Sime~Gen Roleplaying: District Controller's Office Scenario
Episode #186: Tea with Rabbit (4/1/00)
Nick leads Riyyh up the porch steps of a Victorian Monstrosity, carrying half the baggage they removed when they stabled the horse.
Nick: It's not a luxury hotel, but it's home.
Nick: ~~ slightly apologetic ~~
Riyyh: Oh, my.
Riyyh: It's certainly... [starts to say "ornate", then thinks that will sound snide]
Riyyh trails off instead.
Nick made his offer of housing on impulse, without considering that if the place wasn't really up to Arat's standards, it certainly wouldn't measure up to Riyyh's.
Nick: At least it's large, and in one piece.
Nick was very glad during the riots that he hadn't rented in a more posh neighborhood.
Riyyh may not be at his best, after the events of the last days.
Riyyh: I'm sorry, Nick. It's very nice.
Nick inserts a key into the ancient keyhole and delicately turns it, one hand moving the handle to jiggle the lock into position.
Nick smiles as the lock clicks open.
Nick: There.
Nick opens the door.
Nick: Gracilla, it's Nick! And I've got company.
Nick turns to Riyyh.
Nick: She's a bit elderly, so I don't want her thinking we're a pair of bandits breaking in.
Gracilla wheels he chair towards the front door, lured by the promise of company.
Gracilla: Nick, dear! I was afraid something had happened to you, gone so long.
Gracilla: What with the trouble and all.
Riyyh smiles at Gracilla.
Gracilla: Why....
Gracilla's voice trails off as she spots Riyyh, and she blushes.
Gracilla: Oh, my!
Nick: Gracilla, this is Sectuib Riyyh ambrov Naros, my, um, father.
Nick decides not to go into all the vagaries of their actual genetic relationship.
Riyyh: I am most pleased to meet you.
Gracilla: I'm very pleased to meet you. Nick has been such a dear, it's so nice to meet his family.
Nick imagines Gracilla being introduced to all his family.
Nick then decides that the riots have provided more than enough emotional upset.
Gracilla: Would you care for a cup of tea?
Riyyh discreetly brushes back a tangle of hair, and wonders if there is anywhere he could slip off to to wash up. He hasn't seen his supposed hotel, the Red Warthog, in about 36 hours.
Riyyh: Why thank you, that would be lovely. [smiles]
Gracilla: Your son always brings me the best tea.
Riyyh: May I set these down here?
Gracilla doesn't get enough company that she isn't intent on monopolizing it as long as possible.
Riyyh indicates the other half of the luggage, and the foyer.
Nick: I'll take them up for you, and get a room ready.
Riyyh: Thank you.
Gracilla: There are clean sheets in the closet, my daughter says.
Nick: Thank you.
Riyyh puts them down so Nick can retrieve them on his 2nd trip.
Nick starts up the stairs, leaving Riyyh at the mercy of a very lonely old lady.
Nick does have a cruel streak in him; perhaps the result of a long association with first Prunida, then Snake.
Gracilla starts wheeling her chair towards the kitchen.
Riyyh does his best to appear attentive and kind, regardless of his er, physical state.
Riyyh follows.
Gracilla: It's this way. I just put the kettle on.
Riyyh: What fine old decorations.
Gracilla: Why, thank you!
Gracilla pauses her chair in front of a glass-fronted display case full of painted plates and china figurines.
Gracilla: My husband knew I liked pretty things, so he always brought me something when he went traveling.
Gracilla is happy to note that after months of Linn as a tenant, the house is just as immaculate above wheelchair height as below.
Riyyh: My, he must have traveled quite a bit!
Gracilla: Yes, he sold machinery and things.
Gracilla: In the years after Unity, there were so many opportunities.
Gracilla: He was so happy when he was able to build me this house.
Gracilla: ~~ wistful ~~
Gracilla: I miss him very much.
Riyyh is, of course, ~~ sympathetic ~~.
Gracilla realizes that she is being less than hospitable to her company.
Gracilla: But come, you must be dying of thirst.
Gracilla wheels her chair towards the kitchen.
Gracilla: I'd just put the kettle on--I do like my afternoon tea, don't you?
Riyyh: Yes. And with things in an uproar as they have been, it is so difficult to find time for the usual comforting routines.
Gracilla: I hear it's been very bad.
Gracilla checks the kettle, which is putting out a cloud of white steam.
Gracilla: Would you be a dear, and get down the good cups? Four, I think.
Gracilla: Nick will want some, and Linn as well.
Gracilla: She rooms with Nick, you know.
Gracilla: They don't seem very serious, but there's always hope.
Gracilla is not above a little matchmaking, in a good cause.
Riyyh's eyes widen as he realizes the implications of what Gracilla said.
Riyyh hadn't realized Linn and Nick had anything going, he'd thought it was more of a friendship-through-times-of-trouble type relationship.
Gracilla is very good at reading what she wants into a relationship, of course.
Gracilla has a distinct preference for romanticism, rather than friendship-through-times-of-trouble.
Riyyh gets down 4 cups.
Riyyh admires the expensive cups and saucers much more genuinely than he did the figurines and decorative plates; fine utensils used in food are well-respected at Naros.
Gracilla: You must be very proud of Nick. Such a nice young man, and so thoughtful he's been to an old lady.
Riyyh: He is a very considerate man.
Riyyh lays his cloak over the back of a chair, and then sits.
Riyyh: Very dedicated, when he knows what he wants, although he's been a bit unsure of that lately.
Riyyh is sympathetic of Nick's difficulties, of course.
Gracilla sorts through her tea collection, peering near-sightedly at the labels.
Gracilla: Here's the one he likes--Libel Passion.
Gracilla does not necessarily read entire words, when she can guess from the first letter.
Riyyh: Oh, dear. [to himself]
Riyyh thinks she meant "Lilac" Passion and is sure of it when he smells the packet's aroma.
Gracilla measures Lilac Passion into the four cups.
Gracilla: The company sugar bowl is on the third shelf--if you wouldn't mind?
Gracilla: And food. The Gens will be hungry.
Gracilla: I know just the thing.
Gracilla wheels towards the pantry.
Riyyh rises once again, to look for the sugar bowl.
Gracilla: Did you come to Capitol to visit your son?
Gracilla is not related, but is an inveterate gossip nonetheless, for an almost-hermit.
Riyyh: No, actually, on other business... although I do always visit him when I am in town.
Riyyh lifts the sugar bowl down and places it on the table.
Riyyh leaves out the details of the "other business".
Gracilla returns with a tin of cookies.
Gracilla: It's so important to keep up with one's family.
Riyyh has thus far not even been able to find all of his family in Capitol, much less speak to them, but he appreciates the sentiment.
Riyyh smiles.
Riyyh: Yes.
Linn comes into the kitchen, in the way that Gens magically do when food appears.
Linn: Riyyh! Nick said that he ran into you on the way home.
Riyyh turns to Linn and smiles fondly at her.
Riyyh: Yes, and he was kind enough to invite me back with him. How have you been?
Linn's nager is higher and much more disciplined than the last time she saw Riyyh.
Linn: I've been very busy.
Riyyh: You are certainly zlinning well.
Linn: Thank you.
Linn: What brings you to Capitol in such troubled times?
Riyyh: Some of the people in one of our outreach programs got themselves into a bit of trouble. [admits]
Riyyh is actually understating the case; some of the people in one of the outreach programs managed to get nearly every Narosian in Capitol thrown in the lockup - for rioting and arson, not to mention theft and vandalism.
Riyyh is still trying to get the full story out of the participants, who seem to have each been "swept along" with the leaders.
Linn can imagine, having personally experienced Narosian... overenthusiasm... after the news about the genetic scandal came out.
Linn: Oh, dear. They weren't the ones blowing up buildings, were they?
Riyyh: My heavens, no.
Riyyh: That was the Simes Working All Together, SWAT.
Linn: Aren't they the ones who have agreed to negotiations?
Riyyh: Yes, in fact they are.
Riyyh has some firsthand knowledge of this, as it happens.
Linn: Do you think they will demand immunity as a condition of standing down?
Riyyh: It is such a large organization. Half the laborers in Capitol and almost as many in the outer ring towns are members.
Riyyh: I don't think they feel such a request is a necessity.
Riyyh: In fact, I fear that Capitol may be experiencing a new era in labor organization.
Linn: Oh, dear, I hope not.
Linn: Not if it means riots every time someone gets unhappy.
Riyyh thinks that Linn has an extraordinarily narrow view of the situation if she thinks the only trigger to these events was that someone got unhappy, but he is far too well bred to say so.
Riyyh: At least there are negotiations in progress. [points out]
Linn: Yes. And I hear that they selected Arat as a moderator?
Riyyh: How very odd, don't you think?
Riyyh: Apparently he had written a letter to the editor in a major newspaper, which inspired them.
Riyyh: I still haven't been able to obtain a copy.
Gracilla beams.
Gracilla: Why, I saved it.
Riyyh wouldn't have thought Arat the type to represent rioting laborers against the government, particularly in Capitol, but he supposes he might be just a tiny bit biased because of the way Arat feels about him personally.
Gracilla: I thought Nick might like a copy, seeing that Arat is his friend.
Gracilla: Let me fetch it.
Riyyh: Oh, how splendid.
Gracilla sets down her teacup and wheels out of the room.
Linn: Nick says that Arat was very upset about the disturbances, and that's why he wrote the newspaper.
Gracilla returns shortly with a carefully folded section of newspaper.
Riyyh nods thoughtfully; Arat certainly seems the sort to prefer quiet and order.
Gracilla: Here you are. It's the first one in the letters section.
Riyyh: Thank you. [smiles]
Riyyh opens it to the correct section and reads the letter.
Gracilla: Such an articulate gentleman, Hajene Arat is.
Gracilla: And such a gentleman.
Gracilla: ~~ wistful ~~
Riyyh: [the letter paints a compelling picture of a Sime Center being brought to a standstill by invading rioters, and the fears and conditions that have caused people to get so out of control, and a plea for sanity from the rioters and concession from the government]
Riyyh offers the paper to Linn.
Riyyh: You have met, then?
Riyyh has to ask, since he's met Arat too, and got an entirely different impression.
Riyyh thinks him articulate enough, but "gentlemanly" doesn't precisely hit it on the head.
Gracilla: Why, yes.
Gracilla: Nick asked him over for a visit several months ago.
Gracilla: He was so kind.
Riyyh is reluctantly forced to admit that some of it may be personal.
Riyyh: How nice. [sincerely]
Linn takes the paper and scans the letter, which she knows of only by reputation.
Gracilla: I was feeling a bit under the weather, you know, and Nick thought it might cheer me up to have a visitor.
Gracilla's undying gratitude was quickly won by Arat's offer of confidential medical assistance, not to mention that Arat was trying hard to keep Nick happy at the time.
Gracilla notes that Riyyh's cup is empty.
Gracilla: More tea? Or would you prefer to go freshen up?
Riyyh: Would you mind terribly if I freshened up a bit?
Riyyh looks pathetically grateful for the suggestion.
Riyyh: I don't mean to abandon you, but it's been nearly a day and a half since I last had the chance. I must be most disagreeable company.
Gracilla only minds a little bit, and she is far too polite to say so.
Gracilla: Of course I don't mind.
Gracilla: Linn can show you where the bathroom is. I'd show you myself, but you'll want to use the one upstairs.
Linn: Of course.
Linn finishes her tea and sets down the cup.
Gracilla: You will be able to take dinner with us, won't you?
Gracilla: ~~ pleading ~~
Riyyh: Of course. [smiles]
Riyyh: Thank you so much for your hospitality.
Gracilla breaks into a huge smile, and would no doubt be dancing at the prospect of a dinner party, if her legs worked.
Gracilla: It's a pleasure.