Sime/Gen Roleplaying: Householding Naros Scenario
Episode #48: Relaxation Exercise II (10/29/98)
Linn signals at Riyyh's office door.
Riyyh: Come in!
Riyyh hastily wipes powdered sugar off his chin.
Riyyh has a sip of tea and sets the cup aside.
Linn struggles to open the door without spilling her plateful of assorted muffins.
Riyyh zlins the difficulty and jumps up to open the door for Linn.
Linn: Thank you, Sectuib Riyyh.
Riyyh: Why Linn! Hello.
Riyyh smiles kindly at her.
Linn: Do you have a moment?
Riyyh: Of course, of course, please, sit down.
Riyyh: You can set those... over... [looks for a spot not covered with papers]
Riyyh: How about over here?
Riyyh moves a few documents aside.
Linn sets the muffin plate on the indicated spot and sits.
Riyyh: Did you bake those yourself?
Riyyh: They look delicious.
Riyyh means this in the complimentary, rather than the acquisitive sense.
Linn: No, they're from the cafeteria.
Riyyh brightens.
Riyyh: I am glad the new head cook is beginning to feel more comfortable.
Linn: Mostan asked me to fetch him some breakfast--he didn't feel like facing the crowd.
Riyyh nods.
Riyyh: Quite understandable.
Riyyh wonders why Linn decided to do some other errands along the way... surely Mostan wanted her to return quickly?
Riyyh hopes Mostan wasn't sending her away to get rid of her, as Wolfa sometimes finds necessary with Hero.
Linn: I heard that you were planning a visit to Bender Cove. Is this true?
Riyyh: Yes, it is.
Riyyh returns to his chair and sits.
Linn: I was wondering, if you have time, if you would mind terribly looking up an old friend of mine?
Linn is afraid that this is a rather large imposition.
Linn: If you'd rather not, of course, I'd understand completely.
Riyyh: We are travelling there on business, [explains].
Riyyh: And likely to be there only for a day or two.
Linn: Ah, I see.
Riyyh: However, if it is somebody at the Sime Center....
Linn: ~~ well controlled (for an unqualified Third) disappointment ~~
Linn: No, it isn't.
Linn: I really shouldn't have bothered you about it.
Riyyh hesitates as his not-very-well-shielded sympathy circuit gets exposed to Linn's disappointment.
Linn: ~~ embarrassment ~~
Linn gets to her feet.
Riyyh: ~oh dear~
Riyyh's tentacles flutter unhappily.
Riyyh: Perhaps, a letter... you could have your friend meet us at the Sime Center?
Linn: No, really, it's all right.
Riyyh: Oh.
Riyyh's tentacles wilt.
Linn blushes.
Linn: I really shouldn't have come.
Riyyh: No, really, you are welcome any time.
Linn: I should get back to Mostan.
Riyyh nods.
Linn is just a touch ~~ nervous ~~ at the prospect.
Riyyh: Yes, of course.
Riyyh: [understanding]
Linn reaches for her muffin plate.
Linn: He sent me to get him some breakfast.
Riyyh: This deep in need? You must be doing him some good then.
Riyyh smiles encouragingly.
Linn: I wasn't sure what sort of food he prefers, so I got a selection.
Riyyh: That was thoughtful of you.
Linn has not been working with channels long enough to spot a polite brush off when she sees it.
Linn smiles at Riyyh and hurries off to Mostan.
Riyyh wonders if he's losing it... leaving somebody disappointed like that.
Riyyh frowns unhappily to himself.
Riyyh reaches for his half finished powdered donut and cold tea.
Ifto signals outside of Riyyh's office.
Riyyh hastily puts them both down.
Riyyh: M - yes? Enter....
Ifto does so.
Riyyh wipes his mouth on his handtowel.
Riyyh: Excuse me, I had something on my face....
Riyyh: Why Ifto!! So pleasant to see you.
Riyyh smiles at Ifto.
Riyyh has had many years of practice making everybody feel like he's been sitting waiting for them.
Ifto: Sectuib Riyyh, I've brought your book back.
Ifto holds it out.
Riyyh looks surprised.
Riyyh: You are free to borrow it for as long as you like.
Ifto: I think I'm beginning to understand how this rest break exercise works.
Riyyh reaches for the book, puzzling over the term "rest break exercise".
Riyyh: Oh?
Ifto: But I wanted to know: Is the garden necessary? I was trying to explain it to Kenmore, you know.
Ifto: He's always interested in picking up new techniques.
Ifto: But he's allergic to the roses, and lots of the other flowers, which would make the Naros form of the exercise difficult for Farrises.
Riyyh puts the book down on his desk and looks up at Ifto in obvious ~confusion~
Ifto: Is there an alternative technique?
Ifto: ~~ First Year curiosity ~~
Riyyh: I'm afraid I don't understand. Which exercise is this you're referring to?
Ifto: That "rest break" exercise you were telling me about yesterday.
Ifto: The one that's supposed to aid fatigue?
Riyyh's bewilderment gradually clears up.
Riyyh: Ahh... when I encouraged you to get real rest during your rest periods.
Riyyh: ~comprehension~
Riyyh: That isn't really an exercise, Ifto.
Ifto is now the one ~~ confused ~~
Ifto: It isn't?
Riyyh: No, no, it's really more of a choice of lifestyle.
Ifto: But it worked very well, and I see the members of your House using it also.
Riyyh doesn't doubt that.
Riyyh: I am glad you were able to gain benefit from my advice. [decides that sounds safe]
Ifto: Are there any other techniques used at Naros for dealing with stress?
Ifto thinks this cross-Householding exchange of information thing has possibilities.
Ifto: ~~ eager overachiever ~~ (ie, typical ambrov Zeor)
Riyyh zlins Ifto for signs of actual stress.
Riyyh: Spending time with one's Donor is always a good way to relax. [tentatively]
Riyyh: Or with lovers.
Ifto nods eagerly.
Ifto: Does the choice, Donor or lover, depend on where one is in one's cycle?
Ifto: Or are both equally effective throughout the month?
Riyyh: That is entirely up to you, and how you've been relating to them at the time. The important thing is to spend time with whichever would be the most relaxing.
Ifto: I see.
Riyyh: Sometimes simply receiving a backrub from a good friend will do the trick.
Ifto: Backrubs?
Riyyh: Yes, or having somebody read to you while you lie in bed with your eyes shut not zlinning.
Riyyh: Or having somebody cook you a special meal.
Riyyh: Perhaps looking out a special window, or writing letters to your friends.
Ifto frowns as he commits the list to memory.
Riyyh hopes Ifto is starting to get the gist of this but is afraid he may not be.
Ifto: How does one choose which technique to apply in a given situation?
Ifto has picked up some of the Farris habit of insisting on talking new techniques to death.
Riyyh: Well, a lot of that depends on what kind of free time you have.
Riyyh is not finding this conversation very fun anymore.
Riyyh: If you only have 20 minutes to spare, and you are not to leave the infirmary, it would make sense to spend the time with your Donor, and to do something easy like read a book or have her give you a shoulder rub.
Riyyh: If it's at night and you have 4 hours to yourself, well then, maybe it is a good time to hang out with your friends.
Ifto: Ah, so it's time-dependent?
Ifto: ~~ understanding ~~
Riyyh cannot believe that somebody this thick-witted could possibly have caught Zeor's attention in a positive way.
Riyyh: ~oh dear~
Ifto: The idea is to pick an exercise which can be completed in the specified time?
Riyyh: Please do not make the mistake of thinking of these activities as "exercises".
Riyyh: As I said, relaxing during your off time is not an "exercise" but a pattern of living.
Ifto: Ah. Forgive me.
Ifto hadn't been aware that this relaxing stuff was part of the Narosian House philosophy.
Ifto had thought they reserved that honor for gossip.
Riyyh: You had mentioned feeling you were being worked too hard and were looking for a way to extend your stamina.
Ifto nods.
Riyyh: The way to do it is simply to reserve the hard work for work-time, and spend the rest of your day in peace and comfort.
Riyyh: This allows your spirit and body to renew themselves.
Riyyh: When you stress out about your exercises, or think about work or read trade journals on your breaks, you cheat yourself of strength.
Ifto meditates on this for a moment.
Ifto: And the Narosian-style rest breaks are like leaving a field to go fallow, so that it can produce a bigger crop the following year?
Riyyh: Well, I suppose you could say that. Although the concept is hardly unique to Naros. It is practice the world over, and not just by channels. By everybody.
Riyyh thinks, by everybody except whoever trained this kid.
Ifto: ~~ eager comprehension ~~
Ifto jumps to his feet.
Riyyh smiles at Ifto, a bit painfully.
Ifto: I believe I'll try your method, and see if it really does help my fatigue problem.
Riyyh: I hope you find it helpful.
Riyyh: ~sincere~
Riyyh hopes Ifto doesn't manage to screw it up and end up even worse off than before.
Ifto: Thank you for sharing the exer... er, life philosophy, with me.
Riyyh nods.
Riyyh: It was my pleasure.
Riyyh: ~wellll....~
Ifto rushes off in singleminded pursuit of relaxation.
Nick sees Ifto dart out of Riyyh's office.
Nick pokes his head in the door.
Nick: ~~ curiosity ~~
Riyyh jumps.
Riyyh: Ah, hello, Nick.
Nick: Hello, Riyyh.
Riyyh: [apologetically]
Nick still can't bring himself to call Riyyh "father".
Riyyh: I was just... well, do come in.
Nick does so.
Nick: You look a bit worn.
Riyyh wrings his hands and tentacles unconsciously.
Nick: ~~ support ~~
Nick: Where's Mytag?
Riyyh: Oh, dear, well, it has been one of those... [distracted by Nick's support]
Riyyh: He is here, I sent him off to eat.
Nick: Ah. Well, would you like a little assistance until he gets back?
Nick: Kenmore still has Dahlia supervising Snake's sleep, so I'm free for a bit.
Riyyh looks distinctly nervous, since Snake would probably skin him alive if she found them together.
Riyyh: Oh, er, is that so?
Nick nods, and makes his way around the desk.
Riyyh lives in terror that Nick is going to notice some clue or error that alerts him as to the real purpose of Riyyh and Mytag's trip to Bender Cove.
Nick rests his hands on Riyyh's shoulders.
Nick: You're tied up in knots.
Nick: What's been going on, to get you so tense?
Riyyh flinches slightly, then relaxes a little because 1) of Nick's nager, and 2) he's just a personal contact kind of guy.
Nick starts kneading knots out of Riyyh's shoulders.
Riyyh: Oh, just... things, I mean, all the visitors, and the transitions....
Nick: ~~ relax ~~
Riyyh's relaxation increases with Nick's efforts.
Riyyh's innermost thoughts voice a quiet alarm that Nick could easily overwhelm him and then do his worst, but unfortunately it's way too late to act on, or even really feel, that alarm.
Nick: Transitions?
Riyyh wonders if Nick has been living in a cave, to not know what transitions Naros is going through.
Riyyh: Yeah. [concentrating on sensations of having shoulders rubbed]
Nick: Has anything in particular gone wrong today, to get you so upset?
Riyyh: Oh no, not really, I suppose I was just overreacting.
Riyyh closes his eyes.
Nick: Want to talk about it?
Nick: ~~ encouragement ~~
Riyyh considers the problem of Ifto, which he only just recently was able to stop talking about, with Ifto himself.
Riyyh: No. [confesses]
Riyyh: I do hope you don't mind.
Nick: Not at all.
Riyyh's body is gradually becoming more and more relaxed with the massage.
Riyyh decides Nick would surely have done something by now if he'd meant any harm, and starts to actually enjoy himself.
Nick: So, word has it you'll be attending a big party in Bender Cove?
Nick: ~~ casual curiosity ~~
Riyyh tenses up, just slightly, despite himself.
Riyyh: Yes, yes... Mytag and myself.
Nick is a bit surprised by the renewed tension.
Riyyh: Purely for appearances sake, of course, Naros is invited to so many of these things, and one must accept two or three per year just to let everybody know we're still alive.
Nick: Really, there's nothing to worry about.
Riyyh: Well, yes, I....
Nick: I'm sure Mytag has exaggerated the situation there.
Riyyh: Yes, and Linn and Eliza and the file folders....
Riyyh has been telling himself this for days now and somehow he still doesn't believe it.
Nick: I lived there much longer than he did, and I know for a fact that there have been stretches of as long as a week when no damage has occurred to the staff or facilities of that Sime Center.
Riyyh: Oh dear.
Nick: And the troll has never been spotted outside of the basement.
Riyyh finds that the subject of the state of that Sime Center, which had been overshadowed by the problem of Snake and of approaching Richard Hardwick-Greeves, suddenly gives him great cause for worry.
Riyyh: ~~nervous~~
Riyyh becomes clammy with sweat.
Nick: ~~ relax ~~
Nick continues to rub Riyyh's shoulders.
Riyyh: Yes, and we will only be there for a day, or perhaps a few hours, really it is only to put in an appearance.
Riyyh's body is once again forced to relax by Nick's field.
Nick: Well, then, what could happen in a few hours?
Riyyh: Right... right.
Nick: The town itself is much less accident-prone than the Sime Center.
Nick: The roads aren't always in the best condition, but that only matters if you ride in a cab or a wagon.
Nick: As long as you stay on your own two feet, you should be all right.
Nick reconsiders.
Riyyh for some reason isn't feeling super reassured.
Nick: Well, stay clear of the Porno District.
Nick: And if you go into Sticky's, don't pick a fight with BugLumps. He has two very large sons.
Riyyh: Bug lumps?
Nick: Yes. He deals in recreational pharmaceuticals.
Nick: But he was pretty good at locating general medical supplies, as well.
Riyyh: I try not to pick fights with anybody. [pleadingly]
Riyyh's developing nicely into a state of relaxed terror he's never quite felt before.
Nick: Of` course you do, and most people in Bender Cove will be happy to let you mind your own business if you return the favor.
Nick: And the water really is lovely, this time of year.
Riyyh: Late fall?
Nick: Yes. You can actually see it, once the trees have dropped their leaves.
Riyyh: We'll really only be seeing the Sime Center, and that only for a short time [repeats]
Riyyh is becoming genuinely worried since he knows perfectly well that is not true.
Nick: It really is a pity. You can't get to know a town in just a few hours.
Riyyh hadn't really been dwelling on everybody's reports of what Bender Cove's like when he made the decision to go, it was more based on the necessity of getting Snake the heck out of Naros.
Riyyh: Another time, perhaps.
Riyyh: [weakly]
Nick: Of course.
Riyyh tells himself everything will be fine, with Mytag there.
Nick wraps Riyyh in ~~ sympathetic understanding ~~ and goes for a particularly persistent tense muscle on the back of Riyyh's neck.
Go on to Episode #49: Punishment Swiftly Follows Mis-Take, Gen-erally