And I said, I will not wear white!

[Kevin]

Taylin sat in a room with a girl who smelled like feet. She hated her already. Her few things were neatly put away, and her excuse for bed made. She missed her home. She should be with her sister, studying for the next day of tutoring. She'd found a safe hiding spot for her secret dagger, and was wearing her long blond hair in a loose bun on her head.

She stared down with all of the hatred she felt for her roommate, for being here, for watching her things taken away to be burned. Rage. And now they gave her a white sack to wear! This was beyond the cliff of insanity. She refused.

All but tearing open her door she moved to go into the hallway. There was an Accepted on duty, so to speak, at the entry to the dormitory. She stood slightly shorter than Taylin, and in the mood she was in, she was having none of the other girl, channeler or not.

"Are you alright Novice?" the deeply voiced woman asked. Great. She all but spun on her heels a smile more cheesy than anything a cook would serve.

"Of course not, Accepted." As she moved past the desk the girl should have been seated at, she picked up a container of black ink. The knob secure, she stuck it in her sleeve, moving away from the Novice areas and into the halls.

[Leala]

"And that's when I said, 'Well, if you can beat me in a game of stones, I'll consider being Promised to you.' Then he winked at me! Can you believe it?" The girl with the bouncy brown curls next to Leala was twittering on about her encounter with a drin'far'ji. Leala wasn't even sure of her name, just that she and Leala's roommate had become friends, and that they insisted on hanging around her, even when Leala made it clear that she would prefer solitude. She would prefer punishment to having to listen to these two go on for another minute.

"Niya, that's so amazing! Don't you think that's amazing, Leala?" Cenel asked.

Leala slowed her pace, and looked at her roommate, an olive-skinned girl from Illian. She was high-born, but not noble, and she knew what Leala's rank was outside the Tower. She should just play it off to avoid drama in the future, but having done that several times before without the desired results. The dubious shine in the girl's eyes were simply too much for Leala at the moment, so she lost all sense of the Game of Houses, and snapped. "What I find amazing, Cenel, is that you know full well that I don't find it amazing, and yet you continue to include me in your banter. This is not the first time this has happened, and it seems to have happened every time we have spoken."

Niya dropped her smile, and Cenel's face paled in shock. The girl who had been bouncing around happily earlier very wisely excused herself. The Illianer girl drew herself up. She was maybe two inches taller than Leala, but Leala knew how to make it look like she was looking down at her. "Well. If that's the way you feel--"

"It is," Leala said coolly.

"Maybe I should just report you to the Mistress of Novices." Leala could tell by the way the other girl was frantically looking around that this was probably not a good idea.

"For what?" She didn't even have to expand on the question. It stood for itself.

Cenel finally rolled her eyes and regained her normal posture. She now looked at Leala as if she was an annoyance. "Listen. Leala. You're my roommate, and I've tried to like you, but..."

Before the girl could finish her sentence, Leala turned away. "Save your breath, I'll request a change of roommates. If it is denied, please don't try to like me," she said plainly and flatly. She wanted so desperately to find a friend that didn't find the stupidest things so amazing.

As she walked out of the Novice Quarters, she noticed a girl that looked completely new. She didn't seem to have anyone with her, but seemed to know where she was gone, by her bearing. "Good morning," she said, hoping that speaking with someone who wasn't Cenel would bring her back to her usual self. "Is this your first day in the Grey Tower?"

[Kevin]

Taylin rounded another corner. Getting out of the Novice area was proving more difficult than getting here had lead her to believe. Although, on her way here she had had a guide. Now she was wandering around, like a lost fawn. She didn't feel like an herbivore though, more like a caged lioness. She was visibly shaken at being unable to find her way out of the novice halls. She'd buried her dagger just outside of the city before her entry and could only hope she'd remember where in a few years.

Taking another hallway, Taylin wanted to scream. More girls in white dresses. Did everyone here simply do as told? She needed more ink. No one was going to be brain washed while she could help it. But first, she'd need more ink.

Starting her search, she didn't have long before she spotted another Accepted. This girl seemed much meaner of face and attitude. Taylin heard her chastising another novice and quickly made an alternate route, only to realize where she was! The washroom was this way, she'd seen girls with clothes baskets heading that way. And just at the most inopportune moment, a lovely young woman stepped toward her.

Taylin's mane of blond hair framed her dark skinned pretty face, much as the white provided high contrast to the woman's skin tone. Blue eyes seemed to weigh Lela as she spoke. At least she didn't smell like feet, or sound like an emotionless plank of wood. Taylin didn't immediately hate the girl, and that was almost a first sense she arrived.

"Morning? I suppose I wouldn't know, it's hard to sleep when you can't stop smelling your room mate. And she snores. What kind of 17 year old snores?!"

Taylin took a hand, running it through her hair. The ink bottle would be visible falling into a palm, from the sleeve she'd raised to run fingers through her bangs. She stopped, going pale. She looked at the other girl in fear, quickly shoving the ink bottle back into her sleeve.

She tried to change the subject. "Is it that obvious I am new?" She seemed somewhat fragile suddenly. The change of being here weighing on her nerves like a surgeons scalpel.

[Leala]

Leala kept silent, observing the new novice. She seemed rather frustrated with her roommate as well, if for different reasons than Leala. She noted an ink pot that seemed to try to jump out of the girl's sleeve. That was odd. She seemed rather guilty about it being there too. That was odder.

"It's not any way that you behave that tipped me off," Leala said. "It's just that I find it prudent to remember faces of my contemporaries, and I just hadn't seen you before. My name is Leala Gymorraine, by the way. It's a pleasure to meet you." After her explanation, she decided to bring up the subject of roommates. "I'm sorry your roommate is frustrating you. Mine has frustrated me to the point that I'm going to request a change. she and her friend prefer to natter on about things I detest." She shrugged. She didn't want to be bitter. She would likely have to look at the both of them for years to come.

She didn't know this girl at all, but after ten seconds of conversation, there had been no giggling, mentions of boys or clothes, or anything abhorrent. Hopefully she would be better suited to Leala as a roommate than Cenel. It might help to have someone already lined up as an alternate when she applied for a new one. "I do have some free time, if you would like some help, or a guide of the Tower." She leaned in and lowered her voice. "And, you do know that you'll be issued your own ink, right?"

[Kevin]

Taylin looked at the girl, her words turning into a string of sounds. She could change roommates? Why in the Light was she bloody sleeping with a goat headed farm girl without sense to wash her own nether regions.Why had no one mentioned this when she was taken to the cold room? This place needed a welcome brochure. It was like entering a different world and culture. And yet...she could be rid of the foot girl!

Slowly the rest of what Leala said crept into her mind. Her face would flush a deep crimson. She knew there was no escaping what the girl had seen. Taylin sounded a little defensive, but she didn't attack the girl verbally. She wasn't the reason Taylin's nerves were shot.

"Well, I uhm...." Why didn't she want to lie to her? It was as easy as breathing. And yet, she couldn't.

"I am taking the ink to dye my dress. This is ridiculous. They took my nice clothes and gave me this sack." Taylin pointed at the dress, making a face as though it stank to the bloody Borderlands and back. "They can take everything they want, it doesn't mean I will be shepherded like a lost lamb." Taylin bit her lower lip. She continued with her plan. "I saw they brain washed all of the girls, making us all wear white and act like servants. So, I am going to dye all of the dresses, but I need more ink."

[Leala]

Leala raised an eyebrow as Taylin explained her intentions with the ink. A prank. Well. It made her want to wash her hands of the girl and go about her business, but she felt an amount of camaraderie with the other novice who was having such issues with her roommate. "Well," she said, choosing her words very carefully, "I wouldn't say we're brainwashed. My things were taken as well, but I made a choice when I came her, personally. Becoming an Aes Sedai sounded much more appealing than being forced into a political marriage. It's likely that I would inherit my mother's place as head of House, but I don't get along well with just anyone. This dress is a symbol of my choice. Every novice here has their story. I'm sure what you've said is true for at least a few of them, however."

She hoped what she was saying was having some sort of affect. It's very likely the girl would be caught, though. She didn't want to completely shun here, though. As a token of good will that she hoped Taylin would take as such, she said, "This stairwell takes you to the wash room." Turning to the right, she mounted the stairs and followed them, keeping to one side to allow the traffic of lower-ranked members of the Grey Tower to move as they needed to. Soldiers and drin'far'ji were a part of the mix as well.

She took Taylin to the novice's wash room and showed her around, indicating wash tubs and how the rules would work. "Normally, you do your own laundry, but sometimes you'll be asked to do an Aes Sedai's, or help out with your roommate's laundry." Walking over to the window, she pointed to the lines of dresses and small clothes hanging on lines to dry. "Drying must be done without the One Power, so we have lines to dry them when you've washed."

Once she was done, she started for the exit again. "I'll show you the classrooms, then the library next."

[Kevin]

Taylin followed the other novice, hiding the ink jar as they passed as Accepted washing what appeared to be an Aes Sedai's clothes. They were just out of her eyesight. The drying novice clothes outside seemed to call to her. This Tower thought it would break her? She couldn't be broken, only made harder. She was a stone in this river of crazy.

This novice was obviously too straight laced. A do-gooder in every way it seemed. Everyone like her needed a friend like Taylin to ensure they lived a little. Life wasn't so serious. An Idea struck her as Leala turned to try and leave.

"Oh by the Light!" Taylin exclaimed in a rather shrill voice. When Leala turned to face her she said just one word. "Catch." And when the word registered on the girls face, Taylin tossed the ink jar at her. She could either catch it, or risk it spilling all over her, either way Taylin had a plan. She spoke quickly before anyone could check on them.

"I am sorry, but I need help. If you don't help me...I will call out to that Accepted and tell her the plan was your idea, and you've threatened me to obtain my help."

Taylin's smile was sinisterly amused. She folded her arms beneath her breasts and raised her head to look at the Accepted. Her eyes rested on Leala, as she looked prepared to call out.

"So, what will it be Leala?"

[Leala]

Leala turned when Taylin yelled out. She caught the ink pot just in time. Then the other novice began to try to coerce her to help. She wasn't sure if she was bluffing or not, but it didn't matter. She was in no mood. Leala's tight-lipped neutral expression twisted into a sideways grin. "Try it," she said. She handed the ink pot back to Taylin. "I was raised to be a politician. I can weasel my way out of much."

"Besides, I think you're using those tactics a bit too late. I have been helping. Here, you can see where all dresses will inevitably end up." She had been trying to help in her own way, but it seemed Taylin wasn't taking her hints. She'd have to spell it out for her. Sometimes, she had to remind herself that not everyone was as schooled in subtleties as she was. Ah, well. "What's more, if you would continue with my tour, and follow my like I had intended, to the classrooms and the library, you'd be sure to find caches of ink when I become inevitably distracted for inappropriate amounts of time." It was nice to talk to someone about something other than boys and ribbons and dreams of romance. Even if it was about breaking the rules. "I will facilitate, but I will not take an active hand."

Leala was glad the washroom was so chaotic all the time. No one was there to hear what she was saying. "But you must do it without raising too much suspicion. Just act like you're truly on a tour with me. Curtsy to the appropriate people and act as if nothing is wrong. Hm. Find yourself a basket and a cloth to cover it. I will wait here."

[Kevin]

Taylin took the ink jar. She looked like someone had hit her between the eyes with a plank. She suddenly liked the girl even more. Her smile was dubious as she quickly found some clean laundry, stuffing the ink jar under it in a basket and returning to her new friend.

She thought twice about it and grabbed a semi-dirty dress and put it on top. She was excited. Waiting on the other girl she followed at just the right pace, with just enough bounce in her step to betray her to Leala, who knew why to look for it.

"You and I, we are going to get along just fine. A Lady used to the Game then? Do you hunt hawks by chance? I am rather taken with Falconry. I suppose I could teach you some time, if you wanted." Taylin offered while they walked.

[Leala]

Leala was actually surprised when Taylin agreed to her plan. She just hoped that the other novice kept in mind that if she was seen as not helping when Taylin was eventually caught, that they would likely replace each other's ill-fitting roommates. She nonchalantly led Taylin through the halls of the Grey Tower, toward the classrooms, hoping no one noticed any dresses missing. A part of her still hated taking part in this, but the part of her that felt spiteful toward Cenel was what drove her now.

Back down the stairs and into the Tower they went. Any questions about why Taylin was carrying a basket toward the classroom were met wight he very true answer that Leala was giving her a tour, so that she could more easily navigate the complex. She led the other novice into an empty and unlocked classroom. "You'll be given classes in rooms like these for larger lectures," she explained. "Feel free to look around," she said for posterity. "I'll be by the window enjoying the sunshine and the gardens if you have any questions." With that, she let Taylin wander about and do what she needed to do while Leala went to the window to admire the sunny day.