Sharon's father did not make much of an argument about whether his daughter could move out. If anything, he had acted mostly surprised that Sharon would show any initiative of her own, and Karen had swept his concerns aside. Toby drove the pickup truck down to Sharon's house and the older man helped pack and load her belongings. "It's going to be strange to be alone in the house," he said with a trace of wistfulness. "She's a good girl. Your mother better be ready to take good care of her."
Toby curbed his dislike and managed a grin. "Mom's part tiger."
The other man nodded and said nothing more while they put the suitcase and a couple of boxes in the pickup. Only as Toby was hopping into the driver's seat did the other man hold the door open a moment. "I always tried to take care of her, you know. It's just… life's a bitch sometimes."
Toby nodded politely. He had a vague notion that arguing with his girlfriend's father would not only be pointless, it would probably upset her.
"Never meant for her to fall in with that Thompson kid. Should have been around more."
Again, Toby could only nod.
The older man sighed. "You're young. When you're older you'll understand. Tell my little girl the door's always open if she changes her mind."
He let go of the door and Toby quickly closed it before waving and turning the engine on. He let a sigh of his own as the pickup cleared the driveway. He hoped he would never actually grow old enough to understand giving up like Sharon's father had. He did not want to know what speed bumps life could throw at a man to make him just not care any more. To make him see his own child as a perpetual disruption that must be controlled and silenced. A part of him wanted to drive back and punch the man in the teeth. "That was awkward," he murmured.
"Why?" A goblin head poked up from the back seat.
"Don't startle me like that when I'm driving," Toby groused.
"I'm not startling. I'm watching."
"Right," Toby consented. "Well, you're watching very well, Truff."
"I know."
He shook his head to hide a small smile and drove.
When he pulled into the driveway of the Williams residence Sharon was sitting on the porch, waiting for him. She waved and hurried down to help unpack. "Hey there," Toby greeted her and pointed at the back-seat goblin."This is Truff. He's on watch duty."
The goblin nodded proudly.
"Hello," Sharon said and bit her lip. She was still a tad uneasy around the otherworldly brat pack.
"I like Xena," Truff supplied helpfully.
Sharon blinked. "Xena? Like, the old TV show?" Toby made quick warning gestures over Truff's diminutive shoulders. She quickly added, "It's very good, isn't it?"
Truff looked the girl up and down as if appraising her sincerity. Then, with a firm nod, he walked over and hugged her leg tight.
"The beginning of a beautiful friendship," Toby murmured and fled with a box of shirts.
Sarah reclined against the trunk of one of the lilacs, sheltered from the Underground's warm, Mediterranean sun by its branches. The tree was in full bloom still – time passed at its own discretion here, and the Monet garden was quickly becoming her favourite place. The sky was always blue, the breeze was always mild. The pleasant spring weather that coaxed lilacs to bloom seemed ever-lasting. Attempting to understand the weather systems of the Underground could probably give a meteorologist a mental breakdown in a matter of minutes.
She looked at her companion. He sat in the dappled sunlight, dressed in shades of blue, playing with one of his trademark crystal balls. It travelled across his knuckles, up and down his forearm, and for moments at a time, seemed to actually fly on its own before deftly returned to his hand. She would never stop admiring his skill with the things.
The Goblin King caught her look and spun the crystal on his fingertips. "You are thinking of work," he said good-naturedly.
Sarah smiled. "I should be. Will's still expecting those elves done by the end of the week."
He shrugged and flicked the crystal to his other hand where it proceeded to dance back and forth on his knuckles. "I will give you the time. Enjoy the present."
She chuckled and flicked a straw a grass at him. It did not break his concentration in the slightest. "That's easy for you to say, dear. I'm still human. I still think in linear time. I get poof lag."
Jareth smirked. "And you're certain that that is the only reason you're feeling – twitchy?"
She tilted her head. "What do you mean?"
He threw the crystal up in the air where it vanished with a small 'plink'. Then he walked over to sit next to her under the lilacs. "You tell stories, Sarah. How does it feel to not be the protagonist?"
Sarah thought for a moment, then laughed softly. "Oh, no, no. Sharon's a much better damsel in distress than I am. Toby will make a fine fairytale prince. I just want to draw elves and fairies and spend time here with you."
He nodded. "Good. Our story's nearing its end. Theirs is just beginning, and we may not turn out to be in it at all in the long term."
"I'm sure we'll get to make the occasional cameo," Sarah quipped. "What do you mean, nearing its end?"
He reached up to brush a stray strand of hair out of his face and smiled at her. "Barring a few loose ends, I'd say we've met the criteria of good narrative and that we're rapidly approaching our happy ending, mm?"
"Well, things have to be done in certain ways in stories," Sarah agreed. "What loose ends are those?"
The Goblin King smiled. "I do believe that a long kissing scene is traditional."
Sarah tilted her head and pretended to think about it. "There should be singing Disney birds for one of those."
"I could teach a couple of goblins. How does it go in that underwater one, 'Kiss the girl'?"
"I'll kiss you if you don't. Besides, I've kissed you before."
He nodded with good humour. "Indeed you have. But things have to be done in certain ways in stories."
Sarah chuckled. "Well, if that's the way things are done," she surrendered and leaned into his embrace.
As their lips met, the magic of the Underground hit her like a wave of warm, magical water that swept her away on a current of glitter. For a moment she felt like she was drowning, and then like she was two different people: One of the two a fairytale princess finally falling into the waiting arms of her knight in white, complete with singing goblins and frilly dresses, and it was right, it was the way it was supposed to be, this is how stories work –
The other half of her, the rational, adult, grown-up Sarah thought wryly that fairytale Sarah was laying it on a bit thick. But, you know, it was working. Yeah. It was definitely going to be all right.
"Why do I feel like I've forgotten something?" Sharon said and rested her head on Toby's shoulder. His hair smelled good and the Underground sun was warm on her face as they sat on a bench in the hedge maze, surrounded by textbooks. "Everything is perfect."
Toby laughed and slipped his arm around her shoulder. "Well, I don't know if it's perfect, but I think we're doing pretty good."
Sharon could not help a small giggle. "It's still cheating, though."
He shrugged. "Nah. Look at it this way. If the Wiseman and the Goblin King's extensive library -and- all the time we want can't make you good enough to net a scholarship, then nothing will."
"It still feels like cheating a little. Other students don't have literally all the time they want."
Toby laughed. "I'm okay with that. I want to be married to a vet. Cheat away."
Sharon let her gaze wander. The view was astounding, even as she was growing accustomed to the Underground. Pathways disappeared when one looked away, others taking their places and pretending to have been there all along. Creatures walked along on their own business. Statues turned into amphoras and amphoras turned into fat baby Cupids. Nothing ever stayed as it was for long.
A group of creatures on one of the paths caught her eye and she pulled Toby's sleeve. "What are those?"
A very big, bright red, ape-like creature with large horns was bellowing at a group of goblins on one of the pathways that had just turned up. The goblins in turn were trying very hard to pay attention, with the varying levels of success that one would expect from goblins.
Toby laughed. "That's Ludo. He's… I don't know what he is. Some kind of yeti but red? He talks to rocks."
Sharon blinked. "And do the rocks talk back?"
Toby gave her a crooked grin. "Well, I've never heard them say anything but they do what he asks them to do. Watch."
The gentle, red giant waved a massive arm at a pile of rocks. Sharon was fairly certain they had not been there a moment ago, and as she watched, one bounced off the top of the pile and landed on a goblin's foot. The smaller creature yelped and kicked the rock hard. From the looks of it, that hurt the goblin more than the rock.
"Noo angry," Ludo bellowed. "Rocks friends. No angry with rocks."
The goblin gave the monster a very impolite gesture. He was a small figure with a silver ring in one eyebrow and shaggy brown fur. Pretty decent looking as far as goblins went. The other goblins promptly swarmed the first, swatting it and correcting it in high-pitched voices.
"Rocks friends," the big, red monster repeated patiently in its rumbling bellow. "Everyone needs friends. You make rock friend."
The goblin pouted and poked the rock with a cautious finger. The rock in turn acted like a rock and did not move.
"Good friend," Ludo reiterated and looked at the other goblins. Behind him, the first goblin kicked the rock. From his resulting expression, he might as well have kicked a brick wall. Ludo looked back and shook his head patiently. "Noo angry. We start over. Rocks friends."
The other goblins tittered. The offending goblin cowered under the weight of his giant instructor's gaze.
"Let's leave them to it," Toby murmured. "We don't want to break their concentration while they're teaching the new guy."
"Yes," Sharon said, looking at the goblin with the pierced eyebrow and then tearing her gaze away. "Yes. I'm coming."
She'd almost forgotten. Everyone else had forgotten. Give it a week or two more, she would too. She was looking forward to that.
The marble floor was cold but the man's bed was covered in charcoal satin and warm. Bikkit liked his bed. She liked it even better these days when the woman also slept in it regularly. Everything was so much neater when both her people were staying in the same place.
THE END