Jareth woke early the next morning and pondered the best way to go about seducing Sarah. While he enjoyed catching Sarah off guard with his kisses he doubted the strategy would help him woo Sarah into his bed. She'd need to be teased and challenged and courted into bed, not just unceremoniously dumped there.
Besides, Jareth thought to himself as he swung his legs out of bed and prowled towards the bathroom, intent on a hot bath before he got dressed, I'm not some barbarian that needs to drag a woman kicking and screaming to my bed. I'll have her begging me to touch her by the time I'm through.
Smirking to himself, Jareth turned the taps until the water was just the right temperature, started filling the bath, and slipped into the water while it filled up around him. He sighed in contentment as the hot water rose higher around him and leaned back against the cool porcelain of the tub to further contemplate how best to seduce Sarah.
"She doesn't exactly trust me," he mused quietly, "so I'll have to work on gaining her trust. And then actually make her look forward to spending time with me. And, of course, make her admit that she's attracted to me." He stared out a window and watched some birds fly past singing merrily and wondered how exactly he would manage to accomplish all that. He sighed heavily and started working shampoo into his hair, half-formed ideas floating around in his head all trying to take root and flourish.
Twenty minutes later he stood in front of his wardrobe with a towel slung low around his waist as he pondered what to wear that would impress Sarah the most. He passed up more fancy clothing that would certainly alert her that something was going on and then bypassed some of the more threatening outfits he would chose to impress and intimidate someone running his Labyrinth. Finally, he settled on a pair of his more casual black tights and a crimson silk blouse that would give her a peek of what he looked like underneath without being so blatantly exposed to her. To top it off he pulled on a pair of black leather gloves and tugged the lace of his cuffs over them.
"There," Jareth said with a satisfied grin as he looked in the mirror. "Not too obvious at all." And with a slight bounce in his step he strode out of his room in search of Sarah.
Sarah rolled over with a groan and pulled a pillow over her head as sunlight fell across her eyes interrupting her sleep. Seconds later she shot upright in bed with the realization that sunlight never hit her bed in the morning, neither in her room at home nor in her dorm room. It took several moments before Sarah could push down the panic of not knowing where she was before she remembered the events of the day before and recalled that she was in a bedroom somewhere in Jareth's castle. With a relieved sigh Sarah flopped back onto the pillows and laid staring up at the ceiling.
"Not that knowing I'm back in the Underground is much of a comfort…" Sarah grumbled. "Though I suppose it's better than not knowing where I am at all."
Figuring that it would be pointless to try and go back to sleep after the adrenaline rush, Sarah stretched and crawled out of bed. She looked around the room, still a bit disoriented by her surroundings and not really knowing where anything was since she'd spent the day before too lost in thought or too busy ranting about Jareth to actually look around the room she'd be living in.
"Four doors…" Sarah murmured quietly to herself. She turned to the one she'd come through the night before. "That one leads out to the corridor." There were two more doors across from the foot of her bed and one other to the left of her headboard. She turned to the one next to her bed. "Let's see where this one goes first."
Sarah cautiously turned the knob and opened the door, glad when it swung open soundlessly, though dazzled by the amount of light that streamed through the doorway. Shielding her eyes, Sarah stepped inside and waited for her eyes to adjust to the glare. There were no other doors in this room with the exception of large French doors set in a wall of windows that led out onto a balcony. Sarah slowly made her way over and peered out, the sight took her breath away. Laid out before her was the Labyrinth, shimmering in the bright morning sunlight. She stood for a while taking in the sight below her before she reluctantly turned and went back inside.
Sarah peered around the room and noted that it was set up as a sitting room. There was a comfortable-looking sofa set in the center of the room that half looked out the windows and half faced a massive fireplace set into the wall across from the door. Shelves filled with books and various knick-knacks lined the wall across from her and Sarah wandered over, impressed to find several of her favorite plays and novels on the shelves. Rich tapestries hung on the wall that was shared with her room and Sarah thought they might depict bits and pieces of the Labyrinth's history and made a mental note to ask Jareth about it later.
At the thought of Jareth, Sarah scurried out of the room and renewed her effort to find the bathroom. Though she hoped that he would have enough decency to leave her be until she was dressed, she didn't put it past him to just let himself in and make good on his threat to "help" her change.
Sarah turned to the other two doors in her room and debated which to choose. After a moments deliberation she chose the door on the right. The door swung in to reveal a closet full of clothes in every shade imaginable. Sarah hesitated on the threshold and wondered why Jareth would have a closet full of dresses and a room full of her favorite books waiting for her.
"It's like he expected this to happen," Sarah said breathlessly. "Like he knew that I would wind up here again."
Or hoped for it, whispered a voice in the back of Sarah's head.
"Oh, shut up, you!" Sarah snapped. "You're the reason we're here in the first place."
Sarah turned on her heel and closed the door behind her and walked through the door on the left. Towels and washcloths were already laid out for her and someone had seen to it that the bathroom was equipped with a new toothbrush and hairbrush. Sarah, however, glanced around a bit mistrustfully and felt that this confirmed her suspicions that Jareth had planned for her to return. She glanced around and made sure the door she came in through was the only door in the bathroom and was pleased when she found it had a lock. Locking the door behind her, she settled in for a quick bath.
A short while later Sarah stood in the middle of the closet toweling her hair dry and wondering what she was going to wear. All the dresses in the closet seemed entirely too fancy to be wearing and Sarah dug around until she found something that was fairly plain and modest. Satisfied with her find, Sarah pulled out a dark green dress, got dressed and left her room to find her way to dining room.
Sarah saw Jareth just as he turned the corner and started heading down the corridor that led to her room and fought with herself until she was able to resist the urge to bolt in the opposite direction.
I'll have to face him sometime, Sarah mused to herself. It is his castle after all. Squaring her shoulders and telling herself that she wouldn't let him get away with trying to kiss her again, she made her way down the hall towards Jareth.
Jareth smiled to himself as Sarah made her way towards him, glad that his advances the night before didn't make her timid around him today. Composing his face in a mask of polite disinterest he extended his hand to Sarah.
"Good morning, Sarah. I hope you slept well."
Sarah hesitated for the slightest moment before putting her hand in his, determined to prove, whether to him or herself she didn't know, that he didn't intimidate her. She felt her breath catch as he wrapped his fingers around hers and brought her hand to his lips, never taking his eyes off hers, and had to fight for the self-control to speak.
"I slept just fine until I woke up and didn't know where I was."
Jareth smiled at her in a way that made her feel as if her stomach dropped out and purred in a voice so low Sarah had to lean in to hear him, "Perhaps you'd like some company tonight so that you can wake to someone familiar…"
Sarah's cheeks flamed and she jerked away as she tried to tug her hand from Jareth's. "I most certainly do not need company!" she hissed. "What I need is to go home."
Jareth refused to relinquish her hand and instead started walking them down the hallway, a reluctant Sarah following alongside him. "What's said is said, Sarah. You wished to be here and you are my… guest… until I decide to let you go home." He looked over and gave Sarah a sly smile, knowing it would infuriate her more and enjoying the way her anger enhanced her blush, and added, "If I decide to let you go home, that is."
"Oh!" Sarah growled in frustration, stamping her foot and almost tripping since they hadn't stopped walking. "I cannot believe that at one point I had actually had a crush on you!"
In seconds Sarah went from flushed with anger to pale as a sheet as she realized what she had let slip in her anger. Her free hand flew to her mouth and her eyes went wide as she turned to see Jareth looking down at her with a triumphant smirk on his face.