Small Favors

Jareth makes Sarah an offer as the end of the fall semester looms near. Written for the labyfic livejournal challenge theme of "Christmas" with a bonus item of an advent calendar.

Sarah glanced morosely at the calendar pinned to the wall next to her desk. It was the advent calendar that Toby always sent her, which she normally adored. But this one was marred with sticky notes saying things like "course assessment report due", "letters of recommendation must be submitted by now!" and "final grades due - no exceptions".

She had intended it to be motivating. And it was. It was also decidedly ruinous to her general mood this month.

She dropped her head onto her desk and her hand brushed the stacks of papers next to her. They could charitably be called towering and were perhaps more accurately described as of despair-inducing height. She lifted her head slightly to survey them, shaking it in disbelief. "Why did I think asking two hundred and fifty psychology undergraduates to write a scientific review paper was a good idea?" Her head slumped back down. "Especially with final grades due three days afterwards."

A familiar resonant voice slid sinuously across her skin. "Unyielding optimism. One of your finer qualities."

She raised her head, blinking one eye open to see Jareth sitting in the chair across from her. "Nice to see you, your majesty." Her gaze slowly traveled down the length of his legs. "Excellent boots. Come to taunt me in my grading misery?"

His smile glittered with hidden amusement. "Would I do that?"

"In a firey heartbeat, if it suited you," she replied, shutting her eyes again. "Is this a normal pastime of well-shod, immensely powerful faerie kings?"

"Just the ones you humiliated when you were fifteen. Fortunately, we're a rare breed."

"Thank goodness for small favors," she mumbled into the desk. After a few more moments, she opened her eyes halfway to squint at the looming paper stacks."Care to help me with these? It'd make a fine Christmas present from erstwhile villain to erstwhile heroine."

He arched an eyebrow. "What, I should just toss a few crystals at these rather...prodigious...stacks and they'll magically acquire critical comments and numerical assessments?"

Both of her eyes shot open. "Can you do that?"

Multiple crystals materialized, playing gracefully through his fingers. His eyes narrowed slightly as he considered them. After several moments, the crystals collapsed abruptly in a spray of glitter. "Probably not. Too much fine detail involved - it would take less time to grade them by hand than it would to work out the spell mechanics."

Sarah dropped her head back to the desk.

"That doesn't mean I can't help."

She lifted her head slightly, raising an eyebrow.

"Do you have a grading rubric?" With a flourish of his hand, an elegant fountain pen appeared. "I have the requisite red pen."

She sat up and blinked slowly at him. "You're actually offering to help me grade. By hand."

His smile was filled with wicked intimation. "I'm skilled with my hands."

Her chest tightened as her cheeks flooded with heat. "Grading by hand. Of these papers." She swallowed, considering her current - admittedly herculean - task. "Not that I'm not grateful for the offer, but don't you have better things to do?"

"Better than gaining leverage on my favorite erstwhile heroine? Surely not."

"Aha." She took a slow breath. "And what's the price for this regal altruism?"

He stretched back into the chair, crossing his legs. "Christmas Day spent Underground."

She shook her head slowly and tried very carefully to keep her gaze on his face. "Impossible. My family would miss me."

He shrugged dismissively. "The goblins miss you. I miss you. You haven't visited in far too long. Besides," he leaned forward, resting his elbows on the edge of the desktop as he twirled the fountain pen from one hand to the other, "who's here right now offering to accompany you on your grading frenzy? Consider carefully."

"Subtle, your majesty." Her lips twitched in a small smile.

"Targeted, dear professor. So," he brandished the pen, "is it a deal?"

"I don't know how I'm going to explain missing Christmas."

"Unexpected work travel." Smug satisfaction curled from him. "It even has the benefit of being somewhat true as it's unexpected travel due to work I'll do for you now."

She looked at him for a long moment before nodding and pushing a stack of papers at him. "Alright. Here, you start with these." She waved a finger to his left. "The rubric's over on the whiteboard."

He glanced at the board before inclining his head, his smile flashing wide. "At your service, my lady."

She snorted. "Let's just see how jolly you are after looking at some of these, your majesty. And don't say I didn't warn you."

"Never would I ever."

She rolled her eyes and picked up the top paper from one of her stacks.

Several minutes passed in silence.

He suddenly tossed his paper down in disgust. "Is this even English?"

She smirked. "Told you." She glanced at the name. "And that's probably one of the more coherent ones."

He crossed his arms. "Grading will be simple then. I'll make you a rubber stamp that says 'Incomprehensible Trash' and you can fail them all. We'll be finished in no time."

"Now, now, your majesty...that's not very constructive, is it? How will they learn if there are no comments as to what's wrong?"

The full weight of his gaze fell on her, chilly with disbelief. "Your generosity has turned you cruel."

She smiled sweetly at him. "Learned from the best. Now back to work, your majesty. Only two hundred forty eight more after this."