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sarah_williams ([info]sarah_williams) wrote in [info]mirage_rpg,
@ 2009-02-15 20:10:00

Previous Entry  Add to memories!  Tell a Friend!  Next Entry
Entry tags:arrival, complete, day 32, jareth, sarah williams

Day 32: Intro
Who: Sarah Williams & Jareth
What: Sarah arrives
When: Day 32, just before sunrise
Where: Garden
Status: Complete
Rating: PG at the moment

It was so quiet that Sarah could have heard a pin drop. If she had been paying attention. She was more focused on something else. Something that had settled in her stomach like an icy ball of dread. Her knuckles were white as she held the blankets tightly to her chest, eyes wide, staring straight up at the ceiling.

It's finally happening.

The clock was ticking in the hallway. The clock that had been there 3 years ago. The one that was safely at her father's house a thousand miles away with Irene and Toby and their perfectly normal, ignorant lives. She had no clocks in this apartment. None that could tick, that is. Yet there it was. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.

He's finally coming back for me.

Something about the room changed. It wasn't as dark anymore. Light was creeping in through the blinds? No, it looked more like cracks in the walls of the room. Sarah sat up straight as an arrow in the bed with a muffled cry in her throat. Tears began to stream down her cheeks and she opened her mouth to scream.

Then the garden.

At first she thought she must have passed out or had been dreaming of being in her own apartment a few moments ago. Because this garden looked exactly like the one in which she had been practicing her lines all those years ago on the night she first visited the labyrinth. Upon inspection she saw she was indeed wearing the long, white dress she had used for playacting then and the wreath of flowers in her long, dark hair.

It was all a dream? All of it?

"Am I fifteen again? That's not f-" and she stopped herself, feeling the old petulance rising and the fear subsiding. And as it did she realized that this garden was nothing like the one she had practiced in. In fact, it was so dissimilar that she reached up to be sure she hadn't imagined the wreath of flowers in her hair. But it was still there.

"Where am I?" she whispered.


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[info]sarah_williams
2009-02-16 01:41 pm UTC (link)
Sighing in relief that her fears of Jareth having finally returned for her had not come true, Sarah tried to take in the garden around her. Had she wandered in her sleep again? This didn't seem familiar at all. The only comfort she had in the total foreign surroundings was that it was too beautiful to be anything from the Goblin King's realm.

She stood slowly, brushing flower petals from her dress, pressing her hands firmly down the front of herself as if to continually convince herself that she was real, that this was really happening. The reality was what was difficult to grasp for Sarah though. The sun was just beginning to creep over the horizon and the colors were muted. It was dreamlike and she suddenly began to feel as though she were no longer corporeal but a spirit. Floating between the flowers. She smiled and twirled childlike in a circle.

Her heart stopped. She stumbled out of the circle, suddenly grounded. The darkness of a figure in shadow. It looked so much like him. She stood frozen, heart racing. Her fingers began to tingle and she reached out one hand in a defensive gesture.

"No. You can't be."

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[info]labyrinth_king
2009-02-16 02:38 pm UTC (link)
"So that was the dream..." He spoke softly, as if to himself, and then focused completely on her. "Is it possible, Sarah, that it was my will that brought you here?" Or was it still a dream? It did feel a little like that, and he became annoyed. He inflicted dreams on others, he didn't have it done to him!

He wasn't quite sure he liked this thought. Not that he objected to kidnapping people, obviously he didn't. But he liked to be aware of what he was doing, and he hadn't been this time. A frown formed on his lips and he shook his head. No matter, it was done now... though a slight feeling of unease remained.

The Goblin King stepped forward, out of the shadows, revealing that it was, in fact, him. Though he didn't think she had much in the way of doubt about that. A slight smile touched his face now as he looked at her, and there was a strange look in his eyes. "It was only a few days ago that you destroyed my home..."

But that didn't seem quite right. Once more, smile turned to frown and his eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "But you, you have aged at least three years." He said it almost like an accusation. "And you have been through much, from the look in your eyes. What have you done to yourself, Sarah?"

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[info]sarah_williams
2009-02-16 03:30 pm UTC (link)
It was seeing him in the flesh that began to destroy the fear that had been building up inside of her over the past 3 years. It was happening. Now, in the present. And he hadn't sauntered to her with his temptations and whispered promises of freedom within possession. He had kept his distance, strangely enough. Confusion washed away the last vestiges of fear and she watched him step from the shadow with little more than a soft gasp.

She had been sure that when she saw him again (yes, it had always been when -- not if) he would be angry and murderous. She had destroyed his home, stolen something he believed to be his rightful property, and rendered him powerless where she was concerned - something no man, especially a Goblin King could bear well. She had known he wasn't dead. She always believed that he was waiting, biding his time, seeking new ways to regain his power over her and then he would spring and she would be helpless.

When he spoke she was instantly back in the few moments of dancing with him inside the crystal ball. His voice had mesmerized her into near complacence then and she had spent many nights wondering if she might have reacted differently had he not left her alone among the strange masked men and mocking women...

But what he actually had said struck her and she was brought back to the present. She had aged and she was sure that he saw how her body was sharply angled, too thin beneath the white dress. Her face was pale and her eyes were hollow and darkly rimmed from lack of sleep, among other things. She was grateful for the sleeves of the dress. They hid other tell-tale signs of the past 3 years.

Relief flooded her and she smiled to herself. She had the advantage. She had the years after the night in the labyrinth in her favor and he had not had the time to plot his revenge or gather new power over her yet.

Then she looked at him carefully before speaking, folding her slender arms across her chest. "It's been 3 years since you stole Toby. He doesn't remember but I always will."

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[info]labyrinth_king
2009-02-16 08:41 pm UTC (link)
Something was wrong, here, or at the very least different. The last words she had spoken to him echoed through his head, the words that had destroyed his kingdom, his world. You have no power over me... apparently, they were true. Perhaps he had approached this wrong, perhaps he should have been raging, or punishing her. But he found that he couldn't. He was still too new, maybe that was it. He was too out of his element here on Mirage.

For a moment, he considered threatening her as he had when they'd first met. In fact, he came very close to doing just that. But then his face fell into the same expression of resignation that he had worn in the split second after she had rejected his offer and quite literally broken his world, and he sighed.

"Oh, Sarah." He shook his head and kept his distance, though he did start pacing, he never drew near to her. "You asked that the child be taken... if anything, I hope you learned to be careful what you wish for." But there was no real heat to his words, just a simple stating of the facts.

"I suppose I should be attacking you." He gestured and a crystal appeared in his hands, "But there is little point to that, am I right?" For she would surely see through any of his illusions. It felt odd to admit something like that, but it was the truth and they both knew it. There was nothing really to be gained in pretending otherwise. He gestured once more, and the crystal disappeared. His eyes, quite penetrating, fixed on her despite his pacing.

"It seems to me that you have changed." He looked her over quite thoroughly, and wasn't entirely pleased with what he saw. She was beautiful still, he doubted anything could change that, but... "You, my escaped Persephone, have become a Queen after all. Not my Queen, though... a Queen of destruction. You destroyed my home, and now you have nearly destroyed yourself. Are you here, then, to ruin this?"

He was starting to get a little angry, but kept it under a tight rein of control. "You may try, but you can't destroy me." He stopped pacing abruptly, and simply looked at her. "If that's why you're here, you should leave. You may continue to track me down, if you wish, but I will always find a new place. I am immortal, as you could have been." His tone was slightly superior, but mostly just matter-of-fact about the whole thing.

"Tell me, do you ever wonder if you made the right decision? Or would you, perhaps, prefer to continue down this path that you have laid before your feet? I have seen human death, and you don't have much time left, you know." It was true, while he'd been hiding in the human world, he'd seen death, and he knew signs of self-destruction. She had them in abundance.

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[info]sarah_williams
2009-02-16 09:43 pm UTC (link)
Sarah allowed her mind to gloss over the things he said - Persephone! - that struck chords of romanticism in her. The sort that brought to mind starcrossed lovers and forbidden things. She could not spend any time with those thoughts in his presence. They had begun to take hold while she had been in his labyrinth. Insinuating themselves into her so that once the adrenaline had worn off and she was at home again, she'd lie awake thinking about him and the what ifs of a fifteen year old had taken flight. It was stupid to let him try to coerce her again now. Dangerous. Instead she forced herself to focus on the anger she felt for him.

"Track you? Track you? You're the one who snaps his fingers, breathes a whisper, and things beyond anyone's wildest imagination begin happening. You're the one who took a selfish little girl's foolish wish and made her pay a price that even a grown woman would have had a hard time settling. Thirteen hours in a labyrinth where every living thing or illusion was set against me with my brother's life at stake. You said I had no basis for comparison where 'fair' was concerned and maybe I didn't back then. But I do now. And no matter what I may have done - what you did was not fair!" She took a deep breath and the sun finally rose enough to spill across the horizon, casting her thin features in an almost angelic glow but she only felt cold.

"I've lived my life so afraid that you would come back and you would be ready to kill me for what I did. I haven't wanted anything more than to be safe and loved. Destruction is not my goal and it never has been. So why would I track you? Don't mess with my mind anymore, Jareth. King or not, you're the one who pulled me here, wherever this is."

Sarah swallowed hard, feeling her fingers begin to clench into fists and a knot slowly form in her stomach. The relief she'd felt moments ago replaced itself with the pangs of anger and guilt that she'd kept buried beneath the layers of self-hatred and fear she had allowed to grow in the past 3 years. She loathed herself for having wished away her brother. For what she had become in such a short time, an almost hollow version of herself. For not completely hating him. For ... having, at times, felt sympathy for him. And more. If she was honest.

Tears welled in her eyes with the tide of emotions. She had always been within an inch of the breaking point because she was of two minds about this man, this immortal who stood before her. It was too much for her to handle and she turned her face away from him. He was right that she was probably near death. She did not consciously wish for that but it was all too much. No one understood what she'd been through. Her fairytales and fantasy worlds had been destroyed along with his castle.

She turned her gaze to him again. This time the mask was up and her eyes were steely with resolve. She pushed her shoulders back and said quietly, "Please tell me what game I must play this time in order to go home. I'd like to get started now." Her voice broke slightly mid-sentence and suddenly she was just a very young girl, lost inside an emotional maze of her own making.

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[info]labyrinth_king
2009-02-16 11:44 pm UTC (link)
"Not anymore." He thought back to a bowling alley, being forced to put on those hideous shoes, and shuddered in disgust. He might as well not be a King of anywhere, not here. He ruled over himself, and his illusions, but that was all. And what's a king without a kingdom? "I could defend myself from your words, but I will not. I did what I did, and you countered me."

It was, he thought to himself, an incredible thing for him to admit such a thing. But these were incredible circumstances. Again, the king without the kingdom had no reason to be as arrogant. And he couldn't help but eye her a bit warily. She had shown that, not only did he have no power over her, but she even had some over him. She had broken his whole world with a sentence from a silly play.

The sun came up, illuminating the fae creature. His mane of wild hair seemed to glimmer, as did his odd, mismatched eyes. "Ah, yes. It wasn't fair." His agreement was sudden, and somewhat difficult to expect. "It wasn't fair for me to take the child. But I did it anyway, for my own reasons. You might be surprised to learn they had very little to do with you." Mentally, he added at first, but she didn't need to know that part.

"You could have been safe, and certainly..." There was the slightest pause before he continued on. "... loved. You chose otherwise." Suddenly, he laughed and shook his head. "Oh, it would be nice to pretend that I brougth you here, that I could do such a thing. It's possible the Planet picked you from my very dreams, I suppose, but that's all I had to do with that."

With a soft sigh he turned away slightly, looking away from the bright light of the sun. It was a lovely morning, but he didn't notice. "So you will kill yourself, then, through your actions because of what I've done." It was a hard thing to accept, deep down. "Well, perhaps it is just as well Mirage brought you here. I don't think it will let you die." And he still cared about that, about whether she lived or died, despite all the reasons he had not to.

Jareth could feel her gaze on him, but he didn't turn back to her. He didn't dare. "No game, I fear. No labyrinth to solve, no puzzle. Only a Planet who is lonely, and brought me here from the brink of destruction." At the sound of her tears, he turned to face her as if pulled against his will. "I do have a sort of power now, don't I? I could tell you nothing, leave you to figure out this strange place on your own." A smile found its way onto his lips, and he approached her for the first time since she'd arrived. "It's your choice, Persephone." He decided he liked that nickname. "You can follow me and learn where you are, or you can stay here and infringe on the Planet's dubious mercy."

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[info]sarah_williams
2009-02-17 08:08 am UTC (link)
It was hard to imagine that Jareth, as powerful as he'd proven himself to be, had no control over their current situation or surroundings. Some part of her told her not to believe him. That he had lied to her in the past. Except she knew he had never lied. He had always done exactly as he said he would do. He had manipulated her with assaults on her senses, forcing every emotion to rise in her at some point or another throughout her journey in his labyrinth. But he had never lied.

And so they were on a Planet? A lonely planet. Were they together and alone or were there others with whom she might seek refuge if he chose to suddenly lose the façade (oh yes, it had to be an illusion!) of control and resignation. There did not seem to even be much triumph in his eyes as he realized that he did indeed hold some power over her now.

Of course he did. Sarah had trained herself to be ready for a war with him when he finally re-entered her life. The ultimate test of physical combat. Yet here he was, calm and she was not prepared for this. She felt herself tremble and breathed in deeply, holding it as if to hold herself still. When she let the breath out she was a little more clear minded.

"I have no plans to kill myself. I have no plans for destruction, Jareth. Only self-preservation. And your speaking to me about safety and love(??) had I chosen to stay with you..."

Sarah allowed her voice to trail off because the truth was that it chipped away at her will and she was, in a lot of ways, fragile in her unpreparedness for this version of the goblin who had tormented her dreams and waking hours for three years. He could see how she walked the edge; he'd commented on it. So he was at his games again and the footing was different now. No brother held in the balance. No possibility of death. And Sarah a captive audience. She had to find a way to bolster herself against the inevitable.

Shaking her head she said, "Nevermind. Show me this place, this new prison. I guess we had better get used to each other's company."

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[info]labyrinth_king
2009-02-17 10:20 am UTC (link)
Strange to be allies of a sort with the beautiful girl, when they'd spent so much time opposing each other. And yet that was indubitably the case. He was relatively new here, of course, so he didn't even hold that much more experience than she did. And, of course, she'd been taken somewhere once against her will, while he never had. Did it make a difference? And would he ever be able to stop thinking about this in terms of who held power over whom?

With a smooth, undoubted grace, he approached her. Even then, he didn't stand all that close. His reasons for not doing so were convoluted at best, and he didn't poke into them too much. From this viewpoint, he could see just how slender she really was, and the dark circles under her eyes were much clearer. She had certainly been through something... and of course, he didn't feel remorse about that, and probably wouldn't recognize the emotion if he did. But it didn't please him.

"Strange... your way of preserving yourself looks an awful lot like destroying yourself." But there was little he could do about that, he supposed. Probably, he could only make it worse if he got all Goblin-King-ish on her, starting waving the crystals around. In a very real sense, he was somewhere between Jareth and Jeremy right now, and it was an unusual situation to say the least.

"Yes. If you had chosen to stay with me, you would have had those things and more. And your brother would have been King after me." But he shrugged eloquently with one shoulder. That was in the past. The choice had been made, and his world destroyed. There was probably not much point in thinking more about that.

Jareth did smile slightly as she agreed to accompany him, but it wasn't a triumphant expression, just a... well, almost happy one. In whatever way that was possible. He nodded. "Then follow me. I will show you the plaque." It seemed the logical first choice, and it was where the golem who had met him had first taken him. He didn't take her arm or hand, though he thought about it. He just turned toward the main building.

"Do you often dress like that?" He glanced back, taking in the white dress and the flowers. The first time he'd seen her in person, and not through one of his scrying crystals, she had been dressed exactly as she was now.

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[info]sarah_williams
2009-02-17 10:45 am UTC (link)
Sarah thought about correcting his idea of her self-preservation being a destruction of sorts. As much as she might look gaunt and tired, she had been beginning to come out of the other side of it when this planet had sucked her away and put her face to face with her worst fear and greatest hope. She let go of the notion and shrugged. Let him worry -- if he worried. She didn't think so but she wouldn't soothe him for any reason when she was so raw and he was still such a great unknown. He might not pose a physical threat at the moment but there was still the vast emotional unknown.

He moved toward her and she felt herself stiffen, the hair on the back of her neck bristling. Her eyes widened slightly and she watched his face, his eyes as he spoke, willing herself to stay calm. Willing herself to let go of the frightened rabbit that she had become when she'd first realized he was here with her. Resolve was creeping in now; her fears were left unrealized as he continued to be composed and she nearly laughed out loud at herself for having been so afraid of him for so long. She had overcome him once. She could do it again if she had to. Well... maybe.

She realized she had stood looking at him without speaking too long and he had inquired about her dress. Glancing down at the white gown she had used for playacting in parks she shook her head. "No. I don't dress like this anymore. In fact, back at home, I burned this dress. I guess this planet with its loneliness decided it wanted me dressed for a fantasy game. It too plays mind games. You must feel so at home. And for the record, controlling someone is not loving them."

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[info]labyrinth_king
2009-02-17 02:13 pm UTC (link)
Jareth continued walking, trusting that she would follow. Whether she liked it or not, and he was getting the sense that she certainly didn't, he was the one who had found her on her arrival. "The hatred is..." He shook his head. He'd never been hated before. Feared, yes, of course. But never hated. "You wish to play victim, then? Fine." He shrugged, having very little patience for such things. He never had.

"I never claimed to love you." In fact, he had been incredibly careful not to do so. They weren't words that came easily to him, due to his two failed relationships. "Those were your words, Sarah. 'But what no one knew is that the King of the Goblins had fallen in love with the girl'..." He made a shrewd guess at what she would say next. "And as for what I implied just now, well, implications are not sayings, are they? And they can be interpreted many ways... perhaps my subjects would have loved you."

He recoiled just a little when she said she burned the dress, but he hoped she didn't notice. She didn't need to have any more power over him, that he didn't need. "How strange... I was brought here exactly as I was." He headed toward the main building, refusing to look at her now. She was going to fling hateful words at him, and deep down, he couldn't blame her. But he didn't need to see the hate on her face while she did it.

"I will show you the plaque, and then you can ask any further questions you have." The trick here was to pretend this wasn't the girl who he had fallen in love with against his better judgement. She was just anyone, or so he told himself. It was having limited success.

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[info]sarah_williams
2009-02-17 03:03 pm UTC (link)
Sarah began to follow him. She kept a short distance, feeling reluctant and in no way eager to leave the bubble of illusion that she felt herself to be in at the moment. It was not comfortable to be here away from the fortress of her apartment but it had started to feel familiar. Now that they were walking away she felt out of her depth again.

Hold it together, Sarah. No more weakness in front of him.

Quietly, as though in supplication, she murmured, "I don't hate you." But it may have been lost to the wind or the distance between them and quickly swallowed up in her next statement to him.

"I don't really care what you said, Jareth." He was really going to play semantics right now. Her voice was passionate and full of frustration with his immovability as she said, "It was my mistake to assume you meant the entire re-ordering of time and turning the world upside down for me was an act of love. You've already made it clear that my words as a young girl were flippant and I got what I deserved. So let's skip the lesson on implications, please. You didn't love me. That's what I said to begin with."

And you've said more than enough, Sarah.

She was trembling again as she finished and tears of frustration with herself, with him, with this whole mess streamed her cheeks. Quickly she wiped them away on the sleeves of her dress. There really was nothing to do now but go with him to the plaque and ask her questions if she had any. It would be so easy to just give up right now but seeing him so collected and sure of himself and watching herself swing back and forth emotionally was beginning to bring back an even greater reserve of determination. He'd caught her off guard, appearing here. The whole thing had caught her off guard. But she could - would! - be stronger now that she knew it was all just another dance.

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[info]labyrinth_king
2009-02-17 06:14 pm UTC (link)
Jareth almost opened his mouth and told her 'I didn't say I don't love you, either.' but that would be going too far, way too far. So the words were bitten back, which seemed much safer right now. She was wrong, and he knew she was wrong, and yet he couldn't possibly tell her. The girl was quite obviously in no good place, and confessions of that sort wouldn't help. Also, it wasn't his style. Or hadn't been for more years than he could count.

Her words were just a whisper, and though he heard that she was saying something, he didn't hear what. And it was safer to leave that just as it was. Good or bad, he wasn't at all sure that he wanted to hear her words. Again, it felt safer to him. And since he'd often gone into his labyrinth for decades at a time to escape emotional danger, he was used to behaving this way. Of course, he would deny it if asked.

"I don't suppose it matters why I did it." He still refused to look around at her, his odd eyes fixed only on the approaching building. "Since you, apparently, know exactly what is going on in my head, perhaps you should simply tell me." His tone was dry, slightly sardonic, and very typical of him. Though there was more he could say, more than would explain what had happened, he didn't chose to go there. He never apologized, and he didn't see how he could get away from doing so if he spoke the way he wanted to.

Though it wasn't apparent, he was struggling with himself. What should he say? What should he do? But in the end, he decided he would just do nothing, say nothing. Again... that was the safe thing to do. Although, as always, he was nowhere near as composed as he looked. It was the normal way of things for him, at least around her. Though saying something like that wouldn't even occur to him.

In silence they walked, and finally they reached the door of the building. He held the door open, waiting to see if she would accept even such a small gesture of gallantry. "Through here, there are answers. Not all of them, I fear."

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[info]sarah_williams
2009-02-17 10:18 pm UTC (link)
Sarah had often wondered why exactly he had done what he'd done. Surely there could have been little use for a baby in his castle. Jareth wasn't the touchy feely sort to have paternal instincts. At least not as far as she could tell. Though she did know that her actual experience with the king was very small compared to how well he had seemed to know here. She wouldn't ponder that implication. It led down paths she was unprepared to tread. She'd wondered at one point if he couldn't read her mind if he wanted to do so.

But she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of replying to his snide remark about her assuming she knew what went on in his head. She had no clear idea what he thought about. What she assumed was merely her way of personifying the smooth, untouched plains of his words that seemed to hold no more emotion than disinterested amusement.

That he was bringing her anywhere that she might receive answers was strange in itself and gave rise to a momentary wondering of whether or not she was underselling him. She brushed that thought aside. He was just trying to get the better of her. He'd already knocked the wind from her sails. He didn't love her. There was some other reason for the abduction of her brother that brought her to him. She didn't want to know right now what the rest of it was. She just wanted to know where she was and why.

So she held her tongue and said nothing to him. Only briefly she met his eyes as he held the door for her. For just a moment she was nonplussed by the strangeness of looking directly into their mismatched depths. In that moment everything she thought and felt was naked in her eyes. Then she broke her gaze and brushed past him inside the building.

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[info]labyrinth_king
2009-02-17 10:49 pm UTC (link)
Jareth knew immediately that it had been a mistake to look into Sarah's green eyes, and yet, he did it anyway. In some ways, he really didn't learn. For a moment, a strange expression crossed his face, but it quickly disappeared. He simply held the door for her and then let it close, stepping past her and heading down the hallway.

It was a very short distance to the plaque, and once there, he stood back a fair distance and gestured to it. She could read it, he wouldn't interfere. It was quite brilliant, actually. If he was ever in the business of kidnapping people en masse, he would certainly be envious of the Planet's ability. It seemed to have thought of everything. But, of course, that would involve him being able to leave, and he clearly wasn't.

As he waited, he leaned with elaborate casualness against a wall, produced a crystal, and began playing with it. First it would turn into a diamond, then an apple, then a snake, and really whatever caught his fancy. His way of fidgetting, but other than that, he was remarkably quiet. Finally, the crystal changed into his black leather riding crop, and he toyed with it as he waited.

She might have questions as she read the plaque, so he would stay until then. After that, well, he wasn't all that sure, to be honest. Though he would never admit it. But he supposed it depended partly on her. The golem thing had given him a tour, perhaps he would do that. Of course, he figured that chances were very good that she would want him gone, so he would figure it out later.

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[info]sarah_williams
2009-02-18 09:43 am UTC (link)
The flowers were already falling apart in Sarah's hair and petals fluttered around her everytime she turned her head. She wasn't sure if they were dying but she expected so. Fitting, she thought. The flowers had it easier than she did. She was so tempted to grumble It's not fair but kept her lips firmly pressed together. He had already admonished her for saying that so often but it felt so true. Especially now, stuck her on some planet against her will. She wondered again if it wasn't just some trick of his.

Giving him a blank look as he gestured to the plaque, Sarah stepped forward in a rustle of white and flowers and read it. His movements in the corner of her eye made her heart pound a bit faster as she instinctively (or at least the instincts she'd programmed in the last few years) worried he was on the brink of destroying her. But he was always just holding some new fanciful thing in his fingers. As a result, she took too long to focus and read the plaque. It must have seemed odd to him but he merely appeared patiently dispassionate.

Her own skiddishness was beginning to be an annoyance to her. Obviously this Planet wanted them there in the same place for whatever reason. It apparently did not want them at each other's throats because it precluded violence turning fatal.

Glancing over at him as she finished reading, she forced a small amount of bravado into her voice though it was very quiet even to her own ears. "Every need provided for? Does that mean I have somewhere to sleep and a change of clothes?" She looked down at the dress, pressing her hands down over her hips and holding them there, akimbo. "I'd rather not wear this for the rest of my life."

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[info]labyrinth_king
2009-02-18 09:56 am UTC (link)
For a second, he continued to fiddle with the riding crop, but slowly he stilled. For a long moment, he simply looked at her. Then, very slowly, a smile broke over his face, and he nodded at her. "Very nicely done, Sarah." His mind flitted back to his own arrival on Mirage. "Personally, I tried to attack the ... thing... that showed me this." For all the good it had done him. The golem had been completely immune to his illusions, as far as he could tell.

Sarah was taking this with a sort of grace that he almost found himself envying. As she finished reading, he wandered closer to her. Not too close, he'd seen the looks she'd given him and sort of wondered if he'd give her a heart attack from fear if he got too close. A couple of feet away, he stopped and looked at her.

"You have already been assigned a room, as I understand it." He wasn't completely sure, though, which infuriated him. This was, after all, his first time greeting someone and welcoming them, so he didn't know that much yet. True, for him, a golem had been there too...

Barely was that thought completed before one of the strange creatures of stone came stumping up. One of Jareth's eyebrows raised as he gestured behind Sarah to the thing with his free hand. "I think this fine fellow may have something to give you." The riding crop beat in an anxious sort of way against his tightly-clothed thigh, but he stayed away other than that.

In it's hand, the golem held out a key. "Mine has my room number on it." He held it out. "Everyone here gets one." Which was a guess, because for all he knew, others simply slept in the woods or whatever. But it seemed like a safe enough guess. "Go on, take it."

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[info]sarah_williams
2009-02-18 08:12 pm UTC (link)
Sarah inclined her head politely as Jareth verbally applauded her. It was no surprise to her though that he had tried to defeat the golem upon arriving. She could imagine his chagrin as he realized that he was trapped and left to his wits to survive. If turnabout was fair play she almost envied the Planet its ability to give the Goblin King some uneasiness and frustration.

She suddenly giggled then smothered her smile in her sleeve. When she was in control again, straight-faced, she lowered her arm and stood still as he stepped toward her. Which was when the strange little creature approached and offered a key.

"Oh what a cute little thing you are! Thank you," she murmured to the golem which looked very much like something out of Jareth's dominion and, forcing herself to move without hesitation, she reached for the key immediately. It was cool and smooth in her fingers. She turned it over in her palm and read out the number she found on it. "Room A150," she said quietly. "Is that nearby? I really want to get rid of this dress before anything else and I'm hoping that 'every need provided for' includes a change of clothing."

She wasn't sure if she was voicing her question to Jareth or the golem but she found herself deferring to the man as though he was now her guide through this bizarre situation that neither of them had created. She stared at him, one eyebrow raised expectantly, though her expression was more curiosity than demand. If he was not going to be a physical threat he would certainly make the most of being a mental challenge. That, as best as she could figure, was very much his nature. Enigmatic and aloof, she couldn't imagine him giving up the opportunity to display the knowledge of this place that he had and she did not. But, as she had realized before, she'd had very little experience with what he was really like and so far he had been the opposite of what she had feared.

This thought, her gaze of curiosity took on a subtle air of respect for the unknown in him.

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[info]labyrinth_king
2009-02-19 01:53 am UTC (link)
The first thing he noticed was how pleasing it was to him when she giggled. It showed that some sort of youthful spirit lived on in her, it hadn't all been killed. But, of course, that wasn't something that he exactly wanted to be shouting out, so he just continued to smile, ever so slightly, at her.

He watched as she interacted with the golem, vaguely amused. He had immediately tried to bend the thing to it's will, and had gotten nowhere. It was a different approach. And, though it was quite ridiculous, he felt a surge of jealousy that she had actually thanked the creature. She'd never thanked him... of course, there could be good reason for that.

His eyes, however, widened, and all that was forgotten as she announced her room number. There was a very long pause, and he snapped suddenly. The riding crop disappeared, and in it's place was a key. Jareth's key. He stared at it blankly, and then looked at her. A smile tugged at the corner of his lips, and before long, he was chuckling.

"Oh, but you do have a sense of humor, don't you, Planet?" He murmured the words, and then burst into a real, sincere laugh. Not something that happened often, but this was a special circumstance. "It would seem, dear Persephone, that we are conspired against." In truth, he wasn't upset about it, and he didn't really make an effort to seem so.

Jareth held up his own key, the room number clearly displayed on it. 'A166', it read, and he raised an eyebrow at her. He really did have to wonder how she would take this latest bit of news. Of course, in reality, it was going to be hard to think he hadn't orchestrated this entire thing. It was all too convienant. He'd been the one to meet her, and now their rooms were just down the hall from each other. Interesting, to say the least.

"Well, at least I can show you your room quite easily."

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[info]sarah_williams
2009-02-19 10:15 am UTC (link)
Sarah thought she had caught a glimpse of something flutter beneath the surface of Jareth's calm exterior as she'd turned to tell him the number on her key. Had that been ... envy? What he could have to be jealous of in this situation she had no idea and she didn't want to spend any time trying to figure it out because as soon as she thought she'd seen it, it was gone again.

Your imagination is far too colorful, Sarah.

Then he'd snapped, startling her out of her thoughts and the riding crop had disappeared. In its place a key appeared. A key nearly identical to her own. His tricks of illusion never failed to marvel her. Even when he had incited terror in her by tossing a snake-turned-scarf at her throat there had been something fantastic about the magic he weilded with such effortless grace. Still she didn't like it that the Planet had chosen to allow him to continue to have such power even if it was ineffectual in forcing his will on the Planet and its servants.

Stop with the frightened rabbit routine. You're stronger than this.

It did not amuse her as much as it seemed to amuse him that they were roomed so closely together. An entire country between them would not have made her feel safe enough to go to sleep. Though, conversely... well she wouldn't think about that.

Smiling tersely she tilted her head. "How convenient. So you can show me to my room then? Did you have it decorated like my old bedroom to try to fool me into staying with you again?"

As soon as the words left her mouth she bit her lower lip as if she could keep them from being spoken if she bit hard enough. She mistrusted him, yes, but in admitting it aloud again she knew she sounded weak and petulant. He'd start talking about hatred or destruction again now, she was sure of it.

All of a sudden she realized that while vacillating about how she felt about Jareth, she was unconsciously trying to force her will on him. She wanted him to walk between two lines within her comfort zone. He was to have no power but the same attraction to her she'd seemed to feel each time he'd appeared to her in the labyrinth so that she could have the upper hand. Ridiculous! She could no more control him than she could control the fear she'd felt by self-destructive behaviors. Nothing was fair and no "upper hand" would change that. That was the lesson. It was an epiphany and her green eyes suddenly sparkled. She took a deep breath and looked him dead in the eyes.

"If we're going to be stuck here in the same space, forever running into each other because it won't be helped, I think we need to put the past to rest."

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[info]labyrinth_king
2009-02-19 10:40 am UTC (link)
Jareth tilted his head to the side and his eyes narrowed. Though clearly he had changed with the destruction of his world, it had really only been a couple of days ago for him. Old habits had not died, not completely, and though he was far more resigned now than he had been while she was in the labyrinth, it wasn't complete. Something dangerous flashed in his eyes, and he opened his mouth as if to snap at her. His fingers twitched, crystals wanting to be produced and used.

But the problem with illusion is that, once it's been penetrated, it loses most of it's power. So what would the point be? She said he had no power over her, so his illusions would simply be pretty, or not so pretty, pictures. So he took a deep breath and let it out with a shake of his head. "No. You design your room. Make a wish, tell the Planet how you want it to be, and it shall be done."

This whole dynamic was strange. While he'd been scrying on her before the labyrinth incident, she'd been unaware of him. In the Underground, she'd been subjected to his will numerous times. Now, however, it seemed the only control he had was over himself. And there were no goblins here to do as he told them. Was it destined, then, to be a constant power struggle between himself and the pretty girl?

Well, if so, so be it. At least she was here. And in reality, if he understood it correctly, this was the safest place for he and Sarah to be in the same place. By the rules, neither of them could kill the other, so he need not fear destruction. And of course, the same went for her, since surely his anger had concerned her at least a little. After all, when you broke someone's world, it was probably better if they didn't see you again. Safer.

The chain of thoughts that he was having were completely dispelled as he turned back to her. He was going to talk, he was going to say something, only he hadn't figured out what just yet... but her eyes were practically throwing off sparks, or so it seemed to him, and though he probably could have looked away, he didn't want to. Not even remotely. So he returned her level gaze with one of his own, and even half-smiled.

"Oh? And how exactly is that going to happen?" His voice was slightly sardonic, but at the same time, interested. "Are you going to put me in a Labyrinth, and I must find my way through? Then, I can destroy your world and we'd have symmatry." But of course, that wouldn't be allowed, not here. So while it might be fair, it wasn't possible. "Although, of course, it could be said that we've already played that out. Yes, I kidnapped both you and your brother, and yes, I put you into my labyrinth. But you won through, took back the child, and destroyed my world. And almost me." He grimaced, not liking to admit that. "So perhaps that's the only fairness we can expect."

It hardly seemed fair to him, but that didn't matter. He'd come to the conclusion many centuries ago that life wasn't fair, even for powerful fae illusionists. Not while there were others around.

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[info]sarah_williams
2009-02-19 11:01 am UTC (link)
Jareth seemed to go through his entire repertoire of emotional responses in a brief moment and it was a little frightening. Sarah knew he would constantly be reminding her of his vast power, even if it was done unconsciously, every time she was in his presence. It was funny that he credited her with such large scale destruction. She had known he would. That was why she’d feared him. But she had no powers of destruction unless it was aimed inward. The words had done the damage. “You have no power over me” had been a line in a play. Whatever had empowered them to destroy his world had not come from her, she was sure of it. She thought about saying so but figured it was neither here nor there anymore.

Instead she sighed longsufferingly at his grandiose assumption of her idea on burying the hatchet. “No, Jareth. I didn’t say I wanted to be on equal footing. I said put the past to rest. Rest. No destruction. No revenge. We can either decide here and now to avoid each other. Didn’t you say once that it’s only forever - not long at all? Or we could…”

She smiled slightly at herself, turning her face away toward the golem who seemed to look a bit impatient. What she was going to suggest sounded so absurd in her mind and she didn’t think he’d even be vaguely interested considering how sarcastic he sounded. She wondered briefly if he was so acerbic because it was just the natural position of an immortal king to be elevated or he masked other things with it, using it as a defense mechanism as she did sometimes. That also was neither here nor there.

Brushing hair from her face, she looked back at him. “We could have coffee and try to find a way to get past this thing.”

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