I think this counts as fanfic
Sep. 21st, 2010 08:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gryphonseggA bit of schmaltz using characters created by Surrealist Dreamer-Kansan Entrails:
After a minute of dumbfounded staring, Elijah managed to shake off his-- well, it went far beyond surprise-- and move toward the creature on the rock. It looked like a giant, pale bean with brown hair on one side, plus a very simple face that was somehow more expressive than most of the faces he'd seen on creatures with bodies. At first he had mistaken it for a severed head and thought someone might have murdered some unfortunate Salt Skin and displayed the head as a warning to his other enemies. But there was no blood, no stump of a neck, and the head was very much alive. It was sniffling.
"Can I help?" Elijah asked.
"I don't know," the bean head replied forlornly. "I suppose I'll feel better later, but now I'm just really sad."
"Oh. Um . . . would you like to talk about it?"
"Not really. It's just that I don't want to be planted."
"Oh?"
"I suppose you wouldn't know about it, living in a place like this. If you plant a chibi like me in the right soil, they'll grow a chibi body, but they'll lose some of the powers they had when they were just a head. I don't want to lose my powers, but everybody says a chibi's not really grown up until they've been planted and grown a body. I don't care. I don't want to grow up either. I like the way I am."
Elijah stepped a little closer and squatted down so that his head was almost level with the bodiless head resting on the rock. "Has someone been pressuring you to grow a body?"
Elijah was not quite sure how a head with no neck achieved the effect of nodding miserably, but this one did. "The big people think everyone needs a body just because big people need bodies, and the other chibis believe them. They say I'm no good without any arms and legs."
"I think you're good," said Elijah.
"You don't know me," said the chibi.
"I still think you're good. Who are these people who say otherwise? Are they people you live with?"
"Some of them."
"That must be difficult."
"It's not so bad most of the time."
"But sometimes it is?"
"Yeah."
The conversation was interrupted by a shout. "HOLY SHIT! What is that thing?"
"Torrid, don't be rude."
Torrid stomped toward the rock and folded his arms. "You are talking to a head that has no body."
"Not everyone needs a body, you big meanie!" the chibi said indignantly. "Why can't people understand that? I'm not hurting anyone by not growing a body. I just don't want one!"
"Torrid, this person . . ."
"Bean," the chibi interjected.
"Bean has been pressured to grow an unwanted body. You know how that feels, don't you?"
"No," said Torrid, "shockingly, I've never been pressured to grow a body I didn't want."
"But you have been pressured to do things that didn't feel right to you," said Elijah.
"Yeah, of course-- who hasn't? That doesn't change the fact that . . . oh, fuck, I'm hallucinating again, aren't I?"
"Not unless we both are," said Elijah. "Hallucination or not, you owe Bean an apology."
Torrid smacked himself in the face, then looked at Bean again. "Okay-- I'm sorry I reacted to seeing you the way normal humans do."
Bean's eyes narrowed. "Your friend is a lot nicer."
Torrid rolled his eyes. "Elijah's a lot nicer than any normal human. And I'm not. We're going to end up taking this thing home, aren't we?"
"I would be honored to welcome Bean as a guest," said Elijah. He extended a hand toward Bean. "If you would like to visit our home, I'll make Torrid behave better."
"Can you make him not talk about my not having a body?" asked Bean.
Elijah cut a significant glance at Torrid. "Yes."
"What about other people? If I could stay somewhere for a few days with no one talking about planting me . . ."
"I think that can be arranged." Elijah reached for Bean, who launched from the rock to his hands by means not readily apparent.
"How do you talk without lungs anyway?"
"Torrid!"
"Right, sorry. So, if I'm not hallucinating, am I sober? Because I shouldn't be having this conversation sober."
After a minute of dumbfounded staring, Elijah managed to shake off his-- well, it went far beyond surprise-- and move toward the creature on the rock. It looked like a giant, pale bean with brown hair on one side, plus a very simple face that was somehow more expressive than most of the faces he'd seen on creatures with bodies. At first he had mistaken it for a severed head and thought someone might have murdered some unfortunate Salt Skin and displayed the head as a warning to his other enemies. But there was no blood, no stump of a neck, and the head was very much alive. It was sniffling.
"Can I help?" Elijah asked.
"I don't know," the bean head replied forlornly. "I suppose I'll feel better later, but now I'm just really sad."
"Oh. Um . . . would you like to talk about it?"
"Not really. It's just that I don't want to be planted."
"Oh?"
"I suppose you wouldn't know about it, living in a place like this. If you plant a chibi like me in the right soil, they'll grow a chibi body, but they'll lose some of the powers they had when they were just a head. I don't want to lose my powers, but everybody says a chibi's not really grown up until they've been planted and grown a body. I don't care. I don't want to grow up either. I like the way I am."
Elijah stepped a little closer and squatted down so that his head was almost level with the bodiless head resting on the rock. "Has someone been pressuring you to grow a body?"
Elijah was not quite sure how a head with no neck achieved the effect of nodding miserably, but this one did. "The big people think everyone needs a body just because big people need bodies, and the other chibis believe them. They say I'm no good without any arms and legs."
"I think you're good," said Elijah.
"You don't know me," said the chibi.
"I still think you're good. Who are these people who say otherwise? Are they people you live with?"
"Some of them."
"That must be difficult."
"It's not so bad most of the time."
"But sometimes it is?"
"Yeah."
The conversation was interrupted by a shout. "HOLY SHIT! What is that thing?"
"Torrid, don't be rude."
Torrid stomped toward the rock and folded his arms. "You are talking to a head that has no body."
"Not everyone needs a body, you big meanie!" the chibi said indignantly. "Why can't people understand that? I'm not hurting anyone by not growing a body. I just don't want one!"
"Torrid, this person . . ."
"Bean," the chibi interjected.
"Bean has been pressured to grow an unwanted body. You know how that feels, don't you?"
"No," said Torrid, "shockingly, I've never been pressured to grow a body I didn't want."
"But you have been pressured to do things that didn't feel right to you," said Elijah.
"Yeah, of course-- who hasn't? That doesn't change the fact that . . . oh, fuck, I'm hallucinating again, aren't I?"
"Not unless we both are," said Elijah. "Hallucination or not, you owe Bean an apology."
Torrid smacked himself in the face, then looked at Bean again. "Okay-- I'm sorry I reacted to seeing you the way normal humans do."
Bean's eyes narrowed. "Your friend is a lot nicer."
Torrid rolled his eyes. "Elijah's a lot nicer than any normal human. And I'm not. We're going to end up taking this thing home, aren't we?"
"I would be honored to welcome Bean as a guest," said Elijah. He extended a hand toward Bean. "If you would like to visit our home, I'll make Torrid behave better."
"Can you make him not talk about my not having a body?" asked Bean.
Elijah cut a significant glance at Torrid. "Yes."
"What about other people? If I could stay somewhere for a few days with no one talking about planting me . . ."
"I think that can be arranged." Elijah reached for Bean, who launched from the rock to his hands by means not readily apparent.
"How do you talk without lungs anyway?"
"Torrid!"
"Right, sorry. So, if I'm not hallucinating, am I sober? Because I shouldn't be having this conversation sober."
(no subject)
Date: 2010-09-22 03:38 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-09-22 11:34 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-09-22 06:30 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-09-23 02:56 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-09-23 02:58 am (UTC)