Drabble #69: Bug
Friday, 1 June 2018 00:01![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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labyfic...we again had a quieter response to the drabble prompt of Drabble 68, with an entry by me (your intrepid drabble proposer
jalenstrix). Alas, for the commenting love was absent this month!Oh my larger drabbling labyfic collective, come back to ussssssssss! We miss you.
For this prompt, we continue with our one-word drabble roots, with a word that got stuck in my mind because of the whimsical compound "Junebug":
Bug
Maybe a literal bug is your inspiration, in steamy summer weather, or a more metaphorical bug that simply won't leave some of our favorite characters alone...tell us all about it.
Given our entries from recent months, let's up the limit for this month to 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 Friday of next month (July 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.)
no subject
2018-06-03 23:10 (UTC)Drabble:
I looked in the mirror and a pair of mismatched crystalline eyes gazed back out at me. I also noted the new glittery blue streaks infusing my hair. Whatever was going on was definitely getting worse. Not to mention the omnipresent tremors and headaches — at least those I could hide.
Desperate times, desperate measures. “Jareth, I need you.”
A second pair of mismatched crystalline eyes was suddenly gazing back from the mirror. They widened as they surveyed mine. And then the bastard had the nerve to laugh. “I see why you finally called.”
I whirled on him. “What the hell is this?”
He tilted his head thoughtfully. “I’d say a clear fashion improvement.”
I rolled my eyes. “Did you do this?”
“I can safely say this isn’t my handiwork.”
“But you know whose it is.”
“It seems you’ve picked up a certain...malady endemic to the Labyrinth.”
I blinked at him. “This is some kind of faerie flu?” I stared at him for a moment. “That’s long-lasting? How long have you had it? It’s been years since I saw you and you’re still—”
He held up a hand. “Not exactly. It’s more...a symbiote.”
“Jareth, what the hell is in me? Jesus, in us?”
“Calm yourself, Sarah. Anyone who spends enough time in the Labyrinth eventually picks it up.”
I felt my head shaking back and forth. “You’re telling me I’m infected with a Labyrinth parasite.”
“More or less. A very beneficial one, though, at least for humans.” He gestured to himself. “As you can see.”
“You...how long have you had it?”
“Oh, at least two centuries by now. One benefit is longevity. The symbiote repairs human tissues effortlessly.”
I swallowed. “What else does it do?”
“To us? Well, any latent magical abilities should start picking up, especially if you do the sensible thing and reside in the Labyrinth.”
“And if I don’t?”
He grimaced. “I wouldn’t recommend that. Withdrawal symptoms. Bad ones. You’re already feeling some of them now, I’m sure.”
I looked at my hand, with that damned tremor. “What does it take from us?”
“As best I’ve been able to work out, the symbiote subsists on some of our...neural effluvia. But it prefers the type we emit while in the Labyrinth. Hence, it makes its displeasure known when we’re away.”
“Jareth, this is just...I refuse to accept this.”
That shocked a laugh from him. “Sarah, this isn’t a case where strength of will is going to overcome. Unacceptable or not, it’s in you and I suggest you adapt. It’s really not so bad.” He grinned. “I make an excellent castlemate, for instance, if you’re looking for residence options.” He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.
“Oh, dear god.” I covered my face with my trembling hands. “This is some kind of cosmic joke, isn’t it?”
A surprisingly gentle hand touched my shoulder. “Maybe so. But I can help. If you’ll let me.”
I took a slow breath. “Well, what choice have I got, right?”
“Precisely.”
no subject
2018-06-07 19:09 (UTC)no subject
2018-06-10 17:48 (UTC)no subject
2023-05-02 10:09 (UTC)Drabble #69
2018-07-02 14:29 (UTC)The lamp flickered on the desk as Sarah sat back in the chair running a hand through her hair as she stared at the blinking computer screen. It was blank. One moment a thousand little windows popped into existence and then the next everything went blue. She’d lost everything.
The tenant in the apartment above hers was running the vacuum, in another apartment a couple shouted at each other, and a dog barked down the hallway. The world was nothing but chaos and clamor and a bug had killed her one escape. In an instant her entire story was gone. It may not even have been a good story, but it was hers and now it was nothing more than an idea that rambled through her mind.
Slamming the laptop shut, Sarah stood, her toes coming into contact with the cold floor. The walls were closing in on her. A wild thing within her chest took flight, sick of imprisonment, of being contained within a world of brick and glass. Sarah rushed down the laughably short hallway and into the bedroom with its one dingy little window that looked out over an alley.
The window groaned in displeasure as Sarah pushed it up and pressed her face against the screen. The air outside was humid and sticky with exhaust. It tasted like the city. Heart in her throat, tears stinging the back of her eyelids, Sarah did a desperate thing, something she hadn’t done in many years.
“I wish I were anywhere but here,” she whispered into the florescent-tainted night. She couldn’t even hear herself over the hum of wheels and the symphony of car horns.
A cool wind whipped strands of hair that had fallen free of her braid across her face. A smell, like decaying leaves and loam, wrapped itself around her. When she opened her eyes the city was gone.
Progress was not a part of the world she found herself in. There were no looming skyscrapers or neon lights. No advertisements or shops. It was a world that existed in a static state of disrepair. A perfectly haphazard and tarnished realm.
The dusky haze of the Labyrinth softened the beat of her heart and quieted the cagey wild thing that was her soul. She took one breath and then another and waited.
Wishes once granted always claimed their price.
Re: Drabble #69
2018-07-02 16:33 (UTC)Re: Drabble #69
2023-05-02 10:11 (UTC)Dismantle
2023-05-02 10:12 (UTC)Drabble:
Sarah stood in the doorway and blinked at the unexpected sight of what appeared to be a life size model kit where all that was missing were the connecting sprues. Car parts were neatly positioned on a tarp with Jareth and Rook sitting cross legged in the midst of the organised chaos.
“Is that a Beetle?” Sarah blurted out, recognising the familiar shape of a fender.
“I believe it’s an automobile, dear.” Jareth glanced up from the chunk of vehicle he was disassembling.
“That’s what this particular model of car is called, love.” Rook gestured towards the array of very shiny tools sitting between her and Jareth. “Pass me the third biggest shiny with the two ring knobs, lad.” A small goblin leap from Rook’s shoulder to fetch the wrench she indicated.
Sarah was surprised at the agreeability of the goblin, who had quickly returned to his perch with the correct requested item. “Why?”
Rook pointed at Jareth. “He wanted to know how cars work and then he gave me the look.”
“I’m sorry?” Sarah asked in confusion before Jareth flashed her a pout that her brother had perfected before he could walk and was guaranteed to make her cave to his demands every time. While it was a delightfully beseeching expression, Sarah doubted it actually convinced Rook to do anything. It didn’t matter which one of the pair came up with an idea, the other one would always happily enable their stupidity. They were partners in mischief and Jareth’s face pulling was just part of their game.
What baffled Sarah was that they could both wear the same thing yet make it look completely different. Even amid the car parts, Jareth’s clothing was so white it almost glowed and he had the look of someone taking a break during a photoshoot. Rook’s overalls, on the other hand, were an indeterminate colour that may have been mostly stain and gave her the look of a feral mechanic.
“Are you wearing gloves?” Jareth and Rook both glanced at Sarah, their heads tilted in a manner that eerily mimicked their animal counterparts. With a sigh, she pointed at Rook.
“Nitrile. Grippy.” Rook made a jazz hands motion that had her shoulder mounted goblin lunging at them.
“Want gummy.” The goblin latched onto her wrist and started licking her gloved hand.
“I’m still using it, lad.” Rook gently disentangled the slobbering goblin. “Can goblins digest synthetic rubber?”
“They can digest almost anything.” Jareth waved away her concern.
Rook reached up to scratch the goblin fondly. “You can have the gloves when I’m done.”
Sarah smiled as the goblin quivered with excitement and looked at the disassembled vehicle to wonder if this was nature or nurture. Did the kingdom attract creatures with a propensity for chaos or did they end up that way over time. She had an idle thought that this either tarred her with the same brush or she was soon destined to be picking up a spanner and joining the festivities.