Jareth walked into the throne room and froze with the preternatural stillness that clearly signaled “not human”. If you blinked, you’d assume he was an actual statue. A statue dressed to kill, with rock star fashion and the occasional devastatingly functional weapon, but a statue nonetheless.
His expression was priceless, too. Rarely do you get a chance to see an immortal being completely gobsmacked. The eye-watering mishmash of the throne room, liberally interspersed with highly decorated chickens and “hapee birfdey” banners, had had its intended effect.
“I thought you needed cheering up,” I said, by way of explanation.
Jareth’s single raised eyebrow was eloquent.
I grinned. “It’s not every day your favorite Faerie Lord turns...how old was it again?”
“Older than dirt!” supplied one goblin with more heart than brains.
“Older than rocks!”
“Than bog water!”
“Than air!”
“Than glitter!”
That last one brought a collective “oooooh” from those assembled. Glitter was by far and away the most eternal substance they knew.
By this point, Jareth’s face had begun twitching involuntarily.
I shrugged. “At least they settled on something shiny. Consider yourself lucky. Wait, is that the hint of a smile I see?”
He attempted a very impressive glower. “Why do you insist on barging into my life like this?”
“Would you believe for the lolz?”
“The what?”
“How about because you needed it?”
“And that’s your concern why? Don’t you have better things to disrupt?”
I crossed my arms, completely unfazed by his growl. I’d heard worse. “How about because your mood is intimately tied to the climate of the Labyrinth, where many of my dearest friends live, and they haven’t seen the sun in months. Someone had to do something.”
He huffed out a disdainful breath. “Always the hero.”
“Damn right. And everyone needed rescuing, so here we are. Now hush while we do a nice round of Happy Birthday. I made cake.”
He started at me, unblinking. “Your cruelty is boundless.”
“Cake. With lemon frosting. Which is your favorite. Now, hush.”
I raised my arms to conduct the obedient goblin horde. “Happy birfday tooooo yoooooooouuuuse…”
And if Jareth’s mouth twitched up ever so slightly, no one really noticed but me. The first sun ray broke through the overbearing grayness of the Labyrinth’s sky outside, and it looked just like heaven.
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ninetydegrees
no subject
2019-05-19 14:39 (UTC)Drabble:
Jareth walked into the throne room and froze with the preternatural stillness that clearly signaled “not human”. If you blinked, you’d assume he was an actual statue. A statue dressed to kill, with rock star fashion and the occasional devastatingly functional weapon, but a statue nonetheless.
His expression was priceless, too. Rarely do you get a chance to see an immortal being completely gobsmacked. The eye-watering mishmash of the throne room, liberally interspersed with highly decorated chickens and “hapee birfdey” banners, had had its intended effect.
“I thought you needed cheering up,” I said, by way of explanation.
Jareth’s single raised eyebrow was eloquent.
I grinned. “It’s not every day your favorite Faerie Lord turns...how old was it again?”
“Older than dirt!” supplied one goblin with more heart than brains.
“Older than rocks!”
“Than bog water!”
“Than air!”
“Than glitter!”
That last one brought a collective “oooooh” from those assembled. Glitter was by far and away the most eternal substance they knew.
By this point, Jareth’s face had begun twitching involuntarily.
I shrugged. “At least they settled on something shiny. Consider yourself lucky. Wait, is that the hint of a smile I see?”
He attempted a very impressive glower. “Why do you insist on barging into my life like this?”
“Would you believe for the lolz?”
“The what?”
“How about because you needed it?”
“And that’s your concern why? Don’t you have better things to disrupt?”
I crossed my arms, completely unfazed by his growl. I’d heard worse. “How about because your mood is intimately tied to the climate of the Labyrinth, where many of my dearest friends live, and they haven’t seen the sun in months. Someone had to do something.”
He huffed out a disdainful breath. “Always the hero.”
“Damn right. And everyone needed rescuing, so here we are. Now hush while we do a nice round of Happy Birthday. I made cake.”
He started at me, unblinking. “Your cruelty is boundless.”
“Cake. With lemon frosting. Which is your favorite. Now, hush.”
I raised my arms to conduct the obedient goblin horde. “Happy birfday tooooo yoooooooouuuuse…”
And if Jareth’s mouth twitched up ever so slightly, no one really noticed but me. The first sun ray broke through the overbearing grayness of the Labyrinth’s sky outside, and it looked just like heaven.