A Failure to Communicate (Attn: Bella)

[Quibby]

Mehrin offered a nod and a shrug. If she had learned it from an Aes Sedai, well... Everybody kept secrets, and Aes Sedai kept more secrets than everybody else. True, everybody used hand signals when he was with his mercenary band, but it was nothing like the Maiden's hand talk. During the Aiel War, everybody had tried their hand at interpreting the signs, and everybody had given up. The captured Maidens had certainly not given any help in their attempts to understand. Mehrin would have liked to ask the unnamed Blue how she had learned the language. And to teach the young woman here... That was interesting indeed.

Who cares? So she can wave her fingers and talk to somebody.

Only if they understand her. Otherwise, it must be lonely with only Ani to talk to.

Who cares? Nobody talks to us. We only have each other now.

But one of us wants more than that.

The Deathwatch chuckled. What are you going to do? Learn an entire language at your age? You are a fool.

He had to admit that the Deathwatch did have a point.

More questions sprang to mind, but he never had the chance to ask. Somebody was coming, and they were making enough noise to be sure that nobody would miss them. "Always with the interruptions," he muttered.

[Bella]

The sound of footsteps drawing near caught Lysira's attention, and when they drew near enough to suggest they were coming in this direction, she turned her head to see a tall, lanky youth approaching. He had a rather furtive look about him, eyes the color of dirty water and messy hair that wasn't too far off. All in all, he didn't look very prepossessing. He wore the grey of a Ji'alantin.

"My apologies, Gaidar, Gaidin," he said in a voice that sounded surprisingly deep for his physical appearance, bowing his head to each of them to convey apologetic respect. "May I speak with Ji'dar Ani for just a moment?"

Ani looked at him with familiar, and a distinct edge of 'what are you doing here?' that was quite impossible to mistake for one as observant of human nature and emotions as Lysira tried to be. After staring at the young man, who looked approximately Ani's age, the Ji'dar turned back to Lysira with an apology of her own in her eyes. "For just a moment, Gaidar?" she asked.

Lysira nodded and waved her off, and the two stepped just out of earshot. It didn't look like a happy conversation, though it was muted as they tried to control it.

After a moment's further observation, Lys turned back to the one she had been talking to. She smiled slightly. 'Just us then,' she signed, though she knew he wasn't likely to be able to understand what she had said but her faint wry smile and flash of dark eyes she thought might be able to guess at her meaning, or something like it.

[Quibby]

Oh, no.

Well, this should be fun.

Mehrin watched with a mild sense of unease as the young woman who had been serving as Lysira's voice was led to one side for a conversation of some kind. And that left him with Lysira. She had a smirk on her face as her hands moved. Did you get that?

Are you kidding?

"If you're saying that things just got interesting," Mehrin said, "then I'm inclined to agree." Think. There's a way to talk with her. Has to be. She doesn't keep Ani in tow all the time.

Writing?

"Do you have a pen? Paper?" He chuckled slightly. "A stick you can write on the ground with? I'm not good at it, but I can read." Giving Lysira a smile of his own, Mehrin gestured to her hands. "Because if we have to rely solely on gestures, this is going to get ridiculous."

[Bella]

An almost impish sense of humor, which she tried to keep buried except at appropriate times, was tempted to say that the signs were the only route she had...and see what happened. Still, she knew from long and frequent experience just how aggravating that could get, and how quickly it could get there, so she did not listen to that impish voice.

Lys immediately moved her hands to the pocket of her breeches. As she had known that she'd be with Ani today, she did not have much by way of supplies, but did have a few ragged pieces of parchment and a nub of a charcoal pencil.

Yes, she scrawled. I can write but is slower. Like that wouldn't have been obvious, right? But, she had already written it so she wasn't going to take up even more time by writing something else. (She remained a little disconcerted by Ani being pulled away in the first place; what could have been so urgent?) She scribbled after it, Sorry for trouble.

Had she been speaking, she would have said "inconvenience" but that would take too long.

[Quibby]

Mehrin always felt self-conscious when other people watched him read. It took effort to keep from moving his lips, causing the Deathwatch to chuckle in the back of his head; he had never understood why the Deathwatch could read so well, yet he could not. It was nearly as puzzling as its knowledge of sailing and knitting. Neither of them could write well, though. If an infant's life depended on a well-written and le- le- le-Le... What is the damn word?

No idea.

-readable note from them, the child was as good as dead.

"Not your fault," Mehrin answered, his eyes drifting briefly to the unheard conversation taking place nearby. He had hardly interacted with either Lysira or Ani during their time in the Blight, but the sudden interruption was an oddity, and Mehrin did not like oddities, himself included. "Do you think it's something serious?" He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, irritated with himself for such an idiotic question. "I mean, it's obviously something serious, but do you think it's, well, you know..."

"Light" only one of the two of you uses your mouth to talk, and you can't even do that right!

Hiding the Deathwatch's vocal outbursts was nothing new. Mehrin hoped that it would simply be passed off as a sign of his frustration, but he doubted it would pass without scrutiny. "I'm sorry, conversation is not a strong point for me, and I honestly have no idea how to even begin in this situation." I have an idea...

I like it.

"Actually," Mehrin said with a sudden impish grin of his own while the Deathwatch giggled in his head, "I have an idea. Tell me a little about yourself using one- or two-word statements. I'll do the same. Saves us both from having to try to hold up our end of a conversation that we're obviously not able to have."

[Bella]

Lysira's dark brows lifted with amusement and she almost forgot her annoyance at Ani being pulled away. She tried to not interfere in the life of her young interpreter, but she wondered if she should be concerned. Nothing about the tones of the hushed conversation (as of yet) suggested that there was...something wrong, precisely, so she stayed out of it for now.

Instead, she regarded the curious Gaidin before her. She surmised that he was probably around the age she was supposed to be, maybe younger, if it hadn't been for that...incident with the Object of Power. Something she still was amazed by, but had turned a very bad situation into a somewhat beneficial long-term effect.

She took up her paper and wrote a single word, holding it up for him to see. It read, "Mute." She grinned her own impish grin and her eyes glittered.

[Quibby]

Again, Mehrin felt that he was being studied. His curiosity, probably. He was not entirely sure why he was trying to strike up a conversation with the younger woman. Loneliness, maybe? The Deathwatch laughed at that. Loneliness was not something that it understood. The desire to actually have a conversation that did not happen entirely in his mind, then.

Lysira Gaidar must have decided to play the game, as she took up her bit of paper and scribbled out a word, then held it up for Mehrin to see. Mute. Again, she grinned that grin of hers; Mehrin had the suspicion that she used it often. If she was going to play that game, though... "Old," he replied. "Now that we've taken care of the obvious... Former Warder."

Mehrin felt his eyes flick over to Ani and her conversation, the Deathwatch choosing to take a quick glance at the action. He wondered just how long this game would last before she returned; the game would probably end when she arrived. It seemed that things were not going well.

[Bella]

He wasn't the only one keeping attention on the younger woman, although he had the better angle to view her. Lysira cast her own glances and kept her ears tuned that way, but they were just far enough away for her to not be able to gain details. It did not seem like a happy conversation, however, that much was for sure.

Lysira looked at the Gaidin before her again. What one word or phrase could describe her? She thought back, briefly, over her history and contemplated many. How much did she want to say, or how blatant or cryptic did she want to be. Finally she chose a word that was hardly any secret here in the Tower, especially since half the Yard seemed to be on his protection detail.

She wrote it down and then showed it to Mehrin: "Mother."

[Quibby]

Mother. The word struck a nerve that Mehrin had not been expecting to have stricken. There was a sickening feeling in his mind as the Deathwatch moved, curling itself up around the negative emotions that rose up and letting Mehrin keep his mind in the present. There was some scuttlebutt around the Yard about the subject of there being some kid or another being guarded or protected or something like that. That probably had something to do with Lysira Gaidar, then.

Let me choose a word!

Like what? 'Kill everybody'?

Please. She's picking and choosing carefully. Let's have some fun with this.

... is it bad that this scares me more than the Trollocs?

Just go with it. The Deathwatch whispered a word, then giggled. It was right; this could be fun.

"Mad," Mehrin said simply.

[Bella]

Mad... The word struck Lysira unexpectedly, reflecting on recent changes in herself. As the word bounced around in her mind, she tilted her head and peered at him with the gaze that some had termed...discomfiting. She had seen little of him during their excursion, but knew him for a fighter.

She wanted to ask. Angry or crazy? But she didn't, because that wasn't what the "game" was. Instead, she chose a word that described her history very well but would likely be as curious as his choice was. She took up the paper again and wrote her next word, showing it to him: Mouse.