To Smooth Talk a Smooth Talker [attn: Jem/Alisa for Thread Roulette]

[Roan]

Paks Liard

One of the many duties given to Learning Ranks was meeting with those who wished to solicit help from the Aes Sedai and Asha’man of the Tower, and directing them to the right person or place. Towards the end of the day, those who came would sometimes be put up for the night to meet with the required Ajah representative in the morning. For some reason, someone thought this would be a good assignment for Paks, and thus she stood at the gates, meeting, greeting, flirting and smirking. (When did she ever not smirk?)

Working with Paks was a young Novice with the name of Alisa. She was cute, but not the kind of cute that engaged Paks’ flirt drive. She was a bit too young for that, and as roguish as Paks was, she was no pervert. Glancing her way, Paks overheard her talking to a young married couple who seemed to be having difficulty conceiving a child. Just as Alisa was about to direct them to quarters so they could see someone from the Yellow tomorrow, an old woman approached Paks, pulling the Drin’s attention away from the Novice once more.

The woman walked with a cane, and had a pleasant smile as she came to stop in front of Paks. Giving her best, charming smile, the Drin spoke, “And how can the Tower be of service to you, m’lady?”

The woman cackled and shook her head, “I ain’t no lady, and you know as much from the look o’ me. No. . .I am a simple woman who has dairy cows who arenae producin’ milk. They dried up o’r night, n I’m fearful we’ll lose their calfs, ne’r min’ their milk. Is there someone as who can help me?”

“I am sure we have someone who can help. I think you may need to speak with someone from the Yellow Ajah who can work with animals. Unfortunately, they can’t see you until morning, but we can put you up for the night. How does that sound?” Paks offered.

The woman beamed a near toothless grin, “A night here? I’ll feel pampered. If it means I can find someone to help, it be worth it.”

Paks nodded, and looked over her shoulder to a fellow Drin, “Drin Fannigan will show you to a room, then. Someone will fetch you in the morning. Dinner and breakfast will be delivered to your room.”

“Thank ye,” the woman said before being lead away.

Paks looked over to Alisa and grinned as she shrugged. The line of people seemed to wane, which was not surprising given the hour. “I don’t know about you, Novice Alisa, but I am starving and can’t wait for the bell to toll. What about you?”

[Jem]

"Absolutely." Alisa extended an arm to hand the couple off to a Novice even newer than herself, and then grinned at Paks without missing a beat. "You wouldn't believe the number of potatoes I peeled this morning, Paks. If I don't get to eat some of them I will simply curl up in the corner and weep!" She'd decided pretty early on in their acquaintance today that she liked Paks. The woman reminded Alisa of one of her brothers - Tomasz, the middle one, with his friendly-but-mischievious nature. And, of course, the way the young Ladies (and some of the not-so-young Ladies, as well) swooned over him while he feigned innocence and did everything to encourage it.

She looked through gates, and the long line of people finally seemed to be finished, along with the sun. The flat light of dusk gave everything a yellowish hue, including the man that approached her, a beat up hat literally in hand. His clothes were dusty from the road. "I need help," he said plainly.

"Of course," Alisa smiled, as welcoming as she'd be to a guest in her own home. "The Grey Tower is happy to be of service."

He took a step closer to her, standing a little closer than she was accustomed, but Alisa didn't back up; it would have been rude. "My village, down at the north end of Ghealdan, we're overrun with bandits! The town chose three of us to make a run here, I'm the only one what made it. Please, we need some channellers. Right away."

"We'll get you an Aes Sedai or an Asha'man, Master...?"

"Kareth Jonarin, my lady," he responded smoothly.

"Master Jonarin, an Asha'man or Aes Sedai will be happy to receive you in the morning," she said, her polite tone never faltering. It didn't occur to Alisa to correct the way he addressed, her, she was too used to being called so, and not enough accustomed yet to being called 'novice.' "But they are not taking any more petitioners tonight. Drin Regnin will be pleased to show you to a room for the night."

When she would have gestured the aforementioned Drin forward, Jonarin grabbed her upper arms roughly but not hard. "I'm sorry," he said, releasing her quickly as the sheltered girl went stiff at the foreign contact. "But that simply won't do. We need help right away."

"I'll see what I can do," Alisa said gently, trying to regain her composure. She looked a bit helplessly in Paks' direction, not sure whether she would get in more trouble for letting someone through that didn't truly have an emergency, or for not letting someone through that did.

[Roan]

Paks Liard

Paks watched as Alisa as she talked to the Jonarin fellow, and listened to the story the man told the Novice. The Drin watched the man’s body language, and saw some of the signs one might expect from a person who’s village had been over run. The man wrung his hands around his hat as one would expect, and his voice held the right level of worry. He even pressed Alisa when she told him he’d have to wait until morning.

I’m sorry but that simply won’t do. We need help right away.

Grabbing Alisa also showed desperation, but it was the man’s expression that gave Paks pause. The man smiled, though not a full on smile. His lips twitched upwards for a brief moment, and when Paks looked to his eyes, her suspicions grew even more. There was no fear in them, no worry as one might expect to see from a man who escaped with his life to seek help for his village.

The Drin stepped over and slightly in front of Alisa. She didn’t think of herself as any great fighter, but she’d been told she could hold her own in an unarmed match, and the man before her looked unarmed. Looks could be deceiving, though. “Novice, could you ask the guards if we could borrow their guard house for a few minutes. Master Jonarin is the last petitioner we have today, and it would do little harm to hear him out a bit.” As Paks spoke, she kept her eyes on the man, looking for more tell tale signs of his deceit.

Was that a look of triumph? There was no certainty in anything Paks had ‘seen,’ but her gut was telling her this man was full of it. She’d made a living telling tall tales before coming to the Tower, and could spot a con a mile off. This felt like a con, but she wasn’t certain and wasn’t about to turn the man out without more concrete proof.

Only after the flash of what might have been triumph did Paks look over to Alisa. She saw a questioning look on the Novice’s face and offered a subtle wink, hoping she’d pick up on the cue. Getting the man alone to tell more of his story would give him greater chance to slip, and Paks intended on catching him in his lie.