02/26/2001


Amyrlin's Study, White Tower, Tar Valon

A simple office, matching the temprament of the woman who works here. A
carving of a man balanced on one leg about to throw a javelin, done in
polished wood, is present on a small table. An old desk, battered and
comfortable rather than polished majesty, is present as well, along with a
few simple chairs. What need for externals when the woman herself is able
to provoke so much awe? Papers are kept in neat arrays across the desk, and
a few boxes, warded, hold sensative material.

Dominating the wall is a huge map with push pins within it, detailing the
movements of armies across the world. A supply of pins hangs from a bag
from the frame of the map. Black is for Dark armies, white for Light
armies, some with little flags detailing where each army originates: red
for Manetheran, etc. A soft blue rug covers the floor.


There's a soft knock on the door, and after a moment it opens and Neelkan
peeks his red and white fluffy head inside the door. He certainly doesn't
look any older then he was when they first met, though he's grown up a
little bit since that day in the infirmary. "Kaomi? Ya mind if I come in? I
kinda wanted t'.. uh.. talk." And no doubt he had to sweet talk his way to
get into the office, but with all the loveydovey stuff going on lately,
people might have been too distracted to stop and make sure she wasn't busy
before he goes ahead and enters.

Kaomi had her back to the door. She was standing very very carefully in a
hole in the Spirit weaves. All that is evident to a non-channeler, of
course, is the fact that she was rock still, holding her hands slightly out
to the side. She's a little stiff because she's been that way since they
flooded the city, patiently trying to figure out what exactly they are,
what their source is. But Neelkan's voice startles her. She moves quickly,
spinning around. She spins her way right into one of them. She blinks
several times. A frown appears on her features, as if she's trying to shove
somthing away, or shake herself. And then she smiles, a genuine smile
rather than the small polite or wry thing she usually gives out. "Of course
you may come in, Neelkan."

"Oh good." Neelkan pushes his way into the room and closes the door behind
him, leaning back against it once it's secured. He doesn't see the weaves,
but when one lives in the Tower it's a little hard to miss the fact that
something is going on that has the Sedai and students a little creeped out.
He's not going to ask what's going on. He'd rather not know. "I wanted t'
say I'm glad yer better!" He pauses, then admits a little softly, "E'eryone
was real worried 'bout ya f'r a while 'ere." Including himself, not that
he'd admit to it! "I was gone, 'r I would've helped 'em save ya!"

Kaomi steps a bit closer, then smooths her stole self-conciously.
Awkwardly? "I am somewhat glad you did not," she says softly. "The party
that went was nearly blown to smithereens. I," she clears her throat. "I
wouldn't want to loose you. As an asset! An asset. To the Tower. Yes. A
fine Gaidin." She plucks invisible lint off her skirts.

Um.. Huh? Neelkan has a weird feeling that something isn't quite right
here, but he shrugs it off, putting it into the 'women are strange
creatures' explaination folder. "If I would've been 'ere I would've made
it. I'm not easy t' get rid of." He shrugs a little bit, not really sure
why she's acting that way. But then maybe spending so long asleep made her
a little funny in the head. Yup, that must be it. He pushes away from the
door and runs a hand through his hair, looking around the room a moment.

Kaomi folds herself into one of the comfortable chairs, tucking her feet
firmly beneath her. It makes her look like a child, or a doll. "Please.
Have a seat." She reclaims some of her grace, training and old faces taking
over after her momentary lapse.

"A'right." Neelkan says, moving over to one of the other comfortable chairs
and ploping down into it, slouching back. "Oh, blood 'n ashes, ya gotta
tell m' where ya got 'ese chairs! I need one of 'ese f'r m' room." He moves
around a little bit, settling into it comfortablely, pulling his arms
behind his head. He doesn't notice that he just sat in one of those little
weave things until he glances over to grin at the woman who happens to be
Amyrlin who he's always called Kaomi... and for a moment his grin faulters
a second, as if surprised, then he recovers and says, "I.. uh.. did miss ya
bein' 'round, Kaomi." Gasp! And he admits it.

Kaomi gives another bright smile, self-conciously pushing a lock of hair
back from her face. "I want to see more of you. You're fully Gaidin now,
are you not?" She clears her throat and makes a good show of being
Motherly. Even with a mild blush creeping up her neck.

"Uh, ye'h. I made full Gaidin," Neelkan responds with a smile, not looking
embarassed or self-consious, but he does find himself oddly wanting to
spend a lot more time with her. The same feelings affect different people,
different ways, and this is how it effects him. "So, ya'll be seein' a lot
more of m'. I mean I'm a Gaidin now. It's m' job t' protect ya, right?"
This is when he looks self-consious for a brief moment and adds quickly,
"But I would've protected ya e'en if I wasn't of course!"

Kaomi smiles brightly and leans forward. "Do you have a bond yet, Neelkan?"
She should know that detail. She should have asked. Surely that was the
most important thing she might have found out upon waking up: whether
anyone had snatched Neelkan up.

Oh yes, Neelkan's just in so high demand. He blinks at the question and
shakes his head a little, "I'm ain't bonded yet, no." He glances away for a
moment, looking a little sheepish, before he catches himself. Geez. The
other bandits would kick him for being this pathetic! He doesn't like
women.. really.. (uh-huh) just.. Kaomi's different! She's Kaomi! ... There
is too a difference!! Grrr.

"The Amyrlin," Kaomi says offhandedly, trailing a hand back and forth along
the arm of her chair, "is of all Ajahs and none." She looks up at him
through her lashes, almost shyly.

"Ye'h, I heard 'at." Neelkan glances over, looking a little bit confused
and not exactly catching her drift at the moment. He may have been a Tower
resident for well over a year, and a Gaidin now, but he's still clueless
about some things. He looks over at her, blue-green eyes obviously confused
(and more then a little adoring -- are not!! -- oh blood and ashes, he's
gonna be banging his head against the wall for a year when this is over),
"What'd'ya mean?"

Kaomi clears her throat. "Well...I'm...fond...of you, Neelkan." That's an
understatement. She was fond of Neelkan before strange Spirit weaves took
over. That's the Amyrlin in degrees: if she's fond she won't say so. If
she's head over heels, she's 'fond'.

Neelkan was fairly fond of her himself, ever since they first met. Part of
the whole reason he very rarely called her 'Mother' or 'Amyrlin'. Some
people consider it rude to call people of title and station by their name,
he on the other hand thinks it's rude to do the exact opposite. He stares
at her for a moment, unsure what to say (another head butting moment), and
then he grins lopsidedly, "Ilike ya a lot t', Kaomi." Again,
understatement, but he's never been good at the whole 'I love you' thing.
Blame his family. Though, she's gonna have to give him a couple hints where
this is going, because he's confused. (What else is new?)

"I...I...I'm in--that is, I'd like to bond you, Neelkan." Kaomi says,
though she can't keep a...slightly goofy grin off her face. (You're not the
only one whose going to go smash the old noggin up against a hard surface
when this is all said and done. "If you're willing."

Neelkan's head is pretty hard so they could probably bang them against each
other, but that might give the wrong impression. Ahem. He stares at her for
a few moments, then pushes himself up out of the chair and walks over,
shrugging his shoulder, "I.. I think I'd like 'at, Kaomi. I mean.. uh..
ye'h. Ya can bond m'." He grins a little wider, then clears his throat,
running another hand through his streaked hair. "

Kaomi stands up, smiling. "Oh Neelkan," she whispers. Then she clears her
throat and brushes fingertips across your forehead. A featherlight touch
that brings a warmth,and suddenly an awareness of one another.

Standing there for a few moments, Neelkan waits for the big great bonding
to occur. He took lessons on it, you know. It's kinda required, to know at
least the basics of what it is to be a Gaidin, and bonded, but it didn't
quite prepare him for the reality of being so aware of someone else. His
eyes widen and he stares across at her, breath catching for a moment.
"Kao..mi.." Then he blushes bright red. This is just so much more intimate
then he was perpared for when he walked into this office. He was expecting
to apologize! Not fall in love.

Kaomi senses: Some Gaidin are said to be fairly emotionless, Neelkan is the
exact opposite. He's bundle of emotion, and right now he's mainly
surprised, more then a little embarassed, and very much in love (and he's
going to be kicking himself so much when this is over).

From Kaomi you sense: Kaomi's bundle of emotions meets Neelkan. She feels
very much in love. Raeth might recognize the emotions because he's felt
them aimed at him so many times. Only this time they aren't aimed at him at
all. Though the bond does not transmit the two men's emotions to each
other, both might be aware of the other's presence, like an annoying
pinprick at the back of the consciousness.

Kaomi senses: It's so strange. Neelkan always knew, to a point, that his
family loved him in their strange little way, but he's never felt the
semblance to anything like this in his direction before. Of course, he's
never been bonded to someone, so if people have felt so for him, he didn't
notice (somehow that isn't a surprise that he wouldn't). For now the
pinprick is ignored, as he just tries to soak in all of this strange, new
emotion. Directed towards him, that he shares.

Kaomi's eyes widen in surprise as she catches Neelkan's feelings. "Oh. Oh
my." She blushes, and /almost/ giggles. /Almost/. "Well. Well." She clamps
her mouth shut before she can utter another inarticulate 'well.'

The blush just brightens a little bit and Neelkan glances away, closing his
eyes as he continues soaking in the strange emotions. He has to recover
soon before he loses all face! (But one has to remember he's an eighteen
year old boy.) "I.. uh.. ahem. It isn't 'xactly how I pictured it." He
chuckles a little bit, glancing back to her.

Talk about robbing the cradle. Kaomi's 152. "Its better this way," she says
softly. She steps forward and puts her little hands up on his shoulders.
"This way there's no guessing, no dancing around words. Saying...I love
you...is more fearsome than a thousand trollocs if you have no inkling of
the other person's feelings..."

"Ye'h.. yer right." Neelkan says softly, for a moment his admiration for
the woman growing even more. He reaches up and brushes fingers along her
cheek for a few moments, then says softly, "I.. I d' love ya, Kaomi."
Though, she knows that. He just figured he might as well say it. (Definate
head bashing when this is resolved.) He leans forward a little and moves to
kiss her.

Kaomi stands up on tip toe to meet Neelkan's kiss with passion, looking and
feeling utterly delighted. She hugs him close, nestling into him in that
comfortable way that only two people in love can do. That way that washes
away all the aches and pains of the day just by being in contact with the
other person.

The door to the study bursts open with Raeth comming in fast. The look on
his face is dreadfully evil, the granite face cracking with the deepest
anger; the staff painfully gripped in his hands. "What in the blight's name
is...." And he freezes in his tracks at the scene. The looks on his face
turns to black death, the icy gaze drilling into both of you. Before you
know it, the staff twirls and he's going for Neelkan, a wicked snarl on
Raeth's face.

.... Um... ack! Note to self: Love hurts. Neelkan pulls away at the sound,
immediately trying to push Kaomi behind him. He's going to be a good
Gaidin, burn it! But... what he sees isn't exactly something that he needs
to protect /her/ from. His eyes widen, and Kaomi would feel that he isn't
scared (he honestly doesn't get scared of people -- call it a flaw), but he
is a little conserned and startled. Maybe he should hide behind Kaomi!
Unarmed as he is, the only defense he has is his general ability to dodge.
And he ducks around a little bit, yelping, "'ey! What're ya doin'!?"

From Kaomi you sense: And through the bond...a sudden realization of doing
something she doesn't want to do, doesn't mean...fighting to reclaim
herself...only to be quickly buried under the anger that is the 'natural'
response to these all too sudden feelings. A niggling feeling that
something is very very wrong...a war with herself. (You're damn right
something's wrong! How dare he!) (No, I mean something's /really/ wrong!
Look, Kaomi! You're standing in a bunch of Spirit weaves!) And then...just
the cold fury.

Kaomi draws herself up to her full height. Or lack thereof. In either case
the source blazes within her and she makes an elaborate gesture with her
hands. A measure of how flustered she is, really, she has not used such
pneumonic devices in over a century. The effect is the same, and
instantaneous: a massive wall of Air appears between her two Gaidin. She
stares at Raeth in a most displeased manner. "What do you think you are
doing?"

A knock comes at the door at this moment, and Denn'ryiel opens the door
slightly, stepping inside. She has a rather wide smile on her face, but she
straightens it and curtseys to the Amyrlin. "Forgive my interruption,
Mother," she says. "But I was told Neelkan was here?"

Raeth crashes into the invisible wall and the snarl only deepens. The
staffs twirls and strikes out at the wall, his killing gaze never leaving
Neelkan for a second. Raeth snaps around at Kaomi, his voice icy cold.
"What do YOU think you're doing?" He stops knowing this isn't getting him
anywhere. "And you? For how long has this been going on? Neelkan!" The
staff twirls angrily cutting the air, his breathing comming with some
difficulty. First Zaidah, then that women and now this. His gaze snaps
around at Denn.

Oh good, he's not trying to bash his head in with that staff anymore.
Neelkan stands still for a moment, glancing over at Kaomi as if worried
about her. It takes a moment to register that there is another person at
the door, and he hopes this one isn't going to swing something at his head.
Oh, it's Denn. Whew. Much better then mad, insane Raeth-man. He waves
towards his friend, suddenly realizing that he should feel a little guilty.
Didn't she want to bond him before? But the whole love thing sort of has
that drowned out right now. He looks a little sheepish and glances over at
Kaomi again. "'ey, Raeth, ya.. I.. 'is wasn't planned, ya know. It just.. I
hadn't seen 'er since she went t' sleep like she did, 'n.." He blushes a
little bit, then immediately wishes the blush would go away. "I didn't
realize 'til I saw 'er 'gain!" Oh yes, someone is going to maim whoever is
behind these weave things. Yup.

"That's right!" Kaomi snaps defensively. "Its been going on a full five
minutes!" She says 'full five minutes' as if she means forever. She stops
and blinks and rubs at her temples, feeling a migraine coming on, that slow
promise of night long torment begining its drumbeat just above her right
eyebrow.

Kaomi senses: It's obvious that Neelkan cares about Denn, but it's
friendship, maybe a little more, but nothing compared to the burning
emotions he has for the person he shares this bond with, and for a second
there is a slight bit a guilt, that gets buried a second later. A little
confusion.

Denn'ryiel blinks. She obviously hadn't been expecting a scene when she
arrived. "What's been going on?" she asks, before shaking the question off
herself. It really didn't matter, there's only one thing she came for. "I
shouldn't have disturbed you," she said. "When you're finished discussing
with Neelkan whatever it is you're talking about, could you send him to me.
I want to talk to him about... cementing our relationship." She looks
rather smitten and naive at the moment; fortunate that she didn't notice
Raeth's glare.

Raeth charges towards Kaomi, "Five minutes? And that's all it took for you
to embrace and kiss him? Is that how simple it is for you? And you even
bonded him? Are you out of your mind???" His eyes narrow, "I knew this day
would come. I knew something was wrong. For a year and a half I questioned
myself. Do you love him?" Raeth glances around towards Denn, "Relationship?
Can't you even see it in there eyes? They were kissing each other, Denn.
They love each other." He takes a step back, not even believing what he jus
said.

What? Neelkan stares at Denn, then at Raeth. This is all just going to fast
for his mind sometimes. He wasn't made for lengthy thought processes, and
women are a subject that has always confused him, "Kaomi..." Yup, that's
definately a tone of someone deeply smitten. She might have loved him for a
year and a half? And wait, Denn was saying something. "Denn.. I'm sorry.
I.." Blood and ashes. Even bonded to a woman he can't understand them at
all. He wants to apologize, but right now he wouldn't take back getting
bonded to Kaomi for anything in the world. (Burn these bloody weaves). He
scratches at his hair, and notices Kaomi seems to be in some kind of mess
right now, and sadly, Denn is forgotten (you can't blame him, he's under
the influence!), "Kaomi? ... Ya a'right?"

From Kaomi you sense: The migraine grows and grows. Kaomi tries to think
through it. Think! Something is wrong. The obvious pain Raeth is in rips
through the core of her, yet something else is in control, telling her she
loves Neelkan. Its a lot like being drunk...you know, when you're just
drunk enough to KNOW you're acting stupid, but can't stop yourself? And
occasionally the surface emotions swim back up, total love for Neelkan. She
feels like a woman drowning and the growing headache only makes it worse.

Kaomi puts a hand to her head and begins massaging her temples.
Infatuation, anger, confusion, love all flitter across her face. She sits
down, massaging the back of her neck, looking nauseated. She dims all the
lights in the room because they only make her growing headache worse. The
Amyrlin doesn't admit feeling well and she doesn't squabble. She gathers
the shreds of her dignity and concentration together and looks squarely at
all of them. Slowly and carefully she articulates: "I would like for all of
you to leave my office, please. Something strange is going on and I do not
think it is a good idea for...I'm not going to explain myself. Raeth,
Neelkan. As my Gaidin, I charge you: do not hurt one another. Do not make
me compulse you my love." She frowns, trying to decide which person she
means by that, and decides the exersize is fruitless as the pain washes
over her some more. The stress of the past weeks has finally exploded into
a great star in her head. "Facts. I need facts. People are..." People are
what? She grabs a stack of reports. "Getting married. All over town. And
there are Spirit weaves, all over town." In love she may be, but she is
still very very smart. She pushes herself, shutting down emotions via
reflex so she can /think/.

Raeth walks towards Kaomi, staring down at her with those blue eyes, "I
don't love you. I never did. Took me a year and a half and today to realize
that. Have a happy life, Amyrlin." The words come out so painfully from
Raeth that it almost makes Raeth look sad. Almost. "Neelkan. If you come
within my staff's reach, I will kill you." He says to Neelkan seriously and
like if he were commenting on the weather. You can't blame Raeth. Today has
been one very weird day. Maybe after he thinks it over... but right now...
that's what is on his mind. "Compulse me? You probably already did." He
finally says and walks out looking for someone to bloody cut off the bond
from him and the little traitor.

Getting married? Spirit weaves? This makes no sense to the White Sedai
who's world comes crashing down in three easy steps. From Raeth's harsh
message to Neelkan's adoring words to Kaomi's loving face, it's enough to
make the poor woman forget her protocols and escape from the room, keeping
enough dignity not to cry as she does so.

Gulp. Neelkan just shakes his head for a moment, noticing that Denn is gone
from the room and Kaomi obviously wants him to leave. Hurting Raeth never
even crossed his mind, because he knows it would only hurt her, and he
doesn't like hurting people that he cares about. Especially not someone he
cares this strongly about. He stands there a few moments, then offers a
small smile to Kaomi and whispers, "E'erythin'll be a'right. I believe in
ya." Something very wrong is going on, but all he knows is right now he
loves Kaomi, and she is in pain, in more ways then one. He wants to comfort
her, but she wants him to leave... so for now, he'll leave, but he wanted
her to know that, even if she already feels it. He heads out last, closing
the door behind him. Yes, definately a weird day.