Ch11. Date Night

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

AN: If you have any questions about the story or anything in the story just ask. Let me know what you think. I had the idea for this part in my head for a while. So glad I finally got to write it. I had to take more lyrics out here but keep in mind that since it is a duet each new paragraph during the song is a change of role as to who is singing.

Rhea took a deep breath as the clock struck nine. Almost immediately there was a knock at the door. She answered and there he stood, his black leather vest a perfect contrast to his white poet shirt. The grey pants were, of course, closefitting enough to make her uncomfortably aware of his anatomy in that area, a thought process she hoped she would grow out of. The boots easily matched his leather gloves.

He eyes her appreciatively, seeming to like the fuchsia dress she had chosen. It felt to her to be made of some sort of soft cotton or polyester and the skirt had so much material that if she stepped to the center of the room and did a graceful spin he'd certainly get a nice look at her underwear. She of course chose not to do that. The torso of the dress hugged her curves nicely, showing a respectable amount of cleavage at the v-shaped neckline, and had a high collar held neatly in place by some servants talented ironing. She had pinned her hair up with pearls to keep them off the collar leaving a few red curls hanging down delicately here and there. The sleeves fit closely to her arms and had a ring on each that was worn on the middle finger.

"You look lovely my queen," with the hand that wasn't currently holding a large picnic basket he took one of hers, bent into a low bow, and kissed her knuckles.

"You look quite dashing yourself my king," she returned his affectionate gesture with a teasing smile and a curtsey.

Why did her blush for her so easily? He had once thought that he would be in full control of himself and the woman he married but Regina, a woman of the twenty-first century, asserted as much control over him as she allowed him to have over her. Yes, she allowed it. He knew very well that if he ever tried to punish her for a harmless infraction she would tell him to leave her be and he would not argue.

"Shall we," she closed the door behind her, linked her arm with his and he began to lead her through the halls.

The kissed had given them more than just access to each other's power. A mental connection had been forged, through which they had come to an agreement. Like he had already said she would be punished if she disobeyed him regarding her health and well being and also if she lied to him, worse if she tried to hide it, but not so much if she came clean on her own. Of course under the same conditions he had allowed her to do the same to him. Even in her thoughts she teased him, implying that such things could be playful as long as the misbehavior was displayed in a joking manner, then going as far as to call their telepathic communication a 'mind date' to which he had laughed.

"Genie, there are some other rules I want you to follow, for your own safety of course," he led her carefully around the garbage piles outside the city.

She screamed and jumped into his arms to get off the ground as she saw a rat crawling through the junk piles. He gave her a shocked look and continued walking with her resting bridal style in his arms. It didn't take him long to realize that his arm would be really sore from having the basket pressed to his arm by her legs and he set her down and handed her the basket before picking her back up and continuing.

"I'm listening," she said when he remained quiet.

"What," he sounded confused.

"You mentioned more rules for me to follow," she gave him an amused smile, "I can't really follow them if I don't know what they are now can I?"

"No, of course not," he smiled back at her, "First of all, I don't want you entering the labyrinth without me. It's dangerous."

"I understand that," she leaned her head on his shoulder, "What else?"

"At night you are to be in your room. Once you get your eight to nine hours of sleep I don't care what you do with the rest of the night as long as you are not wandering about the castle."

"Is that dangerous too Jareth," she asked now a little concerned.

"Some things I have created are dangerous. A few of them reside in the castle. They are dormant at day but wander at night. Luckily they can only enter residential suites if they are invited in by the one that resides there," he explained hoping to calm her with the knowledge that her room was safe.

"What if I need you during the knight? How am I to find you," she settled and tried not to be concerned about the dangers he described.

"The more we kiss the more of my power I share with you. With enough of your will you could wake me with only your mind," he told her.

They traveled in silence for a while before he finally set her down and took a blanket out of the basket. He spread it on the ground and beckoned her to sit with him. She sat down and waited patiently while he pulled the food out of the basket.

"Where are we," she asked looking around. The densely wooded area would have seemed creepy had she come across it while trying to solve the labyrinth but on a picnic it felt more romantic.

"This is the enchanted forest. We are currently between the firey territory and the unicorn territory," he handed her a sandwich that seemed to be full of roasted chicken.

"I've heard of unicorns in human mythologies. Are they as vicious as the stories say," she bit into the sandwich and savored the flavor, moaning at the taste of the meat.

"They can be. They won't attack their king or a pure maiden. Both of us are safe. You seem to really like that sandwich," he was surprised at her reaction to the food he'd given her.

"Bryan's a vegetarian. He wouldn't let me eat meat. Please don't ever feed me tofu. It's nasty in flavor and in texture," she took another large bite.

"You have my word," he vowed then took a bite of his own sandwich and smiled.

"So why did you choose this location for our picnic? It is beautiful but I've seen other places in the labyrinth that are just as lovely from on top of the walls. Why here," she inquired.

"The goblins build fast. The stables are already complete," he replied lovingly.

"You expect me to ride a unicorn," she giggled at the scary thought.

"If we can capture one. It must submit before we wed, while you are still a virgin. Then even after our wedding night the unicorn and it's descendants will submit to you. Only the descendants born after it's submission of course," he assured her.

"Wait a minute," she caught something in his words she didn't like, "Jareth, on our wedding night I'll only have known you for a bout a week. How can you expect me to be ready to have sex with you so soon?"

He gave her a confused look before he grasped her meaning, "Genie, I will not so much as touch you if you are unwilling. I ask only that you tell me when you're ready. If it is pregnancy that you are worried about I assure you I have the power to prevent it and still let us enjoy each other," he stroked her cheek to soother her nerves.

She shook her head, "I'm not worried that I'll get pregnant. I just want to fall in love with you before bed time turns into passionate lust," she went back to eating.

He smiled understandingly, "Okay. That makes sense. I'm glad you feel that way. I'd be a little worried if you didn't."

"Thank you for understanding. Believe me, I don't want to make you wait but I want my first time to be special and for us to be mutually in love with each other when it happens. I need time to be ready for that," she hugged him gratefully.

"Of course my love. I have waited a long time for this and I can wait longer still. I fell in love with you months ago. Being in love means being willing to do what is necessary for the happiness and well being of the one you love. I would not want to ruin our first time together by forcing you. Rest assured that I will not ask or expect it of you before you are ready and when you are so am I," he kissed her hair lightly.

She craned her neck to kiss his lips and went back to eating. The meal passed easily with no real conflict. They teased each other a bit and Jareth tickled her a little but other than that not much was said or done against the other. The conversation consisted mostly of him teaching her about the fireys and the unicorns. Some of the information about the fireys freaked her out but she was fascinated by the life cycle, abilities, and ways of the unicorns. After the meal, which included non-alcoholic drinks and desert, Jareth settled under a tree to nap before the trek home, telling Rhea to explore a little but to stay close so she could wake him if he was needed.

She did as he said and looked at the plants and insects in the area. They were oddly fascinating and she kept a respectful distance in case any of them bit or stung. The bees and wasps she avoided due to her deadly allergies of them.

"So you and the king huh," she jumped as a strange red and orange furry creature jumped at her and began talking.

"Yes, I had no other way to save my sister from him," she answered a little shocked.

"Oh come on Lady. Excuses, excuses. We all know there is more to it than that. We saw you," another firey came out of the bushes.

"Yeah," a third joined them, "You were smiling."

"And laughing," a fourth added.

"And blushing," the fifth in the group came out.

She knew that was all of them for this group. Jareth said they traveled in groups of five males, only settling with the females in one big colony during mating season, two months from now.

"I just got out of a bad relationship. It takes time to move on from that," she crossed her arms.

"So the last guy was a bad apple. King Jareth is from a different bunch. You love him," one of them insisted.

"No, not yet," she retorted.

"Yes yet," another pressed, "We saw. We know."

She got annoyed and the magic responded to help. A song began to play. She sang Meg's parts of "I Won't Say I'm in Love" from the Disney movie Hercules. She tried to flounce away but they were quick to pop up in her way.

They picked up the words for the muse's parts easily like the goblins.

She gestured her insistence that they were wrong by slicing her hands through the air in front of her.

Their heads began bobbing playfully off their shoulders.

She walked a few paces and spread her arms wide. She leaned against a tree with her hands over her heart looking dreamy. Suddenly she pulled away from the tree clutching her hair. She unclenched her fists, held them in front of her, then clenched them again, nearly falling to her knees.

They continued bouncing around letting random appendages fly this way and that.

She insisted trying to find a way to get away from them. They seemed to let her go in the direction of the picnic.

They still followed behind and next to her though.

She kept going at an irritated pace.

They either couldn't take a hint or they didn't want to.

She turned and pointed angrily to the head to her left .She directed a talk to the hand gesture at the head to her right.

They gently nudged her into the clearing.

She paused at seeing Jareth sleeping peacefully under a tree. She could sense that it had been millennia since he had slept well let alone this well. Her heart lurched and she realized that they were right but she couldn't tell him yet. She needed time and unbeknownst to him so did he. She knelt beside him and finished the song softly so he wouldn't be woken by it.

His arms wrapped around her automatically when laid next to him after the music stopped, using his chest as a pillow. He woke for a moment to see her settling against his side and let her get comfortable before going back to sleep. The fireys left to respect the king's privacy.

A little while later she woke to the sound of something entering the clearing. She looked to see a white mare with a horn sniffing the picnic leftovers. She mentally urged Jareth to wake. He sat up and pulled her to lean against the tree as a stallion of the same coloring joined the mare.

"It's mating season for them. They'll travel in twos," He whispered.

The unicorns looked to their king and his bride. The mare went over to Regina, sniffed her hair gently, then laid down with her head placed submissively on the girl's lap. The stallion was a bit less brave and bowed his head to Jareth, afraid to anger his king. Said king raised an inviting hand for the scared unicorn to let him know it was okay. The stallion obeyed, nudging his nose into Jareth's hand, asking to be petted. The man complied, stroking the soft fur.

"It's alright. Let me be your rider and you will remain at your mates side and well cared for in the stables of the castle for the remainder of your life," he coaxed kindly.

The stallion made a sound of acceptance and laid down, placing his head in Jareth's lap. The hand continues to stroke his neck and pulled a few leaves from his mane.

"That's good Moonlight," he used his powers to bring the leftovers closer and fed some to his new steed.

"I thought you said they don't have names," Rhea followed suit and fed her mare.

"In the wild they have no use for them. Should they submit their riders name them. It gives them something to respond to," he explained.

"Oh, that makes sense," she thought a moment as they continued feeding the unicorns, "Well Silvermist, that's all the food we brought," she stroked her neck and looked at Jareth, "Shall we go home?"

He nodded and bid Moonlight to stand. The blanket was folded in half and placed on the stallion's back to act as a saddle. The man then pulled a second blanket from the basket and handed it to Rhea. She put it on Silvermist and expertly mounted the mare. Before Jareth could pick up the basket Moonlight had already picked it up himself, easily fitting the handle in the space behind his teeth. Jareth smiled and got on his steed's back. They rode back to the castle in silence. The sun was setting when they reached the stables. Moonlight set the basket down and laid on the hay after his master took off the blanket.

"Thank you for carrying the basket Moonlight. We shall fill it with fresh apples from the orchard and bring them for both of you in the morning," he set the blanket aside for later use.

"Yes," Rhea agreed, "And perhaps we should groom you while we're at it. This can not be comfortable," she picked some burdocks from Silvermist's mane and tossed them in and empty bucket.

The mare went to her mate and laid down to sleep.

"Yes, we will tomorrow but right now it is late and we must be off to bed," Jareth picked up the basket and bid the enchanted horses goodnight before escorting Rhea to her room.

"Will you stay with me again tonight," she asked at her door.

He smiled, "As you wish."

TBC…

(AN: Alright I am starting to think that with all the different music I should start taking requests. If you want to suggest an artist that you like I will listen to their music and find a song from them that I can fit into the story for you. Just request an artist. Please don't specify a song. I may not be able to fit every song you like into the story.)