Jareth sat, brooding in his throne as the simpletons he knew as his servants and minions tried their best to avoid him. No one in the labyrinth knew what had their king in such a sour mood, all they knew was that some of his belongings were disappearing in the night while he slept. He had lost his night cap that very night, and had demanded to know who had taken it the moment he had taken a look in the mirror.
He simply sat there as he pondered over who could have taken it. No doubt; the goblins weren't rocket scientists, but even they weren't stupid or crazy enough to steal any of his belongings. As he considered all the options, a migraine started to form. None of the options he had added up, which left him with only one conclusion. He shook his head violently, making the migraine worse. It wasn't possible, but it was the only solution that made sense. Somebody foreign to the labyrinth had to have been sneaking into his chambers and stealing his possessions while he slept.
"Now, how is that possible?" he asked aloud, "How can somebody, anybody, enter the labyrinth and I not know?"
He pondered on this a little longer, for it intrigued him. This mystery could prove beneficial or tragic for him, therefore, its need to be solved was great. Steadily, he arose and headed for his chambers. If he was to find out who this character was, he would need to be awake when they most often struck.
Once he entered his chambers, he stood at the doorway gazing at his luxurious and immense bed. It was rather easy to get lost under the covers and often presented a feeling of loneliness, especially around the humans' dreaded holiday, Valentine's Day. However, it also proved to be relaxing after a long day of being king. The way his head would sink into the pillows would soothe and loosen the muscles in his neck, and the way the mattress would conform to his body relieved many aches and pains that formed during the day.
He sat on the edge and proceeded to remove his boots. Not even bothering to crawl under the covers, Jareth laid back and stretched his limbs out to their limits. He sighed in contentment as he relaxed and stared at the canopy overhead. It didn't take long before the goblin king slumbered peacefully.
Jareth slowly look up to see an enormous peach about his size. He chuckled as he soon realized it wasn't the peach that was enormous, but him, who had simply gotten smaller. Finding himself hungry, Jareth dug his hands into the peach and pulled out a tiny morsel to eat. As he took a bite, his back stiffened when he heard a scratchy voice of a hag speak to him.
"You like that, don't you?" she asked, "I thought you would."
Jareth couldn't help, but drop the bit of peach he had as she ran her finger up his spine. The burning sensation left in the trail of her finger was an unpleasant one to say the least. It made him uncomfortable being there and being so... small.
"Now, my little drága," she whispered, "you need to eat to keep your strength. You don't want to be in the same condition that you were in when I happened upon you, do you?"
Just the name she had called him was enough to make him wish he was anywhere, but there. Slowly, he turned around to see a beautiful woman who looked to be in her mid-40s, but he knew that was a spell to hide not only her age but her old, decrepit appearance as well. He instinctively shrunk back as her finger tucked under his chin and down his neck. She was offended at his withdrawal as she pushed him down with more force than necessary.
"No," Jareth cried out, clamping his eyes shut.
When he opened them, he was relieved to see that he was lying out in a field of grass. He was still no bigger than the faeries that flutter outside the labyrinth walls, but at least he was away from that retched, lecherous hag. He laid there for a brief moment to calm himself, having never been that scared in his entire life before. It was certainly not an experience he would like to go through again. For some reason though, he felt dirty, which caused him to be depressed.
"It wasn't my fault," he thought aloud as he sat up.
A bubbling brook caught his attention as he stood up to find out where it may be. He was excited to see that it had led him to a small pond with a miniature waterfall. It was extremely picturesque that he felt he shouldn't waste such an occasion. Carefully, he shed his clothes and casually walked into the pond until the water was up to his belly. He enjoyed the cool feel against his surprisingly warm skin as he carelessly dunked his head under the surface. Slicking his wet hair back, he could see a small group of faeries heading his way.
His carefree attitude seemed to dissipate instantly, which confused Jareth. He ducked down as one of the faeries grabbed his hair and pulled. He was afraid that they were going to drag them out of the water as the other three grabbed his arms. He was sadly mistaken as they pulled him into deeper depths. Without notice, they plunged his head under water. When he able to break through the surface, he would gasp for breath before they were able to push him back down.
Jareth was greatly confused as well as scared for his life. He knew faeries were quite capable of being nasty, little creatures, but he never knew them to be murderous. He was still confused as to what he had done to anger them so.
He knew he was running out of time before he could possibly drown. How long had he been struggling just beneath the surface? He knew that even though immortals could be hard to kill, they still had their limits.
He was almost terrified as a fish delicately placed him between its lips and made a break with him, causing the faeries to let him go. He bewildered when underneath the little waterfall the fish released him and pushed him to the surface. It simply floated there as he laid across its back, catching his breath.
The next time he opened his eyes, he could see that he was in a cage. Black silk was bunched up within the cage, providing folds to hide in as well as a bit more of a comfortable surface to lie on, instead of the metal bottom. He heard a chuckle that was most unpleasant and familiar chuckle followed by the dreadful cackles of the chaos making imps that followed the wicked, vain beast that dared to call herself a queen.
"Hello, my dear," she cooed in her sinister manner.
Normally, Jareth would have sneered at her, but for some reason he was dreadfully afraid, not of her but of the monstrosities that followed her. Those beady golden eyes looked at him like he was their next piece of candy. He noticed that she was holding something in her hands. She smiled as she raised before him a collar small enough to fasten around his tiny neck.
It was made of a special gold, the only gold that the elves considered had any value to it. The gold was set in tiny, rectangular plates fastened together by golden links. Within those plates were carefully cut rubies, most likely cut by a dwarf, the only creature with enough pride in his work to cut a ruby that small. On either side of every ruby were three tiny diamonds that glittered in the candlelight. Attached to the collar was a gold chain, from which she held the end so that the collar dangled like a pendulum.
"This will let everyone know that you are mine," she stated, "and no one can take this collar off you unless my servants say so. In which case, the only person they might allow to take this off is me, and I will never do that."
She ordered the beasts with hungry eyes to leave as she opened the cage and delicately grabbed him. At this point, he knew that it was useless to struggle unless he only wished for her to harm him. He sat down on the spool of thread and waited until she was done fastening the collar. He was surprised to see the chain only went to the middle of his torso, thinking it was longer than that. She placed her hand on the table, palm up beckoning him to come to her. Dejectedly, he obeyed, knowing he would be punished if he didn't. He watched her as she walked through the halls to the courtyards. She extended her palm to the sky, telling him he could leave.
Jareth turned, only to nearly run into a male fairy, which he has heard the occasional human call a sparrow man nowadays. Normally, he would have excused himself and thought nothing of it, but the look this particular "sparrow man" was giving him was a little more feral than he was comfortable with.
Jareth noticed the irony in the fact that he hadn't been comfortable a lot lately as the sparrow man had backed him up against a rock. He was starting to figure this one was a loner because they were the only two there in that horribly uncomfortable situation. Jareth had the side of his face flush against the stone as the sparrow man strategically placed his hands on either side of Jareth's head so that they were touching, whether Jareth wanted to or not. Jareth knew better than to look at him so he kept looking forward into the grass.
"You know," the sparrow man chirped, "you're kind of pretty."
Pretty? Jareth thought, Where does he get the nerve to call me pretty?
Jareth shuddered when the sparrow man's lips were next to his jawline as he exhaled purposefully against Jareth's skin. The sparrow man grabbed Jareth's wrist just as he was about to push him off. The newly found knowledge of how much stronger the sparrow man was than him made him terrified of not only what could be done, but what might possibly be being considered. Jareth snapped his eyes shut as the sparrow man started to open his mouth.
"Stop," he screamed, knowing what the sparrow man now intended on doing.
Jareth gasped as his eyes shot open to reveal to him that he was safe in his room. His body was covered in a cold sweat and shaking uncontrollably. However, he froze when he felt tiny feet and hands land on his chest. The creature crawled all the way up to his neck in a seeming frenzy as if frantic about what had distressed the goblin king.
Jareth feigned sleep as the little creature crawled up to his face. Jareth grunted as a tiny foot touched his lips causing the creature to jump away landing on Jareth's ear. Jareth had calmed his breathing, which calmed the creature as it slowly crawled closer to Jareth's eye. Jareth didn't appreciate the creature forcing open his eye by pushing his lid up. It was a little uncomfortable, which made Jareth want to chuckle until he saw the collar on the feminine looking sparrow man staring into his open eye. The little fae knew that he was focusing on him as he bolted for his open window. Jareth raced after him, shifting into the owl form he uses to fly to distant places. He flew after the sparrow man as he headed for the tallest tower. Jareth had a little trouble crawling through a hole at the top of the wall connecting with the roof, but once he landed he noticed what he recognized to be a nest.
Everything that had gone missing was placed somewhere within the nest. In fact, the sparrow man was busy crawling into his nightcap. Jareth noticed that his wings were large and rather exquisite. Slowly, he grasped the end of his nightcap and held it up as the sparrow man tumbled onto the floor. Jareth crouched down, placing his nightcap on his thigh so that his hands were free. The sparrow man was obviously terrified as he curled up into a ball and shivered terribly from fright. Jareth shushed him as an attempt to calm him.
The little sparrow man was frail as if he could break with one touch. He had long, silky chocolate hair that clashed perfectly with his pale skin. When he would open his eyes, his coffee colored eyes would stare into Jareth's mismatched eyes. His wings were a bold gold accented with bright red.
Jareth slowly reached out now seeing what his nightmare meant. It was him going through all those horrible events, but the tiny sparrow man swinging his arms and kicking at Jareth's outstretched hand. His hand stopped when it was in reach of the terrified fae, allowing the tiny hands and feet to strike his fingers and palm. The sparrow man tightened into an even smaller ball when Jareth's hand simply hovered there. Jareth lightly touched the sparrow man, who had frozen in terror. He gently stroked his side in order to calm him, but was worried when the tiny figure went limp.
He pulled his hand back, afraid he had scared the little thing to death. He was relieved to see the tiny chest rising and falling. Carefully, Jareth picked up the unconscious sparrow man and returned to his chambers. Pulling out one of his tunics, he set it on the nightstand and placed the sparrow man on top. He placed his night cap over the fae and smiled as the little one buried himself within it. Jareth sat bak on his bed and watched the slumbering fae until he returned to the land of dreams. However, he wasn't plagued by nightmares like before.
When Jareth awoke, he could see that the sparrow man was waking also. He casually lifted up the nightcap, and chuckled as the faery looked at him before pulling it back over his entire body. The sparrow man struggled to keep the nightcap over himself, but eventually gave up at Jareth's persistence. He wore an uncertain pout as he feebly tried to glare at Jareth.
"Come now," Jareth cooed sweetly, offering his hand, "it's okay, I have no intention of hurting you."
The sparrow man eyed him warily, but refused to move as he gripped the material. Jareth sighed, understanding perfectly why the fae didn't trust him. That didn't stop Jareth from trying to persuade the sparrow man to crawl onto his hand. Nothing seemed to work as a slightly cruel, but sneaky, little plan formed in Jareth's head.
"What's the matter?" Jareth teased, "You're not scared of me, are you?"
That was the perfect button, the sparrow man stood straight up and for once, he was successfully glaring at him. Jareth offered him his hand once more. For a moment, it seemed like the sparrow man would change his mind and hide, but cautiously, he stepped onto Jareth's palm. Jareth held his hand closer to his face as the sparrow man clasped his hands behind his back.
"Now there," Jareth chirped, "that wasn't so bad, now was it?"
The sparrow man kicked his palm and looked down, not wanting to admit anything. Jareth chuckled as he held out his finger and the sparrow man grabbed it in a form of a handshake. The sparrow man didn't know what to do as he continued to hold Jareth's finger and looked away.
"Well, I suppose we should introduce ourselves," Jareth mentioned, "I am Jareth, Goblin King of the Labyrinth, and you are..."
The sparrow man looked away before looking up at Jareth pathetically. Jareth watched as he chewed his bottom lip and looked down at the finger he was holding. The fae would tighten his grip on Jareth's finger before loosening it and tightening it again. Jareth started to figure he had had so many names, he probably couldn't remember his real name.
"Is it all right if I call you by a name of my choice?" Jareth asked earnestly.
The sparrow man nodded as he looked intensely into Jareth's mismatched eyes. Jareth thought about it as he considered many options, he considered many of the old languages, but when he considered a language he normally never considered he found a perfect name.
"How about Ren'ai?" he asked, excited as the sparrow man nodded his head. "I suppose no one has ever named you 'love' or even given it to you during your life."
It ripped at Jareth's heartstrings when Ren'ai shook his head solemnly. Jareth couldn't believe that anyone could not give someone this beautiful the love they truly deserved. He was brought out of his deep thoughts when he felt a gnawing on his finger. He looked down to see Ren'ai gnawing on his finger. It surprised him just a bit to see it. He considered that may be Ren'ai wasn't lovable, but he looked up at Jareth as a little bit of drool clung to both Jareth's glove and Ren'ai's lips.
"Are you hungry?" he asked.
He smiled as Ren'ai nodded excitedly. He set Ren'ai back on his makeshift bed and told him to stay put as he went to get something. Ren'ai nodded as he sat down on the tunic, looking up with the biggest brown eyes ever. Jareth rushed to the kitchen and searched for all the fruits he figured Ren'ai would like. He knew that peaches might bring up bad memories, but that happened to be the majority of the fruits he had. He noticed that his goblins were looking at him incredulously.
"What are you looking at?" Jareth yelled, "Get back to your business!"
He raced back to his room, knowing that those pesky buggers were probably swarming the door. He was careful not to drop a single fruit as he made his way back. Just as he suspected, a small mob of goblins were outside his doors trying to peek into his room.
"How many times do I have to tell you to stay away from my room?" Jareth roared as the mob scattered to all corners of the castle.
He entered his room and locked the doors behind him so as to prevent spying on the little treasure he was certain the goblins would torture. Ren'ai was hiding in the folds of Jareth's tunic as his tiny head popped out. Jareth set the fruits next to the tunic as Ren'ai pulled back into the tunic. Jareth slid his hands into the fold and carefully drug Ren'ai out as he clung to his fingers.
"Sorry I had to get so loud," Jareth apologized with surprising ease, "but I don't want the goblins knowing about you. It's for your own safety."
He set Ren'ai next to the pile of fruits, which Ren'ai dug into instantly. Jareth laughed as Ren'ai buried his tiny face into a maraschino cherry. The juices covered his face as he chewed on the bits he had. It warmed Jareth's heart to see the smile on Ren'ai's face. He looked down at the faery as he looked up with puffed out cheeks.
"I'll let you know now," Jareth stated, " I might scare you from time to time, but I promise that you won't have any harm come to you within these walls... All I ask is that while you stay here, you stay inside my chambers. If the goblins ever got a hold of you, they would rip out your wings and leave you to fend for yourself just for sport. They know better than to enter my chambers, especially without my permission. As long as you grant me this, you may stay here as long as you wish."
Ren'ai walked up and grasped Jareth's extended finger. He hugged his finger tightly as held it for a while. Jareth picked up his finger and set Ren'ai back where he sat so that he may finish his meal. Jareth watched contently as Ren'ai started to eat his cherry again.
"I'll do my best to take good care of you, Ren'ai," Jareth stated.