Forward:
In the last chapter, there was a scene which could trigger some people, so here I'm going to summarize the basics of what happened in Chapter 21 (a chapter from Aldric's perspective) for those who needed to skip it:
- Aldric showed some internal remorse for what he had made Sarah do in Chapter 20.
- Jareth called upon his family's boon with the Seelie royal family, and High Queen Aurora makes an appearance, demanding Aldric release Sarah from her compacts that keep her in Faerie.
- Aldric attempted to sway Sarah several times to stay with him, even going so far as to beg. But she tells him that she cannot stay in Faerie. He releases her, but before he does he removes the amulet he wears that is like Jareth's, and it transforms into a book that he gives to her.
That's essentially it. There are some lines that I've repeated and things I've referenced in the following chapter that will help fill in the blanks for you. Thank you for sticking with this story and all the love
Chapter Twenty-Two
Sarah
October 7th, 2002. Day 20 of quarantine.
Tears still streaked her cheeks as she stepped through the portal mirror. Her head still spun, lips still throbbed from the last kiss, and her body shook from withholding the temptation to glance back. It would have been cruel.
Her apartment was dimly lit, and it rang with an empty feeling, but she knew Jareth was close. Knew it with a bone-deep certainty that shook her.
The fire escape.
As she rounded the corner into the living room, Jareth was climbing down through the window, long legs encased in heather gray pants tucked into knee-length hunting boots. She took in every inch of him as he straightened, gaze finding hers immediately.
"Jareth."
"Sarah," he said, echoing the way her voice shook. He strode toward her, the expression on his handsome face devastating on so many levels that it took her breath away.
She reached for him as he neared, heedless for a moment of the book still clasped in her right hand, but Jareth caught sight of it before he touched her and stumbled, jerking back.
"What—how do you have that?" he demanded, pointing a gloved finger at the gilt-edged tome.
Sarah looked down.
It reminded her of old-fashioned prayer or hymn books, with a cover wrought in metal and pages edged in gold. Along the cover was a raised replica of the pendant that Jareth and Aldric—until moments before—wore.
Metal clasps kept the book closed, but there were no hinges or seams that she could see.
When you're ready, place your hand on the cover and speak my name. It will unlock for you then.
She looked up at Jareth and found him eyeing the thing as though it would bite, his shoulders stiff and hands balled into fists. "Aldric gave it to me. He said you'd tell me what it was."
"Did he now?" Some of the tension eased out of the Goblin King, and he granted her a slight smile. "Did you see where it came from?"
"Yes." She pointed at his own talisman, nestled among folds of cream-colored linen. "From his version of your necklace."
Jareth paled, and Sarah pulled the book to her breast, clutching it with both hands. She felt oddly protective of it, and something in Jareth's mannerisms made her think he meant to do away with it. Warmth and a sense of the familiar radiated from it, and part of her wanted to do as Aldric had instructed—to see what would happen when she opened the book.
"Jareth," she said, careful in how she chose her words. "This is an official question. What is this book? What does it mean that Aldric gave it to me?"
This is for you alone.
Jareth—and how she still ached to touch him, to have him hold her—swallowed hard. "You may have noticed that we each have one," he began.
Sarah nodded, eyeing his own talisman. But when she glanced between it and the replica clasped in her hands, she noticed that the inner knotwork was different for Aldric's. His was more angular, a series of interwoven triangular shapes. "His is different," she said on a breath.
"Yes." He touched his own, the gesture loving. "Did you see many other fae, while you were in Aldric's estate?"
"No. I met some, but I was still blind."
"Each one that is the head of a house wears one like it. I received mine from the Labyrinth, as a token of my kingship, but Aldric is the head of my family. That," he gestured at the book, his eyes going a little wide. "Is our legacy. It contains memories—every memory of every fae who wore it, up until it became what it is now. I do not even know how many thousands of years of knowledge you now hold in your hands."
"But—why? Why would he give it to me?"
Jareth stared for a long time at the little book, glimmering in the orange lamplight streaming through the windows. "That I do not know. We do not do this until our last breath, typically. It is the last act of a fading fae. My father did it, and I can surmise only that—" he broke off, and his gaze locked on hers again. He took a step forward. "Sarah, has he freed you? Completely?"
Her eyes stung a little with the prick of new tears. "Yes," she said, startled by how strangled her voice sounded. "He told me I need not return. But how? How did you do it?"
"Something I should have thought of sooner, only… they considered the family boon a legacy, something that we cared for, not used."
Her brow furrowed, and she slid closer. "What's a boon?"
"It is a bequest, something that you can ask of another without option to say no, to deny. And my family had a boon granted upon us by the royal house of the Seelie, some three or four thousand years ago, I forget which." He let out a small, somewhat high-pitched laugh. "You could probably ask that book, and it would know more than I."
She placed it on the coffee table she stood near, wincing a little as it clattered against the wood, but she saw the tension ease from Jareth as she did so. Sarah reached for him, and he reached for her, and this time he did not flinch away, his expression wondrous and longing both. Through their agreement she felt the truth of his words, and there was so much more she wanted to learn, but then—he touched her with such reverence, and he smelled so good—
Sarah pressed her body against his, wrapping her arms around his neck as their lips met. It bothered a part of her that she had kissed another so soon before, but most of her was simply grateful, thankful, that she was back, that he was here, and that she need not return to Faerie anytime soon.
Jareth shuddered and groaned, teeth scrapping her bottom lip as he deepened the kiss. Sarah responded with equal desperation, tears flowing freely as she gasped into his mouth, sucking down his breath and feeling the thread of power begin to stitch back and forth between them.
It descended like a net over her, tightening things low in her belly and making her flood with warmth. His touch was searing hot, and she wanted more, she wanted—
Sarah tore at his shirt, yanking it free from his pants before her hands were skimming up his bare stomach, nails scraping his sides before digging into his back and pulling him closer. All the while the heat was building and building until she whimpered, lips swollen and throbbing. "Jareth," she whispered against his mouth. "I want you."
Days away, weeks of blindness. But now he was before her, and she could not stop. Did not want to. Her body was screaming for release, and she clenched her thighs together as she thought of what it might be like for Jareth to fill her the way he had in dreams.
Jareth let her pull off his shirt and when she slid her way down his body until she knelt before him, he whispered her name. Said it in such a way that she felt it reverberate through her.
Her motions were almost rough with desperation, freeing his cock before taking him in her mouth with a moan he echoed, his hands plunging into her hair. She closed her eyes and leaned into the feel and the taste of him, hands gripping his hips.
This is what she craved. The sense of him surrounding her, filling her as she pulled pleasure from him, which he rewarded with small, rumbling groans that made her own body flood with liquid heat.
He pulled from her with a grunt and then his hands were under her arms, bringing her to standing so that he could crush his mouth against hers. She clung to him, his stiff desire clear between them as he worked at her complicated clothes, his fingers dexterous and quick. "Turn around," he rasped against her lips.
She obeyed, her chest heaving as Jareth pulled loose the laces of her corset before she was free, his hands coming around to cup her breasts through the thin fabric that remained so that she arched her back against his front, his lips descending on her neck. Teeth grazing, he continued to explore her body and divest her of her clothes, pulling at the ties that kept up her skirt and freeing her hair of the pins that kept it up.
Sarah tugged herself out of his arms, casting him a playful glance over her shoulder as she spun away from him. Wearing only semi-sheer white underclothes, she halted when she saw that Jareth was fully naked now, with no evidence of his garments anywhere nearby. He must have magicked them away.
He stalked toward her and her heart sped, remembering how he had done much the same to her on the first night he had arrived, when the quarantine was new. How much she had wanted him, even then. Her body responded much the same way now, nipples hardening under the linen as she slid away when he came within reach.
Sarah struggled between a sudden desire to flee and the need to draw him closer and consummate at long last the heat that had built between them over the years.
Jareth's mismatched eyes flashed in the low light, like a cat, and then he lunged for her, the movement graceful as a dancer. Sarah let out a delighted shriek and felt his fingertips graze her side as she ran in the only direction she could.
She spun when she reached the center of her room, panting, and found Jareth with his arms braced in the doorframe, silhouetted, his wild hair catching the orange light from behind and glowing like a halo.
Sarah waited, but he made no move toward her. After a moment, she frowned. "What are you doing?"
"This is your sanctuary," he said, tone low and almost dangerous. "Would you allow me entry?"
The words sounded oddly formal. Sarah swallowed, throat clicking. "For the night," she whispered.
He flew at her and she nearly screamed, some part of her still terrified, still sure that this would cause her destruction, somehow. But then his hands—free from their gloves—were caressing her skin, magic and desire tracing along like gentle tongues of flame, and she was shuddering. Shaking and overcome, hands trembling as she reached for him in return.
Thumbs and then lips traced the skin under her eyes. "You're crying," he murmured. "What is it, love?"
Sarah shook her head and pressed hard against him, letting out an unsteady breath. "There's so much that has happened. I feel like it's been years, but it's only been weeks, and I—" she took a deep breath, bringing her hands up to cradle his face, tracing the sharp lines there. "I love you."
Jareth's expression crumpled, too much there for her to read at once, and he kissed her with more intensity than she had ever felt, his touch eliciting so much sensation that a sonorous moan rose from her throat.
He stripped her, the touch of his hands like firebrands, and she remembered the first time they had kissed, and the first time that she had felt those heated palms against her skin without his gloves. All those moments, all those years, all leading here…
She was near begging by the time he lowered her to the bed, his long fingers seeking the core of her and finding her slick and oh, so ready. "Sarah," he breathed, speaking words in the liquid fae language of his. She felt the intention there. The warmth of his love, his care. These were not the words of a conqueror, they were ones of the conquered. "My heart."
Sarah whimpered, clinging to him like the last solid thing on this planet, and—
There was a knock on the door, followed by the seldom-used doorbell. Jareth went utterly still above her, and Sarah choked, then swore.
"There have been no callers since you left," Jareth growled, head tilted to look toward the open door and the hallway beyond that led to the front door. "And yet within an hour of your arrival…"
Sarah jumped when there was another knock, this more like a bang. Authoritative, and then a newly familiar voice. "Sarah Williams? This is Officer Rico Salamanca."
Her eyes went wide, and she clutched at Jareth's arms, corded with strain. "What is he doing here?" she squeaked.
"Toby is with me," the officer called, as though he heard her, even though from this distance his voice was quite muffled.
Sarah was not sure what reaction she expected out of Jareth, but it was not what he did. He rolled off her, and ozone infused the air as he summoned clothes around them both. Instead of the rich court clothes that Aldric had put her into, Jareth gave her a soft pair of yoga pants and a tank top, as well as the same emerald satin robe he had given her before. The fabric was cool against her skin but absorbed her heat immediately, and she warred with a sudden desire to tear them off, lunge at Jareth, and pull him back into bed.
He caught her eye and smiled as though he could read her intentions. "You won't escape me so easy."
She curled her toes and stood, somewhat wobbly, while another round of bangs came from the front door. She belted the robe and followed Jareth down the hall, bare feet silent on the hardwood floor.
He had just finished unlocking the last deadbolt when the door swung open, and the sharp florescent lighting from the hallway burned her eyes immediately. She hissed and threw a hand up just as Jareth realized what was happening and slammed the door shut. "What are you doing?" she asked, blinking against the afterimages burned into her retinas. Toby had been standing there, as had Officer Salamanca, and at least two of what looked like armed marines. "Open the door."
"Your eyes—"
"I'll shade them." She waved at him, impatient, and went to grab for the handle herself when he reached for it again. She was speaking before the door had swung most of the way open. "Rico, I'm so sorry," she said. "I had an accident and my eyes are extremely sensitive. Won't you come in?"
Sarah could only see their feet, and that just barely because of how she had to squint against the glare, but several pairs of boots shuffled forward and, taking her cue, she spun and led the men deeper into her apartment.
Unlike the last time officers had flooded this space, Sarah and Jareth both had been at cleaning and tidying. Every surface shone, and everything was just where she left it including—she saw with her heart in her throat—the small book containing Aldric's memories.
Sarah turned and, seeing Toby, immediately stepped forward and enveloped him in a tight embrace. "Hey, idiot," she said.
He was taller than her now, and he laughed in a much lower voice than he had used before he left for Russia five months before. "Hey, sis."
He smelled of snow, wind, and family. She gave him another squeeze before stepping back, looking toward the others. "Officer Salamanca. Gentleman."
Jareth was at her side, facing Toby and the other three men, his arm wrapping around her waist. When she glanced at him, he was staring at Toby, grinning. "Tobias. How lovely to see you."
Her brother seemed to see Jareth for the first time, and his cheeks went pink. "Oh, um. Hi," he stammered.
"I apologize for arriving unannounced, but there was a colossal mess down at JFK, and I thought you might like to have your brother back sooner rather than later," Officer Salamanca said, his cap in hand. His gaze fixed on where Jareth's hand held her waist, and he gave her a brief smile. "I suppose things are working out with your unintended roommate?"
Sarah smiled back. "I guess you could say that." She nodded toward the Marines, who looked a little uncomfortable in her small, cozy apartment. "New friends of yours?"
"They kicked me out of Russia!" Toby exclaimed.
Sarah blinked. "What?"
"Russia is expelling all non-natives," her brother explained. "The Russian media is saying that it's really Afghanistan where the virus originated." He sounded hyped-up, and Sarah recognized in him the signs of that peculiar exhaustion indicative of long travel and too much caffeine.
Officer Salamanca waved at the two Marines. "Gentleman, I believe your services are no longer required."
"Ma'am," one of them said, stepping forward with a folded letter. "His release papers. He's to be quarantined in this domicile for two weeks, no exceptions."
Jareth's grip tightened on her as she took the offered papers and looked through them. They were stamped with an official-looking seal and signed by three impressive looping scrawls, dictating that Tobias Williams was to be released into his sister's care per his request. She glanced at her brother, glaring. "You asked for this?"
"It was that or detention at JFK's temporary quarantine structure," Officer Rico explained.
Toby grinned and made a dramatic swooning motion. "Don't make me go back there."
Sarah rolled her eyes as Jareth chuckled. "Can I offer any of you a coffee for dealing with my pain of a brother?"
"No, ma'am," the two army men said. "Thank you."
The Marines went for the door and Jareth followed them, showing them the rest of the way out. Officer Salamanca grinned. "I actually wouldn't mind a cup if you're making some, anyway."
"Don't forget me," Toby spoke up.
"I don't think so, kiddo."
"I'm eighteen!"
Sarah paused on the way to the kitchen, doing a quick calculation. "That's right. Happy belated, brat."
Officer Salamanca laughed and said something to Toby that she could not hear as she rounded the corner into the little kitchen to find that her coffee pot was full and fresh, the air perfumed with the fresh-roasted scent intertwined with ozone. Smiling, she took one of the to-go paper cups sitting next to the machine and poured a cup for Rico before grabbing a mug for herself and Toby.
"Fancy," Officer Salamanca said when she passed him his cup over the bar that separated the cooking space from the living room, handing him the lid separately. "Could I bother you for a little cream?"
Sarah grabbed some out of the fridge and then saw Toby pick up Aldric's book off the coffee table, flipping it in his hands. She rushed out of the kitchen, trying not to act as panicked as she suddenly felt, and plucked the little book from her brothers' hands. "Sorry, this is private."
"What is it? It's cool."
Sarah hesitated, seeing Jareth coming back into the room, his eyes immediately tracking to the golden book now clasped in her hands. "It's a present," she said, the first thing that came to mind. Spinning on her heel, she went to her desk and locked it in one of the top drawers along with her sketchbooks. She looked up to find all the men in the room watching her, Rico over his coffee with his bushy eyebrows raised in silent question, gaze shifting between the three of them. Her face flamed with heat and she crossed her arms in front of her chest. "What?"
"That book had the same symbol on it as your boyfriend's necklace," Officer Salamanca remarked.
She glanced at Jareth, who covered his device with his palm, eyes narrowed toward the police officer. This could be a problem. Her head spun. So much had happened in so short a time, and now there was a Situation unfolding before her eyes. Her body still buzzed and jumped from what had so nearly happened, but her brother had also effectively doused her ardor. "It's a family crest," she blurted.
Jareth looked at her, but Rico was still staring at him, his eyebrows up and his olive skin paling. "Wait—how do you have two different colored eyes? That's—" he paused, the cup halfway to his mouth. His next words were so low that if Sarah had not already been moving toward him, she might not have heard. "This coffee is fresh, but there wasn't any brewing when we got here."
Sarah reached for the officer, darting a look at Jareth, trying to plead with him not to do anything rash. She could smell lightning. "Officer, I can explain, I—"
Rico jerked out of her reach, and his free hand went to the grip of his weapon. His voice was full of the authority of the NYPD when he next spoke. "Ma'am, do not—"
Jareth snarled, Toby let out a small yelp, and between one blink and the next Sarah was standing by the Goblin King, his arm around her while he wore his full armor, his expression full of thunder.
"YOU DARE?" he roared, and the floor shook. Sarah clung to him and noticed that Toby was behind them, transported seemingly in the same instant, his eyes wide. "You accepted your hostesses hospitality, and yet you touch a weapon in her presence? To use against her?"
The cup of coffee hit the floor as Rico—impressively fast—raised his empty hands into the air, his brown eyes like orbs in his face. "My god… what are you?"
"Jareth—" Sarah started.
"I am your judgement," Jareth said, the sound more guttural than any she had heard from him before. "And your executioner."
Before she could move to stop him, to do more than tighten her grip on his arm, he flung his hand toward the officer. A flash emanated from Jareth's pendant, and the air felt as thick as warm cotton candy. Sarah squeezed her eyes shut against the flare of light, turning her face toward her brother. He was craning to look around her and, seeing that the dimness was back, Sarah turned her head.
Officer Rico Salamanca, NYPD officer, was no more.
Rico Salamanca, goblin, was only a little over knee-high, with charcoal gray skin, comically long eyebrows, black eyes, and an officer's uniform in miniature conforming to a long-limbed body that was apparently difficult to manage, if his wobbling were any sign.
The goblin fell on his rump with a grunt, then squeaked, launched to his feet, and tried to run, tripping over his old bodies' utility belt along the way and landing in a face-down sprawl.
Toby laughed. "Cool."
Sarah shot him a glare. "Not cool. Jareth, turn him back."
Jareth's gaze was still locked on the newly made goblin. "I will not." He gentled his hold on her, his gloved hand stroking her side in a reassuring manner that she attempted not to succumb to. "He was threatening you."
"But why that?" Toby asked, inching forward with a look of wonder on his face. "And what is it?"
"A goblin. I am the Goblin King, after all."
"Oh," Toby looked a tad sheepish. "I thought that was just a title. Like the Sun King, you know?"
"It is not just a title," Jareth said, though his voice was patient and kind. Warm, even. Sarah looked at him. Her lover seemed to have a genuine affection for her brother. It made her stomach knot in a way that was entirely inappropriate for the current setting. "Where I come from, words have meaning, and I am ruler of the goblins. That comes with its perks. Watch." He gestured at Rico, currently struggling to get up. "You there—goblin. Come here."
With limbs jerking as though he were a marionette, the creature came skittering to a stop before them. Sarah made to take a step back, but Jareth tightened his grip on her, the squeeze soothing. A garbling noise, reminding her all-too-well of the Bog of Eternal Stench, rose from Rico's throat in an ever-increasing pitch, and she frowned. "What is he saying?"
"Oh, the usual. What have you done to me? What is going on? Please God, help me." Jareth punctuated the last by rolling his eyes skyward.
"What language is that?" asked Toby.
"Goblinkin. None can speak your tongue unless I allow it. And for this one? I do not." He released his hold on her waist and stepped forward, making Rico stop his babbling and crane his neck to look up at his new monarch, small body quaking. "Stand on one foot."
The goblin immediately obeyed.
"You may cease. Step back three paces." When he did, Jareth inclined his head toward Toby, a spark of glee in his eyes. "What shall we make him do?"
"You can make him do anything?" Toby asked, excitement palpable.
Sarah rushed to stand between Rico and the other two, raising her arms to defend him. "Don't you dare."
Jareth gave her an endearing smile. "I should have known you would spoil the fun."
"He's not for you to abuse!" she cried, then jumped when she felt a tug on the hem of her robe. She looked down and found Rico's black eyes gazing up at her. This was not like looking at the other goblins, who shone with mischief, curiosity, and a shrewd sort of cleverness. Intelligence, anger, fear, and hope warred here instead. She did not drag her gaze away as she said, "Let him speak."
Jareth sighed. "Very well." He waved a gloved hand.
Rico's voice was higher pitched than before, but unmistakably still his. "Please tell me this isn't permanent," he said, his small voice like a whisper.
Sarah's stomach twisted, and she glanced at Jareth. He narrowed his eyes, then gave an infinitesimally small shake of the head. "These sorts of spells have an expiration."
"How long will he be like this?" she asked.
The Goblin King sighed again and ran a hand through his wild hair, casting her an exasperated look. "I was protecting you, you know, doing this. He had his hand on his weapon, Sarah. He could have shot you."
"I wouldn't have shot her," Rico argued.
"You never put your hand on a gun unless you intend to use it," Toby said, voice low and somber. "Everyone should know that. Especially a cop."
Sarah stepped away from the goblin, and Jareth took her hand, drawing her to him. His grip was just shy of possessive. Eager. Protective. A part of her thrilled at it, and at the deep and abiding longing she saw in his gaze whenever he looked at her. It made her knees weak and her head cloudy, and she could not allow that now. Not with an NYPD officer transformed into a goblin in her living room.
His lips brushed her forehead, and the spark of their connection leaped between them. Sarah noticed Toby watching them with unabashed interest and felt her cheeks grow warm.
"They will come looking for me," Rico warned from behind her. "The NYPD takes the disappearance of an officer seriously."
Jareth chuckled. "I'm sure they would. But if you were to ask anyone down at the station right now, no one would know who Rico Salamanca is. Not even your closest friend." He went to stroke her hair and Sarah batted him away. He laughed again. "Come now, my love," he crooned in that silken voice of his. "This is not my first goblin."
"What the hell are you?" he cried from behind them.
Sarah was having trouble focusing. It had been a long and difficult several weeks, and a tumultuous forty-eight hours in Faerie. She wanted her bed, and proper rest, and most of all she wanted him, the man who kept looking at her with such heat. It was embarrassing, almost, how much the rest of the world fell away when he was near. She took a deep breath of his scent and moved out of the circle of his arms even as the rest of her body screamed that she nuzzle closer.
"Jareth, how do we turn Rico back?" she asked, keeping her gaze anywhere but him.
A sigh that she felt, almost, like a caress against bare flesh. "He is yours, precious. I gift him to you. You may dictate the terms of his release but be warned, this magic wants to be appeased. His punishment should suit the crime."
As Jareth spoke the words, Sarah felt the pressure of it on the air. Magic. A mantle of it shifting from Jareth's shoulders onto hers. A taste, she sensed, of the enormity that it was being the King of the Goblins.
Turning to Rico, Sarah tried to feel out the edges of the magic, but she was new to the practice and her attempts clumsy. Still, she could read that there was a weight here, something that needed to be balanced.
"You will not speak of what happens in this apartment to anyone outside of it," Sarah started. "Which includes any form of communication." She paused, but the weight was still there. Only just the slightest bit lighter, like a pinch had been lifted off. "You will stay in this form for…" she drifted off again, and Jareth's hand pressed against her lower back, centering her, reassuring her. She glanced at Toby, gaining inspiration. "Two weeks." The weight halved. "And you will do any task put to you by myself for the duration of your stay." It was now feather-light, but there was still something remaining.
Jareth's hand rubbed up her back, tangling in her hair, fingers sliding along the sides of her neck so that she shivered. "Almost there, love."
Rico the goblin stared at her, pointed ears lowered and set back like a scared cat. Toby was picking up the gun belt, and Sarah had a sudden inspiration. "If you ever touch your weapon again in recklessness, as you did today, you will revert to this form for the rest of your days."
The spell snapped into place, and even Toby jerked, dropping the belt to a floor with a solid thunk. "What was that?"
Sarah swayed on her feet, and Jareth braced her with a hand on each shoulder. "The spellwork is cast," Jareth said, his words low and resonating. "Rico Salamanca, your fate has been decided. Sarah, a few ground rules for our new houseguest, I think, and then bed." His voice next sounded near her ear. "You're exhausted," he whispered.
She wanted to shiver again but kept it at bay with force of will, grateful for the distraction when Toby asked, "So, where am I sleeping?"
"I'll take care of that, Tobias," Jareth said, sounding suddenly chipper. He left Sarah and went to the teenager's side, his clothes shifting as he walked so that he went from the imposing, sinister goblin armor to a more casual long-sleeved shirt and fitted slacks, his feet bare but his hands still gloved, now in soft gray linen.
The Goblin King began explaining in animated, dramatic fashion what an aisling was, and how he might redecorate her living room to suit Toby's needs at night.
"I can create whatever you wish—"
"Really? Like what?"
A rich laugh. "Tell me what you wish for."
Her heart gave a sudden flutter, looking at the two of them together, both smiling like old friends come together after years.
"So you're going to order me around for the next two weeks?" Rico asked.
Blinking, Sarah realized she had been so absorbed in Jareth and Toby's conversation that she had been staring. "Sorry," she blurted. "No, I mean… come on," she gestured for him to follow her and went to where her desk was stationed at the far end of the room nearest the windows. "I'll make sure Jareth makes some place for you to sleep, too," she said as she went. "But let's start with some ground rules, okay?"
Rico still looked awkward as he walked, getting used to his strange new form. "And I have to do whatever you say?"
"I think so."
"You think so? You don't know?" He scoffed as she sat at her desk chair, the height difference putting her more at a level with him, especially as she leaned forward on her elbows, a curtain of inky hair spilling over her shoulder. "So you're not like him?"
Sarah frowned. "No. Jareth is fae. I'm human—well, I'm fae touched, apparently. Which is why I can do a little magic." She glanced at her brother, brow furrowed, a sudden thought striking. Was Toby fae touched as well? Was that why Jareth seemed so enthusiastic to be around him?
The touched are magnetic, she had read in the book Aldric had given her. The creatures of Faerie are drawn towards them.
Even Rico, now, was acting differently toward her. Despite his bared teeth and scowl, he was rubbing his arms, shifting from one foot to the other and eyeing her as though he wanted something. He reached out a moment later, thin fingers circling her calf, and seemed to relax.
"Do you have anyone that will miss you?" Sarah asked, voice soft.
He shook his head, expression forlorn. "No one. My folks might call or, I suppose not? And the guys on the force have forgotten me too, right?"
She pursed her lips, nodding. "It's just two weeks, though, and then you'll go back." She tried smiling to make the words softer, but she was growing increasingly tired and it was difficult. "So, let's just get a few things out of the way."
Sarah outlined her basic expectations for a houseguest, being careful with her wording so that she did not inadvertently increase Rico's suffering through her own carelessness. His grip stayed on her leg the whole time, steady and oddly reassuring. Whatever draw that the creatures of the Underground felt toward her, she seemed to have something of the same. An echo that made the touch feel right instead of strange.
"Help yourself to what you find in the kitchen, within reason," she finished. "I don't know what goblins eat or drink—"
"Copious amounts of ale, my dear," Jareth said with a flourishing bow, coming up beside them. "And they have a fondness for chickens."
"Chicken?" Rico asked, perking up. "My Tia makes the best—"
"Chickens, goblin. Plural. As in, living. Honestly, I don't know what they do with them once they catch them," he said, sounding amused. "I never see them again."
"You're the king of the goblins and you don't know what they eat?" Rico asked, incredulous sounding.
Jareth grinned and held a hand out for Sarah. She took it, rising from the chair and noticing as she did he had already been about remaking her living room to suit a young adult's needs. An enormous television with a game system replaced her old rabbit-eared set, and Toby was currently sprawled, half undressed, against a beanbag that looked large enough to swallow him whole. He held a controller in hand and was staring fixedly at the moving figure on the screen.
"Can you make something for Rico?" she asked him, still taking in the new surroundings. Junk food covered her coffee table, and two folding screens separated the living room from the hallway and the kitchen beyond, giving her brother further privacy.
Jareth crafted a little nook for Rico under her desk, assuring her he could remove it in the morning if she needed to use the space, before tugging on her hand, eyebrow lifted and a smile quirking the corner of his mouth. "Come along."
Sarah bid goodnight to her brother and Rico, head still struggling to keep up with all the events that led here. It seemed to be one thing after the next, a continual struggle from which there had been few reprieves.
She went to the bathroom first, needing a moment alone. She washed her face, brushed her teeth, and stared into the mirror, water dripping from her chin and the tip of her nose until she sighed and blotted them away with a fluffy gray towel.
The apartment was oddly silent, Toby having been given long-corded headphones to use with his new video game consol. The neighbors, also, were quiet. So much so that she remarked upon it when she entered her bedroom, finding Jareth waiting for her, standing with his hands clasped behind his back.
"That's because I put a warding on your apartment," he said. "To keep the sounds out, and in." He gestured toward her still-open door. "I wanted to do the same in here, if I have your permission. To give us privacy."
Sarah hesitated. Some part of her whispered, if no one can hear you, no one can help you.
But the rest of her?
"Of course," she breathed, watching with increased pulse as he came toward her, expression dark and hungry.
He seemed to reach for her and she both tensed and ached, but he only reached past her to shut the door, leaning his bare palm against the wood, his head so close to hers she could feel his breath and could smell him with each inhale. Heat radiated from him, as did a current of magic, and then his other hand was coming up to stroke her cheek, his fingers like brands. "No one can hear us now."
Her eyes slid closed as his mouth descended on hers, swallowing up her moan as she arched into his touch. The last thing she saw was the clock, striking midnight.
Author's Note:
So, see, technically what happens next is happening the next day, which means a new chapter.
*jazz hands*
I'm afraid, too, that I have to announce that I need to take a longer break from 31/32. Again, this story is all the way plotted out, I just have to write it. BUT—I have TWO books coming out this year. TWO. And I have to focus on them.
But this story is my comfort food, so I'm sure my New Rule of, "Don't work on your fic until you're done with the first draft of your stories," is going to last until the Newest Crisis, and then next thing you know you'll be getting an update. That's how things tend to work, hahahaha (please send help).
If it weren't clear, things are a bit… mm, hectic? Yes. That's a pleasant word to describe this state of being. But, legitimately, this is my life now and I've learned recently that I just have to lean into it. Otherwise it'll topple me over.
Thank you all for the lovely comments and reviews. I cannot tell you how amazing it is to see all of them, they bring a huge smile to my face when I see them in my inbox.
xoxo,
CrimsonSympathy