jazz's apocalyptic oc drabble thread

[Jazz]

hello again, forum friends! after several bouts of trial and error, i've come to the conclusion that i cannot focus long enough to complete an entire chaptered fic although i do still have eventual plans for my xm:a quicksilver fic so after a bit of deliberation, i've decided to take a stab at a drabble thread instead. they're shorter and less plot-oriented, so i figured i'd give it a whirl. what's the worst that could happen, right?

the majority ( if not all ) of these drabbles will be featuring an original character of mine that i came up with for a walking dead-style apocalypse roleplay a while back. ( save for au drabbles, the post-apocalyptic setting will more than likely be what i stick to ). so, for a little background before i get the ball rolling. his name is christopher krause ( though he's gone by topher his entire life ) and he's a twenty-five year old gardener, humanitarian, and yoga enthusiast. he lives in a van with his cat, paul, and does his best to live off the land and remain optimistic in spite of the bleak outlook the world has to offer. he's a pacifist; he doesn't believe in guns and he won't kill a zombie unless he absolutely has to for self-defense, and never a human, no matter what. i'd tell you more, but i plan to reveal more about him and his idiosyncrasies throughout the course of the thread, hopefully!

i believe i took the list from @ultravioletcas's drabble thread, though i'm not sure who came up with it first, so if you know, tell me and i'll give credit where credit is due! EDIT: and thanks to @Garnet for coming up with it! anyway, on to...

the drabbles.

1. allergic 2. desperation 3. cat 4. summer 5. itch 6. light 7. hands 8. fever 9. finally alone 10. worried 11. broody 12. loud 13. grass 14. genetics 15. control 16. dinner for three 17. doctor 18. dust 19. feather 20. anticipation 21. bed 22. drugs 23. first time 24. headache 25. handkerchief 26. dog 27. garden 28. hoarse 29. kink 30. scent 31. hold back 32. double 33. harsh 34. smoke 35. making dinner 36. impatience 37. incense 38. horses 39. pillow 40. suffer 41. nervous 42. stare 43. contagious 44. relief 45. temperature 46. terrible 47. wool 48. tissues 49. tease 50. quarrel 51. lonely 52. snuggle 53. asleep 54. waiting 55. frost 56. rest 57. flu 58. phone call 59. apologize 60. sore 61. accent 62. fur 63. haze 64. spices 65. under the weather 66. stifle 67. frustrated 68. caught in the act 69. attack 70. listless 71. pressure 72. muffled 73. annoy 74. humiliated 75. disproportionate 76. bath 77. spring 78. message 79. headcold 80. clinic 81. confess 82. tears 83. dream 84. polite 85. sniff 86. shower 87. induce 88. jealousy 89. pills 90. interrupt 91. chill 92. office 93. remedy 94. weird 95. soft 96. purr 97. honey 98. defeat 99. smother 100. gratitude

thirty seven. incense.

wordcount: 280.

          thick, opaque ribbons drift through the air from the ornate incense burner perched carefully on the dashboard. the small enclosure is rich with the scent of sandalwood and patchouli, billowing smoke making hazy the warm, multicolored lights haphazardly strung throughout the back of the van. (battery operated, of course. it may be wasteful in the grand scheme of things, but topher has always had a particular affinity for the simple pleasures. to him, it's more than worth it.) cross-legged, he sits atop a mountain of blankets and crocheted duvets, dark eyes closed and palms resting open and upward in his lap as he tries to center himself. to clear his mind. he does this often. in a world rife with so much sorrow, so much suffering, it is a reminder to seek out peace. 

          slowly, he goes to draw in a deep, practiced breath. in through the nose, out through the mouth. sat, chit, ananda. but the inhale is staggered. it catches slightly, lifting at brows that disappear behind a halo of caramel curls as lashes flutter shut. though pleasant — far more than the stench of decay that lingers just beyond the thin metal walls of his humble sanctuary — the scent from the heavily perfumed air is rather ticklish, and the mantra is lost to a series of hitching breaths that have his head tilting back in anticipation. 

        "hh—ihh'heh! hah'iSSHh! ih—ht'zSCHuh!"

          alone, he does not bother to cover the sneezes, instead bending forward a bit with the force of them before rubbing at his nose with the heel of one hand. sniffling back the newfound congestion, he can't help but laugh. so much for clearing his head.

three. cat.

wordcount: 287.

          "would you quit lookin' at me like that? i can't help it, y'know." 

         the words are punctuated by a mostly unproductive sniffle as he swipes a bare wrist beneath his running nose and sighs, flopping back against the pillows that litter the floor of the van. fresh air floods the space from the open door to his left, the cool breeze rattling the bamboo beaded curtain that hangs there and raising goosebumps on his feverish skin as it drifts inside. this is at least the fourth time in half as many hours that topher has managed to rouse paul from his mid-day siesta with a fit of rather loud, unexpected sneezes. each time, he has been met with a sharp green stare caught somewhere between groggy and irritated. no amount of apologizing seems to cajole his begrudging friend either, as each time the pair of them finally seem to relax again, the ill gardener is doubling over with yet another string of paroxysms. 

         he'd been stifling them at first — pinching his nose shut before pitching forward in an almost soundless fit — but now his muscles are sore and his head ached and he simply can't be bothered, regardless of the begrudging glances paul keeps sending his way. "i'm sorry, alrihh—hhih... hH'gKSHhih!" the dozing figure beside him twitches and yawns before rolling his head lazily to look once more in the direction of the sound. "oh, don't look so offended. cats can catch colds too, and don't think i won't remember your lack of empathy when you're the one feeling awful." paul simply yawns again and stretches out even further in his little patch of sunlight, ready to settle back into his nap once more. 

seventy six. bath.

wordcount: 311.

         a gasp is torn from his lips the moment his feet break the crystalline surface of the stream and all of his muscles seem to tense up at once, urging him to step back out of the water before it can leach any more of his body heat. months are hard to keep track of anymore — days and weeks blend together into one vast, indecipherable stretch of time — but even so, the gardener has at least tried to keep himself aware of the season. after several months of warm sunlight and thriving green, the temperature has begun a jarring decline, leaving a noticeable chill lingering in the air as the sun sinks back beyond the treeline. but he is covered in grime — days' worth of  topsoil lingers beneath his fingernails and clings to bare forearms, tinting the already tanned skin a few shades darker — and itching for relief, so he kneels in the shallow water near the riverbank and dips his hands in the stream.

         several hours later finds topher far cleaner than he had been earlier that morning — or for days preceeding, in truth — huddled in a thick sweater by a slowly dwindling fire. even at its peak, the heat source did very little to ease the chill that had all but settled into his bones, but now — now he's shivering. "hh—heh'iSSHuh!" and sneezing. damp curls topple into his gaze as he snaps forward, steepling both hands over the lower half of his face in time to catch a second. "hhih'TZSCHh—isSHHh!" and a third, evidently. he wonders how many more it'll take before he can no longer convince himself he hasn't caught something. he isn't sure. 

        of one thing, though, he's entirely certain: of all the little luxuries he must now do without, he misses the thought of a warm bath the most.

[Garnet]

That's my list of drabbles! I'm very happy to see people using them, and these are super great! Lots of nice atmospheric details and descriptors. I especially love that you circumvented the obvious cat allergy with the one prompt and made the feline a judgmental audience instead  

[Jazz]

Good to know, and I've credited you accordingly! Thanks for the heads up, @Garnet. It really is a great list! I'm excited to continue working on all the different prompts. And thank you so much! I'm glad you liked them. This is my first time venturing into drabble territory, so I was a little worried about the balance between detail and dialogue, but it turns out it's not too difficult when you're only working with one character! 

[Winged]

I really like the tone you're creating in these -- they're like less than five hundred words but they have such a clear feeling to them. It's a really neat setting and can't wait to see more of your dude!