Chapter 11: Tea…
A/N: Another collaborative chapter brought to you by Ismira Daugene & Queenoftheslayers. Please view chapter 1 for more detail on the purpose of these short stories.
o O o O o O o
Elise and Marie sat in Marie's dorm room tapping away at their computers. They both enjoyed surfing tumblr; Marie for pictures of Reid from Criminal Minds; Elise for pictures of David Bowie. Marie was just about to tell Elise to wipe off the drool when Elise's cell phone rang. "Hello?" she answered. "Mkay, I'll be right down." She hung up.
"Who was that?" Marie asked.
"Sarah Williams, she's downstairs. Apparently she had to get away from the haze of glitter hanging about her place." Elise shrugged. "Be right back," she said rising to retrieve Sarah from downstairs.
She returned five minutes later with the brunette in tow. "Hey, Marie!" Sarah greeted.
"Hey! So that jerk-off fae drove you out?"
"Yeah, I mean he can be really sweet, but that just makes it that much more horrible when he's in one of his moods."
"What was it this time?" Elise asked sitting down on the floor.
"He was insisting I spend the weekend at the castle beyond the Goblin City, but I just have too much to do for class. That and I'm not sure I can trust him to bring me back," she finished pensively.
"I hear ya!" Marie exclaimed.
"So, can I get you anything to drink?" Elise offered.
"No thanks; no offense to you guys, but I've taken to only drinking out of my personal water bottle," she said tapping a metal bottle hanging from her backpack.
"Understandable," Elise nodded.
"Yeah, I'm trying out a new blend of tea."
"Oooh, can I try?" Marie asked.
"Sure," Sarah handed the bottle over.
Marie took a long gulp. "Mmm, what is it?"
"A blend of lemon, honey, and a couple of herbs."
"Tastes great," Marie paused, a strange look coming over her face.
"Marie? You okay?" Elise asked.
"I – I'm not sure," she put a hand to her forehead and closed her eyes. "I think I need to lay down," he muttered before toppling out of her computer chair to the floor.
"Marie!" Elise and Sarah exclaimed rushing to the fallen girl.
"What was in that stuff?" Elise asked looking at the spilled bottle of tea.
"Nothing that would do this!" Sarah exclaimed.
They continued trying to rouse their friend to no avail. "I think we need to call 9-1-1," Elise said flipping open her cell phone.
"No need," a deep voice said behind them. Both Sarah and Elise whipped around to see a tall blond Goblin King leaning against the door. "She'll wake in a couple hours."
"What do you mean?" Sarah asked rising to face him.
Jareth sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. It was obvious that this was difficult for him. "You were supposed to be the only one to drink from the bottle."
"You put something in it?" Sarah demanded, fisting her hands.
"Ruffie…" he said simply.
"You slipped the date-rape-drug in my tea? When the hell did you do that?" Sarah asked, her cheeks reddening.
"When you set it down for a moment to pack your bag," he answered not looking at her.
"Jesus Christ, Jareth! What the hell?"
"Marie is so going to kick your ass when she wakes up," Elise commented. "And you will so deserve it."
"I think I'll be taking my leave now. Your friend will be fine in a couple hours," Jareth pushed away from the door.
However Sarah wasn't going to have it. Without warning, her fist drew back then swung forward, connecting with Jareth's jaw in a magnificent right-hook. "NEVER try that again!" she yelled at the fae who was now lying on the floor tenderly touching his jaw where she'd hit.
He glared up at the two mortals then disappeared in a puff of glitter without another word. "He deserves more than a punch in the jaw," Elise commented.
"I'm pretty sure Marie will make sure he gets his due. In fact we might have to hold her back a little… that is, after she gets in a few kicks."
The two girls smirked at each other then moved to make Marie more comfortable on the floor.
Sarah & Jareth (c) Jim Henson