Chapter 7: Another Interesting Meeting
Author's Disclaimer: Once again, I do not own Labyrinth, as much as I wish I did. I just like adding onto what was already great. On that note, I will be continuing with the socks, as well as adding one other addition from another fanfiction writer on this site, who discussed the many good uses for potatoes. The original ideas for these two references from these very creative authors are great, and I want to add more to those thoughts (for the potatoes, see the author Lixxle on this site, and Jester3). And, at long last, it is time for another meeting, where our dear main men's large egos finally collide. It's really long, with quite a bit of description: believe me, it's worth it! I hope everyone will enjoy this as I loved writing it, and thank you so, so, so much for all of the reviews! :-)
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Sarah was nervous, as she ought in such a situation. What would she wear?!
The unthinkable had happened; she was entertaining many pleasant thoughts of her (and when did he become hers?) Jareth. Worse, she was worrying over what to wear after their first kiss. When had it become that bad?
No matter, she was not going to let him overtake her life. She did not love him. Maybe liked him a little, but it was no more than that, so she told herself. And so, she found something rather nice and normal looking, so it didn't look like she was trying.
A short time later, she heard the customary shrieks and noises that accompanied every visit of the goblins. Sarah made sure to wait a little longer than usual, just to make sure that she didn't give the impression of being interested.
Unfortunately, her hopes of success were quickly dashed as she walked into the room to find just the goblins again, and this time, the goblins brought a gift with them for her. It was a small, pretty box, but she had no interest in opening the box. If he really thought that he could explain away his absence by giving her presents, then he was in for a surprise. She was not able to be bought and be treated like that after such a great kiss without some repercussions. She took it to her room and left it inside her personal drawer, away from prying goblins. After that, she went to the room where the goblins were.
Unfortunately, in her anger and rush of not preparing for Jareth, Sarah had left out a pair of socks, which all of the goblins were now arguing over. She was fast to break it up, lest she be reminded of him more in the way they imitated him. It was just too much.
"Now, now, this is no way to play with one another. You have to be willing to share, and if you can't, none of you should use it. Do you understand?"
"Yes, we do. We will share. Could we have potatoes too?"
"Potatoes? Why do you need those?" She began her way to the kitchen and had found them when she asked the question, but it was not until she had given them three little ones that they responded.
"If we can't use socks, we use potatoes!"
Poor Sarah. She just couldn't get rid of images of Jareth, no matter what she did. Now she would be worried about how any food could remind her of him. Harmless foods like potatoes could now be seen or heard, which would then force her to be witness to more showing off of Jareth's more precious family jewels. It was now imprinted on her brain how the goblins tried to imitate the naughty bits of Jareth as they tried to strut regally while trying to hold the potato in the right place to give the correct effect.
Not that she didn't enjoy it at some level. First, such images of Jareth's more interesting parts still brought a certain warmth to her that she disliked, and then, to have his strutting made to look so ridiculous, thanks to the goblins, made her laugh upon initially seeing it. It was only later that she was truly angry at him for allowing them to do that, assuming that he knew about how they imitated him so well.
After that episode, Sarah suggested that they all watch some television together, in order to distract them from their current ideas. It worked wonderfully. With cookies all around, and goblins trying to be in her lap as they watched the random TV shows, it was a very peaceful time. When it was time to go to tutoring, the goblins were sad to go, but were glad she let them take the potatoes with them.
With them gone, Sarah went to see Richards again, and she found that they had another easy day. There were no insults or disdainful looks given, and he even went so far as to ask what other classes she was taking. The area of electricity was the main topic of the last few weeks, and would continue to be so until the end of the semester. There was a slight lull in hard concepts for once.
However, upon returning home, Sarah was still mad. The next day was Friday, which meant no Jareth until Monday. At first, she was quite sad. It would be almost a whole week at that point, and she was shocked with herself at how much weight she put on keeping track of dates. She had never done that before with anyone, nor had she ever doubted her kissing abilities, though now she was.
She was about to feel pity for herself, and then realized how stupid that was. Now she became quite angry again with him. In no time at all, she had the entire house cleaned in an effort to forget about him. She succeeded until she went to bed, where her night was long and restless as she considered what it would be like to see Jareth in a speedo. Where that had come from, she had no idea, other than the fact that he was eating potatoes and French fries and looking at her seductively. Why her?
The next day of class did not help either. Her professor could be very dry when he wanted to be, and he was that day. However, Sarah had never laughed so much during one class. The reason for her mirth was simple: it seemed the entire world was determined to remind her of Jareth. The cause: Gauss's law. Something as simple as putting a circle around an object in order to solve for some Greek letter was not interesting, but the circle being used was.
"Now class, since I cannot draw this figure in 3D in order to show you how you surround the entire object to find flux, I want you instead to think of this circle as a potato. The reason is simple: you will not always have smooth, perfect objects to surround when finding flux. So, for all those large, rather odd shapes out there, just surround it with this potato since it is similarly shaped. From there, you can calculate what you need in order to find out how much is coming out of the potato, which is what you are looking for. Any questions?"
It was a good thing that Sarah was looking down a lot for note-taking, otherwise it would have been very hard for her to explain why she found potatoes so interesting. Once she was out of the class though, she had only become madder at Jareth since he had indirectly almost made her look like a fool by laughing at the wrong time.
In order to take out her anger, she decided to go for a run. Afterward, she called her friends to go out that night in order to distract herself and have a pick-on-Jareth night with the girls. Sadly, she was to be disappointed there too. It seemed they all had engagements that night. They would not be able to do anything until Saturday night, where they would then be going to a friend's party. Sarah decided to join them.
The night got a little better though when she got a surprise visit from Toby and her father, so they went out to eat and talk. It was rather awkward when she realized she had ordered French fries, in addition to Toby, but she did her best to keep her mind out of the gutter as much as possible. Not easy, but she managed for Toby's sake.
Once she got home, she decided to go to bed early, but had another rough night as the dreams from the previous night were coming back full force, with a few subtle (and better of course) enhancements. She certainly did not recall how she managed to end up with him, where he was pushing himself quite close to her backside as he put suntan lotion on her, and then getting up to do lunges as he prepared to go into water. He certainly moved gracefully, and she watched in wonder as he would lean toward her then away, then toward again. At the rate he was going, she would be in a trance in no time.
Thankfully, she was able to fall asleep eventually and sleep in, so she was able to while away a few hours trying to think of reasons why she disliked him until it was time to go to the party. That would be her ultimate escape; she would find another guy. If only it was that easy.
It was finally Saturday night, and Sarah was ready for a change from her recent schedule of trying to forget Jareth and failing miserably at it. This would be the best way to rid herself of all thoughts of that dratted strutting wonder who had the nerve to kiss her and not come back afterward. She would show him; she certainly did not need him.
She had found one of her nicest and least desperate outfits, and armed with a good pair of heels, she was ready when her friends came for her. Naturally on the way, Sarah told her friends why she was so desperate to go out. Of course, all of the girls were very sympathetic to her plight and were more than willing to help her find just the right guy so that she could move on from such a jerk.
The party was everything that it promised to be; the only problem was that Sarah was not forgetting him. At every turn, there was a new guy to meet, but every time she met them, her inner voice had a comment to add.
For some, they were a bad kisser (you can just tell sometimes, right?), too young (why, oh why, did she have a thing for older men?), or not adequate enough (she blushed every time that pronouncement was made). Others just had the misfortune of having the wrong hair and/or eyes (so she liked blonde hair and mismatched eyes: this is normal right?).
Either way, halfway into the night she realized that she had made no progress in talking to any guy and was confused why she didn't warm to anyone, until she saw a nice blonde-haired one who reminded her vaguely of Jareth. Then she made the connection; he was interfering, again.
"Curse you, Jareth," Sarah muttered, "I wish the goblins would show you their potato dance, just so you can be as miserable as me." With that, Sarah felt significantly better and ready to put that glittery puff-ball behind her. It worked greatly in her favor.
Within ten minutes of her mutters, Sarah decided it was best to dance so that she could enjoy herself. Once there, she accidentally bumped into another guy. He had light brown hair, was clean-cut, had blue eyes, and had a welcoming smile for her when she apologized (and almost succeeded in completely ignoring her inner voice's commentary about seeming too nice and perfect to be any good).
"Hey, sorry about that. My inability to dance is quite well-known around here; I'm surprised they let me in. Let me make it up to you."
"I'm not surprised they let you in, not one bit. In fact, with anyone as beautiful and breathtaking as you, I wouldn't be surprised if you got invited to every party and had a boyfriend. And really, it's no problem at all. Though, if you must insist on making it up, then I insist you dance with me so I can prove to you I have no ill will toward you at all. I'm Will, by the way. Will Collins. A religious studies major with the great honor of being under the tutelage of the greatly esteemed Catherine Deburg, the greatest lady to ever undertake religious studies."
"Nice to meet you, Will. I'm Sarah. And no, I do not have a boyfriend (much against her inner voice's complaints), so yes, I would love to dance with you."
With that, they danced for the rest of the night together. It was a pleasant time for her, for it was the first time she had met a decent guy in a while, even if he was a little verbose in his praise of womankind in general, not a bad thing by any means, but just too much sometimes. It was a nice way to spend a night in order to restore her faith in men, but not enough to want to date him. She imagined him with another nice friend of hers, Mary Sue Coleman, who was lucky enough to share a common beginning in last names. She was perfect for him.
But, he was insistent. After such a night of exhilarating dancing, it was only proper and polite to invite her to dinner on Monday in order to continue the acquaintance. How much could it hurt after all? What could go wrong?
After a very long and distracting Sunday of trying to think about anything besides Jareth, and now very curious why she had dreamed of him dancing with her at that party in a most provocative way with that fine body of his, Sarah was glad to go back to the normal week. Her mind had spent far too many hours contemplating him and whatever was inside that very small box, to be able to comprehend why he thought that it would serve as a substitute.
Meanwhile, the goblins came, and to her great surprise, Jareth was back! Part of heart fluttered wildly, but she did her best to confine herself and get the meeting over with. It went fine, until the very end, when he asked her why she could not have dinner with him. She could have done a slightly better job of letting him know.
"What?!" bellowed Jareth.
"You heard me, Goblin King. I already have plans. He is a very nice guy that I met at a party this past weekend. Nothing more than a nice talk among friends. Just because we have one great night together does not give you all rights over me and my life. I have free will, and you have no power over me."
She was glad to see another grimace cross his face at this, and figured her point had been made. "So, I do not expect to see you there, at any time during my meeting with him. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, you have. But, can you really expect me to just stand by and watch you eat with other men? What if I were to go do that with another woman? Would you appreciate it?"
"I wouldn't put it past you to do it from time to time, depending on the situation."
The only response she got from that was a low mummer and growl, so she figured all was well. After that, it was time for her normal tutoring session, and so bid Jareth good day, having another relatively peaceful session.
She didn't know what had come over her normally expressionless tutor, who now even smiled at one of her questions that she had thought was rather stupid. Especially when he began to go on a very long tangent about why some little aspect was actually being approximated and actually useful for her work. Altogether, he was very much not himself, which was good since the amount of extra work was decreasing exponentially. After that, she went off to dinner.
Will was very prompt, and made profuse apologies for being late when in fact she had been ten minutes early and he had come five minutes afterward. After that, they proceeded to sit down and have the usual exchange of civilities until the waitress came for drinks. Then they really talked.
It was nice and easy, requiring little thought to answer his very trite questions about her day and how much she liked being an English major. Then dinner came, and she concentrated on eating so as to discourage him asking questions, so he took that opportunity to tell her about his day. Near the end, she was quite sick of hearing how grateful he was for being allowed to do his humble research under the great figure and title of Mrs. Deburg, and how condescending and good to him she was. If he loved her that much, he ought to marry the woman and be done with it.
As her brain took up that line of humorous thinking, he suddenly interrupted her thoughts with the rather disjointed question of if she had plans to do any research while in college. She naturally replied that since she was going for a PHD, she would eventually do research, most likely in fiction. He seemed displeased to hear that, and so went on to ask if she had considered ever doing research under Mrs. Deburg. She could only reply that she saw no future with that woman. This would not do for his sensibilities.
"No future? How? She has done some of the most interesting and comprehensive research up to date, with limitless funds at her fingertips. She can make life quite easy for you. How do you expect us to date one another if we don't share common interests like research? I'm sure she would be more than happy to add you on once I explain our situation, as she very much approves of shared research interests in a relationship. And once I tell her of your modesty and other amiable qualities, you will be indispensable."
Considering the fact that they had met at a frat party while dancing, she had no clue how he could explain that away, especially after only meeting twice. She had barely considered him boyfriend material, and now he was talking about long-term commitments. She was not thinking that far in advance. The only one who had ever inspired thoughts of that sort was someone whom she refused at present to think of. Speak of the devil...
At that point in the conversation, Jareth absolutely felt he had to butt in. She had been right: she only thought in a purely platonic way for him. But him? Well, he didn't trust him one bit. He wanted the goblins to come and make his life miserable by any means, starting with losing his voice or tongue, maybe permanently. But he figured first he needed a healthy dose of humiliation to put him in his place.
Coming from behind Sarah so Will could see him, he put his hand on Sarah's shoulder, followed by giving her a hug and quick kiss on the lips. He got the reaction he was hoping for: complete shock and huge owl eyes staring in total disbelief. That was it until Will noticed Sarah staring quite intently at Jareth, and then kissing him back (a most unexpected pleasure for Jareth, courtesy of Sarah's inability to restrain herself and her thoughts around him, which she despised greatly at the moment).
"Sarah, my Precious One, how is your dinner with your old friend, and when are you going to introduce us? I'm Jareth, by the way, Jareth King. I'm Sarah's boyfriend."
Now it was complete. Will Collins knew when he had lost, and when he saw such a figure come along and claim to be Sarah's boyfriend, with such impeccable timing, he knew he should get away before she told Jareth what he had been proposing. Granted, he distinctly recalled her saying she had no boyfriend, seeing no one by her side at the party, but he could have been making up things in his head in order to make it work out. Perhaps she had been trying to drive him away by telling him she was not interested in his research. Either way, it was a cruel twist of fate; one that he would have to deal with by running away as soon as civility allowed.
"My name is Will, Will Collins. I'm a religious studies major given the great pleasure of doing research under the great Mrs. Kat Deburg. And speaking of research, I fear I must stop our dinner now, Sarah, in favor of getting back. She will be wondering where I have gotten off to. Thank you for such an interesting evening, and please allow me to pay the bill. Good night!"
With that, he made a very quick exit stage right out the door, leaving Sarah and Jareth to their own devices.
Sarah was still in disbelief. In the short time she had seen Jareth, she had managed to feel quite happy to see him, quite excited while kissing him, shocked at his rudeness to Will, and amazement at how fast Will managed to disappear and escape. Once again, Jareth had managed to send running all her ideas and hopes for a normal life, and a dating life for that matter. She didn't know whether to hug or strangle him, so she settled for the latter in order to take out all of her anger of late.
Jareth saw that she had a great deal to say, so he took the liberty of leading her outside the restaurant. Once out of eyesight of anyone, they appeared in her home. Upon appearing in her home, Sarah didn't feel the least bit bad in expressing herself properly.
"Jareth! You rude, self-centered, selfish-"
"Yes, I am selfish. Quite selfish when it comes to you. You are mine, and you should expect by now that I am very jealous and possessive of you. I love you. But obviously, this is not the time to be speaking to you of such things, so I will wait and come back tomorrow when you can see things more clearly and see how I helped you. I will expect thanks from you tomorrow when we have dinner tomorrow. I will be here at 7:00. Try not to make any more plans, or else I will come for you. Good night, my Precious One." And with a clasp of the hand and a meaningful look, he disappeared, leaving Sarah to stare at the place where he had been.
Sarah really didn't know what to think; it was all just too much. What was she supposed to think? She was still mad at him for not trying to see or contact her before today, but at the same time, she felt a little bad for him. To see him while he gave that last speech, confessing his heart and feelings basically, and how impassioned, hurt, needy, and upset he was while doing so was powerful. And, had she really heard him correctly? Did he really love her? How could it be?
Her brain had been thrown for a loop, and she was in no state to realize the implications of his little speech. Instead, she called an early night, and surprisingly, she fell asleep quickly. Not surprising was that her dreams were filled with far too many images of Jareth to be completely normal.
The next day brought no Jareth nor goblins, only a message from Jareth telling her that he looked forward to seeing her later that night. There was a footnote saying that if she desired to look at more physics, he was more than willing to make up the time later in the week or over the weekend. Considering that it had been almost a week of her studying by herself, combined with the almost benign influence of her tutor, she knew that they would need to have a very long session together soon. In the meantime, she continued to work, then went off to see Dick, even arriving ten minutes early for once. He seemed greatly pleased with this situation.
"You are ten minutes early, Sarah. Very impressive." And he meant it, too. That was the scary part. Sadly, Sarah was still too much occupied with her later dinner plans to notice. Instead she just sat down and prepared for another session.
It wasn't long, however, before she was forced to pay attention as Dick was becoming more...adventurous. For one brief moment, she thought he winked at her and then smiled wickedly, but ignored it since she had made a mistake and figured he was mad at her. Then she couldn't help but notice that his hands brushed against her arm once as they moved books, and then their hands brushed several times. She also could have sworn that he let his hands linger or follow her hands in order to stick around.
But, it was only her imagination, surely. It wasn't until the end of their session that he commented that now she would have so little work to do this weekend, unless she desired something to do in particular.
That was when the warning light went off. She couldn't help but think, "Did my physics tutor just proposition me?" But it only got worse.
"Of course, Sarah, if you were looking for something to do, I could think of several things you would enjoy doing, or at least, I know I enjoy doing them so I know you would like doing them. We could even do them together if you really wanted to. I hope you will consider it; I'd like it very much if you could."
The smug, predatory gleam that she had thought would never exist on Dick's face had appeared, and truth be told it scared her. She would probably have nightmares about it for weeks.
At that point, she felt quite numb, and so got up and left without making a response. She really didn't know how or what to respond with. She could only walk, and she knew her stomach was churning: it was going to be a long night. She was upset: upset with him, and with herself for not noticing what was happening sooner. He had managed to make it quite awkward between them quite quickly. What made him think he liked her, let alone have the audacity to ask her out? And why was he so smug? Did he really think she would go out with him? Just the idea made her feel sick.
And then she got to thinking, what would happen to their relationship with this little added bonus? Oh, she could have bogged him on the spot, and then stripped him and killed him. Scratch that. She did not want to strip him, or anything related to it. He was in big trouble when she figured out a way to get out of it. Just wait until the end of the semester. Then she would tell him off properly.
Once she got home, she could only sit on her couch, staring in space. For once the time passed quickly between her meeting and dinner, so that when Jareth did come, he was able to appear, notice her, and try to scare her by addressing her. It worked, far too well.
"Well, that mode of dress is not what I expected for a night like this, certainly not the most flattering on you. Why haven't you changed?" That was when he saw her jump, and then he got a look at her very pale complexion. "Sarah, what has happened?" he asked aghast.
"He, he, he-" she stammered.
"He who? Did what? How can I avenge you?"
Sarah just looked at him for a second, then she got an idea. A wonderful, horrible idea. All paleness and her frown disappeared, in favor of an evil grin, followed quickly by a disgusted look. All she said was, "Dick asked me out."
And that was all it took to get the reaction she wanted Jareth was furious. "How dare he! He will pay dearly for ever saying that to you! Oh, I am going to enjoy this," he said smoothly, the very wicked grin making another appearance.
"Now hold on just one minute, Jareth. Before you send the goblins after him to drop apples on his head"-
"I hadn't thought of that. That would also be a good idea, though they ought to take him to the Bog of Eternal Stench for a quick tour too"-
"Jareth..."
"What? No one, especially that little pretentious, pea-brained, nobody, is going to get away with insulting you to your face, and then without apologizing, asking you out. Only I can do that."
"As much as I want you to make his life miserable, I would prefer it if you waited. At least until after he has checked my exam so that points won't be taken off from being in a bad mood. I can't afford another bad grade in this class."
"I see. I forgot about that. Well, you could just not finish and come with me to the Underground and never have to deal with it again."
"Jareth." The warning glare was there.
"Fine, fine, not now, but then what? I must do something to help you get rid of him. What can I do?"
"Well, now that you mention it, the idea did occur to me that you could just happen to come with me tomorrow to my session, making it appear that you are my boyfriend, as you were so kind to do the other day. You could just happen to kiss me and whatever else you think is necessary; I think I would have no problem if you did that, just to get him to back off. At least until I don't need him."
"But you don't need him. You have me, for personal and studious purposes. He has no use."
"Maybe so, but he can still have an effect on my grade, and I am not taking any chances. As much as I want to tell him off and have you tell him that he is a brainless, arrogant idiot, I don't think now is the right time."
"Fine, fine. I will settle for that. However, you still look pale. Why?"
"Well, if you just had your mortal enemy ask you out and expect you to immediately able to do whatever he has in mind, how would you feel?"
Jareth shivered slightly. "I do not like those mental images. I see your point. Well, it seems tonight is not a good night either, but I will be back tomorrow night to finish where we left off last time we had dinner. I expect that you will be in much better spirits by then, if I have anything to do with it. Well then, at least allow me before I go to put you in a good mood."
With that, he stepped directly in front of her, put his arms around her, and proceeded to kiss her into oblivion. It didn't take long, only a few minutes before she was responding back like she had been born to do it, so when they both came up panting for breath after five minutes of assault on the other's mouth using all weapons and tools at their disposal, Jareth took that as the opportune moment, so as to leave her with some expectations for the next time they met. He was not in the habit of disappointing in that respect. With a large shower of glitter, followed by magically putting a chair under Sarah to catch her, and a small present at her feet, he made his grand disappearance.
This time, Sarah looked at the gift, more inclined to do so since he was going to help her. Inside was a beautiful jewelry set, with a bracelet, necklace, and earrings that all matched. The design was simple: (stone that represents forever) interwoven with silver hearts and circles within a vine leaf motif. It definitely could have come from the Labyrinth. It was so pretty; she would have to wear it. And yet, the set seemed incomplete somehow; it was missing something. No matter, Sarah was quite exhausted from a long day and wanted nothing more than to sleep for a long time. Thankfully, she was lucky in that she slept right away, with only a few dreams of Jareth coming again into her room and kissing her again as he had done right before he left. She could get used to that.
On the day of the next tutoring session, Jareth was prompt. They soon appeared outside the main physics building, Jareth's wicked grin in full form now. As they came in, they were met by her professor.
"Hello, Sar-ah." The first syllable of her name sounded perky enough, the second not so much, possessing more of an "uh" sound. This was only emphasized by the wide-eyed, deer-in-the-headlight, bewildered look the professor gave as he looked at Jareth. Jareth however had no problem with loss of words.
"Hello Professor Professes. I'm Jareth King, Sarah's boyfriend. It's nice to finally meet you. Sometimes I walk her to classes and such, but as I, too, am busy, I cannot always. Sarah tells me so much about you." It was true; she did talk about him, just not always in the best light.
"Well, it's – it's very nice – to meet you Mr. King. What do you do for a living?"
"I rule over - little ones – where I work every day."
"So you take care of children?" The hint of fear and disbelief could not help but be seen, as he tried to imagine Jareth taking care of preschoolers in his open poet shirt, tight pants, short temper, and haughty/predatorial-gleaming eyes.
"Well, yes, in a way." They act like children enough." He could not suppress a slight chuckle there. This did not sit well with the professor.
"Well, that is an interesting line of work for you. I had not heard that Sarah had a boyfriend yet. But I am very happy for you both, you two do seem happy together. Have you mentioned this to Richards yet? But no matter, you must be on your way to see him now, no doubt, so I won't keep you any longer. Mustn't keep you both from doing what you enjoy doing most, physics. Good day."
Other than the seething death glare the poor professor got from Jareth, everything had turned out well for Sarah. Poor Jareth, though. "How dare he address and insinuate such things to me! No one has had the gall ever to suggest such a thing! To presume for someone, and insult another, to his face. He will pay dearly for that. No, no, Sarah, don't try to stop me, it will be nothing incriminating, just suitable punishment. I've always wanted to see if the goblins could launch bigger things into the bog, now they will have their chance. Hopefully he will run screaming into the bog to escape them in the end. Hmmm, so many possibilities... All in his dreams, of course. Except for the smell, it must linger for several days." Poor Jareth indeed.
And with that little mischievous scheme under way (after, of course, a goblin appeared, was told what to do by Jareth, and then ran off gleefully in the direction of the professor), Sarah and Jareth made their way to Dick's office, still with a few minutes to spare despite running into the rather verbose professor. And luckily for Sarah, Dick was in a similar state of confused bewilderment, completely flustered with his mouth hanging open, at first.
"Hello, Sarah, how nice- who in the world is that?!"
"Hello, Dick," Sarah tried her best not to smile when Jareth emphasized his name far more than he ought, almost as if calling him a name instead, for some odd reason, "how nice to meet you at last. I'm Jareth, Jareth King, Sarah's boyfriend. I've heard so much about you."
"Hello Jareth. Well, I can't say that I have heard about you, at all in fact. I'm sure if you were really important you would have been mentioned more often. Is there a reason you are here today?"
The tension between the two rather extensive egos was quite evident, based on the looks they each gave on another. But Jareth was more than willing to fight back. Heck, he was ready to go for ultimate humiliation the moment he got the chance, which wasn't long in coming.
"No, none at all Dick, other than to drop off my Precious One at her tutoring sessions, as I always do. Perhaps if you paid more attention, you would have noticed me sooner, or perhaps you were unwilling or unable to acknowledge my rather large presence in her life." The smug grin was starting to appear now again. "But as I'm sure that you two have much to discuss with the end of the semester coming, I will not keep her any longer, as I will have all night and all weekend to talk and do things with her of every sort. Good bye, dearest. I will come here as soon as I can."
Giving one last smug grin and strut toward Sarah again, Jareth proceeded to give Sarah another very long, smoldering kiss, that Sarah eagerly accepted and returned with vigor. Feeling proud of himself, he then left the room. Dick was furious, and he was not afraid to speak his mind.
"You cannot be serious Sarah! He can't be your boyfriend! He's too old for you, not at all your type, just too much to - to – oh you get my point. What can you mean, trying to lie to me about your boyfriend, when I know for certain you don't have one right now? Of all the men you can use, why him? That pompous, smug, predatorial, old fart? It ought to be illegal!" He felt proud of himself, but he felt he better back himself up, just a little more, in case she didn't get the full picture. "Really, you need someone who is younger, much younger, who is brilliant, caring, understanding, and has half a brain, instead of none, based on physical attributes. It really can't be physically possible..."
But Sarah had had enough of his insults, especially when it related to her in some way. That it was about her Jareth, all the more reason. "Dick! How dare you! You have only just met him, and already you are ready to insult any and every one. There's a reason you are alone so much, you have no feelings for others or how to treat them, especially me and my friends. You don't see me making fun of you and your friends to your face do you? No! Just so you know, we have known each other for a long time, more than five years. He is a very dear friend of mine, and I can't help it if I like him a lot, and he likes me. Now, I would appreciate it if we could drop this subject and move on to the physics lesson, the only reason I am here. I would like to keep my private life out of this, thank you very much."
After many sheepish and embarrassed looks on the part of Dick during that little speech, he kept his mouth on the topic of physics, until the end of the lesson. Unfortunately, by that time, he had seen Sarah look off in space twice and answer a text message, far too many distractions for his liking, especially if it involved that pretentious old guy claiming to be her boyfriend. What claim did he have on her? Why could she want him to think that she had one, and yet not?
Obviously she wanted Dick, himself, but why go through all that trouble? Did she think that he hadn't noticed? Certainly he had, and had thought he had made himself rather obvious. Perhaps she wanted full proof. That had to be it. She wanted full proof of his feelings for her, and he would do it. So, getting done fifteen minutes early, he put aside the books, and took Sarah's hands for several moments, before she jerked them out of his reach. Evidently she was not going to make it easy for him to declare himself, but he would, one way or the other. Even if he made a fool of himself. Little did he realize how much of a fool he would become.
"In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how desperately I wish to date you. But before I am run away with by my feelings on this subject, perhaps it will be advisable for me to state my reasons for wanting to date you. "
Sarah's astonishment was beyond expression. She stared, widening her eyes, pretending she hadn't heard him, and she was too shocked to respond to tell him to stop, much as she wanted to laugh at the idea of him being run away with feelings for anyone other than his computer or her professor.
This he considered sufficient encouragement; and the avowal of all that he felt, and had felt for her for a short time, immediately followed. He spoke endlessly; but there were feelings besides those of the heart to be detailed, and he was not more eloquent on the subject of tenderness than of pride. His sense of her inferiority - of its being a degradation for him to want to date such a girl, an English major even, someone who had been so dumb that she had needed his help even. But there was more, of course. And he didn't know when to keep his mouth shut.
"I refused to acknowledge your good looks at first, since I knew pretty girls are never smart, and only try to mooch off of me. Also, I knew that the seriousness of my job and future career required that I find someone who was just as serious as me, not someone who needs help with the topic. And you were the very definition of the pretty, stupid girl that I avoided like the plague. But, as I got to know you, I couldn't help but notice that beyond the couple places where there was a serious misunderstanding, you were in fact brilliant and able to understand, even willing to discuss the high-level topics with me as though you do it all the time. I was very pleased with your progress, and with D.H.'s approval, I saw no reason to stop thinking of you as delightful and perfect. So, I singled you out as the companion of my future life of my research. What have you to say now? Will you consider what I have asked? Do you understand why I was hinting before? Please tell me you will consider it."
As luck would have it, it was that precise moment that Jareth decided to make another appearance, saving her from making a decision. He, however, had much to say, knowing about the general vein from overhearing, (and wanting to bog him several times over at the beginning of the proposal, if it can be called a proposal) but not wanting to admit to the overhearing, he instead came for Sarah, with more evil thoughts in mind for the meddling little jerk.
"Sarah, there you are. I was wondering what was taking so long. It's not as though this little guy has anything interesting or worthwhile to say not related to his research. Plus, we're missing the fun at home, regarding catapults and other such fun things. Come on, we have to get going now."
"Now just hold on one minute here! If she wants to stick around to talk to me, that is her choice."
"Of course it is, when she is actually talking, but I have not heard her voice in at least ten minutes, probably more. So I doubt she is here willingly. No doubt you think it is important, but seeing as you have no life or soul outside of physics, you have nothing you could discuss with her. And I must ask you not to hold her back if she wants to get going. See? She is ready and waiting for me now. Good day." He knew it was not the end; he was just biding his time. He didn't have to wait long to hear the sputtering.
"Now you just hold one second there, buddy! I'm not done talking to you yet!"
"But I am with you. You are only wasting my time, and Sarah's time."
"I most certainly am not! As it so happens, I have a lot to say to Sarah, certainly more far more meaningful than you could ever appreciate. I was just telling her how much I -"
"That you care for her? That, despite your greatness, you are willing to condescend to like her. That she is worth your time for once? Oh yes, the perfect way to tell a girl you like her I'd say. At least I was more original. I was willing to move the stars; I told her I loved her, that I was willing to be her slave. You can't even get over yourself; how could you ever appreciate Sarah? Sarah is far more precious to me than anything else I own, and I would give it all up for her. And besides, even if you could actually compliment her with half a chance, do you really think she would choose you? You, who are so much more small and weak compared to me, when she can have your brains in me? I don't suppose you know that when I went to university, I completed a double major, including physics as one of them. Or that my knowledge allows me to rule over many people because of my superior learning? You honestly thought you had a chance? Ha, hardly."
"Well then, let Sarah choose. She has until the next tutoring session to decide whom she prefers. I'll see you then, Sarah."
He would have held her hand, had he been given enough time to reach it, but Jareth was much faster, and had her out of the room before Dick could even move. Once they were out of eyesight, Jareth whisked them both back to Sarah's home. The only thing Sarah could do was sit down, staring at Jareth, half out of admiration for standing up to Dick and saying all of those wonderful things, the other half confused why he would willingly learn physics.
But Jareth didn't have time for her to stare at him. "Much as I want to spend the rest of today with you, dearest, I cannot, as I have castle business that calls me. But do not fear, I will be back to escort you to your next tutoring session where you finally tell him off as you want. And after that, we will celebrate with a very nice meal, as I have wanted for some time now. Until then, I hope you will take good care of yourself, and perhaps go out and buy yourself a new dress, one that flatters more of that fine figure you have. And, lest you get any ideas that you wish to spite me for that time when I ruined your home with bog water, let me give you one more thing, to seal the deal as it were."
Jareth then proceeded to kiss Sarah again. It was not a quick one by any means, very long and breathless, leaving both sufficiently hot and bothered by the end of it. It helped that Jareth was tired of being proper, and Sarah's hands were beginning to wander a great deal, especially near his head and chest. When he finally left, it was unwillingly, hugging her until he had to disappear. Sarah was disappointed that he had to go, but she was content knowing that she could finally put down her tutor by refusing him and calling him unmanly. She was quite gleefully looking forward to it actually. The only bad part was waiting to see Jareth for so long. Part of her knew that she liked him far more than she was willing to admit, but she was afraid of how much it was. No matter, she would have time to consider in full detail while she waited.
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Author's Notes: Finally, the end of this chapter! There might also be a small bit coming from Pride and Prejudice. Three guesses as to where? I didn't realize it would be this long. Hopefully the wait will be worth it, I plan to write much more soon. I am so, so, so, sorry about the late time in getting this! On the plus side, exam week and classes are now over, so I can concentrate on it, and have it done very soon, I promise. I have been quite dilatory, both with writing and with reviews, so here are my responses to all the wonderful people who did not receive personal messages yet:
The Changeling Wolf: No problem! I sympathize with Sarah since I too was having issues with physics as it so happens. If it strikes a chord with others and helps you continue on like it does me, all the better! :) The idea of several of my professors being attacked by the goblins or fireys sounds like the kind of thing I do when my mind wanders. Well I hope you keep up the good work so you never need to know that kind of horrible frustration.
WhatTheSpoot: Oh yes, Jareth is not complete unless he is in his glory, all leathery and tight the way to go! :)
ForSanity'sSake: It would be hilarious I agree :) Oh the mental images... :D As for the guy, well, I hope it is working out better now. I act like that around one guy, but thankfully he is a nice guy. Yeah, if dinner could magically appear, I would be toast around him! Total sympathy there! I suppose there's always that one guy who can do it. Drat him for it.
Ayjah: I agree! Richard, find another girl to torture! Not our beloved Sarah!
awsmninja: I'm so glad you loved it! I feel so honored that you chose me to be first. I'm just so sorry you had to wait so long! Please forgive me, and I hope I can make it up soon. I won't feel bad if you don't want to review again, or if it is a negative review.
werecatninja: That is a very interesting coincidence. Great minds think alike? :)
