Sime~Gen Roleplaying: Householding Naros Scenario
Episode #143: Sectuibly Advice (7/30/99)
Riyyh is in a fancy tea shop, showing some samples to the owner.
Owner: Oh, I say!! [sniffs sample again]
Linn happens to choose the same shop to complete her shopping.
Riyyh really hadn't planned on traveling to Capitol again so soon after last month's visit, but is making the best of the trip since he's here.
Owner: What's this one called, again?
Riyyh: That one's... Linn!
Riyyh: ~~ surprised ~~
Linn is already carrying a box of harsh Weed Tea (as most would call it), several unblemished apples, and baking supplies.
Linn pauses, surprised.
Linn: Sectuib Riyyh!
Owner: Zlin? An odd name for tea, but then, who can argue with Narosian sales success?
Linn: What brings you to the Capitol?
Riyyh: Oh dear, pardon me, I just noticed somebody I knew walk into the shop.
Riyyh: That's the "Raspberry Rose". Here, have a look at these catalogs.
Riyyh abandons the shop's proprietor and goes over to greet Linn more thoroughly.
Linn looks Riyyh over.
Linn: You're looking well, I see.
Owner retreats to a back corner to sit down while perusing the hand-drawn booklets.
Riyyh beams, inordinately pleased by the praise, thus making himself look at least 3 times as well.
Riyyh: Why thank you, Linn. And how are you doing, here in the big city?
Linn smiles weakly.
Linn: I'm a bit at loose ends, I'm afraid.
Riyyh immediately looks, and feels, concerned, something with which he's never had much difficulty.
Riyyh: Is everything all right?
Linn: Well, I'm getting by for the moment. It's the future that's giving me problems.
Linn: ~~ worry ~~
Riyyh edges closer, as if by his mere proximity he can alleviate the anxiety. [hey, it's happened!]
Riyyh: Is there anything that I could do to help?
Riyyh: ~~ sincere ~~
Linn: I'm not sure. You see, I haven't had much luck lining up a full-time teaching job.
Linn: I had hoped that the new school would provide some openings in the fall, but it appears to be behind schedule. Something about design problems, I understand.
Riyyh frowns.
Riyyh: They haven't even laid the foundation yet. It will be at least two years before the structure is ready for use.
Linn: Oh, dear.
Riyyh: We are discussing starting a private, agricultural school as an alternative for parents too poor to afford other private schools, but it is in the earliest stages of planning at this time.
Riyyh means "earliest stages of planning" in the sense of, "we just started talking about it a few days ago". He is aware, of course, that Racknie considers it "on the verge of opening", at least in his imagination.
Linn: I see my informant was overly optimistic.
Linn tries to put a brave face on her disappointment.
Riyyh places a sympathetic hand on Linn's wrist.
Linn: Well, there is always Controller Arat's offer.
Riyyh: Surely another opportunity will present itsel... oh?
Riyyh tries to imagine what that might be.
Riyyh: To train as a Donor? [hopes]
Riyyh picks that as the least of all possible evils.
Linn: Yes. He said that it is just the sort of challenge Snake requires.
Linn: I don't think she's taking the restrictions on her activities very well.
Riyyh fiddles thoughtfully with a lock of his hair.
Riyyh doesn't look very Sectuibly when he does this, but fortunately most of those who know him are used to it.
Linn has gotten the total-concern-for-one's-channel part of Donoring down, at least with respect for Snake.
Riyyh: No, I don't suppose she would.
Riyyh: There is still some use for an English teacher at Naros.
Linn sighs.
Linn: Thank you, Riyyh. It's very kind of you to offer.
Linn: But I think I should stay here, at least until Snake is better settled. With Nick gone, I'm the only one left of our group to keep an eye on her.
Linn has the loyalty part of the job down, too.
Riyyh: Nick will be back in a week or two, [points out]. Then you could come h... back.
Riyyh: For at least two months.
Riyyh: If you wanted to, that is.
Riyyh gets the impression Linn doesn't really want to, however.
Linn is genuinely touched by the offer.
Linn: It means a lot to me, that you are willing to take me in, after all the disruption our group caused.
Riyyh is pleased by the reaction.
Riyyh always likes to be viewed as generous and willing, which actually explains quite a bit.
Linn: I owe it to Snake to try this Donor training, if it will help her turn her life around. However, if in a few months it isn't working out...?
Riyyh isn't sure that's how it works, with the Tecton.
Riyyh nods, however.
Riyyh: Of course, you will be welcome.
Linn has even less knowledge of Tecton protocols than Riyyh, so finds nothing odd in Riyyh's response.
Linn: Thank you.
Linn's eyes stray to the selection of teas behind the counter.
Linn: Could I take advantage of your expertise, as long as you are here?
Riyyh smiles, pleased to be of immediate service.
Owner has finished his perusal of the catalogs and is back in place behind the counter.
Owner hopes Linn is referring to expertise in tea, since Riyyh has expensive tastes.
Linn: I wanted to get a small assortment of good tea for Nick, as a welcome-home present. Do you know what kind he prefers?
Riyyh: Oh, yes.
Riyyh smiles warmly, glad to be of assistance in such a charming endeavor.
Owner rubs his hands together.
see note 1
Riyyh returns to his hotel room some hours later, exhausted after a hard day, well, half-day, of showing tea samples to merchants and making sure they think they are his absolute favorite customers, etc.
Riyyh enjoys the process of convincing people they are the one person he spends nearly all of his time thinking about, but not usually so many people in one day, so far away from home, and the weather has been beastly hot.
Prunida is sprawled on Riyyh's bed, fresh from a bath and wrapped in his silk dressing gown.
Riyyh looks forward to a nice, long, relaxing soak, followed perhaps by a soothing grooming ritual and some peaceful book reading.
Prunida has taken advantage of some of the assortment of soaps and lotions lying around the bathroom, as well.
Prunida is, alas, not quite as expert in the uses of such things as their legitimate owner.
Riyyh unlocks the door to his hotel room, not realizing there's anybody within due to the expensive building's excellent insulation.
Prunida is lucky that the room contains no bee hive, or the insects might get confused about the location of the garden.
Riyyh is nearly knocked out by a powerful odor of... well, let's just say by a powerful odor, as he walks into the room.
Riyyh belatedly zlins Prunida's presence.
Riyyh: ~~surprise~~
Prunida: Riyyh, darling!
Prunida smiles as seductively as a shark.
Riyyh starts back in alarm, but succeeds only in running into the door, which closes obediently.
Riyyh: Er, Prunida! I hadn't expected....
Prunida: I couldn't resist coming to tell you how my visit with Nick went.
Prunida: ~~ triumph ~~
Riyyh covers a wince by turning to lock the door.
Riyyh turns back to her wearing a pleasant smile, one of his best.
Riyyh: Of course, I would love to hear all about it.
Riyyh notices the tub full of soap-scum-spangled, cold water through the bathroom door, and resigns himself to not bathing immediately.
Prunida pats the bed next to herself.
Prunida: I went just as you said it would.
Prunida snickers.
Riyyh hesitates, and then walks toward the bed, pulling off his cloak.
Riyyh: Did it? [kindly]
Riyyh: Then all is well?
Prunida: You should have zlinned Nick when I started saying what you told me to! You could have pushed him over with one tentacle!
Prunida hadn't realized how much fun it would be to totally confound her difficult grandson.
Riyyh lays his cloak over a chair, then sits down beside Prunida.
Prunida: He didn't know whether to run or hide, and he couldn't do either with his channel present.
Riyyh: It wasn't meant to frighten him. ~~somewhat concerned~~
Prunida views this entertaining spectacle as partial reparation for the grief Nick has caused her.
Prunida: He'll survive.
Riyyh thinks he really should have been there also.
Riyyh can't quite imagine what really happened, but he's pretty sure Prunida's too inexperienced in the act of making friends to have interpreted the results with 100% accuracy.
Prunida: Anyway, we had several chats--he couldn't quite find the nerve to refuse my invitations, since they were offered in public.
Riyyh nods.
Prunida: He's apparently eager to appear as normal as possible.
Riyyh suspects such eagerness was at least partially in response to Prunida's own behavior, especially if the witnesses knew they were related.
Riyyh smiles.
Riyyh: Then he will be pleased to see you again in the future?
Prunida frowns.
Prunida: See me, yes. At least, if he can't gracefully refuse.
Riyyh: Well then, that is a start, is it not?
Prunida: But he didn't offer the slightest hint that he was about to do his duty by his family.
Riyyh: That will come later, when he is truly your friend.
Prunida: ~~ impatient ~~
Riyyh: And remember, until and unless disaster actually befalls you, you don't actually require his financial assistance.
Riyyh: So no harm has been done by his refusing thus far... right?
Prunida: This tiptoeing around goes against my nature.
Riyyh thinks, you can say that again!
Prunida: And it shouldn't take a disaster to make my grandson do his duty.
Riyyh: Perhaps friendship alone will suffice. However, that is a long row to hoe.
Riyyh: You cannot expect results instantly.
Prunida has never been much for manual labor, unless she could order someone else to do it.
Prunida: The situation is an affront to the whole family.
Prunida might perhaps be exaggerating, since the vast majority of Nick's family don't even know about the situation.
Riyyh: It can be repaired. [gently]
Riyyh: It requires only time, and your patience and persistence in befriending him.
Prunida: He's an unnatural grandson.
Riyyh looks embarrassed.
Riyyh: Well, that is....
Prunida: That channel of his was suspicious--I could tell.
Riyyh: Suspicious?
Prunida: Almost as if she knew something wasn't right.
Prunida frowns, hating to think that her scheme might be foiled by a channel, as in the past.
Prunida is well aware that Nick knew her offer of friendship was as false as fool's gold, but she doesn't view that as an insurmountable obstacle, if she has full access to him.
Riyyh: It is always best to befriend the friends of those you wish to reach.
Prunida: I tried, but I don't think this Hajene Deah believed me.
Riyyh demonstrated this to great effect when he became very friendly with nearly everybody in the chain of command at Wheatcorp in order to obtain the loan of the new cultivator.
Riyyh: Well, it is better to try to befriend somebody and fail, then to attempt to make an enemy of them and succeed.
Prunida is more of the success-at-all-costs school.
Prunida: I wonder if she was just embarrassed at Nick's behavior?
Prunida does not, of course, view her own behavior as potentially suspect.
Riyyh: It is difficult to say, without having been there.
Prunida: Does Nick send you letters, or were all those couriers carrying notes to his pet rogue?
Prunida had, of course, checked Nick's situation out thoroughly before making contact with him.
Prunida never lets attempts to befriend someone get in the way of intelligence gathering.
Riyyh: Of course he sends letters. [injured]
Riyyh is more injured by the fact that Nick rarely sends letters, than anything else.
Riyyh would prefer to receive at least one a week, and preferably 2; he's received maybe 4 total.
Prunida: Have you gotten one in the past few days? They wouldn't tell me at Naros.
Prunida views this lack of information as an insult.
Riyyh: I haven't been there. [admits]
Riyyh: I came here five days ago on an emergency basis.
Riyyh: That's been cleared up, but I decided to do some business while in town....
Riyyh doesn't plan on being dragged out of Naros again any time in the next 6 to 12 months, and is laying some groundwork for that.
Prunida: I thought you had people here to take care of your House's business.
Prunida wonders what sort of business require 100% Riyyh, instead of only 50-75%.
Riyyh smiles, a weary but sweet smile.
Riyyh: Yes, we do.
Riyyh: Sometimes they get a little bit carried away, and require some supervision. I'm sure you understand.
Prunida: Hmpf.
Prunida: Exceeded their orders, did they?
Riyyh reaches out and brushes a strand of hair from her forehead.
Prunida thinks that if Riyyh had been properly stern, that sort of thing wouldn't happen.
Riyyh: They are so passionate about their work. [explains]
Riyyh: In truth, that is why they are posted here instead of at Naros itself.
Riyyh: There is nothing at Naros to support such energetic striving.
Prunida: So you send them where they can't make trouble?
Prunida hadn't credited Riyyh with such ruthlessness.
Prunida: ~~ guarded approval ~~
Riyyh: That, but also so that they feel more able to do something about the ills of the world.
Riyyh: So many wish to help.
Prunida dismisses this shameful weakness with a tentacle.
Prunida: At least they continue to be a part of your...er, family.
Riyyh: Of course. And all of them visit home regularly, to renew their....
Prunida: When Nick ran, he disappeared completely for ten years.
Prunida: And he thinks it was my fault, I can tell!
Prunida scowls blackly at the memory.
Riyyh coughs delicately.
Riyyh: Nick's situation was a bit different, of course....
Riyyh: Prunida, Prunida. ~~soothing~~
Prunida: Yes, very different.
Riyyh places his hands on her shoulders.
Riyyh: Don't get upset, please....
Riyyh: And remember what you have learned about honesty, not only to him but to yourself.
Prunida: He ran away from me, without a word of warning.
Riyyh: Is that honesty? Truly? [softly]
Prunida doesn't consider two weeks of pleading letters, begging to be allowed to drop of out Donor training, as sufficient warning.
Prunida: He just up and left! and managed to escape my searchers.
Prunida hadn't been able to afford the best, so it is perhaps not surprising that her agent failed to pick up the trail.
Riyyh: Have you thought of this from his point of view? The way we talked about?
Prunida: He didn't want to grow up, and take on an adult responsibility. Why else would he quit a good, steady, well-paying, easy job for manual labor?
Riyyh: What reason did he give you? [quietly]
Prunida: I didn't get a chance to ask.
Prunida: He wouldn't see me alone--only with his channel.
Riyyh lets go of her gently, returning his hands to his lap.
Riyyh: [one hand starts twiddling with some of his hair since he's not used to keeping his hands to himself at all]
Prunida finds this demonstrated lack of trust distressing, even though she doesn't trust Nick farther than she could throw him--without augmenting.
Riyyh: Then perhaps it will take more time.
Prunida: How can I convince him to see me alone?
Riyyh: Will you allow me to offer some insight into his motives?
Prunida: Of course.
Riyyh: Nick was given no chance to learn himself, to know himself, before he went into Donor school.
Prunida: He'd been Nick Reckage all his life. What more is there to learn?
Prunida: Besides, Donor training is best started as soon as possible after Establishment.
Prunida would have hated to have had Nick's talent--and salary--stunted from lack of early application to study.
Riyyh: Of course. But not everyone is as well prepared for young-adulthood as you were.
Riyyh refers indirectly to Prunida's having crashed a party at age 13 for the purpose of getting "the drop" on a drunken 15 year old Riyyh, in an act of premeditated Donor-conception.
Prunida doesn't know whether to preen at the compliment to her early maturity, or bristle at the implied criticism of her grandchild-raising skills.
Riyyh: Nick... was not prepared for the discipline of the Tecton camp, nor was he experienced enough in life to appreciate the good aspects of the Tecton.
Riyyh himself can only appreciate them in the most theoretical sense, and here he's nearly... well, enough of that.
Prunida has never concerned herself with the goodness or evil of the Tecton, only with the solvency of its payroll fund.
Riyyh: He felt forced into something he couldn't deal with, and unable to succeed and with no graceful means of escape available to him, he took the less pleasant way out.
Prunida: He ran off like the coward he is.
Riyyh: A human being must adapt in order to survive. It is possible for something which seems trivial to one person to be unbearable to another - and it is also possible for a person to change completely in order to escape the unbearable.
Prunida sighs, not surprised that Nick would take after his father/grandfather.
Riyyh: There have been cases of suicide in First Year Schools.
Prunida: ~~ contempt ~~
Prunida: Weaklings.
Riyyh looks down.
Riyyh finds lack of compassion for others one of Prunida's most alien traits.
Riyyh: Perhaps he was weak. [admits]
Riyyh: But surely it is better that he fled the situation than to do something worse?
Riyyh: And over the years, he found in himself the strength and learned the discipline to succeed at it.
Riyyh: The seeds of his desire to become a Donor were no doubt placed there by you, in his youth.
Prunida: With a penniless rogue.
Riyyh: It does not matter. With her, he learned what it took to prove himself to the Tecton when he did decide to go that route.
Riyyh: If he had not learned from her, he would have to have started out in the lowest of schools, like a child.
Prunida: If he decided to become a Donor after all, why couldn't he have gone the normal route? Why pick an ill-tempered, violent, demanding...
Prunida little realizes how much she and Snake have in common, besides a belief that they own Nick.
Riyyh: Does it matter? [gently]
Prunida: Yes! It doesn't make sense, and I'd always credited Nick with that, if nothing else.
Prunida: Why break the law for a channel who could give him nothing?
Prunida doesn't care about that part all that much, actually, except insofar as it left Nick with nothing to pass on to his grandmother.
Riyyh: Nothing?
Riyyh: Would Arat Audnes have taken to him a Donor who had nothing?
Riyyh uses the old name, the pre-Unity name, deliberately.
Prunida: He'd do anything the Tecton told him to--he of all channels couldn't afford to defy the authorities.
Prunida is well aware of Arat's family background.
Riyyh sighs.
Riyyh: Perhaps you should ask him yourself... or listen to the rumors around you.
Riyyh: Nick has distinguished himself since his arrival in Capitol.
Riyyh: And... [reluctantly] ...he appears to be pleased with the position he has found in the Tecton.
Prunida: I'd read that they were happy to have captured the two most notorious rogues around....
Prunida: Although not everybody seems to believe that they are being offered a sort of amnesty in return for legitimizing their status.
Prunida always reads the gossip columns of the tabloids, although in the past, it hasn't been for family news.
Riyyh can't quite believe they're doing it either, at least not for Snake. Nick, on the other hand, has always seemed sane enough and so far as Riyyh knows has never attempted murder.
Riyyh: And they also say that Arat has fallen for Nick, and can't bear to be away from him.
Prunida snorts.
Riyyh: And Nick tells me he has been placed in an exclusive rotation between Arat and a lifelong friend of Arat's.
Riyyh: Is that not a mark of favor?
Prunida: I'd be happier if he'd caught the attention of someone a bit more respectable, but beggars can't be choosers.
Riyyh: Arat is... well, he's....
Riyyh: He's perfectly respectable, by modern standards.
Riyyh compromises.
Prunida: His family isn't.
Riyyh: Of course they are, Prunida, be reasonable.
Prunida: He'll always be under suspicion, because of his parents.
Prunida is not known for her reasonability, actually.
Riyyh: Perhaps you're right, but he does hold a position of great significance in this part of the Territory.
Riyyh rather wishes he didn't, to be honest.
Riyyh has felt a little bit more positive about Arat now that there is a connection with Nick, but let's face it: Arat scares the bejesus out of him.
Prunida: He doesn't appear to value families, though, or he'd have talked sense into Nick long since.
Riyyh for one thing has felt stark naked during business meetings now that Arat's fiendish employees got real Naros financial numbers out of him, and have made them a matter of public record along with everybody else's.
Riyyh had used Naros' relative public opacity to his advantage for many years, prior to this one.
Riyyh: What sort of sense do you mean? [patiently]
Riyyh: He has talked him into settling down and working for the Tecton, in only two months.
Riyyh: Is that not progress?
Riyyh notes that neither Prunida or himself had had as much luck.
Prunida: He didn't even encourage Nick to consider his family responsibilities, though.
Riyyh: How do you know that?
Prunida really couldn't care less whether Nick works for the Tecton or not, if she doesn't gain a financial advantage from it.
Prunida: Nick didn't zlin a bit guilty when he saw me. Or at any other time during our visit, either.
Prunida thinks the cut-rate hotel and skimpy lunch should have clued even Nick in to the necessity of supplementing her income with his own.
Riyyh is using his "Prunida, be reasonable" wheedling voice, though he doesn't repeat the useless request.
Riyyh: It would be a mistake to place too much weight upon that.
Riyyh: If he viewed you for many years as a tyrant to be feared and a danger to be escaped, then it will take some time, and your friendship, before such duties will begin to seem obvious to him.
Riyyh: You must be patient, and wise.
Riyyh: Woo him, as you did the tiny birds and beasts in Anmyn's cages.
Riyyh probably has no idea how incredibly tedious the concept of courting, and keeping, an actual friend would seem to Prunida if the concept had ever truly taken hold in her thoughts.
Prunida doubts that sedation and physical confinement are practical approaches to use on Nick, at least not when there's a channel around to object, perhaps forcibly.
Prunida: A Gen is harder to win over than a bird or a mouse.
Riyyh: Yes, that is true.
Riyyh: It will take longer, take more patience, and above all it will take genuine understanding of his point of view.
Prunida sighs.
Prunida: It seems so complicated.
Riyyh lets go of his trailing locks, which have never held quite as much fascination for him as other people do, and gently takes Prunida's hands.
Riyyh: ~~compassion [mainly for Nick] and encouragement~~
Riyyh: Even at our age, people learn and strengthen.
Riyyh: The more you do this, the easier it will become. You will see.
Prunida: Riyyh, do you think Nick cares about me? Even a little?
Prunida: ~~ uncertainty ~~
Prunida: He's been so cold and distant, since I found him again.
Riyyh considers.
Riyyh: I think he is not sure.
Riyyh: Not yet.
Prunida tries to find some reason for optimism in this.
Riyyh: But Nick is a caring and responsible man, and in time, if you do nothing to push him away, he will come naturally to consider you his charge.
Riyyh: It is a characteristic of all Donors that they wish to care for others - all Donors, and all Narosians.
Riyyh smiles kindly.
Prunida thinks that there may be some use for that 75% of Riyyh's genes after all, besides providing Donor-level selyn production.
Prunida: Let's hope so.
Notes:
1) Some hours pass between these two scenes. [return]