A/N March 2020: Have been horribly sick these past 2 weeks. I couldn't even write it was that bad. Reading fan fic kept my mind off how awful I felt. Here's to others who are sick and wishing it were otherwise - have patience with your body and let it heal. To those stuck at home in isolation, strength to you! In the mean time, here is some more story. Enjoy.


Sarah woke the next morning to someone humming a very catchy groggily opened her eyes to find Jareth dressed in nothing but a towel, traipsing across from the bath to his was rubbing his wild hair dry at the same the bandages and plasters were gone and his skin was once again watched in contented bliss as he spent half an hour going through his wardrobe in a fastidious manner before exiting fully dressed in tight blue breeches, a contrasting waistcoat over a ruffled shirt and a blue dress yet another tune, he ambled over to her dresser, sat down and proceeded to touch up his eye giggled when he pulled one too many faces at himself.

He grinned broadly at her.

"I see the room stayed as it is," he declared happily.

"What does that mean?" she asked.

"Either, this is your room, and you've managed to link the doors to my bathroom, waiting room and walk in closet to it, or I'm really comfortable here."

There was a knock at the door.

"Sarah?"Toby's voice sounded outside.

"The former it is," Jareth said happily."I knew that pillow smelled far too like you for it to be a simple conjuration."

Sarah gave an alarmed squeak and stared around.

"What am I going to do!Where are my clothes?"

"Try your closet," he suggested and fussily set about combing out his hair.

She flew across to the door and stuck her head out. Toby breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Sarah, I just convinced mom to let me call you!Jareth's in your bed!Do you want to be grounded for the rest of your life?"

"Okay, what's the deal?" Sarah frowned; he was seven and already dishing out blackmail.

"Is Jareth any good at pitching?"

She burst out laughing and leaned back as the Goblin King fussed his hair into its regular lion's mane.

"Feel up to a jaunt to Aboveground?Toby wants to play baseball."

"Toby, tell your mother I'll be joining the family for breakfast.I'm bringing croissants."

"What's that?" Toby sounded dubious.

"I'll be sure to order some with an excess of chocolate," he said dryly.

"Yum!Oh, and Sophie is here!" Toby called then ran down the stairs calling for his mother.

Jareth got to his feet.

"I'll see you in a few minutes," he smiled then sauntered off through the door to the peered through it, it was the passage to his waiting room in the closed it and then opened it again, still the shut it hard and leaned against was she going to do?She dragged her clean clothes from her cupboard, for one she'd have to keep the place spotless and hoover her own room so Karen didn't take an didn't once occur to her to change it back.

.

She found Sophie helping her stepmother to fry and Michael were on the couch watching a home video from when they were younger.

"Wait for it, wait for it," Toby said and she turned around just in time to see her trip over Merlin and land face first in a mud puddle in the park.

"That hurt!"Sarah rubbed her nose, wincing at the memory; she'd had a black eye for a week.

"Still funny!"Toby chortled.

"You should have seen Howl the other day," Michael declared as Sarah confiscated the incriminating video."He threw this huge temper tantrum, and called all the spirits of darkness."He lowered his voice and they shivered."It was eerie, all these creeping shadows, then he coated everything he touched in this sticky drippy had to drag him upstairs to the took me half an hour to scrub him clean!"

"He put slime on everything?" Toby wrinkled his nose."Can Sarah do that?"

"She doesn't need to, she has goblins," Michael pointed out."Howl said he wanted to test you today, see if you've got magic and all."

"Me?" Toby squeaked.

"Could be!"

Toby bounced on his chair then leaped up and ran to the kitchen.

"Mom, I might have magic, Howl says!"

Karen dropped the eggs on the quickly scuttled out of the kitchen again as Sophie tutted and helped her clean them up.

"It isn't so bad, Michael's a well behaved boy," Sophie soothed as Karen sank into a chair.

"So," Toby said keen to get off that topic, "why did Howl throw a temper tantrum?I thought grownups didn't throw temper tantrums."

Michael snorted at that.

"Sophie mixed around his hair potions, you should see how he looks now, it's black, but before that it was orange and then this purple red colour."

"Are hair potions anything like hair dye?"

"They could be."

There was a very thoughtful look exchanged.

"Change your hair and I'll get Jareth to add glitter to it," Sarah backfired as that doubled their enthusiasm.

The boys launched themselves at the door when the Goblin King arrived with a box from the bakery down stood with a foot in at the dooras the boys explained what they wanted.

"And what shall I gain from this?" he asked, tapping his lip with his gloved hand.

Toby and Michael whispered together for a moment.

"Er, we'll help you with your chores for the day!" Michael suggested, by Toby's grimace he hadn't liked the idea but couldn't think of anything better.

"I'm not fishing them out of Oubliettes," Sarah said as she swanned past and relieved him of the box of croissants.

"Oh, no, I have a much better idea," Jareth said with a smirk.

"We have to wait till after Howl gets here, he wants to see if I have magic," Toby declared.

"You do, but a different sort than your see things unseen," Jareth tossed over his shoulder as he walked into the kitchen after Sarah.

"I do?"Toby scrunched up his face."What does that mean?"

"You could see goblins, most people can't."

"Oh, I thought that was magic does Sarah have?"

"Words of command," Jareth settled into the chair opposite Karen as Sophie set out plates at the table.

"So what she says happens?"

"Sometimes, they have to be the right words."

"And me?"Michael asked, curious."What magic do I have?"

Jareth peered at him for a moment.

"Howl is teaching you earth and air magic, but your natural talent is water, and weather 're good at blessings that involve good harvests and safe passage across water and the like?"

"Wow," Michael breathed, "how did you see that?"

"That's my magic, I can read people," he grinned.

"What about Howl?" Michael asked.

"Fire and air," Jareth said firmly.

"And Sophie?"

"Oh, don't be bothering His Majesty so early in the morning, , be a dear and fetch your father from the den, would you?"

Toby scuttled off and soon they were all tucked in around the table, eating bacon and what eggs didn't end splashed across the floor.

.

Howl knocked at the door just as they were let him black hair was startling, but that was not the most worrying looked exhausted.

"What happened?" she asked in alarm.

He gave her a grave shake of his head in the manner of 'tell you later,' his eyes flickering over to Toby and that moment he raised a glamour, and all the drawn worry about his face simply disappeared.

"Why did you make your face all shimmery?"Toby asked curiously.

Howl halted half way through lifting his hand in greeting to everyone at the breakfast table.

"And that answers that question," he smiled at Toby."Yes, you do have magic."

"Yes!Are you going to teach me like you are teaching Sarah?"

"Yes," Howl said quietly.

"Will I have homework like she does?"Toby suddenly didn't sound at all enthusiastic.

"He gives me loads of homework!" Michael put in and Toby groaned.

"I do have a few things to discuss with your parents first," Howl smiled."Are you done with your breakfast?"

"Yeah!"

"Here, Michael, you asked for this the last time you came from the Williams' home."Howl handed over the paper bag he was a catcher's mitt and a baseball.

The two boys bounced in their chairs until Robert gave a ran for the back door.

"You'll be repairing any broken windows!" he called after them.

The door slammed on their reply.

.

Howl took Michael's seat at the table and Sophie heaped his plate with toast, and set the butter and honey jar before didn't touch it, and instead leaned back in his chair and let the glamour effect was eerie, as though he had aged ten years in a second.

"I'm glad to find you here, Your Majesty," Howl inclined his head to Jareth."I have a grave matter to discuss."