#Tuues ninbi

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Miqo March Day 2- Home

Home is where the heart is for G'enta, who never truly had much of a home after a point growing up. Her home is where her loved ones are, her half brother G'raha and her adopted siblings, Alphinaud and Alisaie.

Together, they can weather any storm.

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I’m still alive Lil style play with my favorite catgirl

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Miqo March Day 1- Introduction G'enta Tuues, formerly known as T'uues Ninbi, Former member of the now disbanded Scions of the Seventh Dawn.

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In which the Voidsent learns to cook (vaguely)

It was only yesterday that things were okay. And things had been okay for quite some time. Time spent became easier, faster, more fulfilling with the Miqote at her side. Teaching, talking, travelling, _seeing_ the world rather than simply being within it. Zero was beginning to…as the saying went, “warm up” to her new life on the source. To truly enjoy her time alongside her…comrade.

So why was it that today, unlike any other days, T’uues refused to speak to her?

Had they gotten into a disagreement? Had she found a flaw in her unworthy of their relationship? Could it be that she had overstayed her welcome? No…perhaps not. For there were other oddities and irregularities to the coerl’s behavior that brought concern to the voidsent.

She hadn’t left her bed.

The two stood wordlessly, staring at one another. Zero standing idly, awkwardly…and T’uues nearly fully buried under countless comforters.

She gave a sad smile and wave…before reaching to her bedside table for a journal.

“…What is wrong.” Zero spoke up. “You are normally out training now. It is…midday.”

A finger was raised to hush, before returning to the book to scribble. Eventually, T’uues handed it over to her. It read simply, in swirling, neat letters.

‘Hello! Apologies. I lost my voice.’

“Lost your voice…well, where is it? Where did you last leave it, I can fetch it for you—“ the tiniest of chuckles was heard, hoarse and hurt before the Miqote stopped herself to scribble more.

‘no. Hurts too much to speak.’

“Who h—“ another finger, a small sigh.

‘I’m sick. Must have caught a cold at Radz-At-Han.’

Sick? That felt familiar, but nothing familiar enough for Zero to know how to _fix it._ A problem, surely, and a bigger one if it were to get worse.

“..How do you end this sick.” Crossing her arms, Zero’s mind began to chew upon this problem. “If it’s aether you need, I can fetch some.” T’uues shook her head.

‘Time. And tea.’

——

The neighbors explained to her quite kindly, albeit amusedly, what tea was. A hot beverage of leaves steeped in water, with added honey or cream for sweetness. Cream was an ingredient made from milk, and honey…Zero inexplicably remembered, from a time long past.

And so the voidsent procured this ‘tea’, taking care to pick the healthiest of leaves and the hottest of waters.

—

‘What is this’

“Tea.”

T’uues gave another glance at the cup. Steam wafted profusely from its source, fogging up the view of the strange, steeping leaves floating aimlessly within. Leaves she felt were familiar, but at the time couldn’t place her finger on where she had seen them. Oh well. Down the hatch.

The hot water both burned her tongue and soothed her throat. The leaves lent a strong bitterness, something she had trained herself to enjoy alongside sweets….but perhaps it was the lack of sweets that made it even more bitter than she could recall.

“Mm…” she closed her eyes. This was…definitely tea, technically. Perhaps her next lesson.

“Is it adequate. Is your sick gone.”

She shook her head.

“That…will take some more time.” T’uues whispered hoarsely. At least her throat felt a bit better for now. “I…should show you how to make tea proper. This is close…but not quite.”

Rising from her covers, Zero could see the soft pajamas her friend had donned. Completely unlike any of her armor, or even day wear. It felt….strange to see her in such a vulnerable state. But there was no look of fear in her comrade’s eyes. To have a moment of pure peace…something so foreign to Zero, even in her days without the darkness. Something tugged at her chest, a longing of sorts for more of this sensation of peace.

—

“First, you heat up water in a kettle such as this.” T’uues demonstrated softly, bringing the neck of the kettle to the sink to fill it. Zero watched closely, listening to the sound it made, rising in pitch as it filled. The cat’s moves were sluggish, but deliberate as she brought the now full kettle to the stovetop and activated the magitek to heat it.

“While we wait on it to boil, we prepare the tea in its vessel. Let’s use a simple black tea for this cup.” Moving shakily, T’uues produced a small tin from the cabinet, and two ceramic cups. From the tin she carefully scooped dried leaves into mesh filters, setting each to rest on either cup.

“That…does not look like the leaves used in the tea I made.” Zero noted. A strand of hair was tugged in absence of her hat. “I see my error.”

“Hm?” Turning from her concentration, T’uues expected to see the usually curious voidsent behind her. Rather, what stood in its place was a look of disappointment and…shame?

“I have failed to create adequate sustenance such as tea to heal your illness.” She stared at the cups, a storm behind her eyes. “For that I offer apologies. I can go and call for the dragoon to come and aid you—“

“Huh? Why would you do that?”

“Because I am inadequate.”

“…Zero, you don’t really think that, do you?”

Suddenly closer, dainty fingers reaching to cup the voidsent’s cheek. How could such scarred hands be so soft..?

Eye contact, something Zero struggled with, but T’uues thrived. Striking slit pupils amidst peridot and emerald, soothing and seeking to sort out.

“You’ve shown initiative, not only to learn, but to aid me in my vulnerable state. There’s nothing ‘inadequate’ about that. In fact…I find it rather noble, and incredibly sweet.”

“…”

Zero turned away, allowing the cat to remember the honey and cream required for their brew. And just in time, too, as the kettle began to express what Zero’s cheeks were unable to. The cold of voidsent flesh could never fluster, but she swore in that moment a fever rose to share between them.

In mere moments the two beheld two pristine glasses of steaming tea. The aroma of bittersweet leaves filled them both and filled the cat’s nose with much needed relief. She hesitated not to take a sip, tail flicking to and fro at the delicious-albeit muted-flavor.

“Go on, try it!” Voice a little less hoarse than before, the honey doing its magic, Tuues waited impatiently for her friend to join in. And that she did…with much hesitation, caution, and curiosity. As was her wont to do in this world…and was T’uues’s wont to begin to admire. To view the world with new eyes…just like she was. To know but had not seen, to see but had not known. It was a funny play on fate to bring these two strangers together. But all the worth it, to see the voidsent’s eyes light up at the new sensation.

“It’s…warm.” She spoke softly, setting the cup down. “It smells so…”

“Good, yea?” T’uues beamed. “The neat thing is, you can find this anywhere in the star. Each tribe’s got a different spin on it. It was key for survival, yknow, boiling off the bad aether. But now it’s so beloved…we can’t get enough of it!”

“A necessity memorialized…?”

“Perhaps. Say…where _did_ you find those leaves in the tea you made?”

“Oh, the trees in your garden.” An easy question, an easy answer. “The ones with the purple flowers.”

“The….” Oh, dear. So the growing stomachache was not the cold. “…the wisteria leaves?”

“Yes. Was that alright?”

“….you may actually want…to call for Alphinaud…or G’raha.” Taking another sip, she gave a small sigh. “Those are poisonous.”

[spiritedsketch]

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Heavensward....

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I’ve learned to regret these words

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Some choice words have been said without fear

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My WOL mains DRK