Sime~Gen Roleplaying: Householding Naros Scenario
Episode #156: The Mayor's Pet Rabbit (9/14/99)
Riyyh is enjoying a lazy morning in Mayor Osca's house, being nice to the servants and generally making their lives more pleasant but their work more difficult.
Prunida pulls her horse to a halt in front of the Mayor's residence with a scowl.
Riyyh can't really blame the Mayor for going in to work, but he isn't going to subject himself to the brawling mayhem of the Coalition headquarters until at least early afternoon.
Prunida is aggravated at the length of time that it took her to find Riyyh's current hideout.
Prunida is even more aggravated that Riyyh has been wasting his... energy... on someone else when she has her own plans for him.
Prunida: ~~ scowl ~~
Prunida dismounts, throws her horse's reins over the fence post, and strides down the path to the door.
Prunida has no intention of knocking politely, of course.
Riyyh is lounging on a furred couch near the fireplace in the great room, wearing a silk nightgown and reading a book about Capitol history.
Prunida straightarms the door, which was unfortunately left unlocked after Mayor Osca's departure.
Riyyh hears a crash in another part of the house.
Prunida: Riiiiiiiyyyhhhh!
Riyyh's ears perk up in alarm at a familiar screech.
Riyyh: Oh, my!
Prunida is ~~ outraged ~~ by the relative wealth displayed by Riyyh's latest paramour.
Prunida: Where are you, you miserable rabbit?
Riyyh starts to get up, realizes the book is still in his hands, hesitates, gets up anyway, looks in both directions, sees nowhere to run, puts the book down, then picks it back up again to use as a shield.
Riyyh: ~~flustered~~
Prunida storms into the great room.
Prunida: There you are! What do you have to say for yourself??!!
Riyyh: ~~panic~~
Riyyh: Eep! [squeaks]
Prunida: Wasting your time with that hussy of a Mayor... don't you have anything better to do with yourself?
Riyyh: W-w-w-but but Prunida, ~~attempt at de-escalation~~
Prunida: What? You think I don't know you've been wooing half the women in Capitol?
Prunida doesn't mention the men.
Riyyh: But Prunida, [in a let's-be-reasonable-about-this...okay? OK? tone]
Riyyh is rarely required to come up with an entire sentence in his own self-defense when dealing with Prunida.
Prunida: Don't "but Prunida" me, you miserable excuse for a man.
Riyyh: Oh, dear.
Prunida: I've wasted two full days tracking you down.
Riyyh: ~~apologetic and submissive~~
Prunida: You might have left a message at your hotel, if you planned to be gone so long.
Riyyh starts to suggest she might have checked for him at the Coalition HQ, then realizes he doesn't want to encourage her to go there. The last thing he needs is for Naros' radicals to take personality lessons, even unwittingly, from Prunida.
Riyyh puts down the book, the better to wave his hands and tentacles in a helpless but endearing fashion.
Prunida is having none of it.
Riyyh: I'm terribly sorry.
Prunida: Well, now that I've found you, you might as well get busy and make yourself useful.
Prunida looks him up and down in a very predatory fashion.
Riyyh: ~~cringingly eager to please~~
Riyyh is always eager to please, that's just his nature. The cringing part is due to having had plenty of experience pleasing Prunida in the past.
Prunida lets her eyes linger on the couch, and the tools racked invitingly by the fire.
Riyyh's eyes widen.
Prunida looks a bit wistfully at the sturdy ties holding the curtains back.
Prunida reflects that Riyyh really has been very naughty, hiding from her in another woman's house.
Riyyh: Allow me to, er, get ready, and we could go to a restaurant perhaps?
Riyyh: ~~hopeful~~
Prunida is reminded of her purpose in seeking Riyyh out. All right, one of her purposes.
Prunida regretfully decides that business has to come before pleasure.
Prunida has no intention of forgoing the pleasure part, however.
Prunida: There's no time for that. You have to help me with Nick.
Riyyh: Nick?
Riyyh had sort of hoped that Prunida had relaxed her obsession on her grandson just a bit, but that doesn't appear to be the case.
Prunida: Someone's been feeding him a lot of nonsense.
Riyyh: Really?
Riyyh: ~~concern~~
Prunida: Yes. I can't get him to believe that I'm his friend if I never see him.
Prunida: And lately, every time I try to get access to him, he's "busy working" or some such.
Prunida: He hasn't even visited his apartment much, I understand.
Riyyh: He has been working with... er... a different channel.
Prunida: Don't give me that nonsense. It's that rogue of his.
Prunida: He's spending all his time with her.
Prunida: ~~ paranoia ~~
Riyyh: Er, well, yes, although it is a Tecton assignment this time.
Prunida: You can't tell me that Nick is spending that much time with her because the Tecton tells him to.
Prunida: He's as obsessed with her as she is with keeping him.
Riyyh: I can't really say either way.
Riyyh had thought Nick rather liked working with Arat as well.
Prunida snorts.
Prunida: You wouldn't.
Prunida: The fact remains, I can't reach him in the Sime Center, and he's hardly set foot outside of it lately.
Prunida: How can I make progress with him like that?
Riyyh looks wonderingly at Prunida.
Riyyh: Prunida... the fact that you consider the Sime Center's walls a barrier is a sign that actual progress has occurred!
Riyyh is ~~pleased~~ by that.
Prunida is momentarily distracted from her rage.
Prunida: Progress?
Riyyh: Well, yes. Before, you would have gone charging in disrupting everything. That terrified Nick. Now, you respect his work space. That must make a world of difference to him.
Prunida: Yes, well, the Sime Center is a bit better guarded than the sorts of places where Snake used to be.
Prunida thinks it was very unsporting of Arat to put so many guards on the security wing.
Riyyh looks disappointed by the evidence that Prunida had no idea what Riyyh was really talking about, nor any particular improvement in her actual attitude.
Riyyh in fact shouldn't have been disappointed at all, since Prunida has been remarkably one-dimensional for the 40 years he's known her.
Prunida: Still, if he's less wary because of it, some progress could be made.
Prunida regrets that Nick is 75% rabbit, not for the first time.
Riyyh sighs.
Riyyh: I really should go change. I'll be right back out, all right?
Prunida: I'll come along--this is important.
Prunida is not so focused on duty that she is oblivious to the scenery.
Prunida: You'll have to persuade Nick to come out where I can get to him.
Riyyh: Don't be ridiculous, I don't have access to the Sime Center any more than you do.
Riyyh moves into the bedroom, which has now been made up by the maids, and finds his clothes (previously laid out but then abandoned in a fit of sloth) undisturbed.
Prunida: But Nick won't suspect that I'm involved if you invite him to, say, a nice dinner.
Prunida: You can even come along.
Riyyh: My dear, you won't make him your friend by ambushing him.
Riyyh: You must send the invitation yourself, and... oh, dear.
Prunida: He doesn't avoid you the way he avoids me.
Riyyh realizes that Prunida is unaware of how often Nick asks him if Prunida will be around when Riyyh invites him places.
Prunida: As long as you don't give it away, there shouldn't be a problem.
Riyyh slips out of the silk number and begins to dress in the day's around-town outfit.
Prunida pauses to admire the view.
Riyyh doesn't have any court appearances, thank goodness.
Prunida: ~~ appreciation ~~
Prunida licks her chops.
Riyyh zlins her appreciation and smiles at her.
Riyyh never fails to appreciate appreciation!
Prunida realizes that she has become a bit distracted.
Prunida reluctantly drags herself back to business.
Prunida: Come now, the best possible way for me to learn how to be Nick's friend is to watch how you do it.
Riyyh supposes that is true, in so far as while she watches she can't possibly ruin her chances with Nick as badly as when she's practicing on her own.
Prunida: You are an expert on friendship, after all.
Riyyh is well ~~flattered~~
Prunida: How better to learn what Nick is looking for in a friend?