05/23/2000

The Shadow's Demise Tavern, The Plaza, Tar Valon

A sleek wooden bar stretches across the back of the room, with giant kegs
full of all manner of drink here. The proprieter of the Shadow's Demise
does his own distilling, as such, there is never a shortage of ale to be
found here. Slightly greasy smelling potatos and sausage dishes find their
way out of the kitchens by way of plump serving maids and onto the tables
of the patrons, most of whom look tired and worried. Dripping white candles
sit within old green wine bottles, casting a soft lambent light about the
area.

A dais is here, where a performer of some variety usually sits, keeping the
patronage entertained. Songs of battle and war are generally discouraged
unless there has been a recent victory, and so slow, romantic ballads float
around the room. Perhaps this is why The Shadow's Demise tends to have an
equal number of male and female patrons. Circular tables, generally kept
clean, are arranged about the room in such a way that people can easily
hold conversations with one another and keep them private.


Laughter, and lots of it pours through the door to the inn and spills out
onto the street as someone opens it to come inside. Yes, the inn is
veritably hopping tonight, and it would be safe to assume that a certain
'firefly' is right in the middle of it all. It also seems there is a bit of
gambling going on, but thankfully it's not a drinking contest this time.
The obnoxious brat- I mean young woman has her coat off and her sleeve
rolled up and she's armwrestling with a guy about twice her size, and not
doing too badly either. They actually seem about evenly matched, probably
due to the fact that most of his mass isn't exactly muscle. Despite the
sweat on her forhead, and the redness of her face from exertion she has a
huge grin on her lips. A very small crowd has gathered to see the outcome
of this match, and silver is changing hands while others laugh and jeer at
the contestants.

Every young man should get one night at the Tavern every week, and the one
that enters certainly needs his! He's had a rough week... With some high
points. But over all it was rough. Neelkan wanders into the Tavern,
scratching at his white-streaked red hair, looking around the room once and
checking to see what the party is. He sees that everyone seems to be
gathered around an area and wanders over to see what they are all staring
at, elbowing his way in a little until he can see. Doesn't help that he's
not exactly the tallest man walking the Wheel... but... eventually he does
get through enough to see, and what he sees causes his blue-green eyes to
widen. Maybe going to -this- Tavern was a bad idea. He starts to back up,
but the crowd has closed in behind him and he can't. He turns one of of
them and yells in his destinctive loud voice with that annoying accent of
his, "Get outta m' way!" Push, push... But alas, the guy's big. And he
seems intent on the girl doing the armwrestling... Grrrrr. Neelkan finally
gives in, turning to watch the 'firefly'. He's silently cheering for the
man. She's a cheater though, so she'll prolly win.

It is a good thing Zai is so focused, otherwise she might have recognized
that voice and gotten distracted by it. A lock of shoulder-length hair
finds it's way into her eyes and she blows on it, but it gets fairly well
matted to her face and refuses to come loose, much to the amusement of some
in the crowd. No matter. She ignores it and regains the ground she lost in
her distraction. Neel might be surprised to learn that she doesn't actually
like cheating all that much. She would much prefer to prove her superiority
in an honest competition, than to sneak around the rules. "What, is that...
the best... you got?" she asks between gritted teeth as she strains against
his arm. His face gets a little more red and he opens his mouth to reply,
but quickly shuts it again when even that much proves to be the distraction
-she- needs to gain a little ground.

Grump. Neelkan folds his arms a little and glances over at this guy who's
betting two silver against the girl. There's a pause, then he says he'll
take that bet. He knows the girl... sort of... So he's willing to risk two
silver that she might win. Plus, it's not his silver anyway. It's the
silver the Amyrlin gave him before his last trip out. Well, what's left of
it anyway. He narrows his eyes, edging forward a little bit more, but
staying out of 'firefly's line of sight. He just wants to watch. As soon as
it's over he'll sneak out and find another Tavern... really... he will...
... Will too!

Both contestants seem to be wearing down (the Light knows how long this has
been going on) but that just incites the crowd further the longer they drag
it out. Amazingly enough it's the guy who decides to cheat (gasp!) and give
Zaidah a kick to the shin under the table. He quickly realizes his mistake
though because all that really does is make her mad, which gives her the
extra little boost she needs to pin his sorry as- er.. hand to the table.
There are groans and cheers, as people gather or give away their money. The
winner hoots triumphantly and drums a little on the table with her fists.
Oh yes, it's quite evident that was -fun- even with getting kicked in the
shin, maybe even because of it. The loser rubs his arm and grumbles quietly
to himself, probably mutterings about getting beaten by a girl.

That... He kicked her! That's not right! For a moment, Neelkan feels the
urge to punch the man. Women cheat, yes, they always do. But men... men are
supposed to be better then that! And he shouldn't have kicked her! That's
just wrong... (Damn Eharon upbringing rearing it's ugly head...) But
luckily her turning the kick to her advantage gets rid of the weird
emotions he doesn't want to have right now and turns them into a small
cheer. Yes! Two more silver to add to his stash! Neelkan grabs the man by
the sleeve and holds out his hand for the coins. The man glares and hands
over the coins, and the spikey haired boy shoves the coins into his sash,
then glances towards the girl one last time in hope that she hadn't spotted
him, planning on backing out now... Really... if he can get through the
crowd at least...

Zaidah natches up a mug of ale and takes a long sip before lowering it and
wiping her mouth with the back of her sweaty hand. She nearly chokes on the
mouthful though when her eyes spot someone over the rim of the cup. What is
he flaming doing here? She just kind of stares for a moment, completely
ignoring the guy trying to congratulate her on her victory, and the glares
she's getting from those who didn't think she could win. She looks almost
as if someone just slapped her in the face, or how any other normal person
might look. If someone actually slapped her she'd probably laugh and pull
her knife on them or something. She hands the half-full mug to the guy,
without looking at him and slowly walks towards Neel. She's using that
nasty trick women have of putting so much meaning into their expressions
that it's impossible to pick out any of it.

Eh...? What'd he do this time...? Neelkan takes a step backward as she
spots him and takes a quick step backwards, running into the guy who's
silver he just took. The guy shoves him forward and he nearly ends up
landing on the ground (Stupid bastard rough necks!!) but catches himself on
a chair nearby and twists around to glare at the man, bareing his teeth
slightly... then... then he looks back at the firefly and his expression...
well... it falters. How is it women can do THAT!? Arg. It's so annoying...
He reaches up and scratches at his hair slightly for a second, then finally
decides just to scowl. It's a public place! He's allowed to come here to
celebrate finally getting out of the infirmary isn't he!? Grrrr.

Zaidah's face vascillates for a moment as if a frown hopped onto her lip
and tried to tug it downward, with her fighting all the way. Finally she
settles back into her usual, smug grin and flips her slightly damp hair
back over her shoulder. "Didn't think I'd see you again." She folds up her
arms, pointedly ignoring the fact that the right one feels like a lump of
led attached to the end of her shoulder, and looks him over. "And still in
one piece too." And this is her -trying- not to make an ass out of herself.
Consider yourself lucky.

In one piece? For a moment, Neelkan's eyes narrow slightly, as if he's
confused and is trying to hide it behind a half glare. Not far from the
truth actually. That's exactly what he's doing. "Wasn't 'xpected t' see ya
either, firefly." He comments in a slight grumble of a voice, then starts
to edge backwards, trying to avoiding running into people again, "Though I
certainly ne'er though I'd see ya holdin' hands with someone 'at flamin'
fat!" Uh... he shouldn't have said that so loud. Might have pissed off the
loser. But he was trying to insult her, not the loser... Sorry loser.

Zaidah grins even more, as if she actually enjoys his insults... or..
something, and she lazily steps forward as he scoots back, not too close
though. Normally she would try and tickle under his chin and make some
comment about him being jealous, but she really is trying here... and it's
so very hard. "You would be surprised at who I would stoop to hold hands
with." Then she pauses in mock thought, "then again you do have first hand
experience of how low I can stoop." Ok, so maybe she's not trying that
hard, but one good jab deserves another right? To her this is all just a
game, just another competition, which is why she lets very little actually
bother her.

Grrrr. Evil woman. Neelkan gives his head a shake, letting his hair spill
around and some of it landing in from of his eyes, obscuring them as it
sometimes does. "Ye'h. Yer pretty 'low', woman. But what else should one
expect from a..." he stops himself. No. He shouldn't insult her anymore...
the more he insults her, the longer this will last. They're too much alike
in personalities sometimes.. He takes another small step back and says,
"I'll be goin' now. Leave ya t' enjoy yer winnin's. I'm sure ya can 'sack'
a whole bunch'a guys 'ere..." But he isn't going to be one of them. He's
trying to back out now. Honest.

Zaidah chuckles softly and doesn't take another step this time. "Or course
I could, if I wanted to. That's not all I do all day though you know." Not
that he cares. Nope, not going to let it bother her. She scowls a little.
Hey! I said, 'not going to let it bother her'! Oh! Sorry. She doesn't
scowl, but she does shrug and try to look disinterested, which doesn't
really work either so she gives up the whole putting on airs thing and
sighs a little. "Look, I'm bloody, flaming sorry about what happened. How
was I supposed to know you hate women? If I had-" though actually she can't
really say it wouldn't have happened. They were both drunk after all. For
probably the first time she actually looks honestly sorry. "I'm sorry, and
I'm not some monster that just wants to jump your bones." Not that the
thought hadn't crossed her- Arg! Stop that! "Ok?" (translation note: 'Ok'
in this context means 'Take the flaming apology will ya?')

Sigh. Neelkan's shoulders slump a little as the apology starts, and he
feels even more like an ass. He won't let it bother him either though! He
won't! ... ... No he won't... Grrrr. "A'right, a'right... I get it... Yer
not... how'd ya put it? Out t' jump m' bones?" Well, she's got a colorful
language. If they had met under different ... no, he still would have
disliked her. She's a woman! "I'm sorry too... Ne'er should've taken yer
bet..." But even if he thought that might have happened for a second, he
probably still would have taken the bet, because... well... he's not the
type to back down from a challange. Especially from a -woman-.

Zaidah instantly grins. Good! Now that's all settled she can go back to her
fun and not have to feel guilty about that mistake anymore. "Great."
Hmmm... uh oh... boredom settling in. She's got to get her fix of
excitement now, and... she really should just leave well enough alone, but
she's never been one to not give in to her impulses, unless there's a
really good reason not too. "Hmmmm, I think my arm is all nice and rested.
I wonder if anyone else has the guts to take me on..." she taps her lips
with an idle finger and seems to be thinking to herself, except that her
words are clearly loud enough for him to hear. She glances over at him and
grins a little more, hmmming thoughtfully. The little minx challenged him
without actually challenging him! Now he'll probably Grrr about cheating
women.

Yup. Grrrrrrr. Cheating women. Neelkan is almost out the door, ready to go
find another Tavern when he hears the challange. He stops midstep and
instantly turns around... She's... challanging someone. She's.. Arg. Grrr.
Oh, well, he may not have the biggest muscles in the world, but he's not
-awful- when it comes to arm wrestling... "I 'ink I could give ya a good
match, firefly!" he yells out before anyone else would have the chance. "'n
I'll pound yer bloody arm down so fast ya won't e'en see it move!"

Zaidah tosses her head back and laughs merrily. "Big words from a little
pumpkin. Can you back 'em up, or are you just full of horse swallop?" There
is an amused twinkle in her eyes as she sits back down at the table and
kicks out the chair opposite for him. She -almost- opens her mouth to start
a wager of some kind, before deciding better of it (Light be praised). She
stretches out her right arm a little and rolls the sleeve, which has
slipped a little, back up over her shoulder as if that helps in some way.
It's not like she needs an excuse to expose skin. Then she pauses, "or
would you prefer left?" A tiny smirk flits across her features, as if even
that is some kind of challenge. What with all this competition... she's
either a very secure woman, or a very insecure one.