Ch. 8 Midnight Visitors
A/N: Thank you to everyone that has been reading this story again, and to all the kind reviews! It has been nice to sit down and write again after all these years. I hope everyone continues to enjoy! I am definitely getting some Thin White Duke vibes in this chapter, and I can't say I would be complaining about that
That Friday evening, Sarah was laying on her bed reading when Irene knocked on her door.
"Sarah," she said, sticking her head in. "You have... a visitor." She seemed very flustered by this statement, and Sarah stood up, confused.
"A visitor?" She asked. "I wasn't expecting anyone." She followed Irene out into the hallway, still confused by the way she was acting.
"I didn't know you were talking to any boys" Irene said, turning to glance at her as she walked. "Or should I say men. I'm glad if you're talking to someone, you should be dating more. But he seems a little old for you, wouldn't you say? I just don't want you getting mixed up into things that you're not ready for. Your father and I worry about you sometimes." Irene continued to babble as she began down the stairs, but Sarah felt as if her insides had frozen. Surely it couldn't be?
Her suspicions were confirmed as she too rounded the corner down the stairs and saw Him standing in her entryway. Thank whatever magical gods there may be that her father wasn't home. He had taken Toby out for ice cream.
Jareth turned to smile at her, but all she could do was glare back. Thankfully he had dressed himself appropriately for the occasion. Although his eyebrows were still sharp, gone was the long hair and glitter. Instead he sported a short but stylish cut. He wore a simple white button up shirt under a black vest with black pants.
"Hello, Sarah" he said, offering her a both breathtaking and infuriating grin. "I'm sorry to drop in unexpectedly, I just happened to be in the neighborhood."
"How convenient" she mumbled, stepping down next to him and glancing over at Irene. She had backed off, but was busying herself clearing off an end table in the hall to conveniently keep herself within earshot. "Surely you must be busy then, I can walk you back outside so you can be on your way."
Jareth gave her a knowing smirk as she opened the front door and ushered him out onto the deck, quickly shutting it behind her.
"What are you doing here?" She asked him, sharper than intended.
"When you wished me here to you, you didn't wish me here to complete a task. Therefore, the invitation was never revoked."
Sarah sighed and rubbed her forehead, glancing around to see if any nosey neighbors were watching them. "That explains how, but not why you're here."
"Surely it must be obvious. You said so yourself, mortals prefer to get to know each other. Friday is a common mortal date night, is it not?"
She stared at him in disbelief for a moment, not wanting to believe her ears. "You're here to ask me out on a date?"
Another infuriating smirk answered her, and she momentarily closed her eyes and leaned her head against the house. "You know" she finally replied, "normal humans call each other, they don't show up unexpectedly."
"Well then, I would be flattered to receive your number" he said in obvious amusement.
"I didn't know the castle had phones" she replied coldly.
He laughed at her reply. "Sarah, I am one of the most powerful Fae in existence, and the great Goblin King. If I want to call someone, I can call someone."
She chewed on her lower lip, contemplating her current situation. She did not get the sense that she could persuade him to leave her alone easily. She was due to meet up with Erin shortly, and since she already knew the situation, maybe dragging him along would give her an excuse to not be stuck alone with him.
"I'm supposed to meet up with a friend at the local café" she finally gave in a few moments later. "You're welcome to join if you would like." Another smug look met her in reply, and she was already regretting her choices.
Sarah sat in the small booth, leaning as far into the wall as she could to avoid brushing against Jareth's arm. She was suspicious that he had somehow used magic to manipulate the situation and make the small booth the only open option, although she had no way to prove that.
Erin sat across from them, completely enamored by the royal Fae. She leaned forward onto her hands, a dreamy look glazing her eyes as she stared at him, absorbing every word he spoke. Sarah wondered if she was envisioning Sarah and Jareth's nuptials or her own.
"Erin, do tell me how you and Sarah know each other" Jareth asked, practically crooning at the poor girl. Sarah rolled her eyes, imagining he was enjoying all the attention he was receiving.
"I already told you we met as lab partners our first year of school" Sarah cut in, exasperated. Erin nodded slowly in agreement. Sarah began to worry that her friend wasn't blinking.
"Of course, precious" he acknowledged in her direction. "I was simply making conversation."
"Don't call me that" she grumbled, before glancing in his direction and again taking in his current look. "You know," she mused "has anyone ever told you that you kind of look like David Bowie?"
"And who might this David Bowie be?" he asked, amused.
"Only a musical God" she retorted, slightly offended by his lack of knowledge.
"Well then, he must be quite handsome and charming" the Goblin King speculated.
"Unfortunately," Sarah replied quickly before catching her slip up, and she again turned away from him and glared into her untouched mug of Chai, ignoring the gleam in his eyes.
After 30 more minutes of small talk about their summer and the upcoming school year, Sarah and Erin parted ways to return home. Jareth, of course, insisted on walking Sarah home.
"I had a wonderful evening getting to know a bit more about your world" he said as they stopped in front of her door.
"I'm still mad at you" she replied coldly, ignoring the compliment.
"I wouldn't expect anything less" he replied, grinning, as he lifted her hand and lightly brushed his lips across the back of fingers. "Until next time."
Before Sarah could move he was gone, leaving her standing alone on the porch. She tried vehemently to ignore the butterflies doing somersaults in her stomach as she entered her house and closed the door behind her. She turned around, jumping when she almost ran into Irene who was waiting expectantly for her inside the front door.
"Im so sorry" Irene said, concerned, as she quickly stepped forward, her hands out towards Sarah. "I didn't mean to scare you, I just wanted to know how your date went."
"It wasn't a date, I just hung out with a few friends" Sarah replied quickly before hurrying up to her room and closing the door behind her. She flopped on her bed and covered her head with a pillow, her mind still spinning from the night.
What was she doing? More importantly, what was He doing? Her hand still tingled where his lips had brushed it, and she ran her fingers softly over the spot. He wasn't quit as infuriatingly arrogant tonight as she normally found him to be, but every action caused her head to spin.
Was he expecting to somehow win her over? Make her forget that he was the literal villain of her childhood? What did he think would happen if he succeeded? Would she be expected to drop everything, live in the Labyrinth? Age and grow old as he stayed young forever at her side? How could he possibly even want to stay with her as her skin wrinkled, her hair greyed and thinned, she withered away on the natural course of mortal life?
She drifted into one of many restless nights to sleep that would follow, not seeing the Labyrinth for some time.
The next time she ran into the Goblin King was at her favorite park. School was starting in a week, and she had just dropped off her final registration and class papers. She had finally decided on a major, mythologic studies. What better choice for someone who was actually living in the myth?
She was walking briskly down the path, head down, when she passed a man sitting at a bench. Something about him caught her eye, and when she slowed down to look, she found herself staring directly at the Goblin King himself, donning his (rather attractive, she crankily acknowledged to herself) mortal costume. "Why hello, Sarah" he said briskly, closing the small red book he had been reading from. "It's a pleasure to see you here today."
Sarah scowled at his cheeky grin, turning to face him. "I'm sure a convenient pleasure" she said shortly. "Women love it when men constantly follow them and popup out of nowhere."
"They do when it's me" he said with a seductive laugh, leaning forward slightly and – was he wiggling his eyebrows at her? Sarah could not believe his gall.
"Well, look at the time" she said, glancing down and her watch quickly. "Time to be on my way." She began walking forward when suddenly he appeared in front of her, seated at a chess table. She checked around them worriedly to see if anyone had witnessed his magic, but he just laughed.
"Don't worry, Sarah. No one can see us. Now surely a little game or two of chess wouldn't hurt. Not scared of a little competition, are we?"
She sighed as she sat down, setting her bag under her chair. "Remember what I just said about being creepy?" she mumbled under her breath as she stared at the board, resigning her fate to him for the evening.
4 games (and 4 losses) later she stormed away from a laughing Goblin King as she headed home. He didn't have the nerve to at least pretend to let her win a single game. How arrogant was he?
That was the first night the goblins showed up.
The digital clock on the nightstand read 2:31 am when a small thump sounded from Sarah's closet. She opened her eyes, dazed, as her ears pierced the night air. She lay breathless for a few seconds, intently peering around her surroundings.
The thump came again, this time followed by several soft laughs. Sarah rolled her eyes as she realized the culprits, and turned her lamp on as she got up to investigate the disturbance. She threw the closet doors open to reveal 6 goblins frozen in varying positions of modeling as she recognized odd bits and pieces of her clothes hanging off them. She reached in and quickly grabbed her pink bra off the head of one of the goblins.
"What are you doing here?" She hissed at them, keeping her voice low.
The goblins quickly glanced back and forth at each other without moving, until one voice from the corner squeaked "We're not here."
After 5 more minutes of persuasion could not get the goblins to speak or move, she closed the closet doors and decided to forget it. The next morning, they joined her in the kitchen as she tried to make breakfast. She could hear pots and pans clanging under the cabinet as she dug through the pantry, and when she shushed them they simply snickered in reply.
Immense relief poured off her when Irene quickly walked through the kitchen on her way to work, seeming unable to hear or see the pesky creatures. After the goblins seemed to realize Sarah had visibly calmed, they happily clambered around the kitchen, climbing on cabinets and hanging off drawers. After pulling a spoon out of one's ear and a ladle out of another's mouth, she turned around and slammed her hands on the island counter.
"Enough!" she yelled, staring each and every one of them down. 6 sets of frantic eyes careful observed her, and she smiled in satisfaction as they all put down whatever it was they were in the middle of destroying and turned to quietly face her.
"You're not to know we're here" the same small voice from the night before said, and Sarah looked down to see a small pug faced goblin fidgeting slightly under her gaze. His light blond hair stuck out at random tufts, and she couldn't help but see resemblance in hairstyles to a certain Goblin King. She laughed at the image of this small goblin envying his monarch so.
"And why not?" She said, standing straight and putting her hands on her hips.
"His Majesty would be angry" A low voice came from the back of the kitchen as Sarah turned to face a large squat goblin.
"So does His Majesty not know you're here?" Sarah asked. The goblins all quickly glanced at each other again before furiously shaking their heads no in unison. Sarah pondered the situation for a few moments before going back to getting ready for her day. "If you're going to be around, no getting into things".
"Yes ma'am" answered 6 small voices together.
"No playing with things or breaking things."
"Yes ma'am."
"And do not let anyone see you!"
"Yes ma'am"
After she was done cooking her omelet, she set six small plates of scrambled eggs in front of 6 eager goblin faces. After stuffing the still steaming eggs into their mouths, they all got up and ran back to her room, giggling amongst themselves. Sarah quickly ran after them, but by the time she reached her room they were all gone. She noticed the window partially open, and laughed at herself as she closed it.
The goblins became a nightly occurrence, and vanished shortly after helping her cook breakfast for the day. Every night a new set of goblins arrived, with the occasional familiar face mixed in. She was beginning to fall into a routine with them. If they helped her pick up the bathroom after Toby, she filled the bathtub with bubbles for them to play in. If they silently waited OUTSIDE her closed bedroom door as she changed, she allowed them to pick out one sock to wear as a hat or single glove for the night. If they grabbed items she needed around the kitchen for food, she always cooked them a special snack.
Sarah was sitting in the library after her last class when Jareth pulled out the chair next to her.
"People are going to think you're a professor" she said coldly to him under her breath.
"Sarah, my dear, you know I do not look THAT old" he replied haughtily as he glanced over the collection of folklore she had spread out in front of her. He soon showed himself to be eager to help her study, and she decided his help probably wasn't the kind of help she should turn down for this subject matter.
She quickly found herself enjoying their study session. Instead of his usual boasting, Jareth earnestly poured over book after book with her, both pointing out the tales that were wrong and adding to tales that were based in truth. He elaborated and built on stories she had thought she knew, and she found the tales of his world fascinating.
She was surprised when the back lights of the library began to turn off, signaling the nearing of closing, and she couldn't believe how much time had gone by. Her father and Irene would be expecting her. She began to gather her books together, but faltered as she looked up. She had not realized how close her and the Goblin King had become during their reading, and she stared into his mismatched blue eyes.
"You know, Sarah" he said with a slight smirk. "You don't always have to act like you despise me."
"Who said I'm acting?" She asked, her voice hitching slightly in her throat.
"Well," he replied "for as much as you complain, you have yet to wish me away."
Sarah faltered for a few moments, too confused by his words to process a reply. He laughed heartily, before smoothly leaning forward and placing a soft kiss on her cheek. He then stood and strolled away, still laughing to himself.
A/N: Next chapter, in honor of the best holiday, will be a Halloween special! There will be fluff, there will definitely be spice, and there will of course be drama. It is the chapter I have been most excited to write. Stay tuned!