Good Character

He met her like he met any other girl-- through an unwanted baby. And like most, she was confused, frightened, and regretful of the situation she found herself in when she realized that baby was gone. Her little brother, barely six months old, had been unfairly left in her care while their mother was gone.



For three days. Without any word to why.



Three days of a screaming baby who repeatedly refused and spat up the formula she tried to feed him; three days of the endless wailing, the diaper changing; and three days of the neighbors' mounting anger toward a baby's deafening discontent. Missing school and worrying about her mother. Milo, sweetfaced and sweet tempered Milo, was a frantic mess when he found her sitting in front of the crib clutching the Book she had been reading in an attempt to calm herself just as much as her brother, an assortment of other failed fairytales scattered around her feet.



Some girls called him intentionally, motivated in the heat of the moment by the Book's compulsion. Others, like Milo, simply made the mistake of reading the right words out loud at the right moment- with just the right amount of emotion. The Book always knew when the moment was right and Jareth had seen it all. Greedy girls, ugly girls, stupid girls, plain girls, pretty girls, spoiled girls, needy and abused girls... whatever their situation, he hardly bothered to take it in anymore. He was there to collect his newest goblin subject.



He offered her the same lies, the same unlikely chance to retrieve her lost brother, and, when she finally accepted that the Labyrinth was impossible, he came to her again and offered her himself. The only difference being, he found he wanted this girl for enough shallow reasons to mean it.

 

When Hoggle climbed back through Sarah's mirror, the Labyrinth was in bloom like it hadn't been in centuries. The paved stones were freshly swept, perfectly aligned squares and rectangles instead of the jumbled mess he knew, and the leaves of the walls were thick leaved and lined with large white roses. A decidedly misleading sparkle of warm, seductive welcome was in the air, and he was immediately certain it wasn't intended for him. Even before hearing the voices.

He backed back into the groove he'd stepped out from, now just a small opening through the wall, and crouched to peer suspiciously after Jareth's voice.



Rather than the Goblin King, Hoggle saw a girl in what looked to be a painful sprawl on the ground. An unsurprising sight to stumble onto during a Labyrinth challenge, and Hoggle didn't question that there was no apparent reason for her to be so roughed up in a corner by herself. For all he knew, something had tossed her in the air and this was just her landing spot. She sat covered in grime, rub rashes, and thankfully shallow burns from what he recognized as a riddle gone wrong. Not the clever sort, this one. Maybe a little cute, if you were the sort to like round faces, rounder eyes, and a fat upper lip.



"Let me rule you, Milo." Jareth's voice again, and now the Goblin King paced back within view, crouching before the rumpled and frightened girl to gently press her hair back from her forehead. He whispered in her ear, pressing his lips to her temple with a fervor Hoggle didn't often see in these performances. The King's acting skills had improved. "Fear me, love me, do as I say... and I will be your slave. You can have everything you want."

"Even my brother?" She searched Jareth's eyes and he smiled down at her now, knowing she was in his thrall. The words to reverse his power weren't coming. Stupid girl didn't remember the end of the Book at all, if she had ever finished it in the first place.



"Everything... Except what's mine." Jareth crooned to her, all but petting her. Her short, wild gold curls, her flushed cheeks. His thumb slid over the plump surface of her upper lip, and still she only continued to stare up into his eyes. Her own had gone glassy, uncomprehending and dreamy as he rolled her will up tight in his magic. It didn't matter what he said now. He could have offered her an obliette and she would have gladly climbed in if he was the one who brought her there. "Forget him."



Hoggle felt a chill go down his spine, hairs standing up on his arms as he came to the unexpected conclusion that he was witnessing an intimate scene here. The King was making no attempts to conceal his intentions, if the surroundings were any indication, and if Hoggle stayed a moment longer he was probably going to see Jareth kiss that girl-- or worse. Propelled backward in disgust, Hoggle squeezed his eyes shut and dragged himself out the other side of the wall with as much haste as he could manage without rustling the leaves.



He shuddered away a pink scatter of sparkling dust, patting the rest off his vest and knees as he got himself straightened out, and the wall received a disgusted up and down look for setting him up to be privy to such a thing.



He hitched up his trousers and tucked his hands in the pockets with a final "Ugh!" before heading back on home to the Bog.

<sub>Author's Notes:  No, I didn't insert an OC just to be a bitch. No, Milo is not going to be a Mary-Sue frolicking through the pages, there's a point to her existence. Yes, I will still take full advantage of her being there to write Jareth smut. Yes, Hoggle and Sarah will have more face time once I've got the plot ball rollin'.



Thanks for your patience! Let me know how you like things and keep being awesome<3</sub>