Author's Note-
This chapter is a bit shorter, sorry. I wanted to get some background on Jeremy's shady character and a little update on our favorite Goblin King.
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Jareth watched Sarah toss the small gift into a bag and run inside.
"She doesn't even suspect it could be me. What a pity…" he thought to himself, readjusting his black leather gloves to shield his wrists from the biting wind. "Eight years by mortal standards and she probably hasn't even had a passing thought of the villainous Goblin King. If only she knew what I'm doing for her."
Fresh out of his feminine disguise, Jareth shook his head to allow his wild mane of blonde hair to gain back some of its body. It had been incredibly draining on his magic to hold the guise of a busty brunette for several hours, let alone cast the charm over all the girls at the party to look beyond his presence and not really "see" that he was there. "Yes," he thought, "'Jarena' was a huge success today, but the first step to any good plan is getting your foot in the door."
Transfiguring into a barn owl, Jareth flew across the sleepy little town and landed on a gnarled old tree that could only hold a few leaves due to some sort of bark disease. From his vantage point he could see into the third story window where Jeremy Corban resided in his efficiency apartment. He appeared to be talking on the telephone and pacing furiously across his living room, which wasn't a huge area to stride wall to wall.
Unable to use magic in his owl form, Jareth was forced to alight on the ground and take cover from his conspicuous position behind the hedges surrounding the stoop of the building entrance. Jareth had come to call this particular hiding spot his home after a few weeks of ritual prying into Jeremy's personal life. As was now his habit, Jareth leaned against the stone foundation and peered into one of his crystals, seeing and hearing what was occurring in apartment 2B.
"I don't owe you shit, Darrel. We came up with that scheme five years ago and I am going to marry her. You wouldn't dare blackmail me because no one would believe you. And are you fucking kidding me? You want me to give you 10 grand when I'm getting married in two months? You should know better than to threaten me, I thought you knew by now how scary I can be."
Quirking an eyebrow, Jareth delighted at the fortune today was bringing. First he got to see Sarah, and now her fiancé was so close to incriminating himself in something that would be unforgivable to Sarah that Jareth could almost taste victory. The look of shock and fear that was crossing Jeremy's face as "Darrel" spoke was almost more than Jareth could handle, and he slid down the foundation to seat himself on the ground.
Stifling a bubbling laugh, Jareth attempted to attune his crystal to allow the voice of Darrel to be heard but his magic had been too spent to allow that much power to be focused at one time. Chagrined, Jareth contented himself with watching the little weasel squirm and hoped he would say something which was a little less cryptic and a little more solid.
As the short blonde mortal threw the phone across the room, Jareth absorbed the crystal and wondered if he would have to use this evidence at a later date. He had been watching Jeremy for almost a month and the busier things got as the wedding date marched nearer, the more agitated Mr. Corban seemed to become.
Jareth had pieced together a few facts: Sarah met Jeremy five years ago and started dating after he had stopped one of his drunken college acquaintances from attacking the young girl in a dark storage room. The two shared a long and boring romance and, after what seemed like a suitable amount of time, Jeremy proposed to Sarah on their anniversary in a very boring manner.
"Putting a ring in a baked potato? How queer and dangerous!" Jareth thought when he heard about their proposal.
Coincidentally, Jeremy popped the question on the 8 year anniversary of her trip to the Labyrinth. Jareth debated whether this was subconsciously weighing on Sarah's mind, but he quickly dismissed the possibility as she had only been in his world for nine and a half hours. He always felt that she made more of an impression on him than he actually made on her.
Most importantly, Jareth had learned that Sarah was not truly happy with Jeremy. As Jarena he had heard some of the other girls gossiping about Ms. Williams before she had arrived at the party. A heavy-set red head had mentioned that, as a coworker of Sarah's, she didn't seem very happy when she announced her engagement. Another girl whispered that Sarah didn't have much experience with men so she only got engaged because she felt that was the next logical step in the relationship. Of course, none of these girls had asked Sarah directly, and Jareth wasn't a huge fan of speculation, but these rumors had given him hope that perhaps he could sweep Sarah off her feet. He simply wanted her to have the fantasy romance that he knew she craved; she deserved nothing but the absolute best.
He smiled inwardly, his eyes narrowing into thin slits to create a barrier from the biting wind. As he settled onto the ground to recuperate from a long day of magic exertion, thoughts of a tall, precocious teenager with wispy chocolate tresses and rosy cheeks invaded his mind and he drifted off as a whispered tune of a ballroom lullaby escaped his lips.
