08/04/2000

Dining Hall, White Tower, Tar Valon

One may see, here, a huge buffet table full of every type of food
imaginable, from nearly every part of the known world. Occasionally empty
plates are removed and replaced, for there is no common eating time for any
but the students. Most eat when they remember to, or find the time. Other
tables are present. Some have broad cloths thrown over them, in the color
of the Ajah that normally sits there. Others are left plain, indicating a
table at which anyone may sit.

Bobbing lights, produced by the One Power, emit a soft glow, replacing the
need for candles and lamp oil, whose supplies are growing short each day
and which are getting quite expensive. Occasionally as some fade an
Accepted will walk in and replace them. The floor, white, is kept
meticulously clean and scrubbed. No sooner does some morsel find its
accidental way to the ground than someone is along to sweep it up and throw
it away.


Denn'ryiel comes out of the kitchens into the dining hall, carrying a tray
laden with a standard meal, for an Accepted. Some cheeses, a bit of bread,
leaks, a brothlike soup, and a small portion of lamb. She looks intent on
taking her meal elsewhere, and only pauses by tables to say hello to those
she knows.

And one of those people she knows is Neelkan, who is sitting off at a table
by himself humming lightly as he finishes off his dinner. Or at humming
between bites. No one is sitting directly around him, though there are a
few on the other end of the table. He doesn't see Denn at first though.

Denn'ryiel walks by most of the people as she greets them, but she stops
when she sees the trainee. "Good evening, Neelkan," she says, with a small
smile and nod of the head.

Starting slightly at the sound of the voice, Neelkan stops humming and
glances over, then settles down a little when he sees who it is. And here
he was expecting another Aes Sedai coming to insult him... Grump. He offers
a small grin, then says, "Good e'enin' Denn. How're ya doin'?"

Denn'ryiel raises her shoulders lightly in a shrug, though she's careful
not to spill any of the soup. "I'm doing alright, i guess. A bit better
since we spoke last." In truth, she does look a little bit more like the
old Denn'ryiel. Perhaps it's just a gradual process. "And you? You looked
like you thought I would be someone else."

Grumping for a moment after being sited on the fact he thought she was
someone else, Neelkan nods towards the seat across from him and says, "Well
I'm glad it was ya, so why dontcha sit down 'n join m', a'right? 'n ya do
look better. I'm a'right. Would b' better if I hadn't had t' deal with an
uppity Sedai t'day. Why is it 'at people 'r so quick t' be disrespectful 'n
insultin' t' m', 'en complain 'en I'm the same back?" And he's even been
trying not to be that bad anymore! He doesn't automatically glare at women
when he meets them now... He's trying.

Denn'ryiel blushes and sets her tray down at the table. "I used to want to
be a Sedai, you know," she says, with a small smile to show she's just
trying to poke a little fun. Truth be told, she still wants to be a Sedai,
but she's more aware of the cards that have been dealt to her now. "I guess
it's because you're still a viewed as a student, Neelkan. Students are
expected to obey, whereas Sedai don't have anyone really that they're
expected to be respectful too, save maybe Mother."

"I'm not talkin' 'bout all Sedai 'ere, Denn. I know yer not all bad.
Just..." Neelkan grumbles. "'ere's more to it 'en 'at though! She was all
tellin' m' 'at I have t' be respectful t' e'eryone, enemies and allies, 'n
'ere she was callin' m' child 'n tellin' m' I was wantin' t' be coddled 'n
all kinds of other stuff. 'n she doesn't e'en know m'..." It just really
made him upset, and that's obvious. His low opinion of women in general was
vindicated again.

Denn'ryiel blinks, and then blushes. She hasn't even touched her food yet.
"Maybe word of us... in the Practice Yard gave her the idea that you wanted
to be coddled." She says that in a rather low voice. "Still, I think maybe
you just need more practice speaking with Sedai? I know you don't mean to
say anything wrong, but this is where the Great Game was born." And of
course if she were a Red nothing would have appeased her. But Denn figures
Neelkan knows that much by now.

And she was a Red, but Neelkan knows that she wouldn't have been appeased,
he's just pissed off about it is all. He looks down at his food and
grumbles a few times, then pokes at his meal, "I just don't think anyone
should tell 'nother person how t' think 'r feel, blood 'n ashes. What's
wrong with 'at?" Especially /women/. He might take suggestions better, but
orders... orders like the ones some of the Aes Sedai were giving... that
just makes him more determined not to listen.

Denn'ryiel nods her head a bit. "Well, I agree with the feel part, at least
mostly. I'm still not all that sure what is involved with the Void training
they put you through. As for the thinking... I think this place may be
designed to challenge the way you think, sometimes." She notice her food
again, and takes a small bite of cheese. "My advise would just be to grin
and bear it. Especially if it's a Red; just being a man is enough to set
some of them off."