Sime~Gen Roleplaying: Householding Naros Scenario
Episode #150: A Little Father/Grandfather/Son/Grandson Chat (8/28/99)
see note 1
Nick starts to wring his hands in a rather Riyyh-like fashion.
Riyyh: But surely, over time...?
Nick: I don't know how much time Snake will be given.
Nick: Arat is trying, but....
Nick explains about Snake's unauthorized wandering.
Riyyh listens to the lengthy story with an expression of sympathetic dismay.
Riyyh looks sympathetic because that's just how Riyyh is, but the dismay is very genuine.
Riyyh still worries that Snake may somehow decide to go to Naros.
Nick: As far as I can tell, it was just some high spirits. If she'd been serious about getting out of the Capitol and taking to the road again, she'd have succeeded. And had a Donor ready to go with her.
Nick has gathered from the story that Pylor was not willing.
Nick realizes that this might not necessarily have stopped Snake, but Pylor's incompetence probably would have.
Nick: Or if she kidnapped someone, it would have been Beni.
Nick: Most likely, she'd have waited for my return. She knew I'd be coming back shortly.
Riyyh: I don't know either Beni or Pylor well. [confesses]
Riyyh is being extraordinarily open about his lack of knowledge, for a Narosian, but again this is typical of Riyyh.
Nick: Beni hadn't had much experience working with Farris channels when he started with Snake, but he was willing to learn.
Nick: Pylor... wasn't.
Riyyh: Oh, dear.
Nick's nager hardens just a bit with dislike.
Riyyh's tentacles flutter at the zlin of the dislike.
Nick: Arat is in awful condition after two months with the man.
Riyyh: I have only met him the once, you know, and Darrel liked him quite a bit. But Darrel is, well, he has very different requirements of course.
Nick: Yes, so I've heard.
Nick: And I gather that in Pylor's case, there was a personal dislike of Arat involved.
Riyyh tries to decide whether he feels sympathetic about Arat being in awful condition or not, and then decides he doesn't feel very sympathetic at all but that could change dramatically without too much more information. Riyyh is not unaware that he is a complete pushover with very few actual personal opinions of his own where others are concerned.
Riyyh: An unfortunate situation, and not impossible given the Tecton system.
Nick: I think Arat could have avoided it, if he'd tried. Particularly since Pylor wouldn't really be a match, even if they did get along.
Riyyh: Oh?
Riyyh: Then there is some flexibility in the assignments?
Riyyh wonders why on earth somebody wouldn't avoid a bad assignment if they could.
Nick: There has to be, if you think of it. People get sick or injured or pregnant, or circumstances require that they be sent elsewhere.
Nick is still not all that happy with the being sent elsewhere part of Tecton life.
Nick: After the aborts during their first transfer, Arat could have gone to Neptude and asked for a more compatible Donor.
Riyyh: Beni, perhaps?
Riyyh assumes any Donor Snake would want to kidnap would probably be suitable for another Farris.
Nick: Or they could have brought me back from New Othwol. Deah Tigue would have gotten along with Pylor just fine, and Neptude isn't completely unreasonable.
Riyyh: I see.
Riyyh doesn't see at all.
Nick is unable to hide the ~~ frustration ~~ of knowing that he was stuck far away when his channels were having Donor trouble.
Nick: Deah is nice enough, but she just doesn't require much from her Donor.
Riyyh: Was there some reason Neptude wasn't approached, then...?
Riyyh doesn't think Deah is very nice, actually, but he can see why Nick would.
Nick is unaware that few other Donors would consider Deah so completely undemanding that boredom was a problem.
Riyyh thinks, actually, that anybody who could genuinely like both Arat and Deah is a far better man than he is.
Nick: I think Arat was just too proud to let Neptude know that Pylor was unacceptable. Or maybe by the time he faced how bad the problem was, it was too late to make a switch.
Riyyh nods.
Riyyh: Have things been better since you returned? [kindly]
Nick: Not as good as I'd expected.
Riyyh is at his best, attentive and caring.
Nick: Beni is at least repairing some of the damage Pylor did, but Arat still seems to want to avoid me.
Nick: And like I said, I don't think Snake trusts me anymore. Not the way she did.
Nick: ~~ hurt ~~
Riyyh: Arat wants to avoid you?
Riyyh is genuinely surprised by this.
Riyyh: Nick, how awful.
Riyyh is not blind to how much Nick bonded to the channel.
Riyyh: Isn't there anything you can do, talk to him...?
Nick: I've not seen much of him since I came home, and then, mostly during formal meetings, with the rest of the team that's looking after Snake.
Nick: I think he's trying to avoid me.
Riyyh: And you haven't been able to talk to him about it? Are you sure it's not just because you are not assigned this month?
Nick: Surely that wouldn't prevent a chat now and then?
Nick has only a vague idea of Tecton etiquette between channel and Donor when they are friends but not assigned.
Riyyh tries to think over what he knows of Arat's personality, which regrettably is mostly the nasty sharp edged bits he uses on people he has a personal grudge against.
Riyyh: Who is he assigned to this month?
Riyyh: Perhaps his current Donor is jealous.
Nick: He took Beni, who had Snake the past two months.
Nick: Beni doesn't seem particularly possessive of Arat, at least that I've noticed.
Riyyh: But why would Arat want to avoid you?
Riyyh: Perhaps it is all just a misunderstanding.
Riyyh: If you arranged a specific meeting, perhaps...?
Riyyh is trying to get a handle on the dynamics of this problem. Is it only Arat, or is it Nick too?
Riyyh wonders if Nick is waiting for Arat to initiate, a common problem between new transfer, or sexual, partners.
Nick: Well, I tried to strike up a conversation with Arat in the restaurant this morning, but somehow the subject turned to Snake, and he told me to keep it for the next briefing.
Riyyh listens, his expression encouraging.
Riyyh: Perhaps... well, perhaps Arat finds it difficult to feel social with you when Snake is brought into the conversation.
Riyyh: After all, on a non-Tecton, or social, level, Snake is his competition.
Riyyh: His incumbent competition. [adds]
Nick: But he's the one who asked after her!
Riyyh looks confused.
Riyyh: He asked after her, then told you to keep it until the briefing?
Riyyh frowns.
Riyyh: Then maybe he was hoping you'd say she's fine, and then ask after him.
Riyyh knows that this technique is a common one, despite the fact that it only works on people who know about it.
Nick: Well, maybe.
Nick isn't necessarily up to date on the niceties of upper-class polite conversation.
Nick: Although I still got the impression he was trying to avoid me.
Riyyh thinks about that for a moment.
Riyyh: Nick, if you are serious about extending the relationship beyond your professional assignments, you may have to be the one to make it happen.
Nick nods attentively.
Riyyh: You might try finding out how Arat normally treats Donors he is not assigned to, and also how he behaves around friends in public.
Riyyh: If you are being treated no differently than anybody else, then there is definitely hope you aren't being intentionally spurned.
Riyyh: You could think of ways to let Arat know that you are interested in continuing the relationship in certain specific ways, and encourage him to meet you half way on it.
Nick: My impression was that he doesn't avoid Donors he's not assigned to; he just ignores them. Friends... well, the only friend I know of is Jeniard.
Riyyh listens.
Nick thinks about Arat and Jeniard for a few minutes.
Nick: Hmm, maybe that's it.
Nick: ~~ dawning revelation ~~
Riyyh looks hopeful at the change in Nick's nager.
Nick sips at his tea as he thinks it through.
Nick: Father, you have been very helpful.
Riyyh brightens (increasing his charisma factor by about 35%) at the use of the word "father".
Nick was not unaware of the effect the word was likely to bring.
Nick: So tell me, how has your visit to the Capitol been?
Riyyh: Oh, dear.
Riyyh looks rather sheepish.
Riyyh: It appears that some of our more enthusiastic people have gotten themselves into a bit of trouble. [explains]
Nick: What sort of trouble?
Nick: ~~ sympathy ~~
Riyyh: So I have been in court for most of the past four days. Oh, different things, arson, inciting riots, vandalism, squatting.
Nick: Arson? Riots?
Nick thinks back to the days after the revelation of Riyyh's... relationship to the rest of the house.
Riyyh: Well, it seems that a pair of the more energetic fellows encouraged a group of angry neighborhood residents to take over some abandoned property and farm its grounds.
Riyyh: But when the legitimate owners tried to have them arrested, they came back at night and burned down the building. A hundred neighborhood residents stopped the fire fighters from reaching the blaze in time to save it.
Riyyh looks quite chagrined.
Riyyh: Apparently the landlord was not much liked in the community.
Riyyh: But nonetheless, their behavior was just a tiny bit over the line, as I will be the first to admit....
Nick: I should think so!
Nick: Why, the fire might have spread and burned half the city--including their own homes.
Riyyh: I have told them a certain amount of restraint is required for truly effective social change, but sometimes it is difficult for me to maintain a controllable situation when I am at Naros.
Riyyh: I was thinking... [hesitates]
Nick: Yes?
Nick raises an eyebrow.
Riyyh: Well, you will have to tell me if this makes you too uncomfortable.
Riyyh: But I was thinking of asking Anmyn if she would be able to handle Naros for as long as a month at a time, so I could make more trips to cities with our outreach programs.
Riyyh: Many of the members have thought I should spend some time away from Naros.
Riyyh is thinking of Mytag in particular.
Riyyh seems somewhat unhappy about this.
Nick: I see.
Riyyh doesn't like the idea that Naros might be better off without him around full time, and also really really doesn't like the idea of doing that much travel.
Nick: Well, it would certainly be good practice for Anmyn.
Riyyh however thinks it might be for the best if things are getting this out of hand.
Nick: And a certain amount of oversight might be useful.
Riyyh looks somewhat relieved that Nick didn't panic at the thought of having a parent so nearby.
Nick: Are any of the other outreach programs causing trouble, that you know of?
Riyyh: Only those in the larger cities.
Riyyh: Of course, we have never made a practice of sending the more volatile members to smaller towns.
Riyyh: The whole point of sending them out was to give them a level of stimulation that could keep them happy.
Nick: That was probably a good idea. Small towns tend to resent strangers who make changes, even good ones.
Riyyh: Don't think that we don't have programs enough in rural areas.
Nick: Is Rapol willing to travel with you?
Nick: Or would you have to go back to Naros for transfer?
Riyyh hesitates again.
Riyyh: Probably not at first.
Nick looks grave.
Nick: That could be a problem for you.
Riyyh looks unhappy again.
Riyyh: I know it is not an ideal situation.
Nick: Would you leave him to look after Anmyn, and take Anmyn's Donor with you?
Nick tries to remember who Anmyn's Donor is.
Riyyh: I have sort of thought that Anmyn would end up with Rapol one day, anyway. [confesses]
Riyyh: After all, he is so much younger than I am.
Riyyh rarely admits he realizes he is old.
Riyyh: [even to himself!]
Nick nods sympathetically.
Riyyh: Also, it may be time for some changes in the way the House is run.
Nick: What sort of changes?
Riyyh looks as if he doesn't want to think about it.
Nick can think of a few that would be distinct improvements, but then, he didn't grow up in Naros.
Riyyh: Nothing Anmyn shouldn't be able to handle. And with her fresh perspective, it won't be as difficult for her to make the decisions.
Riyyh is thinking of things like becoming more compliant about paperwork and participating in the Tecton.
Riyyh to be honest might not actually want to be around to see much of that.
Riyyh: You know... Anmyn has improved greatly as a channel, and by rights she should be Sectuib before I am gone.
Riyyh: I can't bear the thought of it, but when I don't think about it, it doesn't seem so unbearable a thing.
Riyyh may not have made much sense just then.
Nick: She's grown that much?
Nick finds the thought a bit jolting herself.
Riyyh: It's been almost a year since she came to Naros.
Riyyh: And the members have been thinking of her as their future Sectuib since the first day she arrived.
Riyyh thinks a certain few have been kind of wishing the whole process could happen a bit faster, but fortunately they have kept their peace.
Riyyh: I feel... that I shouldn't stand in her way.
Nick: Has she expressed a wish to take a larger role in running Naros?
Riyyh: She has been helping me more and more all along.
Riyyh: And really, most of the actual work aside from administration is done by the individual craft and farming groups.
Riyyh: She knows the paperwork, and I can help her if difficult financial questions arise. The members like her.
Riyyh doesn't explicitly answer the question about Anmyn wanting to take a larger role, simply because it was implicit in her adoption that she would end up doing it.
Nick: Well, then, it sounds like you can afford to take some time to look into the outreach programs, at least until things get busy with the harvest.
Riyyh: Yes.
Riyyh looks tired.
Riyyh: I can do this, where Anmyn could not.
Nick: I know you don't like travel, but it does sound like things have been getting out of hand.
Nick doesn't want to be confronted by Mayor Osca again, and accused of failing to restrain his parent's members.
Riyyh: Really, the problems are not so great. There are only one or two members who seriously require guidance here in Capitol, but the others look up to them.
Riyyh: So that guidance is, sadly, not optional. At least for the moment.
Nick prefers to think of them as Riyyh's members, not his own half-siblings.
Riyyh had no idea when he sent Racknie out for a 1 week meeting in Capitol that he would not only stay, but become a social-change monster.
Nick is struck by a sudden thought.
Nick: Grandmother isn't with you, is she?
Riyyh looks surprised.
Nick: ~~ apprehension ~~
Riyyh: No, she is at her home, as far as I know.
Nick: ~~ relief ~~
Riyyh: Has it really been so bad, lately? [softly]
Nick: I just don't know what to expect from her. It's unnerving.
Riyyh: Surely that will become clearer over time, as she gains confidence at her new ways. [encouraging]
Nick: I keep waiting for the moment when the old ways will resurface.
Nick: At least I knew what to expect from her, before.
Riyyh nods sympathetically.
Riyyh: I am in much the same position myself.
Nick: With Grandmother, or your House?
Riyyh thinks Nick might feel luckier if he realized just how little physical abuse Prunida has heaped on the Gen.
Riyyh considers.
Riyyh: Both, although I meant your grandmother. [smiles]
Riyyh: She has acted differently towards me as well, since she decided to turn over a new leaf.
Nick smiles back.
Nick: I'm glad to hear that.
Nick had had some inkling what Prunida was doing with Riyyh, or at least he thinks he does.
Nick is, of course, drastically underestimating his grandmother's imagination, although not her enthusiasm and persistence.
Nick himself is rather limited in the ways he uses whipped cream, bridles, and other such objects.
Nick must have a dominant mutation in his sexual-adventure gene, as he's always had simple tastes in that area.
Riyyh checks the time.
Riyyh: Oh dear, I must be on my way, I promised I would be at the headquarters to discuss the court's decision.
Riyyh: But I do hope you are able to succeed with Arat.
Nick: Thank you for you advice--I'll put it to use.
Riyyh: And... thank you for being understanding.
Nick nods, feeling more in charity with Riyyh than he has since the second revelation of his parentage/grandparentage.
Nick: Any time.
Notes:
1) This is the second half of a two-part episode. [return]