Drabble #87: Chill
Friday, 6 December 2019 00:01![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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labyfic...we had a quieter response to the drabble prompt of Drabble 86, with an entry by me (your intrepid drabble proposer
jalenstrix).For this prompt, we continue with our one-word/phrase drabble roots:
Chill
Is this a literal chill? A figurative one? A directive to calm the heck down? Tell us all about it labyfic-style!
Given our entries from recent months, let's continue with the suggested limit for this month of 500 words. Though remember that shorter pieces are most definitely welcome!
Your entry should take the following format, posted as a comment on this entry:
Word count: # of words
Drabble: $your_beautiful_drabble
I'll aim to get the next drabble challenge out on the first Friday of next month (January 3).
I'm also very happy to take suggestions if something in particular strikes your fancy -- comment on this post or PM me with your suggestions. You can see our current collected suggestions here.
Remember: Feedback is LOVE. So do reply to your fellow labyficcers' drabbles if so inclined. (Though be careful of concrit unless specifically okayed by the author beforehand.)
no subject
2019-12-25 17:56 (UTC)Drabble:
I wrapped my red wool cloak around me a little tighter, surveying the damage in the throne room. Thank god for the insulating powers of wool — it was pretty damn nippy in here, even with my shielding spell giving me a buffer. The goblins in the room hadn’t been so lucky. They were basically in cryofreeze. I hoped to hell it was reversible.
I sighed and shifted my gaze to the silent figure on the throne. “Look, I know older slang isn’t obvious sometimes, but when I said ‘chill out’, this is not in fact what I meant.”
Jareth’s eyes glittered with rage held just in check. Right. Attempt at levity, fail.
When in doubt, try direct. I crossed my arms and raised an eyebrow. “Are you going to tell me what’s wrong? It’s probably faster than me guessing.”
“You know what’s wrong, Sarah.” The words cracked like ice in the brittle air.
“No, Jareth, I actually don’t. That’s why I asked just now.”
“You wouldn’t be so disrespectful if you weren’t wearing that ring of protection.”
Hmm...this was what we called a clue. “True. And I’m very grateful you gave it to me, or I’d be an icicle right now like the rest of your poor subjects in here.” I looked down at the ring on my left index finger, a lovely little thing full of potent Faerie magic that Jareth had made me start wearing when I began visiting more regularly. “So, who’s been disrespectful to you?”
He glowered and twiddled his fingers in a way that conveyed a particular kind of fussiness.
Wait. I knew that twiddle. “You talked to Karen, didn’t you?”
His expression darkened further. “As if you didn’t know.”
“I didn’t till just now. She didn’t mention anything about you.”
“Ha! That’s because that putrid cockatrice hung up on me before I could get out more than ‘hello’.”
“Please don’t insult my relatives.” I wracked my brain for recent home events. “Was this Thursday by any chance?”
“It was.”
“I never could get the hang of Thursdays,” I muttered. “Right. That would be the day Toby collapsed and had to be rushed to the hospital.”
Jareth leaned forward at that news. “Is he alright? Why wasn’t I told?”
“Ironically given our current circumstances, he had a nasty bout of heatstroke. But he’ll be okay. And you’re being told now because this is the first chance I’ve had to talk to you.”
“Ah.”
“‘Ah’ is right. Sometimes it’s not about you, you know.”
“Impossible.”
“Mmhmm. So can we undo the current mess here then?”
“I was rather enjoying the quiet, actually.”
“Some people just go for a nice walk by themselves when they want some quiet, you know.”
“I’m not some people.”
“Ha! Don’t I know it.”
“Perhaps that quiet walk you mentioned is a good idea. Care to join me?”
The air was definitely getting warmer in here. Safe to leave while things thawed, I’d wager. “Love to.”
no subject
2022-12-12 23:23 (UTC)no subject
2022-12-27 14:28 (UTC)Chill
2022-12-12 23:24 (UTC)Drabble:
Sarah entered the library to find Jareth, Rook and Bishop clustered together on the floor. The giggling and buzzing coming from the trio intrigued her enough to investigate, where she discovered they were playing a simulacra of a game her brother had as a child. Except instead of removing internal organs from a body, what looked suspiciously like representations of annoying minor nobles were being taken from a castle before being dropped in a bog.
Rook’s hair colour was a different jewel tone from when she’d last seen her, leading Sarah to assume the toy was one of Doug’s gadgets. What she didn’t understand is why three people with excellent hand eye coordination were triggering the toy to buzz, but guessed it was either deliberate or they were playing by distraction rules. She hoped it was the latter as last time had resulted in a most enjoyable evening with her husband.
She settled herself at the reading table, smiling when Bishop joined her as she noticed that he’d swapped his brocade vest for one that matched Rook’s new hair colour.
“Homework?” Bishop turned a chair so he could watch both Sarah and the pair on the floor.
Sarah made an inelegant grunt. “We’re supposed to do an essay on a species other than our own and, as I see the guardians all the time, I thought I’d write about shapeshifters.” She frowned at the brief look of concern that flashed across Bishop’s face, but was distracted by a loud bark of laughter from the game players. Turning back to Bishop, she wondered out loud why she couldn’t find anything in the main library.
With a sigh Bishop responded in a soft tone. “You understand that the fae have long lives and suffer from low fertility?” She nodded. “What impact do you think that has on warfare?”
Sarah tilted her head in thought. “It would potentially make a war an extinction event.” Bishop nodded in agreement. “Is that why they recruited shapeshifters?”
“We weren’t recruited, love.” Sarah reached across the table and laid her hand over Bishop’s at his tone. “Millennia ago the great families decided they needed soldiers who could fight in their wars, but had the advantage of high fertility. We’re not a separate species, we’re a genetic tweak seeded into certain human bloodlines with fae ancestry.”
“You’re a halfling with transformation magic?” It was the only solution Sarah could imagine.
Bishop shook his head and smiled sadly. “While we have human and fae ancestry, the genetics that sets our transformation species and increases our fertility is derived from animals. We might be their soldiers, but the families that created us regard us as livestock.”
“Jareth!” Sarah stood up, knocking her chair over as she glared at her husband. “What the hell?” She had a fraction of a second to catch Jareth’s distressed expression and Rook’s look of disappointment and anger before they vanished. She felt Rook’s low growl reverberate through her chest for several seconds after their departure.
Re: Chill
2022-12-27 14:30 (UTC)Re: Chill
2022-12-27 19:26 (UTC)