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Tweak says, "Parley???"

Jareth (goblin_king) wrote in labyrinth_rpg,
@ 2009-03-22 20:29:00

Entry tags:

armand, arrival, caspian, cathal, cimorene, claudia, complete, day four, edward cullen, faith lehane, gabrielle, giselle, hermione granger, ianto jones, jack harkness, jareth, juniper golding, legolas greenleaf, mercy thompson, ned the piemaker, nymphadora tonks, olive snook, pandora, robin of locksley, rose tyler, sarah williams, schuldig, severus snape, tara maclay, the doctor, willow rosenberg, xena, yaten kou, yuna

Who: Jareth and everyone!
When: Day Four, evening
What: The King 'invites' everyone to his masque...
Where: Jareth's castle
Rating: Anywhere from G to R, I suppose
Status: Complete

It had been raining earlier in the day, but it had cleared up a short time ago. Jareth looked out the window of his massive ballroom, empty for now, and felt a little bit disoriented by the fact that the Labyrinth had just disappeared. Of course, he'd made it happen, but it had been a long time since he'd felt so exposed. But he couldn't very well have people needing to wander through the Labyrinth, could he? And the two who had been running it had been transported to the castle already, and he knew from the screams of rage that they were being dressed at this very moment.

The king smiled and turned away from the window, checking out his ballroom. It was quite spectacular, with a large orchestra pit, many snack tables, and, of course, lots of empty space for dancing. This, he figured, would be a night to remember. He snapped his fingers and peered into the crystal that appeared there, scrying on each and every person he'd brought to the Underground. Some, he knew wouldn't come on their own, and he sent crystals floating out to ensare them. Of course, some might just be strong enough to resist that pull, so he had goblins standing by to bring others in. Whether willing or not, everyone would be attending, he'd seen to that.

Dressed in his finery, with an evil looking mask in the guise of a leering demon, he walked over to his throne. Draping himself casually over it, he waited. People would be arriving anytime, now. He didn't fool himself for a moment that some wouldn't take this chance to attack him, which was why he wasn't precisely there. Anyone who tried to attack him, he knew, would find their useless effort wasted against what was no more than a projected image.

He gestured, and a goblin slave brought him a glass of wine. This, he was convinced, was going to be a night to remember.

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bravely
2009-03-28 08:06 pm UTC (link)

Unfortunately, Gabrielle had felt that icy stare on herself more than once to Xena's everlasting shame. To her credit, it wasn't often her fault. But, she still felt bad about every time she'd looked at her best friend that way. She smirked at Gabrielle's comment and noticed that she'd turned a candle holder into a staff. She really liked Gabrielle for her ingenuity when it came to finding weapons.

The girl who had summoned the monster and the man who'd knocked her over still appeared to be speaking, but doing nothing else. Jareth just looked bored so Xena stepped forward. "Who are you?" The question was simple enough. Xena knew from Gabrielle's recitation of his speech that he called himself their king and that they were nothing short of his prisoners. But she wanted to know who he thought he was, and why he was keeping them there.

"Why are you holding us here?" Contrary to popular belief, Xena did like to settle things with talking before it came to violence. She didn't immediately attack someone unless they attacked her first, or she had a good reason. Sometimes Gabrielle saw a reason a little bit differently than she did, but still, she wasn't one to rush in and kill without getting some sort of answer first.

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bardictraveller
2009-03-29 01:45 pm UTC (link)

Gabrielle would prefer not to fight. In fact, part of the reason she'd been so happy and bouncy since getting here was the simple fact that she hadn't had to fight in awhile. It was a nice change. But once giant monsters started appearing, things changed a little. The bard had become a warrior, and it showed in the competant way she held the improvised weapon. The metal was heavier than the wooden staff she had used, but she was sure she could do some decent damage with it.

She watched as Xena stepped forward, and of course, the blonde was right at her side. There had been a time when Xena had constantly had to think of protecting the bard, of keeping her safe, but that time had passed. Now, she was at the dark-haired warrior woman's side no matter what, no more hiding behind her. So she faced off against the sharp-featured king right alongside her friend.

"Yeah, and will you send us home if we go through the Labyrinth?" She couldn't resist adding her two cents. After all, talking was really what she was best at. But, despite an amused glance, the King barely acknowledged them, not even changing the lazy drape of his leg over the arm of the throne. Gabrielle shook her head slightly, and shot a sideways glance to Xena. This wasn't good. Being ignored wasn't something most people liked, and when Xena didn't like things... it could get bad.

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bravely
2009-03-30 07:31 pm UTC (link)

Xena briefly glanced down at Gabrielle as she came up next to her. She gave her a small smile, recognizing the warrior look that invaded her features now. Gabrielle was beautiful when she was angry. Xena, more than she liked to admit, had a difficult time deciding which Gabrielle she preferred. A mixture of both, probably, as both sides of the bard had their advantages. She was just glad she could count on Gabrielle to be there in warrior mode when she was needed.

After Gabriell piped up, Xena wondered if she should have let the bard do all the talking. She was much more diplomatic and efficient with words than Xena was. But, after a moment or two of silence from the King, it was clear that neither of them were going to evoke a response from him. Xena would have attempted to attack him, but after what she had seen with the Anima, she knew it would do no good.

"C'mon, Gabrielle, we're wasting our time." Xena was certain that the only way she was going to get an answer was if she got the King alone. That evidently wasn't going to be tonight. Not with so many other people around. Lifting her dress in a most unladylike manner, Xena turned and merged into the crowd, depositing her sword back in the scabbard she kept hidden beneath her skirts. Gabrielle had been excited to come to the ball. Xena knew she wanted to dance and Xena was going to make sure that happened, with her or with someone else. But the bard wasn't going to leave without at least one dance.

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bardictraveller
2009-03-31 04:57 pm UTC (link)

Gabrielle was less than impressed with the actions of the King. Or, really, more the fact that he didn't act at all, even while being challenged. And she hadn't seen Jareth simply wave his hand and dismiss the monster, either. All in all, she was rather unimpressed. He didn't even look impressive, really, just strange and slightly unworldly.

"Yeah, we really are." She set the candle holder back down, not exactly feeling like she'd need it tonight. What threat could she be under, really? Their host wasn't going to do anything. And if anything happened, Xena had her sword, and there were plently of other things she could use as weapons. If nothing else, being around Xena had taught her to be creative in that way.

"I can't believe him... he wouldn't even look at us, barely!" She was slightly annoyed by that fact. After everything she and Xena had been through, the two in attack mode deserved, at the very least, some caution. She sighed, but then turned back to Xena hopefully. "So, can we dance yet?" Around them, many couples were dancing, and Gabrielle wanted to as well.

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bravely
2009-04-01 08:15 am UTC (link)

For some reason, the King's lack of a response didn't really surprise Xena. He, along with this whole place, was very strange. This was nothing like what they had experienced at home. It was similar to Mirage, but it was also very different. At least on Mirage there'd been no "King" telling them what they had to do. No, it had been a planet before. Perhaps that was even more strange. Either way, Xena just couldn't bring herself to be shocked.

Her companion set aside the makeshift staff and walked through the crowd. For probably the first time that night, Xena really looked at her. She'd seen Gabrielle in a vast array of costumes and outfits before. Some of them had been laughable and so outlandish as to be almost frightening, but this one was nice. She was mildly surprised that Jareth hadn't made them all look like fools. Maybe some felt that way, but no one really looked foolish. Just different. "You look nice, tonight, you know."

Xena gave her a thin lipped smile, trying to work through her anger with a little positivity. "Some people just don't have any manners." Xena then realized that they were very close to the dance floor. She'd offered to dance with the bard before, but Gabrielle had seemed more interested in finding a man to dance with. "Sure I'm good enough for you?" She teased lightly, glancing around. She still liked to keep tabs on where she was in relation to others. Anyone moving too quickly, too slowly, too loudly... or anything else to the extreme deserved to be watched. She kept her eyes open for more danger, but her attention was back on the bard.

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bardictraveller
2009-04-02 12:14 am UTC (link)

Gabrielle smiled in pleasure at the compliment, and knew that she must look nice. Otherwise, Xena wouldn't have said so. She knew the other woman cared for her, but also knew that, if she looked ridiculous, Xena would probably tell her. So she was really pleased with it, more than she would have been had it come from anywhere else. "Thanks. I was worried that I'd have to wear something horrible..."

She turned to look at her friend, and tilted her head to the side thoughtfully. "You look really beautiful. It's a good thing you don't dress like that all the time, or heartbroken men would be following us around constantly." She thought about that statement, and then laughed a little. "Well... more than they already do." There had been more than a few, really.

"Oh, whatever. We'll get him later. I wonder what happened to that monster?" She glanced around, but didn't see it. Then, with a smile, she turned back to her friend. "You had to put up with me dancing all day, so you might as well dance with me now." She laughed a little. "If you want to, of course. Anyway, you're prettier than anyone else here." Which was just the sort of endearing thing she said all the time, and was also, in her opinion, true. Other people might have pretty costumes, but Xena put them all to shame, in Gabrielle's opinion. "So... you're going to dance with me, right?"

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bravely
2009-04-03 07:35 pm UTC (link)

Xena looked down at herself when Gabrielle mentioned wearing something horrible. Xena wasn't exactly pleased with her attire, but she wasn't altogether irritated with the outfit either. It was simply something she didn't wear often. She had earlier in her life as a girl in a village and as a young warlord. But these days she favored her leathers over anything else. She felt most at ease and comfortable in them. "Yeah, me too."

Xena smiled slightly. "You said that already." And then she laughed and shook her head. She'd said something to Gabrielle once about wearing a smelly wolfskin to deter men from falling in love with her, but Gabrielle had reminded her that she would be traveling alone, too. That was apparently not an option, so she'd remained in her leathers. "But thanks again." Xena reached out and squeezed Gabrielle's shoulder gently. She was really lucky to have such a great friend here with her. She was almost certain she would have gone crazy long ago without the calming influence Gabrielle had over her.

"No idea, but hopefully that's the last we'll ever see of it." People, Xena could handle. Monsters, more difficult, but also manageable. Xena smirked at the compliment. Xena was aware that many people found her beautiful, but she wasn't vain. She didn't take the opportunity to glance in a mirror whenever she could, nor did she really care what she looked like. Tonight, she'd taken some time to prepare and it was nice to be noticed. "Next to you, of course." Xena returned the compliment and then held out her hand. "Sure, sure. Let's dance."

She tugged the bard toward the dance floor and suddenly felt rather awkward. She was cultured, yes. She could dance, yes. But she didn't do it often, and even more rarely with Gabrielle. Still, she bolstered her confidence and settled her hand on Gabrielle's waist while the other took up her hand. "Ready?" She then began to guide them around the floor to the rhythm of the music currently floating over their heads.

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bardictraveller
2009-04-04 02:15 am UTC (link)

The blonde shrugged, not really too worried about it. Both she and Xena knew that Gabrielle tended to talk a lot, and sometimes said things more than once. If Xena really minded, she would likely make it very well known, and not just sound amused about the whole thing. "It's still true, though." She smiled at her friend, and then looked at her expectently until she held out her hand. It looked like she was going to get to dance, after all.

With a smile, she placed her hand into that of the warrior woman, and they moved together onto the dance floor. There were definitely worse people she could be dancing with, she knew that for a fact. And, in reality, Xena was her favorite person, so a very good person to have a dance partner. Also, the woman wouldn't step on her feet, she knew that much.

So, when Xena put her hand on Gabrielle's waist, she returned it with a hand on the warrior's shoulder. They moved well together, she decided. And it could have been much, much worse, but she didn't see how it could be much better. Her green eyes sparkled at the other woman as they moved through the dance, and it was a very good thing. When the music ended, Gabrielle was sorry.

"That was fun! You should dance more."

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