A/N: So, I haven't read this over and I don't care. I have another story bouncing around my skull and I need to scribble it down before it's gone. I hope this isn't too bad. I'm not sure if I've ever posted any of my Labyrinth stuff, but I wouldn't be surprised. Most of it's incomplete and sucks anyway. But this begged to be written and I have no heart to deny my literary whims. I hope you all enjoy the mental image of Jareth dancing to Starship just as much as I did. (Also, extra points to anyone who catches the reference to something else amazing and British that I threw in here. :D)
Disclaimer: I don't own "We Built This City" or Labyrinth, though on both accounts I wish I did.
Sometimes Sarah had to wonder exactly how long Jareth had been around, dabbling in the human realm in the only way he knew how; stealing babies and teaching lessons. It wasn't often that she was brought around to this thought, for his features were gorgeous and youthful, his antics childish more often than their first encounter had lead her to believe, but it came up every so often. This just happened to be one of those every so often moments.
Sarah pressed her lips together and then pressed her mouth into her knee, feeling the rub of her heat-chapped lips against the sun-warmed skin. If she made a noise, even one soft giggle, she knew he would turn and bite her head off, snarling and full of snark. She knew she wouldn't see him for days, maybe weeks afterward and so she kept her lips firmly together, her jaw clenched and pressed tightly into her leg so she wouldn't make a sound. An in front of her, oblivious to her inner struggle, Jareth danced around her living room and sang to the radio, "We Built This City".
At the age of twenty-four Sarah knew she had seen her far share of the odd and the funny, but nothing could compare to this in her memory. They had been lounging on her couch, the house quiet with her housemate, a half pixie girl who knew the Goblin King visited Sarah but shied away from the idea of meeting him, out at work. The windows of the apartment had been thrown wide for the summer breeze to drag its lazy way through and there was a tray of cookies and sweating lemonade on the coffee table next to the couch for when they got hungry. They had been playing a game of chess one minute, Jareth royally beating her rear end due to her hasty if not bold moves, radio playing along in the background one moment and then the next Jareth's spot on the couch had been emptied in a hurry and he was turning up the volume on her radio, grinning from ear to ear.
It made Sarah wonder just how many young girls Jareth had taken a fancy in, only to have them grow old and whither before his eyes as Time toke their toll on them and not him. Maybe she wasn't the first, the greatest, or the most beautiful of the lot; maybe she was just the latest model in a list of long gone women who the fae king had favored with his attention. That would certainly explain her housemate's distaste for him, but the thought didn't sit right with her gut. There was something in the way Jareth smiled at her that made her feel…
Sarah laughed suddenly under her breath, a bitter sound that came out despite the precautions she had taken to quell such noises. Jareth had a way of smiling at her and making her feel like one in a million, but who was to say she wasn't? What if she was just one in a million other girls he had lolling around their living rooms, playing chess and grinning at in that stomach rolling way of his?
Sarah wasn't aware of it, but her laugh had caught Jareth's attention. In fact she wasn't made aware of that fact until a pair of hands, free of their leather gloves for the day for there was no one to impress with oddities around here, latched onto her biceps and hauled her to her feet. She landed with a squeak, her body swaying into his arms for balance, her fingers scrambling for purchase against his chest. It was all in all a rather embarrassing set up once she had regained her balance and could look up into his face, mouth open and about to demand why. But the look on his face stopped her, silenced the embarrassment boiling in her stomach and banished the depressing thoughts of other women that were dancing around her mind.
He was giving her that look, the intense, stomach rolling, heart skipping, shiver inducing look that made her feel like she was one in a million, like she was the most precious thing he had ever seen.
Behind them the song ended, the radio moving on to another 80's song, the genre for the hot, lazy weekend day, but Jareth didn't look away or move back to the couch and neither did Sarah. They stood there, bodies pressed together, arms around each other for another handful of seconds before, so very carefully, Jareth removed a hand from around her hips and snapped his fingers.
A tingling feeling like a lover's fingers lightly trailing over her skin happened and then with a silent crack that made her ears pop "We Built This City" started over again. Jareth replaced his gloveless hand back on her hip, curling his fingers slowly over the skin exposed between her tank top and her jean shorts. A quick glance at the clock told Sarah that he had rewound time, right back to the moment where the song had begun and he had first jumped to his feet to turn the volume up. She had the strange urge to turn around and see if she was sitting on the couch, bafflement pulling her jaw down or if there was a second Jareth dancing just off to their right, but she ignored it.
Ever so slowly Jareth started to dance, guiding Sarah's unresponsive limbs along with him. She let him do that for a moment, pose her like a doll, but then her face slowly split into a smile and she moved her own limbs, dancing along with him. It was a slower version of the loud, wide-arc dancing he had done before, modified for a moment to add her in, but Jareth didn't appear to mind the more serious mood that befell them nor the intimate way they moved together so neither did Sarah.
They just danced, Jareth quietly singing under his breath and Sarah happily nestled in his arms. A summer breeze peeked in through the window, intruding on the quiet peaceful moment; it swept into the room bringing with it the scent of sunshine and heat. The smell mixed in with the taste of the Goblin King's own scent, which was secreted away in the back of Sarah's mouth, a lingering taste that became more solid with every deep breath. He smelled like magic and tasted like a sparkle stardust, all flash and distraction. Sunshine and magic mixed together in her senses; Sarah closed her eyes and returned to her earlier thoughts.
So what if I'm just another in the long line of companions, she thought, the thought making her flash back to one of her favorite TV shows to a man that could travel time and space, in a way just like Jareth could. For now I'm here and so is he; if he's gone tomorrow and never comes back I'll have this dance. I bet no one else has ever danced with him to Jefferson Starship.
Very slowly, tilting her head so Jareth wouldn't see or hear, Sarah laughed a hushed, bitter laugh and hoped.