03/18/2001

Dreaming: il'Sharil House

A small, and poor, but tidy looking house.


Aidou sits on her bed in the room they used to share. Her clothes are
pretty much solidly the ones she used to wear back home, except that she's
also got a pretty solid tessen strapped to her back. Is it his? No, not
quite, it's a little different, but why does she have it here? Why did she
ask Neelkan here? Maybe because it's where she feels she can actually talk
to him without either of them getting distracted by their duties... and
it'll only get worse when she becomes Aes Sedai... That sends a thrill of
excitement through her and for a flicker of an instant a blue fringed shawl
appears on her shoulders before she realizes and banishes it with a
thought.

Neelkan hasn't had much time to walk around the dream world lately (not
that he ever cared for it anyway). He doesn't try to control things like
his clothing, or anything, so as soon as he appears, his clothing is
already fadeing and changing a little bit. It isn't a sign that he's
horrible at it, he just isn't consiously trying to. He has other things to
worry about then clothes. He could if he wanted to. Mainly it seems to go
between the clothes he wore as a bandit, the clothes he wears as a Master
Gaidin, and the clothes he wore in this house. "'ey sis. What'cha wanna
talk 'bout 'ere anyway?" He plops down on the bed he had.

Aidou actually smiles at him, and it seems pretty genuine. "I wanted to
talk about the future. You know... I'll be Aes Sedai soon and I'll have to
figure out what exactly I want to do with my life." Really this move over
to Master Gaidin surprised her a lot... She just didn't picture him as the
administrative type. Or the leader type... I mean.. he's her little
brother... "And I feel like time is passing us by and I don't really know
who my brother is anymore." She looks at him and frowns a little. "And I
never told you you were allowed to grow up." She's joking though.. in her
own, wierd way.

"Sorry." Neelkan says with a soft laugh, his clothes sticking around on
Master Gaidin wear for a moment. "I'm doin' m' best though. I'm startin' t'
wonder if I'm doin' the right thin'..." He shrugs his shoulders and shakes
his head, breaking out of serious mode and looking at his sis again, "Yer
gonna b' Aes Sedai soon? 'at's great. But I hope ya don't plan on beatin'
m' up 'r nothin' when ya d'. Though it'll look better 'en a 'cepted beatin'
up a Gaidin if yer 'sedai." He winks, kidding. Mostly.

"Yeah... I know the feeling..." Isn't everyone wondering if they're doing
the right thing these days? At least that's how Aidou feels. She grins at
him, a twinkle of mischeif in her hazel eyes. "When I am Aes Sedai I will
try not to abuse you too much... in public." She winks back, kidding...
Mostly. She sighs and flops over on her stomach, crooking her knees and
hooking her ankles around each other. "A lot of things are going to change
when I'm Aes Sedai... I'm almost afraid of all the responsibility..." and
another part of her craves it too... leaving a nice little conflict raging
in her head...

"Ye'h, I gotcha. It isn't 'xactly the responsability 'at's got m' worried
though." For a moment, Neelkan's clothes turn to the uniform that the Night
Bringer guy was wearing in the Amyrlin's office during that conversation
which made things pretty weird for him in terms of not really knowing what
to do. It changes back though a few seconds later. "I'm more worried 'bout
the fact 'at I'm in charge of all 'ese people, some of 'em older 'en m', 'n
I have t' train 'em t' be Gaidin. 'en /I/ only spent a year in the program
m'self..." He shrugs, his clothes switching to boyhood again. "I'm not
bothered b' havin' t' be younger 'en most of the people I got under m'..."
he likes that part. "but.. I just wonder if what I'm doin' is right. I
mean, I'm focusin' training more in areas I think make a Gaidin, a Gaidin.
But d' I really /know/ what makes a Gaidin?" He runs a hand through his
hair. Grrr.

Aidou blinks and looks at him funny at the clothing shift, and makes a
mental note to find out what that is all about. Light, she can already feel
these Daes Dae'mar lessons seeping into her person... Not that she wasn't
perfectly capable of being manipulative before but... she was far less
subtle, and just did it rather than plotting it all out... The Accepted
rubs her temples and sighs, wondering just what kind of person she's
turning into. Instead of making fun of her brother though she tries to
reassure him. "Shun'u... Neelkan... people talk about you and I've heard
nothing but good things. As far as I'm concerned you're the best example
trainees could possibly have. You know. You know better than most of those
wearing cloaks, which makes you the best possible choice." And that's part
of why she's proud of him. It also helps that she feels more than a little
responsible for turning him into the man he is. He wouldn't appreciate her
pointing that out though, so she keeps it to herself.

There's a blink and Neelkan stares at his sister almost dumbfounded. She
just... reassured him? o.O; Um... "Aidou... 'anks. Comin' from ya, I know
'at it's gotta b' true, cause ya'd ne'er compliment m' if it wasn't!" He
grins, "I don't really know what I think 'bout bein' the 'best example',
but I'm tryin' t' b'. F'r Kaomi, 'n e'eryone else." But Kaomi especially.
At just the mention of the Amyrlin his clothing goes drastically towards
the very nice things he wore when he was a temporary Royal Guard in Aelgar.
Then he notices the solid tessen on her back. Wai? "Why ya got m' tessen
'ere?"

Aidou chuckles softly at his reaction to her compliment. She shakes her
head. "I can't believe you're bonded to the Amyrlin Seat." Her brother...
that just.. blows her mind. She won't say anything about the fact that the
love she feels for him is probably because of the weaves. She's become far
too nice in her old age as a matter of fact... she used to take delight in
saying things that she knew would hurt him... He's kind of... her last link
to... her old self though. What with her training and.. the things Tamon
has been showing her... She really has changed a lot. She blinks, pulled
out of her thoughts by his question. She draws the tessen off the harness
on her back and opens it, looking at him quietly. "This isn't actually your
tessen, Shun'u. It's.. a project I'm working on." She smiles at him
enigmatically. "You'll see in a few days."

"Ye'h. I can't believe it either." Neelkan blushes a little bit, thinking
about Kaomi. He knows it's probably just the weave that's making him feel
this way, and her feel this way, but he can't help it. It feels so real, so
nice, so... perfect. And she loves him back. What more could he want? Well,
Raeth threatening to kill him wasn't exactly the high point of this
loveydovey ness, so perhaps there is some bad. And the stuff with Denn
wasn't good either. Bah. Not his tessen? "Uh, a'right." She better not be
doing anything funny with his tessen!

Aidou chuckles softly at his reaction and glances around, making the house
disappear. Instead they are standing outside in a forest near their home.
"I wanted to keep you in suspense a little longer but..." but this might
actually be more effective. After all, he doesn't know what he has to look
forward to. She grins at him mischeviously and flicks the tessen open with
her fingers, drawing it to the side and letting it fly with a graceful
flick of her wrist. Sometimes even Aes Sedai should know how to really
throw something. The tessen looks more like a disk than a fan as it zings
through the air, slices cleanly through a branch and circles back in an
arch to return to her hand before the branch even hits the ground. She
glances at him sidelong, grinning even more as she gauges his reaction. Of
course.. this isn't actually the ter'angreal, and it's just Dreaming stuff
but... hopefully it's still pretty cool.

She didn't have to tell him. But as the house disappears Neelkan falls
backwards (without a bed to sit on) and ends up landing on his backside. He
pushes himself up quickly, hoping she didn't notice and watches as she
plays with his tessen. He whistles, watching what she does with it, but not
exactly sure what to think. "Oi. 'at's neat. But ya a'ways did have a good
arm!" And... she could make it fly halfway across the city here if she
wanted to, and he knows it. He isn't exactly sure what he's supposed to be
seeing. It's cool though! "What're ya keepin' m' in suspense 'bout? I
a'ready know ya can throw." Sometimes, the boy is dense.

Aidou looks at him and then bursts out laughing. "I'm showing you why I
wanted to borrow you're tessen, silly. Here, maybe this will impress you."
She winks again and then holds the tessen out in front of her, pointing it
at a tree. She pulls back and to the side and then swings the tessen in an
arc in front of her. "Rekka Shinen!" A gout of flame bursts from the metal
fan and englufs the tree, instantly burning it to ash. She flicks the fan
closed and blows on the smoke rising off of it. "I know, I know, it's just
the Dream right now. But hopefully when I'm done I'll be able to do it in
the waking world as well." She grins at him and shakes her head a little.
But he's so cute when he's dense. Hopefull now he'll get it thought!

Blue-green eyes widen dramtically and Neelkan whistles low. Wow. "'at's..
ya mean yer makin'.. somethin' 'at'll do /'at/ in the real world!? F'r
me!?" He looks at his sister with a new light and then does something that
might be interperated as crazy. He jumps over and picks her up, spinning
her around. When he puts her down (which he does when he wants to, even if
she protests), he hugs her tightly. "'at'll b' the best bloody present ya
e'er gave m'!" Uh.. "Sorry. I'm just.. ... ya ne'er used t' give m'
anything I'd actually like."

"Ack! What're ya doin'?? Put m' down!" Aidou kicks her feet but doesn't
actually kick him and... well let's face it. If she -really- minded she'd
have plenty of ways of making him put her down. "Yeah, yeah," she pushes
him away from the hug gently, dropping the accent again. "You didn't like
the dagger? Neelkan, I'm -hurt-!" She sticks out her tongue at him. Dang...
she's just sarting to actually like this brother of hers. It's going to be
such a shame when Tamon has his way with her... philosophy. "Well I'm glad
you like it. And you'd better be nice to me or I'll change my mind!" She
waves the tessen around under his nose but... she's got to at least
-pretend- to be the overbearing older sister, ok? She has a reputation to
keep up after all.

"I liked it' dou. I mean ya didn't /used/ t'." Neelkan says, shrugging his
shoulders and fingering at the now there knife she gave him. "I meant when
we were lil', 'n still lived 'ere." He looks around, sighing, for a moment
wondering what mom would think if she knew that he was a Master Gaidin and
bonded to the most powerful woman in the world. Hmm. "Sometimes I'm almost
tempted t' come home f'r real. Just t' see e'eryone 'gain..." he shakes his
head, waving his hands innocently, "No, no. I want it, really!"

Aidou grins at the way he caves in at the mere threat of- no, don't think
about it Aidou. "I know I didn't. But I've changed Neelkan." See? She's not
even calling him Shun'u anymore, or Red Chicken, or even old man. "We both
have..." She glances around, looking at the place where they grew up. "I've
been keeping in touch with Ma through her dreams. I wonder how much she
believes them to be real though... I know she'd love to see you again
though." She just barely stops herself from giving him a lecture on how he
shouldn't have run off. But he can probably guess what was on her lips
before she snapped them shut and looked away. So she changes the subject.
"You're not going to get all pesky about the man I decide to bond are you?"
She's not going to mention just who that is yet...

"I'm yer brother. I'm supposed t' b' pesky. I mean, ya would've been pesky
'bout who /I/ bonded! Not 'at I could get any better 'en Kaomi." Neelkan
says, smiling a little bit. He looks off towards the house, sighing some.
Mom would want to see him... but then she'd hug him and suffocate him and..
arg. "Well, maybe I'll go home t' see 'em in a while, but right now I gotta
worry 'bout trainin' 'n stuff. I don't really know what ma would think if
she found out what I'd been up t'. If ya have told 'er, I bet she laughed
at ya."

Aidou frowns at him. "You're also supposed to do what I tell you." Er.. at
least in her warped view of the world. "And I'm telling you not to worry
about it, all right?" Stern Aidou is back, hands on hips, frown on lips,
and everything. And then he has to go and bring up their mother. She
grimaces a little. "Yeah, she laughed," which didn't make Aidou happy.
She's never lied to her mother, never given her cause to think she'd be
dishonest or lazy or anything, and he had to go and get her in trouble.
Oooookay, so Shun'u isn't the only il'Sharil who's been whipped. ;)