01/17/2001

Infirmary, White Tower, Tar Valon

Square in shape, this room is most often abuzz with activity. It contains
the normal implements of a teaching infirmary, in fact, it is extremely
well stocked with all manner of things: cots, jars, bottles, syringes,
bandages, cloths, cabinets, shelves, books and tables along with plenty of
hot water. The air has that sterile smell associated with the constant use
of redwort, tinged with the unpleasant prickle of witchhazel. While most of
the Healing is done via the One Power at the Tower, there are many minor
medical situations that are dealt with the old fashioned way.

There are several areas curtained off, for patients' privacy as well as for
instructional usages. This is a teaching infirmary for the Yellow Ajah,
after all. Beds in cheerful colors are lined up in neat rows, providing a
comfortable place to sleep after a Healer's tender ministrations. Windows
are kept wide open to all for light and fresh air.


You know... there's one person in this Tower who could likely be more
annoying to the normal inhabitants of the infirmary than Neelkan, and we
all know who that is. But, thankful for the nerves of all the yellows and
novices and accepted and other wounded, Zaidah is asleep. Sorry, what can I
say? I like waking up scenes. Thankfully though she's decently clothed
(though how she came to be that way is a story in and of itself).

Lucky. They seemed to enjoy sticking him in those damned infirmary robes.
Maybe they just liked looking at his legs. Or maybe they liked his reaction
to them... Neelkan enters the infirmary, having heard that his friend was
injured in the stampede the day before. He heard last night, but he needed
to sleep, and she probably did too, so it was best he wait til the morning,
right? He peeks into the infirmary, hears the collective sigh that is
usually caused by his entrance, and quickly insures the Accepted at the
door that he is just here to see Zaidah, and that's it. Another collective
sigh follows. "I get the feelin' ya guys don't like m'." He says to a
Yellow with a wink as he walks by her to go to the bed that was indicated.
Um... she's asleep. "Uh..." Should he wake her, or come back later? After a
moment he seems to decide to wake as he leans over and gives her shoulder a
light shake, "Zai?"

Poor Neelkan, universally feared and reviled by any woman with a yellow
shawl. It's not like he did anything to deser- wait... forget I said that.
Zaidah groans plaintively and bats at the offending hand disturbing her
sleep. But after a moment's pause she cracks a brown eye open and looks up.
Um... waiter... can you take this red peacock away? I think I'll order the
ribs again, thanks. No, that's not the whole of her reaction, just... what
she tries to tell herself her reaction is. In truth she's quite glad to see
him. She cracks a yawn and sits up, glancing down to make sure they did
actually get rid of yet another piece of clothing ruined by Raeth, so she
doesn't flash even more people. Though by now is there really anyone left
in Tar Valon who hasn't seen her bosoms? Not likely. "Hey. What are you
doing here?" Yes, she actually looks him over to see if he's hurt. He
couldn't possibly be here just to see her could he?

No hurts on this handsome young man. He's perfectly healthy this time, much
of the Light's thanks from the Yellows for that! The only one that doesn't
hate him is probably Espiria, and he would have rather her have picked a
different Ajah. Neelkan straightens and pulls his hand back, then watches
as the young woman wakes up. "'ey. Ya feelin' a'right? 'ese bloody Yellows
did heal ya, right?" He glances around to glare at the closest Yellow,
before turning his eyes back to her, smiling lightly. Oh wait, she asked
why he's here. Hmm? "Uh... t' make sure ya were alright. I heard ya were
hurt in 'at stampede 'n..." He trails off with a shrug, then adds, "You
/are/ a'right, right?"

See! Who needs Espiria? She can't even be nice and pick an acceptable Ajah.
Yellows are stupid anyway. Er... um... pardon me while I remove my foot
from my mouth now. Zaidah smirks at how many times, and in how many
different ways he asks if she's alright, "Yeah, I'm fine, pumpkin. Though
I-" no, nevermind, let's keep that comment to ourselves shall we? Good
girl. "Did you bring me anything," she asks with a grin. She really
shouldn't ask, but hey if he really did come to make sure she was ok then
she might as well milk it for all it's worth. Not with actual milk though.
*patpats*

Bring... her... something? Was he supposed to? Neelkan furrows his eyebrow
a little bit, looking a tad purturbed by the notion that he would have to
bring something... Does he have to? She never brought anything for him when
he was in here! ... Hey, good point. "Ya ne'er brought anythin' f'r m' the
thousand bloody times I was in 'ere." Then he follows up as he remembers
something, "/But/... I did bring ya somethin', so next time I'm in 'ere --
Light forbid! -- ya better return the favor. Deal?" He waits until she
agrees before he even makes a move to get whatever 'get well gift' he
supposedly is going to pull out of thin air in a few moments.

Zaidah grins and winks, "You never asked." And after a moment of thought
she adds... "Deal. Whatisitwhatisit?" Ok, ok, don't get so excited Proven
Queldyn. Well excuuuuuse me! She can't really help it. She's been sleeping
since yesterday afternoon and is still so tired that she's just a little
bit hyper. It happens to the best of us. Besides, he's cute when he does
the furrowed eyebrow thing and looks all perturbed- er... not that she
cares whether he looks cute or not. (Yeah right). Really! She couldn't care
less! (Pull the other one.)

Oh, he's cute is he? Hrmpt! Neelkan grins and turns away from her for a
second to pull something off of his belt, and dig around in it for a
minute. Whatever this gift is, it can't be anything very big, because the
belt pouch he has can only hold so much! After a few moments he makes a
soft grump, then another sound that's more cheery then grumpy and turns
around with whatever it is that he's going to pass off as her present in
his hand. He moves a little bit closer, his fist tightened around whatever
it is so it can't be seen, then holds it up. Try as she might, if she makes
a grab to pry his fingers open, it doesn't work (he's pretty strong
sometimes) and he just slowly brings the hand forward until he holds it
right in front of her face. Is he teasing her? Yes. Perhaps. He wants to
play this out a few minutes! It's fun. Then he opens his hand to reveal...
a pair of silver hooped earrings. Much like the ones her always wears
(though is only wearing one of), small enough to fit into the palm of his
hand without getting squished, though unlike his pair, these are plain,
Eharon hoops. No bird form in the mold. "Uh.. 'ere." He should give an
explaination, but he actually got them for himself, so... c.c Before she
can say anything he also leans forward and gives her a light kiss on the
cheek. You could call that an added bonus.

Is he trying to drive her nuts? Well he's doing a really good job. Zaidah
whines and bounces and does indeed try to pry his hand open and just
generally acts like a little kid until he opens his hand. Random movie
quote alert. You can always tell what a man thinks of you by the earrings
he gives you. End random movie quote. Ok, so it's not an exact quote. So
sue me. Well, the silliness of the present is proven (no pun intended) by
the fact that Zaidah doesn't actually have any holes in her ears (except
for the ones in her head and if you comment I'll make sure that beltpouch
never holds anything again). Still, it's not like he can see that now that
her hair has grown down to just above her shoulders, and all the same she
snatches them up just as greedily. Whatever she was going to say gets
shoved back down her throat as he kisses her on the cheek, and she just
kind of sits there with her mouth hanging open. Stop that Zaidah! You're
making even more of a fool of yourself than usual. So she looks at him a
little warily and says, "Thanks. They're pretty. Maybe these will help
prove to Raeth Gaidin that I do know how to act like a girl sometimes."
Ooops, did you say he got those earrings for himself? :D

Neelkan laughs for a moment, and then... peers at her. "Earrin's aren't 'at
girly, burn it." His own earring is dangling from an ear right now, so she
better take that back! "Unless ya think /I'm/ actin' like a girl. 'n if ya
say I am 'en I'll have t' poke ya in 'ose ribs of yers a few times." Did
she hurt his feelings? No, not really. He was used to being made fun of
when he was younger. He can't help it that he was raised by six women and
had little control over what he wore and what he didn't. And he /likes/ his
earrings. He would never give them to anyone. They're /his/. He earned
them. Just so she doesn't think he's angry and starts a fight (not that
they /ever/ fight...) he adds with a wink, "Ya don't have t' wear 'em. Just
keep 'em. 'r ya could give 'em back t' m' 'n break yer ribs 'gain so I
could come back with somethin' better." He's kidding.

Zaidah laughs and shakes her head, "No pumpkin. No one could ever accuse
you of acting like a girl. Being as pretty as one, maybe, and that fan's a
little... well you know." She winks again. Fight? Zaidah? She's the very
picture of meekness. She wouldn't pick a fight if her life depended upon
it! Instert 12 foot long nose --> Here. "Hmmm... there's an idea. Or I
could try bleeding to death so you'd have to take off your shirt to stop
the bleeding. That could be fun." She's kidding. Sort of. Just so he
doesn't get too uncomfortably -- or at least that's what she tells herself
-- she changes the subject and reaches up to tug on one of her ears. "I'll
have to get them pierced to be able to wear them."

"I can d' it." Neelkan says quickly, before she goes to some expensive
person in the city. "I'll just have t' borrow a few thin's from the
Yellows, so 'at ya don't get it infected 'r nothin', but I pierced a couple
of the bandit's ears, 'n m' own once 'en 'ey got healed o'er." It was
annoying when the holes in his ears healed up. "I promise ya won't bleed so
much 'at I'll have t' take m' shirt off though." He winks a little, moving
to pull a chair over and sit down in front of the cot. "M' sash maybe,
but..." He grins wider, kidding, then trails off and leave it at that.
"Prolly be best t' wait til yer outta 'ere. The Yellows might not like
seein' m' with a sharp object."

"Darn." Her tone says she's kidding though. She's seen him without his
shirt though, which doesn't mean she would mind getting a peek again but...
well that would probably be a little dangerous. "I'd like that though," she
says with a small, sincere for once smile. "Actually they'd probably rather
you do it somewhere they can supervise, but you don't have to do it now if
you don't want." What? She's actually being agreeable? Go fig.

"Ye'h, I'm sure 'ey'd wanna supervize, but I don't really like people
lookin' at m' while I d' stuff like 'at." Neelkan says with a shrug and a
grumble. He doesn't mind prying eyes when he's sword fighting or something
(unless he's getting his ass kicked) but ear piercing? That's something
he'd rather do in private. He reaches over and flicks her earlobe lightly
with his finger before adding, "Don't worry. If ya want 'em, 'n I'll fix ya
up. As long as ya promise not t' cry on m' 'r nothin'. I hate 'at."

Zaidah snorts and rolls her eyes in a very.. unlady-like fashion. "Please!
If I can have a broken rib unattended to and not cry during practice I
don't think a little ear pricking is going to phase me." And just to get
revenge she reaches over and tugs on his earring. Not enough to hurt or
anything, just to tease back. She's not flirting or anything, not at all.
"Why don't you like them looking at you," Zaidah asks as a change of
subject, with fairly sincere curiousity. "Being on display is one of the
few pure joys in the world. I would think you'd want to show off your
talent." Is she being serious? Um... probably half serious. It's so hard to
tell with her.

Neelkan laughs for a moment, then starts to humm softly under his breath,
the same song that he sang to her while she was confined to her room that
caused her to break down in tears on him. Is he mocking her? Either way, he
finishes the hummed chorous then winks and cuts off as he says, "'n I don't
like t' display m' talents t' e'eryone. Just 'ose people who I care what
'ey think. E'eryone else can just go crawl in a hole f'r all I care." He
shrugs, perhaps not just talking about ear piecing. It isn't exactly the
talent of talents you know...

Zaidah glares at him, but it's a good natured glare (if there is such a
thing) and she hmphs softly. "That's a different kind of pain," she murmurs
quietly, "and I've never met someone who's immune to it." And that is all
she has to say on that subject. No way is she going to cry in front of the
whole infirmary. Crying infront of him was bad enough. "Light, I remember
when I had that attitude." Except that she didn't care what -anyone-
thought, and as far as she was concerned they could go to the Pit of Dhoom,
not just any hole. Now look at her. Poor caring Zaidah. And this
conversation just definately took a depressing turn didn't it? Not good.
Must find cheer somewhere. Just.. give her a sec to think of something.

At the sudden turn of the conversation, Neelkan just grins even more and
leans forward until his face is right in front of hers and says, "Oh
really? Well, maybe I should b' a lil' more open with m' talents 'en, huh?"
He winks a little, and then hears the bell start to ring and flinches.
"Blood 'n ashes. I gotta go. I got a lesson t' teach. I'm gettin' real
behind on 'at, 'n the Gaidin 'r crawlin down m' teeth!" He laughs softly
and straightens, "Ya get outta 'ere soon, alright?" Without waiting for an
answer he starts to move towards the exit quickly, pushing past a few
yellows as he goes. He's either going fast to annoy the yellows... or he's
late.

Late is more likely. Men are always late. And Neelkan really knows how to
torment a girl. The invalid just glares at him as he runs away. "You can't
get rid of me that easily, fang boy! Not all of us can be lucky enough to
get to spends weeks here." And with that little jab delivered she flutters
her eyelashes and demands food 'cause she's hungry and she wants to go back
to sleep and she wants to get out of here so she can't be ambushed again.
This rampant... friendship is killing her.