10/08/2000


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.



Ooooouuucccch. Okay, call it .. silversmith's intuition >.> <.< but Tamin
is getting the impression that there is more going on here then just what
is being said. "Light, why don't I believe you." he says totally monotone,
wrinkling his nose slightly and twisting his lips off to the side. "Sounds
like you know him very well. And I'm not sure if I should agree or disagree
about if he'll be a good Gaidin or not.. He doesn't seem to care much for
women, so it's kind of.. odd that he'd be a Proven.." But, ah well! The
young man shrugs and finishes off the last of his ale, and then furrows his
brow a bit in thought.. "And he does look awefully strange in all that
jewelry.. I should offer him my services for a reduced fee just to get him
in something a little more tasteful!" Heh. Sorry, but the beaded bit just
ain't Tamin's style.

Corain starts whistling a little instead of answering Tamin on the 'why
don't I believe you' comment, and then he finishes his.. uh... whichever
number shot this is, he really can't remember at this point. "I doubt he'd
accept the help." He's not going to touch the tasteful comment with a 10
foot pole. Nope, not gonna go there. "And it's not really that odd. I
mean.. I don't like -channelers- and I'm a Proven... 'sides, it's all just
a show. He likes 'em too much, that's his problem. The stories I could
te-..." Ooops. He just gave his own lie away didn't he? Forgive him? He's
not entirely sober, and it's starting to slip into his speech a little. And
Raeth did say he was far too lose with his tongue to begin with. Hmph.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanyway," he absently starts pouring himself another shot,
remembers halfway through that he wasn't going to drink anymore, which
results in him spilling a little of the precious stuff on the countertop.
"Fade spit." And then he gets an evil gleam in his brown eyes. "Ooooooh,
baaaaartender... there's a spill here, would you clean it up for me?" He
collected his knife when he slipped out of the Tower an now he strokes it's
hilt... as though pondering whether to use it or not. You'd think for
someone who'd grown up in an inn he'd have a little better manners, but the
guy insulted him- uh.. uh.. his sister!

Watching Corain slowly getting sloshed is rather amusing, you know. "I
suppose.. But channelers are one thing - the whole feminin gender is quite
another. I imagine the tower is just /filled/ with women.. If he really
hates them all that much, it seems a bit.. masochistic to be there." But
that's just Tamin's opinion, and he shrugs up his shoulders, going back to
watching Corain's antics with a slight grin. Does he care that the man was
obviously lying about knowing Neelkan? Nah. He's half drunk and must have a
reason. "You sound like you really must hate him. If ya don't mind my
askin'.. Why?" Of course, if Tamin knew Corain's little... /secret/, he
might think exactly the opposite - Corain /likes/ Neel and Neel is
clueless. He strikes Tamin as the kind of guy who would be. Silversmiths
intuition again. n.- "Did he hurt your sister or something..?"

The bartender is a little leery about coming back over, but he does, and
very carefully wipes up the spill. Corain just grins at him as he does, but
when it looks like he's going to sneak off again, he grabs his shirt front
-again-, but instead of threatening him he gives him a big smoooch on the
cheek and puts a silver in the man's hand. "Thank you." The tender then
wanders off in a bit of a daze, now fearful of the trainee for a -totally-
different reason. Corain swings his head around to look at Tamin, sloshing
back yet another... no.. it's not a shot this time, it's a pull from the
bottle, which he promptly chokes and splutters on at the line about hurting
his sister. Once he catches his breath back he says, "No! She's waaaaaay
tougher than that. If he met my sis he'd be -lucky- to walk away unscathed.
She'd out drink, out curse, out fight and out... uh... well she'd out
everything him!" Brilliant, just brilliant. "No, I don't hate him. I feel
kinda sorry for him actually..." *swig giggl- cough! chuckle, there, that's
better* And for the record, she is not in love with him! Not, not, not!!
Not even a little? No! Not even a little! He made her feel guilty for- oh
my, what a nice bottle of whiskey, what a lovely bouquet, would you like
some? Why, yes, I think I will thank you.

< - Blooper 

[OOC] Neelkan says, "She's in denial. ;)"

[OOC] Corain dunks Neelkan in the river.

[OOC] Neelkan says, "Now I'm in the Nile."

[OOC] Corain dies laughing.

End Blooper - >

Oh yeah, Corain drunk is /really/ amusing, and Tamin is having a hard time
not breaking out into uncontrollable laughter as he watches it. "By the
Light.. Out drink, out curse, /and/ out fight, you say? Sounds like my
kinda woman." he remarks with no small amount of private amusement, lips
quirking up into a slight grin. And nooo, there's nothing /lecherous/ about
it, perv! He's just amused. "Why would you feel sorry for him? Because he
has to hang around all those women who probably demand something or other
from him on a daily basis?" Tamin grins and shrugs up his shoulders,
putting an elbow on the bartop and resting a cheek on his closed hand, just
watching Corain make a fool of himself. "People don't force you into the
tower, right? It must have been his choice, so.. If he was really unhappy,
I imagine he'd leave. And as for if he hurt your sister.. I didn't exactly
mean physically. .. Well, not in the way /you're/ talking about, anyhow."
His eyes wander skyward as he continues on. "I have a twin sister, you
know, and if any man hurt her heart or took advantage of her.. I sure know
/I'd/ be angry with him." This said, his gaze zips back over to Corain to
gauge a reaction...

Corain just... smirks a very little. "Nah. Neel would be the last guy in
the world to take advantage of a girl," and somehow.. he makes that sound
like a bad thing... "And the girl who let him hurt her in.. that other way
would have to be pretty stupid. Besides, Zaidah... my sis.. isn't all that
fond of guys either, at least... not in a -serious- way. In fact, she
doesn't take much of anything seriously..." he adds.. just a little more
soberly... "last I saw her anyway..." Brown eyes stare down at the table
top as a fog of blues settles over Corain. He misses Zaidah. Zaidah would
never let Gaidin push her around or threaten her. She wouldn't stay and let
herself be whipped into submission by a bunch of floating heads-... woah.
You know it's bad when you're idolizing yourself under another pseudonym.
But.. maybe it's getting to be time to bring her back. Yeah, that's what
he'll do, he'll go get Zaidah... just.. not right now... He looks over at
Tamin and blinks, realizing that he's been totally lost in his own thoughts
and laughs nervously, "So.. uh... where were we? Oh yeah, you were telling
me about your twin sister." No, it's not a great dodge, but *dangles the
drunk excuse again*.

Aaaaaaah! Nothing makes a day brighter like a trip to the local Tavern.
Even if this place isn't the type he would have spent his time and coin in
during his bandit years. Back then, he prefered the rougher sort. Where the
floors were dirty, the ale was bad, and the men were looking for a head to
bust. Those were the days... But right now, Neelkan can't really afford to
get into bar fights. He has enough to worry about in the combating area
with the training, and the teaching. Too bad he can't get any of the Gaidin
to agree that drinking could be an elective... Yet! He's still working on
them! He wanders into the tavern, speaking softly to a man near the door,
and then moving in to find a table... until he catches the end of the
conversation. He doesn't really hear the conversation, more the voice.
Corain? ... Blood 'n ashes. Figures! He'll have to sneak the drunk
milk-sucker back into the Barracks /again/ and make sure he doesn't somehow
stumble into the bath houses while the trainees are bathing. Light knows
that would not have a good outcome. The poor boys would probably end up
fondled! And the poor drunk would likely end up discovered. And he's
willing to protect her secret. It's his secret too, since he's helped her
cover it up so long already. He wanders over there and puts a hand on the
counter between the two, "Whiskey 'n ya don't mix, Cor. 're ya fallin'
outta the chair yet?" He glances over to the drinking companion, and blinks
slightly. Hmmm. He knows that guy doesn't he? T-- Tama? Tamer? Oh! Tamin!
Ok. "Is 'is a hobby of yers? Challangin' trainees t' the drink?"

Such a lack of dedication! Personally, Tamin believes you should pick the
one who you like being the most, and stick with it, pitfalls and all!
What's a little thing like lack of true companionship in the fact of
respect and success and the ability to be yourself without anyone telling
you to get back in the kitchen?! "Neel.. Neelkan! Yeah, that was his name!"
Nodnodnod! Yep, that was it! Nice to know it's not ALL lost to the drunken
haze! "My sister?" Eh.. No they wheren't, but.. well.. Okay. What the hell?
"Her name's Tanomi. Our mother died bringing us into the world, and we
already had two older brothers, so she grew up in a house full of men.. It
shows. Poor girl'll probably never get herself a husband because she's too
damn independant minded. Drinking, cursing, fighting..Yeah, Tanomi and
Zaidah would probably get along real well." He smirks slightly and
straightens up, brushing fingers back through his hair. "She's back home
right now. Almoren. We.. uh.. write to keep in touch." Yeah, that sounds
good. Ever since our brothers and father died, she's taken care of the
house and family business. Tanomi is quite a piece of work.." Durring the
last bits of his ranting about his 'sister', Tamin notices Neelkan walking
in and follows the man's path with his eyes, though he says nothing to him
and just keeps talking to Corain. Until, of course, Neel comes over to
announce himself, and Tamin flashes a big ol' grin. "I wish. I'd have /won/
this one. But no, I was simply sitting here listening to Corain here tell
me all about his lovely sister. I just wish I could meet this woman in
person!" Hehe. This is way too funny, and while Corain may be missing the
mirth in Tamin's eyes, maybe Neelkan - who is infinatly more sober - won't.

The -poor- boys would probably end up fondled... does anyone else see
something wierd about this statement? Besides, she's not -that- ba- ok, she
is. "No, I'm not," Corain snaps at the hand on the countertop. He doesn't
even have to look up to know who it is. No one he's met has an accent like
that (he hasn't met Aidou yet). "Oh ye of little faith," and just to be
annoying he takes yet another pull from the bottle and sticks his tongue
out at Neelkan. He listens about Tanomi and has to grin and agree. Talk
about a pair of Shayol Ghul raisers... of course.. Zaidah didn't have to
worry about anyone telling her to stay in the kitchen, or trying to keep
her barefoot and pregnant. That is one advantage of being female, and from
Eharon. "Husbands are overrated," is his reply to that, and yes he says it
loud enough to make sure Neelkan heard. He coughs on another mouthful of
whiskey at Tamin's mentioning of wanting to meet his sister and sputters
some more. Today just isn't his day...

"'is sis', eh?" Neelkan snickers softly, patting the poor fellow trainee on
the back so the guy doesn't choak to death on that whiskey he shouldn't be
drinking at all. "Zaidah, I take it?" He snickers somemore, then
immediately puts a hand on each of the youths shoulders and says, "Nawh, ya
wouldn't want t' meet 'at milk-drinker." Milk curses are his worse insults
after all! "She'll likely get ya drunk, take ya up t' yer room, 'n 'en hold
yer boot hostage in the mornin' so she can kiss 'n grope ya somemore." Is
he speaking from experience? ... No... Of course not! <.< >.>;; Well,
someone knows differently. "'n ye'h. Ya would've won. Corain can't bloody
hold 'is whiskey 'at good, can ya?" He's cruel, isn't he? Bad Neelkan. Bad.
Well, Corain deserves it, after all that was done to him. "'n ya two don't
have t' worry 'bout gettin' husbands." They're supposed to be men after
all. Of course, he's worried about getting roped in to /be/ a husband.
Iiiiiiiccccckkkkk!! No thank you. Grrrr. He'll bloody pass!

"Milk... drinker..?" .. Aroo? Tamin no grok. o.o Is that a bad thing? Gosh,
maybe he should stop drinking dairy! The 'husbands are over-rated' comment
earns a very soft 'I'll drink to that' comment from Tamin, who wrinkles his
nose slightly. You know.. There is somethin' decidedly wrong about this
fellow before him. .. Ah well. Prolly just the drinking. Tamin blinks at
the ranting Neelkan gives, and mutters "Uh.. You might wanna be careful. He
nearly took off the head of the barkeep for less then what you just said."
Hold your boot hostage..? Then she's one'a them.. touchy-feely girls. Yeck.
Tamin hated them even before he became an object of their..
touchy-feeliness! "I take it back. I like my boots where they are, so maybe
I better not meet her." Nope, no feely women for him! Tamin sleeps alone,
thankyouverymuch, and women coming on to him just make him stutter and turn
red. It's happened before. Not a pretty sight. >.>;

Corain may be drunk, but he's not going to stand for being called a- er..
fr letting his sis be called a milk-drinker! "You sound like you're
speaking from experience p- Neelkan, and if I know my sister you weren't
complaining..." ok, so he did complain... in the morning, but that doesn't
count. Too bad he's drunk or he'd -really- show Neelkan what for, but as it
is he's at least got to try, and to that effect he slides his foot back and
hooks it around the other Proven's ankle, tries to grab the wrist attached
to the hand on his arm and twist it, turning in his chair and pushing his
hand into Neel's stomach, at the same time he pulls on the arm. Now, if he
was sober... he would have just sent Neelkan flying over the bar... (not
that he would have tried such a thing if he was totally sober) but since
he's not... the Light only knows what he'll accomplish, if anything at all
considering that the alcohol has sapped his coordination a bit.... And
actually, to give Zaidah her due... she doesn't go after guys she doesn't
think want to be chased, and yes, Neelkan fell into that category, even if
it was just the alcohol talking. She might tease a guy who did the stutter
and turn red thing, but she wouldn't be serious. As for Corain's reaction
to being flirted with.. he just thought it was really funny... except when
he got his stupid rib broken. That kind of flirting he can do without.

Seeee!!!!!! Women are cruel, unusual creatures! Breaking ribs and holding
boots hostage! Grrrr. The attacks are made, and in the drunken state that
the other trainee is in (and also the fact that the guy she's attacking
isn't a lout when it comes to combat) gets his wrist garrbed instead of
grabbing the guy with streaked white in his red hair's. And though he
losses his footing a little, he certainly doesn't fall down or go flying,
"Tsk tsk, Corain. Ya don't wanna get yerself kicked outta 'is tavern, would
ya? It's one of the only ones the Gaidin won't scould us f'r visitin'."
Romantic tunes, clean and usually fight free. Of course they would prefer
this over a rougher sort of tavern. "'n I did too compla--" Erk. "Um.. I
mean, I would've!" It didn't actually happen after all. Really. He pushes
the wrist aside, letting it go, and turns back to Tamin, "Wise choice.
Though the Zai... I think deep down she's not t'bad." She's almost a fluke.
If she weren't way too evil to be!

Again, Tamin plops an elbow onto the bar top and puts his fist against his
cheek to prop his head up, just watching the two of you with hints of
amusement in his eyes and a twitching grin at his lips.. though, the little
'you weren't complaining' look gets Corain a bit of a strange look..
Wheren't you just a minute ago defending your sisters honor, and now you're
saying she's good in bed? o.O;; This guy is really weird. Everyone here
seems weird! Tamin is the only /sane/ person here, and that doesn't say
alot for the two of /you/. "Might as well let the slip pass, Neelkan. It's
pretty obvious what happened.. Though it seems Corain already knew about
it." Which makes Tamin peer at the afforementioned drunk. You know he did
sinful things with your sister, but you think he's an okay guy.. and you
even argue that he /enjoyed/ it infront of a total stranger?? Argh.
Confusing!!

She is not a fluke! She's evil! Evil I tell you! She's everything Neel is
supposed to hate about women wrapped up in one cute, fireflyish, large
breasted package. Yeah Tamin.. there's defiantely something wierd going on
here... -definately- "I don't give a flying flame whether the Gaidin would
care about us being in here." Just for that he's -going- to go to one of
those rougher taverns. He's going to get in a head bashing bar brawl and
likely come home even more battered than he already is, Gaidin be burned.
That is.. as soon as he's sober enough to stand up. He does have to add
just another little barb, "It's ok Neel, she told me it wasn't worth
remembering so I don't think you have to worry about her seducing you a
second time." Ouuuuuuuch. The truth is.. she doesn't really remember it.
They were both very sloshed at the time... so it's.. um.. a half-truth..
sort of. "And -I- said she was a tramp," he replies to Tamin, "That doesn't
mean anyone else gets to." Not even you Neelkan. :P

"It was all 'er bloody fault!" The young man yells loudly, glaring at the
innocent bystander... And before he can say anything more... Corain says
the bit about... Well, you know what bit. WHAT!?!?! Neelkan glares and
clenches his fists. He could pound the bloody Light out of the other
trainee right now if he wanted to, the other is probably too drunk to put
up much of a real fight. And know why he doesn't? Because he doesn't hit
women. And he can't forget that the young man in front of him is just a
facade put on by a flip-skirt tollop who would sleep with anything male and
partly willing. He was only willing because he was drunk at the time.
There's a big difference between wanting to get dragged up to a girl's
room, and not being sober enough to say no. There is!! Grrrrrrrrrr. "Ya..
ya... Light-blinded, son of a two headed goat! Ya 'n yer bloody firefly of
a flamin' "sister" can both go suck on a pig's tail. I wouldn't want t' get
flamin' seduced b' 'er anyway!" Grrrrrrr. Grrrrrrrrr!!! He bares his teeth,
for a moment looking like a ruffled dog. This is where he's supposed to
spin on his heels and storm out. So why doesn't he? Because he's not going
to leave Corain to get himself back into the trainee barracks. He growls a
moment longer, then settles down and grumbles through his teeth, "Whene'er
yer bloody ready t' go, let m' know. I'll be right o'er 'ere." With that he
stalks over to a table no more then two paces away and plops down in a
chair to glare.

Okay.. this just went from weird to /freaky/. Tamin knows full well that
even if Tanomi did have .. intimate relations with a man - which she
didn't! Hell, they never so much as looked twice at her. o.o; - She sure as
hell would NOT be telling her brothers about it.. Let alone giving so much
detail that they would know if she /enjoyed/ it or not! What kind of a girl
/is/ this 'Zai' character?! .. And what kind of a man is this Corain??
o.o;;; Tamin is just about try and calm Neelkan, not wanting this to come
to blows, when the man stomps off a few paces and leaves Tamin there with..
the weirdo.. o.O His eyes tuuuuurn back over to Corain and a hand is rested
promptly, and firmly, on the man's shoulder. "You sit, and stay." The other
hand reaches out to grab the bottle away from him if he can, Tamin's jovial
appearance melting away in favor of a more tern, business-like one. He's
serious, and you are sobering up before you make any bigger an ass out of
yourself. "And no more drinking." Should he manage to snag the bottle, it's
capped and stashed under his arm as he slides off the stool and heads over
to Neelkan, leaning over slightly to look the man more in the eye without
having to sit. "You don't have to stick around for this if you don't want
to. I'd be more then happy to take him to the tower myself and drop him
with a guard. I'll make up some story about someone spiking his drink if
that'll help any." What a stand-up fella! n.nb Yeah, that's Tamin. Always
willin' ta help a guy out.

Corain is busy sticking his thumbs in his ears and raspberrying Neelkan to
notice the snatching of the bottle. Ttttthhhhhhpppppptttttt. "Would too,
would too." Ok, -now- who's acting like a 5 year old? Akamo's twins aren't
this bad! Dang, he's not going to beat Corain up? And he tried so hard to
get him to punch him that one time too. Not that this particular Proven
-wants- to get the ash kicked out of him, but it would certainly make it
easier to really and truly hate the guy. And that's anything male, partly
willing, and cute. She does have standards after all. Notice... brains
isn't one of them... He blinks at the hand on his shoulder and looks over
at Tamin. Huh? Sit, and stay... Hey! You're not the boss of me! But he'll
sit and stay just 'cause.. if he tried to stand up... he'd fall on his
face. "I don't need anyone to take me back to the Tower!" And with that
he's going to try to get up. Try, being the operative word. Oof. Uf.
Grumble. He manages to get up off the stool, clinging to the bartop for
balance. "Can make it on my own," he grumbles to no one in particular, not
that he really wants to go back to the Tower just yet. He has a fight to
pick...

"Oh ye'h, yer real capable, /Corain./ Why dontcha just walk right int' the
flamin' yard 'n kiss Yannick next!?" Grrrrrr. Ok, that was a little much,
but then again, Tamin did see the "guy" give the tender a kiss on the
cheek. Maybe the brother swings the same way as his sis. ;) Neelkan glares
over and then reaches to grab the bottle out of Tamin's grip, taking the
cap off with a jerk and then immediately gulping down a good amount of the
contents. He coughs a little as he lets the bottle back down, reaching up
to wipe off his mouth and growl. Give him ale any day. He really doesn't
care much for whiskey. But the "cure" they gave them every three hours for
a few weeks near the end of that bloody plague was tons worse then any
whiskey could ever taste, and he downed that stuff in a few gulps. He can
down this. "No, I'll take 'im back. Though I thought after I bloody well
helped 'im get 'at broken rib of 'is fixed he'd be a little flamin' nicer
t' me! Not t' mention /savin' 'is ass/ down in 'at catacomb!" Grrrrrrrrrr.
Grrrrrr. He puts the bottle down, recaps it, and reaches to pick out a few
coins and toss it at Tamin. Hopefully the guy isn't too drunk to catch.

You know.. if Cas or Raiden where here, they've have just taken about five
huge steps /away/. They knew Tamin all too well, and they'd have known
exactly what was about to happen. Too bad neither of them is alive now and
here to give you two warning, eh? It happens quite quickly, like someone
snuffing out a candle with a single, simple blow. Happy-Go-Lucky
Mr-Nice-Guy Tamin blinks out.. Mr-Don't-Mess-With-Me Kick-Your-Behind Tamin
comes out to play. Silvery blue eyes narrow abruptly and Tamin stands
upright once more, shoving the bottle down /firmly/ ont he table Neeklan
sits at. He then turns on his heel, /glares/ at Corain (Oh, if looks could
kill, you'd be a puddle on the floor right now, buddy!) and takes one step
to him as he hisses out his warning. "I said, /sit down/, and /stay put/.
I've had just about all I can take from you tonight, buddy. You seem like a
nice enough guy so I'm going to attribute all of this to the bottle you've
been curled up with rather then to the fact that you might be a flamin'
/ass/, so do /not/ push me." Tamin looks about to turn away again, before
he thinks better of it, something urging him to get one more thing out.
"And for the record.. I don't care if she /is/ your sister, you talk about
her or /any/ woman like that infront of me or anyone else again, and I'll
punch you right off the flamin' wheel! Family or no, you don't talk about a
woman like that in public! They're not like we are - people /listen/ when
you insult their honor, and that sticks with them! You not only shame her,
you shame /yourself/ and your family by flinging your insults so
carelessly! Maybe she's not perfect, maybe she /is/ a trollop, but she's
your flesh and blood and you will bloody well show her a little flaim'
/respect/ in my company! /Got it/?!" And with that, Tamin reaches out to
shove Corain back into his seat roughly, virtually growling. His head then
snaps to look over at Neel as he barks out in addition, "And the same goes
for you!" Grr!! Feel the mighty wrath of the silversmith!! Grrr!! eh..
Coins? What coins? They probably ended up on the floor somewhere, because
Tamin sure didn't notice them.

Blink... blink... blink... blinkblink... blink... you get the idea. Corain
plops back down in his stool, and just kind of stares at Tamin, before he
starts to giggle, and the giggle turns into a laugh, and the laugh turns
hysterical until if someone doesn't keep him from it he'll slowly slide off
the stool and roll around on the floor, hugging his casted stomach in pain
and uncontrollable laughter. Part of it is that one too many people have
told her that she shouldn't hit a woman, or that she shouldn't curse in
front of ladies, or that she shouldn't bad mouth women, and it's just..
funny. She chokes out through her laughing, "Last time... I was nice.... to
you, you.... yelled at... me for about an hour, pumpkin... and you didn't
save my ass down in the catacomb, as I recall you got yourself beat up so
bad Vorsha had to heal you." By the end of the little speech she's wiping
her eyes and trying to pick herself up off the floor, but at least she's
stopped laughing. And then she just looks at Tamin. She's not going to say
it. After what she just said to Neelkan it's bleeding obvious what she
found so funny about that little tirade. Her eyes are a little fuzzed over,
but apparently the laughter helped get her a little more sober, for the
moment anyway. "Go ahead, punch me off the flaming wheel. I'm in no
position to stop you, Tamin." Hmmm.. why didn't she call him pumpkin? She
used to call every 'guy' she met that. Oh well, just one of those
mysteries. Ok, gonna get up.. One hand grabs onto the bartop and slowly
drags her to her feet. "And I don't need any man defending my honor. I
don't need a man for anything at all. If you want to go ahead and respect
people..." she looks at Neelkan now, "or hate them, just because of whether
they have breasts or not, be my guest. Me, I'll stick to finding out if
they're worth it first." And that's about as much coherence as you're going
to get out of her for the moment. Burn that alcohol, now people are
starting to stare. Yup, defiantely time to beat a retreat before rumors
start to spread about the female... Proven... She pushes off the bar and
just barely manages to keep her wobbily feet.

Blood 'n ashes. He watches the whole thing of what Tamin 'Woman Protector'
has to stay, and instantly grumbles about how he never says anything bad
about /specific/ women at least. Except Zai, but she deserves it. He
usually insults women as a whole! And then... Zaidah starts to shine
through. Neelkan curses softly under his breath and stands up, muttering
something about how Corain gets when he's drinking. He should really avoid
that. He glares at all the people looking at them funny, as if that'll shut
their flapping tongues when it comes to speaking of the female Proven. He
reaches out and grabs Corain's arm, "Let's get ya back t' the bloody
Barracks f'r ya fall on yer flamin' face." Though... if she's so bad she's
breaking her cover in the middle of a tavern... how she going to act in the
barracks. Grrrrrr. "Tam, ya still got yer room 'ere? Mind if ya share it
with a couple'a guys f'r the night? I promise I won't let 'im sick up on
anythin'." And yup, that was a couple of guys. He'll also make sure that
Corain doesn't start molesting the other young man. Hahahaha. Isn't this
funny?

....................................... He missed something. Tamin turns his
head back sloooowly to Corain as he begins to laugh, looking rather annoyed
at first.. but as the laughter goes on.. and he /speaks/... ... Yeah,
deffinatly missed something. Just watch those eyes go WIIIIIIDE and that
jaw slowly drop to the floor. He.. he.. she... she's.. he's... it's..
O.O;;; You know, considering He's a She too, you'd think They (heh)
wouldn't be so shocked at what is being seen.. but he is. Utterly, totally
shocked. And he's just gunna stand there like an idiot for awhile, thanks.
When sound finally comes forth from his mouth, it's not even enough to form
whole words. "Y-... Sh-.... H-... B-... I... Y-..." Oh, to hell with it.
He's not gunna try anymore. Well.. so much for punchin' 'em off the wheel,
eh? Eyes dart from Neelkan to Corain to Neelkan to Zaidah to... oh Light,
who /are/ these people?! And you want him to open up his ROOM to you
freaks?! It was hard enough sleeping in this get-up while he was sloshed
and had to cart himself and Neel upstairs.. but the both of you?! The
groping woman and the woman-hater guy!? Siiiiigh.. You know, if he didn't
feel kinda.. responcible for her blowing her cover, he'd turn you both down
and run as fast as he could. But he does, so he won't. u.u; You suck, Zai.
"Yeah, I still got it." he says with a groan before turning, grabbing the
bottle Neel discarded, and heading towards.. where ever the rooms are
situated. He's gunna need a few drinks before bed tonight. x.x "C'mon up,
and be quick about it." People are gunna start to /talk/! Argh.

Corain tries to pull her arm away, but if she couldn't execute that move
earlier, she can't really manage this now, so she just ends up stumbling.
At this point she's not really going to argue about anything, except to
say, "not gonna sick up." Uuuuuuunnnnn. Hey! It wasn't her fault she blew
her co- oh.. wait it was... wait! It was! It was her own bloody fault, but
it's -not- her fault that anyone else feels responsible. She never -asked-
Neel to help her with her busted rib. She's not blaming Tamin for the
little episode... 'men'! They make no sense. "Let 'em talk. It doesn't
matter anymore." No, it's not that her secret is entirely out right now,
just... she would rather it was, but she may very well feel differently in
the morning. Something occurs to her and she giggles a little an winks at
Tamin, "had you fooled didn't I?" Ha.. ha.. ha ha... How do you spell
I-R-O-N-I-C? Oooooo. je

"'anks Tam. I'll pay ya back f'r 'is, somehow." This Tamin guy is just the
type of man he'd want to guard his back. A little on the short and pretty
boy side, but he would have made a great second in command! When he was
leader of the bandits of course! The kind of stand-up guy who would defend
a woman's honor, but could still kick back and have fun and not walk around
like he's got a quarter staff shoved up his ass. Like the Warders. And
Varcel. *cough* Ahem. Neelkan keeps his hand on Zaidah's arm and says, "Of
course yer not. Now let's move on it, ya can gloat later." He starts to
nudge the newly disrobbed (well, disguise wise) woman towards the stairs
after Tamin with the bottle, and up as far as the young man's room, helping
the drunkin' "friend?" up the stairs as it is required. "I'm sorry I
insulted ya earlier." he whispers during one such helping up the stairs,
whispering softly as he does. She's too drunk to remember, which helps in
"lowering" himself to apologize to a woman.

Yeah, that's Tamin alright. A real man's man. u.u It's true though, in a
sad kind of way. Tamin makes a lot better man then Tanomi made a woman. Ah
well. He's happy with it, so who cares? ... Eh. Moving on. Tamin trudges up
the stairs and helps if need be with the drunken
woman/man/proven/phoney/whatever all the way down the hall to his room,
which he opens up as quickly and quietly as possible, not wanting people
poking their heads into the hall to see him retiring with all this company.
The room is small, simple, and undecorated, as the guy hasn't unpacked
much. He still intends on finding a nice shop to buy and set up house in,
so this is all just temporary until he gets on his feet again. He ushers
the pair of you inside and closes the door quickly behind, locking it
securely. "Uh.. Corain.. or Zaidah.. or whoever.." >.< "Can take the bed."
He lifts a hand to rub fingers over his temple slowly, and then grips the
neck of the bottle in his hands and pops off the top to take a little swig.
Yeeeeeeeck!! Aaahhh.. he needed that. It's gunna be a long, long night..
And there will be no end to it until these people leave him in the morning!
No release from the binding clothing, no flopping down in his comfy bed to
snooze in peace, no relaxing.. Argh. One more drink. *swig!*


Zaidah's Room, The Shadow's Demise, The Plaza, Tar Valon

You see a typical room at the inn: bed, washstand, dresser of drawers, a
little writing desk that can also be used for a vanity. The way it is
arranged though is hardly the way one would expect of a young woman
claiming even half noble blood. Clothing that seems more appropriate for a
small man, well.. except for the shirts with the ovals cut out of the
bosoms, lies scattered on the floor. Not a single dress in the whole room,
well none that's visible.


Awww flame. There he goes being nice again. Burn it! She can handle the
insults. She can handle the yelling... She doesn't have a flaming idea what
to do with this apology swallop. When he's yelling at her she can forget
the guilt she felt about seducing him, and she can forget... well.. other
things, which is what she wants! "I deserved it," she grumbles back before
getting helped into the room. That's what she needs, to suffer from
selective amnesia. Maybe Kate would have some ideas about that.. no.. the
Green sister probably wouldn't understand. Ironic isn't it, that an Aes
Sedai of the Green Ajah has a sister who is far more experienced than she?
Poor poor Tamin. Zaidah can defiantely sympathize. Once inside she starts
to pull off her shirt. Uh.. uh.. what?? Well, it doesn't really matter
because she's got that cast covering anything important. The permission was
nice, but she wasn't waiting for it to flop down on the bed. Uuuuuuuuunnnn.
Sicky. No feel good. No throw up though. Throw up bad. Yes, she's in 'fire
bad, tree pretty' mode.

Pbbbt. Suffer. Neelkan helps as far as the door, then lets Zaidah take off
her shirt, he diverts his eyes though, then looks towards Tamin, "'anks
'gain. I'm gonna go down stairs 'n get some water. No need f'r the firefly
t' wake up 'n kick us because the suns too flamin' bright." Yeah, thank the
great healer lady for tipping him on the whole 'water helps stop hang over'
thing. Real handy to know when you get drunk so much. He fumbles to unlock
the door, goes downstairs, returns with a large pitcher of water and three
glasses. They all might need some by the time the night is over. He pours a
glass full, then moves over to the firefly and holds it out, "Drink 'is,
Zai." He should learn that ordering her around isn't the way to get things
done.

Swig number three goes down before Tamin finally stops up the bottle again
and places it on the dresser, well out of Zai's reach. He then virtually
falls back into a chair and.. yes, even he diverts his eyes out of habit
and no small amount of embarassment when Zai goes to.. disrobe. Have you no
SHAME, woman!? Remind him never again to defend her honor. "How do I get
myself into these things.." he mutters as he rubs his hands slowly over his
face, and then rests back in the chair, watching as Neelkan goes, and
waiting in awkward silence for his return. Oh Light please just let this
night be over soon.. He looks up to that bottle, now set aside and lonely,
and resists the urge to drink more.. No getting drunk! Especially not when
he's sharing his room with two other people, one of whom apparently has a
reputation as being clingy! o.o;;; There has been enough revealing of
cross-dressing secrets for one night, thanks. He's just gunna sit here,
quiet, and will an end to this all. .. And then he's gunna wonder why the
hell he moved out of Almoren. u.u;

"Bite me." Oh wait... last time he did that... instead of protesting any
further Zaidah grabs the glass and sloshes some of it on herself..
including the cast.. oops.. and the bed.. but she gets most of it in her
mouth. Yes, thank you Akamo, for more reasons than one. In fact.. thinking
of the healer woman... just to make matter's worse she fishes in her pocket
for a little metal tube, which she removes a thin brown stick of..
something out of and leans over, putting one end in her mouth, and the
other end in the flame. Akamo neglected to mention that these little
sticks, and whiskey... don't mix well at all... not that that would have
stopped Zaidah anyway. She slides one hand under her head and puffs up at
the ceiling. Ooooooo... "Hey, this is cool... you should try some of this
pumpkin..." she says, offering the little smoking stick. Does she care that
Tamin's room isn't going to smell very good after this? No... sorry...
she's a very bad house guest. Whether he takes it or not her gaze trails
over to the bottle in it's lonesome state.. and then over to Tamin. "Why'd
you put it away," she asks with just the tiniest of pouts. "If you're not
gonna drink it -I- will..."

"Oh no you don't!" Neelkan reaches out and snags up the smoking stick,
grumbling something about how Zaidah shouldn't be using this stuff. Bad for
her health and all. ... What? Is the guy actually mothering her? Oh shut
up!! He does take an experiental take on it, then sputters and coughs. Man.
And he thought the stuff the bandits he stayed with smoked smelled bad.
Gak! He goes over to the window, and likely to the dismay of a certain
woman on the bed, he opens it and tosses it out. Look out belooooooow!!
Ahem. He then turns and waves his hand around, trying to clear the smoke,
then looks at the young man who's room this is, "Sorry 'bout 'at. She needs
t' learn how t' treat people who'er doin' 'er a flamin' favor!" Grrrr...
Feh. He needs to sit down. And he does. right on the floor. Near the
window.

Rassemfrassem "/Wimmen/." rassemmutterfrassem.. Tamin mutters under his
breath a few curses and looks as if he's about to get up and take the
smoking stick away from Zai, when Neelkan - who he's likin' more and more
by the minute - does it for him. n.nb "Thanks." he says to Neel with a
light smile before putting elbows on knees and resting face in hands. This
is gunna be a looooong night. "Yeah, I did notice that.." he comments to
Neel, uncaring on what Zai thinks of their comments to eachother. "I'm
beginning to regret very much my defense of her /honor/. I swear, I've
learned my lesson. Won't be doin' /that/ again." He shoots a /look/ at Zai,
and then glances up at the bottle which is the object of her yearning.. and
then back to Zai. "Suffer. Your pain has been eased, now it's /our/ turn."
Grumblegrrr. The bottle is grabbed by the neck and offered up to Neel, who
no doubt needs a good stiff drink right about now. Tamin would take another
himself, but has no desire to, as previously mentioned, get drunk. "Just
please.. don't drink to excess, okay?" One of you drunk is bad enough.

Zaidah whines and rolls over a little too fast and falls out of the bed.
She starts to crawl across the floor towards the window, but is far too
late by the time he throws it out the window. She should strangle him! And
she will.. as soon as she stops being absolutely fascinated by the smoke
that's slowy curling out the window. Preeeeeetty. And suddenly she feels a
strange craving for cheese... and the idea that maybe if she goes outside
the stick will be there pops into her head and she starts to try and climb
to her feet. Wobble... wobble... but she does eventually make it, and start
to take wobbily steps towards the door, muttering about something about
pumpking smashing.. or was that smashing pumpkins?... and there was a
flaming in there too... along with some other more colorful phrases about
some of the Forsaken and what may or may not be in their shorts or their
beards, and wat may or may not be up their asses. Um.. um.. is she planning
on going outside like that? Without her shirt? Apparently... and while
nothing is actually visible.. its a little more apparent that there is
something hiding behind the white strips. Tamin's words stop her though and
starts to put her hands on her hips and cock one to the side before
realizing that's not a very good idea and catching herself on the door
before she falls. The haze in her mind is so thick you could probably cut
it with a knife, so she can't quite manage to come up with a witty retort
to Tamin, so she just grumbles some more herself and mumbles something
-slightly- resembling an apology so it sounds something like "never said...
any.. honor..." at least no where but the practice yard. In combat she'll
be the first to cry cheater, but anywhere else and dirty tricks are fair
game. "an... sorry... 'bout... trigreen..." and with that she pokes her
head out the door, though why she's checking to see if the coast is clear
she's not entirely sure.

Siiiiiiiiiiigh. "Blood 'n flamin' bloody ashes, Zai, get back int' the
Light forsaken bed, 'r I'll tie ya in it." This is why he hates women.
They're so much trouble. Get 'em drunk, they're even more trouble. He waves
his hand at the bottle, muttering something about how he shouldn't get
drunk if he's going to be baby sitting. He pushes himself up off the floor,
slowly because he's a little tired, grabs the pitcher of water, moves over
to where the little brat of a woman is... and... well... his whole purpose
of bring the pitcher up here was to make sure she didn't get dehydrated,
isn't it? Well, he grabs her by the hair, forcing her to bend her head down
a little, either that or lose a few locks, and upturns the pitcher of water
right over her head. Splash. "Now get t' yer flamin' senses woman, ya 'ear
me!? D'ya want t' finish yer trainin' 'n show all those bloody Gaidin 'at
ya got the better of 'em!? Show those stuck up, staff up their asses, pig
headed /men/ 'at yer just as good as 'em?! Huh!? 'r d'ya want t' ruin all
yer work of stayin' hidden just cause ya up 'n decided t' get drunk with a
pretty boy." He lets go of her hair and takes a few steps back, fully
expecting to get punched or something. Hopefully he didn't drop too far in
Tamin's eyes.

Groan.. You know, if he was interested in them at all, this would make
Tamin forsake women. You hear that, Zai?! You'd drive him to forsaking all
women, forever! If he liked them. Which he doesn't. Which is a good thing,
lemme tell ya. u.ub He jumps up, about to stop Zai.. when once again, Neel
beats him to it. Though this time.. he kinda wishes he hadn't. O.O; "Neel!"
he sqwaks in a slightly high-pitched but still controlled enough not to be
'girly' voice (he's had years of practice, you know!), eyes going wider
then they should be in this RP genere. "By the Light!" he hisses, if only
to sound harsh while not yelling, and quickly moves to snag a towel from
his things and unfold it as he moves to Zai, wrapping it about her
shoulders. "Okay, now.. You /deserved/ that, Zaidah.. So just... uh.. dry
off," He points to a little corner of the room with a dressing screen
hiding it away. "And then lay down, and sleep this off already before we
all end up /killing/ eachother, and my bill goes through the roof for water
damage!"

She should punch him, she really should, and in fact before the towel is
wrapped around her shoulders she pulls back to just that. "Head, or
stomach?" Hey, at least she's giving him a choice... will she really go
through with it, knowing that he won't hit her back? Considering that she
does have honor when it comes to this sort of thing. Seh certainly looks
serious... and then Tamin is wrapping the towel arond her shoulders, though
his words don't help any. Isn't this what she wanted though? She wants him
to be mean... really... but.. he's got such a good point too. Whine! She
glares at Tamin. "Why? What the flame did I do to deserve that? I never
asked either of you for help. I don't want it! Why do some men have to be
so Light burned, flaming, Trolloc spawning chivalrous??" It's.. it's
stupid! and the worst part is she never liked it before, but she's starting
to... and she hates that most of all. She doesn't need anyone, or anything,
especially not a couple of 'men' to watch her back. And yes, she's still
poised to punch Neel, and still waiting for him to answer her question.

"Chivalry? 'is has nothin' t' do with ... a'right, maybe it does. But I
gave ya my word I wouldn't let ya get found out, 'n a 'ex-bandit's word
might not mean much in the bloody Spinnin' of the flamin' Wheel, but /my/
word does. I'm not some worthless lil' bra--" Neelkan trails off,
grumbling. He won't go into his own troubles with his family. He's a lot
like Tamin in a way. He ran away from who he was, changed his name and
identity. All because no one took him seriously because of his gender.
Tanomi had the people she lived around. Shun'u had his own family treating
him like he was lower then them. And in the Eharon frame of mind, he was.
Neelkan is different though. Neelkan doesn't let any woman bring him down!
.... Or he'll insist so at least. >.< Grrrr. At least he didn't dress up as
a woman to escape the horrible fate of getting married off by his mother
and sisters. Married off and becoming just like his father. Barely noticed,
timid, weak, never speaking up in defense of himself... Grrrr. He'll
/never/ be like that!! Finally though, he gives an answer, "Head." Why go
for the stomach? He'll just have to explain a black-eye and broken nose to
the Gaidin somehow. c.c; Though with all the channeling friends he has, he
probably won't get to keep it very long, though he will say no to healing.
She deserves to hit him. ... So much for not being pushed around by women,
huh?

Argh! "Alright you two, /STOP/ this! Right now!" Tamin, before any punching
can be done, imposes himself between the two of them with arms outstretched
and looking at Zai firmly. "Put down your fist. This is /my/ room which
means /I'm/ the boss and when I say there will be no fighting I /mean/ it!
So the next person who makes a threat, dumps some water, or throws a single
punch is getting tossed out the window, got it?!" A look is tossed back to
Neelkan for emphasis before he looks back to Zai. "You deserve it because
you're being a pain, Zaidah, and you know you are. You're going out of your
way to make us angry at you, and for the life of me I can't think of why,
but it doesn't much matter. Well, it's worked. Neelkan is angry and I'm
getting there, so you just go march yourself behind that damn curtain and
dry off so your cast doesn't fall away while you revel in your victory
before I drag you back there and dry you off /myself/!" And don't think he
wouldn't! >.<; You ain't got nothin' he ain't seen, sister, which will make
it much more embarassing for you then it will be for him. ... Well, that's
debatable, but.. anyhow. Don't make him try to prove what he's saying!

Family problems, aren't they wonderful? We won't go into Zaidah's here
though. This isn't therapy. She continues to look at Neelkan, her right arm
taunt, nearly quivering from having to hold it back, even as Tamin gets
between them. Her narrowed brown glare flicks back and forth between the
two of them... and then she sighs and lowers her fist. "Careful, or you'll
get pumpkin here thinking you're trying to fight his battles for him. We
wouldn't want people to run around saying he can't handle a giiiiiiiirl."
She's is being a pain... and she knows it... and she knows exactly why too,
but she's not going to say that of course. Sigh. Flame. Swallop. Pigs feet.
Sheep's gut. Hmm.. aside from the Swallop.. it sounds kind of like a bad
recipe... ok, let's not go there. "I release you from your word Neelkan. I
don't want you to help me. I don't need you to help me. Get that through
your thick skull." Lier lier pants on fire. Going to a healer in Tar Valon
was his idea, and he has helped keep her secret, and though she doesn't
like to admit it he did help in the catacombs, though it was far from
saving her ass! She wanted to smack him around for trying to take on the
flaming -Asha'cor- though if she'd known he'd done it before.. no, it still
wouldn't have helped. She looks back at Tamin and then turns around, not
bothering with a curtain. It's just her hair she's drying after all, and
no, she wouldn't be embarassed in the slightest, sorry. (The player is
reminded of a line from A League of Their Own: You think there are men in
this country who haven't seen your bosoms?) If she is anything, it's
comfortable with her body, not to mention her being comfortable with other
people's bodies... n.n; "Fine. I can be personable. And no, not like that,"
she glares at Neel, and then smiles at Tamin. "See? You won't even notice
I'm here. You fellas can share the bed. It's only fair since I've been
being such a pain in the ass." She takes a step back and puts up her hands,
palms facing them. "Truce, alright?" And with that she flops down in a
chair, checking her cast to make sure it didn't get dripped on too much..
or is it because she's thinking of cutting it while it's wet?

Tsktsk. Tamin really does't know Neelkan at all, does he? He isn't angry.
He's frustrated as hell, but he isn't angry. Yet. He glares at the woman
and says, "Ya can't release m' of m' word, /Zaidah/. I'll release m'self
'en I choose, 'n don't think I will a bloody moment sooner!" He wasn't
really talking about the Asha'cor. He stopped that blade from getting
embeded in her /back/ with his own sword. Then he fought of the bloody
Asha'cor himself. He would have killed him if he could have too. And yeah,
the guy broke on of his necklaces, which pissed him off a lot more then the
gapping wound he also got that had to be healed by Vorsha. Wounds can be
healed. He can't get his red and yellow beaded necklace back. ;_; He frowns
as Zai suddenly starts to be so... .... fluke-like. What happened to her?
Bleh. He grumbles and shakes his head, "Well I didn't want t' sleep on the
flamin' floor anyway." He goes over to the bed, pulling off his tunic, and
the shirt under it going off a second later. Oh look, /ladies/ you get to
feast your eyes on shirtless Neelkan. Grrr. He flops on the bed a moment
later, careful to get on the damp side. No reason to make the guy who owns
the room be uncomfortable. Just hope the guy doesn't mind getting kicked in
the middle of the night. While Neelkan thankfully doesn't snore (shock) he
doesn't sleep soundly either... Bad dreams and all.

Hey, he could always give the broken pieces of his necklace to Tamin! He
/is/ a silversmith, you know. Jewelry is his bag! He could fix it! n.nb Ah
well. Tamin sighs softly and lift his hands to rub fingers slowly around
his temples, trying to ease the mounting headache and hatred of his gender.
Damn you, Zai, why do you have to be so /difficult/!? Well, screw chivalry!
If she's gunna insist on being in the chair, he's damn well gunna sleep in
his nice comfy be-e-e-e..... iiieeee... o.o;;; You know, this is the
hardest part of being a guy. When the girl within you gets a boost to the
hormones. u.u;; Tamin's eyes slowly wiiiiden a bit as Neel starts to.. take
off his shirt.. and he swallows silently and harshly, turning his eyes away
to keep from blushing or stuttering. Ohgodohgodohgod.. Maybe he can just..
sleep on the floor!?! Groan.. No.. his back and chest and ... generally
just his torso are /killing/ him. He's been squished under this cloth
thingy all day and he wants reellleeeaaasssseeee!!! But the next best thing
would be a soft bed.. Whine.. Soft bed with cute shirtless guy now laying
on it.. Whine!! Okay.. buck up, soldier! Tamin sucks in a slooow breath and
then leans down to pull off his boots, though everything else remains very
much /on/. Not so much as a button or knot loosened. But.. first thing is
first, before bed. One of the blankets is pulled off the foot of the bed an
Tamin, without accepting any arguements, opens it up and lays it over the
sitting Zaidah. No tucking in or anything, it's just laid down and he lets
go, heading over to the bed. There is a moment of hesitation before he
climbs up onto it and squeeeeeezes himself onto one side, careful to leave
atleast a few inches between him and the guy next to him. And he sleeps on
his /stomach/, too, just incase. Arms folded under his head, his silvery
eyes peek from Neelkan to Zaidah.. and back again. You sure get yourself
into some strange situations, Tanomi... u.u; Sigh. Oh well. "Goodnight
everyone."

Feast is the word isn't it, and if anything she makes it painfully obvious
that she's feasting her eyes, just because she knows it will make him
uncomfortable. That's the only reason, really.... Oh... yeah.. that sword
would have hurt wouldn't it? She would have turned in time though! She's
not some wet behind the ears fledgling... er.. she was at the time.. but
she was good enough to beat up some Proven at that point too, so it doesn't
count. She does manage to pull her eyes away long enough to watch
Tamin's... undressing.. if you could call it that. "What, I don't get a
show from you too?" Hey, he's cute too... why shouldn't she taunt him? That
must be why he's blushing, he must be shy about taking his shirt off in
front of a girl. Ah well. She snuggles under the blanket that was so nicely
deposited in her lap and lays craddled in the arms of the chair. "You
know.. you sure have a funny way of hating women pumpkin..." Yawn. "Night."
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

"The name's Neelkan. 'n how I choose t' hate anyone is m' own business." So
there. Pbbbbbbbt. Neelkan lays on his back, looking up at the ceiling and
sure to give the other young man plenty of room. He doesn't much fancy
sleeping in the same room as people though. His dreams tend to make that an
unpleasent experience. And sharing a room with one of his sisters for many
years certainly didn't help at all in making him comfortable with it.
Sharing a room with three trainees has made it a tad easier though, except
when Sunan goes into question mode. A mode he's very good at going into,
dontcha know. x.x; He mutters in return, "Night." Then stretches a little,
yawns a few times, then eventually lets his eyes drift closed. Tamin...
You're in a bed with a handsome young man. Poor you. Pooooor you. And no,
he didn't notice the odd looks or the blushing at all.

And you can bet Tamin ain't gettin' a goddamn wink of sleep because of it.
o.o He'll just lay there, and quietly stttaaarrreee.... o.o;; Goodnight
everyone. x.x

After about an hour of sleeping... Something happens. Neelkan was worried
something would happen. It usually does after all, and he has no control
over it at all. Sometimes he wished he did. Touching Tel'aran'rhoid is only
slightly better then having one of his prophetic dreams. For one, it
doesn't make him kick or scream or cry out in the night. The prophetic
dreams tend to do that. And they have a tendancy to come true. Lately, more
often then not, he actually learns of what they were warning him of too
late. Touching The World of Dreams is better in thise case, because he
makes not a sound. He sleeps silently, and quietly, as normal people do. He
doesn't snore. He breathes softly. He's just the type of guy you would want
sleeping in your bed. ... Up until the bad stuff happens. The bad part
about the World of Dreams, is the fact that at certain times, almost
everyone touches it. For a few seconds only. Neelkan's only been able to
remain there a few minutes himself. He just isn't good at holding on to it
yet. Nor does he want to. Those who touch it for a few seconds, bring
whatever they were dreaming of with them when they touch. If they were
having a nightmare, it survives in Tel'aran'rhoid long after they vanish
from the dream. And Neelkan isn't experienced enough to know how to
dispurse them yet. So when he comes across one of those nightmares, a Fade
no less, carrying one of his black curved swords, forged from a metal
unknown to the Light, and empowered with the life of a sacrifice. In the
waking world, all of a sudden on the bare chest of the young man, there is
a quick slash.. With nothing but air to slash him with. And his body
doesn't even jerk. Blood forms a second later. It isn't deep, and isn't
life threatening... but... that sort of thing just doesn't happen to normal
people, right? Maybe someone better try to wake him up... before he gets
himself killed by someone elses nightmare.

For the past hour, Tamin has been just.. watching. He watched Zaidah for
awhile.. but then, Tanomi peeked out. She doesn't often demand control, but
when she does, she gets it. Co-habitational curtosy, perhaps. So, silvery
eyes drift back to Neelkan to silently admire the first cute, shirtless man
she's ever had lead of to admire in her whole life. It's purely a hormonal
thing - she doesn't know him well enough to be attached in any emotional
way beyond the feelings of respect and budding friendship he's already
inspired - but hormones can be powerful. When she was just Tanomi, she
didn't get the chance to just.. look. To admire, even from afar. Men would
always sneer or scowl or make some rude comment to her, about her.. and you
can't admire a guy you hate! Hormonal or not! And since Tamin took over..
well.. he's a man! Men don't /admire/ other men! And he's been rather..
solitary, in an effort to keep the secret of his duality.. so this is
really the very first time she's ever had the chance to look, and she wants
to take advantage of it. Sure now that her fellow cross-dresser is
sleeping, Tanomi props herself up with an elbow on the pillow and cheek on
her hand, and just looks at him.. He looks very peaceful. A young face
framed by those streaks of white hair that seem to add years to him
unfairly.. She'd love to run her fingers through it just once, just out of
curiousity, but doesn't dare for fear of waking him. Broad shoulders,
strong chest.. Fit, just as a Proven should be. And awefully handsome. No
wonder Zaidah wanted to pull him up to his bedroom. After all.. just look
at that.. that.. o.o bleeding cut in his chest? Bwah? Tanomi blinks and
pulls herself up a little more, eyes widening in alarm. He's hurt! But..
how? Her eyes dart to his face and a frown of consern comes over her
expression. "Neelkan?" she says before realizing the tone of her voice is
not befitting her appearance. Bye bye Tanomi.. "Neel, wake up." Tamin
whispers in a harsh and urgent tone, leaning down near Neel's face and ear
to be better heard by him without disturbing Zaidah. "Wake up!"

Not that anything could probably disturb Zaidah until morning (or late
afternoon even...) and if it did, she'd probably just mumble and plug her
ears. Drunks. At first, there's no answer, and a second slash appears, this
time on his upper right shoulder, a little deeper then the last. A third
appears at his temple, very small, a grazing hit, as if he ducked out of
the way of a blow that was meant to behead him. Good thing he's good at
dodging or you might have the guy's head fall off right there in your bed.
Not an ideal 'after admiring' thing to see, is it? Nope. The third one
seems to be the last one as he somehow figures out how to "wish" himself
away. Out of the dream world, and back into regular dreams. The voice near
his ear can break through now, and he starts awake, eyes coming open
immediately, jumping back slightly in the bed as he does... and... ow. That
hurts. This has /never/ happened to him before. Not at this large extent at
least. Once he got a splinter in his thumb in the world of dreams, and woke
up with a stab there in the skin. But this /hurts./ Ow. Ow. Ow. "Blood 'n
ashes." It's never happened, but he's heard it does happen. One of the
dangers of dreamwalking. Which he would rather never do again, believe me.
The teacher gawked when he asked if there was any way to get rid of it...
Of course, she didn't know he could. Almost no one does. Four people in
fact. All women, go figure. Grrr. He reaches up to press his hand over the
cut on his shoulder, as it hurts the most and then looks over at Tamin,
blinking a little as blood drips down the side of his face. Um... How's he
going to explain this? The poor guy will probably think he's a male
channeler, or Shadow-cursed. Or something worse.... One of the good things
about being a dreamer (if you can call it good) is an instinctive ability
to wake up quickly. And it also came from being a bandit. Not good to sleep
during a raid by another group, you know! "Tamin..." How's he supposed to
explain? Well, he's not going to... he just kind of waits to see if the
guy's going to run away screaming. A crossdresser, a weird guy with white
streaks in his hair who falls asleep and has wounds mysteriously appear...?
Yup. You're the only sane one here, Tamin.

Which, as previously stated, doesn't bode well for you two! At any rate,
Tamin gets quiet alarmed as more wounds start to appear, and he's just
about to grab hold of the young man on his bed and shake him awake when
Neel wakes up on his own, and startles Tamin even more. Eek! The poor boy
blinks and swallows his exclaimation, falling back a little on the bed.
Okay.. heart, stop pounding! >.< What the hell just happened? o.O Tamin
lurks and just.. stares in confusion and wonder until Neelkan's speaking of
his name pulls him out of his fixed state. Eh? Oh! "Just lay right there, I
think I have some bandages around here.. They come in handy when I drop
something I'm working with on myself." With that, he pulls himself up off
the bed and searches through his drawers for the little box of basic
medical supplies he keeps handy, not so much as asking what the hell just
happened, or looking at all frightened to be around Neel. He is frightened,
but it's entirely for Neel's own safty. In a few scarce minutes, Tamin
produces his box of supplies and returns to the bed, sitting down on the
edge and sorting through some of the bandages. "I'll patch you up, but in
the morning you should go see a healer for some real treatment. Especially
for that one on your shoulder."

Whew. He's not running screaming and getting him named Shadowspawn or
something of the like. That's a real relief. Neelkan's a bandit, yeah, or
was at least, but he's just getting used to this island (shudder -
surrounded by water!!) and he'd rather not have people chasing him down the
streets throwing rocks. He keeps his hand over the wound on his shoulder,
pressing it closed as best he can. He's not exactly overly experienced, but
he spent four flaming months inside an infirmary, and saw the Yellow
Sisters bandage up people more times then he wishes he would have. Wasn't
much else to do when confined to a bed, besides glare at the women, which
he did quite often! He nods slowly at the bit about seeing a healer, "I'll
go see one of the bloody Tower Yellows 'morrow. Just hope the Fa---." He
trails off. He really should guard his tongue better. But if the Fade's
blade in the dream acts like a /real/ Fade's blade... he'd be dead right
now. The poison within the blade would eat him up from the inside out. But
whoever dreamed the Fade had never actually fought one before. It was much
slower then the real thing. And bigger. "'ey'll fix m' up though." He bites
his lower lip a moment, offering all the help he can to the bandaging
process. He is just glad Tamin doesn't seem interested in answers. ... Yet.
u.u

After finish out some scraps of cloth and bandages, as well as a few pins
to fix it all together with, Tamin puts his supplies in his lap and sets
about tending to Neelkan. The shoulder gets his attention first, Neel's
hand carefully removed from it and his arm straightened out to his side so
as to release some of the stretch his skin must endure. The blood is patted
away and then a clean cloth is pressed to the wound before he wraps a
bandage around it and ties it off rather then using one of the pins. One
down.. Next is the head wound, which is simply patted clean before Tamin
gives the little bit of cloth to Neel, telling him to "Press it gently to
the wound and hold it there. It's not too bad, so the blood will clot soon,
I'm sure." And now.. his chest. o.o It gets much the same treatment
everything else did - a good patting down to clean and then a fresh strip
of cloth pressed carefully but firmly against it to help stop bleeding.
Neel will have to sit up, but once he does, Tamin carefully wraps a long
strip of cloth about his torso and uses the pins to secure it before making
him lay back down again. Despite rough hands and calloused fingers, the kid
has a light, gentle touch. A woman's touch. :P Some things simply can't be
hidden, though it could be attributed to any number of things besides the
fact that he /is/ a woman. "There. Done." Supplies are packed up again, the
box is put back in it's place, and Tamin returns to his spot on the bed to
lay back down on his stomach. There is a moment of silence as he looks at
Neelkan before saying "I'm not going to ask, so you can stop being tense
waiting for it. You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to. Trust
me, I know the value of a secret, and I won't be telling anyone what I've
seen." And you have his solemn word on that one.

There's a quick relieved breath, which Neelkan wishes he'd taken back a
second later. He doesn't need to be relieved. He doesn't have anything to
hide... Really... ... Yeah, right. And Red Aes Sedai really /do/ wear metal
undergarmets. ... Not that he knows what undergarmets Red Aes Sedai
(they're the "men hating" Aes Sedai) wear! He grumps after a second, still
pressing the piece of cloth against his head. He's assuming the 'woman's
touch' has something to do with having two older brothers who were Warders.
They likely needed bandaging every so often after all. He just got a gentle
touch, nothing wrong with that. "'anks. Blood 'n ashes, ya just seem t'
tear secrets outta people, Tamin. Ya don't got some talent I don't know
'bout, d'ya?" First Zaidah gets discovered, now he practically does. All
the guy has to do is ask around 'How do people get wounds when their sound
asleep and there's nothing there to hurt them?' This is Tar Valon. The
people here know better then anyone about these sort of things. Siiiigh.
Maybe it would be better not to risk him asking around. He grumps a momemt,
arguing with himself, then mutters, "The Aes Sedai call it Dreamin'. Don't
worry though. It doesn't have nothin' t' do with the Power." Though a
majority of known Dreamers can channel it seems. But he's holding out for
the hope that he can't. Last thing he needs is to go insane, rot away and
die.

The relieved sigh is met with a slight half-grin and a softening of the
eyes as they lid half-way, Tamin pressing his cheek down into his pillow
get comfortable. The bit about tearing secrets out of people brings him to
chuckle lightly, and he releases the pillow he'd been clinging to as if he
simply couldn't get comfortable on his stomach. So, he shifts onto his back
and puts his arms under his head, staring up at the ceiling. "Yeah, I
suppose I do have some kinda gift manifesting, don't I? Guess it's just..
right place, right time. .. Or the opposite, depending on your
perspective." Honestly, he wouldn't go asking around. If Neel wanted to
keep him from knowing, Tamin is respectful enough of the guy's wishes to
not put forth the effort.. And honestly, he's seen so much weirdness today,
this didn't much faze him, and honestly, he's not sure he even wants to
know, anyhow. However, when he is informed, he arches up a brow and turns
his head off to the side to look at the man beside him. .... "Oh." .. Oh?
That's it?! Yep. That's it. Just 'oh'. After a moment of thought, he
wrinkles his nose and adds something with a few more syllables. "Must not
be very pleasant. There's no way to keep it from happening?" Apparently,
Tamin would have been looked at just as strangely by the teacher. n.nb

There's a grumble, and Neelkan mutters softly, "I wish." He'd shrug too,
but his shoulder is still sore. He really can't wait until the Gaidin get
around to teaching him a method of ignoring temperature and pain. That'll
be the day. No more sweating away on hot summer days, or freezing to death
in the winters. Too bad they can't teach him to ignore milk or deep water
though... "The Sedai could tell ya more 'bout it 'en I could, honestly. I
didn't e'en know 'bout it 'til I wound up in the bloody Tower." He just
thought he had extremely vivid bad dreams. That sometimes turned his hair
white in a few places. And got the guys in the bandit group to give him his
own room. No one wants to sleep with someone who sometimes wakes up
screaming, or kicks the bed so hard the frame falls appart and the bed goes
crashing to the floor... The guys he bunks with at the trainee barracks
already have enough to question him on. He just says he's a poor sleeper.
That's all. Honest. "I 'preciate ya not plannin' t' tell anyone. The Towers
a'ready got 'nough strings tied 'round m'. I don't want t' give all the
bloody Aes Sedai 'nother one." The Reds would likely try to gentle him. To
make sure he's not a male channeler. The Browns would want to study him. A
Green would probably try to bond him... It would be hell. Only two Aes
Sedai know (that he knows of...) and he'd like to keep it at those two.
They're flukes, after all.

"You know.. I don't understand you at all." comments Tamin softly as he
looks back up at the ceiling, his face taking on a thoughtful expression.
"You say you hate women, but you have devoted your life to protecting them.
It sounds like they make your life miserable and you dislike being there,
but you're staying anyhow. And excelling to boot! I know it's not easy to
get to Proven status." Slowly, he shakes his head and closes those cobalt
eyes. "Nope.. Don't understand you at all. Almost as confusing as..." ..
heh. His lips curl into a grin before Tamin motions with his head towards
Zai's general direction. "As her." Here's hoping he's not supreamly
insulted by the comparison. There is a pause before Tamin opens his eyes
again and looks over to Neel, brow arched and look somewhere between
curious and amused. "Did you two really.. uh... .. you know..?" Sorry, but
he's just /gotta/ know if it was a show or if it /really/ happened. Because
the thought of it, after the way he's seen them griping and bitching, is
just /too/ damn funny. "Are you two.. a couple..?"

The young man snorts softly, pulling the cloth away from his temple long
enough to feel if the bleeding has stopped or not before putting it back in
place. Neelkan makes no response at all to all that make him strange and
confusing. He does claim to hate women. But he would die for any one of
them. Even those he truelly hates. And there are some that he is beginning
to care a great deal for... One in particular... Who of course loves
someone else. Figures. He smirks a little at the 'almost as confusing as
Zai' bit, muttering that the 'firefly' certainly is the confusing sort
softly before he launches into 'the big question'. His eyebrows raise
briefly, then he shrugs (or half-shrugs, because he doesn't finish thanks
to his shoulder) and says as if it were no big deal at all, "Ye'h, after
she got m' drunk once, 'at's it. I barely 'member what happened m'self.
'member the mornin' fine though. Same day I got invited t' join the
Trainin' Program in fact." Yup. He was invited. He never would have joined
by himself. Someone /asked/ him to join. "But we're /not/ a couple. One
bloody time with 'at flamin' whiskey t' blame doesn't count f'r nothin'. It
was a long time ago." Less then a year... But still. Long time, burn it!

There is a silent 'oh' from Tamin, who grins lightly and nods his head a
bit, looking up at the ceiling. He resist all urge to ask purely innocent
questions like 'what was it like' which could be taken in very..
non-innocent and horribly prying ways, though it's hard to squelch his
curiousity. Still, he manages. "Drunk 'er not.. I don't think I could get
past the personality on that girl." Clingy, rude, cras.. Nope, not his
type. Despite the fact that, for a woman, Tamin could be considered quite
rude and cras.. By male standards, he's a pretty decent guy, though prone
to a few.. episodes. heh. "She's.. a real piece'a work. Don't think I'd
ever have the guts to try and pull one over on the Tower like she's done."
he remarks, shaking his head slowly to punctuate the point. "Though.. I
guess I can see why she does it. ... It must be frustrating.. I mean, to be
thought of as a less capable because of what you are. She can't help being
a woman.." There is a pause and Tamin closes his eyes, falling to silence
before he shows too much of how much he identifies with that need to break
free of the stigmas placed on women.. Wouldn't be good to give away his
/own/ secret, despite the fact that he knows both of theirs. "So they asked
you, eh? What'd you do that was so impressive as to get an invite?"

"'ey, she really ain't all 'at bad. She's got pro'lems, just like e'eryone
else. She gets close t' people like 'at t' keep 'em 'way..." What the heck,
Neelkan actually noticed? Well, ok, so he's not the most brilliant guy in
the world, but he understands a little about what she's doing. He was a
bandit. He'd sleep with barmaids and stuff, because he knew he would never
see them again. But he hasn't even put the moves on any of the women around
the Tower, unless one counts a smooch or two. He's even slept in a bed with
one and not even seen her with her clothes off. He didn't notice it the
first few times she was doing it, but as he got to know /Corain/ he learned
a few things. To the being looked down on by your gender, he grumps again,
"Tell m' 'bout it. Yer lucky yer from from Eharon, Tam. 'ere ya'd be
nothin' but a pretty face 'n a set of shoulders. Yer ma would have ya
married off t' some woman who'd tell ya what t' d' f'r ya e'en reach
twenty. Burn it, I'm glad I ran 'way. Too bad m' sis' had t' come 'n turn
up in the Tower. She's prolly gonna try t' have a say in who I can bond
too! She'll prolly try t' teach the woman t' treat m' 'properly' e'en. Burn
it! Boss m' round, more like it. Not t' mention bash m' o'er the head with
a bloody flamin' /log/ if I don't follow the commands fast 'nough.
Grrrrrrr." Um... Sorry. End rant. "Anyway, I did get invited ye'h. 'n I
wish I did know why. Jessian Gaidin, m' sponser, died a few months 'go.
Ne'er got 'round t' askin' why 'xactly."

She.. she.. huh? Bashing.. over the head.. with a.. log, you say? Tamin
blinks at the imagry and just stares at Neel for a moment.. before his lips
twitch slightly at the corners and he has to look back up at the ceiling
and press his lips firmly together to keep from laughing. "Oh.. My.. Yes, I
can see how that would get annoying after awhile.. A log, eh?" Snicker..
"Sorry.. I just.. Sorry." heh... Okay, he's better now. Ahem. "Yeah, I
imagine that'd get old very fast.. I'm sorry about your problems with your
sister." He pauses a moment to let the bit about Eharon sink in, furrowing
his brow.. "In Almoren.. it's pretty much the opposite. I- eh.. Tanomi..
uh.. that is.. we /both/ really hated it there." Smooth save, dummy. u.u;;
"Everything is about status, who is better then who.. Tanomi, she's.. very
independant. Alot like Zaidah, but.. I guess.. not with the same problems.
Growing up.. the other children wouldn't play with her because she was too
rough for the girls and the boys didn't want a girl around at all, no
matter how she acted. To me and my brothers, though.. She was one of the
guys. Cas and Raiden used to tease her about it, good naturedly, of
course." He smiles lightly with obvious fondness in his tone and expression
when he speaks of his brothers. "But.. she never really had any friends
outside the family. Luckily, our father didn't have the heart to chain her
to some man's side. Still.. .. I can just imagine what it was like, for
you.. for her.. for Zaidah.. Can't be very pleasant.." His voice trails off
from there, with a few additions along the lines of "But I wouldn't know
about that first hand, all things considered.." under his breath but still
barely audible. Ugh. Need to stop letting yourself go off on these rants,
boy. One day, you're gunna slip up. Still.. Neel is easy to talk to, and
he's missed having someone to talk to.

"M' sis has a great aim with a log. She's a natural. If she e'er makes Aes
Sedai 'n goes int' battle 'gainst the dark, the trollocs will run in fear
from 'er mighty log!" Neelkan snickers softly as he says that, almost, for
a moment, sounding proud of his big sister. Only for a moment, burn it!! He
glances over as Tamin goes into his little as he starts to slip up, and
then goes into a huge rant about his twin sister... He didn't mention a
sister the first time they met. Cas and Raiden were mentioned, but no
sister. Oh pah. Maybe she was mentioned and he forgot because of the ale!
Yeah. That's just it. And Tamin had a little help from the bottle tonight
too, so the slips ca be attuned to the substance in the bottle. "Ye'h,
well, yer lucky ya don't know first hand 'en, but if I would've grown up
'round ya guys, I prolly would've played with yer sis. 'long as she didn't
try t' boss m' 'round." And he would have defended her honor. And beat up
people who insulted her, and jumped infront of charging horses for her...
Yup. He's a pathetic guy alright. He hates women. They make him act all
funny. Grrrrr. "Burn it, I'm bloody keepin' ya up all night. Ya should go
back t' sleep. I'm gonna slip m' shirt back on. Don't want Zai wakin' up 'n
thinkin' we got int' a duel without 'er, 'r nothin'." He scoots over
carefully to the edge of the bed, mindful of his bandages as he puts his
shirt back on.

Talk of Aidou and her Mighty Log of Death draws stifled laughter from
Tamin, reduced to snickers and chuckles in an effort not to wake the
sleeping woman not too far from them. "She should have to pay the fee for a
liscence for any wooden objects she wants to carry around." he adds on with
a bit more snickering, a hand coming up from behind his head to wipe a bit
of moisture from his eyes. Oh damn, is he ever glad he isn't an Eharon. And
then, he has to go and.. be all.. /nice/! Damnit! You're not supposed to
say stuff like that! That you'd have played with her when she was little
instead of shunning her, and that you'd have stood beside her and her
brothers when somebody needed a pounding for saying mean things about her!
Sigh. The words bring a soft smile to his lips and he glances over at Neel,
expression filled with warm amusement and eyes glinting with slight
gratitude for the thought. "Yeah.. Yeah, I think you would have. She's not
really.. bossy, except when she has to be to get things done. More of a
live and let live kinda girl.. Yeah, I think you might like her.. She'd
probably like you, too. .. Doesn't get much company, I think." Argh. Damn
you for being nice! Why can't you be an asshole? Grrr. Sleep? "Can't
sleep.." Not with you laying there, anyhow. "But you're welcomed to try.
You probably need it, anyhow.. Those.. dream things can't be very
relaxing."

"If she e'er comes t' visit ya 'en, warn m', so I don't treat 'er like
e'ery other bloody woman 'en the world." Heh. Every woman in the world he
doesn't know is on a Scroll. Be Wary, Glare Whenever Possible, and Avoid
Conversation. Then some graduate to the 'Totally Evil Woman, Worth Every
Drop of Spite', and a few go to the rarely used 'Not Too Bad', and an even
/smaller/ number go to the Fluke Scroll. Also known as the 'Are You /SURE/
She's a Woman?' No matter what they're on though, he would not harm them,
or risk them getting killed if there was any way he could stop it. He would
fight to protect even Christabel, the Evil Woman of All Evil Women.
Grrrrrr. Even Darkfriend 'Dreadlady's can't be hurt by him. He tried once.
He still couldn't bring himself to hit her. Neelkan frowns at the bit about
not being able to sleep and thinks maybe he's worried about Zai groping in
the night? "Don't worry. I think she's too bloody trashed t' e'en think
'bout doin' anythin' t' ya. But yer right, it doesn't make f'r restful
nights." In fact, he usually avoids sleeping until he's about to pass out
if possible.

Comes to visit? That dims the look in Tamin's eyes, but rather then say
anything more on the subject, he just nods his head. Yeah, he'll do that.
"Can't miss her.. looks exactly like me." Yeah, down to the last detail.
u.u With a small, inaudible sigh, Tamin shifts back onto his stomach again
and is just about to plop his head down on his pillow and in his arms when
Neel makes the comment about a 'she' being trashed.. eh? He looks first to
the man beside him.. and then over to the only known 'she' in the room. ..
Oooh! Heh. Tamin grins slightly and then drops his head down, briefly
nuzzling into the warm fluffy softeness of the pillow. "Let 'er. Maybe
it'll give 'er a thrill." he remarks boldly with a smirk, eyes closing.
"Honestly though, I'm... not too worried about it. I haven't quite pegged
her as the kind of woman who'd feel you up in your sleep. .." One eye opens
and quickly fixes on Neelkan. ".. Is she?"

The first bit causes Neelkan to laugh loudly, reaching over to lightly
punch the young man on the shoulder (with his uninjured arm no doubt). He's
an okay guy, definately. Then he plops back on the bed easily to avoid
hurting himself more, laying on his back again, as he doesn't have much a
choice or his stomach or side without risking his wounds getting agrivated
or anything. He snickers softly at the 'Is she', and looks over at Zaidah,
"I wouldn't put much past the firefly m'self, but I do think she'd wait til
ya were 'wake. When she realized I wasn't enjoyin' m'self she stopped
tryin' t' get m' undressed 'gain." She really did hold his boot hostage so
he couldn't leave. He would have left without it if he really didn't like
those boots. He loves his boots. They're /perfect/ for him. *.* And the
sash that goes with his outfit is growing on him. The sash saved his life
once after all. Locked in the Prison of the Fort, with no weapons. Except
his sash. Which he tied around a rock he broke off of the wall of the cell
at one end. Bang. Byebye guard. "Go head 'n sleep." He yawns at the mention
of the s-word. "I know I will...*yaaaawn*"

Oh.. lovely. Here he was, all sure that Zai would leave him alone while he
slept.. and now he's not so sure anymore! Well.. that's why he's on his
stomach, right? To hide all those sensitive areas that could give away his
secrets. There's a little bit of hardly noticable squirming as he tries to
get comfy in all this binding clothing, but once it's done, Tamin settles
down and murmurs "Yeah.. Goodnight, Neel. See you in the morning." And with
that, Tamin closes his eyes and.. /tries/ to get some sleep.. though he
will only have marginal luck, and shall no doubt spend the majority of this
night with either Tamin watching Zaidah suspiciously, or Tanomi admiring
Neelkan. One of the two. u.u; And to think, he's the sane one in this
room... x.x