10/03/2000 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. The succulent aroma of the cooks' handiwork seeps through from the kitchen, permeating the air to entice the tastebuds, diligent serving girls carrying the food and drinks to the relevant tables. 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 can be found on a couple of evenings of the week, 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, kept clean and tidy, are arranged about the room in such a way that people can easily hold conversations with one another and keep them private. What a dull.. utterly boring day it's been. But then again, nothing has really been very exciting recently, as for the moment, this young Almoren's lust for life has been dulled to a mere glowing ember. He's only been in Tar Valon a short time - just long enough to bury his brothers and find a place to stay, and this nice tavern to crawl into.. And it's just.. it's not home. Sitting at the bar, Tamin rests with his hands under his jaw and elbows on the bar top, silvery eyes staring down into the mug of ale before him. He begged them not to leave.. and look where it got them. Dead. Left their little brother all alone.. .. Argh!! He will /not/ think like this. Raiden would smack him upside the head for being so.. so.. /angsty/. No, they would not want this at all. His brothers would want him to celebrate their lives and his own, and not to dwell on the future that simply won't be. And goddamnit, that's what he's gunna do! Straightening up quite suddenly with a bit of mustered determination to not wallow in his own self-misery, Tamin firms her lips together and looks down with a narrowed-eyed, apraising gaze to the spirit before him. He's going to pull himself up by the boot-straps is what he's gunna do! And to do that.. well.. first thing's first! A firm hand grips the cup before him, promptly lifts it, and a big swig of the liquid is poured down his throat. *HACK! Cough!!* Down goes the cup, smacking onto the bartop as it's placed back down, and Tamin bends forward slightly as a hand goes to his mouth and he coughs a few times roughly. Damn. Went down the wrong pipe. x.x Boring day for some, exhausting day for others. Neelkan heads into the tavern as his one get away from the none-stop life in the Tower. There's always /one/ Aes Sedai who wants to order him around or try to get him to screw up and yell at them or something. And it's usually one of those Red Sisters, who think men are nothing more then tools in a tool belt, though some think that way too who don't wear the Red Shawl. Running a hand through his oddly hair. Not every day someone sees a young man with poofy red hair and white streaks throughout it. He instantly moves up to the counter, about to order a drink when the short dark haired young man starts trying to hack up a lung. Reaching over he thumps the boy lightly on the back, trying to keep him from suffocating right in front of him, "Ya shouldn't be drinkin' 'at stuff if yer not bloody well able t' get it down." Shesh. What is the world coming to these days? At first he thinks the young man is probably only about tweleve, but at a second look perhaps he guessed a little young. Maybe his own age. But he turns his attention to the barkeep and says, "Gimme a cup of yer best ale. A /large/ cup. None of 'is flamin' lil' stuff, ya 'ear??" Twelve might actually be a pretty good guess. Tamin doesn't really look his age, after all, though he's a little too short for a twelve year old.. He's just finishing up hacking on that lung when the firm hand thumps on the poor guy's back, and Tamin lurches forward slightly in his seat, blinking those big blue eyes and shifting his gaze to the.. strange and.. bejeweled man who just came up next to him. "Uh.. Thanks." *Cough* Okay, he's done now. The bit about not being able to drink the ale ruffles a few feathers, and Tamin furrows his brow at the other man, firming his lips and twisting them off to the side a touch. "I can hold down my ale just fine. Could probably drink any man here under the table, in fact! I just.. swallowed a little too much a little too fast." Hmph. Somehow, that didn't sound as good aloud as it did in his head. Ah well.. One hand swipes out to grab the cup again and bring it back to his lips for a smaller swig, this one held down just fine, before the cup is again smacked onto the bartop. "Uh huh. I'm sure ya can." Neelkan says softly, rolling his eyes a little, suddenly reminded of his 'adopted kid brothers' who he's been considering taking out for a night on the town. Though taking a ten year old and a fifteen year old out drinking might cause a /few/ people in the Tower to get a tad upset. Though since he is one of the higher ranking trainees, he could always call it an elective class. How To Mingle With The Rougher Sort! Ahem. He is of the rougher sort, so he would be an expert on that subject! He settles into a seat beside the young man, narrowing his eyes a little at him. Hmmm. Seems to think he can outdrink anyone, does he? They'll have to just see about that. "Ya willin' t' place a bet on 'at, shorty?" He really shouldn't be doing this. He can't really afford to get overly drunk, and he really can't risk having his head feel like it got ran over by a cart full of stones in the morning. His training again. It's to blame for all the woes in his life right now. What he wouldn't give to be back with the bandits... Then why doesn't he just go? ... Bloody women. It's all a woman's fault. It surely is. Grrrr. He wouldn't still be here if it wasn't for one. And he certainly wouldn't bust his ass on a training program if it wasn't for one of them. He shoves all the reasons he shouldn't aside and just consentrates on why he should. The little brat here challanged him practically! When the unintended challenge is met, Tamin arches an ebony brow and tuuuurns his head to look over at the red-head beside him. So, you're calling him a liar, eh? That brings a grin of pure mischeif to the young man's lips, bearing those pearly whites and eyes taking on a 'I'm gunna kick yer ass' kinda glitter. This is one who revels in a challenge, and never backs down from a fight - cuz they're too damn fun! "Sure, if you got more then just /talk/ to back up your bet, red. And the name is Tamin." Interest now caught, the young man turns more fully towards the stranger beside him, one arm propped on the bar and the other extending in an amiable sort of gesture for a shake. He finds this action usually has one of two effects - it pisses off the opponant, or it's seen as pespect and puts comabtants on good terms. Either way, Tamin see's it as favorable. "Tamin, 'eh? Nice t' meet ya, Tam." Neelkan says, reaching over to grasp the arm firmly, reaching past the hand itself and grasping the wrist instead. It's a habit he's picked up from the Warders. "I'm Neelkan, but most e'eryone calls m' Neel f'r short." He looks down at his large cup of ale as it is finally set in front of him and rolls his shoulders a little, taking the cup in hand and he jerks it back, gulping down at least half up it before putting it back down on the counter, "'at should make us e'en, unless ya had a lot more 'en 'at cup." He doesn't seem to be at all worried about losing, and oddly not very hostile either. Yeah, it's sad what the Tower and being held prisoner, and being in a few rather harsh battles can do to a guy. Not to say he's calm, but he doesn't seem more upset then he was before. He seems eager to get himself sloshed. And the best part is, he doesn't have to get himself drunk with a silly woman! It always ends up rather bad for him. (Yeah, right... Sigh. The Light hates Neelkan, surely) Right! No drinking with a silly woman! Ahem. As his wrist is gripped, Tamin doesn't seem to mind too much and just returns the favor, gripping Neel's wrist with his rough and scar-peppered hand, shaking firmly. It's readily obvious from just looking at those hands that this kid has never shied away from a day of hard work in his life. Or hot silver for that matter! And that stuff burns like you would not /believe/, lemme tell ya. "Likewise, Neel." he responds personably enough to the introduction, still grinning. "Yeah, I think that about does it ta make us even. I just got here, so this is the first I've had." When hands are released, Tamin once again wraps his grip around his cup, his free hand moving to a pouch tied to his belt to carefully remove it. The soft leather pouch is dropped onto the counter with the heavy, metallic sound of coins within. "So, Neel.. What's with the.. uh.." That once again free hand points a finger at the red-head, which wiggles back and forth between earrings and necklace while a brow above one of his silver eyes arches. "Finery. I hope you don't expect me to accept /those/ as payment when I'm collecting my winnings." The red haired man's hand isn't very scarred, but there are a few bruises here or there on the knuckles from beating up practice dummies with his fists in practice. Most his bad scars were healed by the Aes Sedai after the battles, which he's grown used to, a little bit a least. Neelkan perfers it when they /ask/ though. Sometimes they forget and just grab your head and the next thing you know you feel like you just got dunked in ice water and suddenly find yourself very hungry and very tired. Bloody women. Grrr. At the mention of his jewelry as the stakes he balks loudly and immediately shakes his head, waving his hands around in objections, "Light no! Blood 'n ashes, I just got 'ese flamin' earrin's back from the Tower as it is." And he had to save the life of the Mistress of Novices to get them "awarded" to him too. Feh. Women. Aes Sedai jewelry thieves! "'ey're ne'er leavin' m' ears 'gain. I was thinkin' coins. I got a few saved up." Gambling comes in handy for getting coins. So does bandit skills, but shhh. That's just between us. My, what a mouth he's got on him! It seems to amuse Tamin a little though, and brings a touch more light to his eyes. Offended? Hell no! Curse s'more! "'Just got them back from the tower'? So they stole your jewelry from you, eh?" Sorry, it's just /too/ funny sounding. Not even Tanomi wore so much jewelry! But ah well, if that's what the grown man wants to go tromping around it.. it's not like it all looks horribly girly or anything. "Well then, friend, I suggest you show your purse or the deals off." Here, Tamin grins a little wider and leans in towards Neel, an elbow on the bar top as his head cocks off to the side. "I don't bet my hard earned coin against phantom money, you know." In all honesty, he's fully prepared to believe the man has money without seeing it.. but he's gotta give the guy a bit of a hard time! It's in the rule books! "'ey only took the flamin' rings." Neelkan says, reaching up and fingering idly at the hooped earrings in each of his ears. They're not too girly, no. In fact, they're what most men in Eharon wear. This his are slightly better quality. Most aren't real gold, nor do they have engravings on them. Especially not so detailed if one looks close enough. He knows why they took his earrings and wouldn't give them back until they could trust him with them, but he isn't about to tell some stranger he just met in a tavern, sorry. He grumps softly, reaching down to the red sash around his waist, reaching into the folds to pull out a small hidden purse that he has to dig for a little bit. He's dealt with pick pockets (Heck, he's been one!) and he knows how they work, and he's not going to make their job easier. Though he hasn't gone has far as to tie it to him or anything. He's not that stingy with his money. He lays the purse down on the counter. "'ere." Darenmar enters the Tavern, glancing around, thoughtfully. Tamin, who is sitting on a stool at the bar next to Neel, grins as the money is produced and set next to his own pouch of coins. "Great! Barkeep!" The boisterous young man calls over whoever happens to be behind the bar tonight with a great wave of his hand. "Set 'em up, please!" Tamin looks all too happy to begin this little challenge of who can out-drink who, and returns his gaze soon to the red-head before him. "Looser pays, and looser is the first one who can't stay on his seat. Sound fair to you?" And still, there is that glitter in the man's eyes.. That sparkle that just says that either he's going to win this, or he's gunna have a damn good time tryin'. He doesn't much mind which! And there's not much better in this world to spend your hard-earned coin on then ale. Mwahaha! Well, ale, and the occasional bet. So this is kinda like killing too birds with one stone! Laughing softly, Neelkan shakes his head a little, then settles himself into his stool at the counter as best he can, as if trying to nail himself to the seat mentally. He doesn't like to lose, ya know. He nods to the man behind the counter, and waits for them to be set up as he looks over and says to the young man, as if making sure he understands this, "Sounds fair, but no pushin' m' outta m' bloody seat, ya 'ear? 'at's cheatin'." Last time he challanged someone to a drinking contest he got jumped on so he'd hit the floor first. He was fuzzy headed then, but he remembers that that is how the bet was lost. To a woman in fact! Though he doesn't expect this young boy to pull something so devious, he is going to point out that is not the way to win. He reaches out a soon as the first cup is fulled and looks towards the smaller kid. This bet is in the bag! The kid probably can't even hold a third what he can. Muhaha. "Ready?" Tamin looks quite shocked that Neelkan would suggest such a thing! Mockingly, of course, but it's all in good fun. "I am a man of honor, Neelkan! I would /never/ cheat on a gentleman's wager!" Snerk! Ahem. "Yeah, got it, no pushin' or cheatin' of any kind." A little more serious now, though still grinning like a fool, Tamin nods his head to agree to this term and picks up his own cup from the bar, lifting into the air before Neel as if to toast. "I'll try to go easy on you, seein' as how you don't know what you're up against." And with that, the young man brings the cup to his lips and starts to down it's contents in a slightly more steady manner then the gulp which had him hacking and coughing when Neel walked in. But still, the mug isn't put down until he's drained it dry, at which point it's nearly slammed onto the counter, and a hand is lifted to wipe his mouth dry on his sleeve as he emits a satified 'aaahhh'. Hehehe. Yeah. Only /women/ cheat. Women who think they're so much better then everyone else. Bah! Eharon women are of course the worst, but Aes Sedai and the female channelers take a close second. Eharon Aes Sedai are the Shadow made flesh. Neelkan looks about to protest at the mention of going easy on him, and not knowing what he's up against. Of course he knows what he's up again-- eh? Alright. The young red haired man blinks. And he blinks again. And he keeps on blinking until the now empty cup is back on the counter. He raises his eyebrows in a surprised fashion, then nods a little, impressed somewhat that the small boy was able to get all that down. Then again, he had reason to believe otherwise. Walking in on the kid nearly choking to death certainly left room to believe he didn't know which in to drink from. "Not bad, kid. Not bad at all." He takes his own cup and does the same thing that was done by the young man before him. He thumps his mouth dry of the smelly stuff, then says with a soft aah himself, "'is should be interestin'." He's gonna get in so much trouble with the Warders coming back smashed, but it'll be worth it! Yeah, wimmens folk suck! Who needs 'em?! Not these guys! They have ALE! Ale is better then wimmens. "Why thank you, thank you." Tamin replies to the compliments, giving a little seat-bow as if he'd been applauded by some grand audience. He watches his drinking partner-slash-opponant down that first cup and his grin only widens with each passing moment, eyes virtually beaming. Has he truly met his match at drinking?! "I agree!" Yes yes, this will be highly interesting! His empty cup is nudged away to be collected by the barkeep, and the second one is brought forward. "Well, no point in stopping now." Once again, the cup is lifted, a nod to Neel, and Tamin starts to down the contents. This time, he's a little slower about it, having done his showing off and now wanting to pace himself. Still.. ale is some strong stuff, and when that second big tankard goes down, the world is just a little fuzzier. "I certainly hope you have enough money in that small bag there to pay for all the drinks we're going to go through, Neel. It would be a shame if they made you wash dishes to pay you debt." Grin! This guy sure likes talkin', doesn't he. Yeah! Who needs women! ... And yes, this guy really is a trainee. Sigh. One would almost think they lowered the standards. Neel raises his hands to give a quick bout of clapping as the young man soaks in the praise. Might as well play it up. Maybe he'll fall out of his stool in the middle of that half bow... ... Oh darn. He stayed seated. "Ye'h, flamin' Light, I got 'nough." He hopes. "Can't rightly go 'n charge the Tower f'r it after all." Neelkan jests softly, though he actually has thought of charging the Tower for some of his expenses. Especially when the Aes Sedai (Grrr, women!) send him out on errands and forget a thing called coin. Some are better then others, but there are always one or two who "forget". He's convinced that women were spun out of the Wheel just to make his life difficult. He takes a breath and downs cup number two just as quickly as cup number one... And the world is definately beginning to fuzz, but in a quite enjoyable way. "Charge the tower?" You know.. this is about the second or third time he's mentioned the tower since their conversation began, and as Tamin pushes away his second empty cup and awaits their refills, he arches a brow curiously. "Are you a Warder or somethin'?" Funny.. he doesn't /look/ like one.. but then again, Tamin has never seen one before, so he wouldn't know anyhow. But this guy doesn't look like what he'd think one looked like! And besides.. he's .. complaining about the tower and the Aes Sedai. And don't men generally become Warders to.. /help/ and /protect/ the Aes Sedai? o.O Ah well. The third cup is gripped, and for a moment, Tamin looks at the contents with slightly narrowed eyes, as if warning the liquid that it best behave while in his stomach. You listen to Tamin, you ale! No making him waver! He's going to WIN this bet! And so, down it goes! Cup number three! Followed by a few slow blinks to try and bring things a little more into focus.. Yes, deffinatly a nice buzz going here.. "Nawh. I'm just a Proven." Neelkan says with a shrug, leaning his arm against the counter and resting his chin on his hand for a moment, watching the barkeep refill his own cup for as long as it takes. Only when it's refilled does he seem to realize the kid might not know what a Proven is. "It's the last bloody stage in the Warder trainin' program 'ey got. Fledglin', Dedicated, 'n Proven. Gimme a month 'r two 'n ya'll see m' in a color-shiftin' Warder's cloak. Though I wonder if 'ey can flamin' make it int' a jacket instead..." He looks thoughtful for a moment, no doubt earning some odd looks for the barkeep. /This/ guy is one of the Tower's best students!? Only one in ten of the boys who come to train ever /make/ Proven, and most of them are at least in their mid-twenties when they do.. He doesn't say anything more, or really pay attention to any looks and just downs his own third cup. He has to take this one slower though. He's got his own buzzing too. Fuzzy buzzing in fact. *.* Oh, it's okay, no explaination needed. Tamin nods his head as the explaination - unneeded as it was - is given, and says "Yeah, I know what it is. Both my bother's where Warders. Worked their way through it t'gether." Note the use of past tense in there.. He wrinkles her nose and makes a rather sour expression, watching the woman who is mentally dubbed 'the wench' pouring round number four. "Ya mus' be pretty good ta get ta Proven at'cher age. Don' look much older 'en me." He leans against the bar with an elbow and inhales a slow but deep breath, and slowly clamping around the newly refilled tankard. "Mebbe ya knew 'em? Raiden 'n Cas Marsoul? .. Nah. They'da mentioned somebody like you." He grins widely at that thought, knowing how his brothers would be right now behind him cheering him on if they where here.. Sigh.. More ale. More ale is what he needs! And down it goes - number four, with a bit spilling down the side of his mouth and ending up in his collar. When the /rest/ of the liquid is down his throat, Tamin wipes up his face and neck with his sleeve and grumbles about stupid cups and their warped edges. After all, it wasn't /him/ that did that! No siree! Blink.. blink.. Whoa. You know, that wench ain't half bad lookin'.. Ugh! Quite suddenly, Tamin blinks wide and then clamps his eyes shut, shaking his head firmly as if to rattle something around within before he mutters "'Been doin' this too damn long." to himself. "Raiden 'n Cas Marsoul? Both warders, 'eh? Sorry. I might'a met 'em. But Light, I'm not good at rememberin' e'eryone!" Neelkan looks a little awkward for a moment. He remembers when his sponser was killed. The guy who literally picked him up and held him in the air while he kicked and carried on like a five year old. Dead at the battle against the Fort. Maybe that's where this kid's brother died. A lot of Warders did at that battle. The only reason Neelkan got out of it at all is partly because of the Amyrlin Seat herself. He'd have had a lightning bolt tear him apart if she hadn't put a shield over him. Odd, that the Amyrlin chose to shield him out of the thousands in the battle. He shakes his head once, knocking the fuzz away, or trying. It doesn't work, but he's trying. He glances towards 'the wench' and for a brief moment smirks at her. He starts to like women when he's getting drunk. Though only in a physical way of course.. He leans over and pokes the kid a moment, noticing the sudden change in expression and half-hearing the mutter and thinking it must be the drinking (what else could it be?), "If yer not feelin' good we should call it. I'm not gonna be bloody responsable f'r killin' ya, 'n if yer drinkin' yerself t' death o'er yer brothers I'm not gonna take part." ... But that fourth cup looks so good. *.* He figures one more won't kill /him/ so he grabs it down gulps it down quickly before going back to glaring and poking. Not pushing. But definately poking. Somebody is touching him. Tamin blinks sloooowly and looks over to Neel, then down at the finger poking him. Oh, there it is! One hand slowly lifts to push that poking one away as the young man scoffs, shaking his head. "I feel /great/. If you want to call it just to chicken out of the bet, now that you realize a bit more what you've gotten yourself into, however.." He grins widely and leans in towards Neel, then nods his head and pats a hand consolingly on the red-heads shoulder. "I'll understand. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone, and you don't have to worry about your undoubtibly /fragile/ reputation." With a chuckle, Tamin pulls back and grabs his fifth cup, holding it firmly so as to keep from dropping or spilling it in his somewhat unsteady grip. "However! If you feel your up to the challenge.." There's a glare and Neelkan gives his head a shake. He might have done another one, but his head started spinning so he decided to cut it out with the shaking. He doesn't respond to the threats of being chicken and just grabs the fifth cup and downs it without pause. ... Well... maybe he should have paused. He puts his hand on the counter to steady himself, and looks over at the young man beside him, "Ya got a room in 'is place, 'r ya stayin' in 'nother Inn?" He's going to have to see if he has enough coin for a room. He can't go back drunk like this without risking some serious problems from the Gaidin. But if the kid has a room... and he beats the kid maybe he can get away with requesting to stay in his room for the night. Not like anything bad'll happen. The kid'll have be drunk as a skunk too, so he won't be able to rob him or anything. Eyes gleaming (as much from his insueing drunkenness as from his emotional state), Tamin watches Neel down the fifth cup and then follows suit, he too doing so without pause. The cup is pretty much /dropped/ on the bar top as opposed to put down, and the young man plants his hands on his knees and lowers his head, squeezing eyes shut for a moment before opening and attempting to focus them. After a moment, he peers up at his competition with an assessing (or as assessing as you can get after five ales) gaze, trying to figure out how much more this guy can stand before he drops like a stone.. Eh? Inn? ... Give him a minute to remember where he lives now.. o.o; "Uh.. Yeah, I got a room here." .. Peer. "Why?" Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't have had to ask - he'd figure it out pretty quickly.. But the fuzziness has extended to his thoughts, and at the moment, Tamin isn't even too sure he recalls the name of this Proven across from him, let alone why he'd want to know if he has a room here. On with the show, though! The barmaid sets up too more with a dubious look to both young men, wondering if they're going to make some big mess on her nice clean bar, and more then one head has turned from the tavern's patronage to see just which one of these Titans of Alcohol is going to fall first. Tamin very carefully grips this next cup, looking for a moment as if he isn't quite sure where the handle is, or if he can reach it from that big long distance of about a foot. But no, he's got it! Okay, now lets see if he can find his /mouth/! Scene ended due to RL.