Challenge #32: Double or Nothing
Title: Double or Nothing
Word Count: 1176
Rating: G
Author's Notes: This is part of the "It's Academic" series of vignettes that involve Jareth and Sarah in some sort of academia situation.
Summary: Sarah deals with an unexpected side effect of an applied physics experiment.
I walked into my office, froze, and attempted to clamp my jaw shut as I slid ungracefully into my chair. “Why are there two of you?”
“You don’t want to know how?” said the Jareth lounging in the bean bag with his ankles crossed and a curious amount of subtle glitter embedded in his clothes.
I shook my head. “Priorities. Begin with why. And shut the door, please.”
The other Jareth, my Jareth, dressed in his typical impeccably tailored Huntsman suit and John Lobb Chapels, gently closed the door before taking a seat by my desk. “I know it’s a bit unexpected, Sarah.”
I held up a hand. “Skip the niceties, and get to the why.”
They glanced at each other. That just couldn’t be good.
“Short version?” asked glitter-Jareth.
My Jareth gave one of those elegant little shrugs he was known for in the Applied Physics department.
I leveled the librarian glare I was known for at both of them. “Well?”
“This is apparently one of the possible outcomes when you hop through streams of the multiverse, however improbable it might be,” said my Jareth.
I covered my face in my hands as very dim memories began surfacing. “I thought the probability was infinitesimal for this kind of thing.”
My Jareth sighed. “Infinitesimal is, alas, not the same as zero.”
Glitter-Jareth snorted. “Apparently.”
“Where did you find him?” I asked my Jareth.
“You know, I’m sitting right here,” said glitter-Jareth. “It’s rather rude to talk about me like I’m not.”
I blew out a slow breath that only mostly sounded like a sigh. “Sorry. Where do you come from?”
He steepled his fingers. “From what I understand of my doppelgänger here, the other side of some sort of branch point.”
I closed my eyes briefly. “And what is the universe like there?”
Something about my long-suffering demeanor caused glitter-Jareth to crack a grin. “Not nearly so fun as this one. You’re much more interesting here, for instance.”
I waved aside the flattery. I’d had plenty of practice from the early days of partnership with my Jareth. “Mmhmm. Can you be more precise?”
“Well, for one, we’re not exactly on speaking terms and I’m fairly sure you’re not chairing an Applied Physics department at a major university in my universe.”
“Hmmph. Anything else?”
Glitter-Jareth shrugged. “My fashion sense hasn’t been influenced by academia over there.” He cast a speculative glance at my Jareth. “Perhaps I should start letting it. Those shoes are excellent.”
My Jareth smiled.
I closed my eyes again briefly. “Right. Anything else?”
“Nothing significant that we’ve noticed yet,” said my Jareth. “Though I suspect his universe doesn’t have some of our patented inventions, which means said universe lacks some of the finer things in early quantum computing and teleportation.”
I massaged my temples with two fingers. “Okay then. Practical matters: Are there any impending catastrophic consequences from this?”
“Depends on your definition of catastrophic,” said glitter-Jareth.
My Jareth gave him a disapproving look. “Not that we’ve been able to detect yet, no. But the way back for him is closed and he’s cut off from the Labyrinth in our universe since it recognizes only me as its rightful ruler.”
I blinked. “He has to stay here?”
“Until we discover another way or hit the probability lottery jackpot again,” said my Jareth.
I snorted softly. “Some jackpot.”
Glitter-Jareth arched an eyebrow. “I’m not particularly thrilled about it either.”
I blew out a breath. “Alright, so let me summarize: There’s a universe out there missing its Jareth, our universe has two for the foreseeable future, and we just have to figure out a way to pass this all off as perfectly normal?”
Both of them nodded.
Wheels began to churn in my head. “Okay then.” I turned to glitter-Jareth. “Do you still have the ability to manipulate Faerie magic here?”
Glitter-Jareth’s eyes widened for a moment.
I leveled another librarian glare. “What?”
He shook his head. “You’re just so...adaptable here. So practical. I really do enjoy the you here more and more.”
I flipped him a half-smile. “Admiration duly noted, and you’ll have to tell me about your universe’s Sarah sometime. But about the Faerie magic?”
He nodded and waved a hand so that a crystal winked in and out of existence.
“Good then. Here’s my plan, and feel free to chime in with adjustments and modifications: You’re Jareth’s twin brother, you’re also an Applied Physics researcher, and you’ll be spending a sabbatical year with us here.”
Glitter-Jareth tilted his head. “Shouldn’t I know something about applied physics?”
My Jareth smiled. “My dear fellow, what exactly do you think manipulating Faerie magic is?”
Glitter-Jareth looked intrigued. “Interesting point.”
“You’ll have to have a crash course on the current formalisms, of course,” continued my Jareth. “But that should be easy enough, given that you had an interest in human science and philosophy before encountering teenage Sarah.”
Glitter-Jareth nodded. “True.”
“Good,” I said. “So it’s settled. Now, what shall we call you?”
Glitter-Jareth blinked. “Oh hell, I suppose he has dibs on the name in your universe.”
“You could always go with a name you wished you had,” my Jareth said pointedly.
Glitter-Jareth looked at him.
“One you perhaps jotted down in your very secret journal when you were a lad?” prompted my Jareth.
Glitter-Jareth’s lips quirked. “Mmmm, I suppose that would do.”
My Jareth smiled. “I thought so. Sarah, meet Cellin.”
I smiled and extended my hand. “Charmed, Cellin. Looking forward to working with you.”
“Likewise,” he said. “And my friends call me Cel.”
I waited a beat. “Dare I ask the name origins?”
They both smiled that same damned smile at me.
Cel winked a crystal into existence and began rolling it around his hand. “Let’s just say I was fond of Tolkien’s universe, and I had bardic aspirations.”
“I see.” I made a mental note to look up the name later. “Well, we best get you situated. There’s an office for visiting faculty right near Jareth’s, and thank god it’s the beginning of the semester. No one will blink an eye at you taking the office. Let’s go check it out, shall we?”
“Do let’s,” said Cel, as he stood to offer me his elbow.
I gave it a pointed glance. “There are rules for workplace behavior we should discuss, even if you’re ostensibly my brother-in-law.”
He froze for a moment. “Brother-in-law?”
I glanced at Jareth, who looked positively mischievous. “You neglected to mention we’re married?”
“It may have slipped my mind in all the excitement,” replied Jareth.
I caught Cel’s wretchedly envious look and closed my eyes briefly, muttering, “Well, at least you’ve got the fraternal teasing started. Quite credible.”
“And you were just saying only last night that things were a little too quiet this semester,” said Jareth.
“Me and my big mouth.” I took one more second to breathe before moving forward. “Alright, you two, let’s go.”
“My pleasure,” they both said at the same time.
Heaven help us all. Though I deeply suspected Heaven had little to do with it.
~~~
**Author’s additional notes:
Cellin purportedly means Flowing Music in Sindarin. And if you're curious about Jareth's clothing, here's an example of a Huntsman suit and John Lobb Chapels.
Word Count: 1176
Rating: G
Author's Notes: This is part of the "It's Academic" series of vignettes that involve Jareth and Sarah in some sort of academia situation.
Summary: Sarah deals with an unexpected side effect of an applied physics experiment.
I walked into my office, froze, and attempted to clamp my jaw shut as I slid ungracefully into my chair. “Why are there two of you?”
“You don’t want to know how?” said the Jareth lounging in the bean bag with his ankles crossed and a curious amount of subtle glitter embedded in his clothes.
I shook my head. “Priorities. Begin with why. And shut the door, please.”
The other Jareth, my Jareth, dressed in his typical impeccably tailored Huntsman suit and John Lobb Chapels, gently closed the door before taking a seat by my desk. “I know it’s a bit unexpected, Sarah.”
I held up a hand. “Skip the niceties, and get to the why.”
They glanced at each other. That just couldn’t be good.
“Short version?” asked glitter-Jareth.
My Jareth gave one of those elegant little shrugs he was known for in the Applied Physics department.
I leveled the librarian glare I was known for at both of them. “Well?”
“This is apparently one of the possible outcomes when you hop through streams of the multiverse, however improbable it might be,” said my Jareth.
I covered my face in my hands as very dim memories began surfacing. “I thought the probability was infinitesimal for this kind of thing.”
My Jareth sighed. “Infinitesimal is, alas, not the same as zero.”
Glitter-Jareth snorted. “Apparently.”
“Where did you find him?” I asked my Jareth.
“You know, I’m sitting right here,” said glitter-Jareth. “It’s rather rude to talk about me like I’m not.”
I blew out a slow breath that only mostly sounded like a sigh. “Sorry. Where do you come from?”
He steepled his fingers. “From what I understand of my doppelgänger here, the other side of some sort of branch point.”
I closed my eyes briefly. “And what is the universe like there?”
Something about my long-suffering demeanor caused glitter-Jareth to crack a grin. “Not nearly so fun as this one. You’re much more interesting here, for instance.”
I waved aside the flattery. I’d had plenty of practice from the early days of partnership with my Jareth. “Mmhmm. Can you be more precise?”
“Well, for one, we’re not exactly on speaking terms and I’m fairly sure you’re not chairing an Applied Physics department at a major university in my universe.”
“Hmmph. Anything else?”
Glitter-Jareth shrugged. “My fashion sense hasn’t been influenced by academia over there.” He cast a speculative glance at my Jareth. “Perhaps I should start letting it. Those shoes are excellent.”
My Jareth smiled.
I closed my eyes again briefly. “Right. Anything else?”
“Nothing significant that we’ve noticed yet,” said my Jareth. “Though I suspect his universe doesn’t have some of our patented inventions, which means said universe lacks some of the finer things in early quantum computing and teleportation.”
I massaged my temples with two fingers. “Okay then. Practical matters: Are there any impending catastrophic consequences from this?”
“Depends on your definition of catastrophic,” said glitter-Jareth.
My Jareth gave him a disapproving look. “Not that we’ve been able to detect yet, no. But the way back for him is closed and he’s cut off from the Labyrinth in our universe since it recognizes only me as its rightful ruler.”
I blinked. “He has to stay here?”
“Until we discover another way or hit the probability lottery jackpot again,” said my Jareth.
I snorted softly. “Some jackpot.”
Glitter-Jareth arched an eyebrow. “I’m not particularly thrilled about it either.”
I blew out a breath. “Alright, so let me summarize: There’s a universe out there missing its Jareth, our universe has two for the foreseeable future, and we just have to figure out a way to pass this all off as perfectly normal?”
Both of them nodded.
Wheels began to churn in my head. “Okay then.” I turned to glitter-Jareth. “Do you still have the ability to manipulate Faerie magic here?”
Glitter-Jareth’s eyes widened for a moment.
I leveled another librarian glare. “What?”
He shook his head. “You’re just so...adaptable here. So practical. I really do enjoy the you here more and more.”
I flipped him a half-smile. “Admiration duly noted, and you’ll have to tell me about your universe’s Sarah sometime. But about the Faerie magic?”
He nodded and waved a hand so that a crystal winked in and out of existence.
“Good then. Here’s my plan, and feel free to chime in with adjustments and modifications: You’re Jareth’s twin brother, you’re also an Applied Physics researcher, and you’ll be spending a sabbatical year with us here.”
Glitter-Jareth tilted his head. “Shouldn’t I know something about applied physics?”
My Jareth smiled. “My dear fellow, what exactly do you think manipulating Faerie magic is?”
Glitter-Jareth looked intrigued. “Interesting point.”
“You’ll have to have a crash course on the current formalisms, of course,” continued my Jareth. “But that should be easy enough, given that you had an interest in human science and philosophy before encountering teenage Sarah.”
Glitter-Jareth nodded. “True.”
“Good,” I said. “So it’s settled. Now, what shall we call you?”
Glitter-Jareth blinked. “Oh hell, I suppose he has dibs on the name in your universe.”
“You could always go with a name you wished you had,” my Jareth said pointedly.
Glitter-Jareth looked at him.
“One you perhaps jotted down in your very secret journal when you were a lad?” prompted my Jareth.
Glitter-Jareth’s lips quirked. “Mmmm, I suppose that would do.”
My Jareth smiled. “I thought so. Sarah, meet Cellin.”
I smiled and extended my hand. “Charmed, Cellin. Looking forward to working with you.”
“Likewise,” he said. “And my friends call me Cel.”
I waited a beat. “Dare I ask the name origins?”
They both smiled that same damned smile at me.
Cel winked a crystal into existence and began rolling it around his hand. “Let’s just say I was fond of Tolkien’s universe, and I had bardic aspirations.”
“I see.” I made a mental note to look up the name later. “Well, we best get you situated. There’s an office for visiting faculty right near Jareth’s, and thank god it’s the beginning of the semester. No one will blink an eye at you taking the office. Let’s go check it out, shall we?”
“Do let’s,” said Cel, as he stood to offer me his elbow.
I gave it a pointed glance. “There are rules for workplace behavior we should discuss, even if you’re ostensibly my brother-in-law.”
He froze for a moment. “Brother-in-law?”
I glanced at Jareth, who looked positively mischievous. “You neglected to mention we’re married?”
“It may have slipped my mind in all the excitement,” replied Jareth.
I caught Cel’s wretchedly envious look and closed my eyes briefly, muttering, “Well, at least you’ve got the fraternal teasing started. Quite credible.”
“And you were just saying only last night that things were a little too quiet this semester,” said Jareth.
“Me and my big mouth.” I took one more second to breathe before moving forward. “Alright, you two, let’s go.”
“My pleasure,” they both said at the same time.
Heaven help us all. Though I deeply suspected Heaven had little to do with it.
~~~
**Author’s additional notes:
Cellin purportedly means Flowing Music in Sindarin. And if you're curious about Jareth's clothing, here's an example of a Huntsman suit and John Lobb Chapels.
