Avialle found the crowded mess hall a bit intimidating, but she was starving. Malia Sedai had found her clean clothes and bandaged her up and sent her on her way with a few instructions. One of the those had been to come here and get something to eat. "You can't expect to have food delivered to you while you lay abed here, girl," the woman had said, shooing Avialle out the door.

So now here she was, with a plate full of some type of stew, some bread, and a glass of water. It was more food than she and Maric usually had, so she was grateful, and as her belly rumbled she had to smile. Maric called her stomach "the grumbly monster" because for a while there she had been hungry all the time. There was a familiar ache as she thought of Maric, but she forced it down while she found an unoccupied seat at a table that held several people already. Avialle tried not to look at them, and just started eating her food in silence. She felt extremely awkward, but there wasn't an empty table in sight, and she had to sit somewhere.

(OOC: Hi! Hope you don't mind me popping in...)

Quietly, Brynnah picked at the food on her plate, without really eating much. It wasn't that there was anything wrong with the food-indeed, tbe stew smelled delicious. Rather, she was trying to sort her thoughts out, and wasn't really focused on food. It was now almost a week since her arrival at the Tower. A very long and confusing week. Even though she was slowly becoming able to find her way around, the Tower still seemed a confusing and lonely place. Brynnah hoped she would be able to learn quickly- the more quickly she learned, the sooner she could leave-at least, she hoped so.

A shadow passed by the corner of her eye, causing her to look up and notice another girl approaching the table. She sat down and began eating without saying a word to anyone. Brynnah wondered- was she just quiet? Or was it a sign of unfriendlyness? She decided to assume the latter, as she herself was often quiet around others. Looking over at the newcomer, she decided it couldn't hurt to speak to her. "Hello," she said with a hint of a smile. "I'm Brynnah. Who might you be?"

(Hello, and of course I don't mind!)

Avialle looked up from her food and forced a smile. For someone from such a large family, I really have no people skills, she thought wryly.

"Hello, I'm Brynnah. Who might you be?"

"I'm Avialle." Avialle said, unsure of where to go next. What did one say when making polite dinner conversation? She suddenly wished that she and Maric had spent more time in populated places - then she might not feel like such a dolt around others. "I'm new." She added shortly. She paused to take a sip of water, then set her glass down and stared back at her plate. Realizing belatedly that this probably seemed quite rude, she looked up again. "And you, how long have you been here?" She hoped that that wasn't an inappropriate question, but she didn't really know what else to talk about.

The girl smiled, and introduced herself as Avialle. An interesting sounding name. Brynnah wondered where she was from. She almost laughed inwardly. So much for being Carhienien...I'm obviously not so shrewd and attentive as most. Ah well, she had never been able to read so much into people, the way that most Carhieniens did. She had always been out manipulated as a child...But she put that thought out of her head. She was just a novice now--maybe that wouldn't matter so much. But then, the Aes Sedai were supposed to be even better at the Great Game, so who knew?

She realized a bit late that the other girl--Avialle--had said something... "I'm new." When Brynnah looked back over at her, she was taking a drink and staring at her plate. After a moment, she looked back up and asked, "And you, how long have you been here?" Brynnah laughed. "I'm fairly new myself. I've only been here about a week." There, maybe this whole conversation idea didn't have to be so hard after all. Then she froze. Now what should she say? Mentally she searched for something. "So, umm, have you channelled before or are you here because you can learn?" Maybe that didn't sound dumb-she didn't know how Avialle would take it. Some people got all touchy about their past experience or lack thereof.

Avialle was inwardly pleased to hear that the other girl was new as well. That way, any questions she might have would not be viewed as silly or just plain dumb. A week was only a few days longer than she herself had been there, so Brynnah really was new. "It's only been a few days for me," Avialle replied, smiling, "so it's good to know that I'm not the only one who's trying to figure out the way things work around here." Avialle had always been a quick study, but so far life at the Tower left her feeling out of her depth.

"So, umm, have you channelled before or are you here because you can learn?"

Avialle considered how to answer this question. She wasn't ready to go into the story of Maric and the fire, but she was by nature an honest and forthcoming person. She decided that the truth minus the details would be the best way to go. "I've channeled before, but not on purpose. I still have no idea how to do it. How about you?"

Brynnah nodded at Avielle's reply. So, she had already channelled before- that was an experience she envied. She had only just managed to even reach the Source, and wasn't anywhere near being able to do anything with it yet. But then, Avielle had said that she didn't know how she did it. Brynnah frowned a bit at that information. Now how did one channel and not know how they did it? It was quite a puzzle to her.

"I've never done it before." she replied. "When I came here, I was told I could learn, but I've only gone so far as touching it." She sighed slightly. Patience was not one of her strong points, and she was eager to learn as fast as she could.

After a moments pause, Brynnah asked, "So, what do you think of this place so far? I guess I'm still suprised at how much work there is to do! Just how many pots can there be to scrub anyway?" She laughed quietly.

Avialle listened as Brynnah talked about touching the Source. Interested, she set her fork down and leaned forward a bit. "So, can you touch it whenever you want to?" She still hadn't had any lessons yet, so she had no idea how one went about touching Saidar on purpose. Involved in her thoughts about touching the Source, she had to bring herself back to answer Brynnah's next question.

"So, what do you think of this place so far? I guess I'm still suprised at how much work there is to do! Just how many pots can there be to scrub anyway?" The other novice asked. Avialle laughed, looking around the mess hall.

"Well, so far I haven't been assigned any chores yet, but judging by the amount of people in here, that must be a lot of dishes!" Sighing, she picked up her fork again and pushed the food around on her plate. "Can't the Aes Sedai just, you know, channel them clean or something?" Grinning, she tried to imagine the dignified Aes Sedai cleaning pots - with or without the One Power. "Can't you just see it now?"

Brynnah had to giggle at the mental picture that Avielle's words brought. "Wouldn't I love to see them doing that, instead of making us novices do it for a change." Perhaps it wouldn't quite fit with the picture of Aes Sedai dignity, but that only made it more humorous. "Some of the Aes Sedai are so...well...all high and mighty all the time, that perhaps it would do them good to scrub pots for a while!"

Then she remembered that the other woman had asked a question. "Wait, what? Oh, channelling. Well, I've had a few lessons on how to embrace the Power, but I haven't really learned how to do anything with it yet. I guess whenever I learn more, I can use it when I want to--as long as there's not an Aes Sedai around of course!" For the first time in a long while, Brynnah found herself relaxing and not so uptight as she usually was when conversing with others. It came as a suprise, but a pleasant suprise.

In fact, she felt daring enough to mention a thought that had been brewing in her head for a few days now. Lowering the sound of her voice, so that none would here besides the novice beside her, she asked, "So, umm...Avielle, have you met those in charge of the library? They are so fanatical about keeping order in their precious library, that you wouldn't believe." That was one thing that drove her insane whenever she wanted to spend time in there. They always seemed to be afraid that she would ruin the order of their carefully labelled books, or leave nasty novice fingerprints or something. After a while, the constant warnings and lectures, had started to get on her nerves. She waited to see what Avielle would say to that, before continuing on and mentioning her...slightly malicious idea.

Avialle giggled along with Brynnah as the other novice painted a picture of the "high and mighty" Aes Sedai scrubbing pots. Avialle hadn't met very many Aes Sedai yet, but she had seen enough of them to realize that they came in many different varieties - high and mighty among them. The conversation sobered as Brynnah answered Avialle's question about channeling. Avialle was very interested in the answer, seeing as how she had yet to have any channeling lessons of her own. She briefly wondered what it would be like to touch the Source on purpose, and to know that she was doing it. Both of the times she had held Saidar she had been in a blind rage; she barely remembered either experience.

Avialle held back a sigh of envy, after all, it wasn't Brynnah's fault that Avialle couldn't yet touch the Source. Before she could dwell on the issue further, however, Brynnah changed the subject. "So, umm...Avielle, have you met those in charge of the library? They are so fanatical about keeping order in their precious library, that you wouldn't believe."

Avialle shook her head. "No, actually, I haven't even seen the library yet." She smiled at Brynnah's description of the Aes Sedai in charge. "I like books, but on the other hand, uptight librarians don't really suit me." She felt mischief in the air as surely as if it were a strong perfume. "Why do you ask?"

Brynnah grinned, that sparkle that can only come from mischief lighting her eyes. "Well," she began, still in that same low tone, with an undercurrent of excitement underneath. "I was just thinking, it might be rather interesting to see how the Brown Sisters would react, if something happened to that nice perfect order they keep in there. Say...some of the books and labels got a wee bit switched around....It might be an interesting picture."

She looked over at Avielle to see what she thought of the idea. While she hadn't come right out and said she planned to do it, she thought she had certainly gotten the message across. She waited to see what the other novice would say. Hopefully she would be up for the idea, and not one of the prim snooty girls that would report her to the Mistress of Novices for simply mentioning such a thing.

Avialle recognized the look of mischief when she saw it and couldn't help but grin with anticipation. Her childhood may have been far from "normal," but she had had her share of mischief making opportunities.

"I was just thinking, it might be rather interesting to see how the Brown Sisters would react, if something happened to that nice perfect order they keep in there. Say...some of the books and labels got a wee bit switched around....It might be an interesting picture." Brynnah proposed. Avialle's eyes widened. Playing pranks on her parents and then Maric had been one thing, but pranking the Aes Sedai? She quickly glanced around to see if anyone might be listening. However, the conversation of two novices didn't appear to interest anyone but themselves, so she felt safe enough to speak freely.

"That's an interesting idea," she began, careful not to commit herself, "but would it be feasible? I've never been to the library, so I have no idea how carefully they watch their books." Still, her heart was racing at the idea ... it was deliciously funny and the idea of tweaking the Aes Sedai's noses a bit was incredibly tempting. She was weighing the risks versus the rewards - and so far the rewards were winning.

Brynnah's heart skipped a beat when Avielle widened her eyes and looked around. Maybe she shouldn't have mentioned it yet, to this novice she barely knew. But she did think it would be fun, and it might be a good way to get to know the other novice anyways. Most of her time so far had been spent either in chores or studies, and usually she spent the little freetime she had in the gardens, so she didn't know many other novices yet.

"That's an interesting idea," Avielle finally said, sounding a bit cautious, "but would it be feasible? I've never been to the library, so I have no idea how carefully they watch their books." She smiled; it sounded like the other girl was considering it anyway. "Well," Brynnah began, still quietly, and hoping no one could overhear their conversation, "I've noticed that there are usually few to no people in there, the closer it gets to evening. If we went in there right before evening chores....there would be plenty of clear areas to 'work'." she placed a hint of emphasis on the last word. Even if there were a few people in the library, the place was huge, and there should be plenty of areas without people...places where the dirty work could be done. It seemed perfect, and no one should question their being there. With luck, the Browns might not even figure out who was behind the mischief, since they did see so many visitors in a day. "So what do you think?" she asked Avielle.

Avialle listened as Brynnah explained that there were times when the library was near empty and her mind began to process the possibility that they just might do this. Before the other girl had even finished speaking, Avialle knew that she was in.

"So... what are you doing right now, then?" After all, it was evening, and there was no time like the present for mischief. Avialle had learned that it was better to do the deed when it was fresh in your mind, before you had time to get nervous and afraid.

Grinning, she finished off the last of her food and waited to see if Brynnah would really be interested in pulling off this prank, or if it had merely been idle speculation.

When Brynnah had finished talking, Avielle grinned. "So... what are you doing right now, then?" she asked. Brynnah resisted the urge to laugh, "I think I'm going to the library," she said barely restraining a giggle. It seemed Avielle really was going to go along with the idea- this should be fun.

Mentally, she pushed back that little naggy voice in the back of her head, that warned of potential consequences to come. Brynnah firmly told herself she wasn't going to worry about that right now. Just think about the task at hand....and the way the Brown Sisters would react! This would be fun!

Taking a last bite, she rid herself of her plate. It was only half-empty, but then, she hadn't been terribly hungry of late. She smiled at Avielle, seeing she had finished. "Shall we go? I think we should probably not go in together, just to be cautious."


(OOC: I guess I'll should start a new thread over in the library :evil )