redwolf: (bowie)
redwolf ([personal profile] redwolf) wrote in [community profile] labyfic 2023-08-22 10:10 am (UTC)

Grace

Word count: 500
Drabble:

Sarah was standing on the balcony, arms resting on the balustrade, as she looked out on the Labyrinth. Closing her eyes, she could feel the magic of the land as the structure rearranged itself according to its own whims. Sometimes she could almost sense an underlying pattern to those changes, but at other times it was seemingly random and she wondered if she was becoming more attuned to the Underground or if she was seeing order where none existed.

Between one breath and the next, Jareth materialised beside her. Technically, he had stepped out of their bedroom, but he moved quietly enough that Sarah barely suppressed her startle reflex.

Sarah didn’t acknowledge him, but she watched Jareth in her peripheral vision as he manipulated crystals and sent them out into the world. She loved watching his hands and, while she knew it was the result of long practice, the effortless grace of his movements always brought her joy. It also brought a warmth to her cheeks as she recalled how talented his hands were in other areas.

“What are you thinking about, my love?” Sarah felt Jareth’s voice wrap her in its caress.

Sarah spread her hands and lifted her chin to indicate the great maze. “Are there patterns in the chaos? Or am I imagining things?”

Jareth moved to stand behind her, sliding his hands slowly down her arms until he laced their fingers together. “Does it matter?” Sarah shivered as she felt his grin against her ear.

“I don’t know.” She watched in fascination as their magic combined where their fingers were joined to swirl around their arms in fluid lines that faded out at their elbows before finally dissipating in a bright burst of colour.

“The Labyrinth sits in your awareness as background noise that you don’t notice until you need it.” Sarah nodded, knowing the feeling well by now as she used it daily to navigate her way around the ever shifting layout of the castle or to locate people within the enormous building. “It won’t be until there’s a runner or the kingdom is under threat that the sensation is more overt.”

Sarah gasped quietly as Jareth worked his hands inside her robe to cup her breasts while he slowly kissed a path from her ear to her shoulder. “So it’s a symbiotic relationship? We protect each other?”

“Of course.” Jareth was being thoroughly distracting in his exploration of her body, but she still felt a third tendril of magic that strengthened their own.

Sarah had long ago tied herself to the Labyrinth, a structure that she was learning had its own long history of manipulating the world far beyond its walls, so she should not be surprised that it had a vested interest in protecting itself and its inhabitants. She felt a fierce love for both the man who held her and the comforting labyrinthine presence in her mind and she would tear the world apart to defend her home and her Goblin King.

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