Thanks to DarkMoonFox for her beta skills.
Also, there won't be another chapter after for a few weeks. 1-2 at the most. I'm repainting the outside of my house before the snow comes, then have to repaint the inside. As such, my computer will be unplugged for an unknown period of time while I paint the room it's in. I apologize for this in advance. I'm getting really sick of the lime green walls the room has though. What the former owners were thinking, I don't know.
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Sarah spent her just-over-a-week Aboveground trying to sort out the gigantic mess that Jareth left for her when he granted her wish and took her to his kingdom. It took several days to convince the police and all her friends that she hadn't been kidnapped, but had been hiding out with a different friend because of Mark's abuse. Watching him get arrested had definitely been the high point of her time Above, though the drinking she did later on with her friend Kade had been close behind. After clearing up the mess and sending her resignation into the school she taught at, Sarah spent a good amount of time in either a coffee induced haze or not as often, a little tipsy. If anyone had asked her, she would have told them it had been a pretty good week, all in all.
There was someone who was not having a good time while Sarah was Aboveground and his goblins were suffering for it. Except for a small goblin who the King seemed to take with him most places and even let sleep on a chair in his bedroom while Sarah was away. Said king was currently sulking on his throne, listening to the little goblin called Ripley sing what the goblin called a "David Bowie" song, which was sung by a mortal who was apparently Sarah's favorite singer. He was tapping his riding crop against his boot, trying to keep Ripley in beat when the goblin mayor ran into the throne room.
"Sire! The goblins are revolting!" the squat goblin shouted out, his arms waving in the air.
Jareth sighed and ran a hand over his face before turning his gaze on the mayor. "Must you always dwell on the obvious? They are positively vile."
Surprisingly, Ripley started to giggle at Jareth's response, which the mayor only spluttered at for several moments before he could get an answer out. "No, your Majesty! They are refusing to come into the castle and do their duties until the Time Out Lady has been returned to the kingdom."
"Tweedledum…"
"Spittledrum, Sire."
"Dragon Dung, get out and tell the goblins if they don't get to work, I'll bog them," Jareth said, then paused before adding, "And then I'll let Lady Sarah put them in Time Out for disobeying the king."
The goblin mayor nodded vigorously before darting out of the castle, falling once on his face, to Jareth's amusement. The Goblin King sighed once more before looking at Ripley, who was smiling like an idiot.
"Thousands of years I've been fine without Sarah here. And so have the goblins. Even after she defeated the Labyrinth and went, we were fine. Now she leaves for a little over a week and everything's gone to hell!" Jareth threw up his hands and got to his feet, then summoned a crystal that would transport him Above, where ever Sarah was staying.
He landed outside of a small house and looked around with distaste at the conditions of the area it was in before he remembered that the clothing styles Above were vastly different than Under. Not wanting to stick out while he fetched Sarah, Jareth used his magic to switch his clothes into the rough feeling blue pants Sarah seemed to favor, which molded against his body almost as well as his leggings did. His open poet's shirt became a blue button down like the shirt Sarah had left on his desk when she took one of his, and he placed his glasses on the end of his nose, as he had seen Labyrinth Runners wear them before as well. He raised a still gloved hand to knock on the door he had appeared in front of and waited the 27 seconds it took for someone to open it.
The male who opened the door gave Jareth an expectant look, which the king had to force himself not to sneer at. "I'm here to see Sarah Williams."
The man nodded and glanced over his shoulder, calling out, "Sarah, there's some dude with some crazy ass chicken hair at the door for you!"
As Jareth held himself back from smiting the man who dared call his hair chicken like, (which it most certainly was not) there was a crash, followed by Sarah calling out "I'm okay!" and finally her running to the door with tangled hair that looked like it had not been brushed all day.
"Jareth! I thought you were picking me up tomorrow?" She said breathlessly as she none too gently pushed the man back and took his place in the doorway.
"I was, but there was a problem and I came to get you early. Like we agreed I could," Jareth replied, leveling a glare at the hovering male behind Sarah.
"Oh right. Just… come in and give me a few minutes to pack up my clothes," Sarah waved him in the house before hurrying down a hallway. The Goblin King slowly made his way through the doorway and stood next to the man, who was staring at him with an amused expression.
"I'm Kade, and you must be the heroic Jared who saved Sarah from Mark," the man, Kade, said and held out a hand to Jareth. Jareth stared at the hand for a few seconds before reluctantly shaking it with one of his own, pulling back the second he could.
"It's Jareth."
"Of course it is," Kade responded dismissively, then smiled brightly at Sarah when she walked back into the room, holding her bag with clothes and her hair still a mess. Jareth reached out and took the bag from her, easily shouldering it while he all but pushed Sarah out the door, barely letting her get a goodbye in. He firmly pulled the door shut behind them while simultaneously freezing time so that Kade wouldn't see them simply disappear from his porch. Reaching out, Jareth grabbed Sarah's hand and brought them directly outside her bedroom in the Goblin Castle.
"Okay, why the rush, Jareth?" She asked as she pulled her hand from his and opened the doors, moving inside the room before beckoning him in. Having been granted an invitation, the Goblin King stepped in after her, placing the bag of her clothes down on the floor.
"The goblins thought I sent you away forever and are refusing to work until I bring you back. So I need them to see you walking around before they start to form mobs and set the city on fire."
"Sarah looked highly pleased at this news and Jareth gave her a small glare when she said, "Well, I can't keep your not-so-loyal subjects waiting can I?"
"Wait," Jareth commanded and grabbed her arm as she tried to leave the room, then directed her to sit in front of the vanity that was near her bed. She looked horrified at the state of her hair, but the expression quickly changed to one of surprise when Jareth grabbed a brush and started to gently move it through her hair, straightening out the rat's nest it was. "You definitely should not go out with your hair in such disarray, dear Sarah."
She nodded and bit into her lower lip, waiting until the Goblin King was finished getting the tangles from her hair to speak up. "No one's brushed my hair since my mother left when I was young. I forgot that I liked it."
Jareth smiled at her through the mirror while setting the brush back down and placing his hands on her shoulders. The dark gloves contrasted with the shirt he was wearing, which Sarah finally seemed to notice. She stood up and looked him over several times, grinning at the outfit he chose.
"Well, you got the hang of dressing like an Abovegrounder pretty quickly," she said appreciatively. The Goblin King smirked and shrugged a shoulder.
"As you remember, I have great fashion sense."
"I'll agree with that. Shall we go calm down your goblins then?" Sarah asked, then took the king's offered arm when he nodded. He took them straight to the center of the Goblin City in the blink of an eye, making a face when a hoard of goblins surrounded them, pulling at Sarah until she bent down to hear them talk to her. She nodded at some of the things they said before gently dismissing them and glancing at their king, who looked amused at their reaction to her.
"What?"
"You're very good at dealing with them," Jareth told her.
"They're like little kids. I'm used to dealing with kids, so I can just use that to deal with goblins," Sarah replied as she straightened up and took his arm again.
"Speaking of things you are used to," Jareth pulled them to a stop and turned to look at Sarah. "You seemed very comfortable at that mortal's house. Is it normal for single men and women to share homes like that?"
"Up there it is," Sarah said with a shrug, then smiled." And technically you and I are sharing a place to live."
"My castle is much larger than his house and it's not like we are sharing a room, Sarah."
"Well that's your fault, isn't it, Mr. Proper?" Sarah smirked and pulled away before quickly moving into the closest goblin store she could find, which happened to be a Cobbler's. Jareth stood out on the street for over a minute before he smirked as well and followed Sarah into the building, moving to stand behind her as she stared at goblin sized shoes, determined not to look at the king.
"Sarah, I don't think those will fit you," he said with an amused smile, one hand moving to rest on her shoulder. She jumped and spun around to face him, a faint flush coloring her cheeks.
"Yeah, you're right." she mumbled, teeth worrying at her lower lip. "Do you think the goblins have seen enough of me so that we can get back to the castle?"
Jareth nodded and led Sarah out of the shop, a grin tugging at his lips the whole way back to the castle, which scared several goblins so much that they ran into their houses and hid under their beds. Sarah made an excuse and went to her room, where she got into the bathtub to clean up; while Jareth followed her up several minutes later and ignoring his usual rule of not going into her room without asking, went inside and sat on the end of her bed. It was there that Sarah saw him, playing with one of his crystal balls while she stood in the doorway with just her towel wrapped around her frame, mouth open in surprise. It was her almost silent squeak that alerted the Goblin King to her presence in the room, and he looked up and gave her an appreciative once over.
"What are you doing in here?" Sarah asked in a much higher pitch than her normal voice.
"Well, you did say you've given me multiple invites," Jareth told her while spinning the crystal on his fingertip, eyes still slowly moving over her towel covered body. "So I decided to take you up on one."
Sarah did an amusing impersonation of a fish before darting for her closet and slamming the door shut behind her. The Goblin King laughed loudly and leaned backwards on her bed, one of his elbows supporting him as he waited for her to reemerge. It took her several minutes but Sarah did eventually come out in a blue dress and started to storm over to her bed until she really took in the sight of the Goblin King laying on her bed, staring at her intently. Slowing her furious steps until she was standing in front of him, fingers gently twisting the material of her skirt, Sarah unabashedly stared down at Jareth, who smirked up at her.
"Hello Sarah," he drawled with amusement coloring his words.
His amusement seemed to irritate Sarah, who quickly glared down at him with a frown pulling her lips down. "Having fun, Goblin King?"
"Oh yes," he murmured with the ever present smirk, one gloved hand lightly running over the duvet on her bed. "I was just trying your bed out to see if I'll be staying in here or moving you to my room."
Color rushed to Sarah's cheeks but she ignored it in favor of crossing her arms. "So you just get to decide that?"
"You are welcome of course, to give your input, but as King I have final say," Jareth said with a lazy flick of his hand.
Sarah's left eye twitched slightly and she took two steps closer to the bed until she was standing over the Goblin King; though she didn't actually know what she was going to do about his statements. She was saved from having to think of something though, when quick as a fox, Jareth reached up and grabbed her arm, then tugged her down on the bed. She landed next to him with a surprised expression and he rolled to hover above her, a smirk twisting his lips as he stared down at her. After giving her several seconds to push him away if she so wished, Jareth leaned down and brushed his lips against hers. It only took a heartbeat for Sarah to respond wonderfully, her lips moving against his and parting without being asked while one of her hands trailed along the open part of his shirt, fingertips just barely ghosting over his skin. When she realized he wasn't pulling away, Sarah grew bolder and slid her fingers down, curling around the waistband of his breeches. Jareth's gloved hand had been tugging at the laces on the front of her dress when he suddenly froze and let out a string of curses. As Sarah stared at him with wide, confused eyes, the Goblin King pulled away and quickly fixed his rumpled clothes.
"Damned Runners," he practically spit out before giving her an apologetic expression and disappearing in a swirl of glitter. As he had gone straight to the Aboveground, somewhere in India, he never heard the frustrated yell coming from Sarah's room.
"Oh come on, seriously?!"
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