A/N Own Nothing, Review :)
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I held Jareth's arm while we walked down the stairs. This time he did not look at the building. He kept his eyes on me. He watched each step I took and caught me when I inevitable stumbled. He smirked and continued down the steps. We walked out the door and I saw a black limo waiting for us. I was not expecting that. Jareth's smirk grew when he saw my surprise.
We got into the car and I thought I had better get the ball rolling on conversation, "Why a limo? Can't you drive? Why did you choose me to take to this thing?" I had to cover my mouth to make myself stop. Everything I was thinking about started to tumbling out of my mouth.
Jareth looked surprised but answered which surprised me, "No, I do not how to drive. Is a limo not a suitable mode of transportation?"
I nodded, "It is."
"I brought you to this thing because you are easier to be around than any other woman I have met. Any other woman and I would be very uncomfortable sharing my limo and sitting next to during dinner."
I nodded and realized that we were sitting quite close. I could see that he was trying to maintain his no touch rule while trying not to look like he was. I pretended to look out the window so it didn't seem weird that I was edging away from him to give him more space. He relaxed a bit more. He had his hands on his knees. I think he was expecting my questions to continue.
"Why do you always wear gloves?"Once again words tumbled out. I decided I might as well let them. It was probably the only way that he would talk to me during the ride.
"I like them," he didn't seem to want to say more.
"Do you ever take them off?"
"I only remove them if I am putting a fresh pair on."
"Do you have a scar or something?"
"No"
Silence again. I started going through my list of questions to ask or things I had wondered about. Then I asked something I never wanted to asked, "Why don't you like people touching you?"
I was horrified at first that I had asked him that. I was worried that I did not want to hear the answer. Jareth just smirked at me, "I am royalty I do not like the touch of anyone who is beneath me, and the only other touch I enjoy involves kicking my goblins into the bog."
"Is a bog like a swamp? Do you have any friends in the labyrinth?"
"Yes, the bog is the worst kind of swamp the Labyrinth or anyplace has ever seen." He completely ignored the next question and I did not repeat it.
"Maybe you should come to a bar with me sometime. We could find you a girl that you feel comfortable with; maybe one that you will allow to hold your hand. You could bring some guy friends and I will bring some girlfriends and we will have fun."
He suddenly looked really nervous, "I let you hold my arm tonight. I also picked you up and let you hold onto my leg the other night."
I had to give him that, he seemed to let me touch him when it was necessary. "Ok, but we are still going out next Friday. Bring a couple of guys along. I promise nothing will hurt you. You can hide behind me if you want," I said teasingly.
That got him. I bruised his ego and he was determined to show me that he was perfectly fine with going to a bar. "Fine come to the Labyrinth and bring along whoever you wish."
"No, no, no. You are leaving your safe little space. Are you scared or something?"
He glared at me and I giggled in response. I picked up his hand and began to fidget with it. At first he seemed strange about it, but he soon returned to a calm neutral state.
"Friday it is. So I take it your family isn't huggers. My family is really big on hugging. Do you see your family often? What do you guys do for Christmas and stuff?"
"No they are not. No I do not. And we do not celebrate Christmas"
"Hmm, so what is this dinner for? Are there going to be other ladies present?"
Finally he completely relaxed as he began to tell me all about the people I was going to meet tonight. He started spouting out a bunch of numbers and letters that probably meant something important. I listened but I did not understand a word of it. When he said everything he could on that topic I steered it towards his newest gadget. After that he did not shut up. It was almost as bad as Valerie except when he talked it sounded right. He did not use slang. He did not sound like he was exaggerating anything. However, since it was something that interested him he had plenty to say on the subject.
The limo stopped outside a large place. It was decorated with fancy lights and a lot of plants. Jareth got out of the car and held his hand out for me. I took it slowly and watched his face to make sure it was ok. Apparently he did not mind me. I commented on that and he said something about me being his equal and it was alright. It was nice to move up in the world.
I was extremely terrified when I walked in and saw that everyone was in more extravagant gowns than I was wearing. "What kind of business is this again?" I hissed in his ear.
He just looked at me, waited until I got annoyed and then turned and continued walking. "Bastard," I whispered at him. I can't be positive but I might have heard a very tiny laugh come from him. We got to our table and sat down. We were the first ones to arrive. It looked like there were 3 more couples coming. I prayed that it was couples and I was not going to be surrounded by a bunch of men speaking business. I really did not want to be just eye candy. I know he told me the names of some of the men, but I don't remember any women's names.
Two couples came in at the same time; it seems that they were the advisors. Well the husbands were. I was praying that one of the women was, but as luck would have it they were just brought along for social reasons. I shook hands with everyone as introductions were done. It sounded like someone was selling their store to Jareth. Now why couldn't he have just explained it like that? Why did he have to talk about the financial value and the numbers instead of what it was?
I felt Jareth suddenly stiffen. His face looked like he wanted to run away and hide. I tried to follow his gaze. I saw another couple coming through the room towards us. The man was nicely dressed in a suit with a blue tie. His hair was a bit long for him, but I guess I shouldn't talk about hair. I was sitting next to Jareth with the poof of hair on his head. The woman was very attractive, but also very simple looking. She had long brown hair. She was very tall or maybe I am just very short, most likely I am just short. She was wearing a deep red dress, strapless. Not really my style, but then what dress really was. Maybe it was his or her business and he was nervous about the transaction. I doubted that. Jareth was never nervous when it was about business.
"Sarah," he said is such a low whisper that I barely heard him.