Oh My Head
Toby was screaming and there was nothing Sarah could do to stop it. She held her head in her hands, fighting tears as she sat on the stairs. Her adorable antagonist for her father's affections, more commonly known as her brother, was running around crashing into things like a headless chicken. While screaming like his hair was on fire as he chased a one eyed fox around the house. Sarah had sat down on the stairs after running down them after Toby and her friend as she tried to stop them. Though in truth she'd slipped down the last few and was still trying to recover. How her brother and Ditymus hadn't managed to kill themselves yet was beyond her. The other pirk to sitting on the stairs was that the two little, lovable idiots couldn't get past her to run the whole of both levels of the house. Though they had tried a few times to get passed her.
Sarah doubted that Sir Ditymus was playing. He still seemed to have some presence of mind though he was now a "naked" wild fox running around on all fours. Sarah was slightly suspicious as to why her old friend was so panicked. Logically, any animal being chased by a banshee of a toddler, screaming "pur-le focs," while throwing themselves and anything in there path around at high speeds, would be in a frenzy to get way. Yet anytime Ditymus caught site of his own reflection he'd seem to get a new bout of adrenaline and would wail like he'd been struck a deathly blow. His once beautiful brass and copper fur was now a headache inducing tone of neon purple. It hurt Sarah's head just to look at him. As they pair hurtled around the corner into the kitchen, Sarah finally gave up the fight and made her first wish since she ran the Labyrinth for her brother some years ago.
"I wish Jareth was here, right now."
"Dear Goddesses Above and Below! What is that racket-"
"Jareth, please, please make it stop!"
Jareth stared at her in disbelief. Of all the things and situations he'd have liked for her to use such a pleading tone this was not the instance he'd have liked. With a flick of his wrist, silence pushed its way back into the house so quickly that the sudden lack of sound left Sarah blinking up at him. Jareth smiled down at her slightly amused, from where he stood leaning on the stair banister.
"Are you alright, Sarah dearest?"
"I slipped on the stairs and hit my head. Are Toby and Sir Ditymus okay?"
"That purple thing was Ditymus?" Jareth asked as he reached out and traced a line with a gloved fingertip from the center of her forehead to the nape of her neck. She winced as his finger ran down the back of her head.
"Yes. He appeared out of no where in the living room, chittering like he thought he could talk and trying to stand on his hind legs like he'd never walked on four before... Though he learned quick enough. He only lost his famous reserve and decorum when he saw his purple self in the hall mirror from the living room archway. What did you do?"
"Suspended time around the boy and the fox, repaired all the damage they'd cause, along with a series of healing spells on yourself. You had a concussion by the way. We best go get them separated before I unfreeze them… I'll bet you a date that if Toby is within sight of the newly purple fox they'll be running and screaming out of control again in the space of a heartbeat."
"No. We're going to stop them not get them riled up again so why bother with betting… Does Ditymus know magic? He usually uses a mirror to visit me, he's never just appeared like that before."
"He was my teacher in my youth, though I have far surpassed him. Common courtesy, and the wish to keep one's body intact say you never 'just appear' in someone's living room."
Sarah lead the way to where she thought she'd hear the duo last, completely missing the slight put off look that crossed Jareth's face when she'd shot down his baiting her into a date.