Disclaimer: Labyrinth=not mine
Authors note: You guys… I love y'all so much. You have no idea how much your reviews mean to me. I'm so glad you all, well most of you, are enjoying this story! Quit being so surprised that Jareth is acting inhuman…. HE'S NOT HUMAN! Ok, rant over. Onwards!
Chapter 11: It's Tough to Be a Bug
Dinner in the Goblin castle was a silent affair. Jareth and Valentine had entered together much to Sarah's distaste. She had callously glared at her husband throughout the entire first course. Ardeth sat on Jareth's other side silent which was something unnerving. Ardeth was usually very animated during dinner chatting with his King or flirting with the other women at the table. By the dark looks he kept shooting towards Jareth, Sarah figured they must have had a falling out.
Sarah was only too glad to be leaving the chaos of the Underground for a few days and returning to her family Aboveground. She wondered what her parents would think of her new arrangement. She voiced her question to Jareth.
"They've already accepted the situation. I left a note for them the night we were married remember?" Jareth answered quietly through sips of his wine.
At the mention of their nuptials, Valentine's lips puckered in distaste. Sarah's mouth formed a little 'o' as she remembered him placing a small magically charged envelope on her pillow. "That's right I had forgotten."
Jareth placed his fork down on his now empty plate. The excitement that had been balling in Sarah's stomach now rushed to the forefront. Dinner was over. They were going to leave to go to the Aboveground now. Sarah felt the excitement trickle all the way down to her toes.
The Goblin King stood from the table and with a wave of his hand their luggage appeared by the door. Sarah stood quickly and practically skipped to his side. The other diners except Valentine smiled at the happiness of their young Queen. Jareth took Sarah's hand in his. "We'll be back in three days," he announced to the dining hall then he looked at Ardeth. "You know what to do." The Goblin King and Queen disappeared in a flash of glitter.
They appeared on the front porch of the Williams home. The twilight air surrounded them sending a chill down Sarah's spine. The wind seemed to be cutting right through her jeans. Wait, jeans? Sarah looked down at her clothing startled as she ran her fingers over the denim fabric covering her legs. It had been three months since she'd worn jeans. Oh how she had missed them.
She was no longer wearing the gold colored gown she'd adorned this morning. She was now in jeans and a simple black sweater. She looked at Jareth. He was still wearing the clothes she'd picked out for him this morning.
"We're in the Aboveground. Aboveground clothing is appropriate right now. However, I don't particularly enjoy having my wife dressed as a man." Jareth replied bitterly as if saying that had left a bad taste in his mouth.
Sarah rolled her eyes, "I am not in men's clothing. This is women's attire."
"Pants are for men," Jareth replied simply without looking at his wife. Sarah rolled her eyes again. She knew this would be a battle she could not win with him. He had been set in his ways too long, no sense trying to change them now. "Well, shall we go in or stand on the porch for the entire visit?"
Sarah glared at him then knocked on the door. She had no idea what time it was and hoped it wasn't in the middle of the night. Her fears were confirmed when her father answered the door with tousled hair in his robe.
"Sarah, what are you doing here? It's the middle of the night, sweet heart," her father said surprised to see his only daughter standing on the porch in the middle of the night.
"Oh, I'm so sorry. Time runs differently in the Underground. I didn't realize it was the middle of the night," she replied shooting her husband a dark look. The amused grin on Jareth's face let her know that he knew exactly what time it had been in the Aboveground. "We've come to visit for a few days. I hope we haven't come at a bad time."
Robert Williams stood back from the door allowing them to enter. Jareth picked up their luggage and entered behind Sarah unable to keep his distaste off his face as he entered the Williams home. "Well, Toby and Karen are asleep right now. I'm sure they'll be glad to see you in the morning. Your room is still done up exactly as you left it. Perhaps you two can get settled in there for the night and in the morning we can all have breakfast together."
Sarah nodded her thanks as her father stumbled back up the staircase to return to bed. She was surprised at how easily her father had accepted Jareth's appearance. She had expected something, anything from him in regards to her new husband. The one that had whisked her away from her family in the middle of the night. She turned towards the Goblin King suspicion flowered over her delicate features. "How powerful was the acceptance charm you put on the letter?"
Jareth grinned wickedly secretly proud that Sarah was so observant. "Very," was his only reply.
Sarah rolled her eyes again, something she did quite often when it came to conversing with her husband. Deciding to ignore his evasiveness she ascended the stairs to her room. It was late. The quicker she went to sleep the sooner she'd be able to see her brother. As she opened the door to her room she realized that her bed was only a twin.
Jareth shut the door behind him and placed their luggage next to the door. Before Sarah could say anything about their sleeping arrangements Jareth rolled onto the bed like a big lazy cat stretching himself out. His eyes glinted with mischief and a lazy smile curled his lips.
Sarah stared at him like he was an exotic pet that had escape his cage, her green eyes wide, her lips dry. "What are you doing?" she said breathlessly.
"I know what you are thinking, wife of mine, and I am not sleeping on the floor. We will share this bed just as a husband and wife should," Jareth told her as he curled his hands underneath his head.
Sarah glanced at the bed. He was taking up much of the small bed. She was so used to sleeping in the king sized bed where she could retreat to her own side away from Jareth. In this bed, they'd be very close to each other, inevitably touching. She already missed the large fluffy bed she slept in, their bed. Determined not to let him get the best of her, she changed into her pajamas fully aware that he watched her every movement then climbed into the twin bed beside him.
Pulling the covers up to her chin, Sarah felt safely cocooned in her blankets. Until Jareth pulled back those same covers and settled himself into the folds of the blankets. Sarah rolled onto her side away from him not wanting to show how embarrassed she felt being this close to him regardless of what they'd done the night before. Sarah immediately wished she hadn't recalled memories of last night. Her body flushed hot with the memories of Jareth's hand s on her skin. She fought not to shiver and she tried to will away the excited feeling growing between her legs.
Jamming her eyes shut, Sarah tried to fall asleep and not let her thoughts linger on the familiar heat lying next to her. Jareth felt her shiver and a smile appeared on his face. He placed a hand on Sarah's hip causing her to jump. His grin widened.
"What are you doing?" Sarah whispered furiously as Jareth's hand made circles on her hip bone.
His reply came very close to her ear causing her to shudder. She hadn't realized he was so close and his voice was thick with need. "Nothing." He whispered with a deep baritone voice into her ear just as his fingers skimmed the hem of her pajama bottoms. Sarah's heart pounded in her chest in both fear and excitement. When she didn't protest Jareth decided to try his luck further. He continued running his fingers along her hips and stomach pushing further into her bottoms. When he reached the hem of her underwear she grabbed his hand stopping him.
"Jareth, no. We can't do that here. This is my parents' house. What if someone hears us?" Sarah said breathlessly. She realized she'd leaned back into his chest as he massaged her. She couldn't see his face but she knew he was grinning.
"We're trying to have a baby, Sarah. Your parents will know we were intimate if you become pregnant," Jareth replied matter of fact.
"We've already tried once. We don't need to try again," Sarah tried reasoning with Jareth. She really did not want to be intimate while she was in her parents' house. The whole thing seemed so taboo, having sex with her husband in the bed she slept in as a child.
"It may take more than once, Sarah. You are young and fertile but I am very old," He told her. His accent making the words sound clipped.
"Are you ever going to tell me how old you are?" Sarah asked suddenly glad to be easing away from the previous discussed topic.
"A man never tells his age," Jareth replied with a sly smile.
"I thought the phrase was 'a woman never tells her age'?" Sarah laughed quietly as she raised one eyebrow.
Jareth pushed a stray lock of hair from her face. Instantly, they were back to where they'd been before. The tension between them was thick and tangible like a dense fog smothering them both in desire. After a brief pause, Jareth leaned forward capturing Sarah's lips with his own. The kiss was soft and gentle as his warm lips caressed hers. He brought his hand up to cup the side of her face rubbing his leather clad fingers against her cheeks and jaw line.
Sarah leaned into him caught up in the moment. Jareth shifted his body moving closer to her. Without breaking the kiss, Jareth pushed Sarah back into the bed settling his weight on top of her. He broke the kiss leaving Sarah winded. Green eyes met his as she briefly considered pushing him away and telling him no but then he pressed his lower half against hers and her will was lost in the throes of passion
Jareth woke out of his peaceful slumber to a loud pounding on the door. He grunted and tightened his arms around the sleeping figure cradled against his chest. Sarah's mouth hung open as she snored quietly in her deep sleep. This was the first night that Jareth had held his wife while they slept. Not that he had any choice due to the limited space in the bed.
The pounding became more insistent and Jareth heard a female voice on the other side of the door. It wasn't one that he recognized but with his knowledge of the Williams family, figured the voice must belong to Karen.
"Sarah," he whispered as he shook her gently. She snorted very unladylike and attempted to roll away from him, her eyes still closed.
"What?" She grunted when he shook her again.
"Your mother is at the door," he told her as he sent a dark look towards the offending door and the audacious woman standing just on the other side.
"Step mother," Sarah corrected as she untangled herself from the limbs of the Goblin King.
"Whatever. Go answer the door."
"You answer the door. I'm sleeping," Sarah said as she rolled away from him and closed her eyes again. Jareth rolled his eyes.
"I don't know the woman. Now, go answer the door." He replied irritably shoving Sarah until she almost fell off the edge of the bed.
Sarah huffed before throwing the covers back dramatically and heading for the door. It was cold in her room and Sarah shivered. Just as she reached for the door knob, her body felt instantly warmer. She glanced down at herself to see she was wearing the poet shirt, vest and jean's she'd been wearing when she first entered the Labyrinth ten years ago.
"You might want to get dressed first," Jareth said non chalant from his place on the bed.
The confusion must have shown on Sarah face because Jareth flicked his eyes downwards over her appearance before meeting his eyes again. Sarah blushed as she realized she'd been about to open the door naked. "Thanks." She opened the door to find a very exasperated Karen.
"It's about time," the older woman bit out. "It's time for breakfast. Are you guys coming to eat?" Karen asked as she glanced behind Sarah at Jareth. Her eyes widened a bit as she took in his appearance.
"We'll be down in just a minute," Sarah said as she closed the door not waiting for Karen's reply.
"Why this outfit?" Sarah asked curiously as she fixed her hair in the mirror.
"Consider it a trip down memory lane," he replied with a sly smile. As he stood, Sarah realized he had changed into a pair of dark black pants and a black, billowing shirt sort of like he'd worn the first time she'd met him. He walked up behind her leaning close to her ear. "Time grows short…" he said breathlessly in her ear causing her to tremble. A very large smirk appeared on Jareth's face as he backed away. "And I'm hungry."
Sarah, who had been trying very hard not to turn around and jump her husband, burst out laughing at the semi pout on his face. "Are you ready?" She asked after her roar of laughter subsided. Jareth nodded his head with a bounce of his wild blonde hair.
As they entered the kitchen of the Williams home, three sets of eyes turned to them. Her father rose from his chair with his hand outstretched. Jareth's eyes flickered a little in amusement but he accepted the man's offered hand shaking it gently before cupping it with his other hand. Robert nodded approvingly at Jareth's formality.
"It is an honor to meet you, sir," Jareth said humbly before adding "And you have a lovely home."
Behind the two men Sarah's mouth hung open in amazement. She had never in a millions years thought the Goblin King would be so pleasant when he met her parents for the first time. She expected an arrogant centuries old Fae to greet them, not the easy going diplomat he was being now.
"Thank you. It's good to finally meet the man who stole my daughter," Robert said with a smile. Jareth's eyes narrowed slightly but he kept the smile plastered on his face. Sarah wasn't an expert at reading her husband's emotions but she knew that comment had angered him and she groaned internally. These next few days were going to be awful. An awkward silence passed between the two men.
"Shall we eat?" Sarah piped in as she gave Jareth a hard look that clearly said stop it.
Both men took their seats and Sarah sat down between Toby and Jareth. Jareth looked down at the plate in front of him grumbling silently at the pile of grease in front of him. The bacon, eggs and buttery toast that were piled on his plate looked wholly unappetizing but he picked up his fork and tucked in knowing full well his stomach wasn't going to be happy later. It also wouldn't do well to offend Karen the first day he met her.
"So young man, tell me what you do you do?" Robert asked when breakfast was about halfway finished. Everyone had been silent since Jareth and Sarah had entered.
Jareth paused in his eating, his fork stopping halfway to his mouth. He glanced at Sarah then at her father. "With all due respect, Mr. Williams, I am much older than you are."
Robert seemed surprised by this and Sarah wondered if perhaps the magic associated with the note wasn't as powerful as Jareth had originally let on. "Oh, really?" Robert asked his tone sharp "You certainly do not look it. How much older are you than my twenty five year old daughter?"
"Centuries," Jareth replied easily smirking at the shocked expression on Robert and Karen's faces.
"Is he serious?" Robert asked looking at Sarah and then to Jareth he said, "Are you serious?"
Jareth nodded, "I am immortal." And just like that the whole atmosphere changed. Toby was grinning. He knew who Jareth was and it amused him greatly to see him look down on his father. As an eleven year old rebellious child, any chance to see his parents knocked down a few pegs was a pleasant experience. Karen looked frightened. The entire time Jareth had been at the table Karen had seemed almost starry eyed, definitely a pleasant hostess but the realization that the man at the table, who was now her son in-law, was not human scared her. Robert looked respectful. When he was young, he'd shared Sarah's passion for fantasy and make believe.
After Robert had read the note left by Jareth, he'd accepted the fact his daughter had run off and gotten married to save the world she so dearly loved. He wasn't sure why he'd accepted it so easily but he had. He had originally thought that this Jareth was just another man one who happened to exist on a parallel plane. He'd believed in the supernatural throughout much of his life. The idea of an immortal being was a concept he was familiar with but seeing one in the flesh was awe inspiring.
"So you are not human?" Robert asked curiously and Jareth saw in him the same spark, the same fascination he saw in Sarah all those years ago.
"No, I am not. I am a Fae," Jareth replied proudly. He was actually glad that Robert was suddenly interested in his origins. After all, his children would share the same heritage.
"And what exactly is a Fae?" Karen spoke for the first time since the newly married couple had arrived. Jareth turned his seemingly mismatched eyes towards her. The normally composed Karen looked squeamish under the piercing gaze of the Goblin King.
"It's just a glorified word for fairy," Sarah piped up. Jareth gave his wife a scathing look.
"I am not a fairy, Sarah. How many times must I correct you on this?" Sarah wrinkled her brow. She'd only been joking. She had teased him many times calling him a fairy. Jareth wasn't in the mood to joke she surmised. "A Fae," he continued after shooting Sarah a final scornful look, "is a type of magical creature whose form is humanoid. We are immortal and the wisest and fairest of all beings," He said proudly.
"So you have magical powers?" Karen asked suddenly intrigued. Jareth simply nodded his head and then produced a crystal at his fingertips. He stretched his arm across the table offering the clear sphere to Karen. Just as she reached for it, the crystal became a bouquet of lavender roses. Karen gasped as she took the bouquet from his outstretched hand. She brought them to her face and smelled them seemingly lost within herself. After a moment, she glanced up at the table a fierce blush on her face.
Sarah had a pleasant smile plastered on her face but internally she was chiding herself for feeling jealous. This was her step mother for heaven's sake. Jareth was just naturally flirty. It was part of his personality. Still the jealousy she felt was real. He'd never given her any flowers and here he was handing Karen a bouquet of beautiful roses.
Jareth glanced at his wife surprised to see the darkness clouding her eyes. He'd had centuries to study women and he knew, even though she was smiling, something had upset her. He produced another crystal and handed it to Sarah. As her fingers touched it, the crystal burst and in its place appeared fourteen roses. Twelve were the deepest red she'd ever seen. One was white and one surprisingly was blue. She ran her fingers gently over the blue one. What did these colors represent?
Jareth smiled as Sarah beamed at him. He leaned back in his chair trying to keep his composure. No more magic while they were Aboveground. Producing those two bouquets had waned heavily on his magic. In the Underground, he wouldn't have even batted an eyelash but up here he felt the strain and drain it caused. He would have to conserve his magic if he was going to get them home. Luckily, Sarah was too enthralled with her roses to notice.
After breakfast, Sarah decided she wanted to do a bit of shopping. There were things the Underground was seriously lacking like tampons, a tooth brush and deodorant. When they reached the car, Jareth stopped just outside of it. "What is this?" He asked suspiciously as he walked around the metal body of Sarah's car.
"It's a car. Haven't you ever been in one before?" Sarah asked surprised. She had assumed he'd known all about the technologies and innovations of the Aboveground but now she wasn't sure. The look on his face was priceless though. He glared at her car like it was going to come alive and bite him.
"No. Is this a fairly new invention? I haven't been a guest in the Aboveground for quite some time," he admitted.
"Oh, well, this is a type of transportation. You open the door like this," she said pulling the handle and opening the door for him. "Now get inside and I'll drive us to the store."
Jareth folded himself inside the car. Sarah climbed in the driver's seat pulling on her seatbelt. She looked over at Jareth then unbuckled her seat belt and reached over him to buckle his. As she reached over him, her chest pressed against his and she was surprised when she felt his sharp intake of breath. Quickly, she pulled the seat belt across him and buckled him into the seat. Jareth pulled at the seat belt.
"Why have you restrained me?" he asked angrily as pulled against it again.
"It's a seat belt. Everyone who rides in a car wears these. So if we were to wreck you won't fly out of the car." She told him as she started the car. Her car was old and loud. The noise startled him and he pressed against the seat belt again almost frantically. It took all of Sarah's will not to giggle at how ridiculous he was acting. The Goblin King was always so composed and now he was acting like a frightened child. Sarah grabbed his hand and he stilled as she intertwined their fingers. "Jareth, relax. It's supposed to make that noise. Trust me."
When they pulled into the parking lot of the shopping mall, Sarah turned the car off and pushed the button on Jareth's seat belt to release him. Then she walked around the car and opened the door for him. He got out quickly. He'd never been so happy to get out of something in his entire life. He much preferred carriage rides to what had Sarah called it, a car?
Sarah pulled him along keeping her hand locked in his. She figured it would be safest to keep him tethered to her. He'd reacted so badly to the car ride; she wasn't sure how he'd react to other technology. She didn't want him to blow up half of the mall.
Jareth looked around appreciatively as they walked through the center hall of the mall. Everything was different from his last visit Aboveground. Usually, he just came above for his duties as the Goblin King. He hadn't actually visited in almost two hundred years. Back then, they didn't have any of this stuff or technology as Sarah kept referring to it. Two hundred years ago, the Aboveground had been much more similar to the Underground.
Sarah saw the sign for Rite Aid and pulled Jareth along with her. She went first to the oral hygiene section. Jareth looked at the items in front of him curiously. He knew what they were but they were so different from the ones he'd seen before. Much different than the ones in the Underground. Sarah picked up a pink tooth brush with soft bristles and a tongue cleaner. She picked up another. "Would you like one too?" Jareth nodded. He didn't really want one but he thought it'd make her happy so he agreed.
Moving over to the shampoo next, she began opening bottles and smelling them. "What are you doing?" Jareth asked as he picked up a bottle and mimicked Sarah's actions. The smell of the orangish liquid inside was revolting. He crinkled his nose and snapped the cap back in place.
"Smelling the shampoo to see which one smells the best." Sarah replied as she picked up another bottle.
"What is wrong with the shampoo in the Underground?" Jareth asked as he watched her smell a few others.
"Nothing I suppose," she said as she replaced the bottle on the shelf and walked away from them. She decided to skip the shampoo because he had a valid point. There really wasn't anything wrong with the Underground shampoo. In fact, it smelled a whole lot better than any of the store brand stuff so why waste the money?
Next, she went to the deodorants. She almost did a happy dance when she spotted her favorite. She glanced at the men's deodorants then back at Jareth. She wasn't sure what he did for deodorant in the Underground but he never smelled bad. In fact, she wasn't sure if any of these could do him justice. Jareth simply did not smell like normal men. His scent was spicy, like Earth and cinnamon, and just an inkling of musk. In fact, Sarah realized as she felt a blush creep up her face, she found his scent intoxicating.
"What are you thinking about?" came the silken voice right next to her ear. Sarah trembled. Jareth had seen the blush on her face when she looked at him. How he loved that blush. Very few Fae women blushed around him. They were always so confident, so poised. Sarah was clumsy and shy. He found those traits very endearing.
"Um," she stuttered. "Nothing," she said shaking her head then licking her dry lips. Jareth's eyes flicked down to her lips before meeting her eyes with such intensity it took Sarah's breath away. He was suddenly very close. Before Sarah could say anything else, Jareth claimed her lips in a heated kiss. Sarah flung her arms up around his neck pressing her body closer to his, surrounding herself in the warmth of his body.
Time stood still, both completely lost in the passion of their kiss, forgetting about where they were and how public their display was until a noise brought them out of their desire. A woman stood behind them clearing her throat. The man standing with her looked smug at having witnessed Sarah and Jareth's heated kiss. The woman looked irritated that they were blocking the deodorants. Sarah's face turned a new shade of red. The man winked at Jareth as Sarah pulled him quickly away. She had never been so embarrassed before in her life. How could she have let him do that to her in public? Didn't he know the effect he had on her? By the satisfied look on his face, she guessed yes, he knew exactly what he was doing. Smug bastard.
Alright, I'm going to stop there because I don't want this chapter to include too much. I hope you enjoyed it. Part Two of the Aboveground visit will come later. Please review!
