Third floor common room [early afternoon]

[bloody-luck.livejournal.com]

Mat arose at the crack of noon, as was his habit, took one look out the window, realized that snow was nothing he particularly wanted to deal with today, and headed down to the common room instead to look sad until someone made lunch for him.

Besides, company was always welcome especially since it would bring mistletoe. He flopped into a chair and began pushing random buttons on the remote control.

No, he hadn't yet figured out how to get the television to turn on.

Comments

[bloody-luck.livejournal.com]

"I'm thought of very highly at home," Mat protested. "Just don't ask Egwene about it."

[guardianborn.livejournal.com]

"She'd know, wouldn't she?" Rose asked innocently. "I mean - what's the point of lying about it?"

[bloody-luck.livejournal.com]

"Egwene refuses to believe that I've gotten much older than nine years old," Mat replied, cheerfully slandering her.

[guardianborn.livejournal.com]

"Have you?" Rose teased.

[bloody-luck.livejournal.com]

"I'm at least fifteen by now," Mat proclaimed.

[guardianborn.livejournal.com]

"Oooh, so old," she smirked. "If you're lucky, in another few years, you'll be old enough to talk to girls and everything."

[bloody-luck.livejournal.com]

"Am I talking to a fish now?" Mat asked.

[guardianborn.livejournal.com]

"Hey!" Rose made a face at him. "At least choose a cute animal."

[bloody-luck.livejournal.com]

"What's my lady's preference?" he teased. "Kitten? Fox?"

[guardianborn.livejournal.com]

"How about Rose?" she suggested, chuckling. "If I'm going to be turned into a fuzzy animal, I want one with teeth."

[bloody-luck.livejournal.com]

"Roses have thorns, not teeth," Mat replied, winking.

[guardianborn.livejournal.com]

Oh-so-totally startled was Rose, oh yes. "No way? They do? You're crazy."

[bloody-luck.livejournal.com]

"Well, except for the wild marauding Tairen red rose, but I don't suppose you've heard of those," Mat completely made up.

[guardianborn.livejournal.com]

"Not at all," Rose said, pretending to be totally intrigued. "What's their story?"

[bloody-luck.livejournal.com]

"Oh, you know how roses are," Mat said, "bleeding you dry, rampaging through the countryside, eating sheep..."

[guardianborn.livejournal.com]

"Hey, maybe if it wasn't so boring to stay home, the roses wouldn't be rampaging," Rose pointed out.

[bloody-luck.livejournal.com]

"That was their fault for living in bloody Tear," Mat replied.

[guardianborn.livejournal.com]

"So where should they have lived, o wise one?"

[bloody-luck.livejournal.com]

"I liked Andor best," Mat declared. "They would have been well appreciated in a nation that gives their queen the Rose Crown."

[guardianborn.livejournal.com]

Okay, so she was impressed that he brought it around to that - who cared if it was true or not.

But still...

"Yeah, but rose things are always tacky," she pointed out with a smirk. "So maybe Andor just doesn't appreciate 'em so much as mock 'em."

[bloody-luck.livejournal.com]

"I'll ask the Daughter Heir the next time I see her," Mat said, "but I think if I tell her that her crown is going to be tacky, she'll send me off to the headsman, and then you'll feel guilty."

[guardianborn.livejournal.com]

"Well, I didn't think you'd be dumb enough to tell a princess that her crown is tacky, Mat," Rose teased. "Thought more highly of you than that."

[bloody-luck.livejournal.com]

"Oh, Elayne already thinks I was raised in a barn by woolbrained fools," Mat said, rolling his eyes. "I think she practically expects me to walk into her throne room with hay in my hair."

They were such good friends. Really.

[guardianborn.livejournal.com]

"You should do it," Rose suggested. "Just to prove her right."

[bloody-luck.livejournal.com]

"Should I bring a horse with me?" Mat asked.