Sime~Gen Roleplaying on IRC: Householding Naros Scenario
Episode #114: Strawberry Short-Fuse (2/9/99)
Riyyh has never been so terribly bored in all his life.
Riyyh has never had to do this much actual administrative work, in a sustained manner, in all his life.
Riyyh: Oh dear.
Riyyh sighs.
Turros signals at the office door.
Riyyh picks up the next item of business, a letter from one of the north bordering neighbors, complaining about some stones fallen from the Naros outer wall which nearly hit one of his sheep.
Riyyh puts the letter down gratefully.
Riyyh: Come in!
Turros enters.
Turros: ~~ aggravation ~~
Riyyh: Oh, hello, Turros... [tentacles fluttering in sudden uneasiness] How good to see you.
Riyyh smiles kindly, though he is plainly worried.
Turros: Sectuib, what's this about leaving the strawberry beds for a third year, instead of replanting with that new, large-berried variety that the Bodman Nursery is offering?
Turros does not like having his planting schedule rearranged when it's almost time to plow.
Riyyh laces his tentacles together carefully to avoid the frantic-knotting effect.
Riyyh: Please, do sit down. I would be pleased to discuss this with you... would you like some water?
Riyyh: Anything to drink?
Turros snorts.
Turros: What do you think I am, a baby?
Turros: I'll have some of the tea.
Riyyh sighs internally.
Riyyh: Of course.
Riyyh gets up to fetch it for him.
Turros completely ignores the personality changes which come over him upon exposure to caffeine.
Riyyh, who finds those personality changes rather difficult to ignore himself, cuts the tea with a caffeine-free variety, putting in as much as he dares without making it too obvious.
Riyyh is afraid, however, that it may not make that much of a difference given Turros' extreme sensitivity to the stuff.
Riyyh: Here you are. [kindly]
Turros takes the cup, somewhat mollified by this concession to his demands on the part of the youngster.
Riyyh returns to his desk.
Riyyh: Now then, about the planting schedule....
Turros: I may be getting up there, but I'm not so forgetful that I don't know the plan was to start a few acres of the new variety, and see what market develops.
Turros at least thinks that was the plan, but he's having a bit more trouble staying organized than he used to.
Riyyh: Yes, yes, that was the original plan, you're quite right.
Turros is just a tad ~~ relieved ~~ at this confirmation of his recollection.
Riyyh: However, you see, due to the unexpected, and very real need for a new cultivator of suitable quality, we have been forced to tighten our belts, so to speak, in other areas.
Turros takes a big gulp of his tea to cover the relief.
Riyyh winces internally as the caffeine goes in.
Turros: You know that our most profitable market is in the area of luxury fruits and vegetables.
Riyyh mentally counts down the remaining seconds of reasonable behavior.
Riyyh tries to project reasonable agreeableness.
Turros: They don't cost much more to grow than the regular kinds, and they sell for four times the price.
Riyyh: Yes, yes, of course. And we will still do it... next year.
Turros: Six times, with those strawberries, after the special deal Bodman gave me.
Turros: Next year, we won't have the same discount--and we'll have the competition of whoever else buys this year's starters.
Turros: Won't get half the profit we'd clear this year.
Riyyh: I realize that this is a sacrifice, Turros, but you made it very clear we required that cultivator.
Riyyh: Unfortunately, this means freeing enough cash to buy one... and before spring.
Turros: Nonsense, there must be some other place to get the money. Aren't there some foals that could be sold or something?
Riyyh: If we had known farther in advance we might have spread it out over five or ten years, but....
Riyyh: There will be horses in the summer, yes.
Riyyh thinks there shenned well better be, since he is taking heat from several angles for letting Rachel keep the extra stallion.
Turros: Can't you get a buyer lined up, who's willing to pay in advance?
Riyyh: However, we require the funds now. A little bit was found in each department, and I'm afraid the strawberries were one of the things we had to sacrifice....
Turros frowns.
Turros: Let me see that budget once.
Riyyh: Trust me, I have been speaking to Rachel about it, but in the meantime....
Riyyh sighs.
Riyyh picks up the ledger and carefully hands it over to Turros.
Riyyh had stayed up for two and a half days figuring it out, and is pretty sure he did everything he could.
Turros takes the ledger and squints, trying to make out the letters.
Riyyh can't help but feel extremely nervous and almost ashamed of his work in Turros' presence, however. [lifelong habit]
Turros holds the ledger farther away, until he hits the range.
Turros scans the entries.
Turros: ~~ triumph ~~
Riyyh zlins the caffeine rush start.
Riyyh: Oh, dear. [to himself]
Turros: Here, now. What do we require ten boxes of paper decorations for??
Riyyh: You know what those are used for, Turros. The festivals, the celebrations, the birthday parties and changeover days, the weddings....
Turros: Why can't we just have the kids string popcorn and hang greenery instead?
Riyyh: Turros, be reasonable. The decorations are extremely cheap, and people love them.
Turros: That's what we did when I was a boy. Didn't have any of those newfangled ready made decorations then, I'll tell you.
Turros: They'd buy two dozen strawberry plants.
Turros: ~~ belligerent ~~
Riyyh: But Turros. We used to buy a box for every celebration. Surely buying ten boxes for an entire year isn't.... [cringes at the belligerence]
Turros picks up a pen and crosses the decorations off of the budget list.
Riyyh is alarmed.
Riyyh: Please! Don't do that.
Riyyh reaches for the ledger.
Turros holds on to it firmly.
Riyyh: Give it to me... please? [coaxingly]
Turros: Now then, I don't see why we require all these new cooking utensils this year.
Turros: We managed with the old ones for this long, and the food tastes just fine.
Turros thinks, better than fine since that new girl took over the kitchen.
Riyyh catches Turros' pen hand before it can make any more indelible marks on the ledger.
Riyyh: Please... can you listen to me for just a moment?
Turros glares at Riyyh, clearly under the influence.
Riyyh, since he is physically so near, does the best he can to influence Turros' systems with his nager.
Riyyh: Everybody had a budget cut. Not just you. But everybody got a little of what they required, including you. It isn't fair, or sensible, to say nobody can have anything!
Turros is not quite bouncing high enough to endanger the new patches in the ceiling.
Turros: But those are things that won't bring in profits in the fall.
Turros: ~~ pleading ~~
Turros: Those strawberries are a one-time deal.
Riyyh struggles for self-discipline as Turros switches tactics.
Riyyh has a terrible time dealing with begging.
Riyyh: Well, yes, I realize that, but....
Turros: This is our only chance to get a head start on the market.
Riyyh gently pries the pen out of Turros' fingers.
Turros's nager reeks with the vital importance of the strawberries.
Riyyh: But do you understand that this is helping you get that cultivator?
Riyyh: That everybody has taken budget cuts so you can have it?
Turros: But without the strawberries, we'll come up even shorter next year.
Riyyh: But we will have the horses to sell, Turros, please, I have thought about this.
Riyyh: These decisions were not made lightly.
Turros: Those horses aren't even born yet.
Riyyh: Yes, I realize that.
Turros conveniently forgets that he was advising Riyyh to sell them in the womb not ten minutes ago.
Turros: You don't know anything about their quality--but those strawberries are a sure winner.
Riyyh: I am sorry.
Riyyh: I truly wish there was some way that I could have... [tries to think of a way to make 'could have spent twice what we made this year and emptied our savings as well' sound less blunt]
Turros: What am I going to tell Bodman?
Turros: He's holding a whole greenhouse full of starters for us.
Riyyh: Would it help if I spoke to him for you?
Riyyh is pretty sure that if the risk of being beat out by competing farms is as great as Turros describes, there will be no chance those seedlings will go unsold.
Riyyh sighs.
Turros: He stands to lose a great deal, if he suddenly has to sell them at a loss or lose them entirely.
Riyyh: Have him come to me, then.
Riyyh: I will speak to him for you.
Turros: He trusted my word--Naros's word--that we would buy them.
Turros is feeling a bit ~~ betrayed ~~
Riyyh will probably end up cutting a "deal" where he buys a small number of plants at outrageous inflation in order to cover the lost profit, yet still pay less overall than buying them all would have cost. Riyyh has done this before to save face with vendors.
Riyyh sighs again.
Riyyh: Turros, I must apologize for the unfortunate situation.
Riyyh: But please... consider, that if I had known the cultivator required replacement last fall when it was damaged, something might have been arranged much sooner.
Turros: Your father would have found a way.
Riyyh: This is at least as... what!
Riyyh's thoughts are derailed by Turros' sudden springing of the old 'your father would have...' line.
Turros has infinite faith in the ability of the older generation to find ways that young whippersnappers overlook.
Riyyh fiddles with a lock of his hair with a tentacle.
Riyyh: Perhaps he could have. But he isn't here anymore, and it is up to me to... [nervously]
Turros: He wouldn't have let a deal like those strawberries fall through.
Riyyh: Turros... back then, would you have waited until late winter to tell me about the cultivator?
Riyyh: [gently]
Turros shuffles his feet uncomfortably.
Turros: It slipped my mind, Sectuib.
Riyyh nods.
Turros is a little alarmed at how many things have been "slipping his mind" lately.
Riyyh is amazed that Turros called him 'Sectuib'.
Turros: What with all the excitement over genetics, and visitors, and all.
Riyyh: Of course.
Riyyh: I mean no criticism, but it is true that the very short timeframe available to us makes purchase of the cultivator - at a sacrifice - a top priority.
Turros at least hopes that it was just a case of getting sidetracked by distractions.
Riyyh: Ideally, I would want to spend five or ten years saving for such a purchase. In this case, we will simply have to... oh dear, we will simply have to spend five or ten years recovering from it instead.
Riyyh: I am sure it will work out.
Turros: But the strawberries....
Turros's mouth waters at the remembered taste.
Riyyh senses Turros' disquiet and tries to speak encouragingly.
Riyyh: We can buy them next year. I will make sure he is satisfied this year, I promise you.
Riyyh zlins Turros' taste buds tingling and makes a mental note to give one of the plants to Turros' wife.
Turros: We'll lose a whole year. Maybe you're young enough that that doesn't seem like much, but I'd like to see that variety propagated up and on the market.
Riyyh: I am sorry.
Riyyh: It is not an easy blow to take.
Turros: That'll take four, five years. Who knows what could happen in that time?
Riyyh: I understand.
Riyyh: However, what choice have we?
Turros would rather do without pre-made decorations than risk not being able to see the project through.
Riyyh: If we removed everything like replacement kitchen knives and party decorations and schoolbooks from the budget, we might buy the strawberries, but there would be nothing in anybody's lives but work.
Riyyh: That would raise a serious morale problem, and Naros can afford a serious morale problem even less than it can afford the cultivator.
Turros: We'd have strawberries.
Turros: Strawberries are good for morale.
Riyyh: We have strawberries already, Turros. The three varieties we already grow.
Riyyh: Granted, none of them are as fancy as the ones you wanted to plant, but really. Try to think of the future, Turros.
Riyyh: ~earnest~
Turros is trying to avoid thinking of the future, actually.
Turros fears that his future will be filled with increasing forgetfulness.
Turros: It's different for you. You have a lot of future left.
Riyyh zlins Turros' denial and fear, and softens.
Turros: When you're my age, you'll see the value of taking opportunities as they come along.
Riyyh actually has been criticized heavily for taking every opportunity that comes along, and is trying to cut back.
Riyyh: Yes, of course, you're right. [soothingly]
Turros gets to his feet, his distress for once even overcoming the (well-watered-down) caffeine.
Turros: I wanted to see the strawberry project through.
Riyyh rises also, coming around the desk toward Turros.
Riyyh: ~concern~
Turros feels the pricking sensation of tears in his eyes.
Riyyh puts his hand on Turros' arm.
Riyyh: I... I understand your concern. [quietly]
Riyyh: I would feel the same, exactly the same, in your place.
Turros tries to imagine Riyyh as a farmer and his mind boggles.
Turros hopes this is not another mental deficiency manifesting.
Riyyh: Please... sit.
Riyyh thinks this conversation has been a long time coming.
Riyyh feels a little bit nervous but also accepts that it has to be talked about at some point.
Turros lets himself be helped to a chair.
Riyyh makes sure he's settled, then sits down near him.
Riyyh: Turros, I know that it's approaching the time when you will have to begin handing things off to other people.
Riyyh: But if there are things, special projects, that you want to go on doing, there is no reason why you cannot.
Turros's head lifts.
Turros: ....What??
Riyyh: I don't want to... [hesitates]
Riyyh: I don't want to pretend that things have been going as well for you in recent years as they always were, because they really haven't. [gently]
Turros: I still know more about farming than the youngsters under me.
Turros: ~~ stung pride ~~
Riyyh: Yes, you do.
Riyyh: But you have already taught them a lot, and you will teach them more in the years to come.
Turros: So what do you want to put them in charge for?
Turros: I can do my job.
Turros ~~ fears ~~ the loss of his position and identity.
Riyyh feels compassion for Turros.
Riyyh: I know. You can still do it, but the time has come, I think, that you must turn your energies toward training them. Making them able to stand on their own.
Riyyh: What will happen when you are gone, if they don't know it?
Turros: There's something wrong with me?
Turros: I'm dying?
Riyyh smiles gently.
Riyyh: No, you're not dying, Turros.
Turros: ~~ frantic ~~
Riyyh places a hand on Turros' hand.
Turros: You're sure?
Turros: Very sure?
Turros feels much as if the rug has been pulled out from under him, then returned before he could quite hit the floor.
Riyyh: Everybody dies, Turros. But for now, you are healthy, strong, and have a long and pleasant semi-retirement ahead of you.
Turros: You're not hiding anything from me, are you?
Riyyh: No, no, of course not. ~reassuring~
Turros: Retirement??
Riyyh hopes the caffeine wears off soon.
Turros: ~~ aghast ~~
Riyyh takes Turros' other hand, squeezing them both.
Riyyh: I know this must be painful for you.
Riyyh figures he may as well beat the pain to the punch.
Riyyh: However, I also know that you are strong, and wise, and you know Naros and farming better than anyone else here.
Turros sits just a little bit straighter at this praise.
Riyyh: I would be proud, and honored, if you would choose and prepare your own replacement, on your own schedule. Now, while you are still strong and whole. [gently]
Turros: I've got time. You said I had time.
Riyyh doesn't actually imagine that Turros will ever stop working, he'd just like to see somebody else fully able to take over for him when the time does come... and cover for him in the meantime.
Riyyh: Yes, you do.
Turros: ~~ trapped ~~
Riyyh: All I'm asking is that you start now. Pick whoever you want, or even more than one. Take as long as you want.
Riyyh: Don't you see, I have done the same? Anmyn, my daughter, is being trained to replace me.
Turros wonders how long it would be possible to drag out the candidate selection stage of the process.
Riyyh: It is a matter of the survival of Naros. A person in a position of responsibility is obligated to think of the future generations, after all.
Turros: Your daughter?
Turros is not so preoccupied with his future--or lack thereof--that he would miss out on a juicy piece of gossip.
Riyyh: My heir. [corrects himself]
Turros: ~~ mild disappointment ~~
Turros returns to his dilemma.
Riyyh plans to keep the actual details of Anmyn's heredity all the way to his grave.
Turros tries to imagine any of his subordinates actually trying to run Naros's farmland.
Riyyh tries to appear patient and understanding.
Turros's imagination fails him, much as his memory has.
Turros: I just can't see it.
Riyyh: Think on it, Turros. [pats him on the shoulder]
Riyyh: If there is any way I can help, I promise you I will.
Riyyh will actually pick the replacement if he has to, but he was hoping Turros would choose on his own.
Riyyh is certain Turros would make a better choice, if he made a choice at all.
Turros knows a dismissal when he hears it.
Turros gets to his feet.
Turros: I'll think about it, Riyyh.
Riyyh looks up at him.
Riyyh: Thank you.
Riyyh: I do appreciate it. And....
Riyyh hesitates.
Riyyh: I will speak to him about the strawberries. You musn't worry on that account.
Riyyh: You will have them next year.
Turros nods.
Turros: Maybe we'll able to get some market share.
Riyyh smiles.
Turros heads for the door, wondering what the world is coming to, when he lets Riyyh argue him down on something important to him.
Riyyh watches after him sadly.
Anmyn signals at Riyyh's door.
Riyyh: Come in....
Anmyn enters, holding a stack of correspondence.
Riyyh, who was still sitting near Turros' vacated chair, rises.
Anmyn: Am I interrupting something, Sectuib?
Riyyh: No. [smiles kindly]
Riyyh: I was just finishing.
Anmyn would hate to be a nuisance.
Riyyh picks up Turros' tea cup.
Anmyn: You zlin sad.
Anmyn: Is something wrong?
Riyyh: I spoke to Turros today about... about retiring.
Anmyn: Oh, dear.
Riyyh: He's done so much for Naros, for so long, it is saddening to think of a time when he won't be here.
Riyyh: And, it is not an easy subject for him to think on either.
Anmyn: ~~ sympathy ~~
Riyyh: Thank you, Anmyn.
Anmyn: Will he be all right?
Riyyh finishes cleaning up and returns to his desk.
Riyyh: I hope so. I will check on him again soon.
Anmyn: Has there been any word of Hero?
Riyyh: I don't think there will be any, until after the pass clears. [admits] The searchers traced her as far as the pass, and they are fairly sure she went into the mountains along with Prunida and Linn.
Anmyn: Well, I suppose that means Prunida is also trapped on the other side of the mountain.
Anmyn can't help feeling a touch ~~ relieved ~~ at that.
Riyyh: Yes, there is that.
Riyyh: If only Wolfa... [sighs]
Riyyh: Well, Tictoc said she'd let me know today or tomorrow whether she thought it was all right to approach Wolfa about Risha.
Anmyn: Do you think Prunida will bring Hero back?
Riyyh: I honestly don't know.
Riyyh: I fear that they may come to grief when they encounter Wise Snake.
Riyyh: If they even make it so far.
Anmyn frowns, remembering Snake.
Riyyh is fairly sure Prunida can handle herself on the road, but is less than sure how she'd fare with the naive and exuberant Hero as companionship.
Anmyn: I admit I find it hard to understand Prunida.
Anmyn: She seems... almost unbalanced, at times.
Riyyh: Oh?
Anmyn finds it difficult to utter the words "stark, raving lunatic with homicidal/suicidal tendencies".
Riyyh: Well, yes, I suppose she,
Riyyh finds it even more difficult.
Riyyh: She doesn't handle disappointment well. [temporizes]
Anmyn: She gets so, so focused, on her desires.
Anmyn: She frightens me.
Riyyh sighs.
Riyyh: Come... [holds out a hand to her]
Riyyh: Sit here.
Anmyn moves close to Riyyh and puts her hand in his.
Riyyh draws her down onto his lap.
Anmyn snuggles close.
Riyyh: ~~reassurance~~
Riyyh: I've known Prunida for a long time.
Anmyn: How long?
Riyyh: I first met her when I was fourteen, at a party.
Riyyh: Well, after a party, actually, but....
Anmyn nods.
Riyyh: At any rate, over the years, we've corresponded, and visited at times, and I've come to realize that she is not, inherently, a dangerous person.
Anmyn: She's not?
Anmyn: Well, maybe not compared to, say, Hajene Snake.
Riyyh: She does frighten me also. [confesses]
Riyyh: She isn't quite sane, and she isn't very refined.
Riyyh: But she wouldn't, for example, dream of murdering anybody.
Riyyh: Much of what seems dangerous to you is, I'm afraid, the vestiges of the junct culture she grew up a part of.
Riyyh thinks that Prunida just failed more spectacularly than most to slough that off in the 30 years since Unity.
Anmyn: Junct culture? She must be very old.
Riyyh: Well, she's... ~embarrassed~
Anmyn: Is that really what juncts were like, pre-Unity?
Riyyh: Yes, I'm afraid so.
Anmyn is better acquainted with guilt-ridden, determined-to-disjunct modern types.
Riyyh: Junct society was very brutal, forceful, and short-lived.
Riyyh: People took what they could, and died when they couldn't.
Anmyn: I've read that, but it's different to see it.
Riyyh: The Householdings were like islands, like enchanted gardens.
Anmyn: Will Prunida die if she can't take Nick away from Hajene Snake?
Riyyh chuckles softly.
Riyyh: No.
Riyyh: Prunida is a very strong woman.
Anmyn: Do you like having her around?
Anmyn: Or do you wish she would go away and leave you alone?
Riyyh's laugh dies amidst ~~unease~~
Riyyh: I wish she was happier.
Riyyh: And... she does frighten me, at times.
Riyyh would like Prunida a lot more if she didn't hurt him so frequently.
Anmyn: I've been thinking.
Anmyn: ~~ serious ~~
Riyyh: Yes?
Riyyh: ~~attentive~~
Anmyn: I don't think Prunida would want to spend so much time with you if you were already taken.
Riyyh: Err....
Anmyn: I mean, married.
Riyyh actually thinks that wouldn't make much difference to Prunida, she'd just shove whoever it was out of the way.
Riyyh: Go on. [courteously]
Anmyn: She could hardly throw your wife out of your bed, could she?
Riyyh: One would hope not. [politely]
Anmyn: And I'm sure you could find someone you'd like a lot better.
Riyyh isn't sure he likes the direction this is going in.
Riyyh: No doubt.
Riyyh nods.
Anmyn: Vissera really likes you, and she's not related.
Anmyn: Or some of the ones who write you letters might be willing.
Riyyh: Oh, Anmyn. [kind, but strained] It is sweet of you to be concerned for me.
Anmyn pats the stack of just-completed replies to love letters.
Anmyn: Some of them sound real nice.
Riyyh: I'm not sure that I am cut out to be married, precious.
Anmyn: But you said you'd rather avoid having Prunida come back.
Riyyh: Yes, but I see her only once every few years. To get married for the simple reason of wanting to avoid Prunida would be unfair to both myself and my bride.
Anmyn: Oh.
Anmyn is ~~ crestfallen ~~ at the failure of her first attempt at a Sectuibly solving of someone else's personal problems.
Riyyh lets his nager show his ~~love and gratitude~~.
Riyyh: I appreciate your caring for me, Anmyn.
Anmyn had so hoped that her presumed Sectuibly talents were manifesting at last.
Anmyn: I've made a mess of things again, haven't I?
Riyyh: No no, of course not. ~reassurance~
Riyyh thinks, not unless she has already promised Vissera anything.
Riyyh decides he'd better read those letters before they go out too, just to make sure.
Anmyn: I'd hoped--well, you never seem happy when Prunida's around.
Riyyh: Chances are, she will not be back. ~honest~
Riyyh: Do you realize, it had been nearly twenty five years since I'd last seen her?
Anmyn: Twenty-five years?
Riyyh: Well, exactly twenty five years, actually...
Riyyh: Yes.
Anmyn: That was before I was born.
Riyyh: Well, yes.
Riyyh: I am nearly as old as Prunida, you know.
Riyyh only very rarely will make humor about his age.
Anmyn: You don't look that old. Or zlin it, either.
Anmyn: ~~ loyalty ~~
Riyyh smiles, transforming into something looking and zlinning even younger.
Riyyh: Thank you, Anmyn, you are sweet.
Anmyn smiles a radiant smile.
see note 1
Bodman throws open the door to Riyyh's office without signaling.
Riyyh jumps up like a rabbit about ready to bolt.
Bodman: What's this I hear about Naros not wanting all those strawberry starts I've had filling up my greenhouse for weeks?
Riyyh's heart hammers in a primitive faint-or-flight response.
Bodman: We had a deal, and I thought Naros's word was good.
Riyyh: Oh! Bodman, please, come in.
Bodman is very much in the room, making the invitation redundant.
Bodman: Are you trying to ruin me?
Riyyh: No, of course not.
Riyyh: Please, have a seat. I would be more than happy to explain.
Riyyh: Would you like any tea? I have some of the '31 special blend here....
Bodman: The 31 blend?
Bodman is torn between his righteous wrath and the opportunity to taste what he could never afford.
Bodman decides to accept the tea.
Riyyh: Yes, please, let me get you some.
Riyyh hurries to serve.
Riyyh: I do apologize for your having to come all the way here, I had intended to visit you personally to speak to you about this.
Riyyh gives Bodman the cup of tea.
Bodman is reminded of his grievance.
Bodman: I'll be ruined.
Bodman takes the tea.
Riyyh: Please, have a seat.
Riyyh sits down himself, by way of example.
Bodman finds himself seated in spite of himself.
Riyyh: I deeply regret that the deal had to be called off. I am fully prepared to compensate you for the lost profit.
Riyyh: Surely you can sell the plants at cost to another farm, to recoup the rest.
Bodman: I don't know if I can do it before they try to bloom on me, and set fruit.
Bodman: And my boy is simple. He doesn't understand that there are things he used to like that he can't eat, now he's Sime.
Bodman: I may have to destroy them to prevent that.
Bodman zlins Riyyh to determine if this hard luck story has made the proper effect.
Riyyh appears genuinely sympathetic.
Riyyh: It is a very unfortunate time for all.
Riyyh: ~regret~
Bodman: I turned down an excellent deal with Nars Litsbam for celery and cabbage starts, to do your strawberry order.
Bodman: ~~ aggravation ~~
Riyyh: Your hardship grieves me, it truly does.
Riyyh: ~sincere~
Riyyh finds the aggravation is a more immediate problem, however.
Bodman: Why did you change your mind at the last minute? Turros was planning on collecting those starts in another week or so.
Riyyh: Yes, I realize that. The difficulty is that we suffered an emergency recently, it developed that a new combine had to be purchased and many sacrifices had to be made.
Bodman: You call ruining a man's business a "sacrifice"?
Riyyh: I had hoped that you would be satisfied with monetary compensation, especially when Turros was so sure the surrounding competition....
Riyyh sighs.
Riyyh: No, I was referring to our being unable to purchase the strawberries. We did sincerely wish to.
Bodman: I'll try to sell 'em, but if they start to bloom, they die.
Riyyh: Turros seemed sure that many local farmers would want to grow them.
Bodman's attitude makes it clear that he expects to be compensated for the loss, in that case.
Bodman: Maybe, maybe not.
Bodman: Farmers like to plan ahead.
Bodman: Now, if I'd known a month ago, even, it would be different.
Riyyh: Yes, I realize that, but in an emergency such as this, it is not always possible. I was forced to choose between being able to plow our fields, and being able to buy your strawberries.
Bodman grunts, having dealt with farmers long enough to understand the reality.
Riyyh: Try to sell them.
Riyyh: If you cannot, or if the price falls short of what you require, come to me.
Riyyh: I will try to compensate you in whatever way I can.
Bodman nods reluctantly.
Riyyh hesitates.
Riyyh: If it comes to destroying them, come and speak to me first.
Riyyh: Would that be possible?
Bodman: Yeah, but I'll have to bring my boy. He can't be left alone, and my wife's going to stay with her sister until the baby's born.
Bodman: She deserves a break.
Bodman's home situation may be measured by his consideration of taking care of a newborn baby and mother as a "break".
Riyyh: That would be fine.
Bodman gulps down the last of his tea and stands.
Bodman: Well, I'd better be going. Those starts won't sell themselves.
Bodman had been dreaming of a relatively relaxed spring, with a guaranteed profit in the bank at the start.
Riyyh nods.
Riyyh: ~~sad and apologetic~~
Bodman leaves, feet dragging with depression.
Notes:
1) At least a day or two will have passed between these two scenes. [return]