"What's this one?" I asked the goblin to my left, Blathela. He hopped about excitedly, pointing to the page I was pointing to.

"Was time before King. Was not alive then, miss. Goblins ruled goblins. When King come, he ruled absolute. He made fighting stop and protects us, miss."

I glanced at him,furrowing my brow in thought at this. "There was a time in this Labyrinth before Jareth?"

"Was, was. Was time of war and not good mother says. When King come, he make goblins bow to him. Goblins respect King's power. He remake home how he wanted home, and much power that takes."

I turned the page, drawing my fingers over the primitive drawings there. Goblins, it seemed, tended not to be the best artists, but there was essence in what they did with concentration. I had been here a week now, exploring this castle and wandering about the streets, my attention soon bringing me to the library. I couldn't understand most of what was written in there, but books from my realm were also splattered in between.

Goblins, it turned out, were eerily similar to people. It made sense, knowing that some of the goblins within the labyrinth were children themselves, but not all goblins used to be people. They were there own race, existing for thousands and thousands of years within this realm before Jareth came and took over, recreating this world to his own vision and ruling with complete autocracy. Some goblins were exceptionally brilliant, some were a little more on the... childish side. Some were very strong, others were great cooks, and others still were just content to wander about.

I wasn't completely sure how I felt about this revelation of the man that turned out to be my soulmate. On one hand, it was cruel and rather tyrannical of him. On the other hand, I was oddly at ease with the idea that this was the kind of person that he was. It was... odd.

Jareth...

When I first woke up, we were naked and curled into one another. He was so comfortable with himself no matter what the occasion, no matter how he was dressed or what he was doing. Now I found myself in rooms of my own, a wardrobe to myself, a whole amazing wing that I could explore endlessly and get lost in. Every day. It was a little embarrassing that he ended up having to come and find me every single day because I got lost in my own wing of the castle. It also felt so weird that I wanted to sleep in his bed so badly when it was improper to do so. Why did I want to get lost in him?

Because he's your soulmate.

"Miss?"

I jumped, glancing down at Blathela realizing that I had spaced out pretty bad.

"Sorry sweetheart. I didn't mean to go off in my own little world." I apologized, running my hand gently over his long ears and smiling. "Would you be okay if I went on a walk on my own?"

"Of course, miss. You be safe?" He cocked his head at me, worry in his large gold eyes. I couldn't fight the smile and hugged him.

"Of course sweetheart. You be safe too."

I waved him off, wandering out into the gardens. I loved the difference in visual out here. The goblin city was practically dead, void of much life. There wasn't enough skill to properly take care of what life there was, and now it was too far gone to ever truly come back naturally. These gardens were different, apparently almost identical to some of the woods outside of the city. There were odd floral assortments I had never seen and trees curving about in patterns that still astounded me a bit.

I sat down at the base of one of the trees, brushing my dress out so it didn't bunch awkwardly about me while I opened the book I had been reading in my free time. I craved drawing in my sketchbook, something familiar to do when I wasn't exploring. I wanted to put down what I saw on paper while I processed the world about me.

"You've come out here every day." A familiar voice made me jump. "My apologies." He chuckled. I grinned at the man leaning on the tree above me, seeming like he was reading over my shoulder.

"It's comfortable out here." I informed him, shutting the book and moving to stand. He held out a hand at his side, pulling me up shockingly close to him. I blushed, glancing to the side and brushing some hair out of my face. "What brings you out here?"

"You were absent for lunch. I had to make sure that I hadn't lost your interest so soon."

I bit my cheek so I wouldn't smile, still getting used to his teasing me.

"I don't think that's possible." I admitted quietly, turning and looking at the courtyard, once again trying to put some sort of space between us just because I wasn't sure what to do with myself right now. "I lost track of time. It's oddly easy to do here."

"Something so easily fixed." He rested his gloved hand on my shoulder, bringing his other hand next to my face so I had no choice but to pay attention to his movements. He rotated his index finger counter-clockwise, the clock on the wall turning itself back. I lost my battle, smiling and leaning back into his chest, letting myself relax. He wrapped his arm around my waist, his chin resting on the back of my head.

I found myself enjoying the silence that usually followed us around. At first I was so unbearably overwhelmed by the questions, by the uncertainty. But it turned out he was right; being connected internally somehow answered most of the questions that I couldn't phrase out loud. Not that I didn't still pester him with questions regardless, and not that we didn't bicker and talk still, but it was just comfortable at times to be silent after a point. I could almost feel the strings connecting us strengthen or weaken depending on the day, intertwining us.

He slid the other hand over my stomach, resting his palm over the material of my dress and smelling my hair.

"Jareth-"

"Sh." I shivered as his nose traced my ear, following the curve of my neck. I shivered at the feel of his lips connecting gently with my shoulder, suckling his way back up my flesh. I couldn't stop the noise that came out, whimpering at the vibration of his chuckle dancing on my skin.

"Miss!"

I jumped, jerking in Jareth's grip. I blushed furiously when he didn't stop his ministrations despite the three goblins that had come over to us. I pulled a little, and he just chuckled again, grinning against my skin.

"Miss, you missed lunch." The tallest one stated. I fidgeted, glaring out of the corner of my eye at him. Did he think this was a game?

"I'm sorry Melir, I lost track of time." I spoke through my teeth.

"Would you want us to make you something?" She wondered, edging away from us and looking nervous.

"No, thank you."

They bowed away and ran out of sight. I elbowed Jareth in the ribs lightly, glowering when he finally let go. My lecture died in my throat at him holding out what looked like a pear to me. I hesitated, but took it from him, looking into his eyes curiously.

"Don't miss dinner." He kissed my thumb, turning on his heel and taking his usual languid strides out of the gardens, disappearing behind brick. I rotated the fruit about in my hands, thinking over what just happened.

"What are you doing to me, Jareth?" I murmured, taking a small bite absently. Warm, sweet juice flowed down my throat. I blinked as a wave of dizziness nearly overwhelmed me, rubbing my eyes to clear out the sudden fog over my head. "What...?"

I blinked a few times, taking another bite from the pear to try and clear it out with the rotation of my jaw. Apparently I was going to need more sleep tonight...