Annoying Jareth
65 – What is that noise?
The goblin king wasn't surprised when he heard the Creature speaking gibberish, rather loudly, in the corridor. It seemed to be fascinated with the way its voice echoed of the stone walls. Still Jareth sighed as he foresaw what would happen next. He was about to say something to stop it when the Creature suddenly squealed at the top of its voice, emptying its lungs. The rasp at the end was both hilarious and terrifying. He pondered for a moment if he should let it continue and lose its voice. But how long would that take? Would it really lose its voice or would it trick him? And most importantly of all, would he be deaf by the end of it? He decided this was one of those things he needed to put a stop to now. It was ridiculous.
The Creature took a deep breath and he held up a hand. "Now stop right there". The Creature paused and looked at him, holding its breath. "You are well aware what will happen if you continue to shout and scream. It will echo, it will piss me off, you'll find it funny and you may even get my goblins involved." The Creature was starting to look a little red in the cheeks. "So why don't we just cut the nonsense out and move on to something else." Jareth finished and stared at the Creature. It was starting to look a bit purple. "Oh for the love of… breath" Jareth sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
The creature let out a long whooshing breath. It glared at him for a moment before skulking off. Jareth watched it go before shrugging and heading back to the throne room. He felt a little proud of himself for shopping the little monster in its tracks but he was sure this wasn't the end of it. He swing his leg and tapped the riding crop. The rhythmic thump relaxed him.
He had almost fallen asleep when he realised there was a second thump. It was as quiet as a whisper. He paused. Everything was silent. He shrugged it off. "Probably my imagination" he sighed to himself. He started to tap the riding crop again. Thump, thump, thump, thwack. He's eyes snapped open. It was much louder that time and definitely not his imagination. He listened as strange noises bounced off the stone walls. Thwack, kerthump, snaroogle. "What the hell is that?" He stared at the walls in horror before quick marching his way around the castle to find the infuriating Creature. He knew it was behind it.
Its room – he snorted at that – was empty. As was the Escher room and the kitchen. He didn't see it in the courtyard or the gardens. He was halfway to the tower when he spotted the basement door. It freaked as it swung slightly. "Oh joy" he groaned and went through the door. The sounds were getting louder. Gurgle, schwee, therump. He bypassed the strange old man who was standing cleaning a pint glass, pausing to inspect it every few seconds. The old man nodded at the king as he passed but said nothing. Jareth spied the small wooden door and kicked it open.
For a moment he had no words. The Creature was hovering over a bunch of rusty pipes holding a wrench. It quickly hid the wrench behind its back and smiled sheepishly. "I'm eh… doing maintenance?" The Creature watched as Jareth turned four different shades of red. It decided to hoof it – very quickly – when the vein in his forehead started to pulse, dropping the wrench as it fled. The last thing it, and most of the kingdom, heard was the sounds of old pipes being very thoroughly thrashed.
A/N – slight reference to Red Dwarf in this one. Sorry the new chapters are a little shorter.
