Sime~Gen Roleplaying: Householding Naros Scenario
Episode #188: Sime Lover (12/13/99)
Nick sits at a table, sipping porstan as he waits for the music to start.
Lalique peers around the curtains out at gathering audience in the Pyrite Passion Lounge.
Nick would not ordinarily go to such a place for the music, but he feels he ought to support Lalique.
Lalique runs back to her closet-sized dressing room and runs a brush through her hair, going for that wild and tousled look.
Wilard takes up a seat as near to acoustically perfect for the performance as you can get in this place.
Nick finds the prospect far more interesting if he thinks of it in terms of nageric manipulation and functionals, not art.
Lalique smoothes down her slinky gold-sequin gown, appropriately chosen to match the name of the establishment.
Lalique takes a series of deep breaths, as she steadies herself to debut her new-and-improved act.
Lalique: [whispers] Go, girl, go.
Lalique parts the curtains and slinks out on stage in a glitter of gold spangles.
Lalique: Good evening, ladies and gentlesirs, Simes and Gens.
Lalique: My name is Lalique.
Nick really has had a hard time adjusting to the lighter workload of being Riyyh's Companion, after Snake and Arat.
Lalique scans the audience, making eye contact where she can and nodding gratefully to Nick and Wilard.
Roober: Whooee!! [whistles loudly, startling everybody around him]
Roober is a little drunk already.
Nick remembers how one look at Snake's weaselish features used to silence obstreperous drunks.
Nick: ~~ nostalgia ~~
Lalique gives Roober a glittering smile.
Nick has, perhaps, not been eating enough to remain completely unaffected by his porstan.
Wilard glares at the insulting person who obviously is in no condition to appreciate art.
Lalique: I'm here to entertain you all... although some of you may have had a head start.
Roober: You know it baby!
Roober utters a large belch, unintentionally but fortuitously.
Wilard: Oh really!
Roober is a large, heavy set Gen of the blue collar variety.
Lalique: Here in Blue Ridge, I'm a long long way from my home in Gulf.
Wilard looks disgusted.
Polieu weaves through the crowd, delivering the wherewithal for the other patrons to catch up with Roober's consumption.
Wilard is a small neat Gen of the gay variety.
Gasgoun: Go home and practice!
Lalique: Here on the road, I meet so many interesting people.
Lalique: And I like to have a good time, too.
Lalique: But friends, let me tell you a secret....
Lalique starts strumming the shiltpron.
Nick notes with some distress that both Roober and the other heckler are Gen, and thus not susceptible to his "persuasion".
Buggfa is slouched in the back, trying to be unnoticed.
Lalique builds up to a strong, throbbing rhythm.
Buggfa notices that the hecklers in a small audience, while fewer, are easier to hear than in a large audience.
Lalique: I want a Sime lover,
Lalique: Gotta confess.
Buggfa is glad when Lalique starts trying to drown them out.
Nick finds himself calculating the potential damage, person-wise, if Roober should start a brawl, only to remember that Snake's entran is no longer his immediate concern.
Lalique: I want a Sime lover.
Lalique: Girl, they're the best!
Wilard looks shocked.
Polieu lets her hips sway to the music, in hopes of collecting tips.
Lalique: There's nothing to say.
Lalique: ~~strong sensuous sexuality~~
Polieu puts a porstan in front of Roober, making sure her tentacles caress the stein in the process.
Lalique: Hey, zlin my nager!
Polieu: Here you are.
Roober obligingly tips her with a large coin and an even larger leer.
Wilard is sure he never wrote that.
Polieu sashays on to deliver the next drink, before Roober can do more than leer.
Lalique coaxes more throbbing power out of the shiltpron.
Lalique: Gen men're
Lalique: Okay now and then.
Lalique: But don't have that staying power.
Polieu puts the next glass in front of Wilard.
Polieu's lips are pouting as she sways to the music.
Lalique: A good Sime,
Lalique: At the right time,
Lalique: Can keep on going for hour after hour....
Roober listens to the lyrics, eyeing Polieu thoughtfully.
Wilard gets up and leaves in disgust.
Nick wonders if this song might be useful in discouraging the Roosle fans who have been ambushing him ever since the unfortunate photo was accidentally published.
Polieu looks after Wilard.
Lalique does some clever rhythmic riffs in audial range only to get the idea across the the Gens in the audience.
Polieu: Hey, you owe me for this, whether you drink it or not!
Lalique: I want a Sime lover,
Lalique: So very right.
Buggfa thinks bars are such a poor place for music; too many other distractions.
Buggfa watches the more docile audience members' reactions to Lalique's performance.
Lalique: I want a Sime lover.
Lalique: In my bed tonight.
Nick glances back to where Buggfa is lurking in the shadows, to get some idea if Lalique's song is any good.
Lalique: ~~sensuality~~
Lalique: Kissing my lips.
Nick doesn't particularly trust his own judgment in musical matters.
Lalique: I want a Sime lover's.
Lalique: Tentacle tips.
Buggfa, who divides his definition of "good" music into two categories, personal opinion and most people's opinions (the latter being the most important obviously) taps his foot and nods his head automatically as he takes inventory of the other people's opinions.
Buggfa has heard the song many times while it was being rehearsed, of course.
Lalique: Gen guys
Lalique: Sure try to satisfy,
Lalique: But they only got ten fingers.
Roober chokes on his beer.
Roober guffaws.
Roober: Hey baby, ten fingers is enough for me!
Roober: Come here and let me show you what I'm made of!
Lalique: But when my Sime
Lalique: Shows me a good time.
Lalique: He's working with a dozen extra zingers!
Nick figures that Roober is made of greater than .1% porstan at the moment.
Lalique whips through a shiltpron passage that would send tingles up the spine of any person with a nerve in their body.
Nick notes that Lalique's song leaves out the most important aspect of Simes: their usefulness as transfer partners.
Lalique: When he is post,
Nick follows Lalique's nageric gyrations to the extent a Donor can.
Lalique: You know, a Sime lover's.
Lalique: Really the most!
Tyrrial polishes glasses behind the bar as he views the crowd.
Lalique ends the song with a musical flourish.
Roober finishes his beer with a chug-a-lug, then gets up and walks out.
Tyrrial is mentally tallying up the potential profits to his tavern for the evening.
Gasoun, who quieted down after the music began, joins others in a scattered applause.
Nick is late in applauding, but joins in hastily, smiling weakly.
Lalique: Well, now, I hope you're all awake and ready for some fun.
Lalique: Down in Gulf, a girl can acquire a taste for the exotic.
Nick suspects that if Lalique spent much time in Naros, she wouldn't make such statements about Gulf Territory.
Lalique: Once upon a time, I was really quite a romantic.
Nick's beer expresses a desire to part company, and so he stands up and heads for the back of the room.
Lalique: And I sometimes remember the way I felt about my first true love.
Lalique: I'd like to share that tender feeling.
Lalique begins a shiltpron introduction.
Nick pauses by Buggfa on the way back from the men's room.
Nick: What do you think?
Buggfa: Pretty good.
Buggfa: She had that one Gen impressed on music alone, and he started out not very keen on her.
Lalique: It had to be you....
Buggfa: And those people over there [indicates a large party of renSimes in a corner] were smiling all the way through.
Nick checks out the renSimes, and nods agreement.
Buggfa is answering the question "what did most people think", rather than "what do you think", out of reflex.
Lalique: I glinned around.
Lalique: And finally found.
Lalique: Somebody who.
Lalique: ~~~gentle soothing loving~~~
Lalique: Could make me feel new.
Nick: Do you like what she's doing?
Lalique: Could make me be true.
Lalique: Or even be glad.
Lalique: Just to be sad.
Lalique: Post with you.
Nick: I mean, personally?
Buggfa: Oh.
Buggfa: I like the part she does with her little finger at the end of the chorus.
Lalique plays an instrumental section.
Buggfa: And watch this part, with the top tines... there.
Buggfa tends to be more interested in the mechanics than the music, unless it is thrasher music.
Lalique: Some others I've glinned.
Lalique: Might never be mean.
Lalique: Might never be cross.
Lalique: Or try to be boss.
Lalique: But they wouldn't do.
Nick notes use of tines.
Lalique: For nobody else gave me a thrill,
Lalique: With all your faults I want you still.
Lalique: ~~caressing sensuous vibration~~
Lalique: It had to be you, wonderful you,
Lalique: It had to be you....
Nick: What does Lalique do differently from your Ambient Designer?
Nick: I mean, besides the fact that it's different songs.
Nick does have the musical ability to grasp that--barely.
Lalique scans the audience to see if they are with her.
Tyrrial is at least "with" the number of drinks the audience is consuming.
Gasoun taps his foot.
Lalique: Well, you know, even in true love, sometimes there are misunderstandings.
Polieu is almost dancing across the floor as she delivers the drinks.
Lalique: And while I loved my first true love with all my heart.
Polieu: ~~ more than a little tipsy on the music, and enjoying every moment of it ~~
Lalique: His feelings for me went a little further.
Polieu delivers Gasoun's latest, and seals it with a quick kiss.
Polieu is hoping that the song about the superiority of Sime lovers made an impression.
Lalique: One day we had a little talk, and he told me something like this....
Lalique revs up to another sensuous shiltpron introduction.
Lalique: I've got you under my zlin.
Lalique: I've got you fixed in the heart of me.
Buggfa tries to compare Lalique to the various Ambient Designers he has worked with, and fails.
Lalique: So deep in my heart, that you're really a part of me.
Buggfa for one thing has never had a nightmare about Lalique.
Buggfa for another thing is used to interpreting their work entirely based upon what it takes for him to perform it, and not really having much sense of what he is actually projecting, has a difficulty in interpreting nageric projections made by others except as they affect others.
Buggfa fails to make the double-translation in time to answer in a timely fashion.
Nick notes Buggfa's difficulty.
Lalique: ~~a gentle hint of enticement~~
Lalique: I've tried so not to give in.
Nick: I suppose your ambient designers spent a lot of time telling you what to do, without explaining what effect it was supposed to produce?
Nick looks sympathetic, not critical.
Lalique: I've said to myself this transfer won't go so well.
Lalique: But why should I try to resist, when baby, I know so well.
Gasoun wonders if Lalique should really be singing about transfers.
Lalique: That I've got you under my zlin.
Gasoun thinks Gens should stick to what they know. And if she knows, maybe she shouldn't be singing about it!
Lalique: I'd sacrifice anything come what might.
Polieu thinks Gasoun is doing entirely too much thinking.
Polieu: Hey, there, this is a party!
Lalique: For the sake of having you near.
Lalique: In spite of a warning voice that comes in the night.
Lalique: And repeats, repeats in my ear.
Lalique: ~~yearning with ominous undertones~~
Lalique: Don't you know you fool, you never can win.
Buggfa ponders.
Lalique: Use your mentality, wake up to reality.
Buggfa: Well, they are more interested in you know, mass crowd effects.
Buggfa: They get very artistic on it, it's all choreographed.
Lalique: But each time I do, just the thought of you.
Buggfa: Once they've worked it out, they bring us in and run us through the highlights.
Nick: "Us" being you and the shiltpron players?
Buggfa: Yeah.
Lalique: Makes me stop before I begin.
Lalique: 'Cause I've got you under my zlin.
Nick: Do they start with the shiltprons, or is the show built around your nager, with the shiltprons just providing amplification?
Nick has come to the conclusion that the nageric manipulation required to handle large crowds might be useful for a Donor to know.
Lalique ends the song with a cascade of enticing oscillations fading away into a gentle yearning.
Gasoun claps with more enthusiasm this time.
Buggfa: Oh, it's mainly me, although they add their own effects. And there are solos, of course.
Nick: Shiltpron solos? Or yours?
Buggfa: The shiltprons.
Lalique sets the shiltpron aside, stands, and bows.
Lalique: Thank you for your attention.
Nick is starting to realize just how little attention he was paying to the stage during the TBT concerts he attended.
Lalique: I will return to play another set in about twenty minutes.
Nick looks at the stage.
Lalique steps down from the stage.
Lalique begins to mingle with the crowd.
Nick: Oh, Lalique is taking a break.
Lalique remains in performance mode, smiling, laughing, schmoozing with the customers.
Nick hastens back to the hotel, mortified at having lost track of the time.
Nick pauses outside the door to his and Riyyh's room, and gets his nager into order.
Nick then opens the door and slips through.
Nick: Riyyh?
Nick: ~~ apology/soothing ~~
Riyyh turns away from the window, hands clasped together rather more tightly than usual.
Riyyh: Nick.
Riyyh: ~~intense relief~~
Nick: I am sorry. I had no idea it was so late.
Riyyh had a rather good idea, himself.
Nick: ~~ intense sympathy for Riyyh's need ~~
Nick goes to Riyyh and takes his hands.
Nick: I shouldn't have gone at all.
Riyyh: I understand. You went for Lalique.
Riyyh knows where Nick inherited that particular weakness from.
Riyyh's hands and tentacles reach for Nick's arms.
Nick ensures that they don't have to reach very far.
Nick focuses on Riyyh's need, which is at least available, even if it isn't quite as interesting as Snake's or Arat's.
Nick may have inherited some of the "grab what's available" philosophy, as well.
Riyyh, who is not at all used to having to wait overtime for transfer, skips the preliminaries and goes directly for a transfer position.
Riyyh makes a mental note to try to make it up to Nick later, and then promptly loses the note as his laterals touch Nick's skin.
Nick leans forward, intent on making up for mistake.
Nick: ~~ very high and willing field ~~
Riyyh makes the 5th contact and draws hungrily.
Riyyh could never satisfy Nick (or Rapol, who he had before that) but many months of being over-rated by his Donors has certainly made him an enthusiastic transfer partner.
Nick provides selyn at the fastest speed Riyyh finds comfortable, which is still not quite enough, but better than nothing.
Riyyh knows ~~~mind blowing bliss~~~
Nick knows ~~ pleasure ~~, and makes sure that it resonates in his field.
Riyyh's draw ends as his need is fulfilled.
Riyyh clings to Nick briefly, and then pulls away, opening eyes bright with happiness.
Riyyh: Thank you.
Nick lets Riyyh terminate the transfer, not trusting himself to stop in time.
Nick: No, thank you -- for being understanding.
Nick can only imagine what Snake or Arat would have said, if he'd been late for a transfer.
Riyyh wonders what Nick is talking about, as he admires Nick's broad shoulders and handsome shirt.
Nick's exercise is purely theoretical, of course, as no Farris channel would let his or her Donor out of zlinning distance during the last week before transfer.
Riyyh's hands and tentacles reach for Nick's shirt's buttons, which are also quite handsome (black ivory) but lamentably buttoned.
Riyyh works to rectify that little problem.
Lalique steps out of the cab, carrying the shiltpron case in one hand and a garment bag with her performance dress in the other.
Nick blinks, then realizes that he didn't have a chance to shower earlier.
Lalique enters the hotel.
Nick: ~~ embarrassment at presumed odiferousness ~~
Riyyh slips his hands over Nick's shoulders and pulls him closer.
Lalique goes up the stairs towards her room.
Riyyh: Nick... you are so special, I don't know what I ever did to deserve this.
Nick: I am a mess.
Riyyh: No, no, you're perfect.
Lalique pauses at her door, hesitating to enter. She is so keyed up from the performance she knows she won't be able to sleep or even sit still for hours.
Riyyh places a kiss on Nick's lips.
Lalique hears voices from the room across the hall.
Nick is ~~ startled ~~, not having expected such a response.
Lalique signals at the door.
Lalique: Nick? You still up?
Nick pulls back in some relief.
Nick: Yes, we are.
Lalique: Mind if I join you?
Riyyh is rather disappointed at the interruption, but wouldn't dream of making a fuss about it.
Riyyh in fact finds the prospect of Lalique joining them rather intriguing.
Nick is not half as post as Riyyh, but on the other hand, he's half Riyyh's age.
Riyyh looks at Nick.
Riyyh: Shall we invite her in?
Nick: Come in!
Lalique: Thanks!
Nick: Unless you'd rather not? [to Riyyh]
Lalique steps inside and takes in the scene. She immediately notes the signs of the recent transfer.
Lalique: Oh! Are you sure I'm not intruding?
Nick: Umm, not at all..
Riyyh smiles at Lalique, his tentacles still lingering on Nick's shoulders.
Lalique knows that many transfer pairs require privacy for a while.
Nick unconsciously rubs a patch of ronaplin on one arm.
Riyyh looks from Nick to Lalique, and wonders if....
Wilard decides he simply can't have it rest and drops into the Hotel where Lalique is staying.
Nick: We were just, er....
Nick knows that it's very obvious what they were doing, and blushes.
Wilard asks and gets Lalique's room number from a hotel clerk who is rather amused to think that someone like Wilard would be hassling such a babe.
Riyyh lets go of Nick, well aware of Nick's embarrassment.
Wilard goes up to her room and signals at the door.
Lalique eyes them with some jealousy and longing. It's been so long since she's had a real transfer, she feels frustrated all the time, although she tries to block it.
Wilard waits patiently, knowing she must be home by now.
Riyyh isn't exactly zlinning much at the moment, but he is no slouch at body language either.
Riyyh: Perhaps....
Riyyh: Perhaps I will go for a walk.
Riyyh: It seems a pleasant night.
Nick's eyebrows raise, then he realizes that Riyyh may have made arrangements.
Wilard knocks on the door. "Lalique? Lalique are you decent? It's Wilard. I have to talk to you about your songs tonight. Lalique?"
Nick: Are you sure you wouldn't rather have a cup of tea, first?
Lalique: Oh, I don't want to interfere with....
Riyyh: No no, we were just... I'll go.
Lalique hears the calling across the hall.
Wilard wonders if she saw him walk out in a huff and is angry at him.
Wilard: ~ petulant ~
Lalique: Oh! I think I have a visitor! Excuse me.
Lalique backs into the hall.
Lalique: Wilard!
Riyyh pauses in confusion as Lalique half-leaves, not even closing the door.
Riyyh thinks this is about as appallingly wrong as a seduction could go.
Lalique appears from behind Wilard's back.
Riyyh looks back at Nick in distress.
Lalique: I'm sorry; I didn't get a chance to talk to you at the Lounge.
Lalique opens her door.
Wilard jumps in surprise, and peers into the room Lalique just left.
Lalique ushers Wilard into her room.
Nick notes the distress, which makes sense, even if Lalique's behavior doesn't.
Wilard: Lalique?
Nick: ~~ soothing ~~
Nick: It's all right, Riyyh.
Wilard takes a step closer to the other open door.
Wilard: I was wanting to talk to you, but if you were busy....
Lalique: I am talking with some friends. Would you like to join us, or is it private?
Wilard isn't sure just what was going on in there, but it didn't look legal, and after all, the words of her song were very explicit.
Riyyh's ecstatic post is threatening to turn into the Niagra Falls type of post.
Riyyh sits down in a nearby chair, and wipes an eye with a tentacle.
Wilard: I certainly don't want to interrupt anything.
Wilard: I should leave, I suppose....
Wilard: I can talk to you about it -- some other time.
Lalique places her shiltpron and garment bag on the table of her room.
Wilard turns and hurries off down the hallway, embarrassed that he interrupted a post transfer orgy.
Lalique: Oh, you're not interrupting anything!
Lalique stands there perplexed.
Lalique shrugs.
Lalique goes back across the hall.
Lalique enters the still open door.
Lalique: That was Wilard, but he just sort of... scurried away.
Nick sits down next to Riyyh, trying to calm him.
Riyyh puts his head on Nick's shoulder and tries not to get it too wet.
Riyyh doesn't usually try to control his post reaction, but the situation has him off balance.
Lalique sees that Riyyh is in a state.
Nick pats Riyyh's shoulder, thinking that he hadn't planned to get his washing-up in quite this fashion.
Nick: It's all right, Riyyh.
Lalique is unconcerned by unrestrained emotion in post channels.
Lalique regards the pair with gentle concern and decides the best contribution she can make to the situation is to brew up some tea.
Riyyh wonders if he has finally gotten so old that nobody finds him any attractive any more - what with Ruby the other day not even wanting to talk to him, and now Nick and then Lalique.
Riyyh's Niagra Falls effect kicks off.
Nick gropes for a handkerchief, and realizes that it's already greasy.
Nick hands it to Riyyh anyway.
Nick: Here.
Riyyh cries into the handkerchief and Nick's shoulder.
Riyyh: Thank you.
Riyyh: I don't mean to be such a problem.
Nick: You're not a problem.
Riyyh: I just don't know what to do with myself.
Lalique experienced as she is has never seen anything quite like the Niagra Falls effect.
Nick looks helplessly at Lalique, and motions for her to bring the tea.
Lalique brings over the tea tray and sets it down. Luckily she has included napkins.
Riyyh desperately wants to ask Nick if he finds him ugly, but he wouldn't want to do so in front of Lalique.
Riyyh therefore lets his imagination run away with him instead.
Lalique hands several napkins to Riyyh.
Nick follows this up with a cup of tea.
Riyyh presses the now soaked handkerchief back into Nick's hand and cries into the napkins (and Nick's shoulder) instead.
Nick: Here, drink some tea, then you'll feel better.
Nick wonders if the skin on his shoulder has developed water-wrinkles yet.
Lalique: (deeply concerned) We're here for you.
Riyyh drinks some tea, which is some horrible stuff the hotel provided for free.
Riyyh bursts into even more tragic tears in response.
Lalique sits on the edge of his armchair and touches his hair.
Lalique glances at Nick to see if this is okay or he would prefer she leave his channel alone.
Nick nods encouragement at Lalique, then picks up a second cup of tea.
Nick sips, then pauses, eyes wide in shock.
Lalique remembers the scene with Ruby and wonders if these cloudbursts are typical for Riyyh.
Lalique sees Nick's shocked expression.
Lalique: What is it?
Nick: This is the hotel tea!
Lalique: Oh?
Nick: The Narosian blends are on the dresser.
Lalique sees the light dawn.
Lalique: Oh! Silly me! Just one moment!
Nick turns back to Riyyh and pats him on the shoulder.
Nick: See? It was a mistake. Lalique will make you some of the Lilac Passion.
Lalique removes the tea tray and goes to pour the offending ordinary tea down the sink.
Lalique sees that luckily the teapot holds enough for a second serving.
Lalique measures out the exquisite Lilac Passion and pours the water.
Nick is becoming anxious to get liquids down Riyyh, fearing dehydration.
Riyyh: Nick, am I not attractive?
Nick blinks in astonishment at the question.
Lalique returns with the good tea.
Nick: Of course you are. When you walk down the street, every woman looks after you.
Riyyh actually looks just as attractive as ever when he's damp and red-eyed, which requires quite a bit of practice.
Riyyh: Do you really think so?
Riyyh clings to hope.
Lalique places the tray on the table.
Nick: Of course. Here, let's ask Lalique. She's a qualified witness.
Lalique hands a cup to Riyyh and another to Nick.
Lalique: Is this better?
Nick takes the tea and sniffs.
Nick: Yes, much. Thank you.
Riyyh drinks his tea gratefully.
Lalique steps behind Riyyh, rubbing his shoulders soothingly.
Nick decides that if Riyyh is having appearance-insecurity problems, Lalique will be more help than himself.
Riyyh would put his head back on Nick's shoulder, but said shoulder is a bit too soggy for comfort at this point.
Nick nods at Lalique in encouragement.
Nick: Here, I'd better clean up. Lalique, would you take care of Riyyh?
Lalique: Certainly.
Nick's shirt wasn't too bad before transfer, but is now definitely looking used.
Nick: Thank you.
Nick squeezes Riyyh's hands in comfort.
Lalique is rather confused by the relationships here. When she came in before, Nick and Riyyh seemed to be involved with each other.
Riyyh is reluctant to let go, but knows he must.
Riyyh sighs.
Nick: I'll be back in a bit. You know this shirt will stain if I don't rinse it out.
Riyyh's passing from the uncontrollable sobbing stage into the feeling rather foolish stage.
Riyyh: Oh, dear.
Riyyh tries to wipe his eyes.
Lalique embraces Riyyh.
Lalique: It's all right.
Riyyh transfers his head to the dry shoulder.
Nick figures that Lalique can take it from here, and beats a strategic retreat to the bathroom.
Lalique is fascinated by the way the light plays in the silver of Riyyh's hair. She runs her fingers through it.
Lalique: Please don't be sad.
Riyyh wonders if he is still so attractive, why all of his children run from physical contact with him.
Riyyh looks up at Lalique, a bit tearily.
Riyyh: Thank you for being so kind to me.
Riyyh: I am sorry I missed your performance earlier.
Riyyh had chickened out of going to it; he is not a major fan of shiltpron music in the first place, and the idea of attending a show in hard need was unbearable.
Riyyh: Can you forgive me?
Lalique: Of course. You are such a wonderful, caring person. I can't bear to see you so unhappy.
Lalique: Tell me how I can help.
Riyyh: You've... you've helped.
Lalique snuggles herself in the chair so that she is supporting Riyyh's weight on her shoulder comfortably.
Lalique nuzzles at his ear.