"Look, Sarah. Look what I'm offering you; your dreams."
In hindsight, it was a statement to which Sarah should have paid more attention…
xXx
It was raining in the Underground.
Murky water trickled around the cobblestones of the Goblin City in miniature streams, dripped off the squat roofs into endless puddles, and flooded some of the smaller inhabitants out of their homes altogether.
The labyrinth corridors had turned into rivers fit for gondolas.
The oubliettes were so damp that an infestation of eye-moss had completely furred the rocky walls.
The forests had become swamps.
In the grand window of the Goblin Castle's throne room, an enormous heap of goblins stared mournfully out, watching the rain coming down in sheets. The tink-tank-tinkedy-tank of leaks collecting in buckets harmonized with the white-noise staccato, and the collective goblin sigh.
"I'm bored," groaned one from low down in the pile, his mushy face made all the mushier from the gravity of goblins above him.
"You're always bored," grunted a second; a large leathery upside-down face dangling off the parapet, letting the rain run into his eyebrows.
"It's always borin'," said the first. "It's always rainin'."
"Ve could play a game," suggested one from far left in the heap. The heap sighed, disappointedly.
"We could have a battle," suggested another from top right, and was met with a volley of head-rolls, wordlessly expressing maybe but without much enthusiasm.
"What about The Her?" asked a croaky fifth voice from the back.
That caused a ripple, accompanied by a chorus of clanks as helmets clinked against helmets, goblin eyes meeting goblin eyes in sudden intrigue.
"The Her?" repeated Top Right goblin.
"The Her," confirmed The Fifth. "His Her."
Another flurry of clanking interest.
"That's a thought," snickered Far Left.
xXx
Aboveground was just as wet. Rain had soaked Sarah to the skin underneath her sweater, droplets clinging to the wool, making it feel like a suit of armor over her shoulders. Condensation fogged the inside of the coffee shop as she ordered two lattes, and scored a table by the windows, wiping the glass with her sleeve so she could peer out into the torrential downpour outside. Waiting for her friend to arrive.
Across the street, she spotted the bright blue of Natalie's raincoat, face obscured by an umbrella but her trademark hurried half-march was unmistakable even as she jumped over puddles and ducked into the small Italian cafe that was the closest to Sarah's work.
Sarah waved and Natalie beamed back, shaking out her umbrella and depositing it in a bin next to the door before winding her way through tables.
"Hey, Sar!" she called, and then immediately stifled a yawn with her hand.
"Hey, Sleepy," Sarah greeted, opening her arms to Natalie as she slumped into her for a hug.
"Oh my God, the sleepiest," Natalie murmured, returning the squeeze. "Coffee so required, all the coffee." She dropped down into the chair opposite Sarah's and immediately picked up the designated latte, taking a big gulp.
"Not sleeping too well?" Sarah asked, sliding into her seat.
"Ugh, no. Stress dream, after stress dream, after stress dream," Natalie groaned. "This merger at work is going to kill me."
"So going great, then," Sarah prompted with a wry smile, taking a sip of her coffee.
"The worst. Just two more weeks, though." Natalie sighed and waved her hand. "Don't ask about it, it's so boring. How's the museum?" she asked, changing conversational direction like doing a U-turn down the highway.
"Mega stress," Sarah answered with the same amount of groan. "We're installing a new exhibition, and have a new shipment coming this afternoon. It's chaos."
Natalie raised an eyebrow, visibly impressed.
"Wow, I bet all your stress dreams are such high-brow, artistically rendered nightmares," she chuckled.
Sarah laughed with her. "Super thankful I don't dream."
Natalie stopped stirring her coffee, her eyes narrowing in confusion. "What do you mean you don't dream?"
Sarah glanced up at her, offering her a light smile. "You know, I just… hit the pillow and then it's fade-to-black."
"Weird," Natalie said with an amused huff. "You've never dreamed ever?"
"Oh… no, I definitely dreamed as a kid," Sarah replied, her brow furrowing slightly as memories were recalled. "I know I had a really bad nightmare when I saw the poster for Jaws—"
"Terrifying," Natalie agreed around a sip of her latte.
"I remember it was just a huge hole of water with teeth." Sarah shuddered. "Still freaks me out thinking about it."
Natalie swallows the last of her coffee. "Then when did you stop?"
"When…" Sarah paused and counted back in her head. "When I…"
When I—
Her mind reached for the answer and found it immediately.
She drew in a breath, clearing her throat of its sudden iron-fisted tightness, and tried to shake off the shock, chasing it back with a slug of latte.
"It's been twelve years," she answered.
Natalie cocked her head. "When you were sixteen?"
"Yes," Sarah said, and the confirmation brought with it a distinct feeling of dread. Like water rushing suddenly back from a beach. A harbinger of wrongness.
The cold wave of dawning realization was so at odds with the cozy coffee shop background noise. The clinks of mugs, and muttered conversations. And her in the middle of it, suddenly alone. Adrift.
I've had that feeling before…
"What happened, did you bump your head super bad or something?" Natalie asked.
Sarah held herself still as thoughts swirled, fringed with panic.
Twelve years.
Twelve years. It had been so easy to keep at bay the twirling, glitter-filled memories. She was practiced at it, not allowing memories of the Labyrinth and the watchful eyes of its monarch to sweep her away. After all, she'd won, hadn't she?
Hadn't she?
Sarah swallowed.
"Ate a bad peach," she answered under her breath.
xXx
Jareth lounged, cutting a long, narrow-hipped, wild-haired drape of a figure against the study window, sprawled in his chair with his boots up on the desk while the rain outside filled the air with a beautiful, endless monotone.
He let out a contented sigh.
He liked rainstorms.
They reminded him of her. Of that day. Those first thirteen hours and the way it had all begun.
The way storm clouds had plastered her romantic, green dress to the jeans she'd worn beneath. How she'd tried to race the clouds only to be swept under them in a downpour. The sight had been worth the rain he'd had to shake out of his feathers.
Shame about how it had ended though.
But…
Jareth rolled his hand and brought out a crystal from the recesses of the ether. It sparkled with an oily rainbow sheen as he danced it across his fingers.
…there's something to be said for consolation prizes.
AN:
A massive, massive thank you for my endlessly supportive betas Em_Kayelle and RavenLove12! I am so so grateful for all your advice and cheerleading, you both rock!
To the wonderful readers in this fandom, this fic will be dealing with themes of aphantasia, and whilst I am supported by a sensitivity beta for this topic I am bye no means an expert on the condition. I encourage any readers to let me know if I get things wrong, any feedback is welcome and appreciated!