Sime~Gen Roleplaying: District Controller's Office Scenario
Episode #109: The Slip (12/4/99)
Pylor struggles to maintain his support of Arat for the remaining five minutes of the session.
Pylor has so far not been ordered to take a break, which is still surprising to him, since that's only happened twice before.
Pylor was so emboldened by the previous day's success that he deliberately tried for a closer, more exact support today, which of course has been requiring more concentration than his usual barely-adequate efforts.
Pylor is consequently tired enough to worry that he'll start to wobble again.
Arat notices that Pylor is performing better when not allowed a break, which is more in line with Arat's idea of how employee performance works than some of Pylor's previous performances.
Pylor feels the wobble begin, and clutches his teacup as he tries to dampen it.
Arat sighs to himself.
Pylor manages to still the wobble, more or less, at the cost of sloshing tea on his hands.
Pylor breaths a sigh of relief, and quickly drinks half of his lukewarm tea to prevent another accident.
Arat, who is pretending to work on a report, pretends not to notice anything happened.
Pylor feels much like a marathoner who has just found a second wind at the critical moment.
Pylor looks at Arat to see if he noticed.
Pylor feels a sense of accomplishment at Arat's lack of visible disgust, which further stabilizes his nager.
Arat waits until the session is officially over, and then puts down his pen.
Arat has become rather accustomed to the twice-a-day abuse sessions, since they have been going on for nearly two months now and Pylor has improved somewhat, particularly in the area of hate-hurling.
Arat turns to look at Pylor.
Arat: Your time is up.
Pylor lets his close support go, in a controlled fashion, and slumps back in his chair to rest for a moment.
Pylor: ~~ tired but mellow with satisfaction at his accomplishment ~~
Arat finds himself actually missing it a little bit during the first moments of absence, which is surely a first.
Arat ponders that for a moment, and then decides there is no way to express that without sounding mega sarcastic.
Arat therefore says nothing about it.
Arat: Your stamina is improving each day.
Arat forbears to mention that only a Farris could detect changes so small.
Arat: [not because he's still trying to be extra nice to Pylor, but because he assumes it's obvious to the most casual observer]
Pylor drinks the rest of his tea.
Pylor: It seemed much easier today.
Arat nods.
Pylor means by this that he actually thinks he'll be able to get up and walk away in another few minutes.
Pylor feels that this calls for a minor celebration, and Genlike, his thoughts turn to food.
Pylor's having been denied his usual pre-Arat snack due to other duties is also a factor.
Pylor looks at Arat, and sees something he hadn't stopped to notice, before.
Pylor: You've been losing weight.
Arat looks defensive.
Pylor: Have you eaten today?
Arat's usual excuse, that he and Jeniard have plans, is no longer any good, Jeniard having moved out of the building for the duration of the lawsuit and them not being on speaking terms at the moment.
Arat tries to make up something suitable, but fabrication has never been his forte.
Arat: I must have forgotten.
Pylor has heard this one before, and not just from Farris channels.
Pylor: Beni won't be pleased.
Pylor: Tell you what: Why don't you come and have something with me now, and then he won't be upset with you.
Pylor wouldn't normally care whether Beni is mad at Arat or not, but he is feeling mellow at the moment.
Arat suspects Beni would be more upset with him for failing to be in the appointed place when Beni came back from his own meal.
Arat: I have some work to do. Perhaps another time.
Arat normally would make no such promise to somebody like Pylor, but he is somewhat pleased by the signs of improvement.
Pylor's Donor instincts, such as they are, dig in reflexively at the brush-off.
Pylor is also starting to be really ~~ hungry ~~, and since his own channel already ate breakfast, feels it would be a shame to waste such a good opportunity for channel-feeding.
Pylor: When was the last time you had a meal, anyway?
Arat looks like not only would he rather not answer that question, he'd rather not know himself.
Pylor isn't all that observant, but he has noticed that Beni does most of his eating during Pylor's sessions with Arat, thus denying him one of a Donor's most effective weapons in the food battle.
Arat: I'm fine.
Pylor: That's not what I asked.
Pylor wonders if Beni's current obsession with Farrises has extended to letting himself be bamboozled by Arat on the vital food issue.
Arat sighs.
Arat: I will go with you if that is what you want.
Pylor would have thought that a Donor of Beni's experience would know enough to automatically discount anything a channel says about having consumed calories, except as verified by an independent witness.
Pylor nods, and gets slowly to his feet, stretching.
Arat is already mentally rearranging his schedule to accommodate the delay, as he rises also.
Arat: ~ preoccupied ~
Pylor wonders for a moment what possessed him to make such an offer to Arat, of all channels, but is too tired to think it through.
Pylor shrugs and turns his thoughts to Arat, and hunger.
Pylor's nager assumes a not-unpleasant state partway between support and just-existing-in-the-same-room.
Arat follows Pylor on autopilot.
Beni hurries back towards Arat's office, mentally kicking himself for losing track of the time and taking an extra five minutes to finish his meal.
Beni doesn't do that often, but he was very hungry, and the lounge took an unusually long time to deliver his food.
Beni makes a mental note to go to the cafeteria next time and eat sludge, while hoping that Arat hasn't been harmed by the delay.
Arat ponders the thousand-and-one things that go into a Controller's day.
Arat really shouldn't be taking the time for this, in his opinion, but the recent absence of Jeniard has made him more dependent on Donors and therefore less able to flat out say no to them.
Pylor ponders the selections available on the Executive lounge's menu, with a consequent sharp increase in his ~~ appetite ~~
Beni has visions of walking into a situation like Nick and Alea reported, with Arat unconscious on the floor, and he himself unable to do much about it at this point in his training.
Beni: ~~ worry ~~
Beni rounds the corner and stops suddenly, blinking at an unexpected sight.
Beni: ~~ astonishment ~~
Beni: ...Arat?
Arat comes out of his reverie.
Arat: Beni.
Beni: Is everything all right?
Beni of course assumes that Arat was summoned out of his office for an emergency, and took Pylor along because Beni wasn't available.
Arat: Yes.
Beni's worry lessens, replaced by ~~ confusion ~~
Beni looks from Arat to Pylor, and back to Arat.
Pylor feels a bit ~~ defensive ~~ at the scrutiny.
Arat looks terribly stiff and dignified.
Beni: What...?
Beni manages not to blurt "what the shen are you doing out of your office, with Pylor?"
Arat sees his chance.
Arat: Beni, come with me.
Arat: Pylor, I will see you this evening.
Pylor: But....
Arat means, for work.
Pylor pauses, knowing that Beni's presence severely limits his Donor's responsibility for Arat.
Pylor: Well, if you change your mind, I'll be in the cafeteria.
Pylor passes Beni with a reasonably polite nod, and heads off to get his lunch.
Beni looks after Pylor.
Beni: What was that all about?