First date since forever (Sana!)

[Lannie]

After they'd done their Traineely duty by making sure that Maldrin was taken care of, Esthelle had taken a few moments to slip into clothes that were a bit better for the occasion. It shouldn't matter much, she thought as she looked at her face in the mirror as she quickly plaited her hair in a loose braid, Sana had seen her mud-splattered and bloody and her face was still trying to get used to the fact that it was actually Healed. She didn't look too hot, with traces of a bruise on her previously broken cheekbone that was about to vanish tonight, but it never hurt to dress up for any occasion.

 

Her parents were traders in cloth; and if there was something they'd taught her then it was how to dress up nicely. Esthelle wasn't about to fuss too much over her looks, though. She just slipped into darkgreen skirts and a matching tunic that tailored subtly to show her feminine forms and did her hair and then she was ready to go. All in all it only took ten minutes to get ready, but it did earn her some amused remarks from her roommates: "Going out on a date, Esthelle?" Vanion asked with a smile.

 

"Just having dinner with a friend," she confessed, noting with a hint of annoyance that her cheeks were flushing slightly.

 

"Sure," was all Vanion said, and then Esthelle fled out of her room. Her head still felt like it was spinning with an overload of happenings that had passed today.

 

She felt cheerful enough, however. She might have gained an enemy, but Sana seemed to become quite the opposite. She found herself genuinely looking forward to spending the evening with. He was so different from her husband; just a joy to be with instead of being on her guard pretty much twentyfour hours a day. She met up with Sana at the gate to Tar Valon.

 

"Hi," she said cheerfully, meeting his eyes. "Do you have any suggestions on a good place to eat? As I promised, it's my treat..."

 

~Esthelle

[TaeaDawn]

Ursana stared at his reflection and shook his head. If he'd had any idea the way today had turned out he would have shaved this morning instead of skipping the morning ritual in favor of a few more minutes sleep. He was dressed in soft brown pants and his best white shirt. Having traveled all his life Ursana had a strange assortment of clothing to try to fit in a little depending on where they were. Tonight he was just trying to look good so the silk shirt was in, and the stuffy jackets were out. He did take a dark brown jacket with him, but it was a casual look. Still, his other roommates commented on it as he was getting ready. He ignored their jibes and wondered what Maldrin would say when he found out that he'd gone to dinner with the girl who had managed to beat them both. But Maldrin wasn't back from the infirmary yet and Sana was in the mood to have fun tonight.

 

Esthelle... something about her... she could handle herself pretty well that was certain, but something about her eyes, the way she had looked him afterwards, there was a vulnerability behind it all and he wanted to protect that. Perhaps it had to do with the fact that he couldn't protect his sister the way he had always dreamed he could some day do. Maybe it was just that Esthelle hit a strange spot in his heart. He'd never had any trouble with ladies, but he was a traveller. He had never made any promises and he had never made any attachments, besides the good time ones, the ones that came and went with the seasons. It made him more nervous than he wanted to admit as he walked away from the barracks and towards their meeting spot.

 

He felt all scruffy to begin with, but seeing her standing there, dressed up and waiting for him, the feeling got worst. He really should have taken a couple more minutes to shave. Light, but he was just having dinner with someone he hoped to be friends with. Why was he nervous as a Trolloc in Fal Dara keep?

 

"Hi, Do you have any suggestions on a good place to eat? As I promised, it's my treat..."

 

He smiled then, a lot of his nervousness melting away. She'd seen him all bloody and mud covered and she hadn't pushed him away then. He didn't think she would mind a little scruff. "There's a place I know not too far away." He said. "Before I joined the guard I spent a little too much time in the Inns of Tar Valon." He wasn't about to admit to the whole mishap, at least not yet, but he certainly knew the good inns and the bad ones. It seemed the thing to do, so he offered her his arm. "You look lovely." He said with another smile.

[Lannie]

He'd dressed up too, was the first thing that Esthelle noticed when they met up again. The next thing she noticed was how pleased she was about it, and she wondered a bit about herself. It was less than two months since she'd fled from Yoran and her marriage and here she was feeling attracted a guy that she'd just met today?

 

"There's a place I know not too far away." Ursana told her. "Before I joined the guard I spent a little too much time in the Inns of Tar Valon." He graciously offered her arm, and she took it with an answering smile.

 

"You look lovely."

 

She didn't think her smile could get any wider. "So do you," she told him, and then grinned cheekily. "In a manly kind of way, that is." She reached out to Sana's chin and cheeks and lightly touched the dark stubble as they set off to their destination. "You should keep it at this length," she remarked. "It looks good on you. Makes you look older than you really are." She smiled at him. "Because I think that you're younger than you look. Also, I've been trying to guess where you come from based on your looks and your accent, but I can't guess for the life of me where you're from. Usually I'm pretty good at that kind of stuff!"

 

The clouds above them had given way to more drizzly rain, but Esthelle hardly felt it...

[TaeaDawn]

"I've been trying to guess where you come from based on your looks and your accent, but I can't guess for the life of me where you're from. Usually I'm pretty good at that kind of stuff!"

 

Ursana smiled as they walked. "It would be hard to figure out. My family runs a trading caravan so the accent has always been a bit strange. As for the looks, we've been in the trading business for a long time and people just sorta married wherever they wanted to. Things tend to blend together. I was born in Arafel as near as we can figure." He said with a small laugh. "Never really wanted to do anything but be in the caravan, but when I came to visit my sister, things changed. I don't know if you met her, but my sister is Rosheen Tahn Sakhr. I decided to stay on at the Yards to patch things up. Only, somehow, the couple weeks turned into a couple months."

 

He shook his head and looked down. "I can't believe I just told you all that." Ursana was a carefree guy most of the time, but he had kept most of those things quiet, not really talking to anyone about his life before the Yards or his relationship with his sister. It was surprising to find himself talking about it to Esthelle. A rather pleasant one.