Drabble #53: Charming

[redwolf]

Digging up an old challenge from Livejournal:

Returning to our one word prompt roots, this month's prompt is

Charming

Take it in the literal, magical, or any other sense that crosses your writerly heart, and write, my lovelies, write!

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

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

Pigment

[redwolf]

Word count: 500
Drabble:

Sarah strolled through the gallery, admiring the artwork on display. She ran a finger along the edge of the shelf and smiled with a sense of pride at the artfully arranged collection of ceramics she’d worked on with Bishop.

Continuing on to the studio, she paused on the threshold before entering. Experience had taught her that it was best to be aware of her surroundings if she didn’t want to get unexpectedly splashed with paint or stumble into a life drawing session.

This time she was met with the not unfamiliar sight of Jareth and Rook decorating each other rather than a canvas.

Jareth was seated on a table, arms wrapped around one knee as he watched Rook paint his toenails, his other leg was idly swinging by her chair.

“I thought you were supposed to be painting.” Sarah could see Rook’s bare feet and guessed that Jareth had worked on her first. Even from the distance of the doorway, she could see that the orange was heavily saturated and just on the edge of being uncomfortable to look at for too long.

“We are.” Jareth graced her with a sly grin.

Sarah rolled her eyes and entered the room to take a closer look. Apparently his toes were the last to get done, as both of them sported fingernails in matching colour schemes, except Jareth had opted for black.

Taking his hand, Sarah realised it wasn’t the black nail polish she was expecting to see. “This looks like a portable hole?” Jareth raised an eyebrow and Sarah waved it away. “Sorry, cartoon reference.” The matte black reflected no light, making it look like a void on the end of his fingers.

Leaning down, she saw that Rook’s toenails were also matte, but the finish gave the impression of velvet. “What is this stuff?”

“Thadie’s been working on new pigments.” Rook carefully finished her work and leaned back to allow Jareth to dry it using magic.

“We decided to experiment with a smaller canvas first,” Jareth finished.

“She made nail polish?” Sarah wondered at the choice of medium.

“No, love.” Jareth pointed out a container. “Thadie gives us the pigment in powdered form and we mix it into whatever medium we need. In this case, nail polish.”

While she theoretically understood that nail polish was essentially a tiny container of paint, it had never occurred to Sarah that you could use the same base in such different ways.

“Could I use this in my glazes?” she asked, pondering the possibilities.

“These pigments won’t work as expected due to the firing process, but ask Thadie what’s possible.”

Sarah gasped as Jareth lifted her up to sit in his place.

“Your turn.” He selected a pigment container and a small palette knife.

“Do I have a choice of colour?”

Jareth shook his head and started painting Sarah’s fingernails. She held up a hand to admire his work, and what she’d thought was silver was a perfect mirror finish.

“Thank you, they’re gorgeous.”