Oh, Now Why the Concern?

                                                                                                                                  Educational Battles

 

They materialized in the same copse of trees that they chatted in earlier that afternoon, the late dusk masking their arrival. Noticing the Goblin King's new outfit, Toby looked the him up and down with an adolescent scowl.



"Um...you're not going inside like that are you?"



"Pardon?" Affronted, Jareth returned Toby's scowl, "I'll have you know this is the height of fashion." He stroked the leather of his asymmetrical jacket as if it were still alive, the large eyelet cuff of his silk shirt flopping ever so manly.



"Riiight..."



"You don't approve?"



"No, I mean yes," Toby said quickly at Jareth's stormy glare, "you look great, very...kingly and all," he added with an up and down motion of his arm. His brain stumbled over what to say next. How does one convince a magical king to change his clothes without pissing him off? Oh boy...



"It's just that...um...well, you're a little too, you know..."



"Magnificent?"



"No."



"Regal?"



"Uh-uh."



"Resplendent?"



Toby sighed, his shoulders slumping in defeat, "Jareth, I don't even know that word, but you're too gobliny! No one will believe you're real, that you're not totally...um..."



"What?" Jareth's voice was cold enough to make popsicles. The really tasty, double layered kind that took all night to freeze.



"Nevermind, can you just change into something normal like jeans?"



With a curled lip exposing his canines, Jareth released a raptor-like hiss. "Jeans? You prefer me to wear...jeans?" Then he shuddered bodily and Toby rolled his eyes.



"Geez, wear whatever you want as long as it's human clothes."



"I shall place a glamour over my usual appearance and no one shall be the wiser, Tobias."



"A glamour? More magic?"



"Preciously, everyone else will see me as a mortal man in...jeans," he said the last word, grimacing, "however, you shall see me as myself if you so wish it." With a twist of his forearm and hand, Jareth manifested a crystal and dropped it to the ground at his feet. Once the spray of glitter cleared, a jeans-wearing, blue cotton button-down, long-hair-in-a-ponytail, sans glitter or eye markings, normalish-looking, attractive man stood before Toby. He still looked royal, however, and that voice...



"Do I meet your approval?" One would need to be deaf to miss the sarcasm in Jareth's tone. Toby gulped.



"Yeah, m-much better. Let's go." He turned away, determinedly marching towards his school, the better to keep his spike of anxiety hidden. Unbeknownst to the young boy, the king smirked as he followed Toby across the school grounds, trailed by several invisible-glamoured goblins.



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Pre-teens and their parents bustled to and fro in the school halls while exhausted, lackluster teachers guarded classroom doors. A few half-heartedly sipped sodas or punch and munched store bought cookies, a veritable feast of education.



"Nutter-butter?" A moderately over-weight, unfortunate-looking woman cheerfully held up a cellophane package which appeared to have been ravaged by wild hyenas, partial cookies laid forlornly in their plastic coffin. Jareth sniffed disdainfully at the display assaulting his nose.



"No thank you, my physician would flay me alive if I dared indulge in your delectable confectioneries," he said with a stunningly disarming grin.



"Oh, my," she giggled and blushed shoving the offensive cookies behind her, "we don't want that."



"Indeed."



"You're supposed to sign in..." Her eyes slightly glazed, Sally, the teacher's assistant, handed him a clipboard without a pen.



"Of course, my dear, we must always abide rules." With the clipboard held up to his chest to block her view, Jareth mimed a signature. "I'm very firm with Tobias about rules," he added in a sing-song voice.



"Oh brother," Toby muttered watching the ridiculous show. Sally wasn't very bright and Jareth reeled her in with such obvious ease even Toby figured out he wasn't using magic. "Jareth, that's not my teacher. We have to go," he said tugging on Jareth's glamoured sleeve.



"Yes, of course, Tobias. Pardon us, my dear." Jareth head bowed to her before strolling away from her twittering. After they distanced themselves from the entrance/refreshment table, Toby heard crashes and yelps and glanced over his shoulder to see cookies scattered over the floor. Shrugging, he ignored the mini-disaster occurring behind them, but continued to hear various squeals and shouts following them as they walked.



Together they strolled further into the building, the eyes of every adult female gravitating in Jareth's direction. Observing the king's effortless self-confidence, Toby attempted to emulate his gait: the manner in which he held his head and nodded to each lady in passing, the long-legged saunter bespeaking deep-seated poise, and his overall contradictory air of humble superiority. He hoped he looked half as brilliant as Jareth, but suspected he came off a silly copy-cat. If he did Jareth never breathed a word only smiled generously at him as they glided through the halls, and Toby adored him completely at that moment.



"This is my room."



"Ah," Jareth said noncommittally and mentally prepared himself to charm Toby's teacher who stepped from the over the threshold and...



"Toby! Good to see you, wasn't sure if you were coming tonight. Hello, I'm Mr. Norton, Toby's teacher and you are?" A pleasant looking, physically fit, middle-aged man said with a smile and held his hand out to Jareth.



Bloody hell  By sheer will power born of centuries of experience, Jareth retained his polite smile and quickly shook Mr. Norton's hand while resisting the sudden urge to incinerate the man. Toby warily watched both men feeling the atmosphere tense like a stretched rubber band, but not fully comprehending why.



"Jareth Noble, Tobias' guardian for the evening."



"Jareth Noble?" Mr. Norton frowned. "I don't believe I've heard of you before, are you family?"



"Nearly, I'm a very close friend of the family."



Mr. Norton glanced around Toby and Jareth. "And where's Sarah tonight?" He really, really disliked the manner in which this man spoke Sarah's name, with such ease and comfort of use; Jareth's eyes automatically narrowed as his voice dropped an octave.



"I'm afraid Sarah is unable to attend this evening; she asked me to act in her stead."



"Oh, I hope she's alright?"



"Quite the picture of health, I assure you."



"Well, that's good." Mr. Norton didn't wilt under Jareth's intense gaze as he stepped passed him. "Please come inside, I'm sure you'd prefer to discuss Toby and his education."



"Indeed, yes." Breezing passed Mr. Norton, Jareth entered the classroom with Toby on his heels. None of them noticed Mrs. Beanigh lurking at the end of the hall.



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Settling himself majestically upon one of the plastic, institutional chairs, the Goblin King filled the elementary school class room much like helium expanded a balloon, causing all the females to gasp. A perplexed expression came over Mr. Norton as each of his students' mothers leaned, en masse, towards Jareth. The remaining few fathers exchanged first confused than irate looks while the children were either ignorant or acutely aware of the King's presence.



"I'm so glad everyone could join us tonight..." Mr. Norton launched his welcome speech to the parents before expounding on the students' achievements as a whole this semester, etc...etc... Jareth feigned interest. He cared little for the other children as long as Tobias received his due.



The instructor, being male, caused a trifling problem, but nothing any good Goblin King worth his crown couldn't overcome with magic instead of charm. Sparing a glance over to Tobias, he observed the boy enthralled. Following Tobias' line of sight he found the object of his fascination to be - a young lady - ahhh, Jareth tactfully hid his smirk.



'Tobias, my clever boy, I see the fairer sex beguiles you early.' He patted the boy's back reassuringly, and they shared a knowing look then something of an altogether different nature snagged Jareth's attention. 'What is this entity I sense?' A suffocating sensation draped over the immediate area, yet only he seemed attentive to the alteration.



Jareth lowered one hand below the level of his seat between himself and Toby and quietly snapped his fingers. The simple command he added mentally to his signal magically flew to his goblins he implicitly trusted to search out this trespasser. He'd not felt this type of malevolence in many years, and vaguely wondered why none of Toby's goblin protectors alerted him before now. He would have words with them later.



As Mr. Norton's interminable speech finally concluded, Jareth sighed dramatically causing Mr. Norton to furrow his brows but otherwise ignore him. The man's wit was exceeded only by his disproportionate tediousness.  Having borne enough of both, Jareth rose, stretched and proceeded to make polite, animated conversation with those closest to them.



"You don't approve of my teaching methods, Mr. Noble?"



"Pardon?" Jareth, all smiles, turned to face Mr. Norton. He detested interruptions, especially from pompous do-gooders. Toby raptly watched the exchange, having never fully clicked with his teacher.



"You didn't seem supportive of the methods I detailed. I truly wish to further all my students' education and want their parents' and guardians' to understand exactly how I plan to do so," Mr. Norton said earnestly.



"Yes, I perceive the value of your process," he grinned, adding a bit of magic to it, "and I am in full support of Tobias' education." Jareth pulled Toby to his side. "But we really must be off now, Mr. Norton. I do so hope we can chat again in the future."



"Uh-, yes...yes, of course. Give Sarah my regards."



"I'd be delighted," Jareth said between stiffened lips.



"And you, Tobes, a little more hard work and we'll get those grades up," he said ruffling Toby's hair in the age-old, clichéd manner that elder authority figures do when they're attempting to be reassuring. Toby frowned.



"Uh-huh, sir."



"Good, good, then I'll see you next week."



"Excellent. Come, Tobias, we'd best be off. I'm sure your sister will be missing you."  With a stately sweep of his arm, Jareth guided Toby from the room. Each person was minutely conscious of the loss as they departed: conversations stilled, shoulders sagged, even the lights seemed to dim.



"Geez, I'm glad that's over. Can we go home now?"



"Soon, Tobias." His voice was curt, surprising Toby who focused on Jareth's face as they walked briskly down the hall.



"What's wrong?"



"I'm waiting for...ah, report!"



"Kingy!" A goblin materialized directly in front of their path causing Jareth to halt and Toby to stumble a few steps in shock. "Kingy, found it, bad, it hide before."



"Hide, you say?" He cupped his chin with his hand, tapping one finger to his mouth. "I wonder..."



"Jareth, what's going on?"



"Stay here, Tobias. I'll return momentarily."



"Wh--" But he vanished before Toby finished his objection, leaving the goblin behind. Crouching down, Toby smiled at the little guy.



"Your name is Skittle, isn't it?"



"Uh-huh."  Skittle shuffled his feet.  



"Skittle, how about you take me to whenever Jareth went."



"Oh...don't think Kingy like that," said Skittle with rapidly widening eyes and wringing over-sized hands.



"It'll be okay. I promise." Toby grinned and patted the little goblin on the head making him purr.



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At Skittle's magically transferred directions, Jareth materialized next to Mrs. Beanigh who lurked behind her office door; the overwhelming supernatural stench blanketed his senses as he stood so close to her.



"Well, well, well...what have we here?" he said. The older woman jumped and spun to face him. Having dropped the human glamour, he appeared in full Goblin King black regalia.



"You! Why are you here?" she asked, her face contorting inhumanly as she backed from him.



"I don't answer to your ilk. What business have you here?" Jareth asked, his tone brooking no argument. He stood tall, his black cloak billowing out as he pointed an accusatory finger.



"You have no rule over me, Goblin King. I'm allowed to harvest grief and pain where I find it." As Mrs. Beanigh spoke her human features and clothing faded into a glowing white visage of a hag draped in a hooded robe.



"Mayhap, but I'll not have you feeding here any longer." As Jareth spoke the door beside him cracked open revealing a shocked Toby standing in the threshold with Skittle.



"Tobias!" Jareth yelled and leapt forward blocking him from Mrs. Beanigh's reach. The old hag screeched as her attempt to snag Toby was thwarted by the Goblin King, and then she shed her last bit of humanity and levitated. Her robe and long hair twisting in a mystical wind.



"Be gone, banshee, and do not think to return!" With a wide stance, Jareth spread his arms and threw two conjured crystals at the glowing old woman who now floated above them threateningly. The crystals struck and she released a horrid scream. Jareth mentally congratulated himself for placing a sound dampening spell over this room prior to the confrontation, wouldn't do to alert the mortals.



"You think you've won, Goblin King!" The hag banshee said between wails as she faded. "You've unleashed hell upon yourself and your mortal pets!" Then she blinked out of existence without so much as a mist remaining. Taking a cleansing breath, Jareth faced Toby who still stood motionless in the doorway next to Skittle. He walked over and crouched next to him, his black cape pooling on the bland tiles.



"Tobias, are you well?"



"What...was...that?" Toby shivered and Skittle scooted closer to comfort the boy.



"A type of banshee. One that feeds on grief and pain, though they rarely travel this far."



"Oh, creepy. No wonder she liked hearing about Mom and Dad, eww." Toby's eyes filled with unshed tears and Jareth pulled him into a tight hug.



"I've destroyed that one, Tobias. It's gone forever, but we must be vigilant. I suspect more will follow as it must've had assistance cloaking its magic. Even my goblins sensed nothing until I arrived."



"More?" Toby's arms tightened around Jareth's neck and he sniffed harder.



"Yes, from now on you tell me of any unusual occurrences, anything that upsets you. Promise?"



Toby nodded and Jareth felt the boy's head shift against his chest. "Promise."



"Right, then, let's get you home before Sarah becomes the next banshee I must vanquish." Toby laughed feebly into Jareth's leather breastplate, sniffed again then answered.



"Yeah, okay."

 

 

A/N: JETRED GIRL: Thanks! Glad you're enjoying it! It's a fun fic to write. I feel like this version of J/S and T are my truest to the movie yet.