Drabble #99: Cheer
Friday, 4 December 2020 05:30![[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 98, with an entry by me (your intrepid drabble proposer
jalenstrix).For this prompt, we continue with our one-word/phrase drabble roots:
Cheer
Does someone need cheering up so they're of good cheer? Or perhaps just a cheering section? Or is someone giving a cheer about something? (All of the above, and more?) 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 1).
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
2020-12-27 13:34 (UTC)Drabble:
Jareth’s eyes narrowed, the writhing cold around him hungry and waiting. “What is this?”
I pointedly ignored him. After a thoughtful moment, I added another curled ribbon to the current tableau.
“I will be answered.” His voice echoed in chaotic layers that scratched at mortal sanity.
I arched an eyebrow. “I suggest you use your vaunted powers of observation then.”
That made him glower more. An inky shadow slithered over to me, trying to be surreptitious.
I batted it away. “No surrogates. If you want details, you’ll have to come look yourself.”
He briefly closed his eyes. “Why must you be so...difficult?”
I shrugged and repositioned a poinsettia arrangement. “You’ve been a gloomy wreck since solstice and I’m tired of it.”
He stiffened as if struck, and the shadows surged forward, rife with menace. “You presume too much.”
I blithely continued my setup as shadows fizzled off my reinforced aura. “I’m not the one who’s plunged this kingdom into sepulchral darkness with his dreary mood. I’m just the one trying to fix it.”
“By doing what? Annoying me to death?”
“Cheering you up, of course. So why don’t you get off your admittedly lovely arse, and come see what I’ve wrought here?”
Silence stretched and curled between us. “You think my arse is lovely?”
Ha! Victory. “Always have, always will. Wife’s prerogative.”
The shadows shrank back against the walls as he came over. “What is all this, anyway?”
I pressed a hidden button, and a merry, off-key “Fa la la la la, La la La La” swelled out. “Feanor and the castle goblins helped.”
“So I hear.” He poked at a nearby stony mass with a bow on it. A rumbly voice intoned "This rock friend" as the thing lurched towards the nearest wall.
“Some of your other subjects contributed too.”
He eyed the glittering present pile. “How many?”
“A lot. Your subjects, for reasons nearly unfathomable, care about you.”
“Nearly unfathomable?”
“As your wife, I can fathom. Now why don’t you open another present, hmmm? Like that one waaaaay over there. You might have to bend over to reach it. In front of me.”
A wry smile flickered across his lips, mirroring the sudden sunshine at the windows. “I see.”
I reached a hand up to touch his shoulder, letting my warmth seep into the stiff muscle there. “You really can’t let the solstice get to you like this.”
“It was bad.”
“I can imagine. But we need you. Your subjects, your son, and your wife. All of us need you.”
“Do you really?”
“Especially me.” I nudged him forward. “And on that subject, less brooding and more strategic leaning. Those pants you’re wearing are simply divine.”
“You got them for me.”
“That I did. They’re worth every dream thread I spent at that svartalf tailor’s, and I’d like to fully enjoy them.”
He shook his head, a gentle chuckle bubbling up as a fresh breeze suffused the room. “The things I do for love.”
“Don’t we all?”
no subject
2022-08-16 10:27 (UTC)Glance
2022-08-16 10:28 (UTC)Drabble:
The shield Sarah had manifested during the attempt on her life was far more advanced than any magic she had so far managed to produce. It wasn’t even a technique that she had yet studied. With no preparation or forethought, she had reacted instantaneously to shield herself and several goblins while allowing the chess set free reign to deal with her assassin. Jareth was eager to see if she could reproduce the results on demand and had transported them to a vast grassy plain to avoid any potential issues with friendly fire.
Sarah practised recreating the shield, trying different methods and processes, even seeing if she had any better luck getting it to work on Rook or Bishop.
As the morning progressed with little to show for it beyond small bursts of sparkly lights and glitter, Sarah was getting more annoyed with herself for her lack of progress and was finding it increasingly difficult to refrain from taking out her frustrations on Jareth as he calmly talked her through another attempt.
Sarah walked away from her husband before she said something stupid. Taking several deep breaths to try and relax, she closed her eyes and tried to recall how she had worked the magic the first time. Nothing was coming to mind aside from being terrified that the throne room goblins would be hurt. She combed her fingers through her hair before fisting her hands at her sides, snorting quietly to herself in realisation that even her actions were a completely contradictory emotional mess.
“Patience, my dear. Magic this advanced is not something that can be mastered in a few hours. When you figure it out it will take years to hone.”
Jareth’s low tone usually calmed her and she turned back to him to snarl a reply that died on her lips when she saw the shadow wrap itself around his body. The creature was not something Sarah was familiar with and it didn’t seem to be analogous to any animals Above. As it wound around Jareth’s limbs it shifted in form to pulse from vine like strands to great sheets of darkness. Even in full daylight it was so dark that it looked like an optical illusion hanging in space.
Adrenaline flooded Sarah’s body and without thought she threw a storm of ice knives at the assailant. She grinned fiercely as she heard the barrage hit with a satisfyingly series of thunks that gave the creature enough pause to allow Sarah’s magic to get a grip on it and wrench it away from Jareth. An idle thought drifted across her mind and she wondered why the chess set were allowing her to face a monster alone and had not moved until after she attacked. She’d seen them in action and could not hope to compete with the guardsmen for speed.
The creature dissipated into a mist and when it cleared, Sarah gasped to see Jareth lying on the ground unmoving, his fallen body embedded with her ice blades.
no subject
2022-08-30 14:51 (UTC)Re: Glance
2022-08-30 14:53 (UTC)Re: Glance
2022-08-30 19:46 (UTC)