Chapter Seven

Plans

The next few days went by and Sarah avoided Jareth at all costs. Mostly because every time she saw him he'd grin at her, which made her feel terribly uncomfortable. He hadn't time to track her down to confront her about it either, he'd been making plans for the handfasting. Sarah had just gotten out of a bath and went into her room to find something to wear, her towel wrapped around her body. She paused upon exiting the door, for Jareth was lying on her bed, looking at her with much interest. She pulled the towel closer and set a firm glare on him.

"What are you doing?" she asked, her voice firm, her eyes unwavering. Jareth could tell, she was trying to act as if she wasn't afraid.

"I thought that was obvious," he mused "I'm laying on you bed." She sighed and rolled her eyes a little.

"Well would you mind leaving?" she asked "I kinda need to get dressed." His eyes moved up her body and she moved slightly, he looked up. "Do you mind?"

"Yes," he said "Sarah why have you been avoiding me?"

"I'll make you a list," she grumbled "now get out."

"I need to know why now," he said blankly and she stomped her foot.

"WHY do you NEED to know NOW?" she asked "can you not hold your anticipation until I'm at least wearing something? Or do you take THAT much pleasure in watching me squirm?" He didn't say anything. "Exactly," she breathed "you just doing this to be cruel."

"I'm sorry I wasn't AWARE you were bathing when I came in here," he snapped "but while we're on the subject, I'll admit, I'm not unhappy with seeing you in a towel." Sarah's face flushed red. "I'm under the impression that you don't mind as much as you make it seem."

"I-" she started but nothing else would come out of her mouth. "Could you go, please?"

"Would you stop avoiding me?" he asked.

"Maybe if you'd stop pulling stunts like this," she mused.

"If you stop avoiding me I'll go," he said simply. She didn't say anything and he sighed and stood to his feet. Sarah froze, was he trying to terrify her out of her mind? He walked closer to her and watched as she forcefully tried to keep her eyes leveled with his. With no success. He stood directly in front of her and her eyes were pathetically lowered to the ground. Wouldn't yours be too if you were standing in a room, alone, in a towel with the goblin king? "Sarah?" She didn't look up. "Sarah look at me." Reluctantly she lifted her eyes to his. "I'm not going to do anything to you," he murmured. She looked down and saw she was dressed and quickly looked back up. "Better?"

"Yeah," she said quietly.

"Yeah?" he mocked.

"Yes," she gave a nod "thank you."

"Will you stop avoiding me?" he asked, almost pleadingly.

"Depends," she said.

"On what?" he asked firmly.

"You," she said simply. His eyes bore into hers, not understanding. "Alright, see," she made a gesture to her clothing "this, you like this I can deal with." He raised an eyebrow. "Play your games, annoy me, but take it just so far, okay? Please, don't try and intimidate me."

"I still don't understand," he admitted.

"I understand your always going to annoy me, and tease me and play your stupid mind games with me," she explained "and sometimes you take it to far." She paused.

"Did I just go too far?" he asked, amused.

"Well," she paused a moment "no, you freaked me out and then fixed it." He smiled.

"Do you know why?" he asked, he's eyes laughing at her. She shook her head. "You gave in."

"I did not," she snapped.

"No," he chuckled "you gave up. Your eyes were lowered, you shrunk down some, you were not going to keep your eyes on me." She didn't say anything. "I'm sure you've noticed by now, Sarah," he smirked "I like to win."

"A little too much," she mused.

"Doesn't matter," he said "I'm just explaining. When you lose, you don't really lose, because when I win, I get what I want. And when I get what I want, normally I'm in a good mood. And then I am generous." She looked up at him. "And when I'm generous, I can be quiet helpful. And that, my Sarah, is why you shouldn't fight me. "

"You have a peculiar way of looking at things," she mused.

"But I came here to ask," he said "I mean, besides for you to stop avoiding me, to accompany me to lunch, perhaps?"

"I'm not really hungry," she lied. Her stomach growled, wonderful timing.

"Oh?" he said simply "I see. Well, then perhaps if you're not hungry you wouldn't mind going over some of the handfasting plans with me?" She paused a moment. "It'd be so much better for me to be occupied, rather than roaming about you know. Just a simple warning."

"I suppose," she agreed "for a while." Immediately her wrists were bound to Jareth's with a long strip of cloth.

"Now," he said, giving a sly smile "is that too tight?"

"Jareth," she growled but he was enjoying her annoyance too much to let it bother him.

"Oh," he nodded "too loose, I see. Well it's easily fixed." The cloth wrapped itself across her back and she was forced against Jareth's chest.

"Are you done yet?" she muttered, becoming annoyed. He didn't answer but just looked at her, smiling. It was a gentle smile though, not harsh or mocking, simply kind. It threw Sarah off guard and she actually gave a double take. He laughed.

"Oh," he laughed a bit "perhaps I'm going too fast for you?"

"Would you let go?" she asked.

"Maybe," he said "if I had a good reason to." He eyed her a moment "what do you have in mind?"

"Please?" she gave a cheesy grin and he shook his head.

"You can surely do better than that," he teased.

"What don't YOU gave me an idea," she mused.

"I asked for you to go over this with me," he mused "this is part of the ceremony, well… sort of."

"With the exception that I'm a little too close for comfort," she growled.

"Get used to it," he said firmly "you'll be sleeping in my room." She looked at him, a bit dumbfounded.

"You said I didn't have to-" she started.

"You don't," he said simply "but how many married people do you know that sleep if separate beds?"

"None," she admitted "I think we should start a trend."

"Sarah," he growled.

"Okay, okay," she gave in "point taken. I gotta get used to you, I can't avoid you…" she sighed "I'm going to end up going insane."

"Or falling in love with me," he teased.

"Ha," she laughed "that's funny."

"How much you want to bet that you won't?" he mused.

"I don't make bets," she lied. Truly, she just didn't want to make one with Jareth.

"No, no, no," he hushed her "come on. A friendly bet. Nothing huge at stake, merely pride." He gave a sly grin.

"No," she said firmly.

"How's this," he asked "if you like me even a little bit, romantically, by the end of the first week then for the rest of our handfasting you are not allowed to sleep in our bed with clothing on."

"Crazy," she said in a sing-song tune and tried to pull away. She was blushing fiercely and Jareth pulled their bound hands over his head so her arms were around him. She growled but he seemed terribly amused. "And this is your idea of a friendly bet?"

"So if I lose," he said "I'll send you home, on the spot." He paused. "And I won't bother you, ever." How tempting was that? Sarah growled to herself. He knew she couldn't resist that. And even if she did, like him a little bit, he wouldn't figure it out. "Agree and I'll let you loose."

"No tricks," she said.

"You have my word," he smiled "no tricks." She nodded and the cloth fell to the floor, though her hands were still around his neck. She couldn't take them back for he was holding them there. He moved his lips against hers, brushing past. "Good," he mused "this should be interesting." He let her hands free and she teasingly pushed him.

"Yeah," she laughed "cause your gonna lose." He narrowed his eyes, playfully and smirked.

"Am I now?" he laughed "well, we shall see."

Author's note: HA-HA! Good idea? Yes, no? Well I think so. Actually it was brought on from my muse, since I always make bets with him. NOT THIS ONE, mind you, I'm not stupid. But uh, we were thinking of the worst possible bets (that we would NEVER EVER use) we could make with each other, this was one. I don't know who I'm gonna make win. I might let Sarah win, but make her stay because she feels sorry for Jareth, or maybe… :laughs: I won't get into that. Anyways, been doing better in math! YAY ME! And umm, for those of you I talk to on AIM, I won't be on for a while (damn school cut off AIM, don't worry, we always find a way around it). Oh! And I started yoga.

Conner: Yeah she's funny

:pokes muse: oh and your SOO good at if yourself? You looked like you tired to tie yourself in a knot. :laughs: well, I'm off. SEE YA!