Jesper meeting the wild imps - Part 1
The premise is I basically wanted to cut straight to Jesper having dialogue with a nearby group of wild imps. So that's the context here since I don't feel like starting intense narrative right now. I'm also like, over the whole "don't reuse the same word/name to start a new paragraph" thing, I'm literally going for it over here.
Definitely writing this in parts because if I try to do giant chunks I'll forget what even happened and I'll get overwhelmed. I like parts... it's like chapters lol.
Jesper is walking alongside Yarrow, holding his hand as the two approach a clearing in the forest. Imps fly in the distance, nose-diving into one another playfully. Yarrow looks down to his companion, and tells Jesper he will be nearby, collecting fruit within earshot. He asks if Jesper is ready, but the grin spread across his face tells Yarrow everything he needs to confidently send Jesper off.
Yarrow backs up, before turning and leaving with a soft wave. He points in a direction that indicates where about he may be. Jesper looks towards the group as a vague wave of uncertainty washes over him. He snickers to himself, and walks into the clearing. His feet waddle their way over to the center of a field. The group of imps act as if they've only now just taken notice of him.
They swarm around him in flight, circling Jesper. He plops down on the grass, and points his face up towards the sky, assuming they must be somewhere above him. He peeks through his left eye. Small, slender, winged imps hover close. A few land on the soft grass by Jesper's feet. One grabs his right ear and glides their hand along the long length of it. Jesper pulls back, chuckling.
"Tickles imp!" He presses his ear close to his face.
"Ohhh... Long ears on this one." One imp says to the group.
"Weird imp. Wearing clothes like a person." Another says, pulling at Jesper's shirt. "And what are these?" The imp laughs, pulling away his boots to discover socks. Jesper laughs as they're ripped off of him.
"Job imp! This one is job imp! Works for person..."
"Yes---that sprite, that lives up the hill."
The five imps surrounding Jesper look into the woods at small, rocky mountainside. They seem to be looking for the rest of their group, who do not seem inclined to examine this outsider.
"What is imp's name? We know where imp lives, we know of the sprite, but we do not know of imp's name."
"Is Jesper! Hehehe." Jesper is finding humor in being pulled in multiple directions as his clothes are being tugged on and inspected.
"What is this?" An imp pulls at Jesper's hood, causing the bells to jingle. The few imps momentarily scatter, before approaching again. They jingle a single bell with caution.
"Is hat! Is jester hood!" Jesper chuckles, opening his eyes, and pulling his hood down to shake the bells. "Imp loves bells! Very merry! Very festive!"
"Is Jesper a jester?" One asks.
"Is not jester." Jesper says. "Just likes!"
"But..." An imp starts, furrowing it's brow. "If Jesper is job imp, imp must have job! If jester is not Jesper's job, then what does Jesper do?"
"Imp does..." Jesper pauses, seemingly at a loss for words.
One of the imps lands on the ground at his feet. She is unusually small, almost half Jesper's height. Her tiny wings are tucked away. As she comes closer to Jesper, the others seem to tighten their circle defensively. But she simply sits down in front of him.
"Imp does not know! Um... does job! For friend, for Yarrow! Whatever friend needs, Jesper does!"
"What does Yarrow do?" The imp before him asks. She looks especially patient.
"Um... collects things! Fruit! Grows vegetables! Um." Jesper glances around towards the stretch of woods behind him. "Yarrow sews! Jesper helps! Can help! Very good at help, hehehe."
"That does not sound like job at all."
"Not job like persons in town."
"But imp helps!" Jesper corrects the group.
"Yes, and dresses like person." Another replies. They're pulling at Jesper's trousers. "Take these off, silly imp! What are these?"
Jesper throws his back against the ground, allowing for several imps to playfully slide his trousers off.
"Trousers, like person!" The small imp says.
"And those!" Another imp points to Jesper's underwear.
"No! Keep on! Modesty, yes! Yarrow says imp have modesty!" Jesper snickers to himself, pulling his shirt down over his legs. "Says imp can not be naked with others to see---hehehe."
One of them throws Jesper the clothing they'd stripped him of.
"You are... strange imp." One laughs.
Jesper stands himself up off the ground after getting redressed, and begins to follow the small group of imps as they leave.
"What does wild imp do?" Jesper asks, his hoarse voice strains to be heard.
The smallest imp swoops from the sky down to Jesper's eye level. Except Jesper has not noticed this, and nearly slams into her. She moves out of his way, and tries a second time.
"Jesper! Open eyes!"
"Oh---hehehe!"
He rolls back his eyelids slowly, and paws at his eyes a few times to clear his vision. She smiles at him.
"You want to know what imps do?" She asks.
"Yes!" Jesper smiles wide. His tongue flops out from his mouth.
"They do not do what Jesper does." She tilts her head. "What should you be doing? What is the sprite doing?"
"Um. Friend is..." Jesper searches for the right words. "collecting fruit, for food, to eat---hehehe! Um. Figs!"
The two of them stop and exchange a look. She pauses, thinking. The group of imps behind her seem to stop, and wait, and then decide to continue roughhousing where they are.
Jesper blinks at her.
"What is imp's name?" Jesper's smile widens. He accidentally bites his tongue.
"Sol."
"Sol!"
"Yes."
"Does Sol want to find worm with Jesper?" The question catches her off-guard entirely. She squints, ponders on this for a moment, goes to say something, and then retracts it. "Love worm! Good worm---hehehe---want to find big worm and take home!" Somehow this has invited Jesper to go on a long winded explanation of his plans. "Find worm, take home, bring to Yarrow---friend says good for soil---good aeration---hehehe---makes Jesper a good help! Help soil, help plants! Yarrow bring home fruit, can eat, food! Yes! Get treat for being good help! Yes---hehehe---good imp!"
Sol stares at him wordlessly. She turns back to the imps behind her, then back to Jesper again.
"Is finding worms a part of your job?" She is very confused.
"No!---hehehe---love worm so much! Worm wiggle, like Jesper! Hehehe---can dance like worm!" Jesper does some sort of dance that is mostly a gyration of his waist. Sol is now very perplexed. The dance stops. "Finding big worm is fun! Is exciting!"
"Do you eat the worms, Jesper?"
"NO!" He screams. "No eat worm! No bite! Only lick!"
"Okay. So Jesper collects the worms?"
"Yes. Hehehe. WAIT." His arms and legs spread out. "Does not eat worm but. Did once."
"On purpose?" Sol messes with her hair.
"NO! Did choke on worm---and ate---did CRY!"
She looks back again, this time more awkwardly.
"I'll help you find worms?" Sol does not seem entirely convinced she's on board with this idea. Jesper beams happily. "Can I bring someone?"
"Yes!" Jesper jumps in place excitedly.
Sol flies over to her nearby group. The group seems to be talking about Jesper, as they keep peering back at them. Sol is trying to explain the situation to the best of her ability, and the group seems uneasy. Jesper, however, sees none of it, and hears even less, as he is too busy digging a hole in the dirt, talking to himself.
"Find beetle---show Yarrow---saw 'Dung Beetle', was told---is good bug! Good bug! Yes! 'Natural fertilizers'..." Jesper is quoting Yarrow's own words, enunciating clearly, practicing his speech. "'Aerate soil'... is good for... um... 'plant growth'!"
Sol returns with an imp, much larger than her, that she introduces as Kena. His horns are much longer, with wings that seem sharper. His demeanor is a bit reserved. Jesper extends a hand up into the sky above him to shake. He takes it, but does not know what to do. Jesper peeks up at him, and begins shaking hands, accidentally shaking Kena's entirely body. He catches his bearings shortly after.
"Jesper says he is going to find worms." Sol explains to Kena.
"Yes!---hehehe---or any other good bug!" Jesper's tongue flops out from his mouth again. "And if imps find dead bug or good flower," He pulls out a thick, folded sheet of paper from the pocket of his trousers, and begins to unravel it. "imps PRESERVE!" Jesper snickers to himself so hard he falls onto his back.
The two imps in flight look to one another. Jesper seems to notice the silence, and peers up at them from the grass.
"Preserve flower! Put in sheet---take to Yarrow! Good for journal! Can catalogue---hehehe." He can see both are not on the same page as he is about this worm collecting, flower gathering preservation hunt. "Is good job! Good help! Do imps know of good bug spot for Jesper?"
"Yes," Sol begins, then stops, before starting up again. "By the lake, very good spot for all sorts of bugs."
"YES! In dirt!" Jesper is already running, eyes closed, in the direction of the sounds of the nearby body of water.
Kena does not seem impressed. He turns to Sol.
"Wonders why we are to entertain this job imp." He says, disinterested.
Sol searches for some kind of excuse, but the loud splashing of water interrupts her. They look and see Jesper struggle momentarily to surface in the lake. His head bounces up. Jesper laughs wickedly, choking and spitting up water. He blinks himself up in the air, and again so that he's back on land.
Jesper begins undressing, leaving nothing but his trousers. He carefully lays them out on a downed tree branch to dry in the sun. Kena and Sol make their way over, carefully landing on the ground. They watch as Jesper drops to his hands, and begins inspecting seemingly every inch of dirt. They do not know how to help.