Sime/Gen Roleplaying: Householding Naros Scenario
Episode #9: Shotguns and Staplers (9/9/98)
Linn escorts Bum Bum back to his room, then goes in search of Snake.
Wise Snake wonders what's keeping Linn.
Wise Snake paces restlessly.
Linn checks the sitting room first.
Wise Snake has somehow managed to give Nick the slip, probably unintentionally.
Linn then heads outside, in case she took the roundabout exit from the bathroom again.
Wise Snake: Linn! There you are.
Wise Snake drops all the hair she's been pulling out and hastens over to Linn.
Linn: I was told you wanted to talk to me?
Wise Snake: Yes, yes I do. Let's go somewhere a little more private.
Linn looks at the hair wad on the ground.
Linn: You know, if you want to thin your hair, there are scissors which do a better job. More even.
Linn: Should I see if I can find some?
Wise Snake never seems to be short of hair, no matter how much she rips out.
Wise Snake: No! [alarmed]
Wise Snake: No, no.
Linn: Where's Nick?
Wise Snake: Come on, we can get some privacy in the library.
Wise Snake: Ah, I don't know, he's around here somewhere.
Linn starts walking with Snake towards the library.
Linn: Have you run away from him again?
Wise Snake busily stares at, and zlins, anybody who looks curiously at them.
Linn: You really shouldn't, you know. The poor man worries enough as it is.
Wise Snake: Ummmh.
Linn: ~~ mild reproof ~~
Wise Snake: He knows where I am.
Linn: You told him?
Wise Snake: No, but I'd hardly leave the Householding would I?
Wise Snake pushes open the library door and zlins for any occupants.
Linn: Umm, Snake, it's a very big Householding.
Wise Snake makes a mental note, reminded that she had planned on going down the nearby town to see if she can pick up any work there.
Wise Snake: Ah, good, nobody here.
Wise Snake puts up the privacy sign and closes the door behind them.
Linn drifts over to a shelf and glances at the titles.
Wise Snake sprawls in one of the chairs scattered about the room.
Linn: 101 Rutabaga Recipes?
Wise Snake: If you had to eat them regularly, wouldn't you want to know more than one recipe? Look, Linn, we have to talk.
Wise Snake: Come here and sit down.
Linn sits next to Snake.
Wise Snake: It's about your attitude regarding Sime and Gen interaction.
Linn: Oh?
Wise Snake: Yes, I think it's reached the point where your body has outgrown your mind again, nager-wise.
Linn tries to figure out what that means.
Wise Snake: That is to say, I think you need a little work on your behavior, alongside your other studies having to do with math and such.
Linn: ~~ confusion ~~
Wise Snake: Ummmh... look. Would you hand a sawed-off shotgun to somebody who persisted in believing it was a stapler?
Linn: I wouldn't have a sawed-off shotgun in my house at all--or my office, either.
Linn has never really approved of firearms.
Wise Snake: OK so you see that such a misunderstanding could cause to, er, problems, and you try to avoid the situation altogether?
Wise Snake blinks as she hears her own words.
Wise Snake decides this conversation is already not going where she wanted it to.
Linn: Well, if you don't have guns around, nobody's going to be shot. Right?
Wise Snake: Look, I think you, as a Gen, are the proverbial shotgun-wielding office worker.
Linn is wondering about this sudden interest in weaponry.
Linn: Snake, are you planning to go out-Territory next?
Wise Snake looks blank.
Wise Snake: No?
Wise Snake: Are you listening to me at all?
Linn: Well, all this talk about shotguns and things is unlike you. I thought they mostly used whips on this side of the Border?
Wise Snake: Linn, it's an analogy. [disgusted]
Wise Snake is amazed at how pigheaded the teacher can be sometimes.
Wise Snake: The shotgun is you, and the stapler is what everybody expects of you.
Wise Snake frowns slightly as she goes back over it again, not convinced what she just said made sense.
Wise Snake: Yes.
Wise Snake nods.
Linn: People expect me to be a stapler?
Linn tries to figure out what a stapler would be in this context.
Wise Snake: Linn, I'm sorry. I thought you were intelligent enough to follow a conversation using analogy.
Wise Snake: Let me try to be more plain.
Wise Snake massages her forehead.
Linn: Perhaps that would be helpful.
Linn: Analogy only works if you understand both things being compared.
Wise Snake: No, if you understand the one, analogy can be used to understand the other.
Wise Snake: In most cases [adds, darkly]
Wise Snake: You have been trained to use your nager safely. Yet you persist in sloppy thinking and bad habits that make you a danger to yourself and those around you.
Wise Snake: You seem to be doing this on purpose from what I can tell.
Wise Snake: It is downright criminal behavior.
Linn is more than a little surprised at this scathing evaluation.
Wise Snake: Now, you don't seem like the type to pooh-pooh common etiquette and safety.
Wise Snake: I'm willing to believe that you simply forgot about certain details, and will improve in these areas if you are reminded.
Wise Snake: I don't want to believe you're stupid, Linn, and I certainly don't want to believe you're antisocial or cruel.
Linn is still trying to figure out what in the world brought this scold on.
Wise Snake: Now, are you willing to do what it takes to be a gentle, decent person with a normal nager in Sime Territory, or are you going to close your mind to this some more?
Wise Snake: [needless to say, Snake doesn't match this description herself]
Wise Snake studies Linn intently, obviously expecting an answer.
Linn: Perhaps you could give me some specifics? Because I really don't know what's gotten you so upset.
Linn: ~~ honest confusion ~~
Wise Snake: Linn, how long have you been living in Sime Territory?
Linn thinks back.
Linn: Seven, eight months?
Wise Snake: It's been nearly a year.
Wise Snake: Now, what have you learned about Simes?
Wise Snake: Are they "shotguns" to be kept away from your house and home?
Wise Snake: Inherently dangerous?
Wise Snake: Killers, animals, unstoppable menaces?
Linn considers.
Linn: I think there's inherent danger in all people, Sime or Gen.
Wise Snake looks genuinely angry.
Wise Snake: Stop screwing around with me, Linn, I want an answer.
Wise Snake: Because if you still think what you thought when you first came to Bender Cove, then we have a serious problem here.
Linn: I'm not playing games with you, Snake.
Wise Snake: Then answer my question.
Wise Snake: Yes, or No?
Linn: I used to think that Simes were dangerous and powerful, prone to attack if provoked.
Linn: And that Gens were helpless to defend themselves.
Linn: Since then, I've learned that Gens don't have to be helpless; that Gens are just as dangerous as Simes, sometimes.
Linn: It's a balance of power.
Linn: But yes, Simes are people. and any person can become a dangerous menace if pushed too far in the wrong direction.
Wise Snake's eyes narrow as Linn fails to answer the question as asked, again.
Wise Snake: Do you understand why the staff of the Bender Cove Sime Center found you to be a menace?
Linn: Yes.
Linn: Although I still think Mytag overreacted to the situation.
Wise Snake ignores the reference to Mytag.
Wise Snake: Linn... I want you to work on something for me.
Wise Snake: You know the basics of controlling your nager, right?
Wise Snake thinks Linn is as rough as a lead box full of old concrete, but renSimes and 3rds might have a different opinion.
Linn: Well, sort of.
Linn: Bum Bum doesn't complain, but he wouldn't.
Wise Snake concedes the point.
Wise Snake: Well, you at least think about what your nager is doing, and try to do the right thing when you are around a channel?
Linn: Yes. Although I've got to get to the point where I stop tripping and walking into things when I'm concentrating.
Linn remembers the horse tramping on her foot, and winces at the memory.
Wise Snake: Ummmh.
Wise Snake: Now, am I correct in thinking that you spend a lot of time thinking about the mathematics of what you want to do, and indeed decide what to do based on your idea of the mathematics of the entire situation?
Linn: Well, yes. Otherwise I get it so wrong that even Bum Bum complains.
Wise Snake: I see.
Wise Snake 's fears are confirmed.
Wise Snake: Well, I would like you to work on two things then.
Wise Snake: The first one is, you really really have to try to wean yourself off the math.
Wise Snake: I know it's hard, but you ought to be picking up some of it just through sheer practice, by now.
Linn: Well, I'll give it a try.
Linn: ~~ dubious ~~
Wise Snake: Maybe I wasn't clear enough. I want you to do it. Start trying now, and start making progress. It's important.
Wise Snake: OK?
Linn: All right.
Linn: Why is it so important, anyway?
Wise Snake pauses.
Linn: You were so concerned that Nick learn the math, when you were training him.
Linn: ~~ curiosity ~~
Wise Snake: That's because he needed another way to "see" a situation besides his own imagination and his eyes.
Wise Snake: You notice he never learned it that well - it wasn't necessary for him to.
Wise Snake: And he can gradually forget it all now, because he doesn't really require it anymore.
Wise Snake: I used it as a tool to aid in his learning certain concepts.
Wise Snake: Concepts readily zlinnable by a channel, but not by a Donor.
Linn thinks about all the times when Nick has come running to her to solve equations relevant to some problem or other he's having with Snake, and decides that Snake doesn't know everything about her Donor.
Linn: Concepts which aren't required for my work with Bum Bum?
Wise Snake looks annoyed.
Wise Snake: What in shen makes you ask that? [sharply]
Linn is still trying to get straight the differences in skill levels between rogue junct Thirds and Zeor-trained Farrises.
Wise Snake: I didn't say you didn't have to know anything, I said stop using the shedoni-be-flayed math in real time interactions!
Wise Snake: Which leads into the second thing I want you to work on.
Linn wonders if item number two will be as confusing and contradictory as item one.
Wise Snake zlins Linn's confusion.
Wise Snake: Look.. what is so confusing about this?
Wise Snake: I am trying to be as plain as humanly possible.
Wise Snake has this perfect image of horrified Simes diving behind desks as Linn tries to load a shotgun with stapler refills.
Linn: Well, if you don't want me to do the equations, how can I figure out what Bum bum requires? It keeps changing from moment to moment.
Wise Snake: Yes, well, everybody else learns how to do it without ever knowing about the math at all. You can, too.
Wise Snake: It is perfectly intuitive once you know what is possible.
Wise Snake: There is no reason why you can't use the math on your free time, but right then, right on the tip of the moment, you have to be able to respond in a timely fashion.
Wise Snake: And, your attention has to be fully on your channel, not half in mathland.
Linn thinks that Bum Bum seems to prefer her in mathland, actually.
Wise Snake zlins Linn's doubt and frowns.
Wise Snake: Do you think you know more about what a channel requires than I do?
Wise Snake: Do as I say, you'll be a better Donor for it.
Wise Snake thinks, eventually.
Linn: Well, I will practice doing without the math, as I said. I hope it doesn't upset Bum Bum too much.
Wise Snake would be surprised if Bum Bum can tell the difference.
Wise Snake: Now, as for the other thing I want you to work on.
Wise Snake: I want you to work on being more aware of the interpersonal dynamics of everyday situations.
Wise Snake: During meals, during conversations, during channeling work, all the time.
Wise Snake: Look at the people who are there. Are they Simes, Gens, or both? Where are the Simes in their cycles? Where are the Gens in theirs?
Wise Snake: To know these things is extremely important to polite behavior in Sime Territory, and you can't learn it without practicing it.
Linn: How can I tell where the Gens are their cycles?
Linn hadn't been aware that that was possible.
Linn: They don't show it, like the Simes do.
Linn knows about the Gen member of their own group, but only because she's been keeping track.
Wise Snake: Well, for the most part, you'll have to use your head. If they're Companion to a Sime in room, you'll know they're on the same cycle. If they donate, you might happen to know based on other information, like when they pay their bills.
Wise Snake: Sometimes you can tell simply by the way people arrange themselves, and how they treat that person.
Linn: ~~ scholarly interest ~~
Wise Snake: But the point is, you have to use whatever information you have to analyze each situation and make sure your part in it is being played appropriately.
Wise Snake: Let me give you an example of why this is so important.
Linn somehow doubts that inquiring about the financial transactions of strangers is acceptable polite conversation in Sime Territory.
Wise Snake frowns as Linn appears to be distracted again.
Wise Snake: This is important, you know.
Wise Snake: And as it happens, it is a real-life situation in which you did exactly the wrong thing and made a situation unbearable for several other people there.
Wise Snake: Would you like to learn this?
Linn: Of course.
Wise Snake: Now. In this situation, there are three Simes, and three Gens.
Wise Snake: One of the Gens is you.
Wise Snake: You are a guest in the house of one of the other Simes.
Wise Snake: His Donor is there.
Linn nods, trying to keep it all straight.
Wise Snake: Nick and I are there, and there is also a 3rd Order Channel who is a friend of your host.
Wise Snake: Now, it happens that you have a long standing personal grievance against your host's Donor.
Wise Snake: The details don't matter in this case; just that there is a grievance of some sort.
Wise Snake: You think that it might be a great time to bring the subject up, seeing as how the object of your grievance is standing right there, and everything.
Wise Snake: But first, you stop and make a decision as to whether you should do it then, or wait for a better time.
Wise Snake: Tell me some of the information that might be useful in making such a decision, Linn.
Linn considers.
Linn: Hmm, Nick was there to shield you, and the Third order channel wouldn't be much affected.
Wise Snake waits while Linn thinks it through.
Wise Snake is studying Linn's face and nager minutely, with an intense focus.
Linn: If I hadn't brought it up, I would probably have been under house arrest within five minutes, the way Mytag was going on, and that would have left Bum Bum with no one to help him.
Linn sees Snake's distraction.
Linn: At least, Sectuib Riyyh was listening very hard to Mytag, and Nick can usually talk you into anything, if he really cares to.
Linn thinks, except not taking drugs, but that's beside the point.
Wise Snake's frown deepens.
Wise Snake: Now try studying the situation the way I asked you about... who the people are, where they are in their cycles, using everything you know about them as Simes and Gens.
Wise Snake: Let's talk about Sectuib Riyyh.
Wise Snake: We know a few things about him.
Wise Snake: Mytag wasn't his usual Donor, was he?
Mostan comes riding down the road.
Linn: Well, this Householding is affiliated with the Tecton, isn't it? And I understand the Tecton doesn't allow usual Donors.
Mostan is dusty and tired.
Linn: At least, not in the sense that Nick is your usual Donor.
Linn wonders just a bit absently if Snake thinks that having Nick to herself is worth not having a home.
Linn feels comfortable in the Naros library, and wishes they could settle down.
Mostan dismounts and leads the horse into the stable.
Wise Snake: Well, you can't assume that.
Wise Snake: As I understand it, Naros is only loosely affiliated with the Tecton.
Wise Snake had actually broken into Riyyh's office and read a bunch of his mail, and determined that the "loosely" is only under duress, at that.
Linn: Oh? It's possible to stay in the Tecton's good graces and not rotate Donors?
Linn wonders if Nick had ever heard of that.
Mostan bickers with the hostler about who is supposed to care for the horse.
Linn really has very little understanding of the difference between the Tecton's treatment of a Householding with many channels and Donors who are desperately needed, and an individual rogue or two, who must be made an example lest they spark rebellion.
Wise Snake: Well, they've been around for a good two or three hundred years longer than the current version of the Tecton has, I suppose they have a certain amount of weight.
Mostan trudges up to his room and flops down on the bed.
Linn: Oh.
Linn thinks about it.
Wise Snake becomes aware that Linn had almost succeeded in changing the subject.
Linn: That could make things... difficult, when you found your House.
Wise Snake: Ummh... yeah.
Wise Snake thinks that's a pretty big "if".
Wise Snake: Now, if you recall, a short time before we encountered Riyyh and Mytag, we met somebody named Ruby.
Wise Snake: Do you remember who she was?
Mostan grabs a book from the pile on the floor by the side of the bed.
Linn: Was she the woman you talked to at the gate?
Mostan is annoyed to find he has already finished this one, and grabs another.
Wise Snake: Yes.
Mostan heaves a great "Why does the universe do this to me?" sigh and rolls off the bed onto his knees.
Mostan starts piling the books together without regard to sizing or orientation.
Wise Snake: Look, Linn, I'll make this easier on you.
Wise Snake: Sectuib Riyyh lost his Companion. Mytag was a poor substitute.
Wise Snake: Here's this guy, he's middle aged, he's head of a Householding, and he's got no Companion. He goes to welcome some people to his House and some total stranger and his ersatz Donor get into a screaming fight right in front of him.
Wise Snake: Meanwhile you're giving Mytag the perfect ammunition for declaring you a dangerously erratic Gen.
Wise Snake: Now, setting aside the obvious nageric implications of this, where was your head??
Wise Snake: Sectuib Riyyh is our host.
Wise Snake: You could have let him at least say "hello" before starting in on Mytag.
Wise Snake has a sore spot over this issue mostly because later, Riyyh sat there and mushy-mouthed to her for nearly 3 hours about it.
Mostan walks towards the library with an unwieldy stack of books.
Wise Snake: This is why I want you to try to be a little more aware of your surroundings.
Wise Snake: Think of who is what larity and where in their cycles, and who they are, and why they do things and what they're doing there.
Wise Snake is unaware of the irony of a Farris instructing somebody in social awareness.
Wise Snake: This will help you in your work with Bum Bum, too.
Wise Snake: Being aware, constantly, of these details will allow you to gain some intuitive understanding of how your nager affects a situation... a sort of understanding you won't have to stop and calculate out once you get good at it.
Linn thinks that mostly, Riyyh and the other Naros members seem to be collecting gossip about each other.
Linn: Ah. Well, I'll do my best to keep track of people.
Linn: Although, if you wouldn't mind....
Linn: It would be a great help if you could spend some time telling me who these people are. It's one of the most confusing communities I've ever seen.
Wise Snake stares at Linn.
Wise Snake: In what way?
Linn: Well, the people don't seem to have jobs, particularly: even the channels don't seem to be all that interested in working.
Wise Snake: This is a communal living situation. They don't work unless there is work to be done.
Wise Snake: For example, the channels will only do channelling work insofar as it is required by the Householding members.
Linn: How to they avoid entran?
Wise Snake: They may also go out and do it in the towns as a service, but it is not work for them, simply their lifestyle.
Wise Snake: Ah, well, there are enough members of the Householding that the channels do not fear entran. They are only Seconds and Thirds, for the most part, so they don't require an infinite amount of work.
Linn nods, having gotten used to Bum Bum's lesser requirements in the work department.
Wise Snake: They also may not have been pushed to their fullest development during First Year.
Wise Snake thinks that is a waste, but Snake's opinions are not what Linn is after.
Linn: This place reminds me of the tiny village where I did student teaching, one spring.
Linn: Everybody's family had lived there for seven generations, marrying each other... I don't think that there was a student in the school who wasn't related to all the others.
Wise Snake: Yes, many Householdings are a little like that.
Wise Snake is thinking of Zeor in particular.
Linn: And no outsider could ever learn all the ways the families were related, because most of them had to do with what somebody's grandfather said to the other's great-uncle.
Wise Snake thinks one of the few advantages of being a bastard is the guarantee of at least 50% fresh blood.
Linn: The storekeeper had married a man from the next town--three miles away.
Linn: He'd lived there for 42 years, and he was still a stranger.
Linn: I was very glad to leave.
Wise Snake: Well, it's a little different in Sime Territory, and in Householdings, because of the nageric bonding which is possible.
Wise Snake: But essentially, a Householding is a lot like the town you describe.
Wise Snake: Isolated, self-sufficient in many ways, and their strange ways have been preserved for maybe hundreds of years.
Wise Snake: Everybody here is pledged, life and soul, to the Sectuib.
Wise Snake: The Sectuib is by definition the most skilled channel in the House.
Wise Snake: He often has obtained his position by birth.
Wise Snake suspects that would have to be the case with Riyyh, although she hasn't found out for sure yet.
Linn wonders what they see in Riyyh, who strikes her as pleasant enough, but rather ineffectual.
Linn: It's both inherited, and a matter of skill?
Linn: Isn't that something of a contradiction?
Wise Snake: Well, not necessarily, the channelling ability often being passed down through generations.
Wise Snake: Channels are more likely to have channel children than renSimes are.
Wise Snake: Gen brothers and sisters of channels are more likely to make trainable Donors.
Wise Snake doesn't say what this suggests about Linn's sister.
Linn: On the other hand, leadership ability often skips generations.
Wise Snake: Ah, well.
Wise Snake: There is that.
Wise Snake: Riyyh's leadership ability seems to consist of finding the right people for the right jobs, talking them into taking them, then staying out of their way.
Wise Snake: Then again, we aren't seeing him at his best.
Mostan comes to the door, almost having the stack fall over and not noticing the "Privacy Please" sign.
Linn: I suppose not.
Mostan swears as he grabs at the books with his dorsals.
Linn is sure that even an insular group like the Householding wouldn't have lasted so long with the sort of "leadership" she's seen Riyyh display.
Wise Snake: Now, most of a Householding's members are born into it.
Wise Snake: But some are born outside of it, and then pledge to become members.
Wise Snake: They give up all their worldly possessions, and give their total devotion to House and Sectuib for the rest of their lives.
Mostan manages to get the door open and edges into the library.
Linn: It sounds like some of the more extreme religious communities, out-Territory.
Wise Snake jumps as the door opens across the room.
Wise Snake does a double-take as she zlins a familiar nager.
Linn jumps as Snake does.
Mostan is concentrating on keeping the books from tumbling. ~~ irritated and frustrated ~~
Linn: What...?
Wise Snake: Ah... the privacy sign must have fallen off. That's Mostan, from the Bender Cove Sime Center.
Mostan jumps at the voice that can't be here.
Linn tries to figure out whether that means he's more or less crazy then the average Narosite.
Mostan: [Book stack tilts over and starts to fall]
Mostan augments trying to grab too many books with too few tentacles.
Wise Snake watches, speechless.
Linn hurries over to save the books, reflexively.
Linn: Watch out....
Mostan: Mostan realizes he is off balance and dumps one armload of books to grab the doorframe for support. "'SHENSHID!"
Mostan: Mostan: == off -: of ==
Mostan: Linn actually manages to catch two of the books as they fall by.
Linn's effort is even more awkward than usual, because she's avoiding the calculations, as per orders.
Mostan catches himself and squats down to put the few books he saved on the floor.
Linn reflexively starts projecting a ~~ soothing ~~ nager.
Linn holds out the two books she caught.
Linn: Here.
Mostan calms and looks up, puzzled.
Mostan stares at Linn. "What are you doing here?"
Linn: Just visiting.
Wise Snake leans back, more relaxed now that disaster has been... sort of... averted.
Linn really has no conception about how much her nager has changed since leaving Bender Cove.
Mostan: Oh.
Mostan looks confused.
Linn: And yourself?
Mostan reaches out to take the two books. "Thanks."
Linn looks at Mostan's arms, trying to find clues as to where he is in his need cycle, and how he fits in at Naros.
Mostan: I've read all of these, [ gestures at the books ] require something new.
Linn gives Mostan the books.
Linn: Well, there are plenty to choose from.
Mostan: ~~ couple of days past turnover ~~
Linn supposes that somebody must enjoy reading about ways to cook rutabaga.
Mostan takes the books and picks up a more reasonable portion of them.
Linn: You really should get yourself a basket, if you're going to carry so many books.
Mostan stands up and zlins, looking for the "In" basket.
Mostan: Yeah, I keep taking new ones up without....
Wise Snake is lounging on a nearby couch, slightly amused but mostly studying them in a detached state.
Mostan: ~~ zlinning focuses on Wise Snake ~~ ~~ Surprise ~~
Linn picks up the remaining books and sets them automatically on the correct part of the main desk.
Linn may not understand Householdings, but library organization is another matter entirely.
Mostan starts to lose the books again, and then looks down and moves to put them on the desk.
Wise Snake: Hello, Mostan.
Mostan: Hajene Snake. Didn't expect to see you here.
Wise Snake: I heard you'd been posted here.
Mostan: Yeah. Something about "Giving you more perspective on varieties of channeling practice."
Linn tries to think about how Mostan and Snake relate to each other nagerically, and what that means with respect to her.
Wise Snake: Just happened to be travelling through.
Mostan: ~~ glad to hear that ~~
Wise Snake: Ummh. [not missing Mostan's relief]
Wise Snake: Well, I hope you are finding it educational, then.
Mostan: I think I've just been dumped in the boonies to get rid of me.
Wise Snake frowns.
Wise Snake thinks Bender Cove can't afford to give up anybody, even a Third. Maybe especially a Third.
Wise Snake: I see.
Mostan: I mean, the art scene here....
Mostan: [pause]
Mostan: Isn't, frankly.
Wise Snake: Ah.
Wise Snake attempts to appear suitably sympathetic.
Wise Snake wonders if she should tell Mostan Eliza is with them.
Wise Snake: Well, surely you've at least found some new friends...?
Mostan: ~~ not shenned likely ~~
Mostan: Yeah, one or two.
Linn: That's good. Friends make a new place bearable.
Mostan looks thoughtful.
Mostan: Hey didn't you just vanish one day? The Center had a shen of a time with all sort of renSimes crawling out of the woodwork.
Linn imagines Simes crawling out of knotholes, and her mind boggles.
Mostan thinks he is being diplomatic in not being more frank about the likely origin of some of the people who turned up.
Wise Snake: Ummh.
Wise Snake: I found it... convenient to... follow my interests onto the road.
Wise Snake thinks that sounds better than "be chased by my skeletons"
Mostan: Ah.
Mostan: ~~ not enlightened ~~
Mostan: Well apparently your replacement wasn't up to the job....
Linn never did understand exactly why Snake chose to run off.
Wise Snake: My replacement?
Wise Snake: Uh... oh. Yes.
Mostan: They said some snooty guy was picking up some of your err, 'clients', but not very many.
Wise Snake: Oh really?
Wise Snake tries desperately not to care, and manages to keep the pain from her nager.
Wise Snake tells herself it's not important anymore.
Mostan: Yeah, and charging too much for lousy transfers.
Wise Snake's Farris features probably reveal her distress all too well, however.
Wise Snake: Ummh.
Mostan shrugs and starts picking up the rest of the scattered books.
Wise Snake decides to change the subject.
Wise Snake: So, we were just talking about the nature of Householdings and their internal structure.
Linn nods confirmation.
Linn: I admit that I find them a bit confusing.
Mostan shrugs, then zlins around for listeners. [low voice] "Just a bunch of inbred hayseeds with inflated egos, if you ask me."
Wise Snake's eyebrows raise.
Wise Snake has to smile a little.
Linn wouldn't have put it so bluntly, but has to agree.
Linn catches sight of the clock.
Linn: Oh, my goodness, Eliza will be wondering where I've gotten to.
Mostan finishes with the books and goes over to a shelf.
Linn: I promised to help her with her hair.
Mostan: ~~ SHOCK! ~~
Wise Snake winces as Linn blurts Eliza's name.
Mostan: What!!?
Wise Snake's face goes blank at Mostan's shock.
Wise Snake: Er...
Wise Snake: Oh, yes, had I forgotten to mention...? [weakly]
Mostan: Eliza? She's here?
Linn: Well, actually, she's back at the guest cottage.
Mostan zlins around wildly.
Linn starts for the library door.
Linn: I'll tell Nick you're here, Snake, so he won't worry.
Mostan runs out of the room.
Wise Snake: Uh.
Wise Snake: Thanks, Linn.
Wise Snake sits back down with a sigh.
Linn blinks as Mostan rushes past her.
Linn: You're welcome.
Linn closes the library door behind herself.