We all know what's Henson's and what's mine, but the song Beauty and the Beast is Bowie's, like most everything else Jareth has ever sung in this story.
Beta is ASunInWinter
X
"My mother seemed rather nostalgic earlier when she relinquished you."
Sarah didn't turn around to face him, her arms crossed on the edge of the sunken bath to rest her head on. Her washed and wet hair was gathered to the side of her neck and the warm water felt good against her skin and relaxed her almost as much as Jareth did as he ran his hands over her back gently, lathering it with soap. "Oh?" was all she said in response.
She knew why of course, and although she wasn't necessarily hiding it from Jareth, she just hadn't told him about the 'picture viewing' that his mother had showed to her. She was still a little confused by it honestly. It seemed almost like she had just seen proof that contrary to her previous beliefs Jareth had not simply been born some domineering and overbearing king of the goblins with his loyal thug Mavid at his side. They had both been children, as sweet as Toby was. And even into their later years they both knew how to be kind. She had seen it, and still had a hard time believing it. They had parents who loved them, despite any of their faults, and they loved them back.
Why can't I ever see that side of them? Sarah pouted to herself. Although to be honest it was easier to act hateful towards them when they acted that way towards her. And for that matter Jareth had continued with his civility with her throughout the day. She had told Toby another story about the Aboveground before putting him to bed, this time about what a public library was like, and once again Jareth had sat off to the side and listened without interruption and without a word about it when she was done. He had stared off at the wall and looked over his nails like he had been utterly bored waiting for her to finish up, but she couldn't help but wonder if maybe he had been listening to her story about a little piece of Aboveground life too.
Once Toby was asleep Jareth had led her straight back to his room and they had started their bathing routine again. "What did you two do all afternoon?" Jareth asked again, his voice full of curiosity and possibly even suspicion as he ran his hands up her shoulders and rubbed in the soap there.
Even though she tried hard to hide it, Sarah practically melted under the touch despite herself. "Just what you said we would likely do, talked about girly things and sipped tea."
"What exactly are girly things?"
Sarah thought back on it, her mind still fuzzy from the way he was touching her shoulders. She wished he would stop talking so she could just enjoy how it felt. "She asked how Toby was doing, how things were over here. Asked about the breeding." Sarah turned her head a little more so she could see him out of the corner of her eye. "She mentioned that fae women only are pregnant for like two months."
Jareth simply nodded his head. "It's a great deal less than a human's time, yes, and far more dangerous," he confirmed factually.
His fingers pressed against a particularly wonderful spot by Sarah's shoulder blades and she arched before she could stop herself, settling back against the side of the tub quickly. The slight pause in Jareth's movements as she did so told her that he obviously hadn't missed her pleased reaction and Sarah could see the slightest smirk pull at his lips as he refocused his efforts there. Like a switch had been thrown Sarah felt like her mind automatically turned off and her whole body relaxed, her back arching slightly both to him and from him now and then as his fingers worked magic on her. "I take it you enjoy this?" Jareth asked, the smirk evident in his voice.
Sarah didn't bother fighting it as she closed her eyes and rested her cheek against her arm. "Mm-hm," she confirmed.
Jareth chuckled softly but continued. "That does remind me though," he said after a moment, thankfully not stopping what he was doing. "About the time lengths of pregnancies that is; do you remember meeting Loki and his second wife—the pregnant one—at the fairy ring?"
Sarah simply nodded her head, still too relaxed to speak. Loki had jokingly tried to kill Mavid before showing his true form. Some great friend of Jareth's or something like that. She remembered now that he had invited her to their baby shower.
"Well his second wife, Cleo, will be birthing any day now. She was estimated to be due yesterday actually. We will need to attend that and I wanted to tell you now so we can avoid one of your trial-by-fire-scenarios."
Sarah's eyes opened at that. "I thought we were invited to the baby shower, it sounds like you're talking about the actual birth."
"What's a baby shower?" Jareth asked.
Since his hands had stopped moving now Sarah turned to face him, "In my world a baby shower is when people get together and give baby supplies to the mother-to-be well before the baby is born. Loki told me at the fairy ring that that was what we were invited to."
Jareth let out a little sigh and eased back in the water. "If I had to guess I would say that Loki knew very well that there was a difference between the two things and called the birthing that in hopes of getting a laugh out of it when you showed up."
"Well that certainly wouldn't have been funny at all," Sarah insisted firmly, her cheeks heating with her discomfiture at the thought. She suddenly liked Loki a lot less.
"He wouldn't have done it to be mean," Jareth defended, "It's just how Loki is. If he can make at least one person smile he thinks that any joke is worth it. A birthing, however, is an event down here in the underground just as a wedding would be. Those closest to the family attend and while the birth takes place in one room guests honored enough to be there can walk about and mingle in another close by. If all goes well we would be among the very first to lay eyes on the new babe."
Sarah let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding. "Oh well that's not so bad I guess. I was afraid for a moment that it would be something like everyone cramped in a tiny room together to watch as Cleo gives birth with all the screaming and the blood and stuff."
Jareth shook his head. "That was stopped well before even my grandfather was born, it's too dangerous for the baby and the mother that way."
Sarah nodded her head in understanding, thankful for that. "How will we know when to go?"
"Loki sent out summoning crystals with his invitations, it's in Mavid's possession now. If it turns pink it means she's gone into the first stages of her labor and he will let us know to prepare."
Although she still wasn't jazzed about Loki's attempted trickery on her, she supposed it could have been worse. From the sounds of it the worst case scenario would have been her finding out from someone else that the screams in the other room were from Cleo actually giving birth. That wasn't as bad as her first thought of walking into a room to find herself suddenly staring between the girl's legs and figuring it out then. "Ok," she agreed, resting her arms back on the side of the large tub, propping her chin up on them. "That sounds ok."
Jareth moved up next to her and Sarah allowed him to turn her head to him, cupping her cheek in his hand to turn her. There was lust in his eyes, but there was also a warmth there that she wasn't as familiar with. "It's a great honor to be invited to such an event, there are often no more than ten or twenty guests invited to attend, and there is no such thing as a 'plus one' to these."
"Will Toby be coming too?"
Jareth shook his head. "He will be spending time with my mother while we are there. It will be just you, Mavid, and I."
Sarah didn't respond, indifferent to that information presented with her. She no longer felt that Toby would be in such great danger from spending bits of time with Jareth's mother and had been there when Loki had invited Mavid so that wasn't news to her. "How long will we be there?"
Jareth actually chuckled at that. "I'm not sure Sarah, can you tell me how long this particular birthing will take?"
Sarah realized that her question had been a trifle silly when put that way and allowed herself to smile a little before she splashed a little bit of water at Jareth for pointing that out to her. He shook the water off his face and pulled her away from the side of the tub into his arms, running his hands over her back to remove the soap now as he leaned in to kiss her.
Sarah's immediate reflex was to pull away, but she fought against it this one time. She couldn't remember the last time Jareth had been this pleasant to her and didn't want to be the cause for it to end, just as Kaleen had advised her earlier. The kiss was gentle and his lips were soft against hers, and when he deepened the kiss to explore her and tease her sweetly Sarah could feel her eyes roll back in her head at the taste of him. It was like kissing some sort of spiced cookie and she wondered if he had eaten one earlier or if it was just him.
Jareth moved her easily in the water up against the side of the tub and when his breathing hitched Sarah knew just where this was heading. Should she fight it perhaps? Would it be so bad if just for tonight she didn't? It wasn't like this would be her last chance to do so. Maybe if she did relent a little he would connect it with being kind to her and do so more often. Was she selling herself for kindness in that case though?
Her thoughts raced and Jareth's impassioned kisses eventually managed to quiet them and Sarah jumped when a surprising shock of lust shot through her when his hands parted her knees so his hips could come up flush against hers, his erection hard against her sex. Jareth broke the kiss and changed his attention to her neck and jaw line, placing tender kisses from her chin down to her breast as she wrapped her legs around his waist.
The sex was surprisingly gentle and slow paced and once the water in the bath started to cool they moved out onto a towel on the edge of it and Sarah tried hard not to hate herself for it when she clung to him as he quickened his pacing, falling into a rhythm she was more used to. She found herself panting underneath him as she worked to keep up and she gasped as another shock of pleasure shot through her when she happened to look over and see the way Jareth's hips swung against her in the mirrored wall. Seeing what was happening to her as she was feeling it sent shivers through her and she couldn't bring herself to look away from the way Jareth moved against her, his hands tightening on her hips as he tried to penetrate her even further even though he was already buried up to the hilt. When he reached down to touch her at the same time she came undone. She called out his name and dug her nails into his arms as she came and was still clinging to him when he did the same just moments later.
As Sarah laid underneath him and regained her breathing, she made herself promise not to dwell on this after tonight. The sex had felt good, and relaxed her. She had no choice but to accept that it had been with Jareth. It was always with Jareth. She wouldn't allow herself to be swayed tonight in one direction or another over this. After all it was just sex, wasn't it?
Jareth smirked down at her arrogantly and placed more kisses over her breasts, his fingers playing and rubbing at them. For a moment Sarah found herself wishing that they were a bit bigger, but scolded herself for that right away. They were a perfectly natural size and she wasn't close to being flat either. Besides, what good would it do her for them to be bigger here? It would just give Jareth more to grope at and despite what had just happened she still wasn't ready to give in to any thoughts of wanting to please him without personal gain. The sex she had gotten something out of, the boobs was a silly thought that was a reminiscent of her time in the aboveground.
Sarah let out a sigh that Jareth took for pleasure and moved up to kiss her again. Maybe I'm just doomed to over think everything tonight, she decided to herself as his kiss slowed her mind once more.
X
Jareth scanned over his work at his desk without really even focusing on it, going through the motions as he looked over papers and dealt with anything else he had to as he hummed a tune he had made up long ago and had named 'Beauty and the Beast'.
Mavid was staring at him on the other side of the desk top as he did this. "Pleasant mood today?" the male asked, a hint of bitterness in his voice.
"Very pleasant, yes," Jareth smirked to himself, thinking about the way Sarah had moaned his name and rocked her hips against him as her sweetness clenched around him like a fist with her orgasm the previous night. He loved it when she was sweet to him like that. Jareth turned his attention to Mavid, who was with him because Jareth had decided that Toby was safe enough with Sarah since his hair was already short now. Mavid's hands were no longer bandaged up, but the ugly scabs still remained on the backs of his knuckles. Normally a fae would hide such things, but Jareth suspected Mavid had them out for his benefit since he was the one who had ordered the male to punch a brick wall in repercussion of his assault on the female he had mated with. Blood had covered Mavid's hands before Jareth had allowed him to stop and seek out Aboris. Jareth sought a way to turn his mind from it. "Speaking of pleasant things, has there been any word from the pixies yet?"
Mavid shrugged, but Jareth had noticed the way he had immediately tensed up when he had asked about it. "The mail is sitting on your side of the desk."
Jareth located the pile and skipped his scolding to Mavid for not checking it again; for the last two days Mavid had left the mail to him, probably too nervous to look himself. Jareth sorted through the small stack of orders for goods in the Labyrinth from other kingdoms, the invitations to different events and gatherings, and a halfway written out death threat that eventually turned into a recipe for karbobs that a goblin would send every now and then. Jareth cast that one aside in mild disgust without caring where on the floor it landed, but he fell still when he saw the envelope that had been behind that one. It carried the seal of the pixies on it in orange wax and he dropped the others on his desk as he began to tear into it without even bothering to reach for his letter opener.
Mavid noticed the change and anxiousness in Jareth's movements and sat up too, his eyes locked on the letter as Jareth nearly tore it in half pulling it from its envelope. Once he finally managed to emancipate the bit of parchment from its confines the room was dead silent as his eyes skimmed over the gist of the letter, looking for that one bit of information he cared about.
"What does it say?" Mavid just about snapped at him, utterly tense where he sat.
Jareth saw it just then. "The breeding was a success," he read out loud before his own brain could even work to process it. Jareth looked over the sentence again, then a third time as he tried to fully process it. Mavid had gotten up from his seat and was now quickly coming around the desk to look on over Jareth's shoulder.
Jareth felt the grin split across his face seconds before Mavid snatched the paper from him and brought it up closer to his face, his eyes darting all over it before he looked up to meet his eyes; a grin slowly cracking across his own face too. "It was a success," Mavid repeated, sounding very relieved.
Jareth could imagine why; if the mating had failed than they would have rescheduled and gone through the whole process again. He let out his own sigh of relief that he wouldn't have to deal with the pixies for much longer.
He had been pleased before, but now with the news that Toby would have an attendant all his own in less than sixty nights… Jareth felt practically lighter than air. Mavid was already sliding back into his chair, the letter still in his hands as his eyes passed over it again and again, his face still holding onto relief.
"When you are done," Jareth smirked, "Write a response of thank you to the pixies and remind them to send prompt reports of the mother's condition throughout the pregnancy. Really emphasize that 'prompt' part. I want to know every change."
Mavid nodded his head and with a long sigh and a look of calmness on his face he set the letter into a file at the corner of his side of the desk.
"How are you?" Jareth found himself asking, taking in the minimal emotion Mavid was showing.
Mavid paused in reaching for his desk drawer for letter supplies and seemed to think about it a moment before shrugging. "Fine… proud and shocked that I pulled it off, honestly," he laughed, shaking his head in disbelief as he ran a hand through his hair, pushing the longer strands back over the short ones before they fell right back into place.
Jareth nodded his head in understanding. "Two faes successfully mating on the first try is quite a feat, almost unheard of," he congratulated.
Mavid scoffed at that. "It could have been the drugs either of us were on, or the fact that she had been watched for a month for the perfect time to try it, or any number of things… I'm going to claim it was caused by the slap," Mavid grinned, leaning back in his chair and ignoring the irritated scowl Jareth cast him.
"That's a far reach just to justify what you did," he leaned back in his own seat too, kicking a leg up onto the desk. "Besides," he smirked, "If it had been the slap that had caused the pregnancy to take you would have been a father a hundred times over by now, I'm sure of it."
Mavid laughed and nodded his head as he reached again for his drawer and slid it open, the laugh vanishing and his body tensing once again as something in there caught his attention.
"What is it?" Jareth asked, forgoing his relaxed posture to sit up.
Mavid held up the crystal for Jareth to see, the one Loki had sent them that was now glowing a fabulous pink color.
Jareth's heart leapt almost as quickly as he did from his chair. "Send out that letter Mavid, then take my son to my mother and meet me back here."
"The odds are stunning," Mavid mused to himself.
Indeed they were, Jareth thought to himself. Woman could tend to share pregnancies like others would illnesses. When one of them were in such a state it always seemed to be closely followed by another one. Both the pregnancies and that they would have another baby in their care soon were good signs for his chances with Sarah.
Mavid nodded his head and Jareth quickly put his stuff away, throwing things into any drawers they would fit into as his mind spun with everything that would need to be done for both Loki's birthing and the baby that would soon be in their possession. Clearing the castle of goblins and keeping it clear for some time would be immensely difficult, but the first year of the child's life could be factored on it. He would have to convince Sarah to wear something appropriate for the situation, and to hurry about it. While Mavid took Toby to the Devine Castle Jareth would help Sarah attire herself properly and see to his own outfit as well. A birthing was a formal event after all. No one showed up to a birthing looking anything but their best.
X
"Isn't this exciting?!" one female wearing a dress bigger than she herself was squealed and jumped up and down.
"These things are always exciting, but remember to calm yourself, no one celebrates till we know the outcome after all," a haughty older female with a spiky black and white hat replied… though that could have possibly been her hair.
Sarah had been briefly told their names, but couldn't remember now. She wasn't too concerned with it though, more concerned at the moment with the bodice in her dress that seemed perfectly happy to be crush her sides. She was standing with a large group of women in a large manor that belonged to Loki and his two wives. She looked over her shoulder and then over the huge puffed sleeve of her dress in irritation to the group of men that were standing around across the room chatting it up. Jareth and Mavid were in there somewhere, and although she couldn't see Jareth amongst them she was able to get a glimpse of Mavid before some beef of a male with ram horns growing from his head blocked her view. She had gotten the news from Jareth that Linra was pregnant as he had been stuffing her into this ridiculous thing someone had thought to call a dress and then he had rushed her through it without really giving her a chance to ask about it at all. Her head was still spinning with all the questions she had and what Kaleen had told and shown her of her own experiences with Mavid becoming Jareth's attendant.
Sarah could only hope that now that there would soon be a baby in the castle Jareth would stop trying so hard to get her knocked up.
She turned back to the group of females with a sigh.
Loki and his wives were all in a room adjoined to the vast one the twenty or so guests (herself included) stood around in. Sarah couldn't hear anything that was going on in the birthing room, and was honestly thankful for that. They had arrived over two hours ago and thus far the door to that room had only opened once, when an attendant went in with towels and a bucket of ice. Sarah figured Cleo must still be dilating because it had been all quiet for the brief time the door had been opened. The room had just sort of turned into women on one side and men on the other, all dressed extravagantly to the nines and all looking complicatedly elegant in their way over-the-top styles. Sarah was about ready to start tearing at the annoyingly large sleeves of her own silver gown that stayed in a puffy drape all the way down to her wrists. If she had known this thing was lurking in the back of her wardrobe she would have found a pitchfork and gone in after it before it could ever have found the chance to prey upon her. She had already received compliments on it, but she thought she just looked like a bloated fish.
Sarah was so caught up in her dress that she didn't realize someone was speaking to her till she was lightly tapped on the hand by one of the females next to her, who pointed out the one who had spoken to her with a shift of her eyes. "Sorry what was that?" Sarah asked, remembering belatedly that the more appropriate response would have been something like 'beg pardon' as she turned to the female who had been addressing her, simply taking in the fact that the woman had pale blue skin and slits for eyes with as much ease now as she used to take in if she was talking to someone with green eyes in the Aboveground.
"I inquired as to how you are connected to the family," the female informed her, seeming untroubled about Sarah's inattention or her informal response.
"Oh, my husband is friends with Loki."
"The goblin king is your husband isn't he?" the female asked, her eyes flicking down to the ring ever trapped on Sarah's finger, her transparent eyelids snapping shut and open quickly in a blink that gave Sarah a moment's pause.
Sarah looked down at the ring herself grimly before shaking the feeling off. "Yes he is."
"Congratulations on your recent joining," the female simply said politely.
"He's kind of arrogant," another female piped up suddenly, causing a couple females to gasp and a couple others to giggle with her statement. Sarah took in the woman standing next to her that had said that. This one was human-looking, except for her eyes which reminded Sarah of looking at black glass. Her hair was slightly darker brown than her skin and two long whisker-looking hairs grew out from the corners of each eyebrow. It sort of made Sarah think of a sea lion for some reason.
Although she was willing to agree with the female of course, Sarah couldn't do so in front of everyone like that. It would probably go back to Jareth that she was disrespecting him or something and she wasn't willing to give up the pleasantness between them for the fighting so soon.
"Some would do well to remember their place," the elder female with the shocking hat—hair?—scolded the young woman, casting Sarah an unnecessarily apologetic glance. "Don't mind her darling, she is a selkie and has yet to understand how things are done outside of the water."
A selkie, Sarah had heard of those before… women who took off their seal-skin disguises when they came out on land. If someone stole their seal skin and hid it they were trapped on land. Sarah wondered if that was the case with this woman, who was now looking at the floor like she wished she hadn't said anything. Practically a literal fish out of water... Sarah knew the feeling.
Everyone suddenly stopped talking when a loud scream pierced the hall and Sarah turned her head around to see that one of the servants had opened the door to the birthing room, closing it quickly behind them and making eye contact with no one as they quickly carried a bucket of water away from the room.
All was silent again now that the door had been shut, but the atmosphere of the room was nothing like it had been. There was an unspoken excitement and anxiety from everyone because it was obvious that the actual birth was now taking place and every pair of eyes was glued to the door, Sarah's included. She couldn't help but wonder how long it would be now, and hoped that everything went alright inside that room. She couldn't help but wonder what it was like in there for Cleo, to be going through labor and delivering a baby while Loki's peers stood just outside the door dressing up and making polite conversation over drinks.
Sarah jumped when she felt a strong hand on her hip and looked over her shoulder to see that Jareth had made his way over to her, his eyes focused on the door as well before they glanced to her, sparing her a reassuring wink. "No use staring at it darling," he drawled, "It won't open again based on the collective will of this room alone."
Sarah nodded her head and didn't resist when he ushered her away from the other women, leading her over to one of the food tables set out and taking a string of grapes for himself. "Loki knows some strange people," she commented, helping herself to some food she recognized from the meal with his parents, some little grey berries that were surprisingly sweet when bitten into.
Jareth smirked then, "Yes he does have a way of finding them." he mused, "Are you enjoying yourself?"
Sarah thought about that. She wouldn't really call this a blast, but honestly the only thing she could complain about was the dress she had to wear. "It's not bad," she agreed. "Given my basis for comparison it's pretty nice actually."
Despite having pulled her away from the door, Jareth's eyes still darted over there every once in a while as they ate their snacks. Sarah couldn't help but think that maybe he had pulled her over here to distract himself more so than her. "Are you nervous?" she asked.
Jareth raised his brow in surprise before chewing the grape he had just popped into his mouth. "Honestly I am, but I always am during these things. Cleo should do fine, she is a human after all."
"Is she from the Aboveground?"
"No, she was born and raised here, I think Loki mentioned that her father had been though. Perhaps it was her grandfather."
"Oh," was all Sarah could think to respond with.
Jareth was quiet for a moment, watching her as he chewed another grape. "Would you be interested in getting to know her?" he asked once he had swallowed.
Sarah was surprised at that. "What?"
"I know you were upset over Lilith, perhaps sometime after this I can speak to Loki and set up a visit for you two. She is about your age and is a polite girl. Very respectful to those around her and will be a fine mother."
His pitch was a little odd to Sarah. It sounded like he was thinking of setting up a play-date or whatever with Cleo. He probably hoped Cleo would be a good influence on her, but Sarah remembered how she had been during the fairy ring and she had only seemed withdrawn and subdued. Sarah wasn't really against it, but it wasn't high on her priority list either. She simply shrugged in response rather than saying as much. "Uh, sure."
Jareth frowned a little bit, obviously not caring for her lack of enthusiasm on this. "You were so upset over Lilith and now you don't care if you have any friends or not? I thought it would be a nice gesture," he informed her, sounding just a little bit hurt underneath his hard tone.
Sarah let out a little sigh, maybe he was trying to be nice. As tiresome and annoying as it was to stroke his ego, she forced herself to do it so he didn't hold onto this and just allow it to build up into anger later. "It is a very nice idea, Jareth. I just didn't act excited because I don't really know anything about Cleo."
He still looked slightly put out.
"I-I could give it a try. It might be nice." She couldn't help but feel like she just lost a fight or something, even though they hadn't really had one and if they had the topic had been silly. This sucks, her mind screamed at her in response to her forced kowtowing.
Jareth's lip curled up into a smirk and as he leaned in to kiss her forehead Sarah couldn't help but think about just how right that selkie woman had been.
Sarah's attention along with everyone else's in the room was pulled to away when the door to the delivery room suddenly burst open and Jareth actually held his breath when the midwife stepped through the door. Her long white robe showed traces of blood and other stains here and there around her arms and chest. She was so old in fact that her ears not only had grown high above her white hairline, but had also managed to curl back downwards. Her elderly face withered so that it was hard to see what expression she wore to gain any indication of how the birth had gone.
The room was dead silence as the midwife straightened up and held out her hands, both palms up towards the ceiling as a large smiled cracked its way through her wrinkles. This gesture of the palms meant that both the baby and the mother lived and Jareth let out a shaky laugh of relief while the rest of the room burst into cheers and applause and everyone started toasting the Green Man all at once.
"What happened?" Sarah yelled over the ear-filling ruckus to Jareth.
"They both live, the birth is over," Jareth grinned down at her, pulling her back into his arms and hugging her tightly against him.
X
"Better?"
"Like you would never believe," Sarah sighed happily as the insufferable dress she had been wearing was lowered to the floor. The first thing she did once the crushing bodice had been removed from her skin was suck in a deep breath of air into her deprived lungs.
"I couldn't agree more," Jareth smirked as his ran his hands over the bare skin at her sides, placing a kiss against the back of her shoulder. "The outfits are brutal for a reason though, a small way of empathizing with the mother to willingly go through pain for the sake of a successful birth. Our willingness to wear them can in a way signify that we feel as close to Loki as he does to us. I guarantee you not a single person in that room with us was any more comfortable than you were, myself included."
Another one of those odd customs then, Sarah realized.
"How did Loki come to have two wives anyway?" Sarah asked, having to simply assume that that sort of thing was legal down here since not a single person had called him out on it.
"Like many males his first wife was chosen for him through an arranged marriage. She is a fae too, so a babe is hoped for from that union, but his second wife he chose himself." There was a pause as Jareth reached out and ran his hand down the side of her hip and then did so again down her backside.
Sarah turned to face him then, crossing her arms over her chest out of instinct. "I don't understand though, I thought we were supposed to see Loki and Cleo's baby today, but after that old lady let everyone know how it went everyone practically ran to their rooms for the night."
Jareth reached out to pushed her hands away from her chest so they no longer obstructed his view and Sarah forced herself to not take a step back from him. "We will see the babe tomorrow, tonight it is only the parents that will look upon it. Everyone retired to their rooms to do exactly as we are now," he hadn't even fully finished his sentence before he had scooped Sarah up in his arms bridal style and carried her towards the bed they had been given for the night.
"Do births normally turn everyone on like this?" Sarah mused, confounded by the fact that Jareth was very much ready and at attention.
"It's considered a great deal of good luck," he simply shrugged, tossing her on the bed playfully rather than setting her down gently and grinning when it caused Sarah to squeal in surprise.
"Why on earth is that?" Sarah found herself smiling despite herself when Jareth crawled up her legs, placing kisses at her knees and thighs as he went.
"Because a successful birthing almost always leads to successful conceptions," Jareth smirked, completely unaware that the mood was officially over with for Sarah now as he reached down and spread her legs apart.
Sarah couldn't stop herself before she snapped her legs back together, surprising both Jareth and herself.
Jareth raised his brows at her like he expected her to relent, and although Sarah felt that might be the wiser choice, she couldn't bring herself to do it. She didn't want to get pregnant! "Jareth-"
"Don't start this again Sarah," he warned her, taking firm hold on her knees once more to move them apart. This time she didn't fight him, but she refused to do anything else but lay there as he moved and panted over her.
When he started to breathe heavier she knew he was about to come, and when he did she raked her nails hard down his back as he spilled his seed into her and Jareth cried out her name as she did so.
X
Jareth let out a groan as he arched his back once more, unable to place distance between the strict cloth of his top and the tender and welted skin there. It had felt amazing at the time when Sarah had raked her nails over him in what he had assumed was passion, but when he had woken up with ten burning lines still down his back this morning he suspected maybe it hadn't been. Jareth glanced over to his wife from where she stood next to him, waiting their turn to meet the new babe and take their leave. She looked bored and a little weary, her eyes focused ahead at the ever-approaching door that led into the birthing room. Guests were only going in little by little, and there were only two more groups in front of them. They would be able to see Loki and his new family soon.
"The first thing I'm doing when we get back is soak for an hour in a bath," Mavid whispered into his ear from his other side.
Jareth smirked back at him to show he had heard and planned to end up there himself eventually. The first thing on his mind though was that right after this he would go collect his son from his parents. All this commotion about babes as of late made him want to hold onto his own very much. No doubt his mother would be frantic wanting to know if Loki's child had been born or not. He certainly intended to get out of his clothes upon reaching home though, which were uncomfortable for more reasons than just his back. The boots he was wearing now came all the way up to his hips and rubbed against too many things to be considered anything close to comfortable. Jareth shifted his weight in them again, doing so gracefully enough that no one would have noticed had they not been watching for it, whereas Sarah tended to just slump first this way than that.
The couple ahead of them were coming back out of the room now, beaming with happiness as they nodded their heads to the goblin monarchy and walked on by. Jareth pushed on Sarah's back to signal it was time to go in.
The room was firstly very clean and secondly very white, as all birthing rooms amongst the fae traditions were. The instruments and healers were long gone by now, replaced with tables holding extravagant gifts for the family and the babe from those in attendance, and there only remained two nurses to see to the babe's needs and Loki's first wife, who looked absolutely beside herself with happiness. The babe itself was currently centered in its mother's frail arms in the very middle of a large white bed, a white swaddling blanket wrapped around it.
Loki was perched beside Cleo on the bed, but got up as soon as Jareth and Mavid came into his sight. Jareth returned his friend's customary greeting of a kiss on the lips and Mavid followed suit, then Loki embraced Sarah in the same manner and Jareth smiled despite himself when she tensed in utter surprise once more.
"My deepest congratulations to you and your family," Jareth greeted him embracing Loki once again in another hug.
"Don't congratulate me until you actually see her, for all you know some of the troll genes from my great grandmother slipped into her," Loki laughed, turning around and taking his new babe gently from her mother's arms, surprising both Jareth and Cleo when he turned and held her out to him. Babes, especially newborns, were never just passed around between beings, even amongst friends. Jareth glanced to Sarah who was simply looking on like she'd seen this all before. What she didn't know was that this was an immense sign of trust and closeness between Loki and him that Jareth hadn't even been fully aware existed till just this moment.
A lump formed in the back of his throat and he forced himself to swallow past it as he reached out and took Loki's daughter in his hands, staring down at her in complete awe. She was so very tiny, being only a day old. Her little eyes were cracked open just enough for him to make out the blue color of them as she stared back up at him.
Loki said something but Jareth was too enthralled to have caught it, his heart fluttering in his chest as the babe blinked. "Hmm?"
Loki chuckled again. "I said I named her Dalphane, the field pixie's word for beauty."
"It suits her," Jareth cooed, running his gloved fingers over her little cheeks and arms.
Mavid stepped around him and handed over the envelope they had brought as a gift. Inside it signed over three free vats of goblin wine a year for the first hundred of Dalphane's life, and an agreement to provide her jewelry for her future wedding from the stones the dwarves mined along the mountain edge of the labyrinth. A substantial but fitting gift, and one Jareth was glad he had put together now that he had her coddled in his arms. Loki took the envelope but would not open it till later after all guests had departed.
"Certainly is a beauty isn't she?" Loki's first wife smiled, looking on from her proper spot against the wall.
"She certainly is," Jareth nodded towards the willowy female fae. "You all are very fortunate." He felt almost resentful when Loki reached his arms out to take her back. Jareth passed her back very carefully, fearful of jostling her just the slightest bit. She moved her arms as her father took her and Jareth felt his heart clench at the slight movement. He suddenly wanted to drag Sarah back to their room and tumble with her all over again in hopes of making another newborn all his own.
Loki laughed quietly so as to not disturb his daughter. "She'll grow up to be a beauty, having my genes in her after all," he joked, "Perhaps we should set up an arranged marriage between her and your son now before any other boys have the chance to even look upon her."
Sarah stiffened beside him but Jareth was already chuckling politely in response. "While I could favor that idea, I've already decided to not enter Little Jareth into any arrangements. I reserve the rights to choose my own bride," he said with a sly smirk thrown to Sarah. "I will afford my son the same opportunity."
Loki laughed then, "You're a brave one! You say that till he brings home a naga or a siren. I still remember that snipe of a snake woman you thought would be a good idea to get tangled up with… literally. We'll both see just how fast you slap an arrangement on him when that happens."
Jareth and Mavid both laughed with their friend at the teasing, remembering indeed the naga Loki had been referring to from his youth, the sex had been great up until she had tried to devour him. He had managed to kill her but not before being bit, suffering through her poison for days afterward, with both Loki and Mavid laughing at him the whole time. He had learned his lesson on nagas after that. "We'll see, but I hope my son has more sense than I had in my youth."
"If he truly is your son he won't," Loki grinned.
X
Sarah felt like she was grinding rocks in her stomach, perched on the edge of her seat as her abundance of nerves caused both her legs to bounce, even with Toby seated upon them. He was certainly enjoying the bouncing, completely unaware of what was happening around him. In truth nothing was happening at the moment, Sarah sitting with him in one of the lounging rooms she favored with Clora and Ishapelle. They had returned from their home visits just days before after having been gone for several nights each. The castle had been very boring for Sarah during that time with no one to occupy her during the day but Toby, which honestly was just fine, but there were days that Jareth would keep his son with him in his office that would just drag for her. Now they were back with plenty of new stories and gossip, and Sarah didn't have the mind to listen to any of it.
Even though she was too far from the window to see out of it and the door was closed, she would still find herself staring at them every now and then. Just waiting for Jareth and Mavid to come back. It had been about two months since they had gotten word that Mavid's pairing with Linra had worked. Sarah hadn't realized it at all till yesterday when Jareth told her they had received another letter from the pixies, stating that Linra had gone into labor and died during the birth, but the child lived and waited to be picked up. Jareth and Mavid had left right away.
Sarah wondered if it would be a boy or a girl, and worried over what would happen when they returned with it. There were still goblins in parts of the castle, but Jareth had managed to block them off entirely from some of the main hallways leading to the more luxurious lounge and recreation rooms and the dining room. As always they couldn't come near the mirror hallway.
Sarah startled when she felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Ishapell standing next to her. "Should we play a game?" the female offered, seeing that she was distracted.
Sarah let out a sigh and was about to agree, but the sound of footsteps out in the hall brought everything in the room to a stop and all eyes glued themselves to the door as the footfalls drew closer. Toby continued to squirm in Sarah's grip and she held on to both him and her breath as she stared down the door. After an eternity it opened and she jumped to her feet, bringing Toby to rest on her hip as she took it all in.
Jareth entered the room first, his face a picture of a peaceful happiness as he held the door for Mavid, who moved very slowly and carefully as if he were deathly afraid of jostling the little wrapped bundle held against the black armor over his chest. "He's sleeping," Jareth warned everyone in the room.
It was a boy then?! Sarah felt like her heart was swelling as she led the way over to Mavid, hiking Toby up further on her hip. Mavid took a step closer to her, carefully shuffling the babe around to free one of his arms.
Without saying a word Mavid very slowly moved a bit of the swaddling cloth away from the babe's head, allowing the face of the newborn to come into view and Sarah stifled her urge to ooh and ahh for fear of waking the precious thing. It was small enough to almost fit in Mavid's hand, being only a day old. His tiny eyes were shut tight and his little face was screwed up in a little baby frown as it slept, but it was just breathtaking all the same. Sarah could see the little black hairs already starting to litter its tiny head.
"Ohhh," Ishapell cooed softly from over her shoulder.
"What's his name?" Sarah whispered, afraid to wake it.
"He doesn't have one yet," Mavid whispered back. "It will be up to you and Jareth to name him."
Jareth came over to her and Sarah relinquished Toby to him, who was happy to move to his father's arms. "Baby dada, a baby!" Toby told him excitedly.
Jareth laughed and told Toby to quiet down so the baby could sleep. "That's your new friend I was telling you about. The baby is ours and will be staying here with us now." Jareth turned his attention to Sarah then, a grin of happiness lighting up his face in a way that was honestly very handsome and it threw her off guard for a moment. "What do you think of him?" Jareth asked her, obviously fishing for compliments as though he had himself done something to deserve them.
There was no denying it though, "He's absolutely adorable, Mavid."
Mavid smirked back and looked down at his son with pride painted all over his face and features.
The babe started to stir in his arms then and Sarah's heart was practically stolen from her when its little eyes opened and she took in the beautiful blue color of them, a blue so dark and so deep it almost looked purple. Seconds later he closed his eyes and scrunched up his face even more before letting out a course and full-blast scream, crying its little heart out. Mavid started to rock him instinctually. "Did you see that Jareth?!" Sarah asked, unable to keep the excitement from her voice as she spoke over the baby's cries. "Did you see those eyes?"
"Noisy Mommy!" Toby shouted, his hands planted firmly over both his ears as the babe cried. "I not like it!"
Sarah's smile left her when Jareth turned to Toby in his arms and said something to him in a fae language that she didn't understand.
Toby laughed at it though, tossing back a single word response in the same language.
Sarah made herself remember to ask about it soon, but not now. Apparently at some point Jareth had been teaching Toby the fae language. Behind her the babe was still screaming.
"What's wrong precious thing? What is it?" Clora cooed to the babe, throwing in extra syllables in her baby-talk.
"He's hungry," Jareth smirked, pushing a bag forward that had been draped over his shoulder, "Sarah there's a bottle in there already that he didn't finish earlier, retrieve it please," since Toby filled his arms he was unable to himself.
Sarah reached into the bag and found the bottle amongst other containers, handing it to Mavid so he could feed him. Mavid held it, but didn't feed the babe, waiting instead for her to be unoccupied before moving as if to transfer the newborn over to her. Sarah probably looked as surprised as she felt but didn't fight it when she was given the babe to hold. He was a lot lighter than she was used to now with Toby, practically weighing nothing, and she cradled him protectively against her just as Mavid had done. She shifted his bit of weight over into one arm as Mavid held out the bottle back to her as well and took it from him.
"What's in this?" she asked, eyeing the milk critically. Linra had died during birth hadn't she?
"Wolf's milk," Jareth told her, "I think you witnessed me giving it to Toby a time or two."
She couldn't help the sneer that broke across her lips, she remembered.
"It's perfectly healthy Sarah," Jareth insisted over the babe's continued crying. "It's a common replacement for mother's milk. Better in fact, it will make the babes stronger and more cunning when they are older."
Sarah fought really hard not to roll her eyes at that, she really did. None the less, she had nothing else to offer the babe and so placed the nipple of the bottle against his lips. He latched on immediately and eagerly, sucking down deep like he would never drink again. The sudden lack of screaming in the room was stunning and Sarah chuckled because of it. He certainly liked the milk even if she didn't.
With the baby silently nursing again, Clora and Ishapell moved in closer to her, barely moving their fingertips over the sides of Sarah's arm as though they were afraid to touch the babe themselves. They oohed and aahed for a while, complimenting the babe's head-shape and the fine little fingernails he had. Sarah was reminded of the days and all the times she had nursed Toby from a bottle after he had been born. He had never quite taken to Karen's milk so she had gotten to help out with the feeding. She was suddenly struck by a thought and looked around her at the fae who were all looking on and watching the feeding like it was the most astounding thing, even Toby was watching with curiosity. Out of all of them she was probably the only one with any real baby experience. Jareth hadn't been around Toby for at least the first year of his life and all those that did have babes safeguarded them, making it so that the only way most fae ever held a babe was if they themselves had one. That alone was a known feat in of itself.
"I wanna feed him!" Toby insisted from his perch on his father's hip, intrigued by what Sarah was doing.
"You are too young," Jareth informed him.
That certainly didn't settle the matter as far as Toby was concerned. "I wanna feed him!" he stated again, louder this time. "I can do it!"
"Be silent," Jareth hushed him as Sarah turned away so the baby wasn't in Toby's line of sight. She would have let him hold the bottle if he were more dexterous but at his young age he was still learning his concepts of grasping things and applying pressure. She had watched him over the last few nights slam his spoon into even the softest of foods with all his might just a little too often lately to disagree with Jareth on this one for now.
"I WANNA HOLD!" Toby screamed suddenly at the top of his lungs, causing everyone in the room to jump and the baby let go of the nipple so that he could cry out his fright, making the room extremely loud as the newborn cried and Toby continued on with his tirade the likes of which Sarah had never seen before. "I WANNA! I WANNA!"
Jareth was the first to react, his face turning from shocked to stern as he excused himself and carried Toby with him from the room, shutting the door behind them. As Sarah rocked the babe and Ishapell and Clora cooed reassurances to it to ease its tears she looked over to Mavid, meaning to ask him if he wanted to hold the babe again so she could go help Jareth put Toby to bed, but was cut off when a noise outside the door suddenly silenced Toby's bratty screams and she heard the very muffled sound of a swatting twice more before Toby started crying again, only this time not as loudly and he was no longer screaming to get his way. When the door opened up and Jareth led Toby back into the room by the hand her suspicions were confirmed when she saw Toby rubbing his backside with his free hand while leftover tears flowed down his cheeks. He looked miserably defeated and when Sarah looked to Jareth he simply raised an eyebrow at her, looking a little defeated himself.
As Sarah held the babe in her arms and looked down upon Toby's pitiful stance she was at a loss for what to say or how to feel. She honestly wasn't against spanking, having gone through a few of her own father's light swats when she was younger, and even more of Jareth's for that matter. This was the first time Toby had received a spanking though and she felt impulses to pick him up and give him hugs and kisses. She knew she couldn't though. Jareth released Toby's hand and left him standing off to the side as he made his way to her, his cousins both moving back to make more room for him as he placed his arm around her waist and looked down at the baby in her arms. "What should we call him?" he asked, obviously wanting to take his own mind off what had just happened with Toby.
"Shouldn't Mavid name his own child?" she asked, looking to Mavid who immediately put his hands up as if warding her off and backed up a couple small steps.
"I'm just the sperm donor," he said factually.
By some miracle Sarah kept her jaw off the floor, but was stunned at such a response. No one else in the room took any pause in it though. Clora and Ishapell both stepping forward to touch at her arms again rather than the babe itself.
"Think of a strong name, something that women will think sounds nice when he's older," Clora beamed.
"What about something scholarly like Pagrian, or Guston?" Ishapell offered up.
Sarah turned to Jareth, at a loss for what to possibly name him. "Do you have any ideas?"
Jareth reached out and very carefully lifted the baby from her arms, cradling him as best and as gently as he could against his armor. The babe didn't so much as stir through the whole switch, his little eyes cracked open once more and looking around for the return of his bottle. "Let's call him Mavias, partially after his father," Jareth decided, looking up to Mavid. "Does that suit you?"
Mavid smirked before his smile turned itself into a full out grin and the shortest of laughs escaped him. "Sounds just fine Jareth. Whatever you think will help."
Sarah frowned in confusion then. "Help? What do you mean?"
Jareth continued to rock the baby in his arms, "Often children are named after other beings or things in hopes they will inherit the good traits that are associated with their name before it was theirs. Not always, but often." He smirked down in Toby's direction, who was still sniffing back the remains of his tears next to him. "With a little bit of good fortune little Jareth will take guidance in his namesake as well."
Sarah felt a shiver run through her back but suppressed her urge to speak out against that, something she found herself growing more and more tired of doing. She consoled herself by reminding herself that it was just more superstition and that being named after him didn't automatically mean that Toby would grow up to be like Jareth. He was still Toby first and foremost as far as she was concerned. She looked at the babe, now Mavias, cradled in Jareth's arms and thought about what it might be like when he and Toby were older. Others would refer to them as Jareth and Mavias… the temptation on history to repeat itself in the names alone sent another chill down her back and she tried hard to just shake it off.
"Are you cold?" Jareth asked her.
No, just terrified, "Yes."
Jareth looked around the room as if he could see the temperature. "It is a bit cold in here I suppose, your fire has nearly gone out. It is just as well though, since it will be time to retire for the night soon anyway." He turned and carefully handed Mavias off to Mavid, lifting the still sniveling Toby up onto his hip once the transfer was complete and placing a kiss against his cheek as Toby wrapped himself around his father's neck and rested against his shoulder. Sarah reached up and brushed the tear-tracks off of his face, running her hand over his cheek and forehead once she was done and Toby offered up a weak little smile.
Jareth turned back to his cousins. "Goodnight," he simply bid them, turning to Sarah then, "We need to get the children settled for the night and I'm tired as well. Say goodnight."
She pretty much had no other option but to turn and wish his cousins both a good night, so that's what she did. While she did honestly mean it, she still wished that Jareth hadn't told her to say it. She would have done so anyway, but him ordering her to do things she would have done anyway… it was like twisting the screw.
Jareth nodded his head in approval and both he and Mavid started out the door, Sarah following behind because she knew it was expected of her right now, a mostly empty milk bottle dangling from her hand.