Chemical Reactions [Attn: Astarte, Carra]

[Jenny]

In the room that she shared with Betrys in the novice quarters, Mirin paced back and forth. Her voice was quiet – she was afraid of waking their neighbors – but icy with rage as she ranted to her roommate.

“She said that love is nothing but chemical reactions. Is my love for my mother not real? Is your love for your family not real? Betrys, just because we will be Aes Sedai doesn’t mean that we aren’t women. Love is great and wonderful. It can do wonderful things. I can’t believe Maegan Sedai would deny the existence of something so…so…beautiful! People die for love! Love for their country, love for their children, love for their beloved. To deny love would be to deny all their sacrifice.”

Mirin had recently found Hearts of Flame, a collection of love stories, in the Tower Library. She had blazed through it the night before, and her young mind was freshly filled with dreams of love and romance.

Maegan Sedai had seen her returning the book to the library, and had expressed the opinion that "filling her bright, young mind with such useless drivel was a waste of time.”

Although Mirin's anger seemed silly, she truly was outraged. Despite her Cairhienin reserve, Mirin had a passionate soul, inherited from her Domani mother. Mirin would do anything for the people she loved. And to be told that this emotion was a waste of thought – Maegan Sedai’s words were unforgivable.

She spun to face Betrys with a hard, intense gaze. “We can teach her,” she said quietly, her lips twisting into an unpleasant smile. “Itchweed, washed with her shifts. That would cause a chemical reaction. She will itch for days. And then, we’ll see who is right about chemical reactions not being real.

"Betrys, will you help me collect some itchweed? I know that you love working in the gardens. You’ll have to be careful though. Please don’t get caught. Oh, and don’t forget to wear gloves! I’ll find a way to sneak it into some of her clothes."

Mirin looked down at her hands. A few months ago, they had been soft and white. Now they were roughened, from all the chores she had done. Her name was on the list for laundry duty tomorrow. No one would question her if she brought a few extra pieces of clothing here.

She reassured Betrys. "Don't worry, there is no way to trace it back to us. The novices switch laundry duty every day, and the clothes pass hands dozens of times between us and the servants. It's far too confusing to track. And she can just go to the Infirmary for Healing. Come on, it's a little harmless fun!”

Mirin smiled. She couldn’t wait for the sweet taste of revenge.

[Astarte]

After six months of living with Mirin she had learned a few things, one of which was that she was always willing to latch onto a fashion or idea and become fixated on it. She still recalled the fiasco of their initial days in the Tower and how they'd both literally hated the other. At least that had ended...eventually. In the meantime, she was used to the ranting and pacing around their room that usually accompanied these intense sessions of muttered (and sometimes not) introspection about her latest issue.

The mention of a Sedai in that series of words actually perked up her interest, drawing her attention away from her careful (and rather painful) reading of her latest batch of homework and the texts that were associated with it "Sorry what? You wanna die for love now?" she questioned, endless lessons in Appearance Classes had been able to soften and smooth the edges of the accent she had arrived with, while Betrys would never use it, the work probably made it easier for others to understand her and what she was saying. Frowning Betrys sighed "I know how tae be gathering itchweed - I wrote a paper on it, ya recall? You hae to be helping me with the words" she reminded her room-mate and rolled her eyes at the same time.

She'd learned that there wasn't really anything outright malicious about her, that didn't stop her from being able towards a certain degree of zeal about these fixations "Really? Alright I guess - when ya wanting this itchweed, hmm?" she asked. Betrys had some concerns about this actually working out but she wasn't going to deny that it would be funny to see one of the haughty and controlled Aes Sedai brought to itching frenzy by the use of a rather simple and common herb.

[Jenny]

“As soon as possible,” Mirin said briskly, the cogwheels of her mind turning. Getting her hands on Maegan Sedai’s shifts would be easy, as she could nick them during laundry. Getting them back to Maegan Sedai’s rooms, without other people touching them and noticing an itchy reaction, was much more difficult.

Perhaps she could flirt with a male servant and… no, the fewer people involved the better. She sat and strummed her fingers on her desk, thinking hard. She could leave a couple of the shifts untouched by itchweed and wrap those around the itchy shifts. Then tie it all together with a white ribbon and a forged note. Yes, that could work.

This was Mirin’s role in the pranks that the two young novices pulled. She thrived on it; formulating the plan, organizing the logistics, and foreseeing difficulties. It was her responsibility to make sure they weren’t caught. She was happy to leave the actual sneaking about to the more adventurous Betrys.

Or if they were caught, she also felt it was her responsibility to spare Betrys the punishment. Though, more often than not, Betrys insisted on sharing part of the blame. It was one of the traits that Mirin found confusing, but loved, about her friend.

“If there’s anything else you need, Betrys, please let me know. Oh, I can’t wait to see the look on her face!”

OOC: Please feel free to fast forward this to collecting the itchweed and sneaking it into Maegan Sedai's room. I, like Mirin, can't wait to see her reaction!

[Astarte]

She knew the gleeful look on her face meant trouble but Liri was asking for it. Well probably and itchweed wasn't so terrible an experience, she had encountered as a child and spent a day soaking her hands in a liquid designed to help soothe and ease the itching from her skin but she had lived. Betrys smiled and then ducked under her bed to pull out a bag "I'll be back. Ya want me tae meet ya in the laundry?" she asked, that wouldn't be unreasonable but at the same time meeting back here made more sense.

When Mirin agreed she nodded and skipped out to pick up what they were going to need. She hummed and headed back to her room, patting the bag and maintaining and otherwise pleasant and polite manner as she walked "I got it!!!" Betrys announced bursting into the room as she found it impossible not to say something with the excitement of this whole adventure.

Sure it was naughty but that didn't matter.

Betrys took a deep breath and held out the bag "Be careful" she reminded her companion not wanting to have to explain why Mirin needed such treatment especially if this prank managed to get pulled off in the first place "Up tae ya now" she gasped out and grinned.

[Jenny]

Mirin grinned at her roommate. "Thank you Betrys," she said.

The next day, during her chore time before lunch, Mirin went to the laundry room. It was a busy place, with several tens of novices and servants rushing around. There was a row of washers sitting next to basins full of hot water and soap. They worked hard, soaking and scrubbing. Others sat at tables, labeling incoming clothes and sorting them by color. The head washwoman stood at the end of the room, barking instructions.

Mirin signed her name on the chore sheet, and then approached the head washwoman. She tried to appear sick. “Excuse me, ma’am, may I fold today? I’m not feeling well.”

The woman paused in her shouting and eyed Mirin. Then, she grunted. She waved the novice off carelessly.

Mirin stepped outside, into a shaded porch-like area. It was shaded in the case of rain, but the sides were open, allowing a gentle breeze to pass through.

The clothes hung from the lines in neat rows, each piece marked with a small tag that provided the name and location of its owner. Mirin ran a hand down the clothesline to feel the fabric – they were dry – and began to take them down. She ironed shirts that were still wrinkled, inspected dresses for missing buttons, and then folded everything into neat bundles, separated by owner.

She worked quickly, because the sisters required the novices not to tarry, but without haste, for the sisters also punished shoddy work.

When she saw Maegan Sedai’s name, she smiled. It was a small smile, and she quickly returned her face back to neutral. She set the woman’s bundle aside, and then continued in her work.

An hour later, she wiped the sweat from her forehead, and then frowned as her stomach growled. It was definitely lunchtime. She picked up Maegan Sedai’s bundle and walked back inside.

“You, girl! What are you doing with that bundle?”

With a start, she jerked around. A male servant was staring at her, his eyes narrowed.

“These are my clothes,” Mirin lied. She opened her eyes wide and attempted to appear innocent.

The servant strode up to her and grabbed the nametag. Mirin’s heart stopped.

“Is that what this says?” the servant demanded. He thumbed the tag. And Mirin suddenly realized that the man was not looking at the tag. He was watching her for her reaction.

He could not read.

She clenched her jaw to stop herself from smiling, and instead forced her expression into anger. She jerked the bundle away from him. “Stop fondling my smallclothes,” she said heatedly.

The man blushed and jerked his hand away. Mirin took the chance to spin on her heels and strode away.

[Jenny]

Mirin hid in a stall in a communal washroom in the Tower. She placed the clothes in the bag with the itchweed, and then embraced saidar. Women were always channeling in the Tower, which is why she chose to remain here instead of returning to the novice quarters.

It had been several months since her arrival at the Tower. She could manage crude threads. Very crude threads. Carefully, with threads of Water guiding water from the sink, she soaked the bag. And then, avoiding contact with her hands, she used delicate strands of Air to remove the clothes, wring them out, and spread them. More strands of Air caressed the clothes, drying them.

Beads of sweat dotted her forehead. Although Mirin had been told that she would one day be a strong channeler, she was still far, very far, from her potential. It took years, sometimes up to a decade, for a woman to reach her maximum.

Carefully, still using Air, she folded the clothes back into a bundle. The outer layer was made of clothes untouched by itchweed so that the bundle could be safely handled.

She disposed the used bag and itchweed down the long solid waste chute. Unless someone knew to sift through hundreds of pounds of human waste, it would never be found.

Mirin took the bundle back to the laundry room. It was as busy as ever; no one would notice her. She was just another novice, running her errands, minding her own business. She placed the bundle with the other stacks of readied, clean clothes, and then left.

OOC: Whew! That was a marathon. Carra, it's your turn to join the fun!