I do not own anything except any OC characters that I choose to add into the story. Thank you.
IV.
The silence was thick for a brief moment before Jareth's voice spoke, his tone gentle, "Are you alright, Sarah?"
Sarah, who had been staring at the spot on the floor where the man had disappeared, sniffled once and wiped the thin line of blood that was on the corner of her mouth. "Peachy." She replied, curtly, before looking up towards the sound of Jareth's voice. Her steely sky-blue gaze met his mismatched, one greyish-blue eye and one brown eyed gaze for the first time in 15 years. Since the room was now well-lit with sunlight, Sarah could finally get a good look at Jareth. Her gaze softened as her eyes passed over his appearance. He was chained to the wall, almost in a similar fashion as herself, but had extra manacles on his wrists as well. His clothing, which reflected his normal style was in disarray: black leather leggings that were by far way too tight but covered in a fine layer of dust and grime; a once-white poet's style shirt that had a few too many rips and bared an obscene amount of chest; and black boots that folded over just below that knee that looked as though they had seen better days. Sarah's gaze traveled back up his frame, resting on his face, as she continued her once-over. The same wild, unruly blonde hair with bluish-silver highlights; the upturned eyebrows with the strange black and white markings probably akin to his Fae heritage; and when she finished looking him over, Sarah rested her gaze right back to meet his.
Jareth's expression was a half-amused, half-somber one as their eyes met again. "Everything in order?" He asked, his tone light and amused again.
Sarah blushed lightly and it faded as quickly as it had come as she replied, "Just making sure that you don't need serious medical attention. Not that the opinion of this mortal should matter." Her tone made a stab at the previous conversations as she narrowed her eyes.
"Now Precious, you know I was only trying to keep him off your back." He replied, as he watched her raise an eyebrow, he continued, "Not that you need me to help with that, you seemed to have that situation under control all by yourself." He finished, giving her a smirk.
Sarah rolled her eyes and stood up to stretch, frowning slightly at the chains that bound her. "Why did you feel the need to agitate him in the first place?" She asked, as she leaned forward towards him, bending to touch her toes as she tried to relieve some of the stiffness of sleeping on the stone floor.
Jareth shrugged nonchalantly, "Not that it was not amusing to see him flustered at my actions, I was merely testing the waters. To gauge how far I could push the boundaries before he snapped." He gave her a wink and continued, "Although it seems that you were the unlucky one that pushed him over the edge."
She sighed as she twisted a few times to stretch her sides and back before sitting back cross-legged on the floor near the wall, resting her back against it. "Not my first rodeo with a disgusting creep like him. Probably won't be my last. At least he backed off." Sarah replied, gingerly touching her cheek, where it still smarted a bit.
"I cannot promise he will not try again, but I can promise that he will suffer at my hand, should we be in better circumstances." Jareth stated, his tone serious. "And as I have previously stated, everything is going according to plan. All I ask is that you be patient."
Sarah crossed her arms across her chest, "What else can I do? And since I placed my foot in my mouth, as usual, looks like I won't be eating today either." She said, sighing deeply.
Jareth gave her a small smile as he gestured his chained wrists towards her, the chains clinking softly, "If only they had not bound my wrists as well. It seems as though they knew who they were dealing with." He said with a sigh as he placed his arms back down at his sides.
Sarah eyed his chained wrists and raised an eyebrow, "Well, I hope for both our sakes that your plan comes to fruition. I would very much like to go home." She remarked, as she met his gaze again.
Jareth nodded slowly, "Indeed you shall. That I can guarantee, precious." He replied, then paused, before continuing, "Since we seem to have extra time on our hands, why don't you tell me what you have been up to for the past 10 years?"
Sarah raised another eyebrow, "I'm not sure you want me to bore you with the details of my mundane life." She replied.
Jareth smirked and with an amused tone, he replied, "Precious, you will never bore me." He raised an eyebrow to match her as he continued, "And you are the farthest thing from mundane if I recall. You are no ordinary girl…or woman should I say now." He finished, his smirk now a full blow grin as his eyes raked over her frame.