Author's Note: Just to add in, this might be longer than I had anticipated. I have all these ideas running around my brain that I want to implement. Let's see how it goes. Oh, and thanks to everyone who reviews and reads this fiction; I appreciate all of you far more than I let on most of the time.
Author's Note: Considering the chapters gone before, this seems redundant. But just to stress, this is a fiction focusing on homosexual relationships and it is rated 'M' (or 'R'). There are graphic scenes and adult themes in discussion. If any of this is not something you are comfortable with, please leave!
Toby woke up to darkness once more. He sat up suddenly and then wished he hadn't. That ale had been strong! And his head was trying to roll off his shoulders as a consequence.
He stifled a groan and dug his fingers into his eyes. The pressure eased just a little. Enough that he took the few seconds of respite to take stock. He was in bed- fine. He was unclothed, so obviously his memories of the last night were clear. And Jareth had evidently joined him some time during the night because there was a distinct presence at his right.
He moved his fingers and the pain came slashing back.
This time the groan made it to his lips.
Luckily, Jareth didn't wake. He shifted, sure, and he muttered something under his breath but apart from pressing further into his pillow, he didn't move.
Toby let out the breath he'd been holding and sat up. No matter what the time was, he needed to get a glass of water. His throat felt like a desert baked by ten years of summer heat. Water… and there was water on the table outside, if he wasn't mistaken. He swung his legs out and stood up carefully. The ground didn't rush to meet him. A pile of clothing did, however, and he cursed in his head as he almost took a tumble. In turn, the tumble sent his frantically groping hand to the door and he sighed as he made his way out to the cool of a pre-dawn day. And such it was that he spent his first waking moment of the second day of his educating.
His thirst assuaged somewhat, he poured himself another glass of water and went back to the bedroom, hoping to go back to sleep. This time he left the door open, allowing thin threads of soft light to filter into the dark bedroom. Making his way back to the bed, he sat down on his side and sipped at his water.
The headache was receding, surprisingly enough. But then again, the alcohol in the Underground was frequently mixed with certain herbs that worked to remedy any nausea and discomfort. It explained why most magical creatures woke up without any hangovers to speak of. Elementals, however, were a different matter. They succumbed so fast it was almost funny.
Toby stopped his circling thoughts and rubbed the cool glass over his hot forehead. It still hurt.
Jareth moved.
Toby looked quickly over his shoulder, schooling himself not to show his discomfort. It was bad enough to know that Jareth had touched him so expertly knowing that he was very sensible of it this time without adding more fuel to the fire. True enough, Jareth was awake and regarding him from under half-closed eyes.
He sighed something and Toby raised his eyebrows enquiringly.
"I asked," Jareth rasped, "If you slept well."
Toby opened his mouth and snapped it shut in horror as a croak came out. He cleared it and tried again, ignoring the small smirk on his companion's face. "Fine," he managed, "Just a dry throat."
"I thought you might have." The Goblin King propped himself up on a sharp elbow and blinked a few times, shaking his head to get his hair out of his eyes. Wordlessly he held out an imperious hand.
Toby looked at the hand and back up at the faintly smiling face. "Yes?"
"Come lie down. Your head will feel better."
The mortal's eyes narrowed in suspicion but the advice seemed free of any malice or sneaky designs. So he lay back down, still avoiding that hand, facing Jareth. It occurred to him two seconds too late that he should have put some clothing on first because both hand and eyes dropped.
The Goblin King started a tuneless kind of humming as he ran his hand over Toby's shoulder, nimbly outlining the curve of the muscle. Down over his upper arm and to his elbow, over and back up with just his fingertips, slipping across to his chest. The fingertips paused.
"A very interesting body," the fae mused.
Toby snorted and brushed the hand away. He reached down for the covers and dragged them up, snuggling under them in some relief.
To his utmost annoyance, Jareth didn't seem the least bit intimidated by his obvious irritation and simply pushed the covers back down to his waist. And those slender fingers were back, brushing far too intimately against the soft hair on his chest.
In a better mood- and with someone he liked- Toby might have swallowed his misgivings and just let it happen. After all, the fae and the elves and the elementals were hairless. The goblins were… well, goblins. And the centaurs had actual soft hides, like horses. So the mortal ability to grow hair on certain parts of the body was not something someone in the Underground necessarily saw often.
And unfortunately Toby had his Dad's genes. Hair was almost an evil.
"This makes you uncomfortable," Jareth commented unexpectedly.
Toby clenched his jaw and said nothing.
Dual-coloured eyes flicked up with a knowing glance and the fingers respectfully withdrew. Jareth continued to act completely unlike himself when he drew closer and looked searchingly into Toby's eyes. It was almost as if he were looking for something.
Toby moved back a little and almost fell off the bed.
A hand reached out and grabbed his, tugging him back. "I told you I would never hurt you," Jareth reminded him, "Toby, may I ask you a personal question?"
"My head hurts," he replied. It wasn't an answer, but it was the truth. He couldn't handle more surprises and a hangover at the same time.
Jareth chuckled and got up. Sliding out of bed, he looked to be dressed the same as the first night, in breeches and nothing else. He padded noiselessly to the bathroom and returned with a cloth soaked in cold water. "Put that over your eyes," he instructed, "Now, just talk."
Toby had been hoping to avoid this talk. At least, until such time as he felt better in his own skin. And preferably in his clothes. And hopefully in a room that wasn't a bedroom.
"How far are you willing to go?" came the question.
The cloth shut the light away from his eyes but that only served to confuse him. He wasn't quite sure what Jareth meant.
"We are going to be sharing a bed for twelve months," Jareth continued, "And it is tradition that we share other things. I want your opinion on the matter."
"Why?"
"Hmmm?"
"Why ask me what I think? You're in charge."
"This is for you. All of it. Strange as it sounds."
"Your Majesty…" A low growl made Toby change his tactics. "Jareth. Jareth, I appreciate this, but since I have no idea what exactly is going on, I have no opinion on the matter."
The Goblin King sat where he was, using Toby's temporary blindness to take a really good look at the mortal. Tall, muscular, broad, but not necessarily graceless. Not particularly special in any way either. Just… a blond mortal. Close cropped hair and morning stubble and slightly reddened eyes from drinking too much. There was nothing loud or ostentatious about him, nothing unique. He wore average clothes, said average things and had a serene control on most aspects of his life.
Jareth on the other hand… "I think this conversation has been a long time coming, then. What do you imagine will happen for twelve months?"
"Whatever you will," Toby murmured blandly.
"Which answers nothing," Jareth said flatly, "Your reputation, small as it is, is as an honest man. Be honest with me."
"That would be hard. I don't want to offend you."
"If I promise that you will not?"
Toby took the cloth off one eye and cocked his eyebrow meaningfully. "Then you would not be reacting honestly. I cannot abide liars."
Jareth stifled a grin. "You will not tell me?" The blond head shook. "Fine. I can guess. You believe that I will leave you to your own devices, occasionally using you when I feel the need for amusement, and you anticipate that I have as little desire to make this work as you do."
Toby took the cloth off the other eye as well, though he didn't sit up. His head did feel better and the conversation- fraught with danger as it was- was still interesting. His guardian was looking more rested than he had been for a very long time, a kind of self-satisfied glimmer curling the corners of his mouth.
"You are right about one thing- I do have little desire to lavish time and attention on this. But not because of you. I do not know where you got this fear of me from, but it must stop."
"Fear!"
"Yes. For some reason that I cannot fathom, you are scared. This time you don't actually cringe when I speak with you, but very little has changed from your first arrival to now. I have tried to make you see sense, but since you have no perception of subtlety, I am telling you so openly- there is nothing to fear."
This time Toby did sit up. And what was more he was angry. He tried to remember that anger was irrational and non-conducive. He reminded himself of the way his tutor would drum it into him that anger was uncivilized and uncalled for. But with Jareth sitting there with that smug self-satisfaction on his face, a condescending gleam in his eyes, Toby was ready to strangle him.
"I don't fear you," he snapped icily.
"I think you do."
"What are your reasons?"
"You needed to be drunk before allowing yourself to let me near. Why, if you were perfectly indifferent?"
"That was not fear! That was…"
"Something else entirely? Guilt? Attraction, maybe?"
"Good God, no!"
Jareth's eyes narrowed. So far, so good. Toby wasn't even aware that he was being manipulated. That was good. It would be easier to keep him in check if he were easily provoked. "And yet you succumbed with little or no persuasion," he pointed out.
Toby clenched his fists in the covers. He would not give way. He would not! "I was drunk."
"And why were you drunk?"
"Because I expected it and I disliked the idea so much that I needed to drink to allow it," Toby snarled.
Jareth restrained himself to not show his delight. Gods, but it was energizing to finally feel the emotion pouring off Toby's tense frame, if not for anything else but that he seemed more human like this. The man, it seemed, was capable of strong feelings- interesting. "But what about the night before?" he asked, "Were you drunk the night before?"
Toby opened his mouth to say something, but it snapped shut of its own accord. He couldn't lie very easily and the confident look on Jareth's sharp-featured face told him lying would be no use. The truth was the truth and they both knew what the truth was.
"No, you drank because you were scared-for some reason- of letting me close to you." Jareth shifted a little closer. He locked gazed intently with Toby, deliberately moving too close, close enough that skin woke up in apprehension and nerves began to tingle. "Let me repeat- whatever you fear will not happen. What do you fear?"
"Nothing. You do not scare me."
The hint of humour- "Then I should. How is your head?"
"Shouting has not helped it."
"Hmmm."
Long fingered hands reached out and gentle fingertips brushed across the hot forehead. Hot, humid palms came to rest on Toby's face and Jareth was still just looking at him.
"What are you doing?" Toby sighed, more tired by this than he cared to admit.
"Relax," Jareth said instead, "All I want you to do for the next twelve months is trust me."
"A hard task," Toby gritted.
Jareth chuckled, surprisingly enough, as he encouraged the mortal to lie down again, straddling him easily with a knee on either side of his torso. "Believe me, you need this," he said seriously, "How you managed to do this to yourself, I have yet to understand. But you need this."
Faces were drawing closer, so close Toby could swear blind that he could see the brown flecks in Jareth's damaged left eye. And yes, something close to anticipation and apprehension were creeping up his spine and making him shiver just a little. This time, there could be no way to excuse himself. Did he really want Jareth to keep doing this to him, the fae that would have given up the world for his half-sister? Moreover, did it make any difference whether he wanted it or not? Jareth would simply get his own way somehow, would he not?
Toby pushed warningly on a slender shoulder for just a second. "This is not…"
"I know you love Luka. I will not push you to do what you don't want to. Just relax."
And that was it. What more could he protest about? His own obvious lack of control? About Jareth's? Strange, that the Goblin King could manufacture an attraction that had never existed before. But then, these were the Wishing Lands, it was the Underground- things that frequently were, just were not.
