. Just how she'd gotten hurt, or how long ago, she hadn't made any mention of it to Tsuyat and wouldn't be doing so. "I mean, I can try and help you if you get pinched, but I don't know anything about caring for dragons, so..." The teen's voice trailed off as she looked back to the blankets and the baskets, and then again towards the dragon.

There was a long pause, followed by Soui softly and carefully moving towards the tide. Her shoes were pulled off and tossed carelessly behind, landing somewhere in the brush beyond the mini set-up. She'd have to look for it later, if she didn't want to end her day barefoot and explaining to her uncle what happened. "Did you have to teach Yudu how to swim?" The question was sound. "I...don't really know how to swim, but I don't think I really need to learn either." When was a healer ever going to need swimming? It wasn't as though she'd ever be wandering along the beach and see someone drowning - L'nik had said people weren't generally out on the waters alone for that reason.

Soui either didn't notice or didn't care that she hadn't answered her cousin's question, though it likely wasn't on purpose in the case of the former over the latter. She was still a bit jumbled up in her thoughts and emotions over something as simple as a chaste kiss and a picnic basket, but perhaps she had her upbringing to blame for much of it.

Hattaki

 

[Hattaki]

A laugh rumbled in the bronze dragon as he sank deeper into the water for a moment and then popped his head up, spraying water everywhere from his nostrils. Don’t worry little twin, crabs can’t snip hard enough to be of much damage to a dragon. We’re a bit larger than a small human that they could attack and snip up like yourself. If you want you can hold onto me so you can be in the water, that way you don’t have to swim.

With a gentle whipping motion the little bronze swam towards the shore once more until he couldn’t swim anymore, walking into the surf and laying down so she could climb atop his shoulders if she wished. Of course he knew that she couldn’t swim, in reality he and Tsuyat had talked about that more than once over the turns when she’d been a small child and both were of the same mind that she should learn from her taller and older cousin while she was still young. Neither would push the issue of course unless she wanted them to teach her. So all the dragon could do was fix one blue eye on her small form from where his head lay and send her waves of support.

Behind Soui, his smile only a bit wider, Tsuyat busied himself with gathering up the shoes she’d kicked off, not wanting her to be without them when the worst of the sun made her feet burn on the sands. The last thing that Soui needed to do was go home barefoot when Pem would reprimand her and once more hate his nephew more, as if that were even possible in Tsu’s mind. He knew full well how the rest of their family felt about him and Pem was just the one that voiced it in his presence, only Soui really cared that he continued breathing. To the rest of his family outside of her and his parents he could die fighting Thread and they wouldn’t care. So it meant that he had to take care of his baby cousin when he could, the girl who’s nameday matched his beloved bronze dragon’s. If Pem yelled at her for losing shoes and he could have avoided it then he would do his best to avoid it, so the dark haired man sat her shoes at the edge of the blanket and turned back towards her at the question.

“I didn’t have to teach him how to swim, he loved it from the moment he saw the beach. Just trust him, he’s a strong swimmer.” Tsu offered before doing his best to work into the background. Most of Soui’s attention and love went to the dragon, that he knew and accepted, he would always play second fiddle to Yudueth in her heart and that was completely fine as long as she was happy. Settling himself down into the shade he figured that he could relax and simply watch.

houllow

 

[houllow]

"They're called crabs? Huh." She hadn't been reading up much on the flora and fauna of Pern, aside from what she'd need for healing, and so some of the more common names for things escaped Soui's mind. Maybe she really did need some time away from the books, and some time away from the influence of her uncle who usually ended his statements to her questions with 'study more'. The teen liked being with her cousin, liked being with her twin, and maybe if Pem understood how happy she was he'd like them more too.

Doubtful, but sometimes Soui had to think the best of any situation.

"...well, okay. I suppose swimming couldn't hurt." There had been a long pause in what the healer was thinking, spending most of the time in silence rather than in conversation. She'd been debating if she wanted to swim or not, whether it was worth risking the salt and the crabs, but if Tsuyat was saying trust him, and trust Yudueth, that was more than enough. "You better not let me fall in!" Her voice held a super chipper tone, and before anyone could stop her Soui quickly shed her clothing, down to her basic undergarments and top slip. With a whoop she rushed out into the surf...

...where she promptly tripped over something and smashed her face right into the sand and water.

Hattaki

 

[Hattaki]

It took a moment for Tsuyat to process exactly what was happening in front of him when Soui began to strip clothing off of her body, but he chuckled at the excitement that she was exuding as well. It was good to see her relax for once and try to go and do something she would enjoy outside of learning. It couldn't hurt that Yudueth would be there to help her as well and he knew that nothing bad would happen as long as the bronze was by her side.

Or at least he didn't think it would....

Just seeing Soui's face smash down into the wavebreak of the water had Tsuyat on his feet and running down the beach to her side. It wasn't panic that filled him, more worry, luckily the sand was really soft and even softer where the water had dampened it, so while she could be hurt it wouldn't be as bad as it could have been. That gave him some sort of ease to his concern.

"Hey, hey little cousin, you okay Soui!" Reaching down gently he flipped her over to look at her face and cast a glance up at Yudueth who'd moved instantly when he saw her fall to block the waves from hitting her with his whole body. One large yellow eye watched the pair from where he'd laid his head and his free wing was spread out across them to give them some shade from the bright afternoon sun.

Are you okay twin? That looked like a nasty fall. Yudueth's voice was calm and had no panic or worry coloring it, in fact only Tsu would know that he was incredibly worried from the waves that he was sending to him.

houllow

 

[houllow]

Nothing about her landing had been graceful, and it certainly didn't feel that way. All air had been knocked clear from her lungs on impact, preventing her from inhaling a nice chunk of seawater and thus avoiding a shallow drowning. It didn't make things better of course, as having all the air blown out of her body had stung and left behind sharp pain and surprise. Tsuyat's voice sounded very distant and muffled, as did Yudueth's if such a thing were possible, and her entire head felt as though something had hit her and run off. She knew it wasn't anything serious, as sand was an excellent cushion against hard impact, but water was involved and her thoughts were rolling too fast to follow the proper list of knowing why she was okay.

The end of it all was that she was hurting, a lot, and was in shock from smashing her face into the sand. Soui'd likely left a sandprint but the tide had carried it out, even with the bronze acting as a buffer and preventing more water from spilling in. Overall she should have been thankful for the quick reaction time of her family, but that thought didn't register either.

Soui could only feel the panic in her lungs, where all the air had dropped, and the fact that she had sand in her mouth. It was crunchy sand, not that she assumed there was any other kind, and before she could allow her brain to properly respond to worry, her body answered first. With a sniffle, then a sob, then an outright wail that echoed through the area. Soui was not okay.

Hattaki

 

[Hattaki]

Her tears were a natural reaction to landing so roughly, Tsu knew that even if it broke his heart to see them. Yudueth's eyes whirled first yellow and then to a deep grey color as he gave her shoulder a very gentle nuzzle, his head tilting back and forth in doing so. Though his body was blocking all of the water from getting onto his two favorite humans he knew that they couldn't remain here and sent a jab to his rider who'd already been in the process of reaching out to his cousin anyway. Tsuyat picked her up as carefully as he could and bundled her up to his chest so she could cry into his arm, both of his eyebrows pulled together as he cast a look between her and the bronze before him.

"It's okay Soui, it's alright, I promise." He said softly, turning to carry her back to the blanket as Yudueth pulled his wing back at his motion. A croon pulled from the dragon as he shifted to his feet and followed them both back into the shade slowly, always keeping Soui within one faceted eye as they did so.

Laying her down softly on the blanket he pulled his jacket over and used it as a pillow for her head as Tsu pushed her bangs back and checked her face to make sure that her nose hadn't been broken or a shell cut her. Seeing no lasting damage at all he looked at her elbows and knees next, but there were no rashes or anything that might indicate lasting pain, so it was emotional and maybe a bit of overwhelming embarrasment for having fallen? Not knowing exactly what was wrong, but knowing full well that she was still hurting in some way, Tsu content himself with running a hand over her hair gently, his thumb running between her eyebrows and up her forehead. It was a pressure point that helped relieve headaches and tension, even if he wasn't sure that it would help with 'face smash' he was hoping that it would do something for her to ease whatever it was that was causing her to cry.

Head moving to lay down beside his little twin, Yudueth pressed his cheek against her side and crooned quietly for her. It was a song he'd always sung to her when she was very little, though it had no words being a dragon croon, but he'd always found that it calmed her in the past and hoped it would be enough to do the same now, for both his hearts ached for her.

houllow

 

[houllow]

This was not at all what she'd planned when she asked Tsuyat and Yudueth to come for a picnic. Soui had not expected to have the wind knocked out of her from the surf, to have her emotions knocked out and about thanks to a bout of jealousy (yes, she knew that much) that threatened to make her miserable for no reason. She had no right to be upset that there was someone Tsuyat may or may not have had interest in, as it was none of her business and she should have been happy for him!!! He was her cousin and that word alone was enough for her mind to stop. Not really her heart though, and its inexperience of youth and desire made this so much worse. Yudueth's attempts at calming reassure and Tsuyat's gentleness only suffered her mood more.

"I hate it." Her words initially came out as a mumble, though the youth quickly slapped her hands over her eyes, leaving her mouth open for further talking. "I absolutely hate it, Tsuyat!" The full use of her cousin's name, rather than the affectionate moniker, was another sign nothing good was coming. "I HATE BEING LIKE THIS and YOU!!! THE BOTH OF YOU!!!" Her words stopped in her voice but continued in her mind. The both of them being so kind and worried and understanding just made her seem even more horrible of a person. She had to be responsible and mature, she was supposed to be. Soui was a healer, someone who people would depend on to help make them well and she could not behave like this.

She rolled onto her stomach in an effort to hide her face, lest any more of her emotions be seen. "All I wanted was a picnic, not this. I don't even know what this is."

Hattaki

she's having a tantrum and it's surprising her lol

 

[Hattaki]

Yudueth and Tsuyat were both fairly mellow beings, they matched one another perfectly in that respect but there were others that they matched in as well, emotions being one of them. So when the little bronze felt both of his hearts lurch at Soui's words and his eyes whirled a dull gray color, Tsuyat's mood fell flat on it's face and his own heart turned to stone once more. It wasn't as if he wasn't expecting it, all of his family hated him with the exception of his parents and maybe his uncle, but he really wasn't incredibly sure about that.

It made sense that Soui would eventually come to hate him as well, she spent all of her time around Pem and likely he'd been telling her stories of why his nephew was a failure in the eyes of their entire family. Choosing a dragon over healing after he'd chosen massage craft over healer craft, that had been enough of a barb to his father's family but his parents, his wonderful parents, had supported him through both decisions. Certainly over the turns past that had been enough and would have to be enough once more, for it looked as though the only other family member that even liked him had finally fallen to the rest of their pressure.

"It's okay, I don't mind if you hate me. Everyone else in our family hates me too, sometimes I hate me." A pained creel from his bronze made him cough away the lump in his throat so he didn't slam himself anymore, he really wasn't the self conscious type after all. "So if you want us to go I understand, but Yudueth doesn't really deserve that, he just chose me, he wasn't the one that turned his back on healing. No matter how much you hate me or come to hate me in the future, just remember he'll always be here for you. You're both twins..."

Tsu's voice cracked slightly on the last sentence as his emotions showed through his wingsecond poker face, his hand had been halfway to reaching towards rubbing her back out of impulse but the man dropped both into his lap and closed his eyes. "Just remember that the both of us will always love you little cousin, we always have. We love everyone in our family even if they hate us in return, that's why we fight. Because they deserve the right to live and hate us."

Draping his jacket over her back in case it burned even in the shade on such a bright day, Tsu stood and went to lean his whole body against Yudueth's head where he'd moved it, scratching at the bronze headknobs and down his neck, trying hard to get those gray eyes to change back. Any color would have made him happier other than gray or white and he sent loving thoughts of loyalty and support his way. No matter who grew to hate the both of them, he was always there for his dragon, but it didn't change his eyes.

houllow

 

[houllow]

"...wait, what?" From beneath Tsuyat's jacket, which Soui had used to pull up over her head so her beloved cousin and twin couldn't see her horrible face, a confused voice echoed out. "What. What? WHAT????" It didn't take long for the confusion to escalate and the little teen to jump to her feet, her eyes wide and bewildered. "Hate you?! What? When?!" Quickly, to the point of falling over and having her face smash into her cousin's back, Soui moved to embrace him. "Why would I hate you?! I love you, I love you a lot! That's why I'm so mad, because if someone else loves you then - then I can't love you the most anymore and I KNOW that but!!!"

Her words tumbled out like water from a cup, just spilling into the air without any concern. "I mean, I got in trouble all the time back home because I kept saying I was going to marry you, and then my mother would get upset and my father would laugh it off, but - hate you?! What the sharding SHELLS Tsuyat!" The curse words were new, probably. "And YUDU! SERIOUSLY?!"

The teen was so glad her face was buried into her cousin's back, lest he see the hot blush that was running all over her cheeks from her confession and confusion. Not that she even thought her cousin would take it seriously, as she was his cousin and young and likely didn't even understand what she was saying. All three facts were true, not that Soui was rational enough to admit it, but for now all her focus was on keeping Tsuyat from sulking and in cheering up her twin.

"Besides, you two are the only ones who let me be me. Pem only wants to make me look super good, which makes him look good, just to spite my parents." Her mother hadn't wanted Pem to teach Soui, thinking he would fail, and so there was a level of cruelty in the man that wanted to prove his sister wrong - even if it meant pushing Soui beyond her limits. She was a tool, not a pupil or a family member, and such a thing was hard to ignore when she was up all night studying.

Hattaki

we know these two are the hot mess cousins