08/21/2000

Ogier Grove

Trees so big around that it would take nine men holding hands to encircle
them raise their branches to the sky as if in prayer. Sunlight only pierces
the leaf canopy occasionally, coating this entire haven from the city in a
pleasant semi-shadow. Here and there, however, the trees part ways to allow
the sunshine through,a bright spot for those who enjoy the sun on their
back. One cannot view any other part of the city from here, for even the
Tower is blocked from view. Soft moss and patches of grass form natural
reclining spots. Save for the wide wall encompassing the Grove,there is not
a single man-made structure to be seen: no paths,no benches, no fountains.
The lack seems only good and right.Even the wall disappears from view in
just a few steps.

At the very back of the Grove one might view Tar Valon's worst-kept secret.
Near a portion of the wall covered over with stonework --leaves and vines
and other such things, things that the Ogier are well known to be able to
do but generally avoid for their own pleasure -- are a group of three or
four Aes Sedai and no less than twelve Gaidin doing a poor job of
pretending to picnic. The pretense is kept up daily -- a basket here, a
bottle of wine there, a frisbee or a ball that a couple of the Gaidin toss
back and forth. The faces change constantly, but they are always here, even
at night, when they pretend to cuddle and look at stars. The youngest child
knows that there is Something Special about that wall; scholars and old men
say that it must really be a Waygate. In fact, there are times when they
glare so that the normal citizens find other parts of the Grove to visit,
times when, local wisdom says, someone is either coming in,or going out.


Oh! The grove. "My, now this is a romantic place for you to be bringing me,
Neelkan." Vorsha tells her companine as they enter.

Grrr. Grrr. Grrr. Neelkan actually ducks his head down at Vorsha's words
and grumbles, "'is isn't a romantic outtin' /Accepted/." Twitch. Twitch.
Geez. They pull apart him and Espi for acting like friends, and no one
comes around to this Accepted away. Grump. Then why did he come here with
her...? A question for the ages.

Vorsha giggles. Why indeed? "I know, Neelkan. Really, you should stop
jumping so." she hasn't even tried to take his hand. "Though it is quite
cute."

Turning to glare at the woman, Neelkan grumbles loudly, "It is NOT cute!!"
Are his cheeks even a little red? ... NO!! Grr. Grrr. "'n I'm not jumpin'
either!!" No, of course he isn't...

Vorsha giggles and looks away, trying very hard not to laugh. "Of course it
isn't." she says very slowly, between breaths. She looks back. "So why are
we here?"

"Well, uh.." Neelkan settles down so he isn't blushing. "Since yer 'on the
team' now... I figured 'at I should 'ear 'is idea of yers. I know Esp
wanted us all t' 'ear it, but I figured..." Well, he honestly doesn't want
to be told about whatever it is with the others, because he wants to do
everything himself. Classic guy. Has to be sorta macho and save the day.

Vorsha giggles. "Come here." she says, leading him off towards one of the
remote gardens. "I'm not taking us away for any reason other than the
flowers we can find."

"Flowers, 'eh?" Neelkan follows beside the Accepted, glancing around idly
as he does. Espi has him all paranoid about 'Blacks' around every corner
and behind every tree. And 'Blacks' are worse then regular women, dontcha
know!? All this young man knows about flowers is that they are plants. They
grow. They die. They grow again. They come in all shapes, colors and sizes,
and girls seem to like them. And Denn likes them too.

Vorsha comes to a stop and a little garden. "In Essenia there is a Language
of Flowers." she says, picking a few. "And that is very important. You see,
we can choose a few flowers and a couple of ribbions to represent what we
need to do and where." she makes a beautful bouquet for Neelkan very
quickly and hands it to him. No way for him to know that it's the one for
tryst, but it's also just to make him jump. "And of course some for
ourself."

Huh!? She's giving him flowers? Neelkan's eyebrows raise quickly and he
stares down at the bouquet. No. He has no idea what it means. "'ere's a
language of /flowers/?!" He knew Essenians were weird... but that's just
plain silly to him. Flowers. "So how're we 'posed t' use 'is flamin' flower
talkin' 'xactly? 'n why'd ya hand 'is t' me?" He glances down at the
flowers.

Vorsha smiles. "Give them to Denn'ryiel." she suggests. "Women like
flowers. As for how we can use it." she holds up a prickly yellow rose. "A
good flower for you." she suggests. "A friend, but one with thornes if
touched wrong." she says. "Next we add in a flower for urge." she picks up
a purple one. "Such as a violet. For mild need." she then puts in a third
flower, a simple dandilion. "For place, such as the dandilion for the
courtyard." she wraps a yellow ribbon around them. "And this for time
frame, such as tomarrow. ONce we can all agree on what means what, no one
else can read what we want to teach each other."

Opening his mouth, Neelkan almost says that he already gave her flowers
once, but he doesn't and shrugs, holding onto it. He's a yellow flower!?
He's almost insulted by that at first, until she gets to the thorn part.
Alright. He can handle that then. "A'right. So.. 're ya plannin' t' list
out all the meanin's 'r somethin'?" He has to give /flowers/ to people!?
Espi or Denn he wouldn't much mind, but if he has to give flowers to Sunan
or Varcel, he'll never hear the end of it.

Vorsha nods. "And you can just drop them where you need to, and there you
go." she says softly. "A little message that doesn't even need to be picked
up."

Neelkan just looks totally flusted and lost, holding on to flowers as if he
were a Tinker holding a sword. Not really his thing. "So what d' 'ese 'at
yer wantin' m' t' give t' Denn say?" Say? Flowers don't talk, darnit!!
Sigh... He's starting to sound like a crazy old woman.

Vorsha chuckles softly. "I think you don't really want to know, dear
Neelkan. But if you really want to..." she lets that slide off, leaving the
option up to him.

"Ya.. What.. huh? I wanna know if Denn's gonna know what it means." Neelkan
says with a grump, looking back down at the flowers. If he ends up giving
her flowers that proclaim is undying love or something, he wants to know
about it! He had five sisters. All who tried to set him up with girls. He
knows how 'evil women matchmakers' work.

Vorsha giggles. "I don't think so." she says. "BUt I will tell you. IT is a
request for a very special meeting." she says softly, steping a bit closer.
"If you can um.. catch my drift?"

Special meeting? Neelkan almost seems not to understand for a few minutes,
then he does and his eyes widen a little and then he grumps. His sisters
were never this bad. "'ey, Vorsha. 'ere's a new Trainee I think ya might
like. He's got a scar on one of 'is cheeks 'n kinda longish 'air. Why don't
ya go after 'im sometime?" Whatever that means, he seems to be amused
enough not to look /too/ flustered. Keyword being too.

Vorsha laughs and giggles and puts a hand on his shoulder. "Now why would I
do that when I've got a cute one right here?" she asks, her voice droping
to a deep husky voice she doesn't use very often. She's almost playing, but
being just serious enough...

"Ye'h, 'n the 'cute one' isn't interested." Neelkan says with a grumble and
looks down at the flowers again. Will he still give them to Denn now that
he knows what they mean? Very likely, yes. Just hope she doesn't know what
they mean. They didn't much mind their 'relationship' when she was, for the
most part, a servent, but they might have some problems with him and an Aes
Sedai.

Vorsha sighs. "I'm sorry, Neelkan. I really should stop. I don't mean it.
Well.... I don't mean it much. But you are just so cute when you jump." she
winks. "And you don't seem to be able to do much with Denn lately...."

True. He hasn't had much to be able to do with Denn lately. Neelkan had
asked for permission to enter the servent's quarters so that he could visit
her pretty much anytime that he wanted, but now she's in the Aes Sedai
wing, and he's not allowed up there... Grump. He actually does grump for a
moment and says, "Well, hopefully I'll catch 'er 'fore 'ese up 'n die on
m'."

Vorsha nods. "Look." she says, sounding rather serious. "I won't lie to
you. I think your cute, and if you want a little time, a little comfort,
I'm here, okay?"

"Um.. 'anks.. I think. But I'm fine. Really." Neelkan says, shaking his
head. "I don't need anyone. Just fine on m' own!" Or that's what he's going
to insist on until the day he dies.

Vorsha nods once. "If that's what you say." she says softly. "But I'm still
here, Neelkan." she says, leaning over to gently kiss his check. It's
obviously not an attempt at anything but a friendly gesture.

Even if it was just a friendly gesture, Neelkan still makes a sound as if
she grossed him out. "Bleck!" He's like a five year old afraid she'll give
him 'girl germs'... Then after he settles down and stops being flustered he
adds, "'anks. I'll remember 'at."

Vorsha giggles. "You really are cute." she winks. "And I'm not going to
hurt you, Neelkan. I promise. Really, what's your problem with women
anyways?"

Hmm? Someone's actually asking him? Good thing that Sunan and that blasted
pendant of his are no where around. Neelkan shrugs his shoulders slightly.
"I don't like 'em. Try growin' up a man in Eharon in a family of six women
'n see how much ya like 'em when ya finally get away."

Vorsha chuckles softly. "But now, dear Neelkan, I'm not Eharonian and I'm
not your sister." she smirks. A good thing to, cause he really is too cute
to resist sometimes. "I only ask because well.... you dont' seem to have
problems with Denn or Espi... and I keep wondering why you jump so."

"Ye'h. I don't have pro'lems with 'em... Denn 'n Espi were nice t' me."
Neelkan shrugs his shoulders. Them, and Wyntere and Kaomi were probably
some of the first women who were nice to him. Nice, as in not flirting. He
doesn't mind flirting sometimes. Mainly when he's drunk... But the rest of
the time... "'ey're m' friends."

Vorsha nods slowly. "I see." she says. "ANd what am I to you?" she asks,
raising an eyebrow. "Am I not nice to you?"

"I just don't like gettin' flirted with." Neelkan says with a grumble as he
looks around at the flowers.

"Oh." she says softly. "I'm sorry then." she says, looking away for a long
moment. "I'm sorry. Really. I..." she sighs. "I'm just sorry."

There's a pause, then Neelkan grumbles something softly under his breath.
Something that sounds like 'this is why I hate women.' Then he looks back
over and says, "Look, yer f'rgiven. Just don't do it anymore, a'right?" He
actually sounds apologetic for making her apologize...

Vorsha nods. "I won't." she says. "And you needn't feel bad." she says,
turning back. "Usually, guys don't mind. You do. It is okay. Don't... don't
feel bad. I don't like that." she says, shaking her head. "I don't want you
to feel bad."

"Ye'h, well... Whate'er. I don't feel bad." Nope. Not at all. Neelkan
grumbles a few times then says, "Is 'ere anythin' else ya need t' tell m'
'bout 'ese flower signs. I'm still kinda lost, 'cept 'at I'm the yellow
thorny one."

Vorsha chuckles softly. "It is a Yellow Rose." she says. "A wonderful
flower for you." she quickly picks about three more and calls them to her.
She pulls out a soft blue ribbon from her pocket and wraps that around
them, snipping away the thorns quickly. "Three roses in a bundle, with a
blue ribbon.

"A sign of eternal friendship, Neelkan." she says, as she lets him have
them. "If you want to accept it."

Looking at the three yellow roses silently for a few moments, Neelkan seems
to hesitate. But after those few moments are over he reaches forward with
his free hand and takes them, now holding more flowers then he's probably
ever held in his life... "So ya think I'm a flower 'at's a sign of eternal
friendship is good f'r m', eh?"

Vorsha chuckles. "You seem the type who once your friendship is given, you
never let it go." she says. "So yes, it is a good thing."

"A'right... I'll 'member 'at." Neelkan is the type to cling to a friendship
once given. Only way to lose it is betrayal, which would have to be a
pretty serious betrayal at that. "I better get back t' the Tower 'n see if
I can find Denn t' give 'ese t'." And he has an idea who to give the yellow
roses to as well...

Vorsha chuckles softly. "Alright, Neelkan." she says, giving him a hug. Not
a flirtacious one. One like she'ld give Espi. "Take care. Tell Denn hi for
me. I think I'm going to stay here for a bit."

The hug is accepted, but not really returned, and Neelkan says with a nod,
"I'll do 'at..." Then he takes the two handfuls of flowers and heads out.