The door connected with her side with a sharp pain that spread all along it. But, she was rewarded with the slam of the door, and a shout from outside. She might have gotten his fingers in the door. Oh well. The blasted Goblin King would be fine. He was ALWAYS fine. It was other people that weren't when he was done.

"I-Its him..y-you c-can't answer the door…you just..can't…if you let him… in.. who knows…"

"Annelise? Is everything okay in there?" That voice. It… was… familiar… She put more weight against the door.

"Go away! No one wants you here! You have no power over me!"

Well, it had worked before. At the moment, it was the only thing she could think of saying. There was silence for a few aching moments and she'd thought he'd gone. That was, until, from the other side of the poor, she heard that voice again. It sounded different this time though. Not as familiar. Had she been hallucinating?

"Annelise, what's going on? I came to talk about the script… It's not the nicest weather out here, Lise." The voice grew a little annoyed, sounding more like who she feared it to be. Scratch that. Did she say feared? She wouldn't give him that satisfaction. Annelise poked Sarah's ribs until she moved, out of self defense, still mumbling under her breath how the Goblin King was here to get his revenge. Her hands were behind her, fumbling for an umbrella that was kept in a vase near the door. Her fingers gripped the wooden handle as she prepared to bludgeon the unwelcome intruder with it.

When Annelise threw open the door, Standing in front of it, head tilted to one side, and his weight put on one leg more than the other. The silhouette was all she could see. Sarah took a step back from the door. The wild hairstyle convinced her that the door should have stayed shut. And then the Goblin King stepped into the house.

And took off the rain hat he'd been wearing, shaking the remaining streamlets off of it. If I had thought this man was the Goblin King, I must have been thinking of a much more conservative one. The wild hair had been the streams of water and the hat. This man's hair was shorter than the Goblin king's, stopping as it grazed the shoulder. His hair, she could see in the proper light was also a tiny bit darker. Not much, just a little less ethereal. And that was so slight. Sarah yanked her thoughts back on course, and threw her attention on his eyes. That would reveal all in her mind.

This man's eyes were focused on Annelise, talking to her about something mundane. They were a dark green, almost hazel. However, there was nothing that was horribly magical about them. Even that glimmer could just be mischief on the brain. After all, he came running through the rain, to talk about a script… wait… a script?

"What script?" Was all she could think to say. Now the man turned to look at her, extending his hand.

"Ah. My apologies, I suppose I should give a little more attention to the woman who tried to take my hand off."

Annelise had a wicked glint in her eyes as she indicated to the man. "Sarah, this is Gink Ethaerj. Gink, this is Sarah Williams." Sarah was too busy sending her friend a 'Don't you even start matchmaking.' She missed the flash in the man's eyes as he took her hand in his, before she offered it, bringing it to his lips. Sarah's surprise covered her cheeks in a soft dusting of pink, but that was all she could manage to do, other than come to grips with the familiarity of his smirk. He...He couldn't be the goblin King, could he?

"A pleasure to meet you, Sarah."

"You… as well… Gink? Is that you real name?"

He straightened himself out, not dropping her hand yet. "No, one could say it is a nickname. I might tell you my real name later. It all depends."

She refused to bite, and ask what it depended on. Instead, she slid her hand out of his. He clearly wasn't the Goblin King. Simply because he let go so easily. Her mind relaxed a little, and she looked at Annelise. "What script? You haven't mentioned one…" Lise was especially excited now, bouncing up and down. There was some kind of anxiety on her features though.

"Ah, well, we, that is, Gink and I, read a book, and we made the mistake of listening to a lot of muuuuusic at the time. And, so inspired were we by this book, we decided to do a sequel- musical style!!" She was excited and stuff. But there was a kind of thrilled guilt in her eyes as well.

"And exactly what book is this…?"

There was a definite guilt now as Lise bounced on one foot and moved her weight to the other. "Umsie… Well, to be truthful…its…er… yours…"

And that was when it all came together. The sudden questions about the Labyrinth, the fascination. A sequel? There was no sequel! Nothing happened afterwards. A total work of fiction as a sequel to a true event? No wonder Lise hadn't told her. Gink however was looking at Lise with a bit of amused confusion.

"Oh? You mean you haven't asked her yet?"

Now Sarah was growing quite annoyed, but it didn't show in her features. Not yet anyway. Now Lise was supposed to have asked her something? She hadn't even told her what she was doing, and now had a question she was supposed to have asked her?

"Well, Saaaaarah..Meeeesa was thiiinking that yoooou…would be the bestest friendeth ever… if yous…would…be our… "

"No." That was the answer to that. It was bad enough dealing with her first experience once. She wasn't going to pretend her way through a sequel to her adventure. It was just…ludicrous…too much to ask of her. She wasn't going to do it.

"Aw come on, pleaaaaaaaaaaase?" Lise had turned on the adorable, I'm-your-best-friend-you-can't-deny-me-what-I –want-because-you-really-do-love-me-like-a-sister look and Sarah felt her will starting to bend a little. Well, it couldn't hurt…could it? Maybe, she'd try on last way to get out of it….

"I don't… sing." At that Lise burst into a wide grin.

"Ohhh. Nooow that's a lie Saaarah! You sing in the shower, eeeevery day." Sarah wasn't exactly sure why she cast a glance back over at Gink, but when she did, she definitely saw the wicked grin, and she could have sworn, for a moment,. That one eye seemed a different color that. Darker. For a moment, Sarah froze. And then the light touched it and she realized his eyes were still the same. She'd lost it… she was totally paranoid. Officially.

She thought about denying it, but she didn't actually want to know if Annelise had any proof. That was just a scary thought. The sad part was, she really did believe Annelise would somehow find proof. Or worse, already had it. Then again, it was Lise.

"Alright…" She received a happy squeal and an excited hug. Vaguely, she picked out the words thank you being repeated over and over airily. Then she was let go, and Gink got the same treatment, with different words that she couldn't actually here. Then Annelise gave another squeal and then hurried off to the kitchen.

Silence fell between the two still in the room. Sarah didn't want to volunteer to speak, simply because she didn't trust him. The coincidence of his arrival, the fact that he was blonde. That seemed to speak against him. More importantly ,it was simply the very way the man stood. It was just so…confident. She gave him a glance over, trying to process the person in front of her and match it up with the person she was trying to avoid so vehemently. There was a long trenchcoat, black and leather by the looks of it, soaked and dripping rainwater in her entry way. After that, all she saw was denim. While it was no where as tight as the he preferred… Best stop that train of thought immediately. She could see no sleeve past the leather. Even under a coat like this the poetic shirts that would have been another warning sign were absent. Or well concealed. His hands, however, were leather gloved, which sent her mind in circles.

Wait. She'd already declared that this couldn't be him, so why was she running him through the paces. She had no idea how long the silence had sat like this. Finally, steeling herself for the possible worst, she forced a smile on her face. After all, she was an actress, that's what she did. "So..Gink… how do you know Annelise?"

Dark green eyes flicked over at her. She saw it this time. The man shrugged, his voice soft, and… less annoyed than she had thought it should be..Should be? Gah! He spoke carelessly, as if it was the most causal thing to come visit in the middle of the night, and nearly get killed and mobbed by a girl who thought you were some kind of fantasy villain. But, of course, he didn't know who he was being mistaken for, or really, why she had tried so hard to keep him out. She had thrown herself down the stairs… She shook the memory away as he finally decided to answer her.

"Annelise is my cousin. Known the girl since she was a tyke." A simple comment. It immediately set her mind at ease. Scrutiny revealed that he was at least 4 years her elder, though likely it was more in the range of 6-9. Believable that he knew Annelise since infancy. The ruler of the goblins, as she had forced herself to resume calling the figure, would not be related to a mortal up here..Aboveground… so that meant…this man couldn't be the Goblin thinger…

So, why did she still feel he was. She forced her hospitality to come out of its shell and show its face. "Would you like something to drink…Gink..?"

His features showed a sort of almost detached amusement. "I'm afraid I'll have to pass on that." Sarah let her muscles untense. Good. She had only offered out of a sense of duty. Regrettably, she still held on to that. Didymus had certainly inspired her there. In fact, she was rather glad he'd refused the offer- She would rather have some time to talk to Annelise about this…situation.

That was why she was surprised to see his eye lower themselves over her frame, concentrating on her upper arm. "I make a point to avoid temptation when at all possible." Temptaion? Where was he finding temptation? She only need to follow his eyes. Down her frame she became conscious of her attire. Definitely not the sort to meet company in. Unflatteringly cut black cotton pants, and a thin white camisole. She let her gaze go to where he was staring and realized in some level of horror that one of the straps had slipped itself down.

Her mind immediately flipped through the last few minutes. It must have happened in her mad attempt to keep him out which Lise had so neatly foiled. Silly girl… Well, as it turned out there hadn't been any danger, but there COULD have BEEN! She'd have to talk to Lise about this later. In the meantime, she was aware that the man's gloved hand was reaching toward the shoulder that he was looking at, clearly intending to fix the wardrobe malfunction he'd caused, indirectly.

Her hand flew up defensively, setting the strap back up, and her voice came out as cold as the air that blew in with the open door. She moved several paces backward. "Ah. Then I won't keep you. I will see you…later…" She was already halfway to the kitchen before she received a cordial nod as he swept his hat back onto his heat.

"At casting."

And then the man was gone. Thank heavens. Sarah made a beeline to the kitchen, not particularly thrilled to see the light in Annelise's eyes glittering into her bowl of minty ice cream. While Sarah dished up her own, the younger girl spoke, sweet as honey, and clearly laced with good intentions.

"So… do you like Gink, Sarah?" Sarah sighed, tossing a blue eyed gaze over at her friend. A growl started to rise in her throat as her mind presented her with the image of another blond, sprawled over an archaic throne, peering intently into a crystal. Her mind started to zoom, to see the image presented. She swatted the image away, truly not interested in whatever he was looking at.

"No." She answered as she opened the drawer to retrieve a spoon.

Annelise looked shocked. "What? Why not?!" The girl actually had dropped her spoon and was now getting another out of the drawer. Sarah saved her the trouble by handing her one.

"He seems nice enough, Lise, but really, he reminds me of someone I'd rather forget. Please, no matchmaking?" As Sarah dug into the ice cream, Lise ate her s slowly. She was throwing a fit. A twenty year old girl throwing a fit. It was a sight to see. At least it was a quiet fit. Sarah enjoyed the bitter edge of the mint. It helped her clear her thoughts properly. Images were arising, images she'd thought she'd repressed, but this…Gink Ethaerj. He was making them all come rushing back. The similarities were enough to shake her mental walls.

The last sharp bite slid down her throat. She set the bowl down to allow the cats to have their fill. She knew that Lise would do the same. She'd had a bigger bowl though, so it would take more time. She stretched a little, and finally bid the girl goodnight. "You'll have to fill me in on details tomorrow. I want to know everything about this…sequel… Sleep Well, Annelise…" And with that, Sarah Williams trudged up the stairs, with sleep, preferably dreamless, on the brain.

For those of you who are searching for hints and the like, I'm a name addict. Just not with Lise's... I also do want opinions on the sprightly one. What does everyone think of Annelise?