Drabble #61: Disguise

[jalenstrix]

...we had a quieter response to the drabble prompt of Drabble 60, with entries by the tremedous 3iggy and me (your intrepid drabble proposer jalenstrix). We were bolstered by the commenting love of the labyfic collective, represented this past month by imhilien, me, and 3iggy.

Mwah, my fabulous labyfic collective! Your drabbles and comments continue to warm my heart.


For this prompt, we continue with our one-word drabble roots, taking inspiration from the Halloween season:

Disguise

Who's in disguise? Why? What's the disguise? Is it any good? Teeeeeeellll meeeeeeee.....




As I've been thoroughly enjoying the 300 word limit, let's continue with it for this month. 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 Thursday of next month (Nov 2).

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.)

Comments

[jalenstrix]

Word count: 298
Drabble:

I looked at Jareth, struggling to find appropriate words. “That….is not a very good disguise.”

“What? What’s wrong with it?”

I closed my eyes briefly. “You do realize that the purpose of a disguise is to blend in. To be unnoticed. That property is, for instance, what makes a disguise different from, say, a costume one might wear to, say, a masquerade.”

He removed the pearlescent feathered mask with a somewhat sheepish air. “I thought you said this was a formal affair.”

“Business affair. I said it was a business affair.”

He shrugged a shoulder gleaming with diamond-bright threads. “Same thing.”

“Maybe from where you’re from. Here, that means two piece suite, preferably not tailored to you like a glove. No, don’t you make that face at me. I told you part of this job was surveillance and you, as I distinctly recall, said fine.”

“I would never agree to such a travesty.”

“Do I really need to bring out the contract again?” I kept it as a file on my smartphone for just these occasions. It was sadly not surprising how often he tried to wriggle out of some of the more useful clauses.

“You’re a cruel woman.”

“Uh huh. I’m waiting.”

He flicked a hand up and down once, and the gorgeous shimmering body-hugging something he’d come dressed in melted away into an off-the-rack gray suit.

“And the tie. No Zegna. I mean it. Those patterns are eye-catching.”

Another long suffering sigh, another hand flick, and then a very disgruntled goblin king stood next to me in Government Worker chic.

“Much better. And that expression of sour boredom is perfect. Let’s go.”

“I repeat: you are a cruel woman, Sarah Williams.”

“Quit your whining, your majesty. We’ve places to go and bad people to surveil.”

[3iggy]

O! I missed the Drabble! I had checked for postings but never saw it! Poor Jareth, however, I’m sure he would still look arresting in a boring suit. You can’t hide glamorous..

[jalenstrix]

Very true about hiding glamorous. :D

[redwolf]

I don't think it's possible for Jareth to not stand out regardless of attire.

Perhaps Sarah should have let him stay in his glorious something and used him a distraction. There's a fan theory that James Bond, who is so terribly unsubtle, is actually an overt method of distraction to cover for the real spies 🦊🧡

Flare

[redwolf]

Word count: 500
Drabble:

There was a part of Sarah that loved the pageantry of fae balls. The venues were a set designer's wet dream, with each event trying to one up the previous event, they had long ago passed beyond the realm where even the most flamboyant of drag queens would consider the theatrics just a bit too much.

The costuming was also an enormous amount of fun, but as she was still catching up on Underground politics, she left the details to Jareth. Not only did he have the experience and flair for selecting an appropriate outfit, he ensured that they represented their kingdom in the correct manner for the occasion. Sometimes that was blending in, reflecting the hosts or contrasting the theme, and sometimes it was dressing in a manner that leaned more towards fetish or into outright intimidation.

While Sarah enjoyed the dramatics of the presentation, it was the people she could have done without. Trade negotiations could be annoying enough, but that tended to be one kingdom at time and the balls were definitely more of everything.

She knew the major kingdoms and their rulers, but was still getting a handle on the various nobles, courtiers and minions that were allied to each, although it had taken her all of five minutes to realise that a ball was like stepping into a nest of vipers who thrived on gossip and intrigue. The behaviour was not dissimilar to insecure teenage girls who didn’t understand that their brief moment of bitchy high school glory had been the high point of their shallow lives.

As a rule Sarah followed Jareth’s lead, which mostly consisted of looking gorgeous and either dangerous or harmless while displaying no emotion. Rook had been a surprising source of maintaining her balance at these events. She had reminded Sarah that she was a queen, above most people in the room and needed to remember that being confronted by a passive aggressive courtier was a sign that they were foolish enough to think that sniping at royalty would not be recalled during a future discussion over trade. And, if that failed, to imagine how she would remove body parts, which implement she would use and the relative state of said tool. Sarah had quickly discovered that contemplating the thought of scooping out a particularly spiteful lady’s eyeballs with a rusty spoon apparently broke her resting bitch face in such a manner that even the most seasoned of mean girls blanched in fear.

While Sarah had been learning how to conduct herself at these gatherings, she could still see the strain it put on Jareth. The tension in his jaw and around his eyes after an encounter with someone particularly obnoxious that seemed obvious to herself as indicators of imminent violence were overlooked by attendees with a lack of self preservation. Keeping in physical contact with Jareth had so far reined in his urge to bog annoying people, but he didn’t fully relax until they returned to the Goblin Kingdom.