This is a writing prompt that I've often used for myself when I'm struggling with character development or have a terrible case of writer's block. I might be the only person who finds it interesting, but I thought I'd share it anyway because what's the harm? The idea is to imagine how your characters would interact in a mundane office setting. Cubicles, desks, the whole nine yards. You don't remove their story or background. For example: if your character's a barbarian dragon fighter he's still a barbarian dragon fighter, he was just caught in this odd dimension where he's supposed to do paperwork for a scene. This is usually more fun for the fantasy/ science fiction stories. So, without further ado... ___________________________________________________________________ "We're already coming up short for the quarter-" Click, click, click, click. "So what I'm saying is that we can't afford any more setbacks-" Click, click, click, click. "You really need to stay on top of things. Kevin, stop it!" Seraphiel exploded when Kevin reached for the miniature newton's cradle settled at the edge of her desk for the third time. He stopped dead, hand outstretched towards the little metal balls. It took every ounce of willpower he had to settle back into the uncomfortable chair. He even crossed his arms to prevent further fidgeting. He was able to focus for all of thirteen seconds before his gaze began to wander back across her desk. His attention caught on the tape dispenser this time. Don't do it. Don't do it. His gaze flicked back to Seraphiel. She wasn't watching him, her gray eyes were focused on the report clenched in her hands. Kevin reached slowly for the tape. His gaze was still trained on the angel sitting before him but none of her words were registering. Something about quotas. Something about disappointment. It all sounded very official and dull. His fingers found the edge of the scotch tape. "Do you understand?" Seraphiel set the quarterly report down and looked back to Kevin. She exhaled pure exasperation and dragged a hand along her face. Kevin had a look of dumb innocence on his face and his hands were coated in crinkled pieces of tape. "I... I got bored." "Get out of my office." "No, it's going to be the black cable. No. Not the grey one. The black- it turned off? Well you must have pulled the red one... No I did not tell you to pull out the red one! You know what? Forget this! What's your address?" Aaron slammed his hand down on the desk and rose to his feet as he started to shout at the customer. He grabbed a pen, ready to scribble down the number, but the blubbering man wasn't so keen on handing over the information. "Why do I need your address? Because I'm going to come fix it myself, you incompetent- Oh OH, you don't want my help anymore, do you? WELL, maybe you should have thought about that before keeping me on the line for over an hour! Fine. Fine. I don't need you to tell me your address, I'll just get it from the database." He bashed the office phone down and did a quick look up on the ancient computer. Finding the man's address, he scribbled it down on a hot pink sticky note and shoved it in his pocket. He made a move to leave the cubicle, hesitated, and then opened one of the drawers. He pulled his revolver out from under a stack of papers and went storming out of the building. A rubber band struck Nathaniel in the back of his head. He flinched at the shock of it but continued his work in silence. The next rubber band hit him in the shoulder. Again, he ignored it. The third one hit his neck and finally prompted him to spin his chair around. "What?" "Hi," Kate greeted him with a smile and a small wave. Nathaniel rolled his eyes and turned back to his work. It was going to be a long day.
