Drabble #129: Preparation

[jalenstrix]

...we had a nice response to the drabble prompt of Drabble 128, with entries by redwolf and me (your intrepid drabble proposer jalenstrix, who finally got her act together again after a week's extension), and comments by us both as well. As always, special labyfic love to redwolf for adding entries and comments for many previous drabble prompts. Huzzah!





For this prompt, we continue with our one-word/phrase drabble roots:

Preparation

Preparation for what? Or who? And who's doing that preparation, and how? 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 Monday of next month (August 7).

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. Authors generally write for love.)

Comments

Redirection

[redwolf]

Word count: 500
Drabble:

Jareth was rarely pleased at having to be involved in out of kingdom negotiations and, if his day was anything like hers, he would be in a dark mood when he returned. Sarah had worked off her own frustrations by hitting things in the training room, but if Jareth was left to his own devices there’d be precious little sleep, or anything else, in her near future as he fumed over his day.

While sparring with the guardians would have worked for Jareth, she found that it was often easier to find another distraction. This was why she’d tasked Bishop with tracking down Rook to inflict on him. If anyone was capable of getting her husband out of a funk it was the feral Scottish guardian.

Sarah finished constructing her own contribution to her plans to divert Jareth, grinning as she placed the amusingly named confections into a container. She had absolutely no problems with playing on his weaknesses.

Approaching the art studio with her bounty in hand, Sarah heard very familiar groans coming from the room and shuddered, knowing that what the pair considered massage was closer to her concept of torture.

On entering the room she noticed a large, still wet artwork lying on one of the work tables, while Jareth was perched on another table.

“Stop squirming or I’ll mess this up,” Angel admonished as she pulled Jareth’s bare foot into a firmer grip and continued applying nail polish.

“I wouldn’t move if…” Jareth’s response was cut off by another groan as Rook dug her thumbs into the arch of his other foot and Angel hissed at him as his curling toes destroyed her work.

Angel slapped Rook’s arm, leaving a streak of colour in her wake, then poked Jareth’s calf and held out a hand. He wordlessly produced a crystal that the woman used to magic away the smeared nail polish.

Rook released Jareth’s other foot and, at a glare from Angel, held the small bottles she was working with. Sarah wasn’t certain if the blue streaks through her hair were Jareth’s work or paint from their earlier artwork, as both were equally possible.

Setting her container down beside Jareth, Sarah smiled softly as opening the lid invoked another groan that was definitely more on the pleasure end of the scale. She handed him one of the small cakes, grinning when he pulled one of the icing sugar dusted cake segments out of the cream topping and popped it into his mouth.

“What are these?” Jareth looked at the remains of the cake in his hand.

Sarah offered Jareth an innocent expression and looked up at him through her hair as he ate the other segment. “Fairy cakes.”

Jareth roared with delighted laughter at eating fairy wings. With a sharp toothed grin he looked Sarah dead in the eye as he slowly licked the cream from the cake. Sarah swallowed, quietly pleased that her plans to distract Jareth from his day were working to her advantage.

Re: Redirection

[jalenstrix]

Well done, Sarah! Clearly, the fruits of her labors should be forthcoming...

Re: Redirection

[redwolf]

A playful Goblin King will be much more fun than a ranty one 🦊🧡

[jalenstrix]

Word count: 483

I thought I was prepared. And I was. Just not for this.

I had been prepared for Jareth to be formidable, to be sly and full of contained violence, menacing and enticing and overwhelming. I had been armored against my Goblin King of old, my husband, the father of my children, who I had seen battle demons and nightmares from Faerie with cool efficiency and unflappable strength.

Only ashes of these were left in the man before me. The iron poisoning was so insidious. It had left a shell of my Jareth, and that shell was still walking and talking and smiling. His brilliance was still there, but so scattered, like glittering remnants of shattered crystals strewn across a long, wide, endless beach.

I was not prepared to see that. I looked at him, and it hurt to breathe. My eyes were wet and burning. Oh, my love, how could it come to this?

But I knew how. And the worst part was that there was nothing any of us could do about it. Jareth couldn’t be forced to accept the remedy for this type of iron poisoning. He had to volunteer, or its potency vanished. And the nature of the poisoning was such that he literally couldn’t see that he was poisoned. His perceptions were utterly overtaken.

I swallowed a sob and turned to look at the dragon who was presiding over us today. The dragon’s power in her realm was absolute, and it turned out that many Faerie disputes – particularly delicate ones involving royal Faerie families – were resolved by dragon. I made a silent prayer that this dragon could somehow make him see he needed help…and protect the rest of us until he did.

The dragon lifted her spectacles and looked down at both of us before focusing on Jareth. “Goblin King, you know why you are here today?”

“I do.”

“I have read your account of things, and that of your wife, and I would like to make a suggestion before we proceed.”

“Please do.”

“I would suggest you submit to an examination for all known poisons, and seek treatment if needed. And then we can revisit this dispute. You may take some time to consider this option.”

Oh please, my love, if you won’t listen to me, if you won’t listen to your mother, please listen to this dragon. Please. Please.

The moments slipped by, the silence allowing the tiniest flicker of hope to build inside me.

Jareth lifted his chin suddenly, a wry smile twisting his lips. “I need no examination. I am perfectly fine. And I will prove my case before you.”

The hope inside me sputtered out, and my eyes were wet again before I could stop them.

The dragon loomed large, a hint of resignation in the fire of her irises. “I thought you might say that. But I had to try. We shall proceed.”

---

Author's note: For my love. I will always love you, no matter what happens.

[redwolf]

That's a delightfully insidious form of poisoning. You let that loose Above and it would kill off the bulk of the male population 🦊🧡