and now for fic...
Dec. 6th, 2005 11:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
anotherusedpageWarnings for hott boys kissing random crossover slash.
Despite being King of the Goblins, and Lord of the Labyrinth, there were places its surreal landscape that Jareth had never visited before. He knew that, of course. Places that were too dangerous. Places that were too boring. Even places that he was the wrong gender for, like the ladies’ toilets which he kept forgetting were down the hidden passage third from the left past the secret entrance to his castle.
But as far as he could remember, he had never been this lost within his own domain before.
He didn’t recognise this place at all.
It was the least labyrinthine place he had ever been. It was a long and twisting pathway, with no turnings. Not even hidden turnings. No secret entrances, no nothing. He couldn’t work out how he’d got there.
But there were only two ways he could go now, back the way he had come from, or straight ahead. And for some reason, turning back didn’t really seem like an option. It was almost as though something was drawing him along the path…
Of course that wasn’t really an unusual occurrence, being drawn down a path in the labyrinth. The only thing was… it was usually him doing the drawing…
After a while, Jareth came to a door. Maybe it was more of a gateway. He was, of course, used to guarded doors, but he had to admit that this one was… spectacular. It was guarded by a Gryphon, a Wyvern and a Pegasus, and it was HUGE. It towered over him. In fact, it loomed. Despite himself, Jareth was impressed.
The Gryphon, the Wyvern and the Pegasus looked him up and down.
‘Oh. It’s you,’ said the Wyvern after a moment.
‘Enter. He is expecting you,’ the Pegasus added. The door swung open, and Jareth walked through
‘Don’t stray from the path!’ the Gryphon warned him darkly over its shoulder.
‘All right, all right. I know how this works,’ Jareth murmured. He continued down the path for a few moments, and then suddenly a thought struck him.
‘Wait a minute… who’s expecting me?’ he asked, looking back.
The door was gone.
He wasn’t that surprised. Walking along a path in the other direction almost never got you back where you started in his experience.
***
Eventually, as he had expected, Jareth arrived at a castle. The doors swung open, and he walked through with his customary swagger.
The dark-haired, dark-cloaked man seated on the throne at the far end of the room looked up at him.
‘You are Jareth, the Goblin King?’
The voice was incredible. Jareth had always thought of himself as an impressive sort of figure. But he would have given anything for a voice so commanding, so awe-inspiring, so…
‘I am Jareth,’ he said with his best ‘you will worship me’ stare. The other man laughed, and the sound was like starlight on still water.
‘Little dream, it has come to my notice that you have been interfering in the mortal world.’
Jareth tried not to feel small at the sound of that voice.
‘I am not answerable to you. Who are you?’ he said with a scowl and a pout. The other man smiled.
‘But you are answerable to me, little dream. I am Morpheus, King of the Dreaming, of which your Labyrinth, your Goblin Kingdom is but a tiny fragment. You are mine, you are of my domain, you belong to me. And you have been interfering in the mortal world, which is no place for either of us. ’
‘I did it for love…’ Jareth whispered. ‘I broke no Rules. I granted her a boon. I allowed her to defeat me. What harm did it do?’ It worried him slightly that he wasn’t arguing with the Dream King as to which of them was all powerful here. He suspected that the lack of argument proved the Dream King’s point.
‘None to anyone but yourself, Goblin King. I fear my sibling has been playing games with you.’
‘Your sibling?’
The man smiled a sad smile.
‘Desire,’ he said, with a shrug of his thin shoulders. ‘You have been playing Desire’s games, have you not?’
Jareth did not know what to say. The Dream King reached out a thin hand, and rested it on his shoulder.
‘It is lonely being King of your realm, little dream. No one knows that better than I. But Desire rarely helps.’
Jareth looked up, and for the first time met the Dream King’s eyes. They were jet-black, and deep as midnight.
‘Do not interfere in the lives of mortals,’ Dream said sternly. ‘Not without my permission.’ Then his face softened. ‘Follow the path back home, Goblin King. We may well meet again.’
***
‘DReAM, I’m StAnDIng iN my rOom tHinGy, eXCePt i tHinK it mIGht bE kiNd Of oUTsiDe aS wEll, aNd I woULd be hOLdIng yOur siGiL, oNLy iT’s GRoWn thousandsandthousandsandthousands oF liTtLE lEgS aNd cRAwLeD aWAy. WiLL YoU tALk tO Me?’
‘What do you want from me, little sister?’ Delirium looked Dream up and down, before turning several cartwheels through the frame and into the Dreaming.
‘ThERe’S sOmEThiNg STraNGe aBOut YOu tODay DReaM,’ she called over her shoulder as she flipped acrobatically across Dream’s hall. ‘I kNeW tHAt eVEn bEFoRe I sAw yOU. In FAct, I prOBabLY kNEw tHat eVeN beFoRe I knEw whAt tHe wOrD StraNge mEAnt.’
‘Did you, Delirium? What’s strange about me today, then?’
‘I dOn’T knOw. YoU’vE GoNe aLL gLoW-y. I LikE iT, I tHiNK iT sUIts yOu… liKe a pINk tUtu… oR fRoGs. Do yOU liKe FrOgS? On sECoND tHOuGhtS, mAYbE a pInK TutU WoULdN’t sUit YOu. I dOn’T KnOw. MaYBe yOu SHouLd trY It. I coUld GEt yoU oNe iN mY REalM iF yOu wANteD. It pRObaBly WoULdN’t tAKe Me tOo LOnG To fINd…
‘Its all right, Del. I don’t think you need to. What did you want to talk to me about?’
‘LoVe. I WAnTed tO tAlk To yOu AbOuT lOVe. AnD froGs. BuT mOStlY lovE. I tHiNk tHAt yoU’vE gOT sOMe. BuT I dOn’T tHinK iT’s hEr faUlt. I mEaN oUR sISteR. YoU knOw, Dee-ee-ess-eye---ummm DeSirE. Is tHat pOSsiBle? Or iS iT jUSt mE bEinG… yOu kNoW. MaD. Or sTUpiD.
‘I don’t know, Del. I don’t think you’re stupid. But I’m not in love...’
‘I thiNk yOu aRe, yoU KnOw. If yOu CoUld sEe liKe Me, yOu’D seE rAiNBowS anD kiTTeNs aND sPaRkly tHiNgs fAlliNg FRoM tHe skY. AnD yOu hAVeN’t mADe a RaiN cLOud aLL wEek.’
‘I’m not in love, Del...’ The Dream King said fondly, and the conversation turned to frogs and other things.
***
Jareth was confused.
Firstly, until a few days ago, he’d been King of his realm. All had had to bow to him. He had had power over everyone. He’d enjoyed being all powerful.
And now it turned out that his entire kingdom was just a grain of sand in a far greater realm, and that he was answerable to the Lord of that realm. He might be a king, but Morpheus was a God. The God of Dreams. Which made him nothing more than…
What did it make him?
He didn’t want to think about it.
No, the Dream Lord was not a God. Forgotten legends whispered in the back of his mind. Something else. Something powerful, and endless, but not a God…
Jareth shook his head, and turned his mind to other things.
Secondly, there was the Dream King’s warning.
Do not play the games of Desire.
Jareth only wished he could take the advice, because the newest obsession of his desire was… not good.
‘Damn it!’ Jareth swore out loud, and any goblins within hearing distance scurried away to hide in darkened corners. He didn’t even notice. He was to busy… not worrying.
He’d never wanted anyone more powerful than himself before. But then, he hadn’t even known anyone more powerful than him before, hadn’t even known that anyone more powerful than him could possibly exist.
But that was beside the point.
He’d always fallen for the defenceless, the easy to manipulate.
Not now. No, he had to make life difficult for himself.
And he couldn’t find his way back to the Dreaming. He’d asked his minions, but none of them had ever seen the un-forked path, or the triple-guarded gateway. He’d gazed into his crystals for hours at a time, but he’d been able to see nothing…
Jareth swore again. Why did life always have to be so complicated?
***
Jareth woke up with his head leaning against someone’s chest. So it hadn’t been a dream… He opened his eyes cautiously. Midnight black eyes were gazing down onto him. Dream’s mouth curled into a gentle smile. Jareth wasn’t usually the affectionate type, but despite himself, he closed his eyes and curled up against Dream’s chest. Dream laughed gently.
‘Perfect make-up even in bed?’ he joked. Jareth’s hands flew to his face.
‘Only in the Dreaming,’ he murmured.
‘I love you, Goblin King,’ Dream said suddenly.
‘I have a name, you know,’ Jareth protested sleepily, before realising quite how much he was pushing his luck and catching his breath anxiously.
‘I am sorry. I love you, Jareth.’
Jareth breathed out a sigh of relief. He wound his fingers through the wild black hair, and pulled the Dream King into a kiss.
‘…love you, Dream…’ he said indistinctly.
When he next awoke, it was alone.
***
There was no sign of Morpheus anywhere in the Goblin Kingdom, and no sign that he had ever been within the labyrinth. Jareth searched and searched, in growing despair, and his Goblins hid from him in fear.
Only a dream. Only a dream, after all, he thought. And then he realised what he was thinking, and smiled, not quite knowing why he’d ever expected anything else.
Still, it was a good dream, he reasoned. What mattered whether he entered the dreaming through the triple gate or through his own unconscious mind, as long as he was permitted to enter? He didn’t question whether the dream was the kind of dream that was really real in the dreaming, or just a gift of the mind. It didn’t matter.
It was a good dream. And that was enough.
He knew better than most that love is only ever a dream.
***
Fandoms: Sandman and Labyrinth
Disclaimer: Don't own them. Will put them back the way I found them. And the title's a Shakespeare quote.
AN: This was first written.... years and years ago when I was very first dabbling in fanfic, and has only been very slightly fiddled with since then. Dunno why I didn't post it at the time, I think I might have entended to write adventure driven plot involving the two of them saving the world before falling into bed together to have OMG-we-almost-died sex. Ah, how the mighty are fallen.
Despite being King of the Goblins, and Lord of the Labyrinth, there were places its surreal landscape that Jareth had never visited before. He knew that, of course. Places that were too dangerous. Places that were too boring. Even places that he was the wrong gender for, like the ladies’ toilets which he kept forgetting were down the hidden passage third from the left past the secret entrance to his castle.
But as far as he could remember, he had never been this lost within his own domain before.
He didn’t recognise this place at all.
It was the least labyrinthine place he had ever been. It was a long and twisting pathway, with no turnings. Not even hidden turnings. No secret entrances, no nothing. He couldn’t work out how he’d got there.
But there were only two ways he could go now, back the way he had come from, or straight ahead. And for some reason, turning back didn’t really seem like an option. It was almost as though something was drawing him along the path…
Of course that wasn’t really an unusual occurrence, being drawn down a path in the labyrinth. The only thing was… it was usually him doing the drawing…
After a while, Jareth came to a door. Maybe it was more of a gateway. He was, of course, used to guarded doors, but he had to admit that this one was… spectacular. It was guarded by a Gryphon, a Wyvern and a Pegasus, and it was HUGE. It towered over him. In fact, it loomed. Despite himself, Jareth was impressed.
The Gryphon, the Wyvern and the Pegasus looked him up and down.
‘Oh. It’s you,’ said the Wyvern after a moment.
‘Enter. He is expecting you,’ the Pegasus added. The door swung open, and Jareth walked through
‘Don’t stray from the path!’ the Gryphon warned him darkly over its shoulder.
‘All right, all right. I know how this works,’ Jareth murmured. He continued down the path for a few moments, and then suddenly a thought struck him.
‘Wait a minute… who’s expecting me?’ he asked, looking back.
The door was gone.
He wasn’t that surprised. Walking along a path in the other direction almost never got you back where you started in his experience.
***
Eventually, as he had expected, Jareth arrived at a castle. The doors swung open, and he walked through with his customary swagger.
The dark-haired, dark-cloaked man seated on the throne at the far end of the room looked up at him.
‘You are Jareth, the Goblin King?’
The voice was incredible. Jareth had always thought of himself as an impressive sort of figure. But he would have given anything for a voice so commanding, so awe-inspiring, so…
‘I am Jareth,’ he said with his best ‘you will worship me’ stare. The other man laughed, and the sound was like starlight on still water.
‘Little dream, it has come to my notice that you have been interfering in the mortal world.’
Jareth tried not to feel small at the sound of that voice.
‘I am not answerable to you. Who are you?’ he said with a scowl and a pout. The other man smiled.
‘But you are answerable to me, little dream. I am Morpheus, King of the Dreaming, of which your Labyrinth, your Goblin Kingdom is but a tiny fragment. You are mine, you are of my domain, you belong to me. And you have been interfering in the mortal world, which is no place for either of us. ’
‘I did it for love…’ Jareth whispered. ‘I broke no Rules. I granted her a boon. I allowed her to defeat me. What harm did it do?’ It worried him slightly that he wasn’t arguing with the Dream King as to which of them was all powerful here. He suspected that the lack of argument proved the Dream King’s point.
‘None to anyone but yourself, Goblin King. I fear my sibling has been playing games with you.’
‘Your sibling?’
The man smiled a sad smile.
‘Desire,’ he said, with a shrug of his thin shoulders. ‘You have been playing Desire’s games, have you not?’
Jareth did not know what to say. The Dream King reached out a thin hand, and rested it on his shoulder.
‘It is lonely being King of your realm, little dream. No one knows that better than I. But Desire rarely helps.’
Jareth looked up, and for the first time met the Dream King’s eyes. They were jet-black, and deep as midnight.
‘Do not interfere in the lives of mortals,’ Dream said sternly. ‘Not without my permission.’ Then his face softened. ‘Follow the path back home, Goblin King. We may well meet again.’
***
‘DReAM, I’m StAnDIng iN my rOom tHinGy, eXCePt i tHinK it mIGht bE kiNd Of oUTsiDe aS wEll, aNd I woULd be hOLdIng yOur siGiL, oNLy iT’s GRoWn thousandsandthousandsandthousands oF liTtLE lEgS aNd cRAwLeD aWAy. WiLL YoU tALk tO Me?’
‘What do you want from me, little sister?’ Delirium looked Dream up and down, before turning several cartwheels through the frame and into the Dreaming.
‘ThERe’S sOmEThiNg STraNGe aBOut YOu tODay DReaM,’ she called over her shoulder as she flipped acrobatically across Dream’s hall. ‘I kNeW tHAt eVEn bEFoRe I sAw yOU. In FAct, I prOBabLY kNEw tHat eVeN beFoRe I knEw whAt tHe wOrD StraNge mEAnt.’
‘Did you, Delirium? What’s strange about me today, then?’
‘I dOn’T knOw. YoU’vE GoNe aLL gLoW-y. I LikE iT, I tHiNK iT sUIts yOu… liKe a pINk tUtu… oR fRoGs. Do yOU liKe FrOgS? On sECoND tHOuGhtS, mAYbE a pInK TutU WoULdN’t sUit YOu. I dOn’T KnOw. MaYBe yOu SHouLd trY It. I coUld GEt yoU oNe iN mY REalM iF yOu wANteD. It pRObaBly WoULdN’t tAKe Me tOo LOnG To fINd…
‘Its all right, Del. I don’t think you need to. What did you want to talk to me about?’
‘LoVe. I WAnTed tO tAlk To yOu AbOuT lOVe. AnD froGs. BuT mOStlY lovE. I tHiNk tHAt yoU’vE gOT sOMe. BuT I dOn’T tHinK iT’s hEr faUlt. I mEaN oUR sISteR. YoU knOw, Dee-ee-ess-eye---ummm DeSirE. Is tHat pOSsiBle? Or iS iT jUSt mE bEinG… yOu kNoW. MaD. Or sTUpiD.
‘I don’t know, Del. I don’t think you’re stupid. But I’m not in love...’
‘I thiNk yOu aRe, yoU KnOw. If yOu CoUld sEe liKe Me, yOu’D seE rAiNBowS anD kiTTeNs aND sPaRkly tHiNgs fAlliNg FRoM tHe skY. AnD yOu hAVeN’t mADe a RaiN cLOud aLL wEek.’
‘I’m not in love, Del...’ The Dream King said fondly, and the conversation turned to frogs and other things.
***
Jareth was confused.
Firstly, until a few days ago, he’d been King of his realm. All had had to bow to him. He had had power over everyone. He’d enjoyed being all powerful.
And now it turned out that his entire kingdom was just a grain of sand in a far greater realm, and that he was answerable to the Lord of that realm. He might be a king, but Morpheus was a God. The God of Dreams. Which made him nothing more than…
What did it make him?
He didn’t want to think about it.
No, the Dream Lord was not a God. Forgotten legends whispered in the back of his mind. Something else. Something powerful, and endless, but not a God…
Jareth shook his head, and turned his mind to other things.
Secondly, there was the Dream King’s warning.
Do not play the games of Desire.
Jareth only wished he could take the advice, because the newest obsession of his desire was… not good.
‘Damn it!’ Jareth swore out loud, and any goblins within hearing distance scurried away to hide in darkened corners. He didn’t even notice. He was to busy… not worrying.
He’d never wanted anyone more powerful than himself before. But then, he hadn’t even known anyone more powerful than him before, hadn’t even known that anyone more powerful than him could possibly exist.
But that was beside the point.
He’d always fallen for the defenceless, the easy to manipulate.
Not now. No, he had to make life difficult for himself.
And he couldn’t find his way back to the Dreaming. He’d asked his minions, but none of them had ever seen the un-forked path, or the triple-guarded gateway. He’d gazed into his crystals for hours at a time, but he’d been able to see nothing…
Jareth swore again. Why did life always have to be so complicated?
***
Jareth woke up with his head leaning against someone’s chest. So it hadn’t been a dream… He opened his eyes cautiously. Midnight black eyes were gazing down onto him. Dream’s mouth curled into a gentle smile. Jareth wasn’t usually the affectionate type, but despite himself, he closed his eyes and curled up against Dream’s chest. Dream laughed gently.
‘Perfect make-up even in bed?’ he joked. Jareth’s hands flew to his face.
‘Only in the Dreaming,’ he murmured.
‘I love you, Goblin King,’ Dream said suddenly.
‘I have a name, you know,’ Jareth protested sleepily, before realising quite how much he was pushing his luck and catching his breath anxiously.
‘I am sorry. I love you, Jareth.’
Jareth breathed out a sigh of relief. He wound his fingers through the wild black hair, and pulled the Dream King into a kiss.
‘…love you, Dream…’ he said indistinctly.
When he next awoke, it was alone.
***
There was no sign of Morpheus anywhere in the Goblin Kingdom, and no sign that he had ever been within the labyrinth. Jareth searched and searched, in growing despair, and his Goblins hid from him in fear.
Only a dream. Only a dream, after all, he thought. And then he realised what he was thinking, and smiled, not quite knowing why he’d ever expected anything else.
Still, it was a good dream, he reasoned. What mattered whether he entered the dreaming through the triple gate or through his own unconscious mind, as long as he was permitted to enter? He didn’t question whether the dream was the kind of dream that was really real in the dreaming, or just a gift of the mind. It didn’t matter.
It was a good dream. And that was enough.
He knew better than most that love is only ever a dream.
***
Fandoms: Sandman and Labyrinth
Disclaimer: Don't own them. Will put them back the way I found them. And the title's a Shakespeare quote.
AN: This was first written.... years and years ago when I was very first dabbling in fanfic, and has only been very slightly fiddled with since then. Dunno why I didn't post it at the time, I think I might have entended to write adventure driven plot involving the two of them saving the world before falling into bed together to have OMG-we-almost-died sex. Ah, how the mighty are fallen.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-12-06 11:53 pm (UTC)(Though you've forgotten a /b somewhere.)
I don't do fanfic, but that's really really lovely.
no subject
Date: 2005-12-07 12:36 am (UTC)And I'm glad you liked! I really do like convincing people who usually don't do fanfic. :D
no subject
Date: 2005-12-07 02:39 pm (UTC)love you.
no subject
Date: 2005-12-07 04:05 pm (UTC)