jalenstrix (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
jalenstrix) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
labyfic2025-07-07 10:05 am
jalenstrix) wrote in labyfic2025-07-07 10:05 am
Entry tags:
Drabble #217: Voice
...we had a nice response to my last posted drabble prompt of Drabble 213, with entries by
redwolf and me (jalenstrix), one of your intrepid drabble proposers, with commenting by us both. Huzzah!As always, special labyfic love to
redwolf for adding entries and comments for several previous drabble prompts. Onward, drabblers, inspired by our fabulous redwolf!For this prompt, we continue with our one-word/phrase drabble roots:
Voice
Is someone voicing something? Finding their voice? Giving a voice to something else? 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 Monday of next month (Aug 4).
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.)
Unmoored
Sarah would be most appreciative of a night out Above without another drink spiking incident. The perpetrators had been easily spotted, subdued and zip tied. Rook and Bishop had passed them off to the local constabulary without the need to enlist Jareth’s talents, which was a good thing as he’d downed several adulterated beverages and was not at his best.
If Sarah was being cynical, she strongly suspected this was deliberate, not just to ensure the safety of those in the venue, but to test the drugs on someone not human. While she appreciated that Jareth didn’t want to put anyone else at risk, she’d prefer it if he didn’t use himself as a guinea pig. Whether he was cataloguing the effects to weaponise the compounds Underground or just to recognise reactions, she was yet to determine.
Fortunately, Rook was experienced in Jareth wrangling and redirected his urges to tangle with the traffic.
Sarah, however, found herself having to hang back slightly due to Jareth experiencing time slippage. While it was certainly entertaining to hear Jareth wax lyrical about her younger self, every time his focus was drawn to her he kept trying to escort her back to her old university accommodations until Rook distracted him again.
When he started skipping along the bollards it was decided that it would be best to return Underground until Jareth finished metabolising whatever he’d consumed. Drunks interacting with street furniture may have been a common enough sight, but when the bollards were round topped, it was wet and the footwear was inappropriate, it started to draw curious glances.
Jareth’s gentlemanly urge to escort Sarah back to school did not end once they were home. Sarah didn’t want to find out if his magic was as disjointed as his time perception and she wasn’t sure how he’d handle seeing two Sarahs in his current state. Fortunately, they found that if she was screened from his view, they could hold a conversation, provided it was kept light and didn’t allude to the present day.
When they’d returned to the castle library, Jareth had found a seat on the floor by the fire and was engrossed in an impossibly complicated game of Cat's Cradle with Rook.
Sarah chuckled quietly as she watched Bishop writing notes. “How long do you think before it wears off?”
Bishop tapped his pen against his teeth. “One of the officer’s ran a test kit, so we know what the pharmaceutical was. The initial euphoria is typical, but humans tend to pass out, especially at the levels he imbibed and, as we can see, Jareth is alert and active. We've curtailed his attempts at magic, for obvious reasons, but I am curious about any impacts. If he’s still exhibiting any signs of impairment in an hour, Rook will flush it from his system.”
“I don’t like him harming himself like this, but it is sweet to hear him talk about when I was at university. He was always fun to study with.”
Re: Unmoored
Re: Unmoored
no subject
Jareth’s smile hit me like a truck wrapped in sparkly velvet. He was leaning casually against the wall in a strategic beam of golden sunlight, arms crossed, eyes positively aglow with amusement. “You called?”
I closed my eyes and took a breath, reminding myself that this was a dream. “I came to talk.”
“After all this time? To what do I owe the honor?”
I snorted out a breath. “A lapse of good sense.”
“Mmm.” He tilted his head. “Anything else?”
“Well, I couldn’t forget how your hair defies physics. I needed another look at that.”
His laughter curled across my skin. “That’s what I always enjoyed about you, Sarah. You don’t shy away from saying what you think.”
I felt like a stone had dropped onto my throat. I tried to swallow, and failed.
Jareth, of course, noticed. He was suddenly in front of me, lifting my chin gently. “What is it, heroine?”
A shiver rushed through me, molded from cold, painful truth. My tongue was stone in my mouth.
Jareth looked down at me, something unnameable in his eyes. “Tell me.”
I closed my eyes again, and managed to unlock my jaw. “I lost my voice somewhere, between adult-ing and behaving and trying to make everyone happy all at once.” The words felt like ice cracking. “I say clever things in my head all the time. Wild, true things. But they stick in my throat.”
His thumb caressed the side of my cheek. “Not right now.”
I leaned into his touch. “Not right now. Somehow. Magically.”
“Magic is one of my specialities.”
That got a ghost of a smile from me. “Clearly. Faerie king.” The words gushed up from me now. “Also, you’re unfairly attractive, you have an unholy knowledge of aesthetics, and you’re sly and infuriating, and…” My heart was racing as my words trailed off.
“And?”
“I’ve missed you beyond all reason.” I couldn’t look at him after that little admission.
His breath was hot against my ear. “There now. That wasn’t so hard, was it?”
I swallowed hard, but it was easier than before, alight with tingling and anticipation. “So now what?”
“Say it again.”
The command in his voice sent a thrill through me all the way down to my toes. I let out a small breath. “I miss you.”
“And?” His fingers traced a line down the side of my neck.
“What, you need more?”
“Always.”
My skin was on fire everywhere his skin touched mine. “So demanding.”
His smile was a flash of mischief. “I’m a king, Sarah. Now say it for me.”
“Mmm, say what?”
“Minx. You know what. Say it.”
A giddy little laugh bubbled out of me, amidst a wave of exhilaration impervious to sense. “I need you, Goblin King.”
His lips closed on mine. “Oh, very good, indeed.”
I woke up in a hot mess, my breath shattering the quiet of the night.
Words flowed like milk and honey through my buzzing mind. I’ll be in touch.
no subject