Ficlet: "Eh?" (Soul Eater, Shinigami-sama, Kid, Stein)

[terajk]

Title: Eh?
Rating: G
Fandom: Soul Eater
Characters: Shinigami-sama, Death the Kid, Franken Stein
Word count: ~300
Note: Spoilers for the most recent chapter of Soul Eater NOT! Although I can't imagine anyone is surprised.
For: nenena, whose headcanon is TRUFAX.

His son really is strange sometimes. Right now he’s standing at a mirror, gripping Stein-kun’s hand. (Stein-kun waves politely, a cigarette in his mouth.)

“Father!”

“Eh?”

“Explain to me why this idiot has a PhD in Eighteenth-Century French Literature.”

(“This idiot gives you grades, remember." Stein-kun takes a drag on his cigarette.)

Shinigami-sama is...nonplussed. “Shouldn’t you ask him?”

“But he doesn’t have a medical license!” Kid says.

Now the boy is just being silly. “Of course not. He doesn’t even have a medical degree. What part of ‘eighteenth-century French literature’ don’t you understand?” (Stein-kun laughs.)

“But Father! He’s a doctor.”

“Uh-huh,” he says patiently. “Of eighteenth-century French literature. He wrote his dissertation on the Marquis de Sade.”

“ What,” says Kid.

(Stein-kun jerks his thumb. "Can I fail him retroactively?")

Good grief, this is worse than the clowns. Still, he tries to be gentle; after all, he is his father. “Now, really, son. Stein-kun’s PhD defense is famous. Everyone there threw up.”

(“Well, I can only take credit for about a third of them,” says Stein-kun modestly. “The others threw up because they threw up.”)

After a pause Kid says, “Damn it, Father! Why are you so calm about this?” 

“Why aren’t you?” He knows it’s a stupid question as soon as it leaves his mouth.

(“Eh, don’t be too hard on him, Sir,” says Stein-kun, smiling. “We can discuss The 120 Days of Sodom in detention. Maybe I'll even show him the movie--to prove there's no hard feelings and all.”)

"Well then!" Shinigami-sama says. "Carry on."
 

 

Comments

[nenena]

omg omg omg

This is EXACTLY what I needed today. It is hilarious and perfect and I love the way that you write Shinigami-sama's and Kid's personalities bouncing off each other and Stein being so perfectly blasé about the whole thing. I rarely actually laugh out loud when reading fic but I did twice with this one. THANK YOU SO MUCH eeeeeeeee! This is so perfect!

[terajk]

EEEE!

I'm so glad! (Your day sounded awful, BTW.)

I love the way that you write Shinigami-sama's and Kid's personalities bouncing off each other

I always worry about breaking Shinigami-sama. His relationship with Kid fascinates me--on the one hand he's proud of him and cares about him ("Liz, Patty, I know you've been through a lot but please take care of him for me") and seems to know he's the way he is; but on the other hand he just...ignores Kid being Disabled in Public altogether or is bemused or plans a party even when they haven't even figured out how to save Kid yet or makes me pity the magnificent bastard by talking about her underwear out of nowhere. (Okay, that was partly Spirit's fault, but.) It's like blue and orange morality applied to parenting and social interaction generally. (My maxim is: "When in doubt, no fucks given. Or given in a very odd way.")

and Stein being so perfectly blasé about the whole thing.

This probably isn't the first time Kid's dragged Stein through Shibusen. Doesn't happen that often, though. Maybe it's the second time? And Stein basically tunes out all the blah-blah-blah when I change the rules you're so fired bullshit (he probably has tenure, anyway) and is ultimately amused by the whole thing. Kid and Stein are really fun together, actually. I should write them an actual, honest-to-goodness fic.

I rarely actually laugh out loud when reading fic but I did twice with this one.

!!! It's only 300ish words long, and a lot of those words are "eighteenth-century French literature." Go, me!