Drabble #180: Mask

[redwolf]

...we had a nice response to the drabble prompt of Drabble 179, with entries by apachefirecat and redwolf

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

Mask

Tell us all about it. Labyfic-style, of course.

Given our entries from recent months, let's continue with the suggested limit 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 be running weekly challenges in the space around jalenstrix's monthly challenges.

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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

Exhalation

[redwolf]

Word count: 500

Sarah had reached her limit for dealing with people a good couple of hours earlier. To be honest, the moment she realised her least favoured adviser was leading the proceedings, she wondered if it would be possible to arrange for an emergency root canal instead. Her inner Jareth had quietly suggested that it would be much more fun if her advisor was the one in the dentist’s chair, and she couldn’t find it in herself to disagree. She was currently cursing past Sarah’s long avoided plans of finding a more appropriate and distantly located role for the man.

While he was pleasant enough, one of his more annoying quirks was that he was incapable of using one word when he could employ a dozen. This made meetings even more tedious than necessary when his habit dragged them out in a misguided notion of ingratiating himself to a superior.

It was this kind of frustrating scenario that reminded her of the decision she’d made to have the Labyrinth bind her magic until she permanently moved Underground. If she’d been born Underground, she would have had her magic increase slowly from adolescence, allowing her to train and gain mastery over it. However, when she gained magic as a result of her status as Champion, it increased with ongoing contact with the Underground and it was something that was completely alien to both herself and the world Above, it was a potential recipe for disaster.

Binding her power while she was spending the bulk of her time Above meant she avoided the tricky situation of explaining how the man on the bus who’d groped her had spontaneously combusted. However, the downside was that when those bindings were removed she had a huge amount of magic at her disposal and a fledgling level of control. At least if she accidentally exploded the furniture when Underground, she wouldn’t be carted off to be dissected by men in lab coats.

As the man puffed himself up to further expound on nothing, Sarah decided that her magical control was about to have an off day. She took a deep, calming breath and allowed her magic to manifest in lightning like bands that flickered down her arms and turned her eyes into glowing pools. When he finally looked up in response to a change in lighting, he froze for a moment before scurrying from the room in an uncoordinated flurry of limbs.

“You appear to be leaking magic,” Bishop deadpanned.

Sarah hummed in response. “I prefer to think of it as pest control.” When she blinked, her eyes had returned to normal, as had the rest of her appearance. “Although, I wonder if that trick will work more than once.”

“He might not be the sharpest tool in the box, but he does eventually seem to notice that he’s in danger of a good smiting. Perhaps see if a strongly worded reminder suffices next time before escalating.”

Sarah flashed Bishop a very goblin grin. “I make no promises.”