Yesterday evening, it all started with a sneeze.
Then a cough.
Then a coughing fit.
And then waking up in the middle of the night sweating profusely with a fever dream that lingered for the rest of the day..
Sarah grumbled in bed, snuggling around in the warm quilt her nana made for her years ago. It was a nice comfort - considering the circumstances of the day.
She was supposed to go out on a date tonight with a regular visitor at the library she worked at. A supposedly, nice guy named Joe. When she had to call to cancel since she was so sick, he reacted badly and called her a "slimy little tease."
Hopefully he wouldn't return to the library after that. It was a stupid idea anyway, to let herself be asked out on a date. But, it was Valentine's Day, the perfect day to go on a date, and Sarah had jumped at the chance for a date. It had been...too long.
Almost two years since her last date and she just now admitted to herself that she had become a little too desperate.
Not that desperate enough to call him. Ugh, enough about him! Sarah didn't want to think about him on a day such as this. Besides, reruns of the 'Golden Girls' was on. All she wanted to do was to turn off her brain, watch television, and not think about Valentine's Day.
Or the Labyrinth.
Or how wonderfully snug the Goblin King's tight pants were over his cr-
"Enough Sarah!" She scolded herself, her voice weak. Another coughing fit ensued and once again, Sarah grumbled. She had better things to think about than the Goblin King. The last time she saw him, she swore she would never wish to see him again. Always mischievous, manipulating Sarah to be nothing more than putty in his hands.
That, and she had to explain to Toby why Jareth was in her bed.
With her.
Naked.
God, that was a terrible mess to explain to the kid. Poor Toby never expected to see that happened. If her brother only learned to knock, rather than bargaining like a buffoon. Still, Jareth was supposed to be gone by the morning. He insisted staying for a couple more hours to continue-.
"Ugh! You're so hopeless!" Sarah sighed, covering her face with the quilt. Let's face it. I'm a slut for the Goblin King. A hopeless, stupid... harlet. Her cheeks flushed, remembering how he kissed every inch of her body, caressing the curve of her neck. His fingers exploring her body in new ways she never even dreamed of. She unfolded her true self for the Goblin King that night, and he devoured her whole. A beast, feeding his primal hunger.
Those were dreams of long ago now. Sarah was twenty-seven, and long ago had sworn off fantasies of her girlish youth. Now her dreams were more practical. More structural, and had a future. Sure, a librarian can be a little dull at times, and Sarah learned she wanted to punch rude people in the throat rather than answer the same questions over and over, but it wasn't all terrible.
It was stable. A check mark on the long list of having a fulfilling life.
Jareth, was very far from the word.
He was the antithesis of stable.
Sarah turned to her side, letting 'Golden Girls' drone on in the background. Last night ruined her chances of a decent night's sleep, and if she was going to go into work tomorrow, she better catch up. She sighed, letting her eyelids flutter before drifting off into a nice, cozy nap.
Not even ten minutes later, Sarah found herself waking up to the scent of freshly made chicken noodle soup. The stuff in the can was fine, but homemade soup, on a sick night like this?
Absolute perfection.
A soft smile twitched at her lips, and she stretched out her arms. The soup smelled so delicious, and it was some time since she last had a bite to eat. Hopefully it would last longer in her stomach than the library cafeteria crackers did.
A gloved hand rested on her forehead, releasing a cooling sensation. Sarah let out a soft gasp in relief. The hand felt so good against her fever, finally bringing it down some. She almost felt like a queen.
Wait a second.
Wait.
Who's hand was that on her forehead?
Sarah opened an eye, making out a strangely, familiar blurry silhouette of a man.
"Jareth…?" She croaked out, rubbing her eyes. "Please get out of my apartment. I don't have the will to deal with you."
The Goblin King tsked at her, as he set down a steaming bowl of chicken noodle soup on her nightstand. He waved his hand, and one of her chairs rushed by underneath him. "Allow me to take care of you, precious. You're terribly sick." Jareth hushed her, lowering himself down on the plushed chair, grabbing the bowl of soup and swirling the spoon around it.
"I didn't call you here! How did were you able to come up from the Underground?" Sarah protested, pushing the bowl away from her. With a grunt, she sat up in bed, now fully able to see the Goblin King in all his other wordly glory. He wore the same outfit he wore when she was trapped in the Escheler room, the deep maroon bringing out the color of his mismatched eyes.
"One of your little friends told me. Hogwart seemed worried and ran to me to help you get better," Jareth shrugged. "He was very adamant about me visiting; I just had to comply to his wishes. I know our last meeting wasn't exactly up to par.
"His name is Hoggle! And my relationship with Toby is now trashed thanks to you!" Sarah hissed, crossing her arms. Two years, and every time she came home, her brother avoided her. Their conversations were strictly small talk with an air of awkwardness. Frankly, it sucked they were now like this. "Why didn't you change his memory or something?"
"I'll answer any question you want, if you take a sip of this soup. You need to keep up your strength, precious." He insisted, bringing a soupful of soup to her lips.
Sarah raised an eyebrow, staring at the spoonful of soup. "You aren't going to drug me again?"
"No, Sarah. This is only chicken noodle soup based on a recipe I found using your Internet."
If he says so.. Sarah sipped at the soup, the warmth of it making her sigh. That really hit the spot. Jareth never mentioned to her that he could cook.
"Now, since you did what I told, you get your reward. The reason why I didn't magick Toby, or wipe his memory was that he was too young. If I tried, I might accidentally take away memories I didn't need," Jareth said, spooning another spoonful for Sarah. "I rather you have a ruined relationship than a ruined brother."
Once again she sipped at it, finding this bite to be more delicious than the last. Sarah put a hand against her forehead to find that the fever was mostly gone. The only thing that remained was how flushed her face was. (It was probably because of Sarah finding herself glancing down at his tight pants more often than naught. Pull it together girl!)
"To answer your second question, I have the free will to change between your realm and my realm. You don't need to wish for me to come visit you." The Goblin King hide his smirked as he watched Sarah's jaw drop.
"You tricked me! You lied to me!"
"No, I didn't trick or lie to you. You just made that assumption and I rolled with it for my benefit," His smirk now was a full smile, showing off his crooked teeth. "And considering your current situation, yours."
Sarah as firmly as she could, took the bowl of soup away from his grasp. She was a grown woman and fully capable of eating by herself. She didn't need to be fed by Jareth. "Well, thank you very much for the soup, but you can go now. I'm feeling much better now."
The Goblin King cocked his head, tsking at Sarah once more. "Didn't you want to see me?"
"It was nice seeing you again, but I'm feeling much better now. Besides, you must have other kingly duties to attend to." She said, her stubbornness not wanting to admit that it really was good to see Jareth again. Despite all the years, he was the only thing in her life that remained the same.
"The reason Hoggle pleaded for my help was that he heard you calling my name in your sleep. I had no idea you missed me that much, precious."
"Jareth I had-.."
"I've missed you too. A lot, Sarah."
The words Sarah wanted to say flew right out her mouth. Sure, there was something between them. A sort of "friends-with-benefits-but-you-still-stole-my-brother" relationship they used to have, and that's how it was. Neither one of them made that step forward over the boundary. Sarah didn't dare - it would mean to break her stability. Jareth didn't either, probably for his own reasons.
And sure, they've gotten to known each other, but it wasn't anything extremely close. (Unless sex counts.)
But, why? Why was Sarah's heart beating faster, and why was she tempted to kiss Jareth? Her face started to flush red again, and Jareth put his gloved hand on her forehead.
"I was positive I had gotten rid of your fever." He mumbled to himself.
"If you took off your silly gloves you could tell it's not a fever, Jareth," She murmured a reply, and sipped at her soup. "I told you, I'm fine."
"Well, sadly I'm not leaving quite yet so you'll have to bare with me," Jareth winked, twirled the chair around so he could rest his hands on the back of it as he sat back down. "Even with sickness, you're ever so charming, precious. The redness really brings out the green in your eyes." He pulled off his gloves, finger by finger, and sat them down on her nightstand with an air of smugness.
Sarah was barely able to stop herself from rolling her eyes. The Goblin King always drew out the tension between them. He still knew which buttons to press. "Let's get to the point, Jareth. We're adults here."
"We weren't before?" He asked innocently, raising his hands in protest when Sarah shot him a glance.
"Did you come up to visit me, and to coax your way into fucking me like before?" Sarah asked, sipping her soup in an attempt to hide how nervous she was. She wasn't used to being this assertive.
"No, precious. I am genuinely saying, from the depths of my goblin heart, I miss you," Jareth said, his voice growing slightly soft. "I miss your laughter, the way you smell, your hands. I find myself missing your very presence. You created a hole in my heart precious, and you are the only one who can fill it. It's been a rough two years without you...love."
Love? That was new. Was Jareth being serious? Based on how solemn he looked, it felt like Jareth was confession all his sins for a priest. And Sarah….Sarah hardly believed that she had the same yearning for him as he did for her. Her stubbornness wouldn't allow her the same confession.
Sarah was silent. The only sound she made was the sips she was taking from the soup. There was only a small amount left, and she decided to sip from the bowl rather the spoon. Not exactly ladylike, but the action did cause Jareth to let out a stifled giggle.
"I'm surprised you think of me like that. Long ago, you wanted me to 'fear you, love you, do as I say and I will be your slave'"? Sarah shot back at him, mocking his quote with a dramatic flair.
"I only said that to let you astray. It was all part of the job." Jareth shrugged, laying his head on his hands. He tilted his head, and shot her another smile. "I'm surprised it didn't work. Then again, you're you. My precious."
"Yeah, yeah, Champion of the Labyrinth. The one and only. Blah blah blah, nothing but your sweet, honeyed words." Sarah smirked, setting the now empty bowl beside his gloves. Jareth reached out and grabbed her left wrist, gently pulling it to his lips and kissing the skin. Sarah couldn't help but let out a shutted gasp as he kissed her, shivers going down her spine.
"Are you catching a chill now, Sarah? My, my, what am I do to with you, love?" Jareth purred, leaning in closer to her. "You humans are so fragile."
"You are proposing some kind of romantic relationship with me," Sarah managed to say, her voice low and husky. There he was again! Pushing and pressing all those right buttons to make Sarah into a puddle.
"Will you?"
"Will I what?"
"Be my girlfriend...lover...whatever word you humans use to call your partner nowadays?" Jareth asked, a little shy. Sarah almost gauped at Jareth. The Goblin King being shy about asking her out? All men were alike.
"Yes but -"
Before Sarah was able to finish her sentence, Jareth had swooped her into his arms and kissed her, pressing her body against his chest. She melted, pulling his head closer to deepen the kiss. Finally she broke the kiss and giggled like a schoolgirl. Right now she was the luckiest girl in the world.
"However much you want to be with me, I want to set up rules first," Sarah said as the Goblin King set her back down on the bed. "Rule Number One," She held up her forefinger as one, "I want us to go down to see my parents, and I want you to apologize to Toby."
Jareth rubbed his chin, nodding his head. "Fair enough."
Sarah now held up two fingers. "Rule Number Two. You have to find some way to tell me when you're coming over. No more surprise visits."
The Goblin King nodded his head once more.
"Rule Number Three, you have to work with me to make sure it works out for us. I don't want it to be like last time."
Jareth cupped her face, kissing her forehead. "It won't be like last time. I promise, love.," Suddenly his eyes widen, and he stepped back. He let out a dry laugh and slapped his hand on his own forehead. "I've completely forgotten."
Her eyebrows furrowed together. "Forgotten what-? Oh." Once she realized, Sarah started laughing. "You forgot it was Valentine's Day!"
"So it seems," Jareth said, smirking down at Sarah.
In a blink of an eye, he produced a single, ruby red rose for Sarah. The petals of the flower were in full bloom, the edges of it trimmed in gold leaf. Not a single thorn was on it to save Sarah's fingers from being pricked. He smiled - truly at her.
"Happy Valentine's Day, Sarah."
A/N: Yayyyy I wrote something for Valentine's Day, go me! Apologies if the writing is a bit off - I don't exactly have a beta and I'm currently sick myself. I wriote this for the Valentine's Day challenge from the LFFL facebook group, and I really wanted it done by today. Next one is Mardi Gras and that'll be fun to write. Thank you all for reading and enjoy it. Happy Valentine's Day from Guts!