I almost posted this chapter at the end of the previous one, but I decided against it. Then I got cocky, and I wanted to share it anyway, so here you go.
I own nothing. I am writing this for shits and giggles.
~Homosapien Compulsion~
The rest of the walk is so tense and frigid, it made the chilling breeze seem warm. Sarah has absolutely nothing else to say to Jareth. Regardless of his outburst, he remains indifferent, he believes Sarah to be immature and insufferable, but he didn't really expect anything differently. He, too, would like to end this.
Finding the townhouse just at the beginning of the eighth block, she leads him upstairs with forceful steps from her angry feet. She maneuvers her purse off her shoulder and opens it to see her phone, wallet, and keys. With the keys in her hand, it only takes a smooth turn for the whole door to open.
Sarah's house is her sanctuary. She finds solace in the dimly lit space. The dark colored walls are decorated with lovely antique pictures from abstract art to landscapes. There are two doors that line the hallway that Jareth assumes one to be a bathroom, and the other a bedroom. She leads them into a living area that is connected to a small kitchen with a table set that would never match in a million years. Jareth looks to her living area, spotting the necessary furniture, complete with a coffee table, a desk and chair, an end table with a Tiffany lamp, and a stationary space heater, complete with a woman lounging comfortably.
"Oh Sarah," the woman looks up to see a familiar face, "you're back." She smiles as she looks at the clock on the wall, "and... early? How'd you get off so-" the woman is cut off by Sarah shaking her head and lifting her arm to show the cuffs. The young woman's eyes grow. "Oh..." She stands shifting her eyes away. "Well then."
"You must be the infamous Ellie," Jareth says sneaking in from behind Sarah.
"I'm sorry?" The woman asks with a smile that grows into a chuckle. Both she and Sarah look to Jareth. Sarah's eyes are more critical.
"Don't mind him. He's oblivious." She tosses him to the side. "Thank you, Sasha, for staying with her tonight. I'm hoping she can feel better soon."
"Oh, anytime." Sasha tosses a carefree hand in the air. "I always love coming over. That girl knows how to party." Both she and Sarah laugh a little.
"Wild night, huh?" Sarah asks.
"Oh, hell yeah. We even ended up playing a drinking game. Non-alcoholic, I'm afraid."
Sarah giggles. "Aww, what a bummer."
Sasha continues to look towards Jareth's direction. "I'm sorry," she motions to him, "have we met?" She flutters her eyelashes. He seems to remember her face, as well.
"Oh, yes." Sarah says standing erect. "Sasha, I'm sure you have met our new bartender at work," she points to Jareth. This comment causes Sasha's face to instantly lower in displeasure.
"Oh," Sasha crosses her arms. Attitude grows in her voice. "Yeah- the... uh... medical doctor who talked about how there were two hundred and six bones in the human body and how he'd like to-"
"You do not have to repeat it." Jareth stops her. "I heard it from a waiter. It was bad enough saying it once." Jareth shivers in disgust. "My deepest apologies to you." He bows to her.
"How did you get stuck to this... shirtless quack, Sarah." Sasha's voice changes in an instant.
"It's a long story. And I'm sure everyone at the club would love to catch you up on it, themselves." Sarah rolls her eyes.
"Wouldn't it be interesting if Ellie woke up to this sight." Sasha says as she gathers her things.
"God, don't jinx me," Sarah rolls her eyes. "How the hell would I explain this to her?" Sarah's comment causes more laughter from her friend.
"Afraid she'll be jealous?" Jareth's comment pops up in the girl's ears. They both look to him with more confusion.
"Well, you two have fun. I'm gonna go and try to have my own fun before it's too late." Sasha says tossing her purse over her shoulder.
"Go." Sarah slaps her friends hip. "You deserve it. And thank you again." She pulls out a fifty dollar bill.
"You know it." Sasha smiles as she pops the bill from Sarah's hand. "And," she looks Jareth up and down. "Good luck with... that." Sasha then sneaks away.
"Okay..." Sarah says as she scans the room. Sarah exhales a relieving breath, mentally thankful to have her friend diffuse the tension a little. "If I were a handcuff key, where would I be...?" She says pursing her lips as she slowly circles the room.
"Why not just invite Ellie in here and make it even more interesting?" Jareth offers with an evil little smirk. Sarah deeply inhales as she slowly turns to him.
"I strongly suggest that you keep your mouth shut." She warns him, very nicely, too. "Believe me when I say that you have no idea what you are talking about."
"Aah," Jareth's grin grows. "So she is into this." He turns to scan the room. "That would explain why you would have your own handcuff key-."
"Oh my God. No. I can't to this." She says pulling him from the living room to the hallway.
"Oh," Jareth points out, "are you giving in?"
"You really need to shut up." She lowers to a whisper as she strides to one of the hall doors and slowly opens it. She motions to zip their mouths closed as she creeks it just open enough for light to peek through onto the bed. Her whispers are almost silent. "Go look and see how stupid you sound."
Jareth rolls his eyes, but takes no time to peak into the room to see the person sleeping. His eyes suddenly grow as he slowly backs away from the door. He tilts his head towards her direction.
"She's a... child-"
"Ssshh-" Sarah quickly pulls the door shut, but is careful to close the door nice and quietly. She takes no time to pull both of them away from the door so they don't wake the young thing, and leads them back into the main room.
"I thought-"
"Yeah I know what you thought." Sarah rolls her eyes. "Everyone back stage was just screwing around with you." she sighs. "...toy collection..." She scoffs in a whisper.
This is a sudden turn of events. This changes many things in Jareth's mind. He has been observing this particular young woman since the moment she had taken her first steps on stage. Throughout this entire night of intriguing observation of the runner at hand, he never thought that he would ever see this girl again. Truth is, he never really wanted to. It is bad enough to hear the things everyone says about him and his defenses after the event. Now, he is here trying to clear his name, and instead he ends up tied to the very same child. He has come to the conclusion that he must be cursed. He is never going to live this down. His cousins have the biggest mouths, and they would be more than happy to see him squirm for their enjoyment.
He arrived here for one thing, and one thing only. Then all of the sudden, here she is, Sarah Williams, the golden Labyrinth runner, all grown up. She is a young woman with a young child working as an erotic dancer in his cousins' establishment. How can this be a coincidence? He had come to his own conclusion about Ms. Williams with everything he had seen and heard. He believed that he had formed an extremely informed opinion of her, but this changes everything. What was once a girl that wished children away is now having her own. Everything he thought about her had been thrown out the window. He has to take time to connect everything he needs to. Who is this young woman? Who exactly is Sarah Williams?
"How old is she?" Jareth asks with a blank voice. He is still forming an opinion, therefore he shows no reaction. His question is an honest one.
"She is turning four in a few weeks." She says, voice solemn and hushed. She leads them to the kitchen and heads towards the counter drawers.
"Is she yours?" He shakes his head automatically regretting the question.
She turns to him, unamused. "No, some fuckhead wished her away to me." she opens the drawer on beat and starts to rummage through the random clutter for the missing key.
"Good one," Jareth muses in the awkward silence.
"I thought so," she comments, slamming the drawer shut, "shit-" she looks around the room for more ideas. "So would you care to tell me why exactly you are here?" She asks as she heads towards a cupboard on the other side of the kitchen.
"Waiting for you to unlock us." He looks to her with his own attitude.
Sarah scoffs. "You know what I mean." She shoves her head inside the cupboard. "Why are you here irritating your cousins- my bosses?" No key, but she finds a pack of cigarettes, instead. Ooh, and they're still one in it. "And why the hell are you trying to come onto everyone like a sexed up high school kid? I've heard some weird things about you." She steps on her tiptoes to look above the cabinets, not for a key, but for a lighter.
"My reasons are my own."
"That's mature." She says stomping her heels back to the ground with no luck. "Damn it." She looks around the area to see where else she can look.
"You have made quite a name for yourself, as well." His voice takes a sarcastic turn. "Tell me, how did you end up at "M's Orchid?" Jareth faces her, leaning to one side. He sees that she finds a box of matches and immediately stops her searching to light the stale cigarette in her hand.
Sarah's eyes gleam with attitude. "My reasons are my own," she mocks as she exhales smoke in his face. Jareth gets the picture. "Now, would you like to continue to be an ass about this, or would you like to get off this merry-go-round?" She shoves her free hand on her hip. The smoke rings around her head like an ominous cloud.
Jareth sighs in defeat. "I am here on personal business."
"Oh, I think we can do better than that." She says as she leads them towards the living room to one of the end tables.
"What does it matter to you?" Jareth genuinely asks.
"Earlier tonight you said that if I could help you answer any questions, you could help me with my contract." Sarah turns on a lamp on top of the end table she opens. Jareth's eyes adjust to the light. "Remember that?"
"I do." Jareth listens carefully.
"Well, we can help each other out." She shrugs. "The faster you get done with whatever you need to get done, the faster you can get the hell out of here, right?" She pauses her searching to look towards him. "You wanna move on, and we want you to move on."
"How excruciatingly kind of you." Jareth's brow quips, knowing that this isn't all she has to say. "How can I possibly repay such a kindness?"
"That all depends on what you had in mind regarding my contract- God, I hope it's not in my room..." She slams the drawer shut as she immediately goes to the last end table in the room. Opening yet another drawer to further her key hunt, Jareth decides to take an opportunity to sit on the elongated, dark red couch to take a load off.
"Well," he indulges the idea in the air, "you have a contract under the twins' business, correct?" Jareth asks as he crosses his legs in a comfortable fashion.
"Yes."
"No." Jareth spurts out of nowhere. Sarah pauses to look at him in confusion.
"I'm sorry..." her eyelashes flutter with her question. "no?"
"That is correct." He leans back into the cushion of the couch. "It is not a business contract. I knew as soon as there was a mention of a contract that they did a wonderful job pulling one over on you, and most likely every other human there." He says as he looks down at himself, dreading the fact that he is still shirtless and that he would like to fix this, soon.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Her voice conveys worry as she stands to stretch the muscles in her back, aching from bending over so much.
"What you did sign was, in fact, a Fae contract." He is more clear. "You work for them as a pawn for creatures of my realm, not as a worker in some human establishment. You are working for them, not the company. The company is a..." Jareth slows his speech and looks into the distance. He starts to make a connection in his mind. "The company is a front." He slowly nods to himself.
Sarah is not understanding as much as he is. "A front?" She reiterates. She takes a drag. "A front for what?" She is eager to know the answer.
"Clever idea..." Jareth takes a few more moments in his mind before slowly smiling an evil smile. "I do have to give them credit for trying." He says to himself with a slight chuckle.
"What?" Sarah asks. "Trying what?" Jareth comes back to see Sarah's wide eyes. "Your name's Jareth, right? Jareth what are you going on about?"
"I am here on royal business." He suddenly starts with no warning. "I am here because there are some things happening back in my realm. I am being falsely accused for these things, and I am here to clear my name."
Sarah keeps her full attention on him, curiosity plaguing her mind for this juicy information. "Really?" She grins mischievously. She takes another drag of her cigarette as she plops down next to him. "Please continue."
"Anything more is private information, and cannot be discussed with those who are not involved." Jareth adverts her eyes to continue thinking.
"Well honey, we are bound together." She pulls their arms up. "Consider me involved." She says sitting next to him, evil grin on her face. She is eager to hear more.
"I'm sorry honey... I cannot." He inhales as he waves some of the smoke away from his face. "As it is, I have already said too much to someone that is under their contract."
"Yeah, but I don't want to be, remember?" She points out. "And you said that you could help me with that." She looks down to him. "Scratch my back, remember?" Sarah's memory is good.
"I can help you with your contract." he nods in response. "But you are not going to like it."
Sarah sighs leaning back. She takes a drag. "Does it involve another freakin' contract?"
"Yes." He grins as her misfortune. "The only way to break a Fae contract is to forge a new one with a Fae being of a higher power, which..." he points to himself, "I just happen to be."
Sarah stands to evade him. "You've got to be joking."
"I'm afraid not." Jareth smiles.
"Well, I would be incredibly stupid to agree to something like this." Sarah wishes she could get further away from him.
"To be frank, you were stupid to agree to any contract in the first place." He purses his lips.
"You aren't helping yourself, here." Sarah's eyes squint in his direction as she stands up. "If it was so stupid before, why would I do it again?"
"Because you can actually get something out of this one." He stands up with her.
"That would be?" She crosses her arms.
This time, he forcefully yanks her arm back down. "Freedom." That word carries more than one meaning for the both of them.
Sarah looks to him with the gears in her head rolling. She looks directly into his eyes as if they had just started a staring contest. She feels as if she were to look away, she would lose. The question is, how much does she have to lose, exactly? She can't keep working with the twins now that she knows there is something devious going on. What kind of power can she have over these people? She is just one measly human that is a part of something that she is now realizing is larger than she ever thought. All of this frightens her. But she needs to do whatever she needs to do to keep her baby safe. Staying in her current position isn't going to help her do anything. In fact, it just might get worse before it gets better. But she doesn't want to partake in anything new with Jareth, either. Who knows why he is really here? Who knows that what he is saying is the truth. Who knows what he really has planned. Sarah doesn't want any part of his presumably outrageous scheme. She doesn't want to be apart in any of this. What does she do?
What can she do?
"You expect me to just trust you?" She suddenly says. "Last time we met, stealing my brother and putting me through hell isn't exactly what I would call a quality trust exercise." She takes a drag.
Jareth wondered when she would bring up the past. "If we are getting technical here, I did not steal your child," He shrugged. "Those... creatures did." He shudders thinking of the goblins. "My part was to protect the child- and to acclimate myself to your desires as a runner." He clears his throat as he continues. "Trust me when I say that there was a lot more going on during your run than you were aware of."
"Well, I am anxious to hear what all was going on when you sent those... metal blades of death after me," she blinks rapidly, "among other things."
"That was clear irritation towards you, my dear. You were insufferably stubborn, and it was getting on my nerves." He is honest in his answer as she sees a slight grin grow. "Glad to know you hadn't grown out of that charming trait."
Her scoff is music to his ears. "I don't like you."
"You don't like to hear the truth." He comments.
"That, and I just don't like you."
"The feeling is mutual, love."
Sarah looks away from him, refusing to play the staring game. She bites her lip as she looks down to the end table she had just looked through. She isn't going to like what she is about to say. She deeply inhales.
"If I were to agree with your terms," she shakes her head, "I will need to know what I am getting into. What is this... contract going to contain?" She rolls her eyes at the last word.
His growing grin causes Sarah's heart to harden. She can just hear the snarkiness in his voice. "Just help me find evidence against the twins. We need proof that they are up to no good. Help me with this, and you will be free, from both me and the twins. Forever."
"And?" Sarah is not convinced that this is that easy.
"And what?" Jareth questions.
"What else?" She asks.
He shakes his head, slightly lost. "Nothing else. That's it."
"That can't be it." She fervently shakes her head.
"Well, I will need to get these blasted cuffs off to finalize and bind us to this new contract. We are also going to have to get creative on how- and where- to find this information. But other than that it is a simple mission."
"I don't believe that."
"Because you don't trust me."
"I just don't believe that, that is all that you are doing."
"Okay fine," Jareth takes his own heavy sigh. "listen," He grabs a hold of her shoulders to make sure she is paying full attention. "Something is happening in my world. And it involves humans. I have yet to find out what it is, but because of who I am, I am being blamed for it." His gentle grasp works in gathering her attention. "I would rather do this on my own, but it would be easier to have access to someone who knows that place inside and out."
"You're certain that the twins are the cause of this phenomenon happening in your world?" Sarah tries to understand.
"There is no proof. Not yet." His voice is honest. "I only know that whatever is happening is not my doing." He straightens up. "Being the Fae that watches over goblins that steal human children tends to leave a black mark on one's record. But I refuse to be blamed for something that I have not done-"
"Hold on..." Sarah motions for him to pause. She looks down. He's still shirtless. And toned. Sarah slightly shakes her head. "There are humans in your world?"
"Yes."
"And you think they might be there... against their will?"
"I don't know." He says earnestly. "No one knows. I was given this information by my superiors, and was sent here to deal with it."
"And what about you being half human?" Sarah takes a random turn.
"What about it?"
"Well, how is that possible?"
"That is not proper conversation for this moment in time."
"Well, we're bearing our souls here, aren't we?"
"Alright," Jareth gestures, "if you want to play this game, then where is the father?" He points back to the hallway.
"Whoa... alright." Sarah's defense goes right up. She forgets about the cigarette in her hand. "I get it. No opening wounds."
His brows perk at the curiosity of it all. "Yet."
"I have a feeling that we both have a lot to learn about one another." Sarah says, still deep in contemplation.
"Indeed," He mumbles in agreement.
Sarah takes a moment to meditate. She feels like she is having a hard time filing everything away. After a few moments of deliberation, she feels like she has come to the best conclusion she can find in her mind. With all things discussed and considered, she believes that there really is only one thing that she can do. She takes one last drag of her cigarette.
Deeply inhaling, she looks to him with determined eyes.
"In working with you, I will be signing a Fae contract, right?" She starts, wanting to repeat everything exactly.
"Yes."
"Mmhm-" She hums in response as she puts out her cigarette in a small bowl off to the side. "And in this contract, we will be working together to get all the information we need to prove that you are not responsible for what is going on in your world." She pulls up the prized key, showing that she finally found it.
Jareth looks to her with a weary eye. "That is correct."
She puts the key through the hole of her side of of the cuff. "When I help you prove your innocence, this is when my contract will be complete and I am free to go, correct?"
"And I will be free to leave your world, and never return." He wonders what she is planning.
"Then do we reach a verdict?" Her hand is successfully free. She takes this moment to hold her hand up for him to shake.
He takes a moment to monitor her sudden change of mind. Deciding that he will learn more later, he accepts the hand shake. "We have a contract."
Her smile is bright. "Glad to hear it!" She shouts as she suddenly pulls his arm forward and uses all of her body weight to forcefully yank him to the ground with the cuff still connected to his hand. In surprise, he makes a hard landing on the floor with a loud thud to shake the room.
"What the-"
*Clank*
Jareth looks up to see what Sarah had done. Right above his head he sees that she has cuffed her side of the cuffs through a man-made hole in the metal stationary space heater that is bolted to the floor. She holds up the key above his head, refusing to unlock him. His eyes grow angry at this nonsense. His rage bleeds through among his confusion.
"What in the seven circles of HELL are you doing?!"
"Creating my own trust exercise." Sarah wipes her hands of any access dirt as she stands over him. She sees him struggle to sit on the couch with an arm completely pretzled around his head.
"Unlock this! Now!"
"No."
"Unlock this or so help me I'll-"
"You'll what?." She playfully smiles at his expense. "Your magic doesn't work while you are in these, remember?"
"This is absolutely unbelievable!" His rage becomes somewhat of a turn on for Sarah.
Her face comes dangerously close to his. This time, she is not afraid to look directly into his eyes. "You want my help, and I want out." She tilts her head to try to match where his eyes are placed. "You put me through magical hell last time we met, and I do not trust you. You will stay in those until we figure all of this shit out. I will help you find this info, and when I see that your story is legitimate, then I'll let you out. After that, you will get me out of my contract." Her lips slightly part as she leans in even closer. Her control of the situation sends many signals to Jareth's mind. "You scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours. Those are the terms."
"You had this planned all along, didn't you?" Their faces are nose to nose. "The escort home, the cop, all of it. It was all part of your cute little plan to keep me trapped in these."
"Oh yeah, and you aren't going to sit here and tell me that I wasn't apart of your plan the moment you saw me?" Sarah stands in this moment. She leans in on her hip with a grin. "I'm not a little girl anymore, your majesty. You're playing my game, now."
"Hmm," Jareth vibrato drops to a bass, he slowly smiles leaning closer to her. "I can wait to claw at your back."
"I'll just bet." Her voice is just as venomous. She walks away, knowing that the king of the goblins is watching her every step.
The vile woman turns in for the night and leaves a disgruntled Jareth tangled up on a couch and left to his human-like thoughts and provocations. He can't decide if he is outraged or... attracted by this sudden change of events. Regardless of his hatred towards this woman, he still grins at her ability to command his attention. "And another game begins."
This was one of my favorite chapters to write. It is SO much fun to write them in scenes together, and this is just the start. I really hope you have enjoyed reading this far. I will be a little more sparse in my updates. I was just really excited to get these two chapters up so we can further the story.