From CHM173S@vma.smsu.edu (Chris Meadows) Newsgroups: alt.pub.havens-rest Subject: Re: [Louis/Oberon, Inc.] Curiosity, etc. Date: Thu, 06 May 93 12:04:28 CDT In article <6MAY199300070722@elroy.uh.edu> cosc19kh@elroy.uh.edu (Happy Mammal Department) writes: >CHM173S@vma.smsu.edu (Chris Meadows) writes... >>Kevin noticed her expression. Oh, great, he thought. That one could >>have come right off one of the ancient David Letterman top ten lists >>of worst pickup lines. "Oh, er, I just saw you heading toward the band, >>and I, uh--oh, hell, just trying to be friendly." He shrugged, face >>turning red. "I hope you don't think I'm trying to--Oh, here, have a >>flyer." He handed her one of the fliers, and turned to make his way >>backto his seat. >> >>This is what the flier said: >> >> ----------------------------------------------- >> ANNOUNCING THE GRAND OPENING OF OBERON, INC. > >[Assorted ad things....] > >> FREE FOOD -- DOOR PRIZES > >She looked around, a vague expression on her little ratty head, thinking. > >It wasn't so much thinking as lusting, actually. Uh-oh, Kevin thought, did I remember to get the time the showroom opened down on that flier? >In the past four days or so, since she'd, well, woken [not a real word. >Do not try this at home] up in a dumpster, she eaten... not much. She'd >picked up a perfectly good corn dog, wrapped and everything, off the hood >of a truck the day before. That was about it. Noticing the way the rat-girl's nose and tail were twitching, he sighed. I guess I probably didn't. Oh, hell. >Her body didn't really require too much food, she'd been learning. (Or >sleep. It got bloody boring sitting in the 'Rest's parking lot and staring >around, all fifteen hours of the night. But that was another subject >entirely.) Just the same, food sounded good, after all the mess with the >band and the aliens and the coffee. Besides--what could this mysterious >product be? Stupid novelty things came to mind for no reason, like fake- >nose glasses and disappearing ink. One thing she'd never been able to >stand since... *before*... was suspense. What could it be? > >Well, if it was a better mousetrap, that would be *it*, bro-ther. Kevinwatched the expressions flicker across the rat-girl's face--hunger, nervousness, curiosity...most people wouldn't have been able to read an expression from a rat's face--but Kevin had some previous experience along that line. >The cigarette smoke was starting to get at her, too, as she stood there in >the middle of the 'Rest reading the flyer. The showroom didn't seem to be >too far away, and even if the elusive we-can't-tell-you-what-it-is thing >turned out to be a new kind of eggbeater, or something else that was so >mundane they couldn't possibly mention it and still expect people to walk >in, so what? > >Free food. > >With a glance at the band (she figured they didn't really need her standing >around and being stupid), and a second at the guy who'd handed her the flyer, >she turned and headed out the hatch and off to the showroom of Oberon, Inc. >And thought about cigarettes. Kevin sighed. He couldn't let her trudge all the way over to the showroom just to find it locked up and closed. He followed her, started to reach out to stop her, then thought better of it. "Hey..." he began. "Um...it's not open yet..." Kevin sighed. Why did he want to help this rat girl, anyway? He certainly wasn't in love with her. Who would want sex with a rodent recom? (The ob- vious answer came to mind: ANOTHER rodent recom.) No...it was something else. Kevin had always tried to help those less fortunate than himself. Not out of pity, but because he felt that everyone deserved a chance to bet- ter himself (or herself, as the case may be). In fact, as a kid working in his parents' service station (while Jerry worked on complex engines, he wiped windshields), half his salary usually went to help the needy. For this reason, he was aware, people tended to consider him a little soft. But if this was softness, so be it. It made Kevin feel good to help others, and with the havoc he was about to introduce to this planet, he was soon going to need all the good feelings he could get. But if that was the reason, why wasn't he helping all the other needy people in the colony? No...it was something more, even though Kevin would never admit it. It had to do with Rocky. "Uh, wait...don't go...it'll be another twelve hours or so before it opens..." >Donovan / Louis >"Anything like the sound of a rat >Makes my heart go pit-a-pat!" > --"The Pied Piper of Hamlin", st. iv "You dirty rat!" --What Cagney Actually Never Said -- Chris Meadows || Andrea & Sheryl CHM173S@SMSVMA.BITNET || [AU] thread, alt.pub.dragons-inn CHM173S@VMA.SMSU.EDU || -------------------------------- CMEADOWS@NYX.CS.DU.EDU || A supporter of rec.arts.creative From cosc19kh@elroy.uh.edu (Happy Mammal Department) Newsgroups: alt.pub.havens-rest Subject: [Louis/Oberon, Inc.] Hurry up and wait Date: 6 May 1993 13:16 CDT CHM173S@vma.smsu.edu (Chris Meadows) writes... [Kevin turns up, gives Louis gets a flyer announcing OI's opening.] >>She looked around, a vague expression on her little ratty head, thinking. > >Uh-oh, Kevin thought, did I remember to get the time the showroom opened >down on that flier? [Louis thinks about food.] >Noticing the way the rat-girl's nose and tail were twitching, he sighed. >I guess I probably didn't. Oh, hell. > >>Her body didn't really require too much food, she'd been learning. (Or >>sleep. It got bloody boring sitting in the 'Rest's parking lot and staring >>around, all fifteen hours of the night. But that was another subject >>entirely.) Just the same, food sounded good, after all the mess with the >>band and the aliens and the coffee. Besides--what could this mysterious >>product be? Stupid novelty things came to mind for no reason, like fake- >>nose glasses and disappearing ink. One thing she'd never been able to >>stand since... *before*... was suspense. What could it be? >> >>Well, if it was a better mousetrap, that would be *it*, bro-ther. > >Kevinwatched the expressions flicker across the rat-girl's face--hunger, >nervousness, curiosity...most people wouldn't have been able to read an >expression from a rat's face--but Kevin had some previous experience along >that line. >>With a glance at the band (she figured they didn't really need her standing >>around and being stupid), and a second at the guy who'd handed her the flyer, >>she turned and headed out the hatch and off to the showroom of Oberon, Inc. >>And thought about cigarettes. > >Kevin sighed. He couldn't let her trudge all the way over to the showroom >just to find it locked up and closed. He followed her, started to reach >out to stop her, then thought better of it. "Hey..." he began. "Um...it's >not open yet..." [Kev ponders; we see that he's a Nice Guy, and something else.] >"Uh, wait...don't go...it'll be another twelve hours or so before it >opens..." Louis stopped in mid-step. Thoughts of food had given way to curiosity as to what Oberon, Inc. could possibly be trying to pass of on Colony people, then suddenly went (krssh tinkle tinkle). She folded an ear flat, and turned nervously. She blinked a few times, little rodentine button-eyes. "Not yet, then, is that it?" Well, okay, that made sense, even if it was stretching the suspense out unbearably long. "T-twelve hours?" Next morning? Argh. She looked back to the bandstand in a rear corner. "Man," she said, "that's a pretty long wait. Twelve hours? Morning? All the way to morning? You sure?" Well, what was twelve hours? Twelve hours. Maybe they were selling guns. Or bombs. Or more guns. (Which would be dead cool.) That could explain why the flyer couldn't say anything. Yeah. Maybe a new invention that no one had ever heard of. Well, in twelve hours.... It would have been, thought Louis, a long walk anyway. >"You dirty rat!" > --What Cagney Actually Never Said Donovan / Louis "Here's luck to you, kid." --the line in Casablanca that Bogart misread (and made famous) From CHM173S@vma.smsu.edu (Chris Meadows) Newsgroups: alt.pub.havens-rest Subject: Re: [Louis/Oberon, Inc.] Hurry up and wait Date: Thu, 06 May 93 16:57:06 CDT In article <6MAY199313164221@elroy.uh.edu> cosc19kh@elroy.uh.edu (Happy Mammal Department) writes: >CHM173S@vma.smsu.edu (Chris Meadows) writes... [Louis thinks about food, and Kevin realizes he didn't get the time down right on that notice.] >>>Besides--what could this mysterious >>>product be? Stupid novelty things came to mind for no reason, like fake- >>>nose glasses and disappearing ink. One thing she'd never been able to >>>stand since... *before*... was suspense. What could it be? >>>Well, if it was a better mousetrap, that would be *it*, bro-ther. [Louis decides to head off to the showroom.] >>Kevin sighed. He couldn't let her trudge all the way over to the showroom >>just to find it locked up and closed. He followed her, started to reach >>out to stop her, then thought better of it. "Hey..." he began. "Um...it's >>not open yet..." >[Kev ponders; we see that he's a Nice Guy, and something else.] >>"Uh, wait...don't go...it'll be another twelve hours or so before it >>opens..." >Louis stopped in mid-step. Thoughts of food had given way to curiosity >as to what Oberon, Inc. could possibly be trying to pass of on Colony >people, then suddenly went (krssh tinkle tinkle). She folded an ear flat, >and turned nervously. >She blinked a few times, little rodentine button-eyes. "Not yet, then, >is that it?" Well, okay, that made sense, even if it was stretching >the suspense out unbearably long. "T-twelve hours?" Kevin nodded. "It opens at 1000 tomorrow," he said. "I'm sorry about that. Should have marked the time there, I guess." >Next morning? Argh. She looked back to the bandstand in a rear corner. >"Man," she said, "that's a pretty long wait. Twelve hours? Morning? >All the way to morning? You sure?" Kevin nodded again. "I'm sorry." He glanced around. "Say, if you're hungry, I could get you something to eat." >Well, what was twelve hours? Twelve hours. Maybe they were selling >guns. Or bombs. Or more guns. (Which would be dead cool.) That could >explain why the flyer couldn't say anything. Yeah. Maybe a new >invention that no one had ever heard of. Well, in twelve hours.... >It would have been, thought Louis, a long walk anyway. Kevin sighed. "Yeah, I know how you feel," he said. "I'm bored too. Just hanging out, getting ready to watch the show." He jerked his thumb at the stage. "Are they any good?" >Donovan / Louis >"Here's luck to you, kid." > --the line in Casablanca that Bogart misread (and made famous) "Be careful--he smashed your photograph." --from a William Castle film, "Homicidal," that was too bad to be believed. This was one of the funniest lines...you had to be there. :) -- Chris Meadows || Andrea & Sheryl CHM173S@SMSVMA.BITNET || [AU] thread, alt.pub.dragons-inn CHM173S@VMA.SMSU.EDU || -------------------------------- CMEADOWS@NYX.CS.DU.EDU || A supporter of rec.arts.creative From cosc19kh@elroy.uh.edu (Happy Mammal Department) Newsgroups: alt.pub.havens-rest Subject: Re: [Louis/Oberon, Inc.] Hurry up and wait Date: 6 May 1993 22:50 CDT CHM173S@vma.smsu.edu (Chris Meadows) solemnly intones: >[Louis decides to head off to the showroom.] >>>"Uh, wait...don't go...it'll be another twelve hours or so before it >>>opens..." > >>Louis stopped in mid-step. Thoughts of food had given way to curiosity >>as to what Oberon, Inc. could possibly be trying to pass of on Colony >>people, then suddenly went (krssh tinkle tinkle). She folded an ear flat, >>and turned nervously. > >>She blinked a few times, little rodentine button-eyes. "Not yet, then, >>is that it?" Well, okay, that made sense, even if it was stretching >>the suspense out unbearably long. "T-twelve hours?" > >Kevin nodded. "It opens at 1000 tomorrow," he said. "I'm >sorry about that. Should have marked the time there, I guess." > >>Next morning? Argh. She looked back to the bandstand in a rear corner. >>"Man," she said, "that's a pretty long wait. Twelve hours? Morning? >>All the way to morning? You sure?" > >Kevin nodded again. "I'm sorry." He glanced around. "Say, if you're >hungry, I could get you something to eat." "Uh, well, I dunno. I don't think I'll be getting any money anytime soon, you know. Paying back. Thanks, though, uh, not so hungry, just yet." >>It would have been, thought Louis, a long walk anyway. > >Kevin sighed. "Yeah, I know how you feel," he said. "I'm bored too. >Just hanging out, getting ready to watch the show." He jerked his >thumb at the stage. "Are they any good?" She looked back at the stage. "Who's any good? Oh. The bands. Well, uh...." After a moment of thought, Louis recalled the night before [ADMIN: That was when the music folx left, but was that the time they played? Wasn't it? The multiple-weeks-per-day thing gets to me...:) ] when they'd audition, or exibited, or whatever. "...they're a bit loud." She nodded once, obviously satisfied with such an astute observation. "At least, well, I thought they were." With a little work, she managed to swivel her rodent ears a bit for emphasis. [ADMIN: We're working with thirty-hour days, here; how many hours are daylight, what with twin suns? If above business is to open in roughly twelve hours (I assume 60 minutes, of course), at 1000, that puts it about two hours before 'midnight' in the 'Rest, right? What are we doing up so late?:) Well, ignore that part, but what about the other stuff? Was this covered in an extremely early group-formation admin?] >"Be careful--he smashed your photograph." > --from a William Castle film, "Homicidal," that was too bad to be > believed. This was one of the funniest lines...you had to be > there. :)