I've nothing much to offer

There's nothing much to take

I'm an absolute beginner

But I'm absolutely sane

As long as we're together

-Absolute Beginners, David Bowie

Ben's idea was to go all out for movie night. "I want it to be like a real theater!" He exclaimed.

Sarah thought about saying no, that it was a lot of work, but at Ben's plans, she shrugged. Why the hell not? It was something fun to do, and wasn't this what she wanted for Ben? A childhood full of happy memories?

She and Toby made sure that all the windows were blacked out. They put down lights on the floor to emulate lights in the movie theater. Behind the TV, Sarah put up a dark blue curtain (they couldn't find any black ones so this would have to do) and glued glow-in-the-dark stars and lights. Out of cardboard boxes, Ben and Toby made a ticket and a concession stand picked with their favorite snacks.

Ben proudly stood behind the ticket stand when Jareth arrived. The Goblin King's smile widened instantly at the eager child bouncing behind the cardboard stand. "Hello. I would like to purchase a ticket to see the film called Star Wars."

"Okay! But you need to pay me." Ben had a "ticket" ready in his hand.

Jareth reached in his pocket to pull out a coin. "Is this enough?"

Ben inspected it. "Woah, there's an owl on it!" He showed it to Sarah. "Mommy, look at it!"

Sarah took it, inspecting the coin. It had a carving of a barn owl, a crown of tiny stars on its head. The markings on the owl's mismatched eyes were not so different from Jareth's that she wondered if this was him. "Yes, I see, it's very shiny. I like that there's an owl on it."

Jareth preened at her, tucking the ticket in his breast pocket. "The image was taken from a portrait done of me in my owl form."

Sarah thought that they should have done a portrait of him as he appeared in his fae form, but suspected that it may just go to his head if she said it out loud. "You know, Jareth? You don't have to put on this look," she gestured vaguely at him dresses very much like a normal human man, making circular motions with her hand. "You can look as you feel comfortable."

The look in his eyes told her exactly how he felt. This invitation was so much more than the words she said. It was an invitation for him to be his true self in every way. A clear expression of wanting him to feel safe in her home. Without a word, he waved his hands around his body.

His hair grew out, eye markings came on, and he was wearing clothing that she recognized from her time with him. A loose poet's shirt cinched by a waistcoat and tight pants. A horned amulet hung from his neck, settling on his lean and muscled bare chest.

Not for the first time, Sarah was thoroughly aware of how absolutely gorgeous this man is.

And so did her body, from the way she heated up so quickly.

"Mommy?" Ben called.

With horror, Sarah realized that she had been gaping at Jareth. "Yeah, make yourself at home." She turned to Ben, hoping that her cheeks weren't as red as she suspected them to be. "Okay Ben, one ticket for me!"

She handed him a dollar coin and a half dollar in picking out candy from the concession stand. "Let's see, do I want something chocolatey or fruity? Crunchy, or chewy?"

Jareth picked up a box. "Sour patch kids? What parts of children do they use in creating these?" He turned it around, inspecting the labels on it.

Ben giggled. "That's silly, Mister Jareth! They don't do that!"

Jareth didn't look convinced. "One can't be too careful, Benjamin."

"I got popcorn!" Toby rolled into the living room. "Hi Jareth!"

"Hello, Toby," Jareth greeted fondly.

"Uncle Toby, you have to let me sell it!" Ben pouted, waving at him.

"Oops, my bad, Benny Boy." He put both bowls on the stand. He had one of those pennies that had been pressed into some souvenir, placing it in front of Ben. "Can I buy all the popcorn you have?"

"No, you can't do that!" Ben tried to sound like he was scolding his uncle, but burst out laughing instead. "I want to eat it too!"

"Okay, fine." Toby handed him a five dollar bill, muttering about expensive popcorn. "Now can I have it? I promise I'll share."

"Okay." Ben took all his coins and the bills, admiring all of them with giddy.

Having seen A New Hope a million times in her life, Sarah barely paid attention to the movie. Instead, she took that time to observe everyone else. Ben's attention waned at times, and he would play his blocks quietly on the floor. Toby kept sneaking glances at Jareth to see his reactions as she did.

Jareth seemed amazed at the film, with the technology and the special effects, despite it being almost thirty years old. He didn't seem to believe Toby when he told him that the film was made in the 70s. As for the story itself, he seemed quite entertained with Princess Leia, who was supposed to be rescued, basically taking command once Han and Luke showed up.

"Quite like someone I know," he said, eyeing Sarah.

She rolled her eyes but grinned all the same. "I've dressed up as Princess Leia a lot of times for Halloween. She's a great character and an awesome role model."

"I don't remember you wearing that," Toby said. "Any cool pictures?"

"That's because I was in college." She casually took another handful of popcorn.

"Did you make the hair buns or did you get a wig?"

"I didn't wear this outfit."

"Which one then?" Toby reached for more popcorn, careful to not budge Ben when had his head resting sleepily on his shoulder.

Forgetting momentarily that Jareth was there, she answered with a wink, knowing that he would be grossed out. "The Jabba the Hut one. It was a hit at college parties, you know. And I still have a picture of it."

Toby gagged. "Ew! Forget I asked."

"The what one?" Jareth questioned.

"Oh, it's in the the last movie," Sarah shrugged, wondering momentarily how he would have reacted if he could see how she looked in that bikini during her college years.

"Hmm." Jareth popped another piece of popcorn in his mouth.

At the end of the movie, Jareth was absolutely outraged that Chewbacca didn't get a medal. "How absolutely preposterous! He worked just as hard for that."

Toby put in Empire Strikes Back, Jareth still speaking on his experience as king and how he would never do such a thing.

Toby, having slept late the night before, was out before the film ended. Ben too.

Jareth stared blankly at the credits. "Vader is Luke's father?"

Sarah shrugged in an exaggerated manner, doing her best to keep a straight face and failing. "Well, search your feelings?"

"I demand you tell me the answer now," he said seriously. "I must know."

"Shh," she waved at him. "We'll watch the next movie and you'll find out soon enough." She picked up the empty wrappers and empty popcorn bowls. "You know, I've never watched Star Wars with an adult who hadn't seen it before. It's kinda fun to see your reaction."

"You are quite infuriating, you know that?" He helped her pick up the trash, careful to not step on Toby and Ben who were sleeping on the floor.

"So I've been told." She turned the TV off and rewound the tape. "You don't have to clean anything up."

"Nonsense. Yes, you are the hostess, but it's good manners on me as a guest."

"Why don't you use magic to pick the trash up? I mean," she stopped herself, annoyed with what she said. "You don't have to use magic to do anything to clean up, I just mean why do it manually when you do have magic?"

Jareth followed her to the kitchen where they threw the trash in the garbage can. "Magic takes energy, even more up here than in the Underground. It would be like asking why walk when you can run?"

"Ah, makes sense," she agreed.

Bam!

Their heads shot up as the banging sound got louder. Jareth went around to the other side of the kitchen, and opened the sink cupboard open.

Nestled underneath were two goblins.

"Uh oh," one of them said.

"What are you two doing?" He raised an eyebrow. "Out, now!"

They shuffled out, looking very contrite with their hands behind their backs. There was a candy wrapper on the top of one of their head.

"I am most disappointed in both of you, but especially you, Evie. I thought you were better than this." He folded his arms. "Well? Answer me!"

They flinched. At that moment, Sarah was transported back to twenty years ago, remembering what it was like when she first met him. It was a reminder that no matter how nice he had been, she had to be careful around Jareth.

One of them spoke first, the one Sarah presumed to be Evie. "Umm, Kingy? I only came because Blaggerspout wanted to come. I told him not to."

"And why are you here?" Jareth asked the other goblin, Blaggerspout.

Blaggerspout pursed his lips together. "I heard you came to party, and I want party too! And Iglepus got candy. I want candy too! Candy delicious!"

Jareth glared, making the goblin shrink. "What did I say about stealing?"

"That it was bad?" Blaggerspout asked, as if he had been asked a test question.

"And yet, you still did it." He shook his head. "I cannot believe you! Just because Benjamin offered one of you goblins one piece of candy doesn't mean that you can just take the whole bucket!"

"Jareth," Sarah interrupted him, pointing to behind Evie, gasping. "Is that blood?"

Jareth's eyes widened at the green blood coming out of her hand. "Bog damn it, Evie what did you do?"

Evie looked down on the floor, like she was regretting her entire existence.

Sarah quickly went to grab some paper towels and pressed it to Evie's hand. "Come here, sit down."

"I got cut trying to get Blaggerspout," Evie said quietly, looking at Sarah who was tending her with gentle care.

"Everything is my fault then!" Blaggerspout grumbled.

"Actually, it is," Jareth agreed, shaking his head. "I should have you bogged."

Blaggerspout squeaked, trying to make himself as small as possible.

"Jareth?" Sarah interrupted them, much to Blaggerspout's relief and Jareth's annoyance. "Will a simple bandage work for Evie? I'm not exactly familiar with goblin anatomy."

Jareth used two fingers, pointing to his eyes then to Blaggerspout in silent lecture. He went over to Sarah and Evie, inspecting the bandage that she put on her. "Yes, that should work."

"You poor thing," Sarah clicked her tongue. "Would you like some hot cocoa?"

Evie nodded, utterly taken by Sarah. "You're not so scary up close."

Sarah shuffled uncomfortably. "Uh, yeah. I'm sorry about destroying the houses. I'm definitely more careful now. Jareth, would you like some cocoa?"

"No thank you," he said, still glaring at Blaggerspout.

Sarah handed a mug to Blaggerspout too, who beamed at her. "Next time, just ask, okay? Don't barge in like that."

"Yes, Lady," Blaggerspout nodded, careful to avoid Jareth's glare.

When they were done, Sarah called after the two using her "mom voice." "Hey! You two can't just leave a mess like this. That's not okay. Clean up the candy wrappers, now."

To Jareth's amazement, both goblins actually did as told, putting the wrappers in the garbage can, disappearing only when Sarah dismissed them, making sure first that Jareth was okay with it. "I have never seen them listen to anyone so well before."

"Guess I just have the magic touch," she said with pride, then paused. "I guess that saying doesn't quite work anymore, does it?"

Jareth chuckled. He looked outside. "It stopped raining."

"Finally," Sarah joined him. It was so clear, she could even see the stars. "It looks like a lovely night."

Jareth hesitated for only a second. "It seems like a waste of a beautiful night if we don't take advantage of it. Join me for a walk?"

Sarah found her heart blooming with warmth at his invitation. "Yeah, I'd like that. Let me get dressed first."

After getting dressed and telling Toby (who winked teasingly at her), they walked under the streetlights of the neighborhood.

In the aftermath of the rain, there was a sense of earthen calm that emanated from within every living being. The smell of fresh rain in the pine trees swirled into the sky, carrying its very essence around the city. It was nice to know that even in urban areas, there was still plenty of nature to enjoy.

"So," Sarah said, her thoughts back on Jareth. "How did you become Goblin King?"

Jareth blew a puff of air into the cold, materializing into smoke. "I was chosen by the Labyrinth and the High King."

"Chosen?"

He nodded. "Those who have an affinity for the Labyrinth may be chosen to be its monarchs. It's not like in your world where there's a democracy or even normal monarchies like in the rest of the faerie court. There was… a lot of pressure for me to ascend to the throne from a very young age, as a descent of the High King. Anyone can perform certain duties, but it's those with a connection who can truly wield power."

His voice tapered at the end, his eyes away from her. Sarah understood, for she saw that pain so many times in her mirror. "What do you do as king, exactly? If you don't mind me asking."

Jareth's stood taller, a light spring in his step. "There is no easy rulebook in my job. Most monarchies have set rules and traditions. Mostly, I listen to grievances and see what my people need."

That intrigued her. "Do goblins have that many grievances?"

Jareth groaned, his head dipping. "Like you wouldn't believe. The other day I had to settle for how many feathers each goblin gets from a chicken that attacked both their houses."

Sarah couldn't hold in the snort of laughter. "I guess you're right. They're like children in that sense."

"And not to mention my other non-goblin citizens," Jareth added. "My kingdom is largely made of refugees and those who are deemed too different from their kind, either by defying conventional attitudes or appear different. Children do get adopted by the fae, but many don't, especially if they're older. There are human and fae settlements alike, so I do my best to accommodate all of them."

"That must be difficult," Sarah commented. "But satisfying. You're doing something for a lot of people who would suffer otherwise."

Jareth put his hands in his pockets, not looking flattered by the compliment as she expected him to. "I didn't have a choice. Either that or they die. It's the luck of the draw that I was born a prince, a grandson of the High King. As a prince, the title came little responsibility as I wasn't going to inherit any thrones but with wealth, until my kingship. It didn't seem right that they had so little."

Jareth found that he was walking alone. He turned to see Sarah taking a pause, looking at the moon. She swallowed, confusion etched in her expression. "You said that the purpose of the wish is to care for the children. In that case, why would you even bother with the whole Labyrinth and all that? What's the point?" She shivered, walking once more to warm up.

"The point?" Jareth's voice was crisp and a little short. "The point is to also teach you a lesson. To mean what you say, to warn you. Tell me, Sarah," he straightened his posture, eyes straight at her. "What lessons did you learn from your time running the Labyrinth?"

Sarah swallowed, feeling the heat crawl down to her abdomen at his gaze. She felt like she was sixteen again, encountering the Goblin King in the tunnels as she tried to not focus on his incredibly tight pants and his powerful, sexual aura radiating all over them as he leaned into her and asked her how she liked his Labyrinth. Truthfully, he always had that kind of aura on him. It wasn't anything forced, he was just naturally that sensual, even now. She just seemed to be more immune to it than she had been, though a lot of it probably had to do with the fact that they only reunited because of Ben being lost on Halloween.

She forced herself to focus on an answer. "I learned a lot of things, actually. Overnight, I had to shed that whole 'it's not fair' mantra because I understood how difficult things were for others. I had to resist my dreams and temptations in order to accept something that was real: my love for my brother. I learned to see things more objectively, having the wisdom to look into myself and see my sharp tempers and how I treated my brother and my parents. I understood my place in the world, that I am special and unique but also just one part of this very large place."

She closed her eyes to recount the rest. "I learned about forgiveness because of Hoggle. I learned about loyalty from Sir Didymus. I learned to be grateful from Ludo. But most of all, I learned that I am redeemable for my mistakes."

She opened her eyes, seeing that Jareth's eyes were just as intense but had a softer edge to them than before. "I was beating myself up at times when I was trying to get to Toby. One of the hardest things to do is to be able to look at yourself and think of all the mistakes you've made. To not justify them but to also not beat yourself up for it. To learn from it and be the best person that you can be."

Jareth slowly nodded. "When did you realize this?"

"Right away," she answered, not really thinking about that part before but the moment the words left her mouth, she knew they were true. "But it wasn't until now that I put it into words."

A small smile graced his face. "And this is why I find you more intriguing now than I did back then."

Sarah gazed at him tenderly. There was something special about the man who had seen her at her very worst and still thought she was worth getting to know. "Thank you."

"I must admit, it's nice to see you close to your brother."

"Do you have siblings?" She asked. "Are you close with them?"

Jareth's smile got a little sad. "Yes. I have twin siblings, Ruben and Ava. They are much younger than me, much like you and Toby. We were somewhat close when we were younger but they've spent a lot of time with our cousins. Their behaviors have… changed. They've become more entitled and less empathetic. I can't entirely fault them though, I was quite entitled back then with that same kind of influence."

"Was?" Sarah repeated teasingly.

Jareth laughed. "I concede. I am king, so what I say goes in my kingdom. But I shed that quite quickly when I had to care for creatures who had less than me."

"Yeah," Sarah agreed. "Getting to know people who are different from you helps with seeing a perspective that's new. It's why I decided to teach music."

He asked her more, so she elaborated on wanting to bring music into homes. That every child deserved to have a chance to enjoy creating music if they wanted. That it shouldn't be limited to the rich. "So I do understand a little on where you come from. My parents were well off, so I never needed to worry about anything when I was growing up. I wasn't very close to them though, sadly. Even my mom."

She didn't speak for a while. Talking about her mom was really hard. She was able to heal because Ethan helped her find her smile again. With Ethan gone, now she was the one who had to find her own smile.

At Jareth's questioning face, she said "My mom got sick when I was in college. Not long before I met Ethan. She and I may speak from time to time but we hardly talk anymore because it's just hard to talk to her sometimes."

"I'm terribly sorry to hear that," Jareth said. He offered her his arm, patting her hand. "You weren't close?"

"No," Sarah said, thinking about it again. "I idolized her as the glamorous actress. I would talk to her about lots of things but it wasn't often that we would talk about things that were actually substantial. We talked about whatever dress she had for whatever performance she had, not about her real thoughts on things. I tried, but she dismissed me and thought I was being too serious. I didn't want her to belittle me anymore, so I just dropped it. My dad was busy providing for the family and being a bit absent-minded. Karen, my stepmom, helped him to be better about that. I think he worked a lot to drown out the pain of his divorce from my mom."

She looked at the stars. "What about you? Are you close with your parents?"

"We were," he said slowly. "But we just haven't reached out to talk to each other. Nothing bad happened, and they're good people. We just drifted." A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "When I was young, I was a troublemaker. Not on purpose, just a curious child. I have many good memories with them."

Sarah thought of Jareth as a child, picturing a small boy with messy hair. The image made her grin. "What's one of your favorite memories where you were a troublemaker?"

Jareth grabbed ran around with his cousin Brogan, trying to find the best place to hide from Lady Ann, Brogan's governess, hoping she didn't catch them in the kitchen. Each boy shoved a giant cookie in their mouths. "What now?" Brogan asked.

Jareth pointed at the tree outside. "Let's climb it!"

They climbed up there, hearing Brogan's older sister yell about the lack of cookies. They snickered as their families looked for them.

Both boys fell asleep in the tree, shivering from staying for so long. They knew that the game had gone on for too long but neither wanted to admit to the other that they were tired.

Brogan's father eventually found them, spotting them as the tree shook when Jareth shifted his weight slightly. Both boys got a lecture and were told that they had to muck the stables by themselves for a month.

"The problem was that we weren't good at it," Jareth reminisced with glee. "So my parents came to muck the stables with us, my father adding in extra lessons on how to approach horses. Yes, they could have gotten whatever stablehand to do it for them, but it's essential to learn how to take care of your own animals."

Sarah laughed at his antics. "The cookie story sounds like something Toby would have done when he was younger. Me too, to think about it. I can never resist delicious baked goods."

They talked some more about their lives. How Jareth tried to set up certain systems as king in place to care for the people, but it still wasn't perfect. He told Sarah of the first child wished to him, dying in his arms. It brought them both to tears just thinking about it.

They eventually came back to her home. "You know," Sarah said. "You're not so frightening once I get to know you, despite the reputation you've built up with your goblins."

"How insulting," he said, flashing his sharp teeth in a dangerous grin that made her heart thump quickly. "I'm powerful and terrifying. My denizens should be frightened of me. I mustn't show weakness."

Though he said this lightly, there was a hint of truth in his eyes.

"Nothing wrong with showing weakness." Sarah patted his arm. "It shows that you're willing to learn and be better. Not that you have to show everything, but being open can help too. Just be yourself."

"Hi guys!" Ben ran up to them while Toby stayed on the couch texting someone. "Can we watch the next movie now?"

Sarah looked at Jareth, who was desperately trying to hide his interest in finding out about Luke's parentage. "I guess we did promise the whole trilogy."

When the mystery person came to free Han Solo, Jareth correctly predicted that it would be Leia. "It only makes sense."

"Are you sure you haven't seen the movies before?" Toby eyed Jareth suspiciously.

"He was surprised at the whole Vader is Luke's father thing, remember?" Sarah pointed out.

"I don't like this part," Ben said, turning away when Jabba was being creepy. "He's so gross."

Jareth's eyes widened when Princess Leia came out in her slave outfit. He looked from her to Sarah, eyeing the latter up and down. She had to admit, it felt fucking amazing for her childhood villain/forbidden crush to be eyeing her this way. "You said you have a photograph of yourself in this attire?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Sarah curled a strand of her hair behind her ear, feeling confident again as his chest rose up and down at a slightly faster pace.

"Forget the old photograph, you should wear that costume now," he grinned dangerously, the jagged, sharp teeth making an appearance again. He looked up and down her again.

Sarah's eyes flashed, biting her bottom lip. "Make me."

At the time, she thought it was because she was full of hormones as a teenager, high on adrenaline as he loomed over her, making her pissed. Now, she was sure that there was just something about him that made her feel incredibly bold.

"And if I do?" Jareth leaned over, his lips nearly touching her ear. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up.

She leaned back into his ear. "You could have the best night of your life."

"Is that so?" He sounded positively ravenous.

She leaned a little into his chest, barely touching him. "Or end up like Jabba."

His chest rumbled in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Sarah nodded at the TV, where Luke was fighting everyone. It cut to a scene where Leia strangled Jabba.

Jareth raised an eyebrow. "My my, I didn't realize you're so adventurous in the bedroom."

"I can hear that!" Toby said from the floor. "You guys are nasty."

Jareth's smile then faded when Jabba ended up dying from the strangulation. He looked sideways to see Sarah snort at his pained expression. He quickly schooled it. "You know, it wouldn't be such a bad way to go."

Toby groaned at the two of them.

I hope you guys liked this chapter! I liked writing a bit of Jareth's background. Btw if you ever read my stories and go "umm that's a plot hole" you're probably right lol and feel free to tell me so that I can fix it, lol. Thanks for reading!