Chapter Nine

Tag, Your It!

"Great," Piper muttered to herself "I'm lost somewhere in the castle." Soon she found herself in a room with loads of stairs going every which way. "Whoa."

"Like it?" Jareth asked and she jumped. "Did I frighten you?" She shook her head and looked up.

"What is the purpose of having stairs on your ceiling?" she asked looking up and Jareth laughed.

"To confuse, I suppose," he shrugged "I don't imagine I was of somber mind when I came up with it. But I've always kind of liked it so I've never been able to get rid of it." She turned to him and gave a proud smile.

"I think it's clever," she beamed.

"Well," he walked over the side "I wouldn't say clever but-" he came back over and watched as the young girl gave an impressed clap.

"You're such a show off," she teased and looked over the side. "I suppose I'd fall."

"Try," he said and sat down on the nearest step.

"I know you can't jump right?" she asked "it's against the rules." He gave a confused glance and she explained. "Sarah tried to jump and she said the WHOLE thing came apart. So you can't jump, or can you?"

"I guess not," he shrugged "it changes from time to time. Does what it likes."

"I guess that'll keep you on your toes," she said and closed her eyes. She let herself flip over the side and looked around. "Wow," she beamed. Piper flipped back over and seemed to turn a light shade of green. "That's enough flipping for me," she shivered "very clever though, very clever."

"I spoke to your aunt," he informed.

"Oh?" she asked "and I couldn't hear the yelling from here? I must be more lost than I thought."

"No," he smirked "we, for the most part, were very… well we didn't yell." Piper turned around and looked at him. "We talked about you, and your living arrangements. Um, we settled some things that we needed to talk about and I believe you and I will be playing checkers in another forty years." Piper smiled. "Oh, and one week out of every month, you will stay with your aunt."

"Really?" she asked "but what about the year and a day thing?"

"Its only a week, pet," he smiled "I think I can survive without your assistance for that long, don't you?" She nodded slowly. "I take it you didn't find the kitchen."

"Of course not," she smiled "with MY sense of direction? Please, I'm surprised I'm not in China by now." She paused. "Though I'm sure even if I wanted to I couldn't get there from here, but that's not the point. The point is… aw geez… I know I had a point." He sighed and shook his head.

"You're an odd one," he chuckled and she smiled.

"I know," she beamed "so when is Sarah leaving?"

"Probably tomorrow," he said leading her out of the room "or whenever she decides to ask me. Which, knowing her, could be a good time from now."

"Do you still like her?" Piper asked bluntly and Jareth looked at her. "I'm sorry… was it rude to ask?"

"No," he lied "just caught me off guard." He paused. "I'm not sure, I haven't bothered with her in many years and…" Piper nodded.

"I understand," she smiled "I'm a girl, I know these things." He smirked and shook his head. "No really, I've had a grand total of three boyfriends in my life and they all… well I don't want to be mean or anything but… they were pussies." Jareth shot a look at her, his eyes amused though shocked.

"Would your aunt like to hear what you just said?" he teased and she gave a worried glance.

"You won't tell her will you?" she asked "you know Sarah, she'll end up making me call them or something and apologizing. They probably won't even remember who I am." Jareth laughed. "I'm not kidding! She will…"

"No," he laughed "I won't tell her, just watch it." She nodded quickly as they walked on.

"What about you?" she asked after a while and he looked at her. "I'm asking to many personal questions, aren't I?" He grinned. "I'm sorry, I'm just curious. Which will probably lead to my death but then I'm not a cat so…" She looked down "sorry, I'm rambling."

"No," he laughed "just very blunt. You say what you think."

"Not always," Piper admitted "actually, I don't say quiet a bit. I'm sure if I did I'd be in HUGE trouble."

"Whys that?" he asked.

"Well," she straightened her shirt out "I don't know if you've noticed but I'm kinda overly truthful. So mixed with my bluntness that'd become a big problem quick if I didn't keep quiet."

"Like?" he asked.

"Um," she paused a moment "my grandpa would always try to sing, and he wasn't much good at it at ALL. So one day while he was singing to me and Daniel I told him plainly, he needed to stop because his singing was going to make my ears bleed." She looked down at the floor and nodded. "Sometimes I wish I was quiet, mostly things I say bug people or make them thing I'm trying to get something out of them. Like when I like something someone does, I get all excited and am like, THAT'S SO AMAZING! And I guess that freaks people out."

"Not me," Jareth shrugged.

"But your not people," she retorted "your magick. I mean, I figure most people here are open to things."

"Why do you think that?" he asked.

"Just look at the way you dress," she teased and he narrowed his eyes playfully. He tried to grab her but she started to run down the hall. He paused and snapped his fingers. Piper kept running until she noticed she wasn't going anywhere. She looked down, she was floating a good three feet off the ground. She crossed her arms. "You know you take all the fun out of it Jareth?" He was tapping his foot impatiently and she gave a cheesy smile. "Didn't I mention how great you look today?"

"That's it," he said acting like he was very angry "I'm taking you to your aunt." He started down the hall and she unwillingly floated on behind him.

"Aw come on I was kidding!!" she laughed grabbing the sides of the wall. "Jareth! Please stop I was kidding." She couldn't help but laugh though, it was funny. "Alright, alright, you don't dress funny." He kept walking. "In fact, its much more… interesting than what humans wear."

"Close but you lost it with interesting," he smirked.

"I'm sure what I wear is odd to you," she said trying to win him over and he paused.

"Keep trying," he teased as he turned around.

"You know what," she shook her finger at him "this would be considered cheating, now put me down right now or-"

"Or what?" he asked cocking an eyebrow and she gave an annoyed smile.

"Would you stop doing that," she grumbled and he smiled wolfishly.

"I'm waiting," he said tapping his foot.

"So am I," she said in a singsong voice. When they both stood, or in Piper's case floated, there for a while she sighed. "Didn't I already say you didn't dress funny?"

"No," he said blankly.

"Alright," she nodded "you don't dress funny. Happy now?"

"Not really," he shrugged "but I suppose I'll put you down anyways." As her feet touched the ground she gave an overly annoyed smirk.

"You know," she smirked "tag must have been a lot of fun for you when you were younger." He laughed. "Seriously, if I could do that when I was younger, geez, if I could do that NOW I'd probably never be messed with."

"Want me to teach you?" he asked. Piper gave a shocked look.

"Magick?" she asked and he nodded. "Can you TEACH something like that?"

"You can teach anything," he smirked "you just need a little help."

"I guess if you feel like it," she nodded "you know, if you get bored or something." He narrowed his eyes mockingly at her and she smiled shyly. "Can you tell I'm excited?" He nodded. "Thought so."