The Grey Tower

Nathaniel Carridus It was late at night, later than any reasonable person ought to be awake. Even the Aes Sedai and Asha'man would be in their beds at this hour, because it was the right thing to do.

But Nate was not a reasonable person, nor did he much care for what the right thing to do was. Yes, it was rather late in the night and the Soldier could feel the weight of sleep pulling at his eyes, but he had much more to be entertained by at this moment in time. Why, he'd been chatting quite merrily to Lyssandra Ellinsara for what felt like a whole Age, and finally she had plucked up the courage to sneak up to his room with him on a night where Nate was sure they wouldn't be interrupted. His roommate was out performing some late night drill and staying overnight at the Blightborder of all places, and the Mayener was not passing up the opportunity for a bit of fun. Light knows he needed it after all his bloody training and exercising and discipline. Bah! It looked good on him though - his uniform fitted nicely over a body that saw plenty of exercise and responded well to it.

Not that he was wearing it right now. He was spending quality time with Lyssandra. One did not get her alone and spend his time clothed!

So there the man sat on his bed in just his smallclothes, shimmying the Accepted out of her dress. Ahh, it was such a crime to hide the perfectly formed lady in such coarse clothing. It didn't do her figure justice. He looked down at her with a grin plastered across his face, and his eyebrows waggled in suggestion as he said "are you sure you're up for this?"

"Of course Nate," Lyssandra replied warmly. "And I can see you are... I'd hate to disappoint." She reached up to kiss him once she was free from the confines of her white dress, and Nate snaked his arms around her.

"I like to make sure, that's all," Nate said, breath catching in his throat. Light, but she was gorgeous. He kissed her in return and gently pushed her back onto the bed, lying over her and kissing her eagerly.

The door to the room slammed open and there stood Reece, Nate's roommate who was apparently not sleeping elsewhere this night.

"I knew it!" Reece growled as Nate sprang off the woman like a rabbit, landing on the floor and standing up hastily. "I knew you'd do something if I told you I wasn't here!"

"What? You set me up?!" Nate reached down to grab Lyssandra's dress and he handed it to her; affronted, the Accepted put it back on quicker than Nate would have thought possible. That lovely flesh disappearing back beneath the bland white saddened him but it was all Reece's fault. "Some kind of roomie you are! If it was the other way around I would've totally had your back!" Realisation dawned on the Mayener, "that's the kind of guy you are. You can't have Lyssandra, so you won't let anyone else either!"

"Think what you like," Reece said, "the Master of Soldiers will be here soon and then you can explain your theories to him."

Oh, blood and ashes! Nate looked at Lyssandra, "get out of here," he urged her. "I'm sorry, we'll reconvene."

Lyssandra had slipped her shoes back on at this point - she got to her feet, gave Nate a quick pat on the arm and hurried on out of the room, brushing past Reece. The Soldier turned to look at her walk away, a smirk on his face. Nate wanted to shove him in a cupboard for his unkind act against men the Tower over.

"You know what? Light burn this, I'm not standing around waiting to get in trouble either." Reece might be bluffing but who knew? Either way Nate didn't want to stick around for it. He hurried on out of the room as well in just his smallclothes, looking left and right and not seeing Lyssandra anywhere. Burn Reece for what he'd done! Nate took a right and set off with strong strides, not caring at his state of clothing (or lack thereof). He took a few corners until he was sure Reece couldn't tell where he was, and at this point he knocked on one of the doors to another Soldier's room and hoped he struck gold and didn't meet up with a heel. "Hey! Hello! Hi!" he whisper-shouted into the keyhole. "It's Nate! Can you let me in? Pretty please? It's a matter of life or death! And I don't mean a pretend life or death way either!" He prayed to the Creator that he'd chosen the correct person's door to bang on at this incredibly late hour...

Dai, for his part, had been asleep.

Life at the Grey Tower was...tolerable. He found that he enjoyed it in some respects, although others he could have done without. There were some nice people here, though. Not that he'd really gotten to know any of them well enough to bare his soul to them, but still, he found that the great melting pot that was this place was easier to live in than the more narrow scope of his home town.

He had been sleeping just fine after a long day of mentally taxing lessons and one nearly embarrassing situation where he'd been looking too long at a trainee and had been caught out. (He'd have to be more careful.)

That sleep was not to last, nor was avoiding embarrassment for the rest of the day. In his long, loose breeches that he preferred to wear while sleeping, he sat up straight in shock at the sound. At first, he wondered if he'd dreamed it. Then he heard something about "life or death" and while he couldn't see how that could be true, he moved to the door.

Opening it, he saw a fellow soldier. The name escaped his sleep-bound mind, even as the man came in and shut the door. "Wha... Who... Why..." Dai blinked, dark eyes widening at the state of undress of the other. "What's going on?"

As soon as the door opened, Nate wriggled his way in, shutting it behind him with a gentle click of the latch. He then locked it as well, and stepped away as if being too close to the door would be bad for his health. If he was caught, it certainly would be bad.

Safely stood away, Nate seized Saidin long enough to weave a ball of light and tie the simple weave off. The flame was more Fire than Air, giving it a less gentle glow than the lights many women weaved for one another, or even many of the men. It flickered and ebbed with the light draft in the room, but it was bright enough to see the hair on Nate's chest and the look of concern in his brown eyes. Though he was grateful as well, and the relieved grin on his face said as much.

"Thanks," Nate said as he looked the fellow Soldier up and down. A couple of inches shorter than himself, the fellow had long hair and a strange sense of style when it came to bedwear. For Nate, he liked to sleep as naked as a newborn babe, but Reece had never been a fan of that for some reason. Bloody Reece. It was his fault he was now stood in some stranger's room, hoping he wasn't about to get himself kicked out and into even more trouble. Hopefully the other man would see reason and let him wait this one out. "It's pretty serious, what's going on, so I'm kind of hoping you'll help me out here." Nate gave one of his most beseeching smiles, spreading his hands as a peace gesture. "I don't think we've met, but my name's Nate and I'm a Soldier too. I'm in a spot of bother with the Master of Soldiers because my roommate is a goat's snout, so I just need somewhere to hide out until morning. I can curl in the corner under a coat, you won't even notice me. I'll... er... I'll owe you some kind of massive favour?"

Nate held a hand out to shake, his eyes a little worried but the big smile he wore mitigating that for the most part. He didn't know this fellow and for all he knew, he might be quite receptive to helping Nate in his hour of need. The alternative, he supposed, was heading out to face the Master of Soldiers in his underwear, and that wasn't something he particularly relished. But there was a saying his Da used frequently: "If you're going to be a heel, then you bloody well deserve what you get you flaming idiot". Nate heard that quite a lot in some variation or other... it wouldn't be as bad if he'd actually been able to sleep with the lovely Accepted. Getting into trouble for something he'd done was much better than getting into trouble for something he hadn't quite managed this night, burn it all.

Am I dreaming? Is this a dream? Those were the primary thoughts that flowed sluggishly through Dai's mind, which was still clouded with sleep and confusion.

In truth, he'd had dreams like this before...just the young man bursting into his room didn't usually look like this one. Roguish, was the word that came to mind, and strongly so at that. It was perhaps the only coherent--or at least understandable--thing going on in his mind, aside from the dream conundrum.

After a few moments, he felt himself coming around a little. By the somewhat harsh light of the globe the other Soldier had channeled, Dai could better take in the view before him. This greater chance at observation did nothing to solve any of the issues floating around in this bizarre late night encounter. Yes, he looked forward to meeting others, but this...was unusual.

"Nate," Dai said with a slow nod. The manipulation in those eyes and that smile was pretty obvious to Dai, able to understand the people around him as he could, but to what end? He could be legitimate in his story and truly that desperate. "I'm Dai," he introduced. "My own roommate was recently raised, and they have not yet assigned me another. So, uh, I suppose you could take his bed."

What a stroke of luck this was! Dai had a spare bed and Nate could use that for the night. The Creator must have been feeling sorry for him, to throw him a bone like this. It was the least he deserved after the indignity of having his fun time scuppered by Reece. "Thank you," he said, and he was genuinely grateful at that. He might not be out of trouble, if anything he could be in even more bother at the end of it, but for now he had somewhere to sleep and tomorrow was, well, tomorrow.

He went to sit on the bed which looked like it had not been slept in, taking a seat and looking across at Dai with a more curious look on his face. It was late, and it was clear he'd woken Dai up, so why was he wearing so many clothes? Nate was too forthcoming with his thoughts to think that he ought to mind his own business - his curiosity was such that he simply had to ask. "Why in the Light are you wearing that? It's not that cold, and there's nobody else here. I can't sleep in anymore more than my smallclothes, and that's in winter. In summer it's a whole other story...." the man grinned across at Dai, finding his relief transitioning more towards his usual cheeky self. "So what's that all about... shhh", Nate turned to look at the door as he heard footsteps outside, and quiet but intent voices.

It wasn't the Master of Soldiers, but it was a pair of Dedicated and they were definitely looking for him from the noises they were making about "that bloody Mayener" and "keeping it in his trousers". Nate was relieved when they went on by without incident, and he looked at Dai with a shameless shrug. "I was set up!" he explained, though he didn't sound like he was really defending himself. If anything, he sounded a little pleased even though the night hadn't gone how he wanted it to. "My roommate is the biggest of goat's snouts. The snoutiest. On a scale of one to snout, he's at least an eleven. He'd turn his own mother in if he thought he could get some special attention from the Master of Soldiers." Nate let out a huff but it wasn't one that said he would be holding a grudge for too long. It simply wasn't in his nature to get overly upset, and there would always be plenty of chances to prank Reece to get it into his head that he was an ass in need of a personality exchange.

"So anyway," Nate continued, going back to the subject of clothing, "why aren't you more naked?"

Dai was normally a more...graceful person when it came to speaking and social interactions. But it was the middle of the night, for the bloody Creator's sake. What could be expected of him?

Nate's far-too-candid questions set him back on his mental heels as he moved to sit back on the bed on the other side of the room, facing his new temporary roommate. What have I done? he couldn't help but wonder, clearing his throat and hoping to distract from the faint flush of his cheeks. This sudden intrusion was difficult enough.

"It's, uh," he stammered, trying to wrangle his wits once again. What had this guy done to be freezing at the sound of anyone passing by in the corridor? A goat? He was naked with a goat? No, wait, it was the roommate who was a goat. Or a snout. Or something. What was going on again? "It's just how I prefer to sleep."

He rubbed at his eyes for a moment. "So...why are you here again?"

Wait, the guy actually slept in that outfit? Through choice and everything? Nate tried not to look aghast, but he didn't try all that hard, so Dai ended up at the receiving end of a bewildered expression. "But," he said, "why?" It was a strange question to ask probably, but he was never all that worried about his filter. "There's too many layers. How are you supposed to be comfortable? We spend all day wearing a coat and trousers and shoes, I just want to let it all hang free." Nate wasn't naked then, he was still wearing his smallclothes, but that wasn't how he slept that was for sure.

"I'm here because," he repeated himself, "my roommate is a complete goat snout and he told the Master of Soldiers I was misbehaving with an Accepted. Which I wasn't!... I mean I was going to, but he was supposed to be my roomie and he ratted me out! He's going to end up with holes in his uniform when he's not expecting them, mark my words." Nate yawned, his passionate words at odds with his tiredness. Now the thrill of a lovely lady was out of the question and the adrenaline of running away had died down, he wasn't quite as excitable as he was before.

They were sat facing one another, as if they were the roommates now. Really it didn't matter why the Soldier wore what he did, or why Nate was there. They were fast friends now and they were going to share a room together. Grinning, Nate moved the blanket and rolled himself into bed, wriggling under the thin cover before, a moment later, he drew out a pair of black smallclothes and plopped them on the floor next to the bed.

"Honestly you should try it some time. It's kind of relaxing! And I bet ten coppers that you'd sleep better in the hot weather as well. Mayener's word on that." He grinned, hands behind his head which was turned to give the Soldier a look.

Although he was grateful that he wasn't pressed to try to explain further why he chose the clothing he did, he was less grateful after the other young man got into bed and removed what little clothes he had on. Oh, that was certainly going to keep him distraction-free while he tried to sleep...not. What had happened to his night?! He had been just innocently sleeping...

"Uh..." Dai managed to say very elegantly. Everything he'd ever known about Mayeners went right out of his head at the realization he was in the room with a naked stranger. Suddenly, a thought chimed into his head. It popped out of his mouth before he had a chance to think about whether he should say it or not. "My previous roommate would've made your head explode."

Then he paused and blinked, realizing that he probably needed to clarify that. "Well, he, uh, slept in way more clothes than me. I mean, I was kinda shocked he didn't sleep with his boots on."