Alice awakes with a start, the room around her refusing to come in to focus. Between blinking her dark eyes rapidly and shaking her head in an attempt to focus, she manages to make herself dizzy. Unable to do anything else she groans and falls back, expecting to land on the cold hard floor of her apartment. Instead her head meets several large feather pillows. This manages to startle her even more. Her eyes dart around as the room finally comes to focus.
The floor and walls are made entirely out of stone, and there is lavish furniture lining the perimeter. The large four post bed she is laying in, is placed in the center. She manages to sit up, supporting herself with her arms behind her. At the foot of the bed there is a large ottoman, and on top is a large suitcase that she recognizes as her own. She shudders as she remembers packing it, causing her what she could only assume was now her ex boyfriend to fly off the handle and beat her senseless. Yet she moves on and continues to survey her surroundings. She tucks a piece of dirty blonde hair behind her ear before flipping the large white down comforter off of herself and slowly letting her feet meet the floor. It takes a moment for her to stand steady, but once she does she rushes to the large stone balcony behind her. It doesn't take more than a second for her to recognize where she is. And how she got there, would remain a complete mystery for about five more seconds.
The large wooden door clicks behind her and she spins around to see who is entering, her stance automatically defensive. However, when the Goblin King himself, dressed in a casual black shirt and tight black pants enters the room looking a little worse for wear and very concerned, she softens her posture. He clears his throat before speaking, however his voice still comes out rather hoarse.
"How are you feeling?" he asks, his tone surprisingly informal. Alice opens her mouth the respond but no sound comes out. Jareth shakes his head. "You've been screaming in your sleep for two days," he adds carefully, unsure of how she would react to this sort of news. Luckily she has calmed down some. However, when she tries to take a deep breath it becomes apparent that she had suffered some injuries. Jareth cautiously moves a little closer. "You also had two cracked ribs. I managed to heal them but you will be sore for a bit." Alice nods silently, unable to take her eyes off of him. Her heart pounds in her chest as the realization of what he has done for her comes in to sharp view. Before she can stop herself she rushes across the room and almost knocks him over as she hugs him around his waist.
"Thank you," she chokes, tears streaming down her face. He is completely caught off guard, and remains motionless for a moment. Then, to his own surprise, he wraps his arms around the small girl that is clinging to him. He rests his head on top of hers and rocks her slightly, rubbing circles on her back.
"You're safe Alice. He can't get you here," he says softly, attempting to calm her down. He steals a glance at her, and frowns when he realizes that she is far too skinny. The black sweatshirt she's wearing is barely hanging on to her shoulders, and it isnt't that big of a sweatshirt. He sighs again and places his hands on her shoulders, holding her back from him and giving her a stern look. "You've been through too much, and you've been asleep for two days. Do you want me to have the cook bring you something to eat?" he asks awkwardly, not entirely used to being the good guy for once. Alice shakes her head.
"I'm not hungry," she says simply, sniffling and using the sleeve of her sweatshirt to wipe away a few left over tears. Jareth gives her shoulders a light squeeze.
"I don't care. You need to eat," he says, his tone final. Alice stands there, unaware of how weak she looks. Unaware that she is shaking. Unaware of how sunken in her face is. But most of all she is unaware of just how close to her Jareth has been for the past four years. Lacking the strength to fight him on the issue she simply nods and looks defeated, her gaze dropping to the floor. It becomes quite apparent how weak she truly is when she attempts to turn and cross the room to sit back down on the bed. Her legs almost give way. Jareth smoothly slips an arm around her waist and grabs her arm to support her, and walks her over to the bed, sitting her down gently. "I'll get the cook," he says, turning to leave the room.
"Wait!" Alice exclaims before she can stop herself. Jareth turns to face her, raising an eyebrow. Alice bites her lip and recoils slightly, unable to make eye contact with him. "Is there, um, some way you could just have the food sent up and," she pauses for a moment. "Not leave?" she finishes, the request sounding ridiculous to her given the circumstances of their history. Jareth tilts his head, and Alice automatically feels embarrassed. When he sees her face turn scarlet he gives his first smile of their encounter.
"That shouldn't be a problem," he says, attempting to sound cheery for her sake. He flicks his wrist and summons one of his all too familiar crystals, and whispers something in to it. With another flick of his wrist the crystal disappears, and after a few seconds there is a knock on the door. He reaches for the handle, not taking his eyes off of Alice. Once open a small female goblin waddles in with a tray of food. On it is a salad, some baked chicken, a few cookies and a glass of orange juice. The scent of the food hits Alice immediately and her mouth automatically begins to water. The goblin places the tray on the ottoman and bows deeply. Alice gives the widest smile she can handle given her condition.
"Thank you!" she says, her voice getting a little stronger. The goblin looks up at her with excitement in her beady eyes. She returns the smile and scuttles out of the room, the door closing on its own behind her. Alice crawls across the bed and plops herself down in front of the tray. She picks up an ornate silver fork and starts with the salad. It doesn't take very long for her to get through the chicken and a few of the cookies. All the while Jareth is sitting in an arm chair across the room, watching her, his eyes completely fixed on her. Once she finishes she looks up at him and blushes. "I guess I was hungry," she says, wiping her mouth with a cloth napkin from the tray.
The two are silent for a moment before a slightly worried expression makes its way on to Alice's face. "The last time I ate any food here... um," she starts, but Jareth raises a hand to stop her. He shakes his head and smiles.
"That sort of trickery isn't me anymore Alice. Don't worry. You won't forget anything that you don't want to." His tone is so different than what she could remember. It was soft, gentle, caring. Above everything else it was genuine. There was no hint of a lie or a trick. Alice couldn't help but smile to herself. She is taken away from her thoughts however by the sound of Jareth clearing his throat. "If you would like to get cleaned up the bathroom is through there," he says, pointing towards a small door to the right that matches the main door. "Everything you might need is in there. I have something to attend to but I can be back before you're finished, if you like." Alice nods briefly before struggling to her feet.
"Promise you'll come back?" she asks, disgusted by how childish and pathetic she sounds. Jareth rises to his feet and puts his right hand over his chest.
"I promise," he says, bowing slightly. "I'll leave you too it," he adds before slipping out of the room silently.