Mislead
Dec. 23rd, 2025 06:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
redwolfIt had all started while Sarah was in the studio and had been working with Bishop on a tile commission. He’d asked what she was thinking about based on her goofy smile as she grabbed the wrong colour glaze.
“Sorry,” Sarah carefully placed the bottle down and sighed happily. “Jareth is distracting me and he’s not even here.” She waved a hand around. “He brushed past me as we were getting ready and smelled so amazing that we only just made our first meetings of the morning.”
“That explains the mild panic from one of your assistants,” Bishop chuckled.
Sarah felt her cheeks warm and looked to the ceiling to calm herself. She could smell all the familiar things she associated with the studio, except for one. “You don’t smell.” Sarah held up her hand in apology. “Sorry, I don’t mean that I expect you to smell bad.” She groaned as Bishop snorted at the hole she was digging. “I mean, that I can’t smell you at all.” She cocked her head to the side in thought. “For that matter, I can’t smell Rook either.”
Aside from the odd occasion when the woman had changed forms as she came inside from a run in the rain and left a slight tang of petrichor in her wake, Sarah was certain that was the only time she’d smelled anything distinct from the woman. While she may only have considered the issue when living Above if someone was wearing a strong perfume or had been working out, since moving Underground, she was starting to be able to identify people by their scent before she saw them.
“It’s a security adaptation that started off as a way to confuse and intimidate people when we’re guarding Jareth.” Sarah raised an eyebrow. “We mimic your scent. Specifically, me and Angel do, while Rook and Erich smell like Jareth.”
Sarah frowned. She supposed that perhaps if you got used to your own scent and didn’t notice it, then it could explain why she didn’t recognise Bishop as having a distinct scent. However, as illustrated by her morning’s late start, Jareth smelled so good she would climb him like a tree. While more than happy she didn’t have that reaction to Rook, she didn’t understand why.
“I suspect you’re reacting to more than just smell, but it’s just the familiar part of the equation that you’ve noticed.”
Sarah conceded that this was likely, but did wonder at how useful scent mimicking could be.
“It provides entertainment when the castle has to host inebriated guests.” While they were comfortably housed away from others, there were always some who thought they could seize the chance to ride a Goblin King. “They do get a jolt when your or Jareth’s scent leads them to one of us in shadow form.”
Sarah held her sides in laughter. “I really do not want to know who you’ve frightened.” It did, however, explain why some people had been twitchy when she encountered them later.
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labyfic — drabble #241: expectation management
Part of the Balance!verse
“Sorry,” Sarah carefully placed the bottle down and sighed happily. “Jareth is distracting me and he’s not even here.” She waved a hand around. “He brushed past me as we were getting ready and smelled so amazing that we only just made our first meetings of the morning.”
“That explains the mild panic from one of your assistants,” Bishop chuckled.
Sarah felt her cheeks warm and looked to the ceiling to calm herself. She could smell all the familiar things she associated with the studio, except for one. “You don’t smell.” Sarah held up her hand in apology. “Sorry, I don’t mean that I expect you to smell bad.” She groaned as Bishop snorted at the hole she was digging. “I mean, that I can’t smell you at all.” She cocked her head to the side in thought. “For that matter, I can’t smell Rook either.”
Aside from the odd occasion when the woman had changed forms as she came inside from a run in the rain and left a slight tang of petrichor in her wake, Sarah was certain that was the only time she’d smelled anything distinct from the woman. While she may only have considered the issue when living Above if someone was wearing a strong perfume or had been working out, since moving Underground, she was starting to be able to identify people by their scent before she saw them.
“It’s a security adaptation that started off as a way to confuse and intimidate people when we’re guarding Jareth.” Sarah raised an eyebrow. “We mimic your scent. Specifically, me and Angel do, while Rook and Erich smell like Jareth.”
Sarah frowned. She supposed that perhaps if you got used to your own scent and didn’t notice it, then it could explain why she didn’t recognise Bishop as having a distinct scent. However, as illustrated by her morning’s late start, Jareth smelled so good she would climb him like a tree. While more than happy she didn’t have that reaction to Rook, she didn’t understand why.
“I suspect you’re reacting to more than just smell, but it’s just the familiar part of the equation that you’ve noticed.”
Sarah conceded that this was likely, but did wonder at how useful scent mimicking could be.
“It provides entertainment when the castle has to host inebriated guests.” While they were comfortably housed away from others, there were always some who thought they could seize the chance to ride a Goblin King. “They do get a jolt when your or Jareth’s scent leads them to one of us in shadow form.”
Sarah held her sides in laughter. “I really do not want to know who you’ve frightened.” It did, however, explain why some people had been twitchy when she encountered them later.
labyfic — drabble #241: expectation managementPart of the Balance!verse
