Drabble #165: Flutter

[jalenstrix]

...we had a nice response to my last posted drabble prompt of Drabble 160, with entries by redwolf and me (one of your intrepid drabble proposers, jalenstrix), and commenting by us both as well. Huzzah!

As always, special labyfic love to redwolf and tojojo for adding entries and comments for several previous drabble prompts. You guys continue to be the best!





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

Flutter

A flutter of what? By who or what? How? When and where? 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 my next drabble challenge out on the first Tuesday of next month (Aug 6).

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

Chroma

[redwolf]

Word count: 500

Sarah had finished for the day when she stepped into the studio to see if she could entice Jareth to join her for dinner. He had a terrible habit of forgetting to eat when he was working on a project and always appreciated the respite when she dragged him away.

She’d watched him work with Rook many times, never quite understanding how they managed to work the same canvas with no communication beyond grunts and gestures. This time, however, they were using words, but while the tone was low, any semblance of coherent conversation had devolved into growls and dialect. Whatever the topic under consideration, it certainly wasn’t interfering with their art.

While fairly certain that Rook’s side of the disagreement was mostly swearing and regional idiom that either disparaged Jareth’s forbears or made interesting and likely impossible suggestions on the anatomical insertion of objects, Sarah suspected that Jareth input was just as colourful, if more likely to be weighted towards offers of getting better acquainted with the less salubrious parts of the Labyrinth.

Bishop hopped up to sit beside her on the bench as they watched the painting progress. Sarah appreciated the freeform expression of their art, especially when it was in such contrast to the more structured ceramics she worked with. Even if she didn’t understand it, their art always conveyed a feeling and this piece bore a definite vibe of dissension. It was the kind of painting you’d gift someone if you wanted to passively aggressively declare that if they did that thing that irked you one more time, you would cheerfully bury them in the rose garden. She would have assumed that to be a limited market, but having seen the entitled buyers at a gallery opening, she suspected they’d fight over the piece.

Leaning towards her companion, Sarah whispered. “What is the argument about?”

Bishop tilted his head as he parsed the low growls. “They have opinions.”

“Tell me something I don’t know.” Sarah rolled her eyes fondly. “They regaled me at length about Italian cinema last week.”

“I believe this is about colour.” Bishop spoke slowly, as if he wasn’t quite sure he’d gotten the full nuance of their debate and Sarah raised an eyebrow in query. “More specifically, it’s about shades of blue.”

Frowning at the canvas, Sarah could see two blue slashes that appeared to be an identical colour. She opened her mouth to say this, then thought again. While she couldn’t tell them apart, she had no desire to get caught in the middle of their obsessive weirdness over a shade of blue. She had no horse in this race and was more than happy to nod, smile and agree with Jareth if he raised the issue later. While she may not appreciate the subtlety of tonal variations in different paints, she did love his enthusiasm for his craft. The way his face lit up when he spoke about his passions always made her heart beat just a little bit faster.

Re: Chroma

[tojojo]

This was so cute!Had to look up what chroma means since I'd never seen that word, and it's so fitting to the prompt :)

Re: Chroma

[redwolf]

Nerds will nerd and Sarah has learned to let them nerd and just appreciate the passion. 🦊🧡

[jalenstrix]

Word count: 309

I knew about the butterfly effect. That a tiny movement could ripple through a complex system in increasingly unpredictable ways until cataclysmic changes occurred.

I didn’t know exactly how I knew that, but I knew it. Just like I knew that Jareth was searching for that butterfly flutter equivalent in whatever unspeakably complex magical reality he was in so that he could free me from the sad pocket of reality I was in.

I just hated waiting. Waiting was not a canonical heroine trait, and I was a heroine at heart, despite being, at the moment, a Faerie realm queen with a borrowed Faerie mantle.

The chaotic currents of my mantle hissed softly and curled into butterfly outlines made of icy nothingness. One landed gently on my wrist and fluttered its wings at me.

Awww, thanks, guys. I stroked an ice-shadow wing absently. I just….miss my Jareth.

We know. We do, too.

I wish he was here now.

A black glittering tendril arched from the top of the butterfly wing I was touching, billowing out in a sudden rolling flash. I felt the familiar weight of Jareth’s presence settle over me, and I sighed into it. I do appreciate that you come when I call.

I always have. I always will.

When you can.

When I can. Which is, conveniently, now.

Do you have any more idea what will happen when you find that magical-reality butterfly you’re looking for?

A little.

Will you tell me?

Better for you not to know just yet, Sarah love.

That doesn’t sound ominous at all.

Your knowledge of the situation is one of the many complexities of the system that I’m trying to navigate.

No doubt. Still ominous.

Velvety laughter slid along my skin, carrying his wry amusement. Still ominous, indeed.

I love you. I miss you.

And I you, Sarah mine.

[redwolf]

Sounds like things are getting closer, but I'm with Sarah on the waiting being teh suck. Stupid ominous alternative realities can find their own Goblin King 🦊🧡