Authors Note: I just thought that this song was perfectly suited to Jareth. This fic is something of a reflection, both on our beloved Goblin King and the people who love him- Sarah and my two characters, Carla and Chantel. Carla appears in Hells Rescue Mission, and Chantel is in Reconciled and several others.
Disclaimer: I own only Carla and Chantel. Jareth, Sarah and Jann Ardens song, Insensitive do not belong to me. If Jareth did belong to me, well, I wouldn't be sitting here writing lowly fanfiction that will never see the light of day in most peoples cases. I would be in the Castle Beyond the Goblin City snuggling with Jareth (as would any female with sense, something of which I'm sure you have a lot, dear reader.)
How do you numb your skin
after the warmest touch
How do you slow your blood
After the body rush
How do you free your soul
After you've found a friend
How do you teach your heart
It's a crime to fall in love again
Sarah ran her fingers through her hair, now shorter than it had been years before, when she had run the Labyrinth. She looked at the small, red leather-bound book in front of her without seeing, lost in memories from another time, another place. Another world. She gently reached out a hand to touch its cover, rubbing the embossed title gently. The Labyrinth. The book that had changed her life, and her with it. The book that had led her journey to another realm, one of magic. She sighed and rubbed a hand across her eyes. She hadn't been the same since she had returned that night, and she knew it. Sometimes she wondered if he thought about her, but more often she thought about what had happened all those years ago. Wondered about what he had been thinking, what he would have done, given a chance. What she had done to him. Without saying a word, she slipped the book back into the drawer that it had come from and called her friends.
Oh, you probably won't remember me
It's probably ancient history
I'm one of the chosen few
Who went ahead and fell for you
I'm out of vogue, I'm out of touch
I fell too fast, I feel too much
I thought you might have
Some advice to give on how to be
Insensitive
Carla kneaded the bread with a vengeance, hands sinking into it and pounding it into submission with the ease of long practice. She placed it into a pan and placed it in the sunshine to rise, covering it with a towel. She had been living in this place for years, and she baked bread every morning for the other creatures that shared it with her. They loved fresh-baked bread and came every morning for some. Sighing, she wiped her floury hands on her apron and hung it up on a peg, strolling out into the sunshine beyond the threshold of her front door. Her bare feet met the cool grass past the stone steps, as they always did. Nothing ever changed in the Labyrinth. That was one the things she loved about it- it was always changing as a being, but nothing was ever truly permanent, it always returned to the beginning, no matter how many runners challenged it.
Like Him.
She had run the Labyrinth many years ago, and returned several years earlier to stay, watching over a section of the Labyrinth as the Guardian. She misled runners, solved conflicts between her sections various inhabitants, and when a runner went through it, she took over from Him, leading, or misleading them, as it were. She was good at it too. She had returned because she felt like she had belonged here, and because of Him. The King. Jareth. Sometimes, he was hard not to love, and other times, it was like try to breathe life into a stone. She had no doubt that he knew how she felt about him, but if he did, he gave no indication of it. He was King, first and foremost, but he was also Jareth, just as she was both the Guardian and Carla. They were friends as Carla and Jareth, and monarch and his vassal as King and Guardian. She loved him as both Jareth and King, and he respected her as Carla and Guardian. It was a good relationship. Not what she would like it to be, but in the end, it was enough just to be close to him and love him silently.
How do you numb your skin
after the warmest touch
How do you slow your blood
After the body rush
How do you free your soul
After you've found a friend
How do you teach your heart
It's a crime to fall in love again
Chantel smiled as she typed another line in her story, sure that her publisher would ask questions on who her King was based on, but not caring. There were some things that she just had to write, in the end. This was one of them. Sighing, she saved her document and shut down the computer, sticking a pen behind her ear and grabbing a notepad. Settling onto a couch, she gnawed on the pen while thinking about the Goblin King and all that he entailed. He was, in many ways, the ideal friend, if something of an unconventional one. He was there when you need him, but let you have your space, and was, if she did say so, unbelievably hot. That last one put a bit of a crimp into the 'perfect friend', but no one was perfect, least of all the King of creatures like the Goblins. He could be cruel and kind, gentle and rough, cold and warm. He could be whatever he needed to be, it seemed to her. He could be what the runners saw him as, and still be the Goblin King, still Jareth. That was one of the things she admired about him- he was so flexible, yet could still retain his original form. Sighing, she put pen to paper and began to write.
I really should have known
By the time you drove me home
By the vagueness in your eyes
Your casual goodbyes
By the chill in your embrace
The expression on your face
That told me
Maybe you might have some advice to give
On how to be
Insensitive
Insensitive
Insensitive
This story was also partially inspired by a video on Youtube by nitingale78 with clips from Labyrinth- it's to the song 'Right Here Waiting' by Richard Marx, and nitingale78 does wonderful videos, so go watch them- they're wonderful.
R n R, please, I need the feedback more than ever.