Drabble #219: Poisonous

[redwolf]

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

Poisonous

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

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Comments

Fluffy

[redwolf]

Word count: 500

Sarah was pleased that she had managed to sync her morning duties well enough to enable her to share a meal with Jareth in the dining hall.

Food Underground still caught her out and this was one of the occasions where it tasted fine, but the pasta was an unexpected shape and colour. She had to admit she preferred this to the things that looked like Above food, but had peculiar flavour and texture profiles that did not meet her expectations.

Pushing more pasta onto her fork, Sarah wondered if the interesting colour came from beets. The sauce looked and tasted much like a bolognese, but whether it was animal or mushroom based she couldn’t guess and would need to ask the kitchen. As she tried to figure out the other ingredients a passing goblin caught her attention.

“I thought goblins were difficult to injure.” Sarah surreptitiously pointed towards a heavily bandaged goblin with her fork. She couldn’t recall seeing one sporting a sling for arm immobilisation rather than for offensive manoeuvres.

Jareth reached for a roll, ripping it apart and slathering it in butter. “Usually they are, seal bites are nasty.”

Pausing as she sopped up sauce remnants from her plate with a chunk of roll, Sarah wondered if she really wanted details, but curiosity got the better of her. “What happened?”

“Seals carry enough nasty bacteria that they give even goblin constituents a workout.” Jareth grinned at Sarah’s scowl.

“Do not make me responsible for starting another food fight.” Sarah brandished a roll menacingly.

“You’re familiar with seal pups?” Jareth liberated Sarah’s weapon and buttered it before handing it back to her.

Sarah nodded. “Cute, fluffy, white, with big soulful eyes. They look like plushies made real.” She bit into the roll and closed her eyes as she savoured the taste of the still warm bread.

“Every breeding season, that silly sod tries to liberate the chickens.”

Sarah paused mid chew as she tried to parse the information disconnect. “How?” She managed to choke out.

Jareth shrugged. “I have no idea. Maybe huggable is a close enough approximation to chickens for him.”

“I can’t imagine they appreciate the attention and the parents wouldn’t be impressed either.”

“They do get a bit bitey.” Jareth chuckled. “They aren’t even chicken sized and by the time they’ve shed their white coats they outweigh a goblin by a significant margin.”

“Has he ever succeeded?” Sarah noted that the goblin was also noticeably limping.

“Not so far. His ineptitude as a seal pup kidnapper combined with the brief period when they catch his attention usually means that his injuries keep him from a second attempt in the season. Which is probably for the best considering how fast they grow.”

Sarah had given up on wondering why goblins fixated on things. She shook her head and returned to her meal. Until they figured out how to redirect the goblin’s interest, it seemed that the seal population was more than capable of discouraging his affections.