Roommates: Friend or Foe? [Attn: Astarte] COMPLETE

[Astarte]

She noticed the smile but couldn't find it in herself to actually find it welcoming or reassuring there might not have been a lot of water under the bridge between them when it came to a social interaction but that didn't mean that what had happened so far had been enough for Betrys to want to consider her as anything other than the girl who had hurt her and got her into trouble as well.

"So...everyone here" Betrys was aware that she was definitely the unusual in terms of her lack of literacy.

She frowned as she looked at the shape of the letters and compared that to the rest of what was in front of her; Betrys took a deep breath and literally bit her tongue to avoid ending up saying something that would probably only end up escalating "I's not a child. Just so ya know that Mirin but I's read it and work on ma stuff" she muttered, depressed and a little despondent with this whole matter "...I's hope ya mean tae do this better, I's don't want tae find out ya set me up" Betrys had literally no reason to believe she could completely trust whatever Mirin was saying or teaching.

"I's got work in the gardens" she stated, her own manner hardly accommodating or even warm.

[Jenny]

One week later

Mirin’s face was flushed as she sat crosslegged on the floor of their little room. Her eyes focused on a used, unlit candle placed before her. A small glow of saidar surrounded her. Mirin grasped tiny strands of Fire, forming the weave for a small flame again and again – but the candle remained unlit.

Suddenly, the glow of saidar winked out, and with a cry, she grabbed the candle and threw it across the room. It hit the wall with a smack! Mirin bowed her head, blinking back tears of frustration.

Mirin knew that she could not expect to be good at everything. But, she hated being bad at anything. Her lessons, overall, were going rather well. However, she had discovered that she had very little – in fact, almost none – ability in Fire or Earth. And she was very, very conscious of the other woman sitting quietly in the room.

That was something else she hated – she had absolutely no privacy. It was against the rules for novices to channel on their own; but Mirin hated the looks of sympathy when she failed at weaves involving Fire or Earth, over and over, again and again. The only place where she could practice without prying eyes was in their tiny, little room. But that meant Betrys would be there. And so, every day when she practiced, her failure was put on display.

Mirin found it easier to lash out than to give up and admit failure. “What are you looking at?” she snarled at Betrys.

[Astarte]

Betrys had wondered if there was some endless list of rules in the Tower, it seemed that everyday she learned a new one or rather managed to break it and was informed about how she was going to be punished for that being the case. While part of Betrys did understand that it was important for her to learn in a controlled and inherently safe way, in order to avoid her power spilling out like a maelstrom to consume both herself and all she loved...it still sucked.

Muttering as she returned to her room.

The very last thing she had expected was to find Mirn breaking on the big rules. They were so not meant to Channel anywhere without supervision and Betrys was more than confident that she didn't fit the bill for meeting that particular requirement. She was stunned though, and it showed. However, the rude and aggressive way that Mirin chose to act out because she'd been caugh only served to make sure that Betrys was heading towards angry right off the bat as well "Really? I's looking at a miss who's all about being in trouble with Channeling where she shouldn't be..." she responded and tutted before heading to her desk and dumping the books she had gathered.

Apparently the word had spread that Betrys couldn't read. Which meant all her teachers had assigned homework involving reading.

[Jenny]

Mirin snorted. As if she herself hadn’t caught Betrys practicing with the Power alone several times. The allure of saidar was too strong to resist; it made her feel alive and filled with joy. The world was brighter, sharper, better, when she held the One Power. She constantly wanted to drink in more of the sweetness, but she knew that she had to resist. Too much of the Power could burn out the ability – forever.

She almost snapped at Betrys. Then she caught herself, bit her tongue, and grimaced. And sighed.

“I won’t tell on you if you don’t tell on me,” she finally said to Betrys. She climbed to her feet. “Let’s see how you’re coming along in your reading.”

They labored together over Betrys’ homework. Mirin patiently explained many of the words. Then, Betrys showed her some of the words she didn’t understand from the books she was reading, and Mirin explained those too, helping Betrys sound them out. At the end of the night, they were both exhausted. But they had done it.

Mirin dipped the pen into the water well to clean off the tip, which was almost as black as the ink. “We’re done!” she said. “You’re doing very well. I’m surprised that you can keep up with all your work without –” Then her words tumbled to a halt. She shared startled looks with her roommate.

Did I just compliment her? Mirin blinked slowly at Betrys.

[Astarte]

Betrys shrugged, neither of them was unique when it came to using the One Power to Channel. After all, it was important to be used too and comfortable with feeling that warm glow of power and using it properly - at least that was the way Betrys usually justified things to herself when the question of right and wrong came up.

Which wasn't often.

There was always so much that she needed to worry about without thinking about the seemingly endless amount of rules that filled her daily life with their restrictions and limitations. Betrys did huff slightly, not smirking as such but definitely feeling a little smug. She had worked hard, the additional fact that Makenna had also taken such an interest her levels of literacy had certainly sparked further determination "Without what?" she asked, shocked that Mirin had offered any praise but perfectly prepared for the insult that was sure to come afterwards.

"I's not daft" she snorted and looked at her pointedly.

[Jenny]

They looked at each other for a few long seconds.

"No, you're not," Mirin said slowly, agreeing. "You're not daft, not at all." She stood up.

"I don't believe that you need any more help with reading," she said. "You've learned incredibly quickly. However, we do need to work on building your vocabulary - which means expanding the number of words you know. The best way to do that is to read. Read as much as you can. When you come to a word you don't know, write it down and bring it to me. I'll help you the best I can."

She still didn't quite like Betrys - no, not at all. But she did feel admiration for her roommate, who worked so hard and never complained. And even if they weren't quite friends, perhaps they could be... close acquaintances. Mirin smiled at that thought.

Maybe they could get along after all.

THE END (of this thread) Thank you Astarte!