Chapter 2: Called From Nothing At All

Freshly pink from her shower, Sarah was not dressed when Jareth arrived.

Oh, she was wearing clothes. She hadn't been prepared to make that mistake, but she wasn't wearing clothes she would be caught dead in outside the confines of her apartment. But the fact remained that she didn't know how to treat this date arrangement thing. Nor how to dress for it.

First date chic or I'm-being-blackmailed-into-this-and-don't-care-in- the-slightest-what-I-look-like-and-you're-just-luc ky-I'm-probably-not-wearing-sweats daring?

There was also the matter of the man's imperious demand that she wear something red.

Sarah naturally planned to do no such thing.

At some point, the Goblin King seemed to have cottoned on to this fact.

She should have expected it, really. After the third conspicuously not red top in a row, Sarah turned back to her closet to find the contents altered.

That spying, sanctimonious-

Turning to her chest-of-drawers, she found the contents changed as well.

In fact, every single article of clothing she owned from her outerwear all the way down to her skivvies had been turned varying garish shades of red, and absolutely none of them matched. Neither the clothes she had discarded moments prior, nor her dirty laundry, had been spared.

Looking down at her current attire again, it too had been subjected to Red-A-Palooza 2000.

"Jareth!"

The man, or Fae- she really needed to get that clarified at some point, himself was a no show. He seemed to have some sense of self-preservation, but if he intended to go through with this whole farce, he would have to show up eventually.

About the time her blood pressure began to skyrocket, and she started seeing figurative red in addition to the literal, Sarah caught a glimmer out of the corner of her eye.

There, hanging on the doorframe of her wardrobe as though it had every right to be, was a dress.

It was a candy-apple red number she had never seen before in her life; the thing was a tastefully shimmery, flirty, a-line cut. Worst of all, she actually kind of liked it. It was by no means immodest, but it happened to be a good deal shorter than she felt entirely comfortable with for a first date to unknown destination with a Goblin King of questionable intent.

Thus leading her to her current predicament.

"Sarah."

The puff of breath caressed her ear at precisely seven o'clock on New Year's day. Sarah spun to find her tormenter nowhere in sight.

"Sarah, Sarah, you're not dressed. This won't do at all."

She turned to give the infuriating man a piece of her mind, but his attire thwarted her. Momentarily.

Oh, hot damn and Merry Christmas to me.

Whoa girl, it's just a suit. A particularly well tailored suit. But just a suit, nonetheless.

It wasn't just the suit though, he'd ditched what she assumed was eye make up, but most drastically and importantly, he had changed his hair. She felt an irrational pang at its loss, and hoped that this was just some sort of glamor. She liked his hair, even if it make him look like some sort of eighties rocker. It worked.

Though, the bit of scruff he'd picked up since earlier in the day also worked. And the tamer shorter version of his hair wasn't terrible. It fit the suit, after all.

Movement drew her attention back down to his hands. His ungloved hands. For some reason, she thought that detail was important. And, wow, a man adjusting his cuff links ought not be something attractive. In another person, it may have been construed as nervous fidgeting. But by the way the Goblin King was looking her directly in the eye, well, it just had to be calculated nonchalance.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts. There was no way he was that naturally mesmerizing.

Oh, and then she had to go and ruin the whole illusion by shifting her gaze and taking in the smug satisfaction dancing across his face.

"Now, if my apparel has met your standards, get dressed, if you would be so kind."

"I'm not wearing that," She told him flatly, gesturing toward the summery dress. "It's January and below freezing outside by now."

He tilted his head, grinning indulgently.

"I promise you, Sarah, that you will suffer no hardships due to the weather whilst wearing that gown."

Sarah gave him a look that conveyed just how generous he was with the terming it a gown.

He made the face in response: the face she was swiftly coming to learn meant he thought her amusing and was likely about to say something indecent.

"Or, if you prefer, we could stay in and engage in other pleasurable activities," Jareth shrugged, as though ti was all the same to him.

The thing this disturbed her most was that the notion was not completely abhorrent.

Dinner then. Dinner was probably relatively safe. Well, safer than staying in at any rate. That was a disaster waiting to happen. And he'd probably call some sort of nonsense about how it wouldn't be a proper date since she had not followed his plan.

Sarah grimaced. She would have to compromise.

"Fine. I'll wear the damned thing, if you put the rest of my clothes back to the way they were before you decided to tamper with them."

This time his countenance was all innocence. Obviously he had been- or would be- up to mischief. It was amazing what one could learn of the Goblin King's expressions in a few scant meetings. She would probably be qualified to teach a class in the art of Goblin King reading, by the end of the evening.

"I've no idea what you mean. But please, wear the dress, Sarah. It suits you."

He left her to change- or more likely to embrace the opportunity to snoop more around her apartment. Not that that bothered her really. He had already managed to find the most embarrassing thing she owned when left alone for less than five minutes. Sarah backtracked mentally and blanched. He probably found the most embarrassing thing she owned and she hoped that any other things she might or might not own were secured from prying eyes.

She dressed in record time, finding that matching heels had appeared while she had been busy frantically yanking and chasing the dress' zipper.

Fairly bursting out of her bedroom, Sarah was surprised to find the king simply lounging on the couch. In the next instant, Jareth stood beside her, offering his arm.

She refused to be rattled by his magical disappearing-reappearing act.

"So, where are we going?"

"Just dinner tonight, love. Traditional and quaint. I plan on ensnaring you, not dissuading you from my company."

She rolled her eyes but took his arm. The world tilted on its side from one moment to the next. And suddenly she realized that she was leaning heavily on the Goblin King, who seemed to be thoroughly amused.

Sarah steadied herself and pulled free from his idle embrace. She may have agreed to try to enjoy herself but that didn't mean she necessarily had to make his goal any easier. And by the way he had been running soothing patterns up and down her arms-

That line of thought could only get her into trouble, so Sarah decided to take in their surroundings. A restaurant. Unfamiliar, but fancy and far from her definition of quaint. Most notably, while she could hear low restaurant chatter from a distance, the large section in which they had appeared was empty.

Surely he didn't rent out the whole-

She never got the chance to contemplate further, as Jareth directed her to a small table set for two, seating her and then himself. Apparently, there was no need to order, for as soon as they sat, servers materialized delivering the beginnings of a fantastic feast.

Before she could become terribly enraptured in the ambience of fine dining, Sarah's brain chose to do her a service and remember one of Jareth's earlier transgressions which had yet to be addressed.

"You were spying on me. Earlier, when I was picking out clothes."

"I assure you that have no idea of what you are speaking, precious thing."

"Don't play innocent, Jareth," she rolled her eyes. He would pretend he had no part in her clothing situation. "It doesn't suit you, and you can't pull it off."

The Goblin King actually huffed.

"Very well, for the sake of such a hypothetical argument, how are you so sure that I would not have merely predicted your intransigence? You are a contrary being by nature."

His argument was plausible, but only just.

"Fine. Don't admit it. But I have my eye on you buster. No funny business."

"Very well."

The bastard smirked at her. She closed her eyes and counted to ten, wondering what she could have possibly done to deserve the undivided attention of such an infuriating man.

"So," she started, trying for a topic that would not end with her further annoyed at her date. "How are things in the Goblin Kingdom?"

Jareth's nose wrinkled.

"I'm bored to death of politics, precious. I'm far more interested in hearing about you, rather than discussing the dearth of intelligent life in my kingdom."

"Well that's hardly fair. You already know all about me, and I know barely anything about you at all."

"Would you care to make a game of it?"

His words may have been casual, but his expression was not. The intensity she glimpsed earlier in the day was once again present, and Sarah faltered, for just a moment.

"No," she mumbled. It was his grimace of disappointment that caused her to hastily add, "next time."

"I'll hold you to that," he nodded, apparently content.

Aw, fuck. There went her mouth again, getting her into trouble.

Somewhat to her surprise, he refocused their conversation to inane anecdotes, never straying too far into their personal lives, yet making her laugh all the same. Sarah had never envisioned chitchatting with the Goblin King to be a pleasant experience yet, oddly enough, it was. But that didn't mean she was prepared to let her guard down.

All throughout dinner, Sarah waited for the ball to drop; she still couldn't quite believe his intentions. For his part Jareth found her wariness inordinately amusing and had taken to startling her when there was a lull in conversation.

And by startling, she meant maddening, fleeting touches, which could have been imagined, but she was quite sure she had not. Sarah followed the natural course of action and did her very best to pretend none of them happened, while perhaps sneaking in a few brazen ones of her own. Another game, she realized. But it was the sort of game engaged in by people mutually attracted to each other, and for the moment, she could not bring herself to question it when the whole thing was surreal. Magical transport and seclusion aside, it had been the most normal, chemistry-fueled date she had ever had. In fact, it had been chick-flick stereotypical perfect.

Damn him. Despite the bumpy beginning to the evening, Sarah felt suitably impressed and was only mildly surprised to find that she had actually enjoyed Jareth's company. She felt oddly reluctant to return home and let the night end.

Eventually though, the hour grew late, and the last course had been cleared away. The Goblin King rose, once again offering his arm.

A bout of slight dizziness later did not diminish the realization that the Goblin King was back in her apartment for the fourth time that day. She hoped this wasn't going to turn into one of those weird clingy boyfriend things. She didn't think it would, but better safe than sorry.

"Okay Jareth, the date was lovely. Goodnight."

"No goodnight kiss?" He pouted, but allowed her to draw away.

"I think you got all thirteen of your goodnight kisses this afternoon."

Sarah had never had much use for the word 'chortle' before, but that's exactly what he did.

"Sarah, Sarah, that was only a taste."

Before she had a chance to consider what that meant, he went in for the kill- only to find Sarah's index finger resting across his lip. He was perilously close to using that to his advantage.

Stay strong, Sarah-girl.

"Ah-ah, kisses were never specified as part of the deal," she demurred coyly, "but maybe we could arrange something."

"Oh, yes," he agreed.

Jareth had yet to change back to his normal attire.

Finally something on this crazy day was working to her advantage. She grasped him by the tie and began to coax him forward toward her bedroom.

By the surprised gleam in his eye, she knew what he expected next, and Sarah was just as eager. She turned back to face him fully as she inched backward toward the door, twisting the knob-

And opened up the hall closet and directed his hand to the handle of her trusty vacuum cleaner much to the bemusement of a freshly addled king.

Sarah took advantage of his momentary lapse to lean forward and whisper in his ear, "Next time, if you want a goodnight kiss, I would advise you to not leave my sitting room a glittering wreck. Cleany-cleany, Goblin Kingy."

With heretofore-undemonstrated speed, Sarah gave the king a peck on the cheek- it was totally more than he deserved- and flounced off to her room, locking the door behind her.

A/N: This has been mostly finished for weeks, but every time I went to work on it, I couldn't get those last few hundred words out. (I'm terrible at middles of chapters. The worst. I can begin and end, but middles. Awful. Utter tripe. Always. Not to mention that what I had originally intended for that part was really better suited for a later chapter, sooo. Something to look forward to, perhaps?) Sorry if you've been sitting on pins and needles waiting on this; it's been kind of toward the bottom of my fic priorities, but luckily for you, it refused to let me write anything else until I finished this chapter at the very least. I think that's all. Now I need to go work on my projects that have been neglected in favor of this. ._. Until next time!