Sweet Possibilities
Author's Disclaimer: I don't own Labyrinth. All rights go to their respective owners. Theme of the month is carnival. The song used here is "Sarah Brown Eyes", in case you were wondering. Warning: there be sweetness ahead, fluff and food-wise. Don't read while hungry. I hope you enjoy!
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Chapter 11: The Dime Toss
What made standing under a carnival tent for three days straight in high heat and one hundred percent humidity worth it?
Elephant ears.
All the elephant ears Sarah Williams wanted, for free. But not just any elephant ears. This delicacy was deep-fried to a golden brown crisp, smothered in cinnamon, and sprinkled ever-so-slightly with powdered sugar. If Sarah was lucky, the ice cream people next door would put two scoops of vanilla ice cream on top, just for her.
All that sugary goodness just melted in her mouth, and nothing could beat it. No amount of the revolting smell of stale beer could stop her enjoyment of it.
If that reason did not satisfy the old biddies who thought that Sarah was too young and pretty to be wasting her youth away behind a booth, then Sarah told them that she enjoyed working the dime toss. Why?
Truth be told, Sarah had a competitive streak. Working the dime toss satisfied that desire in her, to give flirtatious guys crap when they missed a glass, and to give smack talk to all guys who did not intend to play.
Oh, did she have fun goading confident guys into playing, whether for her, or for their significant other. The guys would smile at Sarah after she smiled and made eye contact with them, and then began the convincing.
It was usually easy to convince guys because she knew what buttons to push. She did have Toby, after all, who was currently wandering about the game tent, toting a tall cup of ice-cold lemonade.
She and Toby both had a healthy sense of competition, thanks to their father. When he was not working or going out, he sat in front of and yelled at the TV. As soon as the kids had been old enough, they sat next to him, popcorn in hand, ready to watch him and the sports game. Eventually, they yelled just as much as their father.
Sarah's competitive streak certainly had taken an odd turn right after Toby was born. Instead of getting worked up about games, she got mad at Toby for taking her father's attention from her.
That changed after her run through the Labyrinth.
After that, Sarah was able to see that Toby was not the enemy, and was in fact a beloved family member, whose presence she would miss if she lost him.
But that was not the only reason she was cured of her bad perception. No, the other big reason was Jareth, the Goblin King. He represented a new and very different kind of challenge. He was exciting.
He gave her a game to play, a puzzle to solve. As she rebelled against the unfairness of her having to solve the Labyrinth to win Toby back, the need to solve and win quickly took hold of her. She had seen it happen in a book. She could do this. She was on a mission, and she used whatever resources were given to her, including her new friends.
But all of that paled in comparison to what Jareth represented.
He was the enemy. He was the source of all this unfair treatment, as dark and imposing he was. He tried to scare her upon their first meeting, and he succeeded to some degree. At first.
Then he let her start to run and make friends. As she went on her quest, she discovered more about herself, and she made sure that when she did next see Jareth, she was ready. No more cowering for her.
She accomplished that all too well in the tunnels. She had a defiant streak that went along with the competitive tendencies, and when faced with a challenge, Sarah got stubborn and defiant, almost to the point of hurting herself, because she was going to stick to her principles and sense of right to win.
The enchanted ballroom confused Sarah more than anything. Much as she wanted to fight, her thoughts were muddled, especially once Jareth began to sing. She did not appreciate the song then because she was too young, but she did after dating a little. That waltz had been a temporary distraction before the final showdown, something else she did not fully appreciate until later.
Now that she was twenty-four with a job and years of dating under her belt, she understood what Jareth had been trying to say. It had been the wrong thing to say to her then, but she would have ignored anything he said as she just wanted to grab Toby and to go back home.
Now, a part of her wished he would come back. He would be an interesting challenge, compared to all the other men she had met and dated. But that was nonsensical, as Jareth no doubt had plenty of beautiful women to choose from. She was a simple human.
A human who was very hungry. Did that guy just pass by with a snow cone? When had those arrived? Sarah made a mental note to get one of those on her break, anything to cool off. In the meantime, she was content with her elephant ears. This one had extra powdered sugar.
By the end of Friday night, Sarah had done well at the dime toss. Between the elephant ears and decent carnival food (several ethnic groups had stands in the tents), Sarah was well-fed, and she had been busy almost the whole night. No one had won the coveted grand prize, a $20 bill inside a jar, the hole for the dime only slightly bigger than a dime. Many had tried and failed.
Several guys had even tried to be chivalrous and win the margarita glasses for her, but it did not work out. Not that she minded, as it meant they came back to play more.
Saturday night soon came, and the carnival was better attended than it had been in previous years. She got her food early, in preparation for the vendors running out, as they always did. Then she stood up straight, tilted her head in a winning way, adjusted her apron full of dimes, and smiled. She never waited long.
She had a good system with the other four people who worked the dime toss. If she had a customer, then two others also had customer duties. The other two picked up dimes and counted them into piles of ten. She almost always had a customer.
Saturday was no different. While the big band played their rock and roll, people danced or else wandered through the tent, usually taking a moment to visit the dime toss. Sarah yelled and smiled enough to command attention from everyone within hearing distance.
Sarah had just finished packing up some glasses for a winner when she felt an odd breeze pass by her. For a moment, she thought she saw glitter, but that could not be right. Maybe it had been some kids blowing bubbles.
She was wrong.
It was glitter, lots of it. It was suddenly on the table in front of her, in her hair and mouth, and on the dimes in her pocket.
It had to go.
"Good evening, Sarah. Lovely night for a carnival, don't you think?"
Sarah jumped back at hearing his voice.
"Where'd you come from, Goblin King? Did you have to bring all your glitter with you?"
"But of course, Sarah. How else would I make an appearance? Crashing through the tent on the back of a dragon?"
Sarah laughed at the imagery. Jareth continued.
"It's a good night to be outside, enjoying the carnival."
"If I ever left this tent, I might see that. But, seeing as I'm working right now, I can't. Please go away unless you plan to spend money here. You're scaring away my customers."
Even as Sarah spoke, two guys took one look at Jareth and turned around. Granted, Jareth looked more human, but all the same, few men were so good-looking and threatening as Jareth was in leather.
"I will spend money, Precious. I promise. Can't you spare a moment to talk to an old friend, though?"
Jareth stretched out his last two words and narrowed his eyebrows in a suggestive manner. Sarah was not having it.
"I'd hardly call you a friend, Jareth. I'm not sure if you're an enemy or not. Why are you here?"
He leaned in and asked, "Isn't it obvious, Sarah? Haven't you heard about the accidents?"
Sure, Sarah had. The carnival owners brought in new people to sell the tickets and control the games not in the tent. Things had been going missing since they had first arrived. There were also more injuries that year. Some people complained of small shadows.
As Sarah put everything together, she realized why there were accidents, especially with people and food.
"Why are your goblins here?"
Jareth smiled to prove Sarah's conclusion.
"They like to escape now and then to cause some trouble. Anything to get them out of my throne room, you understand," said Jareth with a grin.
"Not if it means they hurt people in the process. Jareth, that's not-"
"Fair, Sarah dearest? Haven't we grown up a little since our last meeting?"
Sarah bristled under the condescending tone.
"For your information, Goblin King, I was going to say that it was not right for them to do it. If they were in the Labyrinth, it would be one thing."
A little harmless fun," said Jareth, leaning in further. "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?"
Sarah realized how close she had let him come. She was too distracted. Drat. She was losing customers. If she was not working, she might consider talking more to him. Now that they were not enemies (or so their easy banter suggested), it was easy to talk to him.
"Those poor humans don't deserve it, just like I don't deserve this. I have work to do, not wasting my time with guys who are all talk and no show. Good-bye, Jareth."
"Don't you want me to play, Sarah?"
"I don't see money, Jareth. Come back when you do. Oh, and while you're at it, can you reorder time so I can get back all the time I lost talking to you? Thanks."
Sarah gave him a coy smile and swished her hips as she turned around. At least that way Jareth might come back with money. She would love to tease him when he played the game and lost. If not him, then the guys behind him would appreciate the gesture.
Had she turned around to look, she would have seen Jareth's face go from interested to annoyed, then curious to determined. Jareth would be back.
For a while, Sarah did not hear or see Jareth. The glitter was impossible to get rid of, but otherwise it was as if Jareth had never been there.
And then Sarah heard a piano in the background. The big band had left, making it time for amateur night. Apparently someone had let another piano player in, despite all the previous decisions contrary. When she heard a voice join with the piano's ragtime melody, she knew why.
"Sarah green eyes, don't be shy now. Sarah green eyes ought to take a chance."
Sarah had recognized the tune from a musical, which was normally a duet, but Jareth filled in well with his own words, trying to convince a "Sarah green eyes" to dance. She looked up once to acknowledge his playing, giving him another coy smile. That seemed to be all he wanted, if his smile was anything to go by.
Sometime after he finished playing, Jareth came back, money in tow. No doubt they had been tips from his playing, some infatuated other girl named Sarah having done so. He was mouthing something, and Sarah thought it the words to his earlier song, something about dancing. The closest thing to dancing he would get from her was arguing and smack talk about him playing the game.
"Welcome back, Jareth. I see you enjoy losing to me. Please, lay down some money."
Jareth huffed at Sarah's comment. He set his face, and Sarah knew that was the beginning of the trouble. He wanted a fight, and she would give it to him. Far too willingly.
"Who said I was going to lose, Sarah? And how would I lose to you, if you're back there? Care to come over here and join me? I'll even put down money for you."
"Sorry, Jareth, but no. I'm working. I don't play."
Sarah folded her arms with confidence. Jareth pushed on.
"Don't give me that old excuse, Sarah. It's weak. How long have you worked this dime toss game?"
"Over five years."
"So you're an old pro, Sarah. Should be easy and swift to beat me. Come on, show me that arm of yours."
Sarah had been doing it a long time, but it did not mean she played it. Sure she had an okay arm, but not that good. She only made it fifty percent of the time, at best.
"Jareth, I'm working. You'll have to wait until the carnival closes to be wowed like that. So, in the meantime, how about a go by yourself?"
Jareth smiled and put down two dollars, not swayed in the least. New tactics were called for.
"But certainly your fellow workers could do without you for a short time, yes? I bet they'd even like to watch you play for once."
"They need me, Jareth. You're not going to win this argument."
Sarah shook her head, and Jareth turned his body around to look at others around him. He needed another reason.
"You there. Have you played this game before?"
After it was established that multiple people who had already played wanted to see Sarah in action, she still refused. She had heard that argument as well.
"There's nothing you can do to convince me, Jareth."
"Why? Could it be that you're scared of losing, Sarah?"
That rankled, and Jareth knew it. He gave a smug grin as others around him began to whisper that perhaps she was not good. Sarah scrunched her face and gave Jareth as dark a glance as she was capable of.
"I'm not scared at all, Jareth. I'd just hate to embarrass and burst that ego of yours in front of all these people," she said, affecting concern. "After your last defeat, I don't know if you can handle another. You're a sore loser."
"Me? You cut me to the quick, Sarah. You didn't see me afterwards."
"But I got a firsthand account of it, pacing and moody for weeks. Sucks to lose, doesn't it?"
Sarah grinned, glad to finally have the upper hand.
"Only because you cheated and got help from your friends."
Sputtering, Sarah said, "How was I supposed to know? You didn't tell me the rules. I was fifteen!"
"I can now, Sarah. Play a round with me. Whoever gets the most glasses wins."
"That's all?" asked Sarah with skepticism.
"For now, unless you want to sweeten the deal. What did you have in mind?" he said, setting his hands on the table.
"Jareth, I'm not going to play."
Sarah backed away from the closeness of Jareth.
"Only because you know you'd lose, Sarah."
"No way! I'd kick your butt!"
"So prove it, Sarah. I think you're bluffing."
She was stuck, and she knew it. She was pretty much being forced to play to maintain her honor. Jareth may not have triple dog dared her, but calling her weak and afraid did not fly. She would fight back, which could get her in trouble later.
Putting down twenty dimes and her apron, Sarah sighed and walked over to Jareth.
"I thought you'd change your mind. Want a warm-up round?"
"No. We're doing this right. And no funny business."
Jareth tried to hide his smirk. He started off the throwing, hitting the rim of a glass close by. Sarah went up and aimed for an short, wide glass. She missed by a wide margin.
"That's some arm you got there, Sarah."
" Shut it, Jareth. I have to calibrate my arm for the distance and angle."
After another round, he got the glass he aimed for previously, and Sarah still missed.
"I'm surprised you missed. Still calibrating, Sarah? I'm more surprised, though, that you are aiming for such a hideous glass. I thought you had better taste."
Sarah sent Jareth a death glare before responding, "I have great taste, thank you very much. If I were playing for myself, I'd aim for the margarita glasses. I have wanted to have a set of those for a long time. But, I am reasonable and know that based on how I normally throw dimes, I am unlikely to make it in those glasses."
"Why?" asked Jareth with genuine curiosity.
"In the five years I have proctored this booth, I have seen only four people get margarita glasses. Many have wasted money, and of those four lucky people, one has gotten more than one, lucky guy. There's an art to it."
"So if I were to win two of those glasses for you, would you share a drink with me? Say, a margarita?" asked Jareth with a gleam in his eye. He turned his body as he asked, all attention on her answer and body language.
Giggling at the absurd thought, the brunette said, "Jareth, if you can win two, you can take me on a date."
"Done," replied Jareth as he snapped his fingers and focused on his new goal. His next dime was close to the intended glass.
Sarah did a double take as she realized that Jareth was taking her seriously. So this was what he meant about sweetening the deal...
"Just remember that you have already used three throws. Those aren't easy glasses. Don't underestimate them like you did me."
The fae just looked at her as though she were the most harmless thing in the world, humoring her as best he could. Sarah knew she would win after that.
On her next throw, she made it in the glass she intended. Jareth also got a glass in his next throw, getting him one step closer to his goal. He placed it in front of Sarah, touching his fingers to his lips before touching the rim of the glass.
In the next five throws, Sarah got two more matching glasses to add to her collection. Jareth became frustrated as his dimes continued to hit the target, but always bounced out.
On his next throw, Jareth missed. Sarah's dime missed the intended target, but bounced into another glass that was lower. She gave a loud whoop in triumph and did her little victory dance, honed from years of practice around her dad and Toby.
"I win! You can't beat me now, blow hard. Told you I was better."
"So it seems, Sarah. But that is only a small battle that I am happy to lose, this time. Right now, I'm focused on the war that I'm about to win."
With that said, Jareth threw his last dime up in the air, with a smaller arc than normal. This time, the dime stayed in the margarita glass.
"I win, Precious. I hope you like Mexican food. We're going to use these glasses, the symbol of our victory. You may not think it a victory now, but you will after tomorrow night."
Sarah did not call it a victory, but then he kissed her. She called it one after that.
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Author's Notes: I see both Sarah and Jareth being very competitive. I heard the song used in this story on the radio, and I immediately knew I wanted to include the song in a story. I was also really hungry when writing this story, hence why there are so many mentions of food at first. I hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading!
