Ok, this is the longest of any one chapter I've EVER written, but this is gunna be it for a while if I still don't get the interest i'm looking for. REVIEW PLEASE! That's all I ask. Take thirty seconds and lemme know if it's worth keeping up, or if it's not, JUST TELL ME.
WARNING: this chapter contains slashier content than the others, so if you're offended by that sort of thing, don't read it.
Disclaimer: I own everything in this story but Jareth and the Labyrinth, I do like to play with them though.
Val felt consciousness pulling at him from somewhere in the dark. Something was dragging him to the surface, plucking at his mind like a harp and forcing him awake. He went to open his eyes but a pain pierced through his temples, convincing him to keep them closed, or at least open them more slowly.
"Good grief," he grumbled, rubbing his face and trying once again to open his eyes. 'Yep, still hurts,' he thought.
"G'morning sunshine," Dale chirped from somewhere in the room.
"Why the fuck are you so chipper this morning?" Val asked groggily, trying desperately to make his eyes focus.
"Reeooww! Hiss! Damn, hung over much? You didn't even drink as much as I did." It was true he hadn't drunk nearly as much as his friend but that had to be the explanation for this horrid headache. This was by far the worst hangover he'd EVER had. It was a totally different kind of pain. Usually his hangovers were just an echo from inside his brain; this felt more like a wrecking ball had come to rest on his head at some point during the night.
"Here… it's your favorite; grande hazelnut mocha, extra shot." Val focused enough to see Dale trying to hand him white cup with a green 'Starbucks' symbol on the side. 'Thank God for small miracles,' Val thought, slowly sitting up. Dale had a wide grin on his face.
"Jeez man, you've been up and out already? What the hell time is it?"
"Eleven thirty," Val's eyes went wide, which made his headache a few times worse.
"Shit, I've got class in twenty! Why didn't you wake me up, asshole!" He jumped out of bed, ignoring the searing pain between his ears. Dale started to laugh at him trying to literally hop into his pants.
"Relax man… it's Saturday, remember?" Val sat, a little dumbfounded and very much in pain as the sudden leap of his blood pressure had only served to spike his headache to an almost excruciating level.
Actually he didn't remember and this led him to wonder what else he didn't remember. No women had come back with them, none of their other friends had been over, and they hadn't gotten in trouble with the cops or campus security. All in all, it had been a pretty quiet evening. There was something important nagging at the back of his mind though. He looked around the room and his face went stark as he spotted the thing that made him remember. The guitar. Dale followed his friend's gaze to the object propped in the corner by the computer desk.
"Oh yeah man, I meant to ask you about that, once you got both eyes open of course. Where else did you go last night, or who came over? Where did that thing come from?" Val just stared for a moment, transfixed. He was secretly playing the night before over in his mind, trying to decide if it had been real or just a dream. If it was a dream then indeed where had the guitar come from?
"Earth to Major Tom? Hello?" Val snapped his attention back to his friend.
"Huh? Oh, someone just dropped it off for me, that's all." Val sipped his coffee hoping Dale would let it go at that. The look on his face said it wouldn't be that easy.
"Dude, you're so full of shit! We don't have any friends that could afford a guitar like that, and besides, there's a note on it. Really, where did it come from?" Val stood with a wince and walked over to the thing like it might jump out and bite him. Sure enough there was a little white piece of paper hung on one of the tuning keys with a bit of black silk ribbon. He pulled it off and opened it.
Valerian,
Enjoy the guitar. I'll be seeing you again soon.
Sincerely,
J.
Val crumpled the note and looked over at Dale whose mouth stood agape.
"Hey man, at least tell me what it said!" Dale looked at that moment like a dog waiting for a bit of steak.
"Ahh… nothing," his friend looked at him skeptically, "Really, I swear."
"Whatever man. You gunna go see your dad today?" Val had almost completely forgotten. He went to the hospital every Saturday afternoon to see his father come hell or high water.
"Yeah… yeah I need to talk to him about… some stuff." He glanced down at the crumpled note in his hand and promptly took another chug of coffee. Dale shrugged.
"Well, I'll see ya later then, I'm gunna go hunt down that chick I found last night, Jolynn. Or was it Jody? Jaclyn maybe? Shit, I'll figure it out. Later man!" Dale left and Val breathed a sigh of relief. He needed answers, and he had a feeling his father could be more help than he even knew. But first he had to do something about this damn headache.
He climbed aboard the bus that ran to the outskirts of the city where the hospital that his father had called home for the last nineteen years was located. He'd gotten rid of his headache, but he still (even after the coffee Dale had brought him and another cup he'd bought himself) couldn't shake being groggy. His mind was plagued the whole ridet, wondering and thinking and pondering the previous night. He had never fancied himself as gay, or even bi-curious really, but something about this man… Jareth… was making him second-guess himself. Something about him was just so… so…alluring was the only word that fit. Val recalled how he'd felt as he'd played for Jareth, the way the music had simply flowed from his brain down into his fingertips and then out through the strings of the guitar. He thought of himself as a good musician, but he'd never been able to play so fluidly, like his fingers had a mind of their own. He rested his troubled head against the windowpane of the bus. The sun's light slipping rhythmically through the trees as they passed was almost hypnotic. They still had a while to drive; maybe he could just rest his eyes. Val suddenly realized that his eyes were following a white bird outside the bus as it flew effortlessly along the tree line. The creature was beautiful and kept up with the bus even though it flapped nonchalantly, as though it were pushed forward by some unseen force. As Val made his eyes focus, he realized it wasn't just any bird, it was a barn owl. 'That's strange,' he thought, 'I've never seen a barn owl so white before.'
He jolted suddenly and his eyes shot open. They were at the hospital already. 'I must've drifted off after all,' he thought, feeling very strange. The lady next to him was giving him funny look, but he shrugged it off. He grabbed his bag and walked inside.
There had been a long wait, almost an hour, but he was finally allowed into his father's room. It was annoyingly beige. In fact the only actual colors present were a picture of a tranquil lake that hung above his father's bed, and the table and chairs which were wooden. His father had been lying in bed when Val entered, the nurse announcing him then leaving the two alone. His father was tall, mid-fifties, short black hair peppered with gray and a long oval face. In reality Val was practically a spitting image of his father, the only difference were the eyes and mouth. Those were all his mothers, and his father reminded him of it every single time he visited.
His father sat up on the bed and looked Val over.
"You're looking well, Valerian." His father was the only person who could get away with calling him by his real name without getting a contemptuous look in response.
They went through the usual conversations; How are you? How's school? What have the courts said about releasing you? Any interesting new nurses? How's your friend? What'd you have for breakfast? Lunch? Dinner the night before?
Finally, at the end of their usual talk, Val couldn't stall anymore. He sucked in a deep breath and just began.
"I want to talk to you about … about it," Val said it hesitantly, hoping not to overexcite his father with the topic. The it he was referring to was the story of the night his mother disappeared. His father rolled his eyes.
"There's nothing to say, Val. You know the story, and you know that I don't want to talk about it anymore." His father rose and began to pace.
"That's just it, pop, I … I …" Val considered backing out on the conversation, but the look his father was giving him told him it was too late for that.
"You what?" he asked expectantly.
"I… I believe you." His father's eyes grew wide for a moment, then narrowed in suspicion. He sat back down across from his son.
"Why?"
"The man from your story-" his father cut him off.
"The Goblin King? Jareth?" His eyes went wide again.
"Yes, Jareth," the name sounded strange when he said it, like some foreign language, "He… he came to me last night, I think… and I don't think it was just a dream. He made this guitar appear out of nowhere… it was still there this morning." His father looked at him anxiously.
"And… what else happened? Did he hurt you? What did he say?"
"He said he knew me, had watched me grow up, and wanted me back. That he knew you and mom, that she sacrificed…" he faltered, almost breaking down, "that she sacrificed her life for mine in some Labyrinth of his." He hadn't cried about his mother for a long time, but now two small tears rolled down his face. His father only looked at him, awestruck at his son's words. He had started to convince himself that all the therapists were right, that he had actually killed his wife and dreamt up the 'man from another world' delusion to cover it up. But now…
"Well? What do you think? I know it sounds strange but-" his father cut him off, obviously agitated.
"I think you should forget about it." At first Val thought he hadn't heard right, but then realized that he had indeed heard his father tell him to forget it.
"What? How can you say that? After what I told you that's all you can say is forget about it?" Now it was Val's turn to get agitated. He was starting to yell, despite his best efforts not to.
"Valerian! I have missed your entire life because of something I imagined nineteen years ago; I will not accept the fact that it was anything else. NURSE!" Val was speechless. He thought if anyone would believe him and understand it would be his father.
"Nurse, please escort my guest out." The same plump nurse that led him in was now at the door to lead him out. Val's speechlessness wore off suddenly.
"Dad, how can you … after all the SHIT you've put me through… how can you stand there and tell me that…DAD!" His father wouldn't even look at him now, he just stared out the window.
By the time Val got back to his dorm room he had cooled off enough to regain rational thought. There was a note from Dale saying he'd be out late and not to worry. 'Good,' he thought, 'I won't have to explain the tear stains and puffy bloodshot eyes.'
Val flopped down on his bed and closed his eyes, replaying the day's events over in his mind. It still blew him away that his father had been so little help. He had expected… well, he wasn't sure what he'd expected, but that sure as hell wasn't it. He had never felt so betrayed in all his life. All he wanted to do now was sleep but he was sure that his chaotic thoughts would easily prevent that. He sat up and looked around and spotted the guitar in its place by his computer desk. He stood and walked over to the thing, staring at it for a moment before picking it up and taking it back to his bed and resting it on his lap. He strummed the strings absently, reveling in the smooth sound the instrument produced.
"Valerian…"
"Oh not again, haven't you caused me enough trouble?" he was exhausted, too much so to convince himself that he was delusional. "What do you want?" he snapped. He should've rephrased the question as images of flesh and sweat punctuated with soft moans filled his mind. Val gasped and blushed furiously as he recognized his own voice in the mix. Two bodies, one lithe and light haired, the other solid and dark haired. They moved as one between silken sheets; touching, teasing, biting, caressing, licking, stroking. Val let out a small moan in spite of himself and he could feel his body reacting without his express consent, but the consent of his subconscious was enough. He shook his head.
"Stop that! You know what I meant!" the images disappeared and were replaced by a soft but arrogant chuckle.
"Yes, I do, but don't you see? This is the answer. I want you. I'll take you anyway I can get you, though the afore demonstration would be preferable, I'm willing to wait for that." Another chuckle.
"You think I'm just going to jump into bed with you? Listen here, I-" Jareth spoke up.
"You, my dear boy, aren't happy with your life. You don't connect with anyone around you, for good reason; you're leagues ahead of them all. You're alone, more so now that your father has for all intents and purposes turned his back on you. He had no answers for you… but I do. Face it, you don't belong there."
"Oh and I suppose I belong there with you… wherever that is? Ha!"
"Why, yes actually. Once you see the place that is my home, I know you'd agree. There is magic here, magic beyond your wildest dreams. Come see for yourself." Val was intrigued, but he wouldn't let Jareth know.
"Oh really? How do I know I could get back if I so choose? How do I now you won't just kidnap me and lock me away in a tower or something?" There was silence for a moment. Val suddenly heard Jareth's voice behind him and whirled around to face the man. He was wearing almost the same outfit; same black boots, gray breeches and a black shirt this time, and he'd added a cape to set off the ensemble. 'He's still sexy,' Val thought in spite of himself.
"I give you my solemn promise as the Goblin King, if after some time, we'll say a week, you wish to leave my kingdom and come home you may do so with no obligation, and not another word from me… ever." Jareth quirked an eyebrow awaiting Val's response. He thought on it for a moment. It really was a tempting offer. The answers alone might be worth it and he really had nothing to keep him here.
"Fine." Jareth let out a wicked grin.
"Ah good choice, I knew you were smart." Jareth stepped toward Val, who moved away unsure.
"You said you wanted to go, correct?" Val nodded, "Well I can't transport us both with you over there, you have to hold on to me or it won't work." Val looked at him skeptically. Jareth stretched out his arms invitingly and Val took a deep breath and stepped into them, wrapping his own arms loosely around the man's chest, but never taking his eyes off Jareth's.
"Tighter," Jareth said sternly. Val obeyed hoping that it was enough. The smell of the other man was intoxicating and he breathed in a little deeper than he'd originally intended to. Val felt Jareth's arms close around him pulling him tighter against him so that he could feel the steady beat of his heart. He could've sworn he heard a purr escape Jareth's throat and it gave him shivers he hoped the other man wouldn't notice. The images he'd seen before threatened to butt their way into his mind, but he held them at bay for fear that Jareth would know. Besides, he was having a hard enough time as it was (no pun intended). Jareth materialized a crystal in his right hand.
"Whatever you do, don't take your eyes off mine, or you'll be lost to the abyss between our worlds, and I would hate for that to happen after all this trouble." He smirked and Val nodded, taking another deep breath as Jareth drew his mouth close to his ear and whispered.
"Say goodbye."
The crystal dropped.