Obligations

[vicioussweetie]

There just wasn't enough time in the day: a common lament. Instead of dwelling on it (and wasting more of the precious resource), Ali tried to stretch it was far as possible. Family, friends, obligations and... where does that all leave her? Wondering why she's caught up with another obsessive man, at the moment; also, on his doorstep. Such as

Comments

[labyrinthking]

Jareth has been brooding for some time when Ali joins him. He greets her, not with his usual warmth, but with tension and reproach. "Ali, my dear, I thought we were to be honest with each other now?"

[vicioussweetie]

Ali draws herself up mid-step when he speaks, the words and the tone putting her on edge. Her hands, which had already been reaching for him, drop to her sides. "And what is it you've decided to accuse me of today?"

[labyrinthking]

"You told me I would not like it, where you were going. You said there would be stuffy people, terrible food, no time for me. False, false, and false. If you did not want to see me, why could you not have been honest about it?"

[vicioussweetie]

So that's where he wants to draw the battle lines? So be it: she'll step right up to hers, and he'd better hope she doesn't cross it.

"I am not obligated," she counters, "to account for every single moment of my time to you. All those things will be true, and sooner than I'd like, when I return to the Fleet. What I do to help a deeply wounded friend, in the meantime, is certainly none of your business."