"It's a pleasure to meet the both of you," Taran said, still not breaking eye-contact with Faye. She felt uneasy under his gaze and shifted her eyes away.
"Okay, you've proved you're real, now get out of here. Go back to...wherever it is you're from," Faye said, waving her arm as if to shoo them away. Sarah shot her daughter a 'look' and turned to face their guests.
"Please stay. I'll make some coffee...or tea? Lemonade? Sorry, I don't know what the preferred drink of goblin royalty is."
"Tea would be fine, Sarah," Jareth said, easing his way onto the couch. Faye didn't like the fact that he seemed way too comfortable sitting in her living room, and ran to get her coat.
"Where are you going, Faye?" Sarah said, emerging from the kitchen with a tray of pastries.
"I'm going to go for a walk. No offense Goblin King, but I this is just too weird for me. I need to clear my head." Faye pulled her boots on and headed outside, the door slamming. Sarah watched her go and sat down with a sigh.
"Feisty thing, isn't she?" Jareth remarked with a smirk.
"Yes. That's the one thing I wish she didn't inherit so much from me."
"I beg to differ, precious. It's one of your finest qualities." Sarah looked up at Jareth and blushed, pushing her hair out of her eyes. They heard someone clearing their throat and turned to look at Taran who quickly stood up and excused himself.
"Where are you going?" Jareth asked him.
"Not to worry, I'll be back soon." Taran winked discreetly at Jareth and disappeared in a puff of glitter. Sarah sighed again, noticing the mess that the two Fae men had made on her living room floor.
"It looks like I held a disco party in here," she said.
"It will disappear in a matter of minutes," Jareth said, waving his hand. Silence consumed the room, until Sarah decided to speak again.
"So, how old is Taran?"
"In Fae years, he is still quite young. He's stopped the physical aging and will look the way he does for the next ten thousand years or so. In mortal years, he's about 25 years old."
"He looks just like you."
"Yes, but he has his mother's eyes, I'm sure you've noticed."
"Who..." Sarah tugged on a piece of her hair that had come loose. "Who was his mother?"
Jareth smiled at Sarah's attempt to remain aloof despite the slight jealousy he heard in her voice. "She was a Fae noblewoman; she died while giving birth to him."
"I'm sorry for your loss," Sarah said earnestly. "I know all too well what you must have felt when she died."
"Oh, do you?"
"Yes. David, my husband, passed away four years ago. It's been hard without him, but it was much harder on Faye than anyone else," Sarah said, remembering how Faye had stayed up in her room for days on end and refused to eat anything. "They were extremely close."
"Do you miss him?"
"Of course I miss him," Sarah snapped slightly. "We shared children together, a life together. He was my rock." Jareth's muscle in his cheek twitched again as Sarah spoke of her husband. So much passion and love was in her voice.
"I didn't mean to offend." She nodded her head, reassuring him that she understood.
"How about your wife? Do you miss her?"
"Speaking truthfully, not as much as you would think. It was terrible that she died, yes, but our marriage was based on politics; we each had our duties to fulfill. She was a good companion but there was no real love between us" He paused, looking down at his boots. "May I see a picture of your husband?"
"Of course," Sarah said as she jumped up. She was a little surprised that Jareth was so interested in her life. She returned with a photo album in her hand, and sat down next to him on the couch. "This is us on our wedding day," she said as she flipped the pages for him. "And this was us on the day that Faye was born. And this is the four of us when Michael was born. He's ten now."
"I would very much like to meet him."
"Well, he's at school now. He won't be home for another couple of hours."
"Well then, I'll have to wait for another day precious," Jareth said with a promising smile, and Sarah's heart did a little flutter.
Faye huffed as she walked in the park that was three blocks away from her house. Who did those magical freaks think they are? Swooping in (actually, poofing in) unannounced and...Well, okay she did call on him. But I didn't think that he would actually show up! And then his son decided to tag along too? She remembered the say he looked at her, how his amethyst eyes pierced through her body as if he was stripping off each layer of clothing that she was wearing with his mind. She shivered and hugged her coat closer to her. What a creep.
She walked through the park enjoying the light winter breeze that floated around her, and after a while she began to relax. That is, until she felt someone watching her. She looked over her shoulder cautiously but didn't see anyone. She was alone, just as she had been when she arrived at the park. She shook her head and kept walking until she felt like she was being followed. She turned around bravely to catch whoever it was off-guard, but she still didn't see anyone. Suddenly, she heard a loud screech and a large red-tailed hawk appeared from out of nowhere. She shrieked and ducked as it swooped down at her, landing on a low branch of a nearby tree. She straightened herself as she watched it, mentally chastising herself for not taking her camera with her so she could take a picture. It was the most beautiful bird she had ever seen, its great chest thrust forward proudly. She started to smile to herself as she admired the red-brown feathers on its lean body, her gaze coming up to its large, acute eyes and its strong beak and...Wait a minute, she thought, did that thing just smile at me? Thinking she was losing her mind, she turned to go but heard the bird screech again. When she turned to look back at it, she saw its yellow eyes suddenly turn purple, and hawk's body morphed into a human body. But not just any body...
"Taran?" Faye asked, her eyes wide.
"We meet again, Faye. And so soon after our previous rendezvous," he said as he floated down to her and took her hand in his again and brought it to his lips. She ripped her hand from his and wiped it on her coat.
"What the hell do you think you're doing? Changing from a bird and back to your human form in the middle of the day! Are you crazy?"
"It would have been very hard to talk to you if I didn't change," he said to her, his eyes mocking. She rolled her eyes and scoffed at him.
"That's not what I meant and you know it. There are people here and they could have seen you!"
"I just wished to speak with you without our parents hovering over us like children."
"Really? Well I don't really feel like talking to you. You almost knocked me over when you flew towards me."
"Please Faye," he said, gently grabbing her arm as she began to walk away from him. She looked into his eyes that had suddenly turned gentle, and it surprised her. Sensing that she would give in soon, he spoke again. "I would like to get to know you." Faye rolled her eyes in frustration, more at herself than at Taran.
"Okay, fine." She looked down at his clothes and noticed he was still wearing his menacing grey outfit from before. "But I'm not gonna walk around the park with you dressed like that." He smirked at her and waved his hand over himself and was immediately transformed. His hair had become shorter but still held the unruly mess that he had from before. His eyebrows were no longer swept upwards, but curved in a way that suited his face. His clothes had changed as well; he was now clad in dark blue jeans, a black shirt and a black coat with a grey scarf around his neck. His ears were rounded (she guessed that they must have been pointed because he was a Fae) and she didn't notice before that there was a silver loop through both of them. His feet were clad in black sneakers and he still had his black gloves on; all in all, he looked like your typical modern-day youth. He smiled at her as she examined him.
"Do I meet your approval?"
"Yeah you do. More than I thought, actually," she caught her words as she said them and blushed a deep pink when he grinned at her. "I didn't mean it that way. I just meant that I didn't think you could pull it off."
"Just because I live Underground doesn't mean that I don't know what's going on Above. I know a thing or two about your world. Now," he said as he straightened out his coat at the shoulders. "It's colder than I thought it was. Shall we continue on your walk then, my lady?" He took her hand once more and threaded it through his arm feeling the warmth of her small palm even through the thickness of his woollen sleeve. Faye smiled despite herself as she looked at his face from under her lashes. Jareth was very handsome, but Taran's face held youth within it, making him appear to be much better looking than his father was, even now in his mortal guise. Okay, he's not good-looking. He's gorgeous. Faye admitted. But she would never say it out loud.
"Something on your mind, Faye?" he asked her, his sharp English accent slightly startling her.
"Why do you ask?" she replied, shaking her head slightly to get her thoughts in order.
"You've been staring at me for the past ten minutes, love," he grinned. Faye wished she could slap that smug look off of his face.
"I was just wondering...I called for the Goblin King, not the Goblin Prince. Why did you show up?"
"Father insisted I come along to show me how things are done. I still have plenty to learn before I become king, but lately he's been more aggressive with his training. I suspect he's thinking very seriously about abdicating."
"Why would he want to do that? He's not old or anything."
"He's far older than you can imagine, but still relatively young in Fae years, whereas I am still looked upon as an infant by the Fae court. I have yet to experience half of what he's known in his lifetime. As for the abdicating, I'm still not quite sure why." They continued walking until Faye realized they had reached the heart of the small town. People were stopping to look at the handsome stranger, and Faye felt somewhat proud that she was hanging on to his arm. Just as she began to smile, she heard a voice come from behind her that made her cringe inwardly.
"Oh my god, Faye." Taran saw Faye wince and looked at her curiously.
"Oh no, not her," Faye said.
"What's the matter?" Taran asked, his eyebrows raised.
"I know her from high school. She's one of those girls who acts nice but she's really insulting you, and for some reason she loves doing it to me." Faye plastered a fake smile on her face and turned around to face the girl who was walking up behind them.
"Faye! How nice to see you!" Marcia Addison said, striding toward them. "Still haven't gotten out of this town, huh? Well that's okay; you were never really the type to stray away from a small town life. And who is this?" she added, noticing Taran.
"Marcia, this is Taran. Taran is...he, uh-"
"My father is an old friend of her mother," Taran interrupted, holding out his hand for Marcia to take. Marcia flirtatiously flipped her light brown hair off of her shoulder and smiled at him while extending her own hand.
"Well, it's no wonder Faye's been hiding you from everyone. You're not from here are you, judging by that accent."
"No, I'm not as a matter of fact."
"Well, I'd be more than happy to show you the town. Not that there's really anything to see, but we can always find some of our own fun, right? " Marcia said, winking at him. "You could come along Faye, but you probably have some books to read or something, don't you? Taran looks like he wants to have fun, not be put to sleep. Why don't you go on ahead and I'll bring him back around your house later. Don't worry. I'll take good care of him." Marcia said, reaching for Taran's hand. Faye rolled her eyes at the obvious innuendo, but inside she was burning. She looked Marcia over, clad in her knee-high boots, a sandy coloured trench coat and a matching beret, her hair in perfect curls and her makeup flawlessly done; she looked like she stepped right out of a fashion catalogue. Faye, on the other hand, had just thrown on what she could grab at that moment; black boots scuffed with mud, torn jeans, a navy blue coat and white mittens with a matching scarf. With the two supermodels standing next to her, she felt like a complete slob.
Why is this bothering me so much? She thought.
She felt Taran tugging on her arm as he pulled her closer to his body, his arm coming around her waist. She looked up at him, ready to tell him to keep his Faerie hands to himself, but was taken aback when she noticed he was smiling down at her warmly.
"Thanks for the invite Marcia, but Faye and I already have plans. Don't we, babe?" Babe? Faye thought. What kind of act was he trying to pull? "Faye doesn't talk about me much, does she? We've been going strong for...how long has it been now, love?" Taran said, still smiling. Faye was staring at him, her eyes wide with surprise.
"Uh, a year?" she murmured, still dazed. She looked out of the corner of her eye and saw Marcia looking at them in disbelief. Faye caught the glimmer of mischief in Taran's eye and smiled when she realized what he was up to. She was more than willing to play along with him. "But we've known each other for longer."
"You two are together?" Marcia asked, her eyebrow raised in questioning. "I never would have guessed that this was your type, Faye. I mean, he's absolutely dazzling and you're so-"
"Amazing?" Taran cut her off. "Beautiful? Wonderful? She sure is."
"Cut it out, you big goof," Faye said in a fit of giggles. She's watched enough television to know how stupid girls act when they're in a lovey-dovey relationship. Taran smiled at her, amused.
"Hmm. I'm not sure I'm convinced," Marcia said. Is this girl serious? What the hell is it going to take to get her to go away? Faye thought as she looked up and noticed something hanging from the doorway that they stood under. A wild idea popped into her head at that moment, and she willed all of her nerves to disappear.
"Oh, look Taran! Mistletoe!" She grabbed him by the collar of his coat and pulled him down to her lips, where they pressed firmly. She felt him inhale sharply in surprise, but then his mouth seemed to curve into a small smile against her lips and he placed his arms around her waist. She couldn't believe she was doing this. I also can't believe how soft his lips are, she thought. He mouth opened slightly and she felt his tongue run across her lower lip. She shuddered as a bolt of electricity shot through her.
The kiss lasted for a few seconds, but to Faye it seemed to go on for hours. When they finally pulled apart, his eyes were clouded with lust and had deepened to a royal purple, so dark that they nearly looked black. But just as soon as she saw it, it disappeared and they turned lilac, a triumphant light shining within them. Oh, we are gonna have a talk about that.
It took her a few more seconds to remember that Marcia was still watching them, stunned, and she turned to her with a smile to match Taran's eyes.
"Well, Faye, I think it's time for that hot chocolate you promised me. Nice meeting you Marcia," Taran said while holding Faye's hand and beginning to walk away from the two women. Faye smiled over her shoulder as she ran to keep up with Taran. He swung his arm over her shoulders and she placed her arm around his waist until they turned the corner and Faye burst into a loud guffaw.
"Oh my god, that was priceless! Did you see the look on her face?" She wiped tears away from her eyes and noticed Taran was watching her with an amused look.
"Is she always that awful?"
"You should've been around in high school. If you were around to help me out like you did today she would've been put in her place a long time ago." Faye straightened and looked at the ground, her cheeks more pink from embarrassment than the cold. "Sorry about catching you off guard like that."
"Not to worry. I was pleasantly surprised." Faye flushed a deeper pink as she rolled her eyes and Taran smiled at her as she began fidgeting with her gloves.
"And I don't recall ever promising to buy you a hot chocolate!"
"Well, I think you owe me one now." Faye rolled her eyes again as he led them to a small coffee house, the bell ringing above the door as she opened it.
"Do you want whipped cream on yours too?"