25 Flower Glower (1/2)
By morning, Nelda had contemplated her problems at length but had arrived at little in the way of solutions.She was theorizing without data and spawning 'what if's. [I think Sherlock Holmes said something about this sort of problem, but I forget what it was.]
She fell asleep for a while and woke when it was light.By the side of her bed, a haphazard posy had been left. The flowers having prominent red-and-white-striped petals arranged in spirals to create drooping trumpet shapes.
[I need information.And while interesting, I am not sure that the flying leaf, or its close cousin, is a priority.] Still, the potential for another little experiment danced around the more impulse parts of her mind.
A familiar tentative knock on the door presaged the arrival of SmithGuild. Ah. You are awake,” he said with obvious pleasure.The gryphon's expressive features immediate shifted to a more apologetic expression.”I wonder if I might ask you a favor. I would not ask but….”
”Of course, please come in.”
Today SmithGuild was wearing a loose garment that went as far back as the base of his tail.A sort of open belted tunic with slit that his wings emerged from.
He came and cat-sat by Nelda's bed, and leaned forward earnestly. ”Could you get the satyrs to wear pants?”
Nelda snorted. ”I'm sorry. I just wasn't expecting that.” [End-of-the-world prophecy versus pants. Interesting priorities, dude.]
”I can deduce that your people go very much clothed.With under- and overgarments.I would hope that you would understand that their current deportment, is… distracting.I'd not wish to be unwelcoming, but it does make me… uncomfortable.”
Nelda found SmithGuild's bashfulness just a little bit adorable.[But pants? Kilts maybe, at a stretch--no pun intended.]
”Help me understand,” she said. ”Is it that you feel all civilized people should be clothed.Or is it that you do not think the sexual organs should be… on display.”
SmithGuild considered this, with a tilt of the head. ”It is in the nature of a combination of the two.If a creature is an animal, then what you see of its body is of no concern.But for a conversing being, so see the generative organs of another is improper and unseemly.”
Nelda nodded.It's not that I disagree, but satyrs gonna sate.And on the other hand… Smithy's gonna Smithy,I would rather have him on my side.
”Here's the thing,” Nelda explained.”Satyr's believe that the only people who wear clothes are nobles, priests, and gods.Putting aside gods, they have a feeling of both admiration and resentment for nobles and priests.So to put clothes on them, we have to make it work for them somehow.”
SmithGuild took a deep breath, sat back and considered that idea.”I presume that if bringing them into your faith was plausible you would have suggested it.Failing any other convenience faith, that leads me to wonder what they consider a nobleman to be.”
[Oh god.I'm a biologist, not a psychoanalyst.Or sociologist, or exorcist,or whatever -ist this situation requires.]
[Still, it's nice that SmithGuild followed my suggestion rather than being awkward and macho about it.]
”The satyrs don't seem to actually have nobility,” Nelda said.”So, it is possible that the concept is somewhat, hmmm, flexible.But I will not have anything done to them, as my associates, that offends against their principles or their dignity.”
”Of course, no.I would never…”
BugleHead chose that moment to storm into the room.” Here, I brought you something.” He sapped a large silver fish on her lap; it was still flapping its tail in indignation at being so rudely dewatered. Unusually, Buglehead also looked quite cross.