Improv (f)

[Blah!?]

Hey guys, here's another random idea I had. Yes, there's no actual sneezing, which is sort of a spoiler, but I figured it would be better to spoil that rather than get peoples' hopes up and let you all down.

Anyway, this is a very quick story (Exactly 888 words. Fun.) based on this little improvisation game that I did in a drama camp when I was younger. Basically, the game is you have two pairs of people, and each one acts as a single person. One person in each group stands behind the other and puts their arms through their partner's shoulders. Then, the person in back controls the arms and the person in front has to improvise dialog based on what their partner and the other group does.

And without wasting more time, here it is:

For a while, the only thing on Jake's mind was whether or not he had put enough deodorant on that morning. With his arms under Liz's shoulders, she would probably be pretty disgusted if he had under-applied. However, she didn't show any signs of discomfort, at least not that Jake could tell from his view of the back of her head. All he could see was Liz's neck-length wavy brown hair, but that was okay with him. There were only two things he knew he wanted to see even more: Liz's face and Liz sneezing. The former was a typical thought to Jake, since he had fully accepted the fact that he had a massive crush on her. The latter, however, made little sense at all, even to Jake himself. He supposed that he had accepted his sneezing fetish over the years, but it still confused him. All he knew was that he found sneezing attractive, and the person he wanted to see the most was Liz. Unfortunately for Jake, in all the years they had known each other, Liz had never once sneezed in front of him.

Without giving his fetish another thought, Jake continued to move his arms around, listening to Liz's soft voice as she reacted to his motions. All he heard was her voice. The other group's actions and reactions were completely lost to him. Then again, in this improvisation game, it was Liz's job to react rather than his own. Jake could do whatever he wanted to. Whatever he wanted to. Jake suddenly had an idea, and he sincerely hoped that he wouldn't regret it. For once, Jake decided he would try to make a bold move.

Once the action of the improv game died down a bit, Jake reached one finger up to Liz's face and started to slowly rub her nose. While he couldn't make Liz sneeze, maybe he could get her to talk about it, or if he was very lucky, fake one. "Oh, my nose sure does itch," Liz said, almost giggling. Jake continued to rub, slowly but deliberately. Liz's turned-up nose felt incredibly soft on top of his finger, and he could make out the gaps that were her small nostrils, even though they were very thin. Jake was brought momentarily back to reality as he heard the other group ask Liz if she was feeling okay. "Yes, I'm fine," Liz giggled, wobbling slightly. Jake felt slightly let down, that is until Liz continued. "But I feel like I might sneeze."

Jake almost jumped, but he devoted all of his energy to keeping his composure. His finger continued to slide back and forth under Liz's nose, but she never faked a sneeze. Eventually, Jake thought that maybe he was taking it too far, so he decided to stop. The improv continued on for another minute or so, and Liz still didn't sneeze. Once the game was over, four other members of the acting class formed two groups and took their turn playing the game. Jake felt a bit disappointed as he made his way back to his seat, but he tried not to show it. Liz sat next to him, as she always did, and the two of them watched the other groups perform for the rest of the class.

Once the class was over, Jake made his way toward the door without a word to Liz. He wasn't so much upset that she didn't sneeze as he was embarrassed for trying what he did, so he didn't want to call any attention to himself. However, before he could leave, Liz caught up to him. "Hey, Jake, are you okay? You seem kind of quiet," she said, putting her hands together behind her back. Jake turned back to her and shrugged. "I'm fine, I guess. Thanks for asking."

Then, Liz did something Jake didn't expect. "Oh, and thanks for helping me out back there," she said, starting to slowly rub her nose with her own finger. Jake almost took a step back. "I helped you?" he asked bluntly, unable to put a better response together. Liz giggled a little and stopped rubbing her nose. "Yeah, during that improv game. See, when you started itching my nose, I really did have to sneeze, and really badly too! I get so embarrassed when I sneeze, so I always try to stop myself. But I don't think I could have during the game." Jake's mind went blank. He had no way to react to what had just happened. He simply stood still and tried to force out a few words so he wouldn't appear quiet as awkward. However, before he could make a sound, Liz jumped up and hugged him. "Thanks a ton. You're the best!" Liz released Jake and grabbed her backpack from the floor. "I have another class now, but I'll see you later! Bye!"

Jake remained silent for what felt like, and probably actually was, an eternity. He didn't know whether to be happy that Liz had almost sneezed and had talked about it, or to be furious with himself for stopping what might have been the only chance he would have to see her sneeze. Eventually, Jake just shrugged and made his way to his next class, but he continued to think about what might have been…

[TheCakeIsAlive]

D'awwww. Cute and hilarious and did I mention cute? ^^

And pretty word count is pretty. *nods*

Love the idea and as always the execution if flawless and awesome. Thanks for sharing!

[count tiszula]

A brilliant idea, and a brilliant twist! What a shame, though...

Of course, on those improv programmes when they do that sort of things it's generally an excuse for the hands people to get various messy things over the face people; so just think what fun could be had with , say, flour; or flowers of course; let alone pepper....

[zneeze]

My heartstrings have been tugged at. *blinks tears away* Poor Jake! Great story though, as usual, Blah!

[Pilgrim]

Very interesting concept! And more or less exactly how I would've reacted if I were in his position, lol. Multiple levels of wtf.

[Via]

As everyone above has said, cute and awesome!

[dontnoqit]

Nice! Any chance we'll see a Part II?

[Blah!?]

I hadn't really thought about doing a part 2, but maybe if I feel inspired, I'll try it... No promises though

[ThePokeFan599]

I hadn't really thought about doing a part 2, but maybe if I feel inspired, I'll try it... No promises though

ok because that would be really cool, especially if he actually gets Liz to sneeze.