A/N: Enjoy. Thank you to all that have left such lovely reviews. :)
Sarah stared guiltily at the manuscript that for some reason, she could just not bring herself to look at over the weekend. The one about the fae boy, who was as yet unnamed. She had no idea why she had not read it, but it seemed like something stopped her everytime she tried. Sarah had read all of the other manuscripts, but this was the last one.
Sitting at her desk on a bright and cheerful Monday morning (post-coffee of course), and she was still staring at the thing. Forcing herself to take a sip of the cranberry juice that Julia kept leaving her each morning in the hopes that she might indulge in something that was not full of caffeine or sugar. "Good God, this stuff is awful…"
Instead of doing her work, Sarah decided it was time for a non-smoke break, and poked her head out to Julia to see if she wanted to come.
"Sure. Anything to get out of here for a few minutes." Julia grinned and grabbed her purse as they made their way outside of the building to the small coffee house next door.
"Oooh, coffee…" Sarah braced her forehead against the glass display beside the counter and stared in delight at the black liquid. "How pretty you are."
"Sarah, how many cups today?" Julia enquired as she watched her friend degenerate from twenty-two to five in the span of five minutes. She was like a kid at a candy store for Christ's sakes.
"Uhm." Sarah chewed her full bottom lip guiltily, shifty-eyed, "one?"
"Yeah right." Julia shook her head on the argument that was completely useless by this point. Honestly, it would be more worrisome to see Sarah caffeine-free by now than anything.
They found a small table in the window, and people-watched in companionable silence, sipping respective drinks.
"Hey Julia, what are you doing this weekend?" Sarah enquired over her cup.
"Hey Sarah, I have no idea." Julia took a gulp of her latte, "avoiding wedding plans mainly. You?"
"Nothing, no plans yet. Wanna come over and chill? Oooh, we could throw a party. Haven't done that in awhile!" Sarah beamed at the prospect.
"Might be amusing." Julia grinned at Sarah's enthusiasm. This was one of the reasons she was so fun to be around, she was just so open. You rarely had to guess at what she was thinking, because she tended to tell everyone everything. It was refreshing, to say the least.
"Why? Why do we have to keep going over this, Sarah?" Jareth sneered at her from his seat, elegantly spearing another piece of food with his fork as he dealt with this annoyance.
"Why? Why?! Because it's important to me! I know that you could care less, you've made that perfectly obvious, but I care! Please listen to me!" Sarah could feel tears in the corner of her eyes. "Please!"
He stood up and slammed both hands on the table that separated them. Sarah jumped, raising stricken eyes to his face.
"No. I am sick of this. You either understand my obligations, or you don't Sarah. That's all there really is to it. Obviously you don't." He smiled that cruel evil smile, "The door is over there anytime you need to use it."
"Do you even understand what you're saying?!" She jumped to her feet to face him, eyes flashing with anger.
"Yes, unlike you, I do not say something in a childish pique, and then take it back with the next breath." He turned to leave, but stopped to throw over his shoulder, "When are you going to grow up?"
Jareth walked out of the dining hall to the sound of Sarah's wine goblet smashing on the door closing behind him. She sat back down, and cried bitterly with both hands covering her face.
Waking up with a gasp, Sarah stared around her darkened room, tears drying on her cheeks. That had felt so… real. She wiped at her eyes furiously, and looked to her alarm clock with a groan. Why had the dreams changed? None of it was real… They weren't even memories… But they felt so alive.
Sarah could feel the bitter anger, and sadness of the argument she had only dreamed moments before. She felt the same helpless frustration… And couldn't do anything about it. Wandering for a moment what the fight was about, she shook her head. Indulging these dreams was the last thing she needed.
The Labyrinth was now a distant memory for her. Like something out of a story book, she equated it with her childhood, and gave it as little importance as the cartoons she watched with Amy on weekend mornings with cereal. None of it meant anything, and she had a feeling that the Labyrinth and it's inhabitants were all figments of her incredibly overactive imagination. The only thing different… were these new dreams. Sarah didn't understand, and she didn't really want to. She wanted them gone.
Directly in front of her bed, was a full-length mirror. She stared at it a moment, and then inspiration struck. Pulling her pillow with her, she slid to sit on the carpet at the foot of her bed, and leaned back. Sarah checked her pajamas, making sure her shorts had not gone anywhere weird, and that her boobs were fully encased in the tank top, and then took a deep breath. Was she actually going to do this?
"Jareth. I need you." She said to her reflection. Obviously, she was going to do this. Sarah stared at herself for another moment, before sighing, almost wistfully, at her own foolishness. She leaned her head back against her bed, and stared at her ceiling. "This is silly. I'm stupid."
"And here I thought that I was the only one you called stupid." A dark rich voice drawled with amusement.
Sarah's neck snapped forward so fast, she feared whiplash. But there were bigger things to worry about, "Goblin King?"
There, in all of his dignity, in her mirror, he was. Almost as she had remembered, though perhaps slightly more… modern. She drank in the wild blond hair, the cruel mismatched eyes, the glowing paleness of his face. Sarah sighed, she bet he did nothing to keep his skin that beautiful, unlike her with her beauty regime of washing and moisturizing.
"Goblin King? Why, so formal Mistress Sarah." He smiled that familiar smile of a predator stalking it's prey, teeth glinting in the faint light from the street outside of her window.
"What are you doing here?" Sarah hugged her knees to her chest protectively and stared at him some more. Why did his hair have to look so shiny and silky?
"Are you going to stare at me all day, or did you actually ask me here for a reason?" He folded his arms across his chest and stared at her haughtily.
"I didn't ask you here!" Sarah was indignant at the prospect.
"Oh, well, maybe it was someone else, who looked exactly like you, who said in your voice, in your room may I add, and I quote, 'Jareth, I need you.'" He arched an eyebrow at this foolish conversation, "By the way, Sarah, if you truly… 'need' me, I would be more than happy to oblige."
"Not on your life!" Sarah shuddered at the thought, "You're not my type anyway. I like my men warm-blooded."
Jareth laughed, staring at her still with those strange, compelling eyes. "Oh Sarah, next thing I know, you're going to be yelling 'You have no power over me!' in a girlish falsetto."
"Oh, shut up! You'd think after this amount of time, you would have some sort of manners."
"My manners are impeccable. Now, you called me." He studied the back of his glove with great interest, "I haven't got all day."
"What, no friendly chit-chat, 'how's your day honey?'" Sarah snarked, glaring at him.
"I save my chit-chat for the important things." He paused to smile at her, "Honey."
"Good Lord."
"No Sarah, you may call me Jareth." He shook his head at her, "I thought we had gone over this already."
Sarah glared at him. He was thoroughly enjoying having the power in this little meeting, she could just tell. Goddammit, he was staring at his fucking gloves again.
She clenched her teeth. She was the one to call him, he did have a point there. "Jareth?" Her voice sounded strangled around her teeth, with she ground with frustration and anger.
"Yes my sweet." He smiled with innocence at her irritated face.
"Do you know anything about my dreams? Are you causing them?" There, what she had called him for.
"Yes, I do know about your dreams, and I do find it quite amusing that you think about me that often. I'm touched Sarah, really touched." He reclined back in his chair, in his side of the mirror, and waited for the outburst.
"That was not the question, damn it! Why does everything you say go in circles?"
"Perhaps you're not asking the right question." He stared at his leather-covered hand once again, looking up from under his blonde locks to smile at her briefly.
Sarah muttered darkly under her breath, feeling very annoyed. Think, she mentally chastised herself, you are much smarter than he is. You won! He lost! Why are you giving him the power here? Think breathing exercises, think yoga… she hated yoga, smug yoga bitches who were like pretzels… enough of that! Think long strolls, think Jack Johnson, think playing with Toby…
Jareth watched her closely as she closed her eyes, and breath in and out slowly. "Sarah, I have no idea what you are doing, but keep going."
Her eyes snapped open in the middle of her breathing exercises and found him staring at her chest rising and falling against the thin material of her tank top. "For the love of God!" She quickly crossed her arms over herself and glared at him again.
"No, darling, Jareth." He shook his head over games, and grinned at her again.
"No use, you're not going to get a rise out of me again. I am way too smart for you, not to mention mature and beautiful." She frowned at him, "And stare at my boobs like that again, and I will cut you."
Laughing, Jareth shook his head. He had forgotten just how amusing she could be to him. Besides that whole "My kingdom is as strong as yours" incident, that is.
"Now that we've gotten that out of the way, what do you know about my dreams? Why are they now different? Why do I keep having them? I can barely sleep. I need answers."
"I actually know about your dreams, but they are YOUR dreams. Not mine. So I believe this is your issue, not mine." Jareth crossed his arms again, and stared at her with an arrogant tilt to his head.
Sarah sighed with frustration, "You are not telling me everything, Jareth. I can sense it."
"Oh really? Am I that easy to read now?" He smiled at the thought.
"You're a…" She paused for dramatic emphasis, and leaned in close to the mirror in a conspiratorial manner. Sarah looked at him for a long moment, before sighing with frustration, and held up a finger to beckon him closer. Shocked, he sat forward at her command, a look of amusement crossing his face, "A piece of cake."
Sitting back with a nod, she chuckled a little at the look on his face. And then he threw his head back, and laughed loudly, razor-sharp teeth reminding her that she was not dealing with some mere mortal. Jareth looked back at her, still snickering.
"Oh Sarah, you should not have left the Underground. I could always use a court jester, and I think you are just perfect for that position."
"Hmm, well, tempting." She contemplated him for a moment with a serious face, "Don't think I'm not tempted. But if it involves working near you… Well, think up any childish insult you can and insert here. Thanks."
"Has the little kitten developed claws?" He grinned ferally, "how fascinating."
"Damn straight." Sarah contemplated him for a moment longer, "Do you really know nothing about my dreams, or are you just bullshitting again?"
"Search me." His thin lips curled up into a smile, "Actually, please do."
"Another time." Sarah yawned, and turned her back on him to crawl back up into bed. "Now go away, Goblin King, I need to sleep."
She refused to look at him again, and feigned sleep to the sound of his soft laughter. "Until next time Sarah…"