Disclaimer: Not mine, not now nor ever – steal Wren, and I hurt people.
Sanoru: Happy-dances are fabulous! Mine has a kind of kick to it! hahaha!
DanikaLareyna: We have too much fun chatting, I swear! I'll be sure to remind you.
Yami Moon: Hee... yeah, Wren did have it easy - Jareth wanted her to. He was her largest obstacle. In the end, he knew she wouldn't want to leave it all behind... he can be sweet, when he tries. Hee.
Imazombie: I knew someone would find that funny! It's really a song, though… I think I would just die if Jareth sang it to me. O.O
Anij: Trust me, with the whole song, the term 'naked' only has one meaning. Hence the embarrassment.
Ashleigh-VermillionVenom: What a compliment! Thank you, very much!
A few weeks after running the Labyrinth...
Ever have a day when you just want to slam your head against your work keyboard and just… I don't know, scream for no real reason? Yes?
Well, I was having one of those days. I couldn't stand it… things at my job were just so… SLOW. Freakishly slow… and, see, I have an instinct about these kinds of things. I can tell when the slowness in the works systems I use is because of an 'information' clog somewhere in the line… I don't know squat about what would cause it, or even what it would technically be called, but I do know when they occur. Then, after an hours or so, things explode, and you're busy for the rest of the day, at least.
This wasn't one of those time. No promise of work. It wasn't a clog. I was bored stiff!
"Allie!" I called across our row of cubicles. She looked up from her desk at me. "Allie, you busy?"
Allie snorted, "That's a big no. Do you think this is from a glitch?"
I shrugged, "My instincts say no, but I could be wrong."
She sighed, "I was afraid of that. I'm so sleepy! I… gosh, I just wish there were a lively place I could go to, you know? Just for a few minutes, have a good run or giggle or something, and then come back. It would be refreshing, don't you think?"
My eyes went wide. "Yeah… that would be nice… 'scuse me, I need to run to the restroom…"
I got up and raced to the restroom. I'd forgotten completely about my ring. I loved my ring… I'd only used it a few times, upon Jareth's invitation, never on my own…
But dang, if ever there was a time when I needed to go to the Underground – like Allie had described – this would be it. A little Goblin mischief was exactly what I needed to wake me up.
I found an empty conference room down the hall from the room where my team works, and decided to try it on my own. I turned my ring the correct direction, and counted the crystals.
I blinked and looked up, surprised to find myself, yes, in the Underground… and somewhere in Jareth's castle… but in a deserted corridor. Where was I? Hmm… perhaps that's why I never used the ring on my own before. Hadn't Jareth said it would take me somewhere near him?
I looked around… where would he be? I did spot a crooked gold clock on the wall, saying that it was mid-afternoon in Underground-time. So… where would he be? He had to be close…
Just beyond the clock, I spotted a door. Two doors, actually. They were fancy compared to the rest of the walls, or even to other doors I'd seen in the castle so far. I didn't see any other doors, so he had to be there. I approached them and knocked. Nothing. I knocked again, and still nothing. Slowly, I cracked open the doors and peeked inside…
Oh, it was lovely! Simply lovely! The room was large, with a fireplace on one end, resting beside a sunken alcove, lined with cushions – which looked, I must say, very cozy. Behind it, against the wall, there was a fancy table and two chairs. Far to the right was a large four-poster canopy bed. The room was glowing with afternoon sunlight that sprung through the window, which looked like it led to a spectacular balcony. This was like the Presidential suite at the Biltmore!
I spied the canopy over the bed. It was glittery.
I gasped. This was Jareth's room. Who else was obsessed with glitter?
A slight humming sound met my ears. It was coming from the opening beyond the fireplace, in the far corner of the room. It looked very much like a hallway that possibly curved around to a room behind the fireplace, and it was lit with a soft golden light.
Must be his study, I thought. With a smile, I crossed the room and headed down the hallway. I was right, it did curve around behind the fireplace. I was wrong – it was not his study.
I didn't think I could possibly see a stranger sight. The room was gorgeous, yes, kinda a brownish-gold hue theme…
It was Jareth, no doubt about that… but… he was, um, bathing.
Well, not bathing, per se…
Relaxing in a large, white, footed bathtub, filled to the brim and then some with sparkly bubbles, was the Goblin King. Humming to himself, he didn't know I had come. He had his head back and eyes closed, and was humming… one foot was sticking out of the other end, tapping lightly to some tune I didn't know, off hand.
Thank heaven there were bubbles everywhere. I think I would have fainted, otherwise.
Okay, Wren, I thought quickly, Just back out, and he'll never know… this doesn't have to be an embarrassing moment…just because you caught him in the tub! Ahahahaha! Look at the bubbles! No! Heavens, Wren, get a grip… just back out…
And so I tried to back out, quietly. But, three things happened all at once: I backed into the wall, my work shoes squeaked on the shiny floor, and Jareth opened his eyes and saw me.
"WREN!" he bellowed, sending a massive shower of bubbles all around the room while grabbing something that looked like a robe on the other side of the tub, "GET OOOUT! GET OUT, GET OUT, GET OUT!"
I, feeling mightily embarrassed, turned on heel and booked it big time to get out of the bathroom. I slipped once, but other than that, I was back at his bedroom door in less than ten seconds. I yanked the door open…
Only to find a dripping wet Jareth, clad in a maroon bathrobe that went clear down to his ankles and past his hands (I still couldn't see his hands!) waiting for me on the other side.
"Ahh!" I hollered, scuttling backwards so fast that my feet slid nearly out from under me.
He looked murderous, and was stalking towards me slowly. I scrambled backwards until I reached the other side of the room, with my back to the wall.
He was… terrifying. And that robe was rippling too much… I covered my face to hide from him. Pointless, I know, but sometimes don't you wish you could just… hide?
"You accursed girl!" he hissed, "Have you no manners, that you insist on barging into my private chambers and disrupting my bath!"
Still with my hands on my face, I snickered a little. "I didn't mean to – and how the heck was I to know that, first off, this was your room, and secondly, that you were bathing! I didn't know! Gosh…"
He sighed, "For love of the underground, get up!"
I felt him grab me by the shoulders and I was on my feet in a blink. I swallowed, but still kept my hands over my face. "I was just… bored at work… thought I'd say hello to you, at your work… That's all…"
I felt his hands, covered in his robe sleeves, take my wrists and pull my hands down. He was giving me a stern look, and was very close to my face…
"Don't hide, it's not becoming of you," he said in a whisper, his anger quickly ebbing. "And can you honestly say that you wouldn't be as furious, had I walked in on your bath?"
I went red, "Okay… point. But, c'mon, I didn't know where you were. How was I supposed to know you'd be bathing?"
"Hmm," he stepped back and looked at me, "Hand over the ring."
"What? No!" I held clutched my hand protectively to my chest. "You gave it to me!"
He rolled his eyes, "I'm not going to keep it," he said very slowly, "now, be an adult here and hand it over." He extended a hand (which, I now saw, was gloved – dang him!)
I frowned, but obeyed and placed my ring in his palm. He squeezed his fingers around it for a mere moment, then gave it back. I smiled and took it from his palm, replacing it on my finger. "What was that about?"
He folded his arms across his chest, "Now I'll be notified when you arrive here. Just to be safe. No more of you flouncing up while I'm undressed."
I glared at him, "Flouncing? I'm not the Mr. Fancy Pants who has a glitter canopy and takes bubble baths! I, sir, do not flounce."
A sly grin pulled at his mouth, "Dearling, I'm afraid you do. You have… twice, I do believe."
I frowned, "What? When?"
He snorted and walked away from me to a wardrobe on the other side of the room, "When, indeed," he retrieved a fluffy looking blue shirt from the wardrobe and started to dress his upper half (flushing bright red, I turned away just in case he had robe issues while doing so), "Do you not recall last week, when you flounced across my own throne room, attempting to show me how to 'magic dance'?"
I snorted, "Pfft, that was me mocking you."
"Fine, but you flounced all the same. Don't deny it. You can look now."
I turned around to see him fully dressed, blue shirt, black tights and black boots – and black gloves. He began arranging the ruffles of his cuffs, a haughty kind of expression on his face as he did so… and I had the sneaky suspicion that he was striking a pose, too.
I was curious, "Jareth?"
He sighed dramatically, and gave me a quick smile, "What is it, Wren?"
"Two things," I said. "First… why can't I see your hands?"
He raised an eyebrow at me, "Well, they aren't invisible, are they?"
I sighed, "You know what I meant, jerk."
He smiled, wickedly, "You can't see them because I am wearing gloves. It's not that complicated, Wren. Surely that makes sense, and answers your question?"
"No, actually it doesn't, but I'll take it for now."
"And what else did you want to ask?"
I snickered, "Did you know you still have pink-ish bubbles in your hair? From your, ahem, bubble bath?"
With a mortified look, he raised a hand to his hair. "Curse you, Wren! It's…" he made a face and a disgusted noise in his throat, "Soapy!"
"Baby."
After a good laugh, I returned back to work. I checked my watch – in my time, I'd only been gone about ten minutes, which worked out perfectly. I'd taken my break, I suppose.
I sat back down at my desk with a happy sigh – it was nice to visit the Underground on break. I unlocked my screen and began my work… I reached over to my soda can I'd left on my desk and took a sip.
I spit it back out, all over my computer screen. Dan, the man who sat right across from me, jumped up. Allie came over, too, at the noise.
"What's wrong?" they both demanded in unison.
"Uh… bad soda…" I said quickly, using a tissue to wipe my tongue off. Dan shrugged and sat down, but Allie stared at me for a moment as if I'd gone mad. I held up the can, "It went flat! I hate flat soda!"
She laughed and walked back to her cube.
No one noticed when I hiccupped a pink soap bubble.
A/N: Hee, I so couldn't resist this one.
Read and review! As always!