Jareth's Return

Dori(3)

Dori was woken up by a stinging pain. She realized that she had been scratching an itch on her cheek,  in the place her father's belt struck. Her father's belt. Bolting upright, partially blinded by the light coming through the curtain, the events of last night came rushing back to Dori. Falling asleep, her father yelling her name, the whipping, passing out, Jareth carrying her-wait, Jareth? Where did he come from in all of that? It must have been because I fell asleep to the Labyrinth. She flopped down on to her stomach, preparing to sleep longer, when she heard it.

A sound like someone shifted in her bean bag chair.

Dori's eyes snapped open and she sat up.

She looked in the corner, hoping for it to be empty.

She saw him.

And she screamed.

Which woke him up.

He jumped, looking around for a moment disoriented. Dori scrambled back on her bed, but she went a little too far and tumbled down to the floor on the other side. "Ow." That was smooth.

Sitting up and rubbing the back of her head, Dori peeked over her bed at the man who looked like the man she loved. He was sitting there, and...chuckling? He was laughing at her. "Are you alright?" Cosplay Man asked.

"Who are you and why are you in my room?" She stood, ignoring the slight burning in her back, keeping the bed in between the costumed stranger and herself.

"My name is Jareth, though, you knew that, didn't you? You called me by such, last night and claimed to have been dreaming." He looked at her. "How did you know my name? And another question: how did you bring me here?"

He's out of his mind. "I didn't bring you anywhere. Jareth isn't real. Now I'd appreciate it if you'd leave." He tried to stand up as well,  but couldn't seem to maneuver himself out of the bean bag.

"I'd gladly go home, if my Shifting worked or if this blasted boulder would turn me loose. Now, Little Sorceress, would you be so kind as to help me up?" He asked her, with his hand raised imploringly.

"Try anything funny, and you will need to sit down to pee for the rest of your life, got it?" When he agreed, slowly, cautiously, Dori walked over to the man and gripped his hand.

The moment his skin touched hers, he pushed the events of last night into her mind. She saw him in his bedroom in the castle, walking to his bed. He sat for a moment and looked so sad it made her heart ache, then the next moment, he disappeared. When she saw him next, he was in her dark bedroom, searching for something when he stumbled upon her curled on the floor. She watched him calm her, and heal her and go to sleep.

Dori blinked again, she was standing in her room, still holding the hand of the Goblin King. Then it hit her, she was holding the hand of the Goblin King. It had never been harder for her to resist the urge to scream like a fangirl. She dropped his hand. "It's you. Like, it's really, actually, properly you. Holy shit how can you be here? You're not supposed to be real. You're a movie character, for crying out loud!" Dori started pacing. "I am so lucky it's Saturday." Saturday means her father left at four in the morning for his weekend fishing trip.

All the while she was panicking, she was aware of the Goblin King watching her. She stopped when she heard his stomach growled,  demanding it be fed, which in turn, made hers sound off as well. Food was real, food was something she could deal with. Over food, they could figure out what to do.

"Come on. Let's go get something to eat." She walked around him to the door. "Right this way, Your Highness."

"Call me, Jareth." He said as he followed her down the stairs to the kitchen.

"Alright. My name is Dori." Dori opened the fridge, What do Goblins eat? He looks human enough.

"Dori? That's not a good name. Surely, it's short for something." He leaned against the counter and crossed his arms.

She gaped at him. "Please, tell us how you feel, don't spare my feelings or anything." She muttered sarcastically. Seeing the leftover spaghetti sauce in the fridge, Dori pulls it out.  "My real name is Theodora, if you must know." Starting the water for the noodles,  she puts the bowl of sauce in the microwave.

"Now that is much better. Such a beautiful name; it suits you, Little Witch." Jareth smiled and Dori blushed a little.

"Thanks. I'm not a witch, though. I know for a fact that I haven't got any powers." Dori wished all the time for Jareth to be real, spending hours of her life during the ages eight, nine and ten trying to will him into being. Why should last night have been any different?

"Oh, but I believe you are. You see, nothing but powerful magic from a powerful witch could have brought me here." His accent, the oddest mix of English and Scottish, wrapped around her in an intoxicating manner. I don't know if I want to help him get home or lock him in my room. She chastised herself for that thought.

"If you say so." Dori buttered some bread and set it on his plate of spaghetti. "Take this. What do you want to drink? Milk, water, Dr. Pepper?" Dr. Pepper at ten in the morning? Seems legit.

"Water works just as well, thank you." He looked at his plate skeptically. "What is this?"

"You don't know what pasta is? Really?" Dori set his water and her soda on the table, then dragged the curious king to the table by his sleeve and went to retrieve her own plate. She came back in time to see Jareth drop a marble sized crystal into his water, causing it to turn a deep red. "Did you just turn water into wine?" She giggled a bit to herself. So original.

"Yes. It's quite good, actually. Would you like to try to some?" He held the glass out to her.

"Thanks, but no thanks, it's too early for this stuff. You take mine." She took the glass from him and shivered when his skin touched hers. She gave him her own glass and went to get more of the beloved soft drink.

He was eating when she got back. "This is lovely. Thank you."

"You're welcome, but you're doing it wrong. You gotta eat it like this, it's much better." She twirled a large bundle of saucy noodles onto her fork and folded her bread around it. Showing it off to the ever-so-skeptic goblin, she took a bite. "Tada!"

Dori watched him copy her, watched his face light up when he found that he liked it. She pretty much had it figured out, how he got here. It was pretty obvious, she couldn't see why she hadn't thought of it before: her wish. A wish at midnight. It happened in the movie, so, she supposed, why not? I should tell Jareth. She looked up at the man in time to see him take his first ever sip of the carbonated chemicals, known as Dr. Pepper. She nearly choked on her small mouthful of food, laughing at the face he made when the carbonation hit the back of his throat, burning his nose and making his eyes water. It was a feeling known all too well.

Really looking at this man, he looked younger than David Bowie made him look in the movie. He did still seem to like black and dark blue, but he lacked the makeup and a few wrinkles, which Dori didn't mind. His hair was still wild, and she wanted to play with it. Bad Dori. What would he think if he could hear your thoughts? She didn't want to find out. His teeth were a bit straighter and whiter. All in all, he was more handsome. But while he looked younger in the face, the age was in his eyes. A sort of weary sadness that she always suspected would be there. Now that it was, she wished it weren't.

She watched him finish his food and tentatively take another drink of soda. There was less sputtering this time. She pushed all thoughts of his magic arrival and focused on her pasta. Food was real, food was normal. Food was something she could handle.

And for just a moment, Jareth seemed normal, too.