tampered | Log; Complete

Current Location: Jareth's apartment

Log; Complete

When; January 13th - Worst Fears Day
Rating; PG
Characters; Sarah

thexgoblinxking
Summary; Jareth is feeling worthless, so Sarah decides to cheer him up.
Log;

Here she was, back at the apartment that was Jareth's that was becoming more familiar every week. Jareth was the only person she knew in this City, and although a delicate friendship was the only thing they had, really, there was still something comforting with knowing that she actually knew someone here. Someone she could talk to.

She gave a curt knock, but there was no response. Her brow furrowed, and she knocked again, louder this time. "Jareth? Are you okay?"

Silence.

Sarah tried the doorknob, and the door opened easily. This bothered Sarah; Jareth wouldn't have kept his door unlocked. She entered it slowly, closing the door behind her. The apartment was dark, and she treaded carefully, not wanting to run into any furniture. "Jareth..? Are you here?"

A rustling came from the bedroom, and she followed it carefully. "Hello? Jareth?" She entered the room and stopped short. Jareth lay in bed, his head messy and unkempt, with the most miserable expression on his face. She crossed the room and knelt beside him.

"Hey...are you okay?" she asked, concerned.

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Jareth didn't look at her when she entered his bedroom. He continued to lay on the unmade bed, his arms crossed behind his head and his gaze firmly upwards. With the curtains drawn and the lights out, it was dark enough that he could barely see the odd little crack that ran down the center of the ceiling.

He had done everything he could think of, but he was unable to conjure even a crystal. And when he'd realized that he was, in effect, human, he had known with a sickening certainty that if he ever left this city, he would return to a kingdom that was no longer his.

Jareth had wanted nothing more than to crawl into his bed and ignore the world; what more could he do, without any of his innate abilities? Such a thorough feeling of defeat was an entirely new and unwelcome experience for the normally arrogant man.

He had planned to ignore her, but when she spoke, he could not bring himself to do so. Looking at her in the dim light, his answer was little more than a mutter. "I am not."

Well, that was fairly obvious. Sarah played around with the bedsheets, searching for something comforting to say. "You're affected by the curse, I see," she said quietly. "Our worst fears come to life."

A moment or two passed, and her knees began to hurt. She rose from the floor and took a seat on the edge of the bed. She didn't really know what to say to him, but she was here. Here for him.

"...What's...?" She ventured tentatively, searching for the right words to say.

Sitting on the bed, she was close enough that Jareth could feel the heat of her body. He didn't move away from her; though he'd be hard-pressed to admit it, her presence was comforting. It was proof, perhaps, that he was not as bereft as he felt.

Rather than sitting up, he remained on his back, but his demeanor shifted slightly as she to speak again. Raising an eyebrow, he waited for her to continue on from the word what's.

When she didn't, he took the liberty of finishing her sentence for her. "What's my greatest fear, Sarah?" The words were still low, lacking most of his usual arrogance. "I am unable to do any magic, and I know without a doubt that my throne has been usurped in my absence. Any allies--any friends--" and this word, he spat out as though it were poisonous--"I might have had are lost to me. Surely you can...divine the answer from that information."

"...oh." She could feel the heat of embarrassment fill her face, but quickly got over it. He had obviously lost everything he had. If the same thing had happened to her, she wouldn't be in the best of moods either, wouldn't she? So, she was able to brush his harsh words aside and ignore them.

"...I'm sorry," she said lamely, tucking a strand piece of her brown hair behind her ear. "You know, though, that I...I'm still here. I won't leave you," she told him, and she meant it.

"The curse will be over soon, and you'll have all your magic back. And, when you do, you can look for a way out of here to get your kingdom back." Sarah gave Jareth an attempt at a reassuring smile. God, it was so hard knowing what to say around him! He wasn't a normal person, and as such, you couldn't speak to him like a normal person. She could only hope that he would find some sort of comfort in her words.

His expression turned positively venomous, though his tone remained quietly resigned. "You won't?" Jareth asked, closing his eyes. "I think you'll understand if I don't put much faith in your words, Sarah."

He wanted to trust in her that she would stay with him--not only today, but in the future as well. His role in his world, his titles, his powers...his very life seemed to have slipped from his grasp the moment he awoke that morning. And Sarah's presence helped; though she'd only just arrived, he was starting to feel like getting out of bed and pulling up the shades.

But his memories of the last time they'd met outside the City were still fresh in his mind, and as he had said stonily to Miroku just before Christmas, he would not risk his pride only to be spurned a second time.

She was slightly taken aback by that one. Seems as though he's returning to normal, she thought, running a hand through her hair. Well, he does have a point. I did refuse him before. She hadn't realized what a blow that had been to his ego till now. It must have hurt him badly, and of course, he would never admit that it had.

"You mean something to me, you know. I could never...I could never have a normal relationship because I couldn't help but think of you. Whenever I'd go out with someone I would wish that he was you," She told him. There it was. It was out. The cold, hard truth. What he decided to do with that information was entirely up to him. She felt fragile, suddenly, and very vulnerable. She had never admitted these things to anyone, let alone herself, but now it was out for both of them to digest.

"Do you want me to prove it to you?" More words came out, words that just wouldn't leave her alone. She kicked herself inwardly, but she was already on the highway to hell.

Jareth's eyes snapped open, and he stared at Sarah in disbelief.

Her words shocked him more than he would have liked to admit. Yes, she had grown up since their last meeting, but the idea that she might feel something more than alliance with him hadn't occurred in his mind.

It was enough to make him forget about the curse that had plagued him all day.

He was silent for several moments, watching her outline in the darkness. Did he want her to prove that she apparently desired him and had continued to think of him after they'd parted? He did; in fact, he rather wanted to pull her down to him and show her exactly how he felt about her.

But rather than do that, he raised an eyebrow and grinned like a feral cat. "Hmmm..." A long pause, as though he were merely considering her offer. "Yes, I think I'd like that, Sarah.

"Prove it to me."

"Fine." Before she even knew what she was doing, she leant forward towards Jareth's still figure on the bed. A part of her was screaming at her to stop, that this wasn't how romance or these things worked out at all, but since when were fairy tales entirely accurate? Life wasn't supposed to be fairy tales, and even stories in books didn't go the way you always wanted them to.

Her heart thundering in her chest, Sarah kissed Jareth fully on the lips. It lasted a bit more than she probably would have liked (at least, that's what she tried to tell herself), but she felt an odd sort of thrill at the whole situation.

She drew away, and cleared her throat, struggling to find her voice. "T-there," she said hoarsely, very aware that she must be the color of an apple if the heat in her cheeks was any indication. "See? You mean something to me...you mean a lot to me. Now you know."

God, they were both so stubborn. And this was where stubbornness led them, it seemed.

Until she pressed her lips to his, Jareth hadn't been fully sure she would truly give him some kind of "proof", as it were, that she did care for him.

...He really needed to stop underestimating Sarah. It was her stubbornness that had drawn him to her in the first place (well, her stubbornness and her faith in his existence), and he'd already learned once that along with that stubborn streak came the ability to do exactly she set out to do. She was a far stronger girl--woman--than she looked.

But when she pulled away again and spoke, he doubted he'd ever underestimate her again. She was..."beautiful" was the only word that came to mind. Even though she'd flushed brilliantly as she kissed him, and her speech was shaky, her words were as strongly meant as ever.

Jareth gave her a smile and sat up, moving quickly and gracefully. Rather than answer her with words, he had decided to respond in kind--by pulling her to him and kissing her back. It was an ardent, thorough kiss that left him feeling a bit breathless himself when he finally broke away. "And now you know," he told her--nearly purred the words out as he held her close--"That you mean something to me, too."

Well, she certainly hadn't been expecting that.

Sarah blinked a couple of times, not even entirely sure of what she had just heard. Did he just say what I thought he said? she thought to herself, speechless.

Of course... It all made sense now. The dinner he made for her, the way he handled himself so carefully in her presence...all of it. But the thought that now she could actually have something that she had wanted for several years was too appealing to pass up. She could forgive the fact that he took Toby away from her. She could forgive everything, even the fact that he had thrown up on her shoes. She could forgive, and maybe this could be the start of something new.

She snuggled close to him (did she ever think that she would be doing this anytime soon? Certainly not) and reached up to play with an idle strand of blonde fae hair. "We finally agree on something, then," she said, smiling.

"We do," he agreed, kissing the top of her head with a gentleness that didn't often see the light of day.

Jareth held her for several minutes more, reveling in her nearness. This was a moment he'd awaited for some years now; he'd watched her from afar quite a while before she ever wished her baby brother away.

Finally, he let her go and stood to turn on the ceiling light. He blinked against the sudden brightness and paused. "We cannot stay in here for the rest of the day." Well, they could, but that was a thought he shouldn't voice just then.

"I will dress," he continued, clearly in much better spirits. Jareth left the room, heading towards his dining-room-cum-wardrobe, "and we will go somewhere. ...Wherever you would like, Sarah."

She smiled, glad to see Jareth almost back to normal. She felt happy, and relieved, almost, as if she had been holding her breath for many years and was only now allowed to breathe freely. "Let's just...walk around," she suggested. Anywhere with you will be nice, she thought, but wasn't about to voice such declarations of affection just yet.

She ran a hand through her brown hair as she waited for him. For once, her fairy tale had gone right. The girl found her prince, and the King found his Queen. It just had taken them longer than expected....and she was okay with that.

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