The Piano on the Floor (Shizune vs. Emi, New post 5-4-12)
Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2012 1:55 am
"The Piano on the Floor" is a mash-up of the Emi and Shizune paths.
This is part of my Ass in Chair, Hands on Keyboard project (3 weeks out of 52 completed)
I have a rough outline that keeps shifting toward the end and I've imposed a deadline of at least one segment per week, so things might be rough and I reserve the right to retcon anything problematic. Compliments are great, critical feedback is critical. I'm a bit paranoid about the character voices, feel free to point out flaws.
Table of contents:
1: Less Than Tactful (Scroll down)
2: Bechdel Test, Failed
3: More to come soon...
---
1: Less Than Tactful
---
To one side of a pile of attendance reports are several notebook sheets covered in writing in two different hands. The first is in blue and swoops carelessly.
Break? Please?
The second is in black, tiny and evenly spaced from a lifetime of practiced efficiency and clarity.
Fine then. I won't let you leave, however, so don't ask.
The blue pen has left some doodles, as though it couldn't stop moving. A swirl, a circle, a cartoon cat with a beret and no paws. It holds a scribbled brush in its tail. Then;
Can I bring a stereo tomorrow?
Of course not.
Why not?
That isn't how detention works. (Hastily added) Stop pouting.
The doodles return here and float through the margin of the page. Then;
But you called this 'community service'! (and then a space pirate rocket ship.)
Is that what Misha wound up saying to the track captain? My words were, exactly, that you are required to perform services for the Student Council and student body until the boy you harmed with your reckless actions recovers from his injuries. Sit still and let me get back to work. (and then a blue star with uneven points)
You didn't call this detention so it's not detention. And music wouldn't bother you anyway. (Saturn with a pirate flag planted)
The vibrations can be annoying. Besides, punishment is punishment, regardless of terminology. I am declaring your break over. Back to sorting.
Then a new page;
Vibrations? From what?
Apparently some music thumps a lot and it can make things shake. It's annoying because it is meaningless. You are getting off topic. You are not bringing a stereo in here.
So you could have a dance club for deaf people by using a lot of bass?
Nothing would stop one from going to a hearing club besides being bored. That doesn't mean you can bring a stereo in here. It has nothing to do with that.
The blue ink has begun to run dry here, some of the words are rewritten over themselves.
What if I use headphones? Or if I put it on a chair?
Absolutely not. Misha or Hisao might need to talk to you. We might also need the chair for something
They can get my attention the same way they get yours! And we totally have a ton of chairs. And you don't want me talking to Hisao anyway.
That is because you distract my valuable workforce from their duties with your inane prattle. You are not bringing any sort of music playing device here, because you are here to be punished, and that is final. I am trying to work.
Bitch please, you're not working. Have you ever tried dancing? Or music? Someone's had to have tried making a really cool song out of just bass.
I wouldn't know. I do not care to know.
Beethoven! He was deaf. He played a piano with his head up against it or something. Did he make any deaf people music?
The anecdote is that he sawed the legs off of his piano and listened to his playing through the floor. I have been told this many times by people who assume that my not hearing is somehow due to tragedy. The story is dumb because pianos that size have legs that can be removed normally, and because Beethoven lost his hearing gradually over the course of his life. It does not apply to me in any way. I do not wish to continue this vein of conversation any further.
Against all reason, the page has been flipped and the conversation continued.
Ok. Sorry. You want to play go-moku?
Fine. Ten by ten only. And get a new pen.
---
This conversation, as well as any record of these stunning go-moku matches, will be obliterated from the cultural record, because Hisao has managed to spill his entire canned coffee across the table.
Ibarazaki is shouting and waving her arms at Hisao. Hisao is apologizing and being useless.
Misha is inadvertently signing, as she always does. [Hisao, if you wanted to have a wet shirt contest, I could have gotten water.]
All of them are wasting time, as others are wont to do in a crisis.
This is Shizune's lot. The paper towels are inside the desk all the way at the front, of course, so she grabs the nearest superfluous papers and hastily dams in the liquid. The conversation with Ibarazaki and the rounds of go-moku are washed away beneath a small lake of coffee. It takes a glare at Misha to get her to stop laughing and go for the towels.
For all of Shizune's daydreams of having a fourth person help out with the workload, it's only been a day and Ibarazaki is simply not that useful. The girl is easily distracted and demands regular breaks. Shizune dreads the idea of her asking for a restroom break. Will an escort be necessary? It will have to be Misha, for practical reasons, but that would leave Shizune with Hisao, who is apparently fine with the stiffness of paper communication. Misha has let on that he has learned a few signs, but is progressing slowly. His energy is apparently spent on morning runs, and he has the nerve to complain about these self-imposed goals.
She watches Ibarazaki for a moment. The girl is pacing and trying to sponge the coffee out of her shirt with a towel. She frets, she pouts, she moves in circles with those curved blade legs of hers. She looks this way and that, barely a rational thought passing between those tails of hair. Is she aware of how much she resembles a rabbit? Is this something she does on purpose?
Shizune's hopes have been fading rapidly ever since the festival had been wrapped up and put away. Hisao's good cheer had been maintained, but his attention has been divided. Even after Ibarazaki's estimated two weeks were up, the rabbit had snared the boy. This would not do.
---
Okay, it took me longer than a week, but this one probably has a few parts to it and it actually has an outline and stuff. 2/52 pieces of fiction for the year!
This is part of my Ass in Chair, Hands on Keyboard project (3 weeks out of 52 completed)
I have a rough outline that keeps shifting toward the end and I've imposed a deadline of at least one segment per week, so things might be rough and I reserve the right to retcon anything problematic. Compliments are great, critical feedback is critical. I'm a bit paranoid about the character voices, feel free to point out flaws.
Table of contents:
1: Less Than Tactful (Scroll down)
2: Bechdel Test, Failed
3: More to come soon...
---
1: Less Than Tactful
---
To one side of a pile of attendance reports are several notebook sheets covered in writing in two different hands. The first is in blue and swoops carelessly.
Break? Please?
The second is in black, tiny and evenly spaced from a lifetime of practiced efficiency and clarity.
Fine then. I won't let you leave, however, so don't ask.
The blue pen has left some doodles, as though it couldn't stop moving. A swirl, a circle, a cartoon cat with a beret and no paws. It holds a scribbled brush in its tail. Then;
Can I bring a stereo tomorrow?
Of course not.
Why not?
That isn't how detention works. (Hastily added) Stop pouting.
The doodles return here and float through the margin of the page. Then;
But you called this 'community service'! (and then a space pirate rocket ship.)
Is that what Misha wound up saying to the track captain? My words were, exactly, that you are required to perform services for the Student Council and student body until the boy you harmed with your reckless actions recovers from his injuries. Sit still and let me get back to work. (and then a blue star with uneven points)
You didn't call this detention so it's not detention. And music wouldn't bother you anyway. (Saturn with a pirate flag planted)
The vibrations can be annoying. Besides, punishment is punishment, regardless of terminology. I am declaring your break over. Back to sorting.
Then a new page;
Vibrations? From what?
Apparently some music thumps a lot and it can make things shake. It's annoying because it is meaningless. You are getting off topic. You are not bringing a stereo in here.
So you could have a dance club for deaf people by using a lot of bass?
Nothing would stop one from going to a hearing club besides being bored. That doesn't mean you can bring a stereo in here. It has nothing to do with that.
The blue ink has begun to run dry here, some of the words are rewritten over themselves.
What if I use headphones? Or if I put it on a chair?
Absolutely not. Misha or Hisao might need to talk to you. We might also need the chair for something
They can get my attention the same way they get yours! And we totally have a ton of chairs. And you don't want me talking to Hisao anyway.
That is because you distract my valuable workforce from their duties with your inane prattle. You are not bringing any sort of music playing device here, because you are here to be punished, and that is final. I am trying to work.
Bitch please, you're not working. Have you ever tried dancing? Or music? Someone's had to have tried making a really cool song out of just bass.
I wouldn't know. I do not care to know.
Beethoven! He was deaf. He played a piano with his head up against it or something. Did he make any deaf people music?
The anecdote is that he sawed the legs off of his piano and listened to his playing through the floor. I have been told this many times by people who assume that my not hearing is somehow due to tragedy. The story is dumb because pianos that size have legs that can be removed normally, and because Beethoven lost his hearing gradually over the course of his life. It does not apply to me in any way. I do not wish to continue this vein of conversation any further.
Against all reason, the page has been flipped and the conversation continued.
Ok. Sorry. You want to play go-moku?
Fine. Ten by ten only. And get a new pen.
---
This conversation, as well as any record of these stunning go-moku matches, will be obliterated from the cultural record, because Hisao has managed to spill his entire canned coffee across the table.
Ibarazaki is shouting and waving her arms at Hisao. Hisao is apologizing and being useless.
Misha is inadvertently signing, as she always does. [Hisao, if you wanted to have a wet shirt contest, I could have gotten water.]
All of them are wasting time, as others are wont to do in a crisis.
This is Shizune's lot. The paper towels are inside the desk all the way at the front, of course, so she grabs the nearest superfluous papers and hastily dams in the liquid. The conversation with Ibarazaki and the rounds of go-moku are washed away beneath a small lake of coffee. It takes a glare at Misha to get her to stop laughing and go for the towels.
For all of Shizune's daydreams of having a fourth person help out with the workload, it's only been a day and Ibarazaki is simply not that useful. The girl is easily distracted and demands regular breaks. Shizune dreads the idea of her asking for a restroom break. Will an escort be necessary? It will have to be Misha, for practical reasons, but that would leave Shizune with Hisao, who is apparently fine with the stiffness of paper communication. Misha has let on that he has learned a few signs, but is progressing slowly. His energy is apparently spent on morning runs, and he has the nerve to complain about these self-imposed goals.
She watches Ibarazaki for a moment. The girl is pacing and trying to sponge the coffee out of her shirt with a towel. She frets, she pouts, she moves in circles with those curved blade legs of hers. She looks this way and that, barely a rational thought passing between those tails of hair. Is she aware of how much she resembles a rabbit? Is this something she does on purpose?
Shizune's hopes have been fading rapidly ever since the festival had been wrapped up and put away. Hisao's good cheer had been maintained, but his attention has been divided. Even after Ibarazaki's estimated two weeks were up, the rabbit had snared the boy. This would not do.
---
Okay, it took me longer than a week, but this one probably has a few parts to it and it actually has an outline and stuff. 2/52 pieces of fiction for the year!