15th May 1992
"Hey!" Sarah called out, standing over the stove. "I thought you'd ditched me again."
Jareth walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, leaning his chin on her shoulder. He gave her a quick peck on the cheek to say hello, and Sarah grinned happily. He hadn't been over in almost a week, and she had missed him. He looked at what she was cooking with interest.
"What's that?" He asked. Sarah laughed.
"It's pasta. You've never seen pasta before? You want some?"
"What is it exactly?" Jareth questioned suspiciously, sniffing at the pot. Sarah rolled her eyes; he was so
"It's made from wheat but..oh, I don't know. Just have some, I made extra. It'll be good, I promise."
"Hmm." Jareth said. "I think I'll pass, thank you."
Despite the amount of time they spent together, Sarah had never really seen Jareth eat. The occasional morsel of food would pass his lips, but they had never shared a meal together.
"What, worried I'll poison you?" Sarah asked with a smile. "How was your week anyway? Busy?"
"Incredibly. For a start, the goblins managed to burn down the brewery and there was absolute anarchy. Don't get in the way of a goblin and his beer, that's something I've learnt this week. Then my mother came to visit and you know what mothers are like."
"Your mom came to see you?" Sarah asked. "That's sweet. Did you have a nice time?"
"It was good to see her, but she brought my brother Dimitri with her and honestly he's the most irritating man-child I've ever met." Jareth whined. "No surprise he was wished away."
"What's he like?" Sarah asked with interest. Jareth had the tendency to be demanding and spoiled himself, so if he was calling someone else a man-child, they really must be bad.
"Vain, self centered and so sarcastic you can't have a proper conversation with him."
"Sounds like you." Sarah tittered, turning the heat off. "No wonder you don't like him."
"Hmm, I wonder why I missed you so much if all you do is insult me. Other than my brother being an insufferable bore, it was pleasant seeing my mother. She's a sweetheart."
"Speaking of mothers, Linda's coming to New York in a week for my birthday." Sarah said, giving the pasta a particularly vigorous stir. "You know, my mom. She called last night saying she'd decided she needed to see me on my twenty first birthday. I don't know why, she's missed about eight already."
"And how do you feel about her coming?" Jareth asked carefully. Sarah talked about her father, stepmother and brother regularly, but her mother was rarely mentioned.
"I don't know. I should be able to get a couple good dinners out of her. Other than that, I have no strong feelings either way." Sarah said, her voice slightly tight.
"My mother was asking about you." Jareth said lightly, playing with a lock of her hair.
"How does she know about me?" Sarah asked, turning to face him. They weren't even officially a couple, they hadn't even slept together yet. She was a little surprised he'd tell his mother about them when there was nothing really to tell.
"I didn't tell her. She said she could see it in my face. I didn't tell her anything in particular, but I believe her words were 'you're being nicer than usual, Jarry. Who is she?'" Jareth parroted, his voice high pitched and slightly croaky in what she guessed to be an impression of his mom.
"Jarry?" Sarah asked with a laugh. "Your mom calls you Jarry?"
"If you ever call me that Sarah, I swear.." Jareth said, trying his best to look threatning. Sarah laughed harder.
"I won't, I won't. I'll just need to think of my own nickname for you. Hmm." Sarah said thoughtfully, tapping her chin with her finger. "Jar-jar?"
"Why don't you just call me 'your highness'?" He purred into her ear, nipping at her lobe. She shivered, and batted him away.
"Stop that, I'm trying to cook." She scolded him. "Make yourself useful and grab two plates. Do you want some wine?"
"Please. Between two days wrangling hungover goblins and two days trying to stop my mother wiping my makeup off with her saliva covered finger, I need a drink." Jareth went to her fridge and got the bottle out, getting two glasses and pouring the wine in.
"Aha, so you admit to the makeup. Nobody has lips that shiny or cheekbones that sharp." Sarah said, grabbing a glass. Jareth tutted.
"Men wear makeup all the time Underground. I don't wear it when I'm in my glamour, I hope you've noticed, that's all me. Well, mostly me anyway. There's nothing wrong with making the best of your features, man or woman."
"Whatever you say. I like you just the way you are."
"You do, do you?" He asked her, arms tight around her waist. She felt herself go weak, her heart fluttering in her chest. "May I have a kiss? I really have missed you, beautiful."
"Smooth talker, aren't you?" Sarah said with a chuckle. Just as he moved to kiss her, she pulled back. "Hey, I've just thought of something. When you were Underground, did you see Hoggle? I haven't seen him in a really long time, and whenever I call him he doesn't come."
"No, I didn't see him." Jareth said quickly. "Perhaps he can't hear you."
"He's always been able to hear me before." Sarah said with a frown. "He always got Ludo and Didymus. Now, nothing. He's okay right? He's not hurt or anything like that?"
"Hedgewart is quite well." Jareth said dismissively. "I can't believe that little scab is what you're thinking about when I want to kiss you hello."
"Don't call him that!" Sarah said sharply. "Don't be so mean to him. Hoggle's great. You can't even get his name right."
"Hmm, well he can't be that great if he hasn't come to visit you, can he?" Jareth asked, and Sarah glared at him.
"You're an ass, do you know that?" Sarah said angrily, turning back to the stove and getting her dinner. She spooned some pasta onto the plate and grabbed a fork from a drawer, taking it and stalking over to her bed.
"I've heard it before once or twice, yes." Jareth said after a while, standing against the bathroom door and watching her eat. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. Do you really miss him?"
"Yeah, I do. He was here for all those years you weren't, and now he's just..gone. It's weird." Sarah shrugged. "If you want food you can get it yourself, I'm mad at you."
"I'm sorry." Jareth said again, sitting beside her. "I'm an arse, you're right. I'm sorry I didn't eat your meal, but you were cooking in a metal pot. I can't eat anything prepared like that, it'll make me sick."
"Oh." Sarah said quietly. "Why didn't you just tell me?"
"I didn't want to offend you. I'll bring you some stone cookware from my kitchens if you like, but you don't have to cook for me." Jareth told her, and she shrugged.
"That'd be cool. I'd like to cook for you, that's what normal coupl-" She stopped herself, and changed the subject. "It's just kind of lonely without you, and without the others too. I tried calling my human friends but they're all busy all the time. Although my friend Kat has convinced me to go out for my birthday. Do you want to come?"
"You're asking me to meet your friends?" Jareth asked with a raised eyebrow.
"If you behave yourself." Sarah said through a mouthful of pasta. She was too hungry to not eat or maintain any illusion that she had table manners. "I'm warning you, it might get a little.."
"What?" Jareth asked with interest. "Debauched?"
"Maybe." Sarah said. "My friends can get a little wild. Most of them have shacked up with guys though and they won't come out. I suppose I'm no better, I've been a little preoccupied with some jerk with stupid hair."
"You may insult me, dearest, but never the hair."
"Are you staying the night?" Sarah asked a few hours later as they lay entwined on the bed watching some late night TV movie.
"If you'll have me." Jareth said softly, his hands threaded in her hair. She untangled herself from his fingers, pressing a gentle kiss to his knuckles. She loved seeing his bare hands; the gloves were strangely sexy, but his naked hands were best. He smiled lazily down at her, kissing her forehead.
"I got you a present." Sarah said, jumping up and going to her closet. She looked at him with a smile, holding out a bag. She raised an eyebrow. "Do you want it?" She asked in a clipped English accent, and Jareth howled with laughter.
"An impressionist now, are we?" He got up and crawled towards her, arm out. "Go on then."
She handed him the bag and he opened it with interest. Inside was a pair of navy silk pajamas Sarah had found whilst she was out shopping earlier in the week. She wondered if it was a little soon in their relationship to be giving him nightwear, but she'd rather he didn't sleep naked next to her before they'd even done the deed.
"They're pajamas." Sarah explained, chewing her lip nervously. "I thought if you're going to stay over, maybe they'd be more comfortable than wearing your day clothes."
"You're very thoughtful." Jareth said, holding them to his cheek. "These are so soft. What's this material?"
"You don't know silk?" Sarah asked, confused. "All your fancy clothes and you don't have silk?"
"We have similar materials I suppose, but nothing this lovely." Jareth told her, allowing the pajamas to pass through his fingers like water. "You're too good to me."
"I just thought you'd like them." Sarah shrugged. She sat down next to him, kissing his cheek. "Plus I'm not sure how ready I am to wake up to you naked."
"I wouldn't subject you to that horror, precious." Jareth said lightly. They hadn't discussed sleeping together at all, and Sarah half wondered if he was, ahem, the same as male humans. Although judging by the front of his pants, he definitely was.
"I mean, maybe in the future.." Sarah said without thinking, and Jareth grinned at her devilishly. She immediately turned beet red, embarrassment burning her chest. "I mean, maybe after..when..if.."
"Sarah, calm down. As much as I love seeing your pretty face turn red, there's no need to be so bashful. There's no rush for anything. I'm perfectly content spending time with you. I'm not some teenager who can't keep it in his trousers, I do have some kind of self control you know."
"Okay." Sarah said in a quiet voice. "I know we've never talked about it. It's not that I don't want to, it's just-" She paused, and Jareth took pity on her. He held a hand out to her, pulling her closer. She climbed onto his lap, draping herself over him and resting her face in the crook of his shoulder.
"You don't need to explain yourself to me. We're taking it slowly. I know how scared you are of ruining our friendship, and quite frankly I am too. But I know that I have certain feelings for you, and I hope that you return them?"
"Yeah."
"Then that's wonderful. Stop stressing, Sarah. I'm going to put my pajamas on, I don't think I've ever been so excited to go to bed." Jareth said gleefully, and Sarah laughed.
"I'm glad you like them." Sarah said with a smile.
"The best gift I've ever received." Jareth told here sincerely, and Sarah shook her head.
"You're a King, I'm sure you've gotten better gifts than a stupid pair of PJs." Sarah said with a raised eyebrow.
"More valuable gifts, more elaborate gifts, perhaps. But you were thinking of me when you bought them, and you were thinking of my comfort. That's worth more than anything." He murmured, kissing the top of her head. She looked up at him and he caught her lips, kissing her deeply. "Thank you precious."
"Welcome."
A/N: Thanks for all the feedback about the possible rating change, I've decided to keep this story T. I'll either not do lemons or post them in a separate story or maybe on my tumblr (I'm really paranoid someone I know will find my lemons and print them out and give them to my nan or something..does anyone else get that?)
Also it was annibale who requested the zoo story, I can give you credit now! Sorry!
Hope you enjoyed this silly little one.