Drabble #118: Efficient
Friday, 5 August 2022 10:25![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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labyfic...we had a nice response to the drabble prompt of Drabble 117, with entries by
redwolf and me (your intrepid drabble proposer jalenstrix), and commenting love by us both as well. Hurrah! And again special labyfic love to redwolf for adding entries for many previous drabble prompts. Very fun reads! For this prompt, we continue with our one-word/phrase drabble roots:
Efficient
Who or what is efficient? Perhaps too efficient? Or needs to be more efficient? Tell us all about it. Labyfic-style, of course.
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 (September 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.)
Stray
2022-08-09 10:22 (UTC)Drabble:
Sarah shouldn’t have been surprised the castle had a games room, nor that it seemed to configure itself at Jareth’s whim as she had never seen it the same way twice. At the moment an enormous slot car track looped around the room. Her brother had a Scalextric, but this was another league entirely. There were eight tracks and the cars were the size of her hand.
Jareth had set up a viewing platform that offered an elevated perspective of the track as well as muffling the noise. The high pitched whine of the cars wasn’t too bad, but the competitors tended to get a little enthusiastic.
Sarah and Bishop leant on the railing watching the cars zip around the track so quickly the movement was a blur.
“I have to ask about your names.” Sarah waved her hand at the other half of the chess set below them.
Bishop chuckled. “We’ve used more names Above before and since, but they really were our names at the time we were recruited by the Labyrinth.”
“You knew each other?”
“We’d never met. Neither names were even chess related. If they were, it would make more sense for me to use Rook considering I’m Marrakeshi.” He shook his head. “Perhaps it was a wild coincidence or maybe the Labyrinth has an interesting sense of humour.”
Sarah glanced at her companion with his impeccable suit, neatly cornrowed hair and very proper London accent. “I thought you were from London.”
Bishop bared his teeth in a grin that Sarah quietly thought made him look like he ate small children. “I’m from lots of different places.”
A muffled roar sounded as a car failed to make the turn. Magic may not have been allowed while racing, but it was useful for catching errant vehicles that exited the raceway by unconventional means. Jareth plucked the car out of the air above the track and placed it back on the track.
“They’re all shapeshifters?” Sarah nodded to the competitors.
“All the guardsmen are.” Bishop shot his cuffs before leaning back on the railing.
Sarah cocked her head in thought. The guardsmen assigned to domestic duty were smaller than those who accompanied them outside the kingdom. Rather than play twenty questions, she decided to be blunt. “What are they?”
“The smaller man and woman are hyenas, all of the domestic crew have pack tendencies.” Bishop nodded to a pair of men who both, despite the difference in skin colour, looked Mongolian. “That pair are tigers. The Finn and the Canadian are bears.”
“Are all shapeshifters predators?”
“Our sort…” Bishop shrugged. “I’ve only known us to be predators.”
Sarah nodded. “Should we break up the argument before it escalates to violence?” A vigorous discussion of race rules was underway amongst the competitors.
“Or we could assume they’re playing to the audience and we could remove the temptation by decamping to the kitchen for tea and scones.” Bishop stood up and offered his arm.
“I like the way you think.”
Re: Stray
2022-08-11 19:56 (UTC)Re: Stray
2022-08-11 22:42 (UTC)no subject
2022-08-31 17:48 (UTC)Drabble:
I surveyed the scene. “This is just….”
Jareth sprawled comfortably many, many feet away, his pointy Fluevog boots glittering in the sunlight. “I believe the term you’re looking for is ‘efficient’.”
“I was going to go with lazy, irresponsible, ridiculous…”
“I like my term better.”
“I’m sure you do. That doesn’t change the facts.”
“And which facts do you find so very objectionable?”
“Oh, I don’t know…how about the part where you’re letting our children run amuck with no supervision in a non-child-proofed area?”
“Feanor’s not running amuck. He’s watching over the triplets. And the babies are more in the wiggling stage.”
I closed my eyes briefly. “Feanor is a toddler. A toddler can’t watch over anything or anyone, let alone three babies.”
“Come now, give your son a little credit.”
“I’ll certainly give him more than I’ll give his father.”
“Grumpy, grumpy.”
“Please just fix this.”
“What exactly would you have me do?”
“Actually supervise all our very small children yourself?”
“A waste of my talents surely.”
“Be that as it may.” I tapped my foot against the ground meaningfully.
“There must be better uses of my energies.” His voice curled around me like a cat, velvety soft with hidden claws.
I wasn’t in the mood to be distracted. “Entirely likely. Feanor, come here! Papa wants to take you out to play!”
Feanor was at Jareth’s side faster than a speeding bullet, his little toddler arms wrapped tight around Jareth’s knees. “We go out, Papa?”
Jareth shot me a look that was three parts panic and one part murder.
I smiled sweetly back. “I’ll keep an eye on the wigglers. You and Feanor go have quality time.”
Feanor shrieked with joy. “Kwal-tee time, Papa!”
Jareth’s eyes narrowed at me as he laid his hand on Feanor’s head. “Your ways are ways of deviousness and I’ll get you for this.”
“Three versus one? I think you’re getting the better end of the deal.”
“The one is a toddler with reserves of energy that are truly terrifying.”
“He’s your son. What did you expect?”
“Papa no want go with me?” Feanor’s voice broke through our sparring, small and uncertain.
Jareth froze, and then swept Feanor into his arms as he stood and turned to the door. “Not at all, my boy. You and I are going to go have some wonderful fun outside. Messy fun. Extremely messy. Where we make messes of unusual size.”
Feanor’s grin was brighter than the sun over Jareth’s shoulder.
I called to him as they left. “You’re a good papa, Jareth.”
Jareth’s voice wafted back, promising dark things in shadowy places. “I expect recompense upon my return.”
“It’s good to want things. Have fun, you two!”
no subject
2023-02-01 23:52 (UTC)