Oh really…
Jareth was contemplating grisly and untimely deaths for certain movie makers. He looked nothing like the hideous, bulbous thing in the Hobbit! Sarah had tried to tell him to let it go, that it was all in good fun and in the name of human entertainment. Which had been entirely the wrong thing to say at that point in time. Sarah had given him the books to read to try and make up for it, and head him off before he blew up her studio apartment. He had left soon after with books in hand and though he had much enjoyed them, he still felt that the movie needed to be corrected. Jareth appeared next to her front door and had taken just two steps into the apartment to discover that Sarah was not at home but a little, blond boy and his father were. Jareth smiled down at the boy as Toby stared back. Had it been any other child he might have removed the memory of his appearance and left. The child and the man would have forgotten that he was ever there but this was Sarah's Toby, the boy she fought for, still fights for even today.
For her father however, he'd been given no such restrictions. He could use magic as he please with all but Sarah and Toby, Toby was only added into that bargain because Sarah had threatened to geld Jareth if he ever used magic on Toby without her permission again. Save for in emergencies of course. Robert Williams had yet to notice him however, so Jareth decided to let it slide this time. In the blink of an eye, Jareth had quickly changed to his glamour self then leaned over and quietly opened the door before closing it with a polite bang. Jareth blinked rapidly as the tyke, who had watched the whole thing unerringly, screeched out a sudden squeal before running off towards a bag that was beside the couch. Sarah's father had spun on his heel from his position at the kitchen sink when Toby screamed. He stared at Jareth a moment and opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by Toby. Who had won his fight with the bag's zipper and was now racing back towards Jareth with several picture books in hand. Jareth smiled at him as he took the books from Toby's little hands but before he could get a good look at any of them Robert had moved across the small studio and extended his hand.
"Sarah will be back in a minute. She went downstairs to get the neighbors to turn down their tv. You must be Sarah's model." Jareth tried not to sigh as Robert finally let go of his hand. Robert had employed the "know a male by his handshake" type of handshake. To which Jareth had firm one in turn yet had briefly thought of using his goblin strength to crush the man's fingers.
"Model?" Jareth smiled tightly but politely as he could manage. He could smell that the man was unhappy that Jareth had invited himself in and was probably, to Robert's mind, a threat to his daughter.
"Yes," Robert gestured to the books in Jareth's hand, books that Jareth finally got his first look at. He was on the cover. Robert's head dipped to the side as a look of shock overtook Jareth's face.
"You didn't know? But Sarah's always spoken of you as if she'd your permission to use you as the model for the Goblin King in her books… What do you do then if you aren't a model?"
"I work in government-"
"In government?" Jareth tried not to roll his eyes at Robert's highly suspicious tone. Jareth reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet, handing Robert a few pieces of plastic that Jareth had magicked to be genuine forms of whatever ID he needed when asked. Jareth mentally took note that one had turned into a badge and had CIA on it while the other had remained a driver's license. He'd need to ask Sarah about this CIA later.
"Sarah wrote these?" Jareth asked as he took back his magicked IDs and moved on into the living room portion of the studio. Completely ignoring the slight look of shock and awe on Robert's face. He sat down on the couch to thumb through the books, smiling at Toby as the boy climbed up next to him. Toby began to point and babble at different pictures as Jareth looked through the books. For a three, going on four year old, Toby had a very large vocabulary, certainly Sarah's doing, though his pronunciation definitely left much to be desired.
"Yes… At least her love for fairy tales has proven good for something."
"It was more than fairy tales."
"What?"
"It is more than fairy tales Robert. Some of these are a mixture of several Earth cultures and folklores… These are purely Sarah, even if she has based much of them off of personal experiences."
"My daughter's never left the state. How could these books be based on her own experiences?"
Jareth turned to Robert with a looked that spoke volumes of how little Robert actually knew. Sarah had done far more than "leave the state" as Robert put it, she left Earth, the Above, entirely on a near weekly basis. His icy condescending tone made Robert flinch, "have you never once asked Sarah where she spends her breaks from college? No? We both know she never spends more than a day or two of her breaks in your home."
"But… The main character is a teenaged, servant boy that saves a toddler princess from the Goblin King-"
"Replace the boy with Sarah and the princess with Toby and you will have the truth of it-"
"But Toby has never been kidnap-"
"Yes, he has. When Sarah was sixteen, I took him and she spent just under thirteen hours getting him back. Only human to have have ever gotten one back from me."
Robert was staring at Jareth in horror when Sarah walked into her studio. She took one look at the situation and immediately cried, "Remove them!"
"As you wish!" Jareth laughed, with a wave of his hand, Robert was gone but Toby remained beside Jareth on the couch, clapping his hands rather happily at his father's sudden disappearance.
"So my dear Sarah, I believe you owe me compensation for being the model for your books."
"Oh, please, Jareth. As if you need the money or a boost to your ego… Where'd you send him?"
"An oubliette-"
"Jareth!"
"Joking Sarah. He and his car are back safely home. He's memories of me being only slightly altered... He thinks he's dropped Toby off for the night though."
"And why is that?"
"Why, Toby is here for my protection."
"Oh really-"
"Yes, had Toby not been here you would be screaming like a banshee and threatening various parts of my anatomy for talking with your father." Jareth smiled wickedly as a corner of Sarah's mouth twitched from the grim line in which it was currently set.
"You are just too much, Jareth."
"And yet I still manage to be more than enough for you."
"In your dreams maybe!"
"Indeed."
"Jareth…"
"What have I told you about sighing like you are my mother? Hmmm… Why have you not told me of these books, Sarah, dearest?"
"Well, I've gotten into the habit of not talking about them…"
"Whatever for? These are brilliant, Sarah."
"...Thank you, Jareth. Irene says that I need to grow up, that I'm too old to be thinking about such things. But then my father and stepmother have only guessed at how much I've actually been making with them because they don't really care to know much of anything I do, but then what else is new... The first came out about a year after I made it through the Labyrinth. What takes the most time is actually my paintings."
"You painted each illustration?"
"Yes… You didn't know that I painted did you?"
"No…"
"How did that escape your- Wait, I think I might know the answer to that-"
"Enlighten me."
"Um, actually no, I won't."
"Sarah."
"Don't growl Jareth, look at Toby's face. He doesn't know you're playing."
"If you're making money as you say why do you live in this little-"
"Don't insult my home, Jareth. The simplicity of this place suits me, and its easier to live on campus while I finish school. That and if Irene knew I make as much as I do she'd start having me pay her for something or other. She'd told me that I'd have to pay rent if I'd stayed at home past turning eighteen. She was furious when I moved out the day before my birthday..."
"How did such a cold woman produce such a kind child like Toby?"
"I because I'm the one that has been his teacher. Irene had already gone back to work by the time I had wished him away. I was a brat about taking care of him at first but that attitude was left behind in the Labyrinth... I've taught him to talk, walk, and I potty trained him too."
"I was being sarcastic, Sarah. I know what you've been through for the tyke, you have no need to defend yourself to me. So these books have done really well?"
"Yeah. Though I'm not going to say how well right now. When Toby says my books sell 'lots' to dad and Irene they just pat him on the head and go on with whatever they were doing. If he starts saying numbers they may start taking notice. I'm not worried about what dad would do, it's Irene. I'll think I've things figured out with her and then she goes and does something that throws my perceptions out the window."
"Shall I fix that?"
"No, I'd like to work on it myself thanks… Jareth, not that I mind your unexpected visits but I did have plans to meet up with Sieglinde after my father and brother left."
"...Hmmm. Why 'the red king slayer?"
"What?"
"The name you've published the books under, 'Flannán Kingslayer.'"
"Flannán is the name of an ancestor of mine. 'Kingslayer,' is because I won."
Jareth shot her a glare that promised retribution but Sarah only smiled at him before picking Toby up and walked towards her mirror. She spoke Sieglinde's name and waited for the fae queen to appear. Jareth had shot to his feet at the mention of the her name and was looking his goblin self by the time the Unseelie queen answered and stepped through. He scowled as the females hugged a giggly hello.
Toby reached for him in panic as he got squished between them. Sarah and Sieglinde were excitedly talking about the past few days events since the ball when Jareth liberated Toby from Sarah's hold. Sarah turned a quizzical look in their direction as Jareth walked off. While Sieglinde smiled knowingly from behind Sarah as Jareth picked up Toby's books for further examination and grabbed Toby's bag before boy, books, bag and Goblin King disappeared to Jareth's castle leaving Sarah to talk with her friend.