Title: Pricks & Thumbs-17
Fandom: Fear Mythos
Characters: Rich Providence ♂, Ana ♀
Rating: G- (L1 N0 S0 V1 D0)
Warnings: Mentioned nudity. Mentioned anthro octopus. A single word in questionable taste. Fish gets smacked with a brush.
Notes: Fish goes to get his hair cut and gets yelled at by his stylist. As usual. Also, some fun facts about The River and the Serpentine.
We had a River/River/River shoot, today, which is always interesting. It's a lot less messy and freaky than filming scenes with The River and anyone else, though. I don't think I'll ever get bored of watching The River change its parts.
Parts? Segments? Individuals? I'm never sure.
This one starred a girl who had been half transformed into an octopus. She told me The River had chosen to participate in our films, because they provide new insight into the workings of the mind. The River intends to explore things that people don't talk about, but that it has found in the dreams and desires of its host. I think that's the first time I've ever heard The River speak of itself as separate from its sept. The River frequently claims to be fascinated by mankind, though, so that's not a weird reason for it to be working with us.
Its host, apparently, is the word I'm looking for. The River and its host.
But, today was light work, for me. Almost all just filming, which I've got nothing to do with. The bulk of it will be tomorrow. Means I got out early enough to go down to Rainbow and listen to Ana hiss and click about my hair. Well, no, I mean, obviously she cut it for me, but you know how Serpentine stylists get, when you're not doing what they told you to do. So, you know, I bought an apple tart and a cup of chicory, and I told her my hair looked so bad, because I'd been to visit The River. And, of course, I came to see her as quick as I could, after.
She backed up, pretty quick, and checked me for gills. Then I got to hear about how stupid it is to go anywhere near The River, especially down by the water. I reminded her I was the Fish Out of Water, and she smacked me with a brush and told me my luck would run out, eventually.
"No one is immortal, Fish. No one is perfect. Especially not you. What on Her fangs did you do to this…?" Snip snip. "You still bite your nails, don't you. Quit that. You'd be so much more handsome if you didn't bite your nails." Snip. "And The River? Really? Are you suicidal or you just get dumber as you get older? Just because you been to the river twice now, don't get it into your head a third time's a good idea. No, sir. Once is lucky. Twice is a miracle. Third time, ain't nobody going to come save your ass."
I would have pointed out that nobody saved my ass the other two times, but after that dream, I'm not so sure. After the way The River reacted to me drinking the water, I'm really not sure.
Instead, I asked what she'd done with her scales, and she told me all about how she talked Nebo into painting a golden flower on each one. I blinked at her, in the mirror, and she just smiled and reassured me that yes, all of her scales were painted.
I told her, again, like I do, every few months, that my dad is always surprised that a salon sells pastry and drinks. He says that in the Old World, no one would do that, because they were all afraid of getting the hair clippings in the food.
Ana laughed, like she always does. The Old World didn't have the Serpentine, she said again. I have seen the talents of the old world, in pictures, and I promised I'd bring her more. She wants to study the enormous wigs that were really popular in some place called France. I guess France was pretty important, in the Old World, because 'French' seems to either be shorthand for 'really nice' or 'really sexual', depending on who's writing it. I told Ana that, and she thought it was perfect that she should like French things, because she likes both of those. I think I inhaled part of my tart, laughing.
As I was leaving, Ana asked me if I'd let Nebo paint a picture of me, yet. Nude, of course, which is why I keep saying no. It's not that I'm ashamed to be naked; I mean, consider where I work. It's just that my skin is… I'm the only one here with my skin. There's no skin like mine, except Laia's. But, maybe that's a reason to let him paint me. Maybe, on canvas, it'll make a different kind of sense.
I told Ana I'd probably do it. Soon, even. She was pretty surprised, but she said she'd tell Nebo to get his colours in order.
