Mass spec theatre

[kaberett]

(1) I will, as usual, very happily answer questions!
(2) Want a drabble? Give me a prompt.
(3) Want a poem? I'm less convinced I can extrude these on demand, but try me (as specific or vague a prompt as you like!)

Comments

[Elementary, accidentally not a drabble] Moments of glad gracelessness

[kaberett]

"You know," says Joan, stepping over him to reach the fridge, "I'm surprised you haven't threatened to turn her into mittens yet."

He is stretched full-length across the floor, gazing intently at the tableau arranged before him. The kitten is crouching, perplexed, in an improbably small cardboard box. A foot and a half away, Clyde is almost entirely retracted and emanating a definite air of suspicion. "She is not yet large enough for more than a single mitten," he responds, "and I am a pragmatic man. Rest assured, Watson, the bell will toll for her."

She turns around with the orange juice, and looks consideringly at the pair of them, scruffy and standoffish and sharing, or so it seems, a slightly perplexing eagerness to please tortoises. Shy, exasperated fondness spills over into a smile, and she doesn't bother suppressing it as she splashes through sunlight back to her desk and the case file du jour.