Brush the Cobwebs out of the Sky. (Attn: Matty)

[Craig]

Elia

In a quiet corner of the Grey Tower's Library, surrounded by the musty smell of books and parchment, Elia leaned over a desk, chin resting on her knuckles. Her eyelids flickered with the telltale sign of insufficient sleep, backed up by the way she would violently shake her head in an attempt to rouse herself. It only lasted a minute or two before her lids grew heavy, her brain only vaguely registering that she had now attempted to read this sentence five times without avail.

Elia stifled a yawn by placing her fist in front of her mouth. That's it, she thought. Intentionally using her crippled arm to push her onto her feet, she stepped away from the desk. She made a half circuit around the desk, closing and lifting up the book, then slipping it underneath her good arm.

Her descent from the Library brought her towards the Infirmary. She thought the smell of chemicals would never leave her after her last stay, but now she relished them as she grew closer. Her brain was already trying to imagine what it would feel like to be refreshed. Even if it was all a con, just having a few hours where she didn't feel like a walking corpse would be a priceless gift.

Upon entering, Elia found herself an empty seat amongst the other patients. The Infirmary didn't operate based on seniority but on priority, and Elia knew she wasn't high on that list. She sat back in the chair. It was uncomfortable, but that didn't stop the First Seeker from finding herself swiftly vanishing into the world of nod.

[Matty]

Murdock Mather For all that Murdock was a Brown, he did have some ties to the Yellow Ajah based on his research. It was always careful to not toe the line into the world of Rending – a pity, but none of these sops had the ambition for such weaves – but it did mean he had connections, and the fact that he chose to spend time Healing there gave him publicity and showed he wasn’t all that bad.

There was a satisfaction with Healing that Murdock would have been content with, had he not simply been more attuned to taking people apart. With each stitch he mended, with every cut he closed, the Brown was making lives better for people, but his heart wasn’t in it. In the void his mind strayed, and his weaves were perfunctory. He lacked the creative spirit, the knack, that some of the Yellows had, and it grated even now. The consolation was that where he couldn’t repair, he could remove, and there was immense satisfaction to be had there. Even if Giselle would have shaken her head at him for it.

Yes well, you lost the right to an opinion when you left me, the Brown thought, not really looking at the Accepted on the bed that he was Healing. His dark eyes were looking right at her, yes, but only as if she were a pane of glass clouding his view of something further away. Murdock muttered some words, something about how she ought to be more careful with pans or whatever it was she’d done to burn herself, the man was going through the motions even if he hid it well. He shooed the girl away to do Accepted-related things and grabbed at his stick, hauling himself to his feet and mostly returning to the Infirmary long enough to see who was next. There were a few people looking as if they were in need of aid, but nothing serious. The only one who looked like they might be in need of some more immediate service was a portly fellow who was soon whisked away by a Yellow, leaving…

“Elia, a pleasure.” Thank goodness for the ability to lie. Murdock inclined his head, leaning on his stick. “How can I…” he trailed off as he realised upon closer inspection, Elia was in fact asleep. That was no small feat given how uncomfortable the chairs were, and he chuckled to himself a little before limping closer, leaning down to give her shoulder a gentle shake. “Elia. First Seeker. You are asleep in the Infirmary, but not on a bed. Come.” He leaned down to meet her gaze as she opened her eyes, but there was no venom in his facial expressions or his voice. Funny how knowing you were doing good work with the experimenters in Viadulo made you a lot more tolerant of someone, especially someone who had severely weakened herself in his eyes. Things had come to a more reasonable level since he inspected her arm, though he hadn’t done so since, and strangely he felt no urge to do the same to her other arm even though he knew how. After all, for better or worse she was a mother, and as tempting as it was to drown the brats and make her suffer, Murdock knew he could do no such thing. Parenthood changed a man; perhaps it changed a woman as well? He saw what happened to people who lost a parent and on this occasion, he wouldn’t be held responsible for such a thing, which when he considered how many people he had tortured and killed, seemed a rather odd boundary to place upon himself now. It’s easier this way, he told himself. Out loud, he said, “what can I assist you with?”

[Craig]

Elia

Elia blinked awake – was shaken awake – and looked into haunting brown eyes. There were a great deal of things Deyeniye could or would say to Murdock, but the First Seeker just looked and listened with an impassive weariness. Elia knew that she was safe in the Infirmary when it concerned Murdock. So long as she wasn't led to some nook or cranny out of sight, the Far Maddinger would play the dutiful Keeper role well.

She looked up and up as Murdock straightened, keeping half-lidded eyes mostly focused on his face. "I'm tired," Elia said. Had she said those words to Murdock before? She thought so, although the context was different now. The Grey Tower and the Indigo Ajah didn't need a barely functional Aes Sedai sauntering their halls. It was manageable if she was caught napping in her apartments, but it would be another thing if she was meeting with an outsider. The world had adjusted to the idea of the existence of two Towers filled with Aes Sedai, but centuries' worth of stories had not been forgotten now that some chose to be mothers.

"Can you refresh me?" Elia asked without rancour or demand. She hadn't the energy for either, and Murdock had never been a biddable servant. The Brown only operated using a barter system. He was an outlier, perhaps due to this fact: highly competent yet lacking in ambition. Elia was looking a gift horse in the mouth if she was truly taking issue with that fact. Better a pain in the ass than a pain in the neck.

[Matty]

The simple statement was delivered with a weight which did not go unnoticed by the Keeper, but it was one he dutifully ignored for the time being. Well of course Elia would be tired. Between her roles in the Indigo and Black Ajah, being a mother and her occupation as a full-time bitch, it was not as if she had much time for anything else. Her decision to burn the candle at both ends as well as in the middle was not something he was personally responsible for, and he'd already warned her about the difficulties of taking on so much. Not quite in those words but one didn't need to be smart to know she was overworked. And Murdock was smart.

Despite his resolution to leave her to her own devices, the man wasn't the sort of fellow who could hold his tongue when someone was wilfully doing themselves long term harm by not taking care of their body. Channellers lived a long time, yes, but not if their bodies gave up on them first. "I could refresh you," Murdock said, "but why are you doing this to yourself?" he was never one to beat about the bush, "if you are tired, you should have proper rest. You know that the refreshing weave will simply bite you twice as hard with fatigue eventually. You can lie to yourself, but you can't lie to your body and what it's telling you. You need to be alert and ready for your numerous commitments."

There was a pause as Murdock looked down at the woman, a slither of sympathy worming its way across his consciousness before he ruthlessly disregarded it. It was probably a leftover echo of the Compulsion she had used on him. The Brown tutted and shook his head at himself, "what does it matter to me if you run yourself into the ground? Here," Murdock reached for Saidin and used the familiar weaves, Spirit mostly, to refresh Elia and make her something closer to her perky self. "There you go, all sorted. But if you keep making a habit of this then the Yellows will notice and strongly encourage you to adjust your workload accordingly. You can't do everything." This was what happened when you tried to do too much. What was wrong with sticking to what you were good at and what you enjoyed? There was no need to be the Supreme Ruler of Everything - the Indigo, the Black, that horny Blademaster. There simply wasn't enough time in the day.

At least now Elia was sorted she could be on her way. "Is there anything else you need?" Murdock asked, already mentally checking out of her visit, dark eyes moving around the Infirmary looking for something, anything to get him away from... this. Not Elia specifically, but everything. Something else to throw himself at so he could occupy himself and feign usefulness and wholesomeness, going through the motions until his body tricked his mind.

[Craig]

Elia

Elia could almost imagine the man to be human as he chastised her. It didn't help that she knew Murdock was right, leaving any acidic remark she may have had stuck on the tip of her tongue. Instead she sighed with a slight shake of her head, wishing that he'd simply get on with it and spare the sermon.

She didn't miss that last comment though. I have to be ready? Elia wondered what Murdock was hinting at. The list of threats to herself on a personal level were long; the list of threats to the Black Ajah covered a broader spectrum and was less within her ability to control. Those brooding thoughts vanished when Murdock ran his healing weave over her. Like night and day, the transformation was immediate and startling. It was all a trick of the mind, however, just as the Keeper had hinted at. She stifled a yawn with the back of her hand.

Running her tongue across the back of her teeth, Elia peered up at the Brown Asha'man. Mentally he was clocking out, eyes scanning for his next patient. He'd done his part after all and she could depart without incident.

"Murdock?"

She was no blundering ginger Gaidin, but Elia still had her moments.

"Murdock, could we speak in private?" Posed as a genuine question, the First Seeker wasn't looking for a confrontation. Not that Murdock responded to commands.

[Matty]

Already floating away mentally, Murdock was rudely interrupted as Elia said his name. He looked down at her with a squint as if seeing her for the first time. "What now?" he asked, quiet but exasperated. She was Healed, wasn't she? Didn't she have some men to gobble up or something? But no, she wanted a private word, and she managed to ask in such a way that Murdock didn't balk at it. Instead, because he knew how to be reasonable, the man nodded his head. It wasn't an unusual request to speak to a Healer in private. If anyone asked Murdock would just tell them she was having another set of twins.

"Of course, this way." He did want something to do, so why not let Elia occupy more of his time? Murdock gestured to one of the free rooms and led the way, though Elia could surely outwalk him with his limp. "You still owe me a stick made from Heartstone," the man grumped as they went, letting Elia into the small room first and closing the door behind him with a decisive click. He made a ward against eavesdropping, another fairly standard practice in these situations so nobody would think anything of it. "I've made the room soundproof, and we're in private." Murdock went to sit on the chair, letting Elia use the long bed to sit on, lie on, starfish on should she be so inclined.

[Craig]

Elia

"I haven't forgotten," she lied. Elia honestly thought she'd arranged for the Keeper's cane already, but looking towards his walking stick, it was clear she had not.

Elia sat on the bed, despite the multitude of other options she had on which pose to adopt. She had spent far too much time in beds over the last few months, and she enjoyed the freedom she had now that every waking moment wasn't a discomfort (her right arm excluded). She smoothed her skirts with her good hand, then rested both of them on her lap. This was not a conversation where asserting strength or dominance was going to win over any favours.

"I've come to a new appreciation for certain things," Elia stated vaguely. "I think I underestimated the effect that certain changes would have had on me, not without experiencing them myself. And now..." A pained smile flickered over her pale face. "Now I want to help you. You've mentioned your daughters in the past and... And I wish to help you find them."

[Matty]

Whatever it was Elia had to say to him, Murdock expected it to be banal, possibly some demand wrapped up as a request. But then if she was going to do that then she wouldn't have come to the Infirmary as she had, leaving everything to chance. Murdock listened fully but he wasn't looking Elia's way, instead eyeing the door and hoping she hurried her shit up so he could get on with his day.

Then she mentioned his daughters and he had all eyes and eats on her, looking directly her way with a suspicious gaze. He leaned forwards on his stick, and his voice was wary. "You want to help me," he said. "Forgive me if I struggle to take that one in. What do you want from me exactly? Why don't we start with that? Tell me what you most recent demands are and what I have to do for you because you're the big boss, and I'll hop to it and you can pretend to be grateful. This isn't a Cuendillar stick though Elia, this is my family, and not something I appreciate people joking or lying about." Murdock huffed, "do you know how many people I've had to interrogate and kill to find out where my daughters are? And how little progress I've made? You can't be serious." The idea of having someone else finding his children with him was an odd one, something the man had never seriously considered. Even if she was lying through her teeth, Murdock couldn't help but feel that strain loosen his limbs ever so slightly, relief crossing his face as he imagined how much easier things would be if he wasn't alone.

But this was Elia, and she never did anything for nothing. Neither did Murdock to be fair, which was why it was only reasonable to expect there to be a price to pay first.

[Craig]

Elia

Elia expected this, the indignation and the prattling, and the reassertion that he, Murdock Mather, Asha'man of the Brown Ajah, Keeper of the Archives to the Grey Tower, was not the Black Ajah's bitch. Through it all, she managed to maintain a calm expression over her features. Yes, perhaps previous encounters like this would have starting and continued with a set of demands set forth by the Black Ajah's Supreme Leader, but not today. Today was about something far more important than a band of self-centered, scheming, conniving channellers. Light, when did I become so hypocritical?

"No jokes, and no lies, Murdock." She looked directly at him, making no attempt to deceive him for once. Elia could do wonders with her voice, and pull off such believable facial expressions, but her eyes couldn't lie. Not when it came to this.

Now came the bargain. How hard would be press back against it? Elia knew, better now, how much the man's daughters meant to him. She wasn't sure how that compared to his dead wife, whether she was the greater motivating factor in keeping Murdock in the Black Ajah. Hopefully her offer would be enough.

"Always the transaction," she sighed, still looking straight at him. Elia nodded as if just now coming to make the decision. "I will help you find your daughters, but in exchange, I want a cast-iron guarantee that you will not place me, nor my family, in danger, either through action or inaction."

For the next bit she rose from the bed. This wasn't the sort of thing one promised whilst sitting down. "For my part, I shall also promise not to place you and your family in danger. A mutual arrangement that protects us both."

Finally she looked away. The staring had almost become intimate, if such a repulsive thing could be envisaged between herself and the Brown. Her skin goose pimpled but she repressed a shudder.

[Matty]

Oh, was that it? Having a family had made the woman more sentimental about things. Weaker, more exposed. Murdock could relate to this, and he didn't begrudge it. If all he had to do was not actively try and kill her or her own, and not sit back and let anything happen without trying to at least alert her about it, then he could do that.

It's not as if my little experimenters are inclined to make a move any time soon. If Elia can actually help me... perhaps I'll give them to her as a present instead.

It was rather sweet of her to want this promise though. It confirmed that she thought him a threat to her and that was quite flattering. He, a weak channeller, with no interest in her lofty position especially if she was going to help him get what he wanted. "You have my word," he said, not bothering to stand when she did. He just looked up at the woman with his dark eyes unblinking, his expression stoic. "This is an arrangement that suits us both. But I agree only on the condition that I get results. Too many have claimed to know something, or to offer support, and nothing has come of it."

He just smiled a little when she looked away. "What, no handshake?" he put his left hand out, an expectant but sly smile on his face. So far he had nothing to lose, and he could always alter whatever instructions he gave to his little group of channellers. He was due another visit there soon anyway.