12/21/2000

I can't believe I'm doing this. You did it before. Yeah, but that was
different. I... I don't know if I want to stay at the Tower anymore... So
far she's spent so much time drinking, fighting and 'whoring' that she
hasn't yet had time for the 'Erinin flooding in springtime' cry that she so
desperately needs to help heal her internal wounds. Right now she's just...
well she's keeping the pain inside and letting it fester like an untreated
wound. But she's certainly not going to do that here, and she sure as
Shayol Ghul is going to make sure her door is firmly -locked- next time she
does that. That's right, no pesky sneaking into people's rooms while
they're unsuspecting you evil bandit person. These thoughts are the reason
she's rather violently going through the racks of clothing, leaving a big
mess in her wake which the proprietor doesn't seem too happy about at the
moment, but the woman doesn't dare risk Zaidah's displeasure, not with that
wicked looking dagger at her waist. "You're out?? How can you possibly be
out?? I was here a week ago and you have several!"

Unsuspecting evil bandit person? Who's that? Ahem. Thinking of that person,
at all the loud sounds there's a voice off in one of the hallways back
where the dressing rooms are, "Is it a'ways 'is loud in 'ere, 'r did I come
on a lucky day?" Sure enough, there's no mistaking that voice an accent.
It's Neelkan, and he's moving into the main room to see what all this noise
was. He's been here longer then she has, but out of sight, because it took
him a little while to figure out how to put these things on, and then
another long while to work up the nerve to actually step outside and get an
opinion from the shop keeper. The style of clothing is obviously a mock of
Manetheran style, though with a little flashier style of Aelgar and
Coremanda mixed in. The long coat makes up a majority of the outfit, an
extremely dark fabric that's tinted in red so that it only really shows in
certain light. A pattern is traced along the front hem where it's buttoned
together, silver stained embroidry mimicing the pattern of vines. The coat
flares out at the knees, exposing a pair of black trousers. He's only
wearing one of his two earrings in his ear (the left hoop), perhaps to
avoid the possiblty of using it too soon after the last use (he loves his
earrings, but he isn't going to risk killing himself over them). He comes
to a hault when he sees who the source of the disturbances is, then can't
help but laugh softly at the irony. He didn't want anyone he knew to see
him in this yet. Oh well. The only thing really marring the picture is the
fact that his hair needs to be brushed in at least /some/ semblance of
style, and his chin is sporting a nice purplish bruise.

Zaidah freezes. Blood and ash, blood and bloody ash. I know that voice, not
to mention that accent. She ponders bolting for the door, but decides
better of it. He'd probably see anyway. She glances up and uses all her
powers of deception to -only- glance before she looks away. "Didn't fancy
seeing you here, pumpkin." Why do you hate me, Creator? What did I ever do
to you? I want my mommy! She does certainly get far more quiet, and far
more staid as she continues looking. "No, I'm afraid I have to have one
that looks exactly like the one I bought before. Gaidin's orders." She
glances over at her fellow Trainee again. "What's the point of wearing such
pretty clothes if you're going to look like something the cat dragged in?"
Didn't they heal him after all? Is she going to have to go crack some
Yellow skulls? (ha ha) Her tone and manner is rather... cool, distant...
and maybe a little callous. Definately a variation from her previous
behavior.

Hmm? She really is acting odd lately, isn't she? Maybe she's going through
one of those weird women things he doesn't understand and would rather not
know about. Neelkan grins and responds, "Ye'h, I could say the same 'bout
ya, Zai." He didn't expect to see anyone he knew here. Or at least he was
hoping. It would probably be a futile hope, because there would no doubt be
at least one person from the tower in this place that would recognize one
of the hardest trainees to mistake. If there's more then one with white
streaks in red hair who couldn't pass for older then twenty even if he
tried... then Neelkan is really female. :P At the last bit he shrugs a
little, running a hand through his hair as he says, "I'm not plannin' t'
wear 'em right 'way. 'ey're just f'r later. So 'at Wyn can't say I don't
have 'em." Then he pauses and glances over at the person running the store,
then back at his fellow trainee, "So ya think 'ese're nice 'nough? 'r
should I try on a few more?" He likes everthing about this, except the
embroidry. Maybe he can get something different specially made. As in...
non-plantlike. Plants are Denn's thing, not his.

"Why are you asking me? Do I look like I know anything about clothes?"
Zaidah barely even looks at him as she speaks. Then she turns to the girl
helping her. "Alright, well I'll just have to have one made. When can I
come back and pick it up?" Yes, she wants to get out of here as quickly as
possible. "Well... we can have it ready in two days, but we'll have to get
your measurements first." At about that point Zaidah is ready to pretty
much just walk out and never come back to this shop again, but Raeth said
-exactly- like the one that got sliced up, and she doens't know if they can
make one exactly like that anywhere else... Burn it all to the Pit of
Dhoom! "Fine." She mutters something under her breath. The girl leads her
more towards Neelkan, and the fitting area before she finds an open spot to
stop at. Zaidah mutters some more and then glances over at Neel again, "Why
don't you want Wyntere to be able to say you don't have them?" That makes
no sense whatsoever...

Neelkan raises his eyebrows at the mention of having to get measured in
order to have it made, though he remembers what that was like back when he
used to have to sit there while his mother and bigger sisters measured him
so they could have his own clothes made. He was the first and only male
child, so hand-me-downs were not something he got to know (thank the Light
they never stuck him in a dress... except that one time when he was five
when they were being mean and stuck him in a pink dress and tied his hair
up in bows and braided his first white streak... but he'd rather forget
that ever happened, thanks). He moves to follow the friend, leaning against
a shelf that holds folded clothes and fabrics as he responds. "'cause Wyn
won't lemme 'lone 'bout it. E'er since she saw m' dressed up nice... uh...
'en I wasn't intendin' t' be seen really..." mostly the truth, since it did
happen in a dream. He hadn't intended /anyone/ to see him like that. "she's
wanted m' t' do it 'gain. I figure I might as well find somethin' fancy 'at
I'd be caught 'live in, 'n wouldn't be too uncomfortable, 'fore she ties m'
up, measures m', 'n has m' clothes made f'r me!" Ok. That was a tad of an
exageration. Wyntere would never have done that.

"You're a horrible liar, you know that, pumpkin?" She doesn't care to press
the subject though. In fact she's trying hard not to care about anything at
the moment. "That's very clever of you. I suppose dressing up for your Aes
Sedai has nothing to do with it." Nevermind the fact that -she's- dressing
up for a Gaidin, but that's totally different. Zaidah's tone remains cool,
causing a slightly arched eyebrow from the seamstress. Neelkan may be
oblivious, but not everone is, and it quickly becomes apparent to her at
least part of what's going on and she chuckles softly. "Alright, spread
your arms." Zaidah glares at her, and then glares at Neelkan. "Try
something else on. You look like a flaming Nym or something with those
vines emroidered on." Anything but standing there watching her get measured
of all the bloody things.

"I'm not lyin'." Neelkan grumbles bitterly, wondering why people always say
he's a horrible liar, even when he isn't lying! Yes, Wyntere saw him in a
dream, but there was no reason to mention that part. It would be awkward
and weird, and he doesn't talk about his dreams with people unless he has
to. "'n I would hardly call Wyn 'M' Aes Sedai'." he mutters on, confused by
this whole thing, even if the lady isn't. So he's a little blind when it
comes to these things. So sue him. He takes a hint though and sticks out
his tongue lightly before moving back towards the rooms to change into one
of the other outfits he picked out, muttering something about how he didn't
like the vines either, but she didn't have to call him names, whatever a
Nym is.

"And uneducated too," Zaidah calls after him. "Haven't you ever heard of
the flaming Eye of the World?" The seamstress ahems, but Zai ignores her.
No bloody way is she going to moderate her flaming langue for a burning
stranger. Let the woman disapprove. She's not going to correct his notion
about Wyntere not being his Aes Sedai, though she does roll her eyes a
little. Can he really be -that- dense? The seamstress, who we shall call...
Neli chuckles softly and whispers, "He doesn't know does he?" And she had
to say that just when she was measuring the female Proven's bust too, of
all things. Zaidah stares at her, and then narrows her eyes and looks away.
"There is nothing to know," and her tone holds all kinds of threats in it.
"I'm sure there are shops around here where people mind their -own-
business." The girl bites her lip, but is clearly amused, which only
frustrates Zaidah more.

Turning around, Neelkan yells back, "The only eyes I need to know about are
m' own, 'anks!" Then he moves into the dressing room and immediately
changes. The outfit he returns in is quite different then the one he
entered in. Except for the fact that the theme has remained black and red.
With blue added in this time. The trousers are fairly tight fitting,
hugging closely at the legs and where they're tucked into his boots. The
top is a short coat, that doesn't go down past his waist, so that...
ahem... it could be considered scandalous in some places. The coat has a
triangular flare that starts where it's buttoned together halfway up his
chest, the edges of the flare being red, while the main body of the coat is
an extremely dark blue. No fancy embroidry this time, but the fabric is
nice, and the shade of red doesn't clash with the dark shade of blue, so it
doesn't hurt someone when they look at it. "What 'bout 'is one? Any
better?" The question is again, directected at his friend. He doesn't know?
Know what?

Neli eyes him openly and grins, "No complaints here." That, of course earns
her a swift, surreptitious kick from her Zaidah. Finally she actually looks
at him without quickly glancing away, and motiones for him to turn around.
Once he has (if he does) she smirks and says, "Sure if you want every Aes
Sedai, Accepted and novice looking at your ass when you wear it. Really
pumpkin, and I thought -I- was the immodest one." She tears her gaze away
and snaps at Neli, "Aren't you done yet??" "Yeah, yeah, keep your shirt on.
I'm almost done." Zaidah's outstretched hands clench into fists, before she
forces herself to relax. -I- don't care. I -don't- care. I don't -care-.
None of them seem very convincing though. Meanwhile, Neli does finish up
her measurements and jots them down on a little notepad. Good, does this
mean she can go now??

"Ya think 'ey might kick m' out f'r wearin' 'is? It wouldn't b' any fun t'
wear if 'ere wasn't the change." Neelkan says with a snicker, looking down
at himself. He fingers the front of the coat idly and adds as he starts to
move back towards the dressing rooms (oblivious to the fact that they might
get a chance to catch a nice peek at that same ass they mentioned as he
does) and mutters about how it would probably be even /more/ immodest if he
didn't bother to button it at all. Ahem. Someone's obviously wanting to
prove he /isn't/ an ideal trainee. That struck a nerve, ya know! He works
hard to keep his reputation!

He wants to prove that does he? Well Zaidah could certianly think of a
way... or two... "Or why wear clothing at all? I bet that would kicked you
out faster than you could say Amyrlin Seat. But then, there's far more
interesting things to do to get kicked out, like seducing a novice or two,"
not that she thinks he'd actually ever do that, but she's just bitter
enough to say something like that. Neli adds, "Or another trainee," which
earns her -another- kick. "Are you insinuating that dear Neelkan favors
men?? What an aweful rumor to start!" Not that she would -dream- of
mentioning that she has proof that he doesn't.

Men!? Who said that!? Neelkan peeks back out of the dressing room, half
dressed and /glares/ at the both, though he doesn't yell anything, believe
it or not, before pushing himself back inside and getting dressed yet
again. This time, what he comes out in is perfectly modest, if a tad...
green. Bright blue-green. The long vest is in perfect Eharon style,
covering him modestly and resting against a white silken shirt and dark
trousers (though they seem to be the exact same trousers as before, but
with proper... ahem... coverage). He tugs at the vest a little bit and
glances up. That vest really works wonders for those eyes of his... Though
a darker shade of the same color would probably be better. Stands out less.
Though since when did Neelkan care about standing out?

The pair of the smile as innocently as newborn babes when he glares at
them. By the time he emerges again Zaidah is debating slipping out the next
time he goes back in, but for now she is leaning against the wall,
inspecting her nails. She glances up and murmurs, "I liked the last one
better. But of course I'll leave it up to Master Perfect Trainee's
judgement since my own seems to be so flawed." She's not looking at his
eyes, or how wonderfully the vest brings them out, or how the whole thing
contrasts so beautifully with his hair, and even the way he stands out is
nice, but she's not thinking about that, really. "Oh, which reminds me,"
though why is anyone's guess. "Where's my flask? I do want that back at
some point." You thief.

There's a mock gasp from the young man and Neelkan puts a hand to his chest
as if wounded. "My dear firefly, you injure me." Yes, it's said without his
normal accent, and in total jest. He doesn't realize it could be taken as
flirting, because this is how he would talk to the closest of his friends
amoung the bandits when they would tease him about something. "And here I
thought you'd given it to me as a gift. While I was laying on that bed
hanging on to my life by a thread!" Talk about melodramatic... And he
certainly doesn't sound the same when he's faking a normal dialect. "Your
flask saved me, and now you want it back??" He turns away after giving a
fake wounded expression. "Fine. I see how it is. I'm only your friend if
one of us is dying." Alright... Was he drinking on that flask while he was
in the dressing room?

Zaidah is suspicious that that's exactly what he was doing, and she arches
an eyebrow at him incredulously. (In fact just like the picture that links
the heroes page to my main page, that is her exact exression, just..
without the scar. :)) "Neelkan? Have you been smoking trigreen behind my
back?" So.. you're saying he flirted with the other bandits? Tsk tsk, a
tragedy for women everywhere. Finally she smirks and pushes off from the
wall. "Fine, keep it. I'm outta here." Now the question is.. which is
worse, obnoxious flirting, suggestive Zaidah, or cold, apathetic Zaidah?
With that question hanging in the air she makes her way to the door. "I'll
be back Turetz, it better be ready by then or I'm taking half out of what
the Tower is paying," what, you didn't think she'd spend her -own- money on
a -dress- did you??

Um... He doesn't realize most would see it as flirting. But that surely
does explain why some of the men in the bandit group were rather anxious to
get him out to bars where there were women to prove that he didn't... hate
women /that/ much. Neelkan chuckles softly at the first reaction, and
shakes his head, but doesn't get a chance to respond with the truth before
she dismisses herself. Eh... "Wait a bloody minute..." He moves over and
reaches to grab at her elbow so she doesn't leave on him, but she knows how
to fight so he seems to expect she'll be able to get out if she really
wants to, "Zai, I was kiddin'. Ya looked like ya needed some cheerin' up.
Light, what's wrong with ya lately?" Though then again, she's never been
exactly easy to deal with... He thought they were making progress though!
He was sure he had a friend, even if she was a woman... "Blood 'n flamin'
ashes. The only thin' I know 'bout ya women is 'at yer the most confusin'
things weaved int' the bloody Wheel." And that, young Neelkan, is all he
probably will ever know...

Zaidah freezes when he puts his hand on her elbow, and turns, violently
yanking it from his grasp. "What's wrong with-?? ... Nothing, nothing's
wrong pumpkin." She looks at him quietly for a long moment and then
continues, "Neelkan, I'm probably going to Essenia as soon as Raeth decides
I can call myself a Gaidin... maybe before... I don't know. It really
depends on my sister. If all goes as planned... well... I won't be coming
back." For a moment her voice sounded a little tight there, and she reaches
up to rub her eye, murming something about having something in it. Running
away eh? Yes. I wasn't built for stuff like this. Maybe money and power
will give me a sense of humor again and I'll just go back to having fun.
Yeah, that would be nice...

Looking completely confused the entire time, Neelkan just returns the look,
unsure what she is going to say until she says it, and when she does... he
lets his hand drop from where it was being held up, despite losing the
elbow it was grabbing. He seems to be more then a little surprised to hear
that. After a pause he says in a questioning voice, "I thought ya wanted t'
stay at the Tower...?" Then he shakes his head, as if correcting himself,
or stopping himself and adds with a dismissing wave of his hand, "Whate'er.
Ya can d' whate'er ya flamin' want I guess." It isn't his job to tell her
where she can go and where she can't. Besides, it's what she wants, right?
He doesn't why he doesn't like the idea though... he never really cared if
he had to say farewell to someone before. Not even the Leader or his
family, and the Leader at least was really cool! Bah. Blood Tower, changing
people. (sound familar?)

Unfortunately, that is exactly what Zaidah doesn't want to hear right now.
"-Thanks-. So good of you to give your -permission-. You know what, next
time I have a major life change to talk about I'll know who -not- to
mention it too. The -least- you could do is care..." She so wants to hit
him right now, just to hurt him a very little, but she doesn't. Instead she
storms out, slamming the door behind her. Neli whistles, "Good thing she
didn't break that or I'd make you pay for it." Oh yeah, like that's fair?

Wha.. when.. huh? Neelkan works his mouth as she yells at him and storms
off, then sighs and shakes his mean, grumbling a few curses at the woman
who is totally unfair (like all women) before muttering, "Guess she really
hates m' now..." But he doesn't understand what he did? She never liked it
when he showed all that concern before!? She's so confusing. Even more then
most the others. He'll have to do something to apologize (though he doesn't
know why he should, he didn't do anything wong!) Grrrrrr! Women!

That brings a laugh from Neli, and she just shakes her head at him, "You
should be so lucky." No, hate would be far and away simpler than the real
situation. She ponders telling him, but has a sinking suspicion that would
lose her a customer... So instead she asks, "So are you going to buy that?
Personally, I vote for the short coat." She giggles and winks at him while
she writes down some things in one of her ledgers.

There's a long pause as Neelkan wonders what the woman means, then he
shakes it off and says that he'll be right back. He goes back to change
into his normal clothing and sets aside the first outfit he wore out and
says he'll take the rest. Which means the white silk shirt, the short coat
and the long vest, and the tight trousers. That way he'll have her
suggestion, and a long vest so his sister won't ping him over the head for
being indecent. Whatever price she gives, he has it, though not much more.
But don't ask where he got it...