[Spoon-business] Sex and the Nomic: Chapter 1

["Glotmorf" <glotmorf@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

{{ _Sex and the Nomic: Chapter 1_

[[

They called her Bee.  They never said why.

I had plenty of time, days and weeks, to speculate as I watched her, saw her circulate through the men, saw them orbit around her.  Did her name come from being the queen?  From having hundreds of males doting on her?

Did she have a sting?

I myself might have called her Mona instead, because of her smile.  She always had a smile.  Every time I saw her, alone or toying with an attendant, she bore a smile from her collection.  Sometimes it was angelic, sometimes avaricious, sometimes sultry, occasionally cold as ice.

Her smile was idyllic when I entered the tavern, listening to the Irish trio on stage and sipping her drink.  As I approached the table, she turned and met my eyes, and her smile changed.  It became predatory.

"Hey, Blue Eyes.  Where've you been all my evening?"

I shrugged off my coat and sat down. "Took a while to close up shop.  Am I late?"

"You seem to be breathing."

I offered a debonair smile of my own, which I hoped didn't look too sickly, as I signaled a waiter. "I mean, did I keep you waiting?"

"Of course, silly.  Every minute I spent waiting for you to ask me out." She sipped her drink, gazing at me, her smile shifting into patronizing. "Well, now, I believe we're out.  Why am I here?"

"Because I asked you to be.  Why did you come?"

"Because you asked me to."  The smile slid into amusement, though I swear her lips never moved.  Perhaps it was her eyes. "Am I drinking alone?"

I tore my eyes away to find the waiter standing next to me. "Scotch on the rocks.  Uh...double."  He nodded, glanced at my table companion, and headed off.  I gestured toward the stage. "Good group, huh?"

Her smile passed through satisfaction on its way to attentiveness as she turned toward the performers.  My drink came shortly before the piece ended.  She looked back, saw the glass in my hand, and gently clinked hers against it. "To good judgment," she murmured.

I blinked.  I had never heard that particular toast before, but it sounded like a really good idea. "To good judgment," I answered, and sipped, hoping to maintain some.

Her eyes locked on to mine, drank them in, savored them. "Was there something you wanted to ask me?"

"Uh..." Only what it would take to get her between my sheets. "They call you...Bee?"

The smile turned thoughtful. "They do, do they?  Why do they do that?"

"I'd...hoped to ask you.  Is it short for something?"

Her eyes still held mine; her smile carried the leash. "Benomica."

"...Oh.  That's very...uh...Where's it from?"

"It's what I started with." The smile widened. "And what do they call you?"

"Uh...G."

"And what's that short for?"

"It's short for, Gee, I'd really like to get to know you."

Her smile showed a touch of pain. "Do you say that to all the girls?"

"Only the ones who ask me my name..."

She nodded slightly, and her eyes explored my face over her smile. "What else do they say about me?"

"Hey, look, I didn't mean..."

"Then you shouldn't have said.  Don't say what you don't mean, don't start what you can't finish.  Don't suggest what you can't live with."  The eyes bore into me as the smile took on touches of the sinister. "Now, I believe you started to tell me what...they say about me.  I don't believe you finished yet."

They said she was hot.  They said she was willing.  They said there were men, and possibly even women, who couldn't keep up with her..."They, uh, say you're a nice person to know."

The lips pursed.  The eyes glittered. "Somehow I don't think they said that.  Tell me now..." She reached over and slid the base of her glass over the back of my hand.  I felt a slight chill that had nothing to do with the touch. "What do they really say?"

"They said..." Was this really me saying this?  "They said...you had...rules."

Her smile was beatific. "And so I do.  A lot of them.  And you have to follow them all when you're with me.  But those rules can be changed, too.  Did they say that?"

I took a deep breath. "They said you'd listen to any proposal."

The smile widened. "There.  That wasn't so hard, was it?  And yes, I'll consider anything you propose.  It may not pass, but I'll consider it.  But like I said, don't suggest anything you can't live with.  Your proposal this evening..." The eyes over the smile took on a wicked cast. "...might be my rule tomorrow."

"So it's...like...a game?"

"No, it's not like a game.  It *is* a game.  I'm the game.  I have the rules.  And you, I suspect, want to be a player."  She touched a sweet smile to her glass and sipped. "Don't you?"

"Don't you have a lot of players already"

"Do you fear the competition?"

"What?  Uh, no..."

She leaned in close. "Do you feel like a winner?"

My lips moved, but no sound came out.  I swallowed and tried again. "Yes."

Her smile again turned to satisfaction. "Well, then, Mr. Gee-I-wanna-get-to-know-you-better, it's your turn.  Make your move."  She sipped her drink, watching me over the glass. "Propose something."

Dancing.  A movie.  A weekend in the country.  A long walk along the beach that ended at my place.  So many things I could have proposed that night.  Instead, what tumbled out of my mouth was...

]]

{{ _Bondage_

A Player (and not any other type of proposing entity) may place emself in Bondage at the beginning of a nweek, before e has made any proposals in that nweek, following two nweeks not in Bondage in each of which e made at least two proposals.

When in Bondage, a Player can make no more than half, rounded down, of the number of proposals e made during the previous nweek.

Proposals made by a Player in Bondage earn (or cost) twice the number of score points they would otherwise.

}}

[[

She blinked slowly, her smile contemplative. "That sounds...intense."

"It's supposed to be, yes.  Restricted action can double the sensation."

She nodded, her eyes still studying me. "Supposed to be...You haven't done it before?"

I gave debonair another shot. "Not with this game."

"Ah.  Well, I'll try to find something comfortable for you, then."

Debonair suddenly lost power. "For...me?"

"You didn't think I would be the one restrained, did you?  I'm the game."  Her smile took on an odd warmth. "You're the player.  Stop by my place in, say, an hour?  Plan to stay a while."

She rose gracefully from her seat, touseled my hair, and headed toward the door.

I'm not sure how long I sat staring at where she'd been.  I do know that two other glasses had collected around mine by the time an hour had passed.

I hoped, as I got ready to go, that she didn't have a sting.

]]

}}

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