Sime~Gen Roleplaying: District Controller's Office Scenario
Episode #7: You Blow my Mind, Baby (3/18/99)
Darrel waits impatiently for Lemuse to join him in the transfer room.
Lemuse arrives at the transfer room 35 minutes before their transfer: 5 minutes before she's scheduled to be there.
Lemuse had planned on setting the room up first.
Lemuse: Oh! ~~ surprised but pleased ~~
Darrel grins weakly.
Darrel: I know I'm early.
Lemuse: I should hope so. [winks]
Darrel leans on her field gratefully.
Lemuse goes over to him.
Lemuse's field ~~ promises ~~ without actually offering yet.
Darrel resists the urge to grab her, and concentrates on some relaxation exercises.
Darrel: ~~ as calm as a Second Order channel recovering from a nervous breakdown is likely to get when in hard need ~~
Lemuse: OK if I get some water boiling and so forth, or you want me to sit right here?
Darrel is glad that at least he's apparently not going to be subjected to the humiliation of a monitor for this transfer.
Darrel: Oh, go ahead and make tea if you want. We've got time.
Lemuse pats his arm.
Lemuse: OK!
Lemuse gets up and starts to bustle about the small room, preparing the tea and various supplies, without losing touch of Darrel's nager.
Darrel refuses to acknowledge the sinking feeling as she moves a bit farther away.
Darrel: Is the tea Tecton Standard, or is there something different hidden away in the cabinet?
Darrel: ~~ hope ~~
Darrel got shamefully spoiled by the tea at Naros.
Lemuse: It's Tea #3. [names a typical Tecton standard-issue tea]
Lemuse holds up a tea bag.
Lemuse: OK?
Darrel smiles wistfully.
Darrel: It will be fine. Thank you, Lemuse.
Lemuse grins and goes back to what she was doing.
Lemuse: Boy, I hope you've been looking forward to this as much as I have.
Darrel: Believe me, I have.
Darrel: ~~ complete sincerity ~~
Lemuse finishes her preparations and goes back to plop down near Darrel again.
Darrel: There's nothing like doing without a Donor for a week or two to make one really appreciate a friendly nager.
Darrel edges a bit closer on the couch.
Lemuse: You know what they say about appreciation!
Lemuse: ~ nageric grin ~
Lemuse's field is smooth, soft, and cheerful, without being garish or forceful.
Darrel wonders if she is referring to the old adage about "absence making the heart grow fonder", and reflects that it doesn't hold true all the time, at least with regards to the more exotic aspects of Bender Cove.
Darrel also suspects that his appreciation of Lemuse is very much enhanced by her presence.
Darrel: I know that I'm really appreciating your nager just now.
Darrel reaches out with a handling tentacle to caress Lemuse's wrist.
Lemuse allows it, then moves her hand to grasp his, gently disallowing any further play... yet.
Lemuse: ~~ fond promise ~~
Darrel accepts the restriction, for now.
Darrel: I think the water's boiling.
Lemuse: You wish! [giggles]
Lemuse: It's only been on for a couple of minutes. This Gen has been around the block, you know.
Darrel grins ~~ sheepishly ~~
Darrel: I can't help being just a bit impatient at the moment.
Lemuse: Don't worry, you'll get your transfer exactly at the appointed time. Not a moment later. [smiles]
Lemuse: How about I give you a back rub while we're waiting?
Darrel: I never turn down a back rub.
Lemuse: Should I make a note of that in your file? [playfully]
Darrel: Please do.
Lemuse: Turn around so I can get your shoulders.
Darrel turns as directed.
Lemuse's Gen fingers begin to massage Darrel's back.
Lemuse's Gen nager massages Darrel's nager at the same time.
Lemuse: ~~ pleased to be here ~~
Darrel arches his back with pleasure.
Darrel: Mmmm, that feels good.
Lemuse: You need to gain some weight. How about after this we go to up to the Exec restaurant on the top floor? I still have a one-time pass from the last time I got a bonus.
Darrel: The Exec restaurant?
Darrel: Is that where all the ranking channels and Donors eat?
Darrel is not terribly keen on coming to the notice of the boss types.
Lemuse: Yeah. The food is supposed to be much better.
Darrel can hardly remember what it is like to actually want to eat.
Lemuse: But I can take somebody else if you don't want to go.
Lemuse seems disappointed.
Darrel can't bear to zlin the disappointment.
Darrel: I'd be happy to go with you, Lemuse.
Lemuse cheers up immediately, with a dramatic nageric brightening like the passing of clouds from over the sun.
Lemuse: ~~ enthusiastic and contented ~~
Darrel blinks at the sudden illumination.
Darrel is having a bit of trouble distinguishing what he sees from what he zlins at the moment, and really couldn't care less as long as the zlinning part keeps going.
Darrel zlins to determine if the water actually is boiling this time.
Lemuse stops massaging his shoulders long enough to locate her pocket watch and examine the time.
Darrel, of course, doesn't require a watch.
Darrel: Eighteen minutes and thirty-two seconds to go.
Lemuse looks forward to it with ~~ anticipation ~~.
Darrel reflects optimistically that in the time he took to say that, an additional second and a half went by, leaving eighteen minutes, thirty and a half seconds.
Lemuse thinks of a topic of conversation that would interest a Sime in hard need.
Lemuse: So, have you met Beni? Arat's Donor? What did you think of his field?
Darrel finds the sudden reference to a First unsettling, and his tentacles knot.
Darrel: It's way too strong for me.
Lemuse sighs in exasperation.
Darrel: Sort of overwhelming.
Darrel tries to concentrate on Lemuse's just-right nager instead.
Lemuse: That's not what I meant.
Lemuse: I mean, what did you think of it. How did it zlin?
Lemuse: I can't zlin it myself to find out, you know. ~~ humor ~~
Lemuse's fingers continue to work on Darrel's newly-retensed-up shoulders.
Darrel: Oh.
Darrel tries to find an acceptable description.
Darrel: Well, I only zlinned it from a distance....
Darrel decides to leave out the bit about quickly dodging into the janitor's closet.
Lemuse: That's a cop out if I ever heard one. You weren't even paying attention were you?
Lemuse works on a knot right between Darrel's shoulders.
Lemuse: Was Arat with him?
Lemuse could understand a person not wanting to zlin Beni with Arat standing right there.
Lemuse has seen Arat's annoyed glance wilt many a tentacle in her short stay here.
Darrel's shoulder is caught between twin imperatives: To loosen and to curl up into a little ball.
Darrel: No, he wasn't there.
Darrel: Beni's nager wasn't showing much, though. Just smooth, Tecton discipline.
Lemuse: My gosh, I'd hope so. Arat wouldn't allow anything less.
Lemuse: In Beni or anybody else for that matter.
Lemuse's fingers work their way down to the base of Darrel's spine.
Darrel grunts as a particularly stubborn knot gives in and grudgingly relaxes.
Lemuse: Like I say, he runs a tight ship.
Darrel nods.
Darrel: Does he usually eat at the Exec restaurant?
Lemuse: When he eats!
Lemuse laughs.
Darrel: Doesn't obey his own edicts on nutrition?
Darrel finds this ~~ amusing ~~, at least as much as anything could be only twelve minutes, eleven seconds before transfer.
Lemuse: Rumor has it that he won't eat unless Jeniard coaxes him into it.
Lemuse: But you didn't hear that from me!
Lemuse winks, knowing he'll be able to zlin it.
Lemuse: ~~ laughter ~~
Darrel: Tut, tut. Aren't good leaders supposed to lead by example?
Lemuse checks her watch again.
Lemuse: There's a lot to be said for leading by telling others what to do.
Lemuse: It's very efficient.
Darrel: I suppose it is.
Lemuse: Actually I can't complain at all about Controller Arat, he's been great to work under.
Lemuse: I'm really glad, too, because this was a big move for me, coming to Capitol and all.
Lemuse gently turns Darrel's shoulders, inviting him to turn around and face her.
Darrel: Was he responsible for your coming here? Or did you request the assignment?
Lemuse: He saw me and put in a request for my transfer. [grins]
Lemuse: Wouldn't take no for an answer either, from what I heard.
Lemuse: ~~ happy to be wanted ~~
Darrel: No one's ever requested me. ~~ wistful ~~ Although they flatly refused to let me go, at Bender Cove.
Lemuse: Really? ~~ impressed ~~
Lemuse's hands trace Darrel's forearms.
Darrel gasps with pleasure at the caress.
Lemuse: That's got to stand for something, when your Controller wants to keep you that badly.
Darrel's laterals extend two inches before he can snatch them back in again.
Lemuse's fingers run delicate circles around the orifices of the handling tentacles, teasing nearer to the lateral sheathes.
Darrel: It's not easy to get people to come to Bender Cove.
Darrel: ~~ need tension/anticipation ~~
Lemuse: I've heard that was one of the most successful of the experimental Centers.
Darrel: Really? From whom?
Lemuse: But that a person has to be tough to make it there... from Arat.
Darrel always wondered how much Veraik doctored the monthly reports.
Darrel: Hmm. I always wondered how Veraik got the Tecton to pay for remodeling the lobby every few weeks.
Lemuse's hands delicately close on Darrel's wrists, holding the laterals in, as her nager begins to throb enticingly.
Lemuse: ~~ teasing invitation ~~
Darrel completely forgets about Bender Cove, Veraik, Arat, and all other extraneous ideas.
Lemuse bends down and traces her tongue over one ronaplin gland.
Darrel hisses with startled pleasure.
Lemuse's tongue wanders over various sheathes and finds the other.
Lemuse's nager vibrates with ~~ pleasure, a bounty of selyn, and enjoyment ~~
Darrel can feel the tingling, wet path Lemuse's nager leaves behind.
Lemuse does the same to the other arm, her fingers maintaining their light pressure.
Darrel is unable to come up with any compelling reason not to take the Gen then and there, except that he can't seem to muster the initiative required.
Lemuse's tongue finishes its lazy, wandering journey and she straightens.
Darrel's eyes are vacant.
Lemuse smiles, and her hands caress Darrel's arms slowly, gently.
Darrel's handling tentacles emerge, seeking Lemuse's arms.
Lemuse's nager signals her ~~ openness and willingness ~~ in response.
Lemuse's lips part invitingly.
Darrel clamps down on Lemuse's arms and leans forward to take advantage of the offered lips.
Darrel is no longer able to keep his laterals sheathed, but that doesn't matter, because he can zlin Lemuse's lovely nager better with them out.
Lemuse awaits nageric bliss.
Lemuse: ~~ anticipatory shiver ~~
Darrel starts drawing slowly, teasing them both.
Lemuse responds with ~ pleasure ~
Darrel lets his draw build rapidly, filling the void inside him.
Darrel: ~~ release/reprieve ~~
Lemuse's ~~ joy in giving ~~ soars, in harmony with her natural ~~ optimism and enthusiasm for life ~~
Darrel loosens his control, going for ~~ peak satisfaction ~~
Lemuse matches his draw effortlessly.
Darrel's draw ebbs as he reaches ~~ satiation ~~
Lemuse remains still as it ends, ~~ supporting ~~ though she knows he won't be zlinning.
Darrel holds the contact even after the selyn flow has stopped, reluctant to come back to the word and face his less-than-optimal situation.
Darrel finally breaks lip contact.
Darrel: Lemuse, that was... wonderful.
Lemuse smiles tenderly at him.
Lemuse: Thank you.
Lemuse means that in more than one way.
Darrel feels good enough to imagine himself walking past Beni without flinching.
Lemuse: Would you like me to get you some tea now?
Lemuse: The water is definitely boiling. [grins]
Darrel realizes he's still holding Lemuse, and hastily retracts his tentacles.
Darrel: Of course.
Darrel: ~~ sheepish ~~
Lemuse gets up and goes to the sink to wash her hands first.
Lemuse: How does some Muckety-muck grade chow sound now? [slightly teasing]
Darrel: Actually, I'm hungry.
Darrel sounds a bit surprised.
Lemuse dries off, then goes over to the tea set to pour the boiling water over the bags.
Darrel watches the exercise with a new appreciation for the rear view.
Lemuse turns around in time to catch him looking, and grins.
Lemuse brings him his cup.
Darrel takes it, noticing at how good it suddenly smells.
Lemuse goes to moisten a towel with warm water and bring that to him too.
Darrel remembers how his life used to be, when every transfer left him renewed and full of enthusiasm for his work.
Darrel is suddenly struck by a total sense of loss.
Lemuse comes back with the towel.
Lemuse sees the expression on his face and immediately sits down beside him again.
Lemuse: There there, let it all out.
Lemuse: [encouraging]
Darrel's face twists, and he barely manages to set down his tea before he starts sobbing.
Darrel clutches at Lemuse.
Lemuse pats Darrel's back, holding him.
Lemuse murmurs appropriate nothings.
Darrel hides his head in Lemuse's comforting Gen solidity and bawls his eyes out.
Vannial makes his way through the large Sime Center, trying to remember the directions he was given.
Perditia hurries along the corridor in the other direction and almost doesn't notice Vannial.
Vannial spots a potential guide.
Vannial: Excuse me!
Perditia looks up in surprise.
Perditia is a plump young Gen office worker.
Perditia: May I help you, Sosu?
Vannial: I'm looking for Hajene Jeniard.
Vannial: I was told he is usually in Controller Arat's office?
Perditia blushes bright red.
Vannial hopes this woman knows Jeniard; in a Center this size, that's by no means certain.
Perditia: Oh... I wouldn't know that. But that's room 401 if you want to go see. 1
Vannial notes the blush.
Perditia blushes even more furiously as she realizes what she just said.
Vannial: Is something the matter?
Perditia: No, Sosu. [mumbles in tiny voice]
Vannial wonders what that's all about, but decides that it's likely his curiosity will go unsated.
Vannial: Well, thank you for the directions. I'll check room 401.
Perditia scurries off.
Vannial orients himself and discovers that he was walking in the wrong direction.
Vannial backtracks to the proper office, then pauses outside to check himself over.
Vannial would hate to meet Jeniard's best friend with an untidy uniform or mussed hair.
Vannial signals politely.
Arat: Did I have an appointment? [to Beni]
Beni is hanging out and offering ~~ support ~~ while Arat whittles away at the paperwork.
Beni: I don't think so. Unless it's that man from the Diplomatic Office, back to complain.
Arat looks displeased.
Arat gestures for Beni to answer it, and looks back down at his paperwork.
Beni shrugs, and goes over to the door.
Beni opens it and looks through.
Beni: Can I help you?
Arat looks up as he zlins Vannial's nager.
Vannial's nager is a nice balance of strength, responsiveness, and control.
Vannial's nager more than makes up for his rather homely features, at least with Sime women.
Vannial: Is Hajene Jeniard here, by any chance?
Vannial: I'm Vannial, a friend of his from way back.
Vannial is appropriately ~~ apologetic ~~ about the interruption.
Beni looks over his shoulder at Arat, then back at Vannial..
Beni: I'm afraid he's not here at the moment.
Arat is studying Vannial in some surprise. [maybe "zlinning" is a more precise verb]
Vannial: Oh, dear. I'm sorry to have bothered you, then.
Vannial manages to make his chagrin plain to zlin without interfering with Beni's support.
Beni: Try asking downstairs at the information desk.
Beni prepares to close the door.
Beni thinks the fellow looks like he's worn the uniform long enough to know that the Controller's office isn't a missing persons bureau.
Beni closes the door.
Arat blinks, as if coming out of a bemused state.
Arat: [this is not unusual for Arat]
Vannial looks at the closed door, trying to figure out how best to locate Jeniard.
Arat: [to Beni] Jeniard is in the Collectorium. Tell him a friend of his is here and will meet him at the information desk.
Vannial wanders off down the hall, so busy trying to figure out how to retrace his steps that he fails to notice that he's going in the wrong direction.
Beni leaves the office, catches a glimpse of Vannial taking the long way, then shrugs and goes on his errand.
Arat puts it from his mind, assuming Jeniard will have some sort of explanation later.
Vannial spends five minutes wandering around in circles, and finds himself back where he started.
Vannial is pretty used to enduring Sime remarks about Gens and their tendency to get lost.
Vannial gives an ~~ apologetic signal ~~ in front of the office door.
Arat looks up in disbelief at being interrupted again.
Arat: Enter!
Vannial opens the door.
Vannial: I'm terribly sorry to bother you, but I can't seem to find the stairs....
Arat beholds Jeniard's 1st Order friend.
Vannial looks at Arat more carefully.
Vannial: Why, you look like....
Arat tries not to look too annoyed, as it is a friend of Jeniard's... however he is operating under quite a handicap.
Vannial: But I thought he was the Regional Controller.
Arat: I beg your pardon? [icily]
Vannial: You bear a startling resemblance to a picture I saw of my friend Jeniard's friend and mentor.
Vannial: A truly remarkable fellow named Arat... I'd hoped to meet him, actually.
Arat's expression does a subtle, but extremely expressive, shift from annoyance to incredulity.
Vannial: But he's at the Regional office, not the local one.
Arat: District, not Regional.
Arat's tentacle loosens enough to cause his pen to roll free, coming to a stop somewhere near the "Arat Farris" plaque on the front edge of his desk.
Vannial's eyes are caught by the motion, then the plaque.
Vannial's nager suddenly sparkles with laughter.
Arat reaches for his pen.
Vannial: I see my nonexistent sense of direction has got me in another pickle. Jeniard will never let me live this down.
Vannial: You must think I'm stark raving mad.
Vannial: I'm very glad to meet you in person at last, though, Hajene Arat. Jeniard has told me so much about you.
Arat isn't sure how to react.
Arat: Oh...? [cautiously]
Vannial is ~~ openly and sincerely honored to meet Arat ~~
Vannial: Yes. Your friendship means a great deal to him, you know.
Arat would find this conversation easier to parse if he knew who this was or indeed, if Jeniard really calls this man friend.
Arat: You say your name is Vannial?
Vannial: Yes. Jeniard and I met years ago, when he was just out of school and I wasn't much more experienced.
Arat's eyes narrow slightly.
Arat: I see.
Vannial: I helped him out of a jam or two, and he got me out a pickle, and we've been keeping up with the acquaintance ever since.
Vannial: ~~ cheerful ~~
Arat: Then he will be pleased to see you, I am sure. [sourly]
Arat: He is on his way to the information desk to greet you, now. [adds]
Arat's tentacles curl around the pen way more times than really necessary.
Vannial: You're arranged that already? I can see Jeniard wasn't understating your efficiency.
Vannial: ~~ admiration ~~
Vannial makes his nager a bit more soothing, without actually engaging Arat's field; a task which etiquette limits to his assigned Donor or on specific request of the channel.
Arat's inner core, which was warring between fretting at the delay from work, loathing of being bothered, jealousy of a friend of Jeniard's, and baseless personal dislike for the fellow, is nonplused by the show of admiration.
Arat: He would want to know you are here.
Vannial: Yes, I'm looking forward to seeing him again. The information desk, you said?
Arat: Yes.
Arat pauses for a moment, and then adds, "The stairs are at the corners of the building and in the center of each long corridor."
Arat: The information desk is in front of the glass doors near the flagpoles.
Arat hopes the man will simply go outside and walk around the perimeter of the building until he sees the flagpoles.
Vannial brightens.
Vannial: Ah, if more people could describe things that clearly, I would spend less time getting lost.
Vannial: ~~ gratitude ~~
Vannial: I see Jeniard's high opinion of you is justified.
Vannial steps back towards the door.
Arat looks wary, but nods.
Arat feels like he should say something else, but isn't sure what.
Arat is, to tell the truth, just a little flustered by this whole encounter.
Vannial: I do apologize once more for disturbing you, and I hope we will have the chance to meet again before my leave ends.
Arat nods again.
Vannial slips out the door, moderating his nager so that the door closing in front of it doesn't make an abrupt, jarring change to the ambient.
Vannial then sets out in search of a building corner or mid-corridor.
Arat stares at the door for long moments, then looks down at his hands.
Arat: [the pen has snapped in half and dribbled ink onto his paperwork]
Notes:
1) In later episodes Arat's office was on the 5th floor. Apparently it moves around, possibly to avoid unexpected visits! [return]