Author's Note: What is this obsession with Archer! I would have expected more from you all! Hmmm, but about the rapist being torn apart... all in good time, my friends. All in good time.
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"So what you're saying is that I can get pregnant," Toby sighed.
The two were in their bedchamber, Jareth leaning against the door and Toby sitting on the bed. The fire-blond had just been told the news about his new status in life. And he was taking it rather well.
"Well, that's good news for you, I guess," he remarked, looking to his husband, "I'm glad."
"Glad?" Jareth was not quite sure he was hearing this. "You don't mind?"
Toby shrugged. "Why should I?" he asked, "It will make you happy. I want you to be happy. And I know I said I won't rule with you but if there's something I can do for the Kingdom... well, count it done!"
The Goblin King pushed himself off the door, walking carefully towards his lover- or the one he hoped would be his lover- and knelt before him. "Toby, you understand what this entails? You are sixteen, my elf. I will not make you do this."
A deliciously wide mouth with tip-tilted corners smiled. Jareth watched in fascination as the smile travelled up over the mouth and the muscles of the hollowed cheeks, stopping far short of even reaching the icy blue eyes. "You're not making me do a thing," Toby laughed, "I'm offering. If you want a child, then fine- we'll have a child. Do you think he'll have your eyes? I hope so. And your mouth... that way everyone will want to kiss him." He leaned forward to suit action to words, but the movement was cold and bland.
Jareth let it continue for a while, waiting to see what his bond mate would do, waiting for realization to come crashing in at what he was really proposing, but nothing happened. Toby's tongue slipped into his mouth, caressing and sweeping in equal measures, his hands drawing the two of them closer and ever closer.
Jareth pushed away and stood up, backing a few steps. "That," he said sadly, "Was exactly what I never wanted from you."
Toby growled and smacked his fist on the bed with a soft 'whump'. "I'm trying," he hissed, "I'm sorry if I'm not like your other lovers, but I'm trying!"
"Other lovers?" Jareth felt his own irrational temper flare. Why was everyone so obsessed with his sex life? "What does my past have to do with this?"
"Obviously I'm not good enough," the mortal spat, "I can't even kiss you right."
"Your kiss would have been fine, if you had meant it," Jareth snapped. A moment later he regretted the words. He pinched the bridge of his nose in thought, sighing at himself for his lack of control.
"Toby, you have nothing to prove to me."
"Fine. I won't kiss you again."
Mismatched eyes watched the lithe golden figure stride to the door of their closet and tear it open, disappearing inside for a few moments before re-emerging with clean clothes. Toby tossed them defiantly on the bed and stared at Jareth. Jareth stared back with an unspoken challenge.
Toby shrugged and turned away. "Watch then," he sighed, "I'm sure you'll see more than enough of me for the next few months." He wriggled out of his shirt and tried to stop the little shiver that shot down his spine. It was Jareth, he told himself, he had no need to fear him. But his hands couldn't pick up the clean shirt fast enough and in his haste he almost dropped it.
Jareth contemplated leaving to relieve some tension on the nearest goblin but decided it would not solve anything. Meeting his problems head-on was never one of his specialities either. So how exactly was he to calm his bond mate's fears while proving that he did indeed find him desirable? He pursed his mouth in thought, gently closing the door between their minds to do some private thinking.
Toby stopped dead, eyes wide as he felt Jareth retreat from him. Frantically he reached around for him, feeling blindly for any presence in his mind at all, but nothing. He turned, throwing an enquiring look at the person in question frowning slightly to himself in thought. "Was there something wrong?" Toby was proud of himself for sounding so casual.
Dual-coloured eyes looked up absently. "Nothing at all, my elf," Jareth murmured, casting a long sultry look over the half-bared figure before him. Ah yes. The Goblin King smirked gently, feeling a bit like his old self again. Seduction, he exulted wickedly, was his game. And he played a damn good hand!
Strolling casually to his husband, long white fingers reached out to pull the shirt closed, unhurriedly doing up the buttons as if it were the most normal thing in the world. And he deliberately kept his hands objective; no tender brushes against skin or any contact held far too long; that was the amateur's wisdom. No, he needed to soothe; and he was very good at being non-threatening where Toby was concerned.
Toby peered suspiciously up into Jareth's down-turned face. The Goblin King was no innocent- he was well aware of that- so why was there a singularly angelic look softening the sharp features. He didn't trust Jareth when he was like this!
"Have I done something wrong, luv?"
Toby almost fell over. 'Non-threatening' his left eyeball! That was a bedroom voice if ever he had heard one! It rumbled out like a tiger at play, dangerous and oh so full of sensual possibilities. "I think you've done quite enough," Toby snapped firmly, "I can dress myself, thanks."
Jareth shrugged, the muscle of his shoulders rolling easily beneath the loose shirt he wore. "As you wish," he purred again, eyes gleaming with private laughter as he turned and walked from the room.
Toby sat down on the bed with a huff. If ever there was a more infuriating half-goblin...
Dinner was, in a word, interesting that evening. None of his family was actually looking him in the eye and it got on his nerves, Jareth was his most charming self and rather unpredictable all at the same time, and Archer was sitting back in his chair with an infuriating smirk on his handsome face. Toby almost screamed and threw the chicken. "Archer, tell us about the fairies," he finally ground out, stopping himself from adding, 'before I strangle someone for something to do'. "Are they very much like the goblins?"
Archer sipped his wine and shook his head. "Not in the least," he declared, a sideways glance tossed to his cousin, "For one thing we don't live in damp, draughty old castles like this! The palace of the Fairy Queen is the most beautiful ever seen, made from glittering stone inlaid with marble. Flags fly bravely from the ramparts and guards stand smart and straight in their bright armour. The gardens are extensive, planted with the most magnificent blossoms and fruit trees. And on sunny days, the lawns are dotted with beautiful nobles dressed in the finest silks and satins. No stuffy leather trews and dirty jerkins in the Fairy Kingdom, Master Elf; nothing but tasteful elegance."
"Opulence, you mean," Jareth laughed, "After all, does one really need a coat with fifteen capes to the shoulders? Or even those absurdly large earrings that Sutton wore the last time I visited your beloved Queen. What were they- emeralds?"
"Rubies," Archer grinned, "I wore an emerald."
"So you did," Jareth smirked, "And that single earring in your left ear would have bought five of your starving poor ten meals and a bed."
"Ah, but when I buy a earring, I ensure that I spend the same amount on my starving poor."
"In which case they are still cheated, for you could have then paid for ten instead of five."
Karen and Harold looked from one to the other as the retorts flew easily across the table. Clearly this mock argument had been held many times. And from the look on Jareth's face, he was expecting to win again.
"Let me remind you that you enjoy my hospitality many times in the year," Archer growled mischievously, "The next time you show your face at my door, I'll feed you bread and water and give your feast to the poor. How would you like that?"
"Very well," Jareth teased, "I would eat it with them. The company would finally be congenial."
"Are you implying that you do not find the company congenial when I invite others to honour your worthless presence in my house?" Archer raised a delicately arched eyebrow, trying very hard not to smile but unable to stop his full lips from twitching. He had abandoned his usual uniform of tunic and leggings for a coat and breeches, as was the goblin custom, seemingly as comfortable in them as Jareth.
Jareth seemed to think about that, the brown leather jacket tight enough to reveal every flex of his body. But his eyes when he raised them from his dinner turned to Toby's blue gaze and not Archer's brown one. "There is no company in your land that is more congenial than what I now enjoy, my dear cousin. You might remember that."
Archer hurriedly buried his nose in his goblet and frantically gulped at his wine, hoping to keep his laughter at bay for a while more. The poor mortal, he noticed, was blushing red and looking rather as if he didn't know whether to take Jareth seriously or not. Poor Toby, he mourned cheerfully, the poor dear was getting the full force of Jareth's rather enigmatic personality.
Sarah and Ben were not present, having treated this trip to the Underground in the light of the honeymoon they had been denied, and were currently locked in their suite- which Jareth had thoughtfully made sure would be miles from any of the others- and Karen and Harold decided they could not sit and listen a moment longer. They were happy for their son, but really! They weren't that happy yet!
Jareth bid his guests a courteous goodnight and summoned the servants only to tell them to retire for the night. "I will see to it from now on," he dismissed.
The goblins bowed, looked doubtful and ran.
"Brandy?" Jareth offered, picking up an oddly shaped bottle filled with a rich, dark liquid that seemed to glitter dully in the light of the candles.
Archer decided to intervene. He reached across the table and covered Toby's goblet lightly with his warrior's hand. "Jareth, enough," he warned, "The child is not an alcoholic."
Jareth raised his eyebrows in innocent enquiry but obligingly put the bottle aside. He lifted the silver cork and put it back in the mouth, blinking sweetly at his cousin in a self-satisfied way.
Toby gave up. "Okay, what the hell is going on here?" he demanded, getting to his feet to confront his composed husband.
"Nothing, my elf," Jareth murmured, looking up with a single flick of his eyes. The blue of one iris glowed in the dusky golden light, the other dulled to a darker brown. On anyone else, it would have looked peculiar. But on Jareth- as the sharp canines emerged for a moment in a contemplative smile- it looked as if Toby was about to be devoured whole.
"I, ah, must ask you to excuse me," Archer interrupted hurriedly, "I leave in the morning and I must rest tonight. Best of dreams, Jareth; Toby." He all but ran from the room, confident that he did not want to be there when those two finally got on with easing all that tension between them. And knowing his cousin- which he did- he was confident that it would be messy, noisy and something he did not want to witness.
Toby watched Archer leave and then turned back to Jareth with a determined scowl. "Talk," he threatened.
"Very well. What about?" Jareth enquired, still sitting in his seat with a leg curled under him and a smirk on his pale lips. "The weather?"
"About why you're sitting there like a damned Cheshire cat!"
"Ah! Now that is something that words were never made to express."
"Well, they'd better start. Or I'm going to scream and hit you."
"Such violence; such passion... tell me, will you punish me if I refuse to talk?"
"Only if you ask for it," Toby snapped.
The Goblin King smiled, a razor-sharp smile full of delight, "My dear," he murmured, "I'm positively begging!"
In spite of himself, the theatrically camp exclamation made the mortal snort, then smile and then fall into Jareth's lap still laughing. "You idiot," he gasped, managing a weak blow to the fairy's chest, "God, I should spank you for that."
"Oh, I see. A taste for games, have we? Perhaps I can remedy that," Jareth commented sweetly, trapping his lover's hands unexpectedly and pinning them behind his back. When he let go, however, Toby found he still couldn't move his hands.
"Jareth, what are you doing?"
"Magic," Jareth explained, fingers already busy with undoing the fastenings of Toby's coat.
Toby squirmed, felt Jareth move right along beneath him and stopped. "I, uh, didn't... did I?"
"Did you what, my elf?" The deep voice purred out again, tickling the skin of his neck as the fingers pushed the heavy material as far off his shoulders as it could go. "I dare swear you will wriggle against me many more times tonight."
"Jareth, what are you doing?"
Jareth's answer was to rip his shirt open down the front, tearing some of the buttons in the process. The cold air billowing against his rapidly heating skin was almost shocking in the extreme; it made him realize what exactly was going on. But by then, Jareth was skimming the surface of his palms over flat curves, not quite touching enough to bring any sensation beyond the vague.
Toby squirmed again and tugged desperately on his hands. They wouldn't move. "Jareth, let me go," he snapped, very real fear in his voice.
Mismatched eyes rose to gaze intently at him. "We must work on your poor memory, my elf," Jareth sighed, looking serious in spite of the comfortingly light words, "I did tell you that you now share my power, did I not? You may undo that spell yourself."
"Great!" Toby snarled, "Except I can't do magic."
"In that case- all you need to do," Jareth explained, suddenly very clinical and schoolteacher-ish as he leaned forward to trace a finger over the trapped wrists, "Is to find your centre. Once you have found it, you may command it as you will. Naturally you will need to practise for control and efficiency, but that will come in time."
"My centre, huh? Okay, then... let's see." Toby closed his eyes and searched through everything inside himself. He could feel his heart thudding softly in his chest, beating faster than normal because of fear and desire. He could feel the thin bands of energy wrapped around his wrists and the cold air swirling between his body and Jareth.
And he could feel Jareth. Everywhere, really- the Goblin King was solid and ethereal beneath his thighs, warmth emanating from him to temper the cold breeze, the delicate touch of his watchful presence flickering softly in Toby's mind. There was raw desire as well, now that the mortal looked, seeping into him from the link between them. It was the kind of desire that made you feel you would be ravished and ravaged, drained of everything you contained before your partner was fully satisfied, the kind of desire that brought forth howling screams to the moon.
"Is that you?" Quite possibly that was the single stupidest question Toby had ever asked in his life. But so far as he was concerned, it was the only one that mattered at the moment. "Why?"
"Open your eyes," Jareth whispered, arms sliding around him and breath warm on his cheek.
Toby obeyed, starting with surprise to find himself in their bed once more, still seated on Jareth's lap with his hands crossed at the wrist behind him. A finger flicked impatiently at the energy bands and with something that sounded very like a sizzle they vanished, leaving the boy free to bring his hands around and touch the hand resting on his waist.
"Could you feel it?" Jareth asked, confident that he had but knowing he needed to acknowledge it. "You did forget, my elf. You forgot you could feel me inside you."
The very words sounded as if they were already naked and making love. Toby shivered slightly.
'...the only person left in the world it won't scare me to death to sleep with is Jareth. And not because it's not scary- it is- but because I love him enough to desire it more than hate it.'
God, but he wanted him!
He leaned forward, softly touching his lips to Jareth's cheek, feeling the skin soft beneath his mouth. He flicked out the tip of his tongue and tasted it. Jareth still smelt of pine and smoke, and the scent reminded him of all those nights when Jareth had let him cry and held him tight, from nights when Jareth had woken him screaming from nightmares to cuddle him until dawn- all those tender things that the cold Goblin King would likely never want another living soul to know about.
"I still remember them too," the Goblin King whispered, "You were such an innocent."
"I'm sorry I can't give you my innocence," Toby sighed, "I wish I was a virgin."
Jareth chuckled and pulled away to look at him. "I never thought I'd meet a mortal didn't want to have sex as soon as he reached puberty."
Toby grinned back, feeling slightly more balanced with Jareth's humour. He could still feel the desire pulsing through him. It made things unbearably uncomfortable in certain ways, and now that he knew how to feel his husband's emotions, he couldn't stop doing it. "Some of us are not sex-crazed, you know." He sobered up to trace a dark, slanting eyebrow. "I've had a girlfriend. But I was never really dying to get in her pants. I thought it was just the way I was; you know some guys just don't. And it wasn't like I was lusting after the guys in the gym locker room either. But then you... and those dreams were getting worse. It sounds stupid, but I think I've always kind of been waiting for you. Maybe because of the bond- who knows. But I only ever feel this way with you."
"Toby, we can go very slow tonight," Jareth answered breathlessly, not willing to show just how unbelievably sexy that little touch of romance was, "Or we can wait." Toby squirmed on top on him, seemingly thinking deeply of something. "Screw that! We can go very slow but I demand the rights of a husband!"
Toby giggled and nodded. "All I am is yours," he agreed demurely.
The next instant he was flat on his back and being kissed as if the whole world would burn if their lips ever parted. Jareth was not precisely on top of him, but then one hand was engaged in grasping his hip and pulling him closer. And he let it happen, willing to learn to handle it. It wasn't like his body gave him much choice in the matter. The tongue in his mouth was doing the most magnificent things, distracting him enough that he barely felt it when Jareth magicked their clothes off them.
"One day," Jareth whispered, breaking from Toby's mouth to talk, "We will hold off long enough to undress like civilized beings."
"Not civilized," Toby insisted, "sex-crazed!"
Talk flew out the wide-open window. The star-less sky seemed particularly dark that night with no moon to light the way, purplish grey clouds swathing the inky blackness in purposeful warning. It was a warm night, still as the dead and grimy with heat and humidity.
Jareth raised his head once more to look down at his handiwork. Electric blue eyes gazed back at him in drugged adoration, bright as the warm pale-honey skin. A wide, wide mouth beckoned him back, hungry for more. A beautiful mouth all things considered; made to smile, made to kiss. He remembered it cold and bloodless beneath his, remembered imagining it mobile and responsive.
And nothing had ever come close to the way reality felt.
"Toby, if I ask to take you, will you refuse me?" he asked, hoarse with longing, achingly hard and craving his consort with a passion that defied all logic.
"Nothing," Toby promised, "Just... how does the pregnancy thing work?"
"Oh."
"You forgot, did you?" Toby smiled, watching annoyance and longing cross the sharp features in equal measures. "Jareth, I don't think we should have to wait because of 'maybe-s'; do you? We'll handle it tomorrow."
"Wonderful idea," Jareth agreed, swooping down to bite at that swollen lower lip, "It seems I've married a very wise man."
"You better believe it!"
Hands moved and Jareth gently took his time manoeuvring them both to a comfortable position. It would, of course, be less painful for his lover to lie on his stomach. But he wanted to see him; he wanted to know the minute something went wrong. So he let him stay on his back.
Toby kept his eyes closed, timid and shy about what was going to happen. And not only because of the rape, for this was his first time. He had never gone beyond third base with Elaine because he had never really wanted to. And now he was a little uncertain as to what he was to do. But it seemed Jareth had had plenty of practise with this. Ten minutes later, the fingers inside him were driving him wild. He was helplessly bucking, calling Jareth's name in a breathy whimper and Jareth wouldn't stop until he found release. Then, and only then, did the Goblin King judge it safe enough to gently push in.
Toby stiffened, naturally, but his recent exertions had left him lethargic and relaxed. It did hurt. But that didn't seem to matter when Jareth obviously found it so pleasurable. And anyway, he had felt worse before and this he could handle. At first they simply fit together, adjusting to each other in silence and shared control.
And then the control shifted.
How the Goblin King managed to keep his sanity was beyond his ability to remember. But the boy had been so sweet, so very wanton as he squirmed and wriggled beneath him that he had almost thrown caution to the thunderstorm outside his window and ploughed straight into him. But somehow the movements remained slow and gentle, building them both up to the orgasm that they were impatient for. And as the waves grew higher, so too did the storm, echoing them as it drove relentlessly at the earth.
Slow, so slow, and the entire universe was wrapped around them, cocooning them in something that stretched beyond them to life itself.
And when ecstasy overtook them, Toby knew without a shadow of doubt that this night was not going to pass into their memories without a sign from the cosmos that it was blessed.