Drabble #152: Beam

[jalenstrix]

...we had a nice response to my last posted drabble prompt of Drabble 148, with entries by redwolf and me (one of your intrepid drabble proposers, jalenstrix), and commenting by us both. Huzzah!

As always, special labyfic love to redwolf for adding entries and comments for several previous drabble prompts. You are the very, very best!





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

Beam

A beam of what? Or is someone beaming....and with what? Or is someone getting beamed up somewhere (Star Trek reference, check)? All the beams! 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
$your_beautiful_drabble


I'll aim to get the next drabble challenge out on the first Tuesday of next month (May 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

[jalenstrix]

Word count: 500

It was like running headfirst into a crossbeam. I was literally stunned.

It was a simple fist bump, a friendly signoff that we’d always done. And I wanted to crawl my way up his arm, tracing every line of his tattoos, and not just with my fingers.

I glanced up at him. Thank the heavens, Gladius didn’t look like he had a clue that my subconscious was serving up sexytimes with him. Queenly dignity intact.

You should follow up on that.

I mentally batted the Labyrinth’s voice away. I’m the acting monarch of a Faerie realm. I don’t jump the bones of nice, unsuspecting security personnel on a whim.

Why not? Queens have needs too. The voice was starting to pick up an achingly familiar velvety chord of suggestion.

I purposefully ignored the Labyrinth’s new, unsettling tone. Precisely because I’m the Queen. I’m terrible at casual encounters.

Give it time with that Faerie mantle. Besides, as a ruler, your needs are vast. You need to get them satisfied for the good of the realm.

That gave me pause. How so?

Do you think it’s good if your attention is tangled up on your desires? There are too many other things that require your focus. Take care of this need.

I realized I was still touching Gladius’s hand, and his warm, brown eyes looked a clear question at me. Jareth would have quirked an eyebrow to express that same sentiment.

Gladius was, in some ways, the polar opposite of Jareth — muscular with a bright, boyish grin and an easy charm like a spring breeze. We were on friendly terms, because Gladius helped oversee the children’s security. I saw him every day, and he was a sweetheart (as Fae went), far cannier than he liked to let people know, and joyfully impulsive. I genuinely liked him.

And now I was thinking of very naughty things involving him. What to do…

This is not a time for subtlety. Your needs are vast.

Hush! I got the memo, ok?

“Gladius,” I traced my fingers down his wrist, “I need your help with something, if you’re interested.“

His eyes widened. With definite understanding and interest. “I’d be honored, your Highness.”

“Lovely.”

I could actually feel the Labyrinth rolling its metaphorical eyes at me. We need to work on your technique. A phantom caress drifted across my neck, just below my ear. Exactly how Jareth used to touch to me.

I shivered. You and I are going to discuss why you’re starting to sound like Jareth.

A rolling, silken chuckle. No rush. Take your time.

It was my turn to mentally roll my eyes. But then my attention snapped back to Gladius, who whisked us around a corner to a more private spot, that sunny grin of his overlaying a very masculine anticipation.

I had my chance to investigate every delightful line of his tattoos, one glorious moment at a time. There were certainly perks to controlling the flow of time in a magical Faerie realm.

[redwolf]

The Labyrinth does seem to have a thing for taking care of the Queen's needs 🦊🧡

[jalenstrix]

Right? Who's a good magical Faerie realm? The Labyrinth is!

[tojojo]

I really like how you write the Labyrinth's voice in this. "Velvety chord of suggestion" is such a good way of describing what the Labyrinth might sound like if sentient!

[jalenstrix]

Thank you so much!

Justice

[redwolf]

Word count: 500

Sarah let the background discussion wash over her as she worked with Grae on a rundown of Rook’s attacker. Jareth and the Guardians were debating methods of personally addressing the error of the man’s ways and for all their profanity with each other, their obvious affection was evident as they tried to mask their concern for Rook’s injury while she looked faintly embarrassed to have been involved in the drama.

The more details Sarah learned from Grae, the less it appeared that this could have been an accident.

The man was a deputy who had long used his position to conduct a campaign of assault and blackmail. As far as Grae had discovered, it was only the arrival of an outside appointment as sheriff that curtailed his behaviour. It had, if nothing else, stopped his favoured hobby of raping teenage girls. The trail of his past attacks may have been missing from the local police reports, but the hospital records told a different story.

Sarah was wondering how the man managed to have a wife and children at home, until Grae uncovered information revealing his wife was yet another of his victims. He had raped her repeatedly when she was barely a teenager and, when she’d fallen pregnant, instead of protecting her, her parents had blamed her for the assault and forced her to marry the bastard. In their tiny little minds, their betrayal of their child made them paragons of virtue. Sarah felt a burning urge to subject the parents to the Labyrinth.

Aside from rape and paedophilia, there was a pattern of suspected assaults and intimidation on those who’d threatened to report his behaviour. While the avenue of law enforcement may have been closed to his victims, he’d managed to alienate many members of the medical community who had compiled an extensive dossier of traumatic injuries that could be tied back to the man.

Sarah was taping a finger against her lips in thought when Erich derailed her train of thought. “We could let the bitier goblins play with him.” She took a moment to let the warm fuzziness of that suggestion wash over her before shaking it off.

“I have a suggestion that initially goes against an overwhelming urge to spend quality time introducing that waste of breath to medieval torture implements.” Sarah had the room’s full attention. “We release him Above unharmed.” She held up a hand to forestall any arguments. “But we give him a compulsion to not only tell the truth, but a desire to fully unburden himself. Anyone associated with covering up his crimes, like his appalling inlaws, will be similarly affected by the magic.”

Sarah squeaked as Jareth pulled her into his arms and spun her around. “I imagine there will be a lot of schadenfreude as his victims watch his life unravel at his own hands.”

“Speaking of which, I believe he owes one of those hands to Rook.”

Jareth beamed in delight. “My Goblin Queen has a deliciously cruel streak.”

Re: Justice

[jalenstrix]

Oooh, what an absolutely delicious retribution! Very satisfying if their undoing is by their own hand (or tongue, in this case).

Re: Justice

[redwolf]

It would certain upend the community. 🦊🧡