SCENE 11

OUTLANDISH IMAGINATIONS TEND TO LEAN TOWARDS CORSET WEARING VAMPIRES

The evening passed fairly quiet. Dink's dinner, though it broke every goblin cookbook rule, was scrumptious. They all ate out on the patio watching the sunset and then the stars come out. The city lights made it hard to distinguish many of the constellations, but Jareth pointed out those that could be seen. There was even a few that were strictly goblin that Sarah had never heard of before: Ursik the Mighty who held a turnip in his right hand; the Seven Graces who danced near the moon (only five of the seven could be seen). Sitting on the lawn she studied the spot in the sky that he was pointing to. "See them?" he asked.

"Maybe." She squinted.

He moved behind her. Taking her hand in his he raised her arm and pointed her own finger at the location. "There, that row of blue toned stars."

"Oh."

"They'd be more noticeable in the Underground." He dropped his hand to her shoulder.

They sat like that with the goblins around them for at least another hour. Dink rested his head against Sarah's leg, while Stench made do against one of Jareth's. The rest huddled together, lounging lazily. Sarah looked away from the stars. Once again she compared the goblins around her to children- so blatantly honest and open, yet endearingly loyal. They were actually sort of cute. The hand on her shoulder moved fingering a few strands of her hair. Yawning, she happily thought, 'I wish I could live a million moments like this.' Her skin tingled.

Jareth closed his eyes and ever so slightly furrowed his brow. Old habits die hard.

When the hour grew late and several of them had begun to snore, he woke everyone and marched them back towards the closet. Drowsily they mumbled about it wasn't fair that the roommate was returning tomorrow. The lady's house was so much more fun. She patted their head's and told them she'd make time for them next weekend. "What about me?" Jareth inquired as the last goblin stumbled through the door.

She regarded him for a second. "Yeah, I suppose I can make time for you too. No moping in the mean time though."

He chuckled. "None of that, I promise. Goodnight Sarah." He leaned in and gently kissed her lips. Then he was gone.

Sarah stood there and finally let her self feel everything that had built up since the laundry room. No, since long before the laundry room. The little house seemed so vast and empty with them gone. Was it smart to take things slow? Before it had taken less than eleven hours to nearly convince her that he, his nibs, the freakin' Goblin King, could very well be the man for her. Absently she took a step closer to the door. What if this time going slow drove him away in frustration? Time may very well be irrelevant to an immortal, but it says nothing of an innate desire for physical contact… or love. 'Oh Sarah, what are you going to do?' She brought her ear to the door and pressed against it listening. Nothing. She got ready for bed.

On the other side in a dark hall way Jareth sighed. He clenched his fists, raising his arm to knock. He hesitated. Would she consider it to be moving too fast? It was so very odd to not have her right at his side. This time he could not handle a rejection. The old adage, "Three strikes and you're out" hadn't come about simply because of the mortal past time of baseball. It had come from the fae. He knew it and hated it. 'Yes but what about her wish old boy? You simply cannot ignore her wish.' He stayed him self. With another sigh he turned away.

………………………………………………………………………………

A few days passed. Brianna gushed about her road trip. She had met an overly tan, bleached out lake stud named Will. They had already made plans for next weekend. Work was just as steady as the week before. By Wednesday morning Sarah was already feeling that same sense of restlessness, near boredom dejection. When Brianna caught her staring wistfully at the corset she knew she was teetering on the brink of insanity. "I suppose I should be glad that you've developed a corset fascination," her roommate stated. "Beats using street drugs."

"Or passing out with an empty wine bottle." Sarah wondered to her self just who exactly she was trying to convince.

"Or becoming the world's most tattooed lady."

"Or prostituting myself."

"Indeed. Want it on again?"

"No I shouldn't. We have a new shipment of books coming in- lifting with a corset on probably wouldn't be the smartest idea." The two women left for work.

Now under the enchantment of what could very well be labeled "sexy thoughts" as the result of staring at the corset, Sarah found her self at the end of the day standing in the small book section of her local drug store browsing. Harlequin. Bodice Ripper. Romance. 'Love stories,' her mind snapped defensively. Yes love stories filled with shirtless men in tight pants and corset wearing women with their cleavage falling out. How ironic. She rolled her eyes. Picking one up she flipped absently through the pages. Words describing every body part visible and otherwise registered in her sight. Blushing she put the book back on the shelf. 'Written porn!' She skimmed over other titles. One paper back sported a promising illustration of a handsome couple dancing. Having inspected it and decidedly liking the front cover she made her purchase.

Arriving home before her roommate she straightened a few items, tucked her shoes away, and put the tea pot to boil. A quiet house made for good reading. She stretched out on the couch and began to read. The first chapter introduced the heroine- a simple lady who because of circumstance could do very well whatever she wanted. The author wasted little time in introducing the element of "romance" to the story. By chapter two the lady was seducing men because her closest friend dared her to, as a way to spice up her otherwise boring life.

With a subtle shrug of her alabaster shoulder, the sheer material fell away leaving her indecently exposed. Blake swallowed hard. She was making a blatant offering of her body to him and he found himself considering the proposition with interest. A tryst that lacked emotional or financial obligation, yet that offered one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen could prove to be most entertaining.

Allyson ran one long finger in a caressing stroke over his collar bone. "My dear Blake we are after all adults of an age of self accountability." Her lips smiled. "And you are after all nearly half way undressed." Her hand trailed over his chest and proceeded to sweep over his taunt stomach muscles.

The tea pot hissed and whistled causing her to start and yelp. She turned off the stove, poured the water, and returned with mug in hand to the couch. For a brief second she considered just how smart it was of her to be reading this. She had read through another page before she realized it.

Despite being something of a tramp Allyson was demonstrating a degree of sexual confidence that Sarah found alluring. By the end of chapter two the heroine had seduced, ravished, and made love to Blake twice. She closed the book feeling rather awkward. She had only ever seduced (she had worn a nice dress), ravished (spent ten minutes making out), and made love to (spent another two minutes trying to figure out how to have an orgasm) with only one boyfriend in the past. When that relationship burnt out at the same unsuccessful rate as her handful of others she had made something of a promise to her self to not go down that path again until she was sure. Sure of what exactly? That "what" she simply wasn't sure about.

There was knocking.

She raised her self up on the couch listening. The knocking was coming from her bedroom. A slight panic struck her. If that was Jareth being coy in her current depraved state she wasn't sure the events, that would more than likely follow, would be in both parties best interest. 'Crap!' went that inner voice. More knocking. She rushed for the closet, tossing the book on to her desk. Opening the door she let out a small gasp.

It most definitely wasn't Jareth. Nor a goblin.

A young man regarded her. His dark hair was slicked smooth against his head, with a severe side part. His eyes were painted very dark. Pale skin stood out against a rich blue suit. He seemed quite flustered at seeing her. "Oh excuse me," he finally said, his accent balanced between European and a polished southern gentleman. She leaned on the door raising her eyebrows questioningly. At this point in her life she should learn to not assume what might come through her closet. "I must have taken a wrong turn in the hedge maze."

She took a deep breath clearing her head. "Well maybe I can help you-," she gestured prompting for his name.

"Jasper. And you are?"

"Sarah."

He clicked his heels and bowed respectfully. "Might I inquire as to where I am Miss Sarah?"

There was something very amusing, almost disarming about him. "Well as of the moment you are in my closet, which incidentally is in my bedroom which is a part of my house located on planet Earth."

"Ah, I see, but, um, which side?"

"Oh you mean. Right you're on the human side. That is you will be once you step over the thresh hold."

His expression took on a bit of embarrassment. "Sorry for the inconvenience."

She smirked. "I'm a bit used to people and things showing up randomly in my closet."

"Really now?"

"Yes." She nodded. "Hedge maze you say? Are you from the Underground?"

He clasped his hands behind his back, tilting his head to one side in a sort of quirky way. "Yes I am a guest of his majesty's."

"Guest, not a runner?" she pressed for clarification.

He laughed. "No ma'am, not a runner."

"Would-would you like to come in?" she then offered. "I can fix you a cup of tea or something."

"Well I really wasn't about anything in particular- I'd be delighted. Thank you." He crossed in. His eyes surveyed his room. "So this is what the mortal plane looks like these days. Lovely!"

She closed the door. "It's not much, thanks."

Something knocked on the other side of the door again. Sarah suddenly vividly imagined Jareth appearing and meeting this strange mystery guest. Would he be delighted or miffed? She really wasn't sure. Opening the door she saw Fash, Meep, and Dink.

"Goblins!" exclaimed Jasper with delight.

They waved at him.

She greeted them. "Hi guys! What can I do for you all today?"

Fash adjusted his spectacles. "Well we are a bit bored and well-,"

"Well," cut in Meep. "we were wondering if we could come over?"

"We know it's not the weekend," continued Dink.

"But we'd be real quiet!" finished Fash.

"Please!" they all grinned at her.

She let them in. They made their way towards the living room. Fash was making a comment about a movie called Hello Dolly and how he needed to watch it to get some new ideas.

She led Jasper into the kitchen where she put the pot to boil. He stood looking around at everything. He was most interested in her oven mitts, calling them a fascinating object. Sarah smiled to her self. Something about him reminded her of a boy, easily pleased, always ready with a compliment. She saw him standing on the steps of a plantation surveying the land with a proud, satisfied expression. The vision worked quite well except for his very dark eye makeup. 'Alright maybe he's a well polished vampire.' She paused pretending to examine the contents of a tea bag. 'Jareth hangs out with vampires? Now that seems far fetched. Ha! Never mind the goblins, the pixies, the dwarfs… we simply cannot have vampires.'

"Miss Sarah, you have a lovely home," complimented Jasper accepting the tea.

"Thank you. You are just so… polite. So very unlike his majesty at times." She smiled.

He let out a good natured laugh. "Yes, well he can be quite brash when he wants to be. But make no mistake," he turned instantly serious. "he is a fine king." She agreed whole heartedly. "Tell me ma'am how is it you know his highness?"

"Well we…we, uh," she paused. She had never had to explain their past to anyone before.

"We are old acquaintances," stated a stern male voice.

Jasper turned casually towards the entrance to the kitchen. "Ah there he is, making one of his ominous, unannounced appearances."

Jareth looked a little peeved. "Jasper what are you doing here?"

He shrugged indifferent. "I got lost."

"Lost?" Sarah recognized the edge in Jareth's voice. It was very similar to one he had used on her right before bringing the Cleaners down on her. "You were supposed to come straight up to the castle! It took me several looks through a crystal to find you!"

"Yes, but you know I've never been able to resist your hedge maze."

Sarah shot Jareth a puzzled look. "He took a wrong turn and turned up in my closet. No big deal."

He rolled his eyes. "You always were a bumbling fool cousin."

"I always seem to manage to make it out on top though cousin." Sarah felt him pass close to her. From the way Jareth's face went rigid she wondered if he had made a crude gesture.

She gaped at the two. One wild and blonde. The other tight and dark. "You two are cousins?" she exclaimed.

"Older," quipped Jareth.

"Younger," snipped Jasper.

Jareth crossed the room, stood next to Sarah in a rather dominating fashion the testosterone in room elevating. She gave them both shrewd looks. They glared at one another.

"Look my roommate is going to be home here soon so can we just-,"

"No she won't," cut in Jareth sharply. "She'll be out late."

Jasper smirked. "Telephone!" he announced a second before it rang.

Sure enough Brianna was calling to let her know work would be keeping her late. Having hung up she again surveyed the two males. That boyish gleam had slacked off from around Jasper- he stood just as confidently as Jareth was. They looked ready to duke it out. Over what exactly though was lost on her.

"Look you two, I'm going to reheat some left-overs. Whatever spat or disagreement or ego proving you need to do, just take it outside, or better yet take it home to the castle. Not here. Not in front of the goblins and me, alright?" Having said her piece she proceeded to ignore them both.

Jasper eventually wandered out into the living room, sipping his tea. She heard Jareth heave a sigh. From the other room she heard Streisand singing her heart out. The microwave whirled in front of her. He came and stood next to her. "How'd he get here?" he asked quietly. She told him about the knocking. As she spoke he seemed to struggle with two opposing emotions first calm then agitated. She shrugged. The microwave dinged. "Just be on your guard with him," he then said.

"Fine," she replied tersely. "Are you hungry? I just don't get what happened in here. It's not like we were even flirting."

"You don't have to flirt with his sort. You think I'm randy!"

"So are you trying to tell me that his southern boy attitude is all a front and he's actually a blood sucking vampire waiting for my weakest moment so he can pounce?"

He furrowed his brow and then raised an eyebrow. "You've got an outlandish imagination."

"You should hear what I don't say," she mumbled fussing over a tuber ware container. Louder she said, "If you so obviously have issues with him then why did you invite up to the castle?" Another plate went into the microwave.

"One doesn't invite Jasper. He announces him self." He eyed her. "Does what he wants. Takes what he wants."

In the other room they could hear the cousin matching the vocal demonstrations of Streisand. The goblins applauded approvingly. Jareth watched as Sarah extended the invitation for dinner. He declined with enough charm to make his skin crawl. Rolling his eyes for the hundredth time he watched his cousin bend over her hand and exit the premises. Tonight he was definitely going to be hard up to fulfill her last wish.