Im back!

This chapter has taken so long as I have been away in France for a whole week! While sliding down mountains on two bits of wood commonly known as skis I was plotting the next chapter so you better enjoy it! Thanks for your reviews I LIVE OFF THEM!

I do not own Labyrinth or any of the characters this fan fic is based on the film by Jim Henson.

I'm getting a little obsessed with Darien...I love him!

Darien was lounging at the dining table munching on some toast dressed immaculately in a white shirt, black breeches, black leather boots and a silver waistcoat with his long blonde hair tied in a high ponytail with a silver ribbon. His eyes were outlined heavily with silver makeup which all fey men seemed to wear whether they were homosexual or not. Looking up Darien glanced at the large grandfather clock opposite him, it was 11.30. They're still in bed He thought to himself swallowing a mouthful of toast I better go and wake Jareth up, grinning Darien leapt to his feet. It's my duty.

Disappearing from the dining room and reappearing outside Jareth's room he rapped on the door and without waiting for a reply swung the door open with a flourish. "Wake up little Goblin King today is a new day!" Striding into the room he flung back the curtains "Mortal women to impress, goblins to fling in the bog and so many other chores to do!" The mound of bedclothes failed to stir. All that could be seen was a few tufts of blond hair poking out from under the covers. Walking over to the bed Darien was slightly put out at the lack of reply from his oldest friend. Grinning evilly he conjured a bucket of icy cold water from nowhere.

"You really need an alarm clock Jareth then I wouldn't have to do...THIS!"

Upturning the bucket over the bed Darien was surprised to see that no water fell from it. "What the hell...?" Hearing laughter from behind him he spun around and gasped as he was soaked with what seemed like a whole swimming pool of water. Shivering while pushing sopping blond hair out of his eyes he glared at Jareth who was standing with a rather larger bucket than his own and was leaning against the wall shaking with fits of laughter.

"How the hell did you...I thought you were...you bastard!" Still dripping Darien glared at Jareth "That was a dirty trick"

"So was attempting to drown your king while he was sleeping, honestly Darien after 50 years of this little joke of yours aren't you getting a bit bored, I mean it was funny the first time but after hundreds of failed attempts to douse me with water did you not think I would be prepared?" Walking over to the bed Jareth flung back the covers to reveal a mannequin with a blond wig. Darien stuck out his bottom lip and crossed his arms.

"I'm telling on you!" Darien declared.

Jareth stared at his friend "Excuse me?"

"Im telling on you" Darien repeated frowning and stamping his foot.

"Telling on me? How old are you 5?"



"Still telling."

"There's no-one to tell!"

"Is too!"

"Is not"

"Is too"

"Is not"

"Is"

"Isn't"

"Is, is, is, is, and is. HA!"

"Darien you are being a fool" turning on his heel Jareth pulled out a black waistcoat and a pair of boots from his closet and pulled them on over the white shirt and cream breeches he was already wearing. "Who are you going to tell? The Goblins?" Darien shook his head causing water to spray from his ponytail. "Have you had breakfast?" Darien nodded "Is Sarah up?" Darien shrugged.

"Still telling"

"TELLING WHO?" Jareth shouted becoming impatient; this was unwise as it was just what Darien wanted from him. Darien loved a reaction and just grinned manically. Calling for Demetria Jareth asked her to get Sarah up then the two fey men (one still sopping wet) disappeared to the dining room where Jareth started on his breakfast and Darien started on his second.

Sarah having bathed and dressed in a pair of black trousers, black boots and green jumper came into the dining room pushing a few loose strands of hair behind her ears. Sitting across from Darien she surveyed his dripping form.

"Darien...have you been swimming?" Pulling the butter towards her she ignored Jareth who was sitting at the head of the table between the two, seeming to be reading a newspaper.

"Sarah, Jareth's being mean to me!" Darien whined gobbling a pastry and spraying crumbs everywhere.

"He started it" murmed Jareth not looking up from his paper.

"What happened?"

"Well I went to wake him up" he gestured to the silent goblin king "and as I was gently rousing him (or what I thought was him) he cruelly dumped icy water on me from behind! Tell him off Sarah, tell him he's a mean, mean boy and that he will not be getting any lunch."

Raising an eyebrow Sarah looked at Jareth who still refused to be disturbed from his reading and ignored her. Darien leaned over and looked at the paper in his hands, reading upside down. Jareth jerked the paper away from him and faced the other way crossing his legs, one over the other.



"Can't you just dry yourself off with magic?" asked Sarah which was answered with a deep sigh from Darien.

"That would destroy THE WHOLE POINT!" Darien stood up and pointed at the uninterested Jareth "He has cruelly saturated me with water and this is my only proof of the incident, if I was to dry off nobody would believe how cruelly mischievous that Goblin King really is!"

Still refusing to look up Jareth waved a hand and Darien was completely dry.

"NOOOOOOOOO" Darien sat down with a thump and stuffed his face with bread.

Staring across the table at him Sarah wondered how last night he had seemed so much more like Jareth. Aloof, stylish and a little bit scary but as she had got to know him he had become more like her little brother Toby. His behaviour had nothing to do with the fact that he was homosexual; Sarah knew plenty of normal, gay men back at home. No one she could think of even came close to Darien in his entire pony tailed, ribbon wearing, face stuffing, Goblin King befriending glory.

As if reading her mind Jareth glanced briefly up at Darien. "How old are you?"

"299 and counting" replied Darien in a brief pause between mouthfuls. Jareth went back to his paper and Darien stared across the table at Sarah. "Why so quiet this morning my chickens"

Sarah raised an eyebrow at him Chickens? That's it he's now officially the most insane person I have ever met.

Finishing her breakfast Sarah sat watching Darien demolish an amazing amount of food not quite sure what to do. Jareth was ignoring her, not maliciously; he was just completely uninterested in what was going on around him. Darien pushed his plate away, finally satisfied with the amount of food he had consumed.

"Pig" commented Jareth turning over the page.

Darien glared at him before turning to grin at Sarah. "I was thinking about going out for a ride today and he..." Jareth got a bread roll thrown at him which he deftly caught before tossing it onto the table "...has agreed to join me. We may even find some time to visit Ludo and that great little fox Sir Didymus. Wanna join us?"

Sarah's eyes lit up and she smiled widely "Well Hoggle said he was going to visit me today, is there any way I could contact him so I could see all three of them at the same time?"

Darien nodded and turned to Jareth "Give."

"Say please"

"Please"

Jareth tossed him a crystal that had appeared from nowhere and Darien turned it round a few times before speaking into it.

"Hoggle" A brief silence then Sarah was delighted to hear the dwarf's voice issue from the crystal.

"Darien! I thought it was that fool of a king for a moment..." Jareth coughed loudly and Hoggle stumbled over his words as he recognised his king's voice "Careful Hogbreath"

"What I meant was...anyway... what do you want Darien?"



"Sarah is here with me and I hear that you were planning to come to the castle today, change of plan old chap, we'll meet you in the orchard where we will also be seeing Ludo and Mr Fox."

"Right, can I have a word with Sarah?"

"Of course you may, see you later, at about noon."

Handing Sarah the crystal Darien eyed the remainder of the food.

"Hoggle" Sarah smiled into the crystal seeing her friend's face.

"Jus' wanted to check you were okay and that you hadn't become a victim of that Fey."

"Which one?" asked Sarah looking up at Darien eating a...kiwi?

"Both" grumbled Hoggle "Better be on my way, see you later, be careful"

"Bye" replied Sarah and the crystal vanished. Feeling eyes on her she was surprised to find Jareth's startling eyes fixed on her own, he seemed lost in thought for a few moments then, to her great shock, he winked at her, broke eye contact and turned to Darien.

"Did you bring your horse?" Jareth asked unaware that he had left Sarah completely stunned and cleared away the remaining food with a wave of his hand including the pile of kiwis that Darien had accumulated in front of him.

"Hey I wanted those and yes Pluto is in the stables."

"Pluto?" Sarah asked distracted for a moment from replaying the wink in her mind He winked? JARETH? THE GOBLIN KING? HE WINKED!?

"Yes" replied Darien grinning broadly "After that adorable dog of Mickey Mouse."

"Do you get TV here?" Sarah asked surprised that Jareth or Darien would even know of the cartoon's existence.

"I do, but that's only because I make a huge effort to watch mortal television Jareth however..." Darien looked around for something to throw at the goblin King who had returned to his paper but finding nothing simply flicked the newspaper which earned him a grunt of annoyance "...just can't be bothered, says that the whole thing is ridiculous. Doesn't even enjoy 'Spongebob Squarepants' the only thing he remotely enjoyed was 'The Phantom of the Opera' but got bored as soon as that blonde guy came on the scene...Raoul or something."

Sarah found it very hard to hold back her laughter at the thought of Jareth watching either of those shows, to tell the truth she actually loved 'Phantom of the Opera' and could see a few resemblances between the Phantom and the Goblin King. 'Spongebob Squarepants' was going a bit too far though and at the thought of it she couldn't help but snort with laughter.

"Shut up Darien" drawled Jareth making the paper disappear and standing, the other two followed suit.

"He's a bit like that squid guy" whispered Darien as they followed Jareth out of the room, through the hall and out into the sunshine.

Sarah was feeling a little nervous at the prospect of riding again so soon after her fall from Pasha. The Groom led out Jareth's great black horse Sparta and Pasha then a creamy yellow horse who she assumed was Pluto.



"He can't be naturally that yellow...can he?" Sarah asked Darien as he leaped effortlessly into the saddle.

"Well...he had to be a bit yellower than usual; I do love that crazy dog." Darien grinned down at her.

Jareth walked with her over to Pasha and gave her a leg up. Seeing the worried look on her face as she settled on the horse Jareth smiled slightly and placed a gloved hand gently on her leg. "Don't worry you'll be fine" he said softly then turned away he mounted the snorting Sparta expertly and galloped through the gates with Darien and Sarah following in his wake.

At approximately noon they reached the orchard. On her previous visit she had never been here, well of course she hadn't this was outside the Labyrinth. Tall trees rose up on either side as the three rode in silence, their horses making hardly any noise on the soft grass. Jareth stopped in a sunlight clearing and watched as Darien leapt off his horse and raced off into the trees.

"Where has he gone?" asked Sarah surprised to find herself so suddenly alone with the Goblin King and feeling a little nervous.

"To find your friends of course, well I suppose I could also call them his friends as he seems to get on ridiculously well with everyone." Dismounting Jareth walked slowly over to Sarah and Pasha. "Are you going to dismount?" he asked softly and Sarah looked down at him from, what seemed to her, a great height.

"Im not sure I can" she said quietly, a tremor in her voice. Aw come on a voice inside her spoke you just want him to help you down admit it. Jareth stepped forward and assisted her in sliding down off Pasha. His hands were on her waist and they were barely inches apart as her feet touched the ground. She could feel the heat radiating from his body as they both stood motionless. His eyes seemed to burn into hers and she thought how easy it would be just to stretch up, wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him.

A light breeze ruffled Sarah's hair and, feeling her heart beat increase dramatically she tried to sort through the mess in her mind for something to say to lessen the tension in the air. Jareth seemed completely at ease with the situation, he smiled slightly, releasing her waist from his hold and turned away with a wink, what's with the winking, as Darien came bounding into the clearing closely followed by Sarah's three friends.

Yes it's short and not exactly a work of art but I just got back from holiday and am exhausted. Tomorrow will bring a better, longer chapter I promise. I got a bit obsessed with Darien and his foolishness: SPONGEBOB!

Ignore me...my sense of humour is...weak.

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Or I will kill Jareth! HAHAHAHAHA ok im really tired don't worry the Goblin King lives...for now.