Not Work, Anything But That!

[labyrinthking]

Jareth has not been idle since Ali's last visit, nor were some of her plaints wiped from his mind. The crystals he conjured were insufficient to the task at hand, and he could not simply pluck larger from nothing. He would need to actually dirty his hands (or, more likely, the goblins' hands) in actual labor to make something larger

Comments

[vicioussweetie]

Ali doesn't answer so much as the crystal tumbles out of her shirt when she plunges her head underwater to scrub her hair; Jareth would get a brief view of her face, and then everything is red. Even after the rights herself it's a few moments before she manages to untangle the chain from her hair.

"Excellent timing; ten minutes earlier and I would have been really mad. What is it?"

[labyrinthking]

"I had hoped for the pleasure of your company," he replies. "Am I interrupting?"

[vicioussweetie]

"Not per se." Since Ali seems to be outdoors, and there's a deer hanging from the tree behind her, he can probably guess what she's been doing. "And I thought you wanted me to cook for you. I'm happy to come visit, but I can't really do both at the same time you know. Even I have my limits."

[labyrinthking]

Enlightenment dawns in his expression. "Ah. Perhaps I might join you, then? Or would that be crowding your kitchen?"

[labyrinthking]

Jareth had, on Ali's advice, tried to explain a little bit about her to his new guests. Somehow, he had ended up with that persistent little girl on his lap, listing desired toys again.

[vicioussweetie]

The litany of desired toys is no stranger to Ali's ears, so Ali follows the sound in her attempts to find Jareth. The scene is just as ridiculous as she'd imagined it would be, though she manages to fight back her laughter for the moment. "Trust me, sweetheart, he's not Santa. He has no beard."

It might seem nonsensical, but she trusts in her understanding of little-kid logic to see her through.

[labyrinthking]

To Jareth's utter bewilderment, that argument persuades where all others have failed, and the little girl climbs down from his lap to look up at Ali. "Are you Mrs. Claus?" she asks, still a bit hopeful.

[vicioussweetie]

Never doubt Ali's awesome powers of mommy-fu.

"Sorry, no." Ali kneels down so she and the girl can converse more comfortably. "You wouldn't want to live at the North Pole anyway. It'd always be cold, and you'd have to give all the toys away every year. But if you're really good, Jareth might teach you a little bit of magic. Would you like that?"

[vicioussweetie]

It was quite a while before she and Jareth had a chance to sit down and really talk again. There was of course the delights to which he tempted her, but as he had made a request of her she was determined to do everything in her power to see it fulfilled, even if that means sneaking out of his bedroom while he's still asleep

[labyrinthking]

When Jareth joins her, he has followed his nose to a breakfast that would make Toucan Sam break down and weep bitter, bitter tears of envy, and he smiles with the knowledge that she is, at least presently, for him.

"Good morning."

[vicioussweetie]

"Is it morning?" This is not a hypothetical answer, since he controls the passage of time presently. Her watch cannot help her here. "I hope you're hungry. I also hope you won't be too disappointed if I didn't make breakfast, since nobody told me it was morning until just now."

[labyrinthking]

"Would you prefer evening?" This, too, is not an idle query. "Whatever it is, we shall break our fast on it, and that shall be breakfast enough," he assures her fondly.