Hoggle pushed the shovel deep into the soil. Labyrinth soil was much different than any other soil you have ever encountered. It's the toughest, driest, most-packed-with-big-hard-rocks kind of dirt that would make any normal gardener wring his hands and roll out the plastic grass to cover it up. But Hoggle liked his environment. It was like him, crusty and crabby. He reveled in the everyday argument and struggle he had with the shovel and the dirt. He'd curse and grumble and slam harder and the ground would eventually open up enough for him to plant a few seeds and he'd wipe the sweat off his brow take a breather before starting all over again. Breather was a word he picked up from Sarah. "I have to take a breather, " she panted after he led her up the Glass Hill to show her the view. Sarah was one of the few people Hoggle would put before himself in such a way as to take them on difficult tours for some view. She was his friend. How long had it been since he had had a friend before Sarah? Somewhere in his ancient memory, he could distantly remember a mother who had been kind to him, who had loved him. Sarah had offered that same acceptance toward him and since that fateful moment when she had come to the Labyrinth and befriended him, Hoggle mused, his whole world had been turned upside down. Well, mostly anyhow. He was still tending to the gardens, wasn't he?
"Hello, Hogwart"
Hoggle broke out of his reverie to find none other than the royal rat himself, Jareth, King of the Goblins, regarding him from the top of the wall. He was sitting with one leg up and an ever-present crystal twirling in that sickening way it did in his palm. His smirk, of course, was right in its royal place.
"Ye-Yer Majesty!" Hoggle hated himself for stuttering. Jareth always made him nervous.
"Oh Hoggbrain," Jareth sighed , "I hope I didn't upset you! I just wanted to have a little chat, you know, to keep things up between us." "How may I help, yer majesty?"
"Well..." The crystal spun faster and faster and started to weave in and out of Jareth's fingers. Hoggle found it impossible to take his eyes off of it.
"I was really hoping to find Sarah around," said Jareth nonchalantly. "I feel I almost never get to chat enough with her."
"Well, I...I really can't say I know where she is at the moment,sir...Maybe, uh, she'll...visit...today, but I can't be sure about that..."
The crystal stopped abruptly.
"Oh, but that would be perfect, wouldn't it?,"said Jareth brightly. Whenever Jareth looked or sounded cheerful, it was always more dangerous. If he was smiling, you could count on a goblin being bogged in the near past, present or future. Suddenly Jareth looked away, distracted. He turned back lazily however and showed all his teeth in a very dangerous smile.
"It appears that our little talk is over Hognet. I thank you for your cooperation."
Jareth's false sincerity was the last thing Hoggle heard before he disappeared, simply fading from sight. Hoggle sighed and leaned on the shovel handle. Jareth's little visits made him so tense.
"Well, carry on!"
Jareth's voice boomed around him and Hoggle's eyes darted around wildly. The wild mocking laughter followed him all the way to the garden shed.
Sarah touched the petals of the flower she was holding and marveled at the iridescent surface and soft almost velvety texture. The blossom was from the Glass Hill, in the Western Section of the Labyrinth. Well, Western but only in the morning was what Hoggle had said. And there was something to do about the cycle of the moon but at any rate the Glass Hill, like most locations in the Labyrinth, was of no certain location. And speaking of Hoggle, she felt so guilty. She had no idea how to break the news to him. It was inevitable that shit would go down if not with Hoggle than the rest of the world eventually. She sighed and laid her head back, eyes closed, in the soft grass. In the castle gardens, the grass was soft and a lush vibrant green tinged with blue, unlike the majority of the Labyrinth. Here, the grass also moved on its own, swaying and whispering, moving her hair and brushing against her cheek without the help of any wind or breeze.
"Enjoying my private gardens, I see."
Jareth's lips rested on a little spot below her ear and close to her jawline. Sarah cracked an eye open and regarded him suspiciously.
"I should have known you would sneak upon me, Goblin King."
He ignored her and stretched out fully beside eyed him enviously, almost wishful of the way he could lounge about like the crook that he was but still look so darn regal and aloof.
"I thought I had felt you using the water portal.", he said, closing his eyes. "But I was rather preoccupied, so I didn't come right away."
"Preoccupied with what?, " Sarah asked, rolling over and propping her chin up on her elbows. "You do sound relaxed. Some poor goblin soul has been bogged, right? Maybe a record-setting kick?"
It was Jareth's turn to crack an eye and frown. But then he smiled smugly, re-closing his eyes. Uh-oh, something bigger and better this time.
"Okay, Jareth, what did you do to Hoggle?," she demanded. "You know, if you continue to torture him so, the harder it will be for him to be friends with me and accept-this- our-our...our friendship."
"I do like the way you say my name," was his smooth response.
"Ughhhh, Jar-Goblin King, you can be so infuriating sometimes!" She flopped on her back again, scowling. In a heartbeat his head was over hers and his gloved hands were on either side of her.
"Precious," he started, his feather hair tickling her skin and falling into her widened eyes, "Oh precious Sarah-mine, I really do like the way my name sounds on your lips." Gazing down at her, teeth showing in a lazy grin, Jareth leaned even closer. He whispered, "So please do say it again."
Sarah licked her lips nervously and tried to catch her breath. His mismatched eyes bored into her and she could glimpse just past that snarky, bold exterior and see the slightest glimmer of insecurity. He really only had that with her, which both made her feel powerful and reassured her that he wasn't always just playing a game. She looked down and back up at him and said sweetly, "Jareth?"
"Yes?"
"Get off of me."
She made a sudden movement to lift her hands up to his chest and push but they were caught instantly by his own. His grin only grew even wider and he laughed a rich baritone laugh that vibrated and tickled her skin struggled half-heartedly against him but smiled in spite of herself.
"My kingdom for a kiss, Sarah-mine.", and he pressed his warm lips to hers.