We all knew that once Jareth entered Sarah's life again, nothing would remain the same. Didn't we?
Chapter 3: School Daze
Paris' strident voice came booming up the stairs. "Whoa, Sarah! You win the lottery or somethin'? Where the hell didja get all the food?"
"What?" Sarah ran downstairs to stare open-mouthed at the refrigerator, packed with food. A gallon of milk sat next to the ripe, juicy tomatoes, with salad greens and wheels of cheese underneath. There were loaves of bread in the door and parcels of meat in the chill-drawer. "Oh, my God," she muttered, remembering the crystal Jareth had casually tossed down the stairs…shortly after she had mentioned living on instant noodles.
She grinned, delighted. "Must be my lucky day!" She was willing to bet that the one he'd tossed out the window had filled her gas tank!
"Boy, I guess!" Paris agreed. "Hey, I gotta get ready to go out tonight, Sar. 'Fraid you'll have to eat all this gorgeous food by yourself."
"I'll try to cope," Sarah said sarcastically, not even bothering to correct Paris on the subject of her name. She'd always hated when people tried to shorten it - especially when it led to the two of them being called "Sar and Par." She thought of something. "Going to be out late?" she asked casually.
Paris rolled her eyes. "Babe, if you see me before Sunday, it means I'm doin' somethin' wrong! Hey, want to come? Leo's throwin' this killer party down at the beach tonight, and tomorrow night there's gonna be one at Raoul's. Maybe you could get some action - he's got a friend who likes older women."
Sarah rolled her eyes. "Thanks, but no. I've got a Management project I want to get started on."
"Oh, right," Paris mocked. "Everyone else in the whole damn college is partying tonight and you're home, alone, working on school work! Man, I don't think you've even had sex the whole time I've known you!" Paris shook her head.
"Paris, you've only known me six months," Sarah told her sharply, trying to hold in her irritation.
"So? Six months is a long time, man. Six months is, like, half a year!"
"Very much like it, yes," Sarah said dryly. "Listen, Paris. You do your thing and I'll do mine, all right?"
Paris grinned suddenly. "Babe, tonight I'm gonna be doin' Leo's thing!" She thundered up the stairs with a loud guffaw.
"How nice for you," Sarah said sarcastically under her breath as she turned back to the refrigerator and pulled out some chicken, broccolli, and soy sauce.
An hour later Sarah had eaten her dinner and was doing the washing-up when Paris came clumping down the stairs in her black combat boots, micro-mini and halter. "Yo Sar, how do I look?"
Sarah scraped the last of her oriental chicken and broccolli into a storage contaner and looked up. "You don't want me to answer that," she told her roommate.
"Slutty, huh?" Paris said eagerly. Sarah nodded, eyebrows raised. "Good. Don't want Leo to miss the message," she said.
"Trust me," Sarah said. "He won't." She ran the towel around the last dish and realized something. "Paris? You're seriously not coming back tonight?"
Paris was on her way out the door. "Are you kidding? If I don't get Leo, there's always Jason. He's pretty easy. Trust me, Sar-bear, you're not gonna see me till Sunday mornin' if I'm lucky!" She waved and clumped out the door.
"You mean if I am," Sarah muttered, gritting her teeth at the horrid nickname. "Wonder what she'd say if she knew I was going to a royal wedding? And with a king, no less." She smiled at the thought.
"And a handsome and charming king, at that," came the voice of that particular king from behind her.
Sarah whirled around. Jareth sat at her kitchen table, leaning back with his arms folded behind his head and legs stretched out long in front of him. He looked as if he'd settled in for the evening. He smirked at her.
"You forgot 'humble,' Sarah told him dryly.
He chuckled. "Ah, Sarah. Don't you know I'm quite proud of the level of humility I've achieved!"
Sarah laughed. There was just no winning with this man! She took a seat on the other side of the table. "Here for my etiquette lessons so soon?" she asked.
He nodded. "Your ever so charming roommate is gone for the whole weekend, so I thought to take advantage of her absence."
"Hope it won't take that long," Sarah said. "I'd hate to think I'm that ignorant!"
"Oh, the lessons won't take long at all," Jareth declared. "I thought we'd get them out of the way beforehand, and then spend the rest of the time enjoying ourselves."
"So… what, is this a date?" Sarah asked, sceptical.
Jareth conjured a crystal and gazed at it for a long moment. "Perhaps it might be considered such," he said slowly, still distracted by the crystal. "When you met me before, I was the Goblin King, and when I met you, you were a whiny child. A lovely child, with tremendous potential, but whiny nonetheless." He looked up and gave her a quick wink, then looked back at the crystal, turning it slowly in his black-gloved hand and studying it. "Since we have essentially never met before, and since the wedding will be such an important occasion, I thought it wise for us to spend some time beforehand, learning about each other."
Sarah considered his words for a moment and slowly nodded. He had a valid point. "Fair enough," she said. "Now, how are you planning to get the etiquette lessons out of the way so fast? There's going to be tons of stuff for me to know, especially if this'll be such a great occasion."
Jareth lifted one elegant shoulder in a casual shrug. "Here, catch!" he said suddenly, and lobbed the crystal at Sarah's head.
He was sitting too close, and he flung the crystal hard. Sarah couldn't block it in time and it struck her right on the forehead. She cried out, expecting the pain of shattered glass, but instead it touched her as lightly as a soap bubble and then burst.
Sarah cried out again, as her brain was suddenly filled with random bits of information that skittered down her neural pathways looking for homes. The proper modes of address, the proper table manners, the correct ways to dress for a state occasion, as well as hundreds of years of Underground history and geography suddenly appeared in her mind and she reeled and fell out of her chair.
Jareth caught her before she hit the floor and pressed her head down on his shoulder as he murmured, "It will all settle in a moment; please don't be afraid. Think of that as your lesson book." He knelt beside her, stroking her furrowed forehead while she gasped and sweated. "Is it starting to quiet down now?"
Sarah took a deep, shuddering breath and nodded. "Being saved to my hard drive right now," she muttered, that being the only analogy she could come up with.
"Dare I ask what -- and more importantly, where -- your hard drive is?" Jareth asked in amusement, still stroking her hair and forehead.
Sarah huffed a laugh and sat up. "It's techno-jargon," she explained. "Nothing important. It's beginning to calm down now." She shook her head, still a little dizzy.
Jareth kept his hand on her head until she met his gaze and her own was clear. Relieved, he stroked down the side of her face and helped her to her feet. "How did you like your crash course in court manners?" he joked.
Sarah staggered a little, but her head cleared up in seconds. "Crash course is right! You weren't kidding when you said it would be quick. It was horrible, though, when I didn't expect it! And Jareth," she said, looking full at him. "You ever do that to me again, and you'll be sorry you ever laid eyes on me!"
"Now, now, my dearest Sarah," he said with a smile. "You'll never make me sorry about that!"
Sarah sighed, reluctantly giving in to his charm. "Just… I don't know, just warn me next time. All right?"
"Perhaps."
Sarah gave him a sharp look, but then dismissed the subject. "So now that I'm an expert on court manners according to Jareth, what shall we do tonight?"
Jareth waved one gloved hand and some silvery strains of music filled the air. With the other gloved hand he conjured another crystal and presented it to Sarah with a courtly bow. As soon as she touched it, it burst and showered her with rainbows. She glanced down and she was wearing a lovely old-fashioned ball gown in a deep blue. "Would you care to dance, lovely Sarah?" he asked.
"What, here? In my kitchenette-ette?" Sarah joked, waving her arm around her diminutive kitchen.
"No, of course not." Jareth copied her arm-wave, and suddenly they were alone on a large circular dance floor. He was suddenly wearing the peacock blue suit she had seen him in during her dream, but his hair was still loose and soft. He took her in his arms in a formal closed position and began to dance.
Review, please. Otherwise I won't know if anyone is even reading it other than my pal Eariwen (Thanks, E!) and won't be as motivated to post. It's a two-way street, y'see.