Help! The Drabble!Bunnies are multiplying!
Prompt: Lapse
Rating: PG
Words: 8(!) x 100
Points: The TLP Appreciation Society
Genre: Some angst, some romance, some drama, and (shock horror) some humour
Characters: Lots of Artemis, plenty of Butler, some Timmy and Angeline, Holly, Mulch, and Juliet
Summary: Give a pedant a broad prompt, get a whole spectrum of responses according to the dictionary definitions. Definitions are from the Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary (if only because the Shorter Oxford would have had me writing drabbles all year).
Title: Colour-blind
Noun (1): a small mistake, especially one that is caused by forgetting something or by being careless
Artemis stared at the object in Holly’s hand.
His second mistake in two days.
It was only a small oversight. Simple. Tiny.
But even though this mistake was hardly of the proportions of the last one, it was nonetheless crucial.
Was he losing his touch? He had thought he had every variable pinned down, every possibility thought through, every response planned out.
He’d thought the same thing last time, and that was what had got him into this situation.
But it was too late to back out now.
All that was left was to hope that Jon Spiro was colour-blind.
Title: In the blink of an eye
Noun (2): A period of time between two things that happen
A poet might have said that it happened in the blink of an eye.
Actually, it happened in between two.
Blink.
The gun fires.
The bullet whirs through the air.
His short, but brilliant, life flashes before his eyes. There isn’t much that makes him proud.
Wide eyes examine the blood staining his new suit.
Surely that should have hurt?
Oh. It had.
PainpainpainpainPAIN.
Butler is calling his name, slapping his cheeks.
With one bloody hand, he catches a tear as it falls from his bodyguard’s face, and stares at it in wonder.
Blink.
His eyes don’t open again.
Title: Confession
Noun (3): an example or period of bad behaviour from somebody who normally behaves well
Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. It has been two years since my last confession.
“I won’t go back on our agreement. We’ll go legitimate, no matter the cost.”
She looked unconvinced.
“We will. Now, don’t hold anything back, tell me what happened while I was missing. Is Arty all right? And are we so desperately poor?”
“Don’t worry about money,” she said, refusing eye contact. “We’re still billionaires.”
“Impossible! We sank everything into the Murmansk venture!”
“Our son,” she told him grimly, “has been busy.”
These are my sins: through my actions, another has been led into sin.
Title: All good things
Verb (1): (of a contract, an agreement, etc.) to be no longer valid because the period of time that it lasts has come to an end
“My contract isn’t for life, Artemis.”
“But-”
“My contract,” interrupted Butler, speaking as though the very words were tearing his heart out of his own chest, “takes me through until either one of us no longer believes that I am capable of defending you.”
“Butler-”
“I’m not capable anymore. Madame Ko only confirmed what we both already knew.”
“Butler, I don’t-”
“I’m sorry, Artemis. I can’t stay.”
Artemis’s vision blurred slightly and the image of his bodyguard standing before him wavered.
At length, he nodded.
In a shaky hand, Artemis made out the severance cheque to Domovoi.
Title: And in health
Verb (2): to gradually become weaker or come to an end
“Where’s Butler?”
It was always his first question, when his rheumy eyes picked out the form of the tiny young woman leaning over his bed.
“He’s doing his rounds,” she lied, as she always did.
“Who are you?” The second question, his cracked voice tetchy with confusion.
It had been barely ninety years. Far too short a lifetime to spend together.
Her blue sparks were all that kept him alive, now, but even they couldn’t help him remember her.
“I’m Holly. Your wife.”
He paused, considering.
“Lucky you,” he finally smirked, as he always did.
Through the tears, she smiled.
Title: Fallen
Verb (3): (lapse from) to stop believing in or practising your religion
Mostly, he had no regrets.
It was over five hundred years since his very first acorn.
“I return you to the earth,” he’d mumbled at his parents’ prompting, “and claim the gift that is my right.”
His eyes rolled back in ecstasy as the blue sparks flooded his body, suffusing him with magic and life. Incomparable
Thirty years later, he was still running hot. There was no use for magic in the tunnels.
The thrill of stealing gave him twice the rush. But it wasn’t the same.
Mulch watched Holly plant her acorn, and remembered.
He had no regrets. Mostly.
Title: Paramnesia
Phr.Verb (1): (lapse into) to gradually pass into a worse or less active state or condition
He may have deserved it, but as always, Butler’s hand caught the girl’s elbow before the slap could land.
Artemis hit the ground anyway, caught up in some parallel universe where the blow connected.
It had happened before. It was starting to happen more frequently.
This time, he had gone catatonic for almost a minute before he snapped out of it, shaking and muttering about lollipops.
All Artemis could think, as he was wheeled into the psychiatric ward for ‘some tests’, was that they had assured him that the after-effects would be minor.
Whoever ‘they’ were, they had been wrong.
Title: For the people we love
Phr.Verb (2): (lapse into) to start speaking or behaving in a different way
“I could always say you’re ill, sir?”
Artemis glared at his bodyguard’s reflection, daring him to smile.
He didn’t, but it was a close thing.
“I am ill, Butler!” Artemis snapped, redirecting his glare at his own reflection and unnecessarily smoothing his skin-tight leather pants. “Nothing else can explain it. What possessed me?”
Before Butler was forced to reply, Juliet burst into the room in a flurry of sparkling clothes and eye-shadow.
“Arty! You look great!” she gushed.
Artemis smiled, uneasiness forgotten.
“You too,” was all he said. “Shall we?”
Butler watched them go with a smile of his own.
A/N: Sorry, I just had to do it. Who can make Arty wear tight leather pants in only 100 words? I can, oh yeah!
I think And in health, Paramnesia, and For the people we love are my favourites. I'm afraid some of the others are a little … er … uninspired. Ah well.
Rating: PG
Words: 8(!) x 100
Points: The TLP Appreciation Society
Genre: Some angst, some romance, some drama, and (shock horror) some humour
Characters: Lots of Artemis, plenty of Butler, some Timmy and Angeline, Holly, Mulch, and Juliet
Summary: Give a pedant a broad prompt, get a whole spectrum of responses according to the dictionary definitions. Definitions are from the Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary (if only because the Shorter Oxford would have had me writing drabbles all year).
Title: Colour-blind
Noun (1): a small mistake, especially one that is caused by forgetting something or by being careless
Artemis stared at the object in Holly’s hand.
His second mistake in two days.
It was only a small oversight. Simple. Tiny.
But even though this mistake was hardly of the proportions of the last one, it was nonetheless crucial.
Was he losing his touch? He had thought he had every variable pinned down, every possibility thought through, every response planned out.
He’d thought the same thing last time, and that was what had got him into this situation.
But it was too late to back out now.
All that was left was to hope that Jon Spiro was colour-blind.
Title: In the blink of an eye
Noun (2): A period of time between two things that happen
A poet might have said that it happened in the blink of an eye.
Actually, it happened in between two.
Blink.
The gun fires.
The bullet whirs through the air.
His short, but brilliant, life flashes before his eyes. There isn’t much that makes him proud.
Wide eyes examine the blood staining his new suit.
Surely that should have hurt?
Oh. It had.
PainpainpainpainPAIN.
Butler is calling his name, slapping his cheeks.
With one bloody hand, he catches a tear as it falls from his bodyguard’s face, and stares at it in wonder.
Blink.
His eyes don’t open again.
Title: Confession
Noun (3): an example or period of bad behaviour from somebody who normally behaves well
Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. It has been two years since my last confession.
“I won’t go back on our agreement. We’ll go legitimate, no matter the cost.”
She looked unconvinced.
“We will. Now, don’t hold anything back, tell me what happened while I was missing. Is Arty all right? And are we so desperately poor?”
“Don’t worry about money,” she said, refusing eye contact. “We’re still billionaires.”
“Impossible! We sank everything into the Murmansk venture!”
“Our son,” she told him grimly, “has been busy.”
These are my sins: through my actions, another has been led into sin.
Title: All good things
Verb (1): (of a contract, an agreement, etc.) to be no longer valid because the period of time that it lasts has come to an end
“My contract isn’t for life, Artemis.”
“But-”
“My contract,” interrupted Butler, speaking as though the very words were tearing his heart out of his own chest, “takes me through until either one of us no longer believes that I am capable of defending you.”
“Butler-”
“I’m not capable anymore. Madame Ko only confirmed what we both already knew.”
“Butler, I don’t-”
“I’m sorry, Artemis. I can’t stay.”
Artemis’s vision blurred slightly and the image of his bodyguard standing before him wavered.
At length, he nodded.
In a shaky hand, Artemis made out the severance cheque to Domovoi.
Title: And in health
Verb (2): to gradually become weaker or come to an end
“Where’s Butler?”
It was always his first question, when his rheumy eyes picked out the form of the tiny young woman leaning over his bed.
“He’s doing his rounds,” she lied, as she always did.
“Who are you?” The second question, his cracked voice tetchy with confusion.
It had been barely ninety years. Far too short a lifetime to spend together.
Her blue sparks were all that kept him alive, now, but even they couldn’t help him remember her.
“I’m Holly. Your wife.”
He paused, considering.
“Lucky you,” he finally smirked, as he always did.
Through the tears, she smiled.
Title: Fallen
Verb (3): (lapse from) to stop believing in or practising your religion
Mostly, he had no regrets.
It was over five hundred years since his very first acorn.
“I return you to the earth,” he’d mumbled at his parents’ prompting, “and claim the gift that is my right.”
His eyes rolled back in ecstasy as the blue sparks flooded his body, suffusing him with magic and life. Incomparable
Thirty years later, he was still running hot. There was no use for magic in the tunnels.
The thrill of stealing gave him twice the rush. But it wasn’t the same.
Mulch watched Holly plant her acorn, and remembered.
He had no regrets. Mostly.
Title: Paramnesia
Phr.Verb (1): (lapse into) to gradually pass into a worse or less active state or condition
He may have deserved it, but as always, Butler’s hand caught the girl’s elbow before the slap could land.
Artemis hit the ground anyway, caught up in some parallel universe where the blow connected.
It had happened before. It was starting to happen more frequently.
This time, he had gone catatonic for almost a minute before he snapped out of it, shaking and muttering about lollipops.
All Artemis could think, as he was wheeled into the psychiatric ward for ‘some tests’, was that they had assured him that the after-effects would be minor.
Whoever ‘they’ were, they had been wrong.
Title: For the people we love
Phr.Verb (2): (lapse into) to start speaking or behaving in a different way
“I could always say you’re ill, sir?”
Artemis glared at his bodyguard’s reflection, daring him to smile.
He didn’t, but it was a close thing.
“I am ill, Butler!” Artemis snapped, redirecting his glare at his own reflection and unnecessarily smoothing his skin-tight leather pants. “Nothing else can explain it. What possessed me?”
Before Butler was forced to reply, Juliet burst into the room in a flurry of sparkling clothes and eye-shadow.
“Arty! You look great!” she gushed.
Artemis smiled, uneasiness forgotten.
“You too,” was all he said. “Shall we?”
Butler watched them go with a smile of his own.
A/N: Sorry, I just had to do it. Who can make Arty wear tight leather pants in only 100 words? I can, oh yeah!
I think And in health, Paramnesia, and For the people we love are my favourites. I'm afraid some of the others are a little … er … uninspired. Ah well.