Despite the fact that she visited the mess halls three times a day, 7 days a week, it still looked like a completely different place to her when it wasn’t crowded to the point of overflowing. Today, it was nice and empty, with only a few people sitting at the numerous tables in the room. The servers looked bored out of their wits, and most of them were gossiping to each other. Mirazhe smiled at the sight, and decided to go relieve them of their boredom.

She went up front and asked for a bowl of fruit. Fruit was one of her favorite foods. Some people thought she was boring for liking fruit when there were all sorts of sugary goodies to be had, but the fact was, she didn’t really like sugar all that much. Chocolate and other candies was nice once in a while, but she had been raised on fresh fruit and vegetables, and now, even at the Tower, that was what she ate. Her mother had been a stickler on these types of things, and Mirazhe had never had the heart to go against her mother, especially after her father had died.

The girl returned shortly with her fruit, and Mirazhe murmured her thanks before picking it up. Her mind was still wandering at that point, so she wasn’t really paying attention to where she was going. Therefore, five steps away from the counter, she collided with someone, and sent her fruit falling all over that person. It took her brain a few seconds to register what just happened, but when it did, her face went scarlet. There was a man, sprawled on the floor, with chunks of fruit splattered all over him. If it weren’t so embarrassing, Mirazhe probably would have found it funny.

But it wasn’t funny right now. It was downright embarrassing. So embarrassing that she couldn’t even say anything. Her mouth was open, but nothing was coming out of it. She blinked several times, opened her mouth again, and finally managed to get something to come out.

“OH MY GOSH, I’M SO SORRY!”

For once Sloane was lucky. He had had extra chores because he had accidentally pushed a novice who had then stumbled and tried to take support from the curtains, finally falling and taking the curtains down with her. And then a passing Aes Sedai had of course blamed him for that, even though there had been several other Soldiers and novices hurrying and pushing people when they had left the classroom. Laundry was not a dignified chore, but at least the largest crowd had left the mess hall when he finally had time to eat. It didn't help his rather tense mood much, but at the moment he was ready to focus on any little thing that was going right for him.

He looked around, glad to see quite a lot of empty tables. A nice quiet meal all by himself would help him get over his frustration. The mess hall seemed free from distractions, and Sloane had found it quite difficult to maintain his bad mood once there was nothing tactile to be mad about at hand. Yes, a quiet meal.

That in mind he walked up to the counter. He didn't quite reach it when suddenly someone walked right at him. Soon he found himself on the floor, staring at a black-haired girl with a white banded dress that marked her as an Accepted. But then he looked at his lap and suddenly the seven bands of colour didn't matter any more. The girl had ruined his clothes! His black Soldier's uniform was full of stains and chunks of something that seemed to be fruit. Oh, she is going to pay!

“OH MY GOSH, I’M SO SORRY!” the girl finally managed to say. Sloane stood up very quickly with an expression that let show very clearly that she was not forgiven. "Do you think that's enough?" he asked in a menacing voice. "You ruined my uniform! Don't you know how long it will take until I get these stains off?" His voice was getting louder now, but he rarely cared about those sort of things when his bad temper took control. "If an Asha'man or Aes Sedai sees me I will surely be sent to do chores again! And all because some girl can't look where she is going! Seriously, are you blind or something? Am I invisible?" He took a moment to brush some of the largest chunks off his chest. "What is the matter with you?" he finished in a growl.

Despite her vehement apology, the man (who looked like a Soldier from the Black Tower) looked like he was fit to explode. His face took on a thunderous expression, and when he stood, he seemed to tower over her, though technically, he was only a few inches taller than her. And when his mouth open, Mirazhe shrank back, fearful of what would come out.

"Do you think that's enough? You ruined my uniform! Don't you know how long it will take until I get these stains off?" Actually, it probably wouldn't take all that long, since fruit was composed primarily of water, and water was easy to get out. A bit of soap and a few minutes of vigorous scrubbing, and it would be as good as new. However, she didn't mention that to the scary looking man in front of her, because she knew he wouldn't appreciate it. "If an Asha'man or Aes Sedai sees me I will surely be sent to do chores again! And all because some girl can't look where she is going! Seriously, are you blind or something? Am I invisible?" As he spoke, he looked down at himself and brushed away the chunks disgustingly. Mirazhe fought the urge not to finch each time he sent a piece of fruit flying. "What is the matter with you?"

Mirazhe bit her lip and hesitated before replying. Her first instinct was to apologize more, anything to get the anger off his face. She hated it when people were angry with her, even if she had done nothing wrong. She was too soft, too sensitive, but somehow, she couldn't do anything to change that. And now this man was yelling at her, and she was cowering under him. It was .... wrong! Slowly, her fists curled, and she raised her head to look the still-angry man in the face. There was still some fear inside her, but there was also determination. She was an Accepted, and he was only a Soldier, judging from his uniform. Because of that, he was supposed to show her respect, not the other way around.

This time, when she spoke, her voice was clear and firm, and not small and shaky like before. "There is nothing the matter with me. I was distracted, that's all. I'm truly sorry about what I did, and if there's anything I can do, I'll help, but I really don't see the need for you to yell at me." She wasn't going to bring up the fact that she was an Accepted. If he couldn't see it on her dress, then it was his own fault.

The girl was silent for a while. Sloane couldn’t think of the cowering Accepted in front of him as anything more than a girl at the moment. If he had looked properly without being so angry, he would have realised that she had to be at least a few years older than him, but he was too angry to pay attention to such details. His brain was too occupied with his anger.

But some part of his mind was still impressed with the way the Accepted put herself together. She straightened slowly and looked him in the eye with no trace of the fear she had shown just a few seconds ago. "There is nothing the matter with me.” Her voice was firm too. “I was distracted, that's all. I'm truly sorry about what I did, and if there's anything I can do, I'll help, but I really don't see the need for you to yell at me."

Firmness, determination, an apology and a slight scolding. It would have worked. It really would. Even Sloane with his bad mood would have calmed down, if he hadn’t been angry and frustrated to begin with. If his hands hadn’t had the wrinkles from the laundry, if the Aes Sedai hadn’t blamed him for pushing the novice, if he hadn’t been hungry, it would have worked. But at the moment, he did have wrinkles in his hands, the Aes Sedai had sent him for chores because of an accident, and he was hungry, and exceedingly frustrated. The Accepted had claimed that he was wrong, and he was too angry to realise that she was right. He was too angry to care that she was an Accepted and that he could get into trouble. Sloane had never been too good at common sense and self-preservation when he was angry.

“Well, I do see a reason to yell at you,” he responded in a more reasonable tone of voice, but he leaned forward a bit threateningly. “Distracted or not, you ruined my uniform. I will probably be sent to chores again even when I didn’t do anything. I’m sick of getting into trouble because someone else is stupid enough to walk without looking where they’re going!” His voice got alarmingly loud again. “What kind of an Accepted are you anyway? A mere distraction makes you run into every person unfortunate enough to cross your way! Is that what they teach you to do as a novice?”

(OOC: Sorry, this got really long for some reason.)

Mirazhe was proud of herself for managing to stand up to the Soldier. It was one of the first times she had ever done so without someone else there for her to fall back on. Unfortunately, her confidence didn’t seem to help her any. The Soldier didn’t seem to be impressed with her show of bravado, and if anything, just looked more irate. “Well, I do see a reason to yell at you. Distracted or not, you ruined my uniform. I will probably be sent to chores again even when I didn’t do anything. I’m sick of getting into trouble because someone else is stupid enough to walk without looking where they’re going!” He seemed to have calmed down a bit, but at this point, his anger returned full force, and his voice got louder. Mirazhe noticed that the people in the room were looking at them with slightly odd expressions, and the giggly serving girls were staring at them, their jobs forgotten. “What kind of an Accepted are you anyway? A mere distraction makes you run into every person unfortunate enough to cross your way! Is that what they teach you to do as a novice?”

Her mouth dropped open at that. The nerve of the man! What right did he have to say that? Maybe she had knocked him over and spilled food all over him, but he could at least have shown a bit of kindness instead of flaring up like that and yelling at her. What had happened to all the gentlemen in the world? Despite the fact that he was still looming over her, she didn’t feel any fear. Not enough to show it, at least. She was sorely tempted to drag him to the Master of Soldiers and get him a good beating, but she wasn’t sure if she had that power as Accepted. And that wouldn’t do anything but make him angrier and then he would probably hate her the rest of his life. Not that she particularly cared about how he felt, seeing how rude he had been, but it would have made for uncomfortable moments if they were to ever bump into each other in the halls.

“How dare you say that? The Mistress of Novices and the Aes Sedai teach me things like respect, kindness, and courtesy.” She emphasized each of those words. “I’m sure they teach you those things as a Soldier, but you probably weren’t listening when they had that lesson. Either that, or you were too dense to understand any of it! You’re such a typical male! Concerned only with your appearance and your own well-being.” Somewhere during that, her hand had moved up and her finger was now poking the man squarely in the chest. Mirazhe didn’t notice it at all, and continued with her lecture. “I won’t send you to the Master of Soldiers right now, not because you don’t deserve to, but because it would be a waste of my time. I’m starting to regret offering my help, not that I think you’d take it.”

(OOC: And this got really short. :( )

“How dare you say that? The Mistress of Novices and the Aes Sedai teach me things like respect, kindness, and courtesy.” The way the girl stressed the words did not make him feel at all better. “I’m sure they teach you those things as a Soldier, but you probably weren’t listening when they had that lesson.” Light! She is terrible! She had spilled food all over him, and now she was insulting him too! The fact that he had just insulted her didn’t matter now. “Either that, or you were too dense to understand any of it!” Sloane’s mouth dropped open, but the girl didn’t give him a chance to say anything. “You’re such a typical male! Concerned only with your appearance and your own well-being.” Sloane’s eyes widened. She will not get away with that! And now she was poking his chest, too! How dare she! “I won’t send you to the Master of Soldiers right now, not because you don’t deserve to, but because it would be a waste of my time. I’m starting to regret offering my help, not that I think you’d take it.”

“Oh no, you won’t help me, oh, I’m going to cry,” Sloane said mockingly. “You are unbelievable. You ruin my uniform and insult me. And then you tell me I’m stupid and vain. You are just so thick! You just jump into conclusion like that when you don’t even know me! I don’t care about my appearance, I just don’t want any more extra chores when I haven’t even done anything! You narrow-minded little baby! Your mother must be really proud of you right now, yelling at someone who hasn’t done anything just because you’re an Accepted!” In some unconscious level he was feeling really good. He hadn’t had a chance to yell for so long in a long while now.

Mirazhe felt surprisingly good after delivering her lecture. She was starting to understand why so many Aes Sedai seemed to enjoy berating the lower ranking members for every inconsequential mistake they made. It gave a weird sense of euphoria. However, she didn’t have much time to rejoice as the Soldier quickly fired back some barbs of his own.

“Oh no, you won’t help me, oh, I’m going to cry. You are unbelievable. You ruin my uniform and insult me. And then you tell me I’m stupid and vain. You are just so thick! You just jump into conclusions like that when you don’t even know me! I don’t care about my appearance, I just don’t want any more extra chores when I haven’t even done anything! You narrow-minded little baby! Your mother must be really proud of you right now, yelling at someone who hasn’t done anything just because you’re an Accepted!” That last statement was filled with undisguised sarcasm. That brought her right back down to earth.

His words rang in her head. “Your mother must be really proud of you right now, yelling at someone who hasn’t done anything just because you’re an Accepted”! He was right about that. She had let her new rank go to her head, and now she was acting like all those nobles that she supposedly despised. Her mother would be so disappointed if she saw her daughter now. A wave of guilt swamped over her. All her previous resentment fled, leaving her with nothing but shame. She might be Accepted, but she was still acting like a novice. No, not even a novice. She was acting like a spoiled child, throwing a temper tantrum when she was scolded.

Tears prickled at the corner of her eyes, tears of shame and embarrassment. Whether he knew or not, he had hit a vulnerable spot when he had brought her mother into this conversation. Everything Mirazhe was doing here for her mother’s sake, and to be told that she was a disgrace to her mother was unbearable. Before she could stop it, a tear rolled down her cheek. Without saying a word, she spun around and stalked off. It had been bad enough that he had to see her yelling at him for a mere trifle. Now he had the privilege of seeing her cry as well. More tears made their way down her face as she left the now silent mess hall.

(OOC: So I guess you can follow her or we can do something that takes place later, or we could just leave it there.)

(OOC: Just a short post to finish. :look )

Hah! Finally he had made the girl speechless. Satisfaction had bordered his anger for a while already, but now it nearly took the upper hand. She could have just sent him to the Master of Soldiers a long while ago, but Sloane had avoided that. Not that he cared. Actually, this all was worth the punishment, if one would come.

His triumph soon evaporated when he realised that the girl was crying. Oh no. I went too far again. He knew that it would happen, but he couldn't control himself once he got angry enough. Lalaine had been a help, calming him or distracting him before he could get in trouble. But Lalaine wasn't here now. Oh Light, he missed Lalaine. And now he had made a girl cry.

The Accepted rushed off before Sloane had a chance to do something. His anger had fled completely, and now he was only ashamed. He had to learn how to control his temper. He didn't want to hurt people. He shook his head slowly and finally looked up. The mess hall was silent, and the few people eating had their eyes on him. Anger flashed again, but he just glared silently, as if daring them to speak their mind. Then he sighed, brushed his coat again and went to the counter to get something to eat.