Mirazhe was about to head for the gardens when she heard her stomach rumble. Oh great, she thought, my stomach is complaining because I haven't eaten yet. Mirazhe was torn between heading for the gardens and going to the mess hall for a meal. She knew she had to apologize sometime, but right now, the demands of her stomach were more insistent. Oh well. It probably wouldn't matter if she put off the apologizing for a while. Who knew, maybe she would feel better about apologizing with a full stomach.

Insided the mess halls, there were lots of people milling about, waving to people they knew while getting their food. It was really loud, and Mirazhe wasn't used to loud, having lived in a quiet village all her life. She wished she was as comfortable here as everyone else seemed to be when her stomach rumbled again. Mirazhe gave a small smile and grabbed a tray.

After getting her food, she looked around for a place to sit. Most of the tables were full, the people at them chatting happily with each other. Mirazhe was uncomfortable at the thought of joining a group of strangers, so she searched for an empty table. She found one at the end of the room, in the corner. She walked towards the table, trying not to spill her food or bump into anyone. She finally reached the table, sat down and started eating.

((OOC: hope you don't mind I jump in, I can delete it if I'm making it difficult for you to RP ))


Rei Valarian stood just outside his office trying to find a soldier or a dedicated. He grumbled. Dedicated Arleigh was preparing a class, dedicated Radgar was taking a class, dedicated Unlen and Kendrick were on the training grounds, or possibly already in the mess hall, and most soldiers were attending classes. There was noone he could send out to get lunch for him. So he started walking though the halls, deciding that there was no other way but to get some food himself. It was not that he never did anything himself, he just rather avoided the noisy mess hall and have his meal in his office. That way he also spared some time, time to do his job. It was impossible to finish your work as Rei of Shen al Aman Val, and if he wasn't training his mentees, he was busy organising things, going through his paperwork and having pointless conversations about peace with leaders of several nations of the world. And even when he was done with all that, there were always a few things he could research in the library. No time to lose. Off course he could simply travel to the mess hall, but there was no need to waste his powers to spare a few second. Asha'man who used Saidin for everything tended to become lazy, and if there was anything Valarian really dispised besides dirt and chaos, it was laziness. So he made haste, walking to the mess hall, thinking about all the things he still had to do.

When he entered the mess hall the noise immediately attacked Valarian's ears. Off course he didn't show any emotion of being anoyed whatsoever, his cold lack of facial expression scared most people anyway. He patiently waited in line to be served, like everyone else, and when he got his food he searched for a place to sit down. Now that he was here he could just as well have his meal here, before it cooled down. He saw a small group of recruits take the last empty table and sighed softly, looking for the quitest table that seemed available. He noticed a table where a novice sat by herself, eating in silence. He stepped toward the table, looked briefly at the girl and sat down. He knew it was possible that she would find it annoying people would stare at their table, it happened very rarely that the Rei al Aman Val had his meal in the mess hall, but that really wasn't Valarian's concern. He only hoped she wouldn't be too scared or embarrased, a reaction he sometimes got when he ran into a novice. At least chances were small other people would join their table, so there was a small place of peace and quiet in the noisy mess hall.

He looked at his plate, and started eating. Even though he was allways rushed about his duties, eating too fast was unhealthy, so he carefully chewed on each bite, tasting everything patiently. The stew was not bad, though a little too cold already, and the bread tasted like it was already a few days old, but Valarian wasn't picky. In his long life he had learned not to be ungrateful about what was given to him, and that also counted for food.

(OOC: That's no problem! :) )

Mirazhe looked up as she heard someone sit down. Across from her was a man, who had just started eating his meal. Mirazhe had no clue who he was, but he didn't look like a recruit or Dedicated. But since she'd only seen a few so far, she really had nothing to base him upon. He looked kind of lonely sitting there, eating his food. She wondered if she should talk and interrupt his privacy. Although, if she didn't talk, it might seem as if she was ignoring his presence. And Mirazhe really didn't want to offend another person today, so she decided to talk.

"Hello sir. I'm a new novice here and my name is Mirazhe Tomai. Since I'm new, I haven't been acquainted with many people yet, so I don't know who you are. But I hope to get to know you," she quickly added, hoping that he wasn't offended by the fact that she didn't know who he was. She studied him. He seemed........sad. That was the best word she could come up with. He didn't have many laugh lines around his eyes, and his eyes seemed kind of empty. Mirazhe wondered what had happened to make them that way. Probably a great tragedy that Mirazhe had no business prying her nose into.

She suddenly realized that she had been staring at the stranger and quickly shoveled food in her mouth, in a pathetic attempt to look busy. The stew had gone cold but she really didn't care. Staring was considered rude, and Mirazhe didn't want to be rude, especially not to a stranger who had done nothing except sit at the same table as her. Besides, if her luck continued as it had the whole day, he was probably some important person that she didn't know about yet. She sighed and ate some more stew.

"Hello sir. I'm a new novice here and my name is Mirazhe Tomai." Valarian could barely prevent himself from choking on his stew. It had been long since a novice had freely spoken to him. So far for thinking he made an impression, she talked as if he were a mere soldier. "Since I'm new, I haven't been acquainted with many people yet, so I don't know who you are. But I hope to get to know you." Valarian slowly put down his eating tools and looked the girl in the eyes. The novice simply gazed back, as if she tried to read him the same way as he was trying to read her. He had expected to see a hint of mischief, or fear. Instead he saw plain innosence, she even looked a bit shy, as if it had taken courage to talk to him. Ironically, she must have thought he DIDN'T want to eat his meal in silence. The girl suddenly cast her eyes down and nervously started eating. Valarian would have liked to continue eating as well and pretend nothing had been said, but he couldn't. He softly exhaled.

"Child." he spoke calmly, and waited for the girl to look up again. "I take you are very new here and therefore have no idea about ranking and titles, so I will not send you to the Mistress of Novices. However I should urge you to learn to identify uniforms such as mine, not all Asha'man will let this slide so easily." He gave her a second to let his words sink in. If it had been a soldier he would have sent him to the Master of Students immediately, for lacking propper respect and speaking before being spoken too. But novices often weren't propperly guided in their first days, and incidents like this, as annoying as they were could not be severely punished. He still looked at her with an unmoved expression. Valarian never raised his voice, so on the same calm, though slightly cold tone he continued. "I am Asha'man Valarian, Rei al Aman Val. You are to adres me as Rei Valarian. Asha'man is also tolerable, but you can save 'sir' for the younglings of the Garrison." Valarian hoped he had made himself clear.

"I am Asha'man Valarian, Rei al Aman Val. You are to adres me as Rei Valarian. Asha'man is also tolerable, but you can save 'sir' for the younglings of the Garrison." Rei Valarian looked at her, face expressionless.

"Yes, Rei Valarian." She barely managed to get it out, and her voice trembled a little. She desperately hoped she hadn't offended him. He'd said he wouldn't send her to the Mistress of Novices, but he might if she offended him. She really didn't want to begin her stay at the Tower with a visit to the Mistress of Novices office. Although, knowing how her luck had been going lately, that was exactly what that was going to happen. She wondered if there was a class that taught Tower etiquette. Light knew she needed it.

Mirazhe felt sick. Here she was sitting across from an Asha'man, and she went and started talking to him like he was just another person she might meet on the street. Light! How much worse could it get? Well, she supposed, she could always have met him by running into him and spilling beef stew all over him. Or instead of him, it could have been the Amyrlin. Mirazhe was sure that that situation would be worse. She almost groaned. All she needed now was a sign taped to her back that said 'WORLD'S STUPIDEST PERSON' on it and the day would be perfect.

She wondered why he was eating in the mess halls. Being an Asha'man, he probably had his own set of rooms somewhere, and could probably eat there. Anywhere was probably better than here, where it there was so much chatter it was beginning to give Mirazhe a headache. She stirred her soup around. It was cold now, and she didn't really feel like eating, not after finding out who the person across from her was. There wasn't much of it left, but she had been taught to finish everything on her plate, and she'd always done what her mother had told her. She sighed and took a sip of the soup. After tasting it, she made a face. Definitely cold. Oh well. She'd had worse before. Besides, the soup wasn't going to kill her and she was really hungry. But she ate slowly anyway, very aware of the person across from her. She didn't want to finish too early because she didn't know what to do about him. She didn't want to leave the table and be rude, but she also didn't want to sit there and watch him finish his meal. He would probably think she was spying on him or something, although who she would be spying for, she had no idea.

Valarian saw the girl shrinking before his eyes when he spoke. She realised her mistake. "Yes, Rei Valarian." she spoke in a scared voice. Satisfied with that response Valarian nodded. His attention was drawn back to the food, that was turning cold on his plate. He slowly took another bite, vaguely noticing the novice had stopped eating. The fact that a rei was dining at her table was obviously confusing her. She slowly tried to eat, but didn't hide her emotions very well. Valarian looked at her again. He could see she shivered for an instant when she felt his eyes on her. A long waving lock of black hair fell over her shoulder.

That image, that split second a sword drove through his chest, like it had over 70 years ago, stealing his life. Valarian's breath stopped briefly before he could get himself together. He hid the pain very well under his ageless face, tortured by a frame of his past. An image of a novice, at the time he had been but a soldier. The girl's hair was just as long as Punar's back then. The memory was so distant, coming from another lifetime, but for a second it was close, so close he could almost touch her face.

After that there was only pain. Valarian took his cup of water and drank from it calmly, slowly repressing the torn pieces of his past. Recently he had had these kind of images pop up in his mind again more frequently, and he knew how to keep them back, so that no one would notice his brief loss of attention. As a rei, he could not allow his past to haunt him anymore. He looked at the novice. A plain blackhaired girl, eating her stew, very aware of his prescence. Aside from her long hair she looked nothing like the young woman Valarian had just seen. Punar had been strong and proud, even as a novice nobody seemed to be able to bring down her ego. This young girl looked soft, fragile and shy. Valarian almost felt sorry for her.

He spoke to her coldly, "I understand you are confused as to why I dine in the mess hall and not in my quarters. Usually a dedicated brings my meal to my office. Today however none of them was availabe, and I had not ordered a specific meal. As it would be a waste of time to retrieve lunch from the mess hall and then take it back to my office, on this rare occasion, I dine in the mess hall." Valarian had no idea why he tried to explain himself to a novice, as if she required to know. He wanted to spare her the discomfort. He even considered explaining how to recognise his uniform. The dark green over dark red color on his cuffs for shen Al'Amamn Val, the pin in his collar... Why? When did I turn into the helpful benefacter? She will learn those things in class. He turned back to his plate of cold stew and continued eating.

(OOC: Sorry it's so short.)

Mirazhe looked up from her food to see pain on the Asha’man’s face. She blinked, and it was gone, his face back to it’s normal blankness. It must have been my imagination. The Asha’man was too cold and controlled to let his emotions rule him. He probably kept them all locked away in a little box in the corner of his mind. She started eating her bread. I’m still confused as to why he’s eating in the mess hall. The Asha’man looked up and seemed to correctly interpret the confusion she was feeling.

"I understand you are confused as to why I dine in the mess hall and not in my quarters. Usually a dedicated brings my meal to my office. Today however none of them was available, and I had not ordered a specific meal. As it would be a waste of time to retrieve lunch from the mess hall and then take it back to my office, on this rare occasion, I dine in the mess hall." He explained. Ah. That explained it. At least it was a rare occasion. Mirazhe didn’t think she could take many more days like this. “Th-,” Mirazhe cleared her throat and tried to make her voice firmer. She didn’t think it worked. “Thank you for explaining, Rei Valarian.” Anything else would probably seem too bold. She decided to study the Asha’man. His uniform was comprised of dark greens and reds, and there was a small pin on his collar. She wasn’t sure if the clothes he wore were specifically designed for him but she was pretty certain the pin was worn by all Asha’man. Now all I have to do is avoid anyone wearing that pin and my life should be perfect! she thought wryly. His uniform put her in mind of her father’s uniform. Her thoughts immediately plummeted. My father is gone. No matter how much I think of him, he is not coming back. Oh Light, how I miss him! Now she really wasn’t hungry and decided to forego finishing her meal altogether. There wasn’t much left anyway.

“Th-... Thank you for explaining, Rei Valarian.” the novice spoke. Valarian still felt a bit annoyed. He sniffed and continued eating. Thank you for explaining... as if he had been required to. He had brought it upon himself off course. He wondered if other Asha'man would think he was weak because of this. Because he was hard to soldiers and dedicated, mercilessly disciplining them when he spotted the slightest mistake. Yet he let novices act and speak freely and go unpunished. Like that novice he met a few months ago. The young woman had shamelessly kissed him, before he could act. And he hadn't reported it, because he had been too embarrassed. It didn't matter anymore since she left the white tower after failing her test, but it still bothered him. He had softened, and that was always a bad thing. As Rei al'Aman Val he had to live for his duty, and not allow some novice to confuse him.

No it wasn't just the novices, Punar haunted his mind again. The love that had died with the rest of his emotions seemed to have been awakened, and refused to go back to the dead state it had been in for over seventy years. Valarian had to admit that the 'emotional disruptions', as he called them, were becoming a problem he would have to deal with. But no hair on his head would ever consider going to the infirmiry to speak to anyone about this, not only because after decennia he still preferred to avoid Rialt. He had to find a solution on his own. Maybe there were books about it in the library. It was worth a shot.

After he finished his last bite of stew he drank up his cup of water and stood up. He nodded toward the novice who was still timidly eating. When he stepped outside he was gratefull toward the wind that slapped him in the face. He would make sure he had dinner in his office the next day, and an available dedicated to go get it

Mirazhe let out the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding when the Asha'man left the table. She had survived her first encounter with an Asha'man. It hadn't gone too badly. She hadn't been sent to the Mistress of Novices for being rude. It seemed too good to be true. Although, it hadn’t been that bad. The Asha’man was actually quite nice, in his own little way. Mirazhe was sure he hadn’t needed to explain why he was eating in the mess halls. He probably hadn’t even needed to talk to her! But he did, and Mirazhe was secretly glad of the fact. It meant that she wasn’t as unimportant as everyone seemed to think she was. Now that she remembered, she had been one to talk first. Maybe she was as unimportant as everyone made her out to be. She sighed.

She played with her food for a little bit. Then she stood and picked up her tray. Looking around, she spotted a small window piled high with trays. Ah hah! So that’s where this tray goes! She walked to the window and set down her tray. Her stomach felt content now, so she set off for the gardens.