| Logs |
2008 October 02
| When The Bough Breaks |
| Realms |
Retired
| Reality Fault |
General Info
 |
| Realms: Bough Logs |
Prelude Second Theme
By midday Stanton in the spring is pleasant, despite the monsters. There's a nice breeze in the air, it's lovely and fresh, and all the plants are in bloom. Today has been especially nice, what with no cry of a ravon shattering the peace. And so, live goes on as if it were a normal village with a distinctly abnormal problem with monsters.
The sun is high in the sky as it shines on the slops of the mountain. From this perspective, Jareth can see the entirety of the village, and get a good persepctive of the Southern Forest as it stretches out seemingly forever towards the south, and to the west where it runs to the distant shore; that's a lot less easier to see, but if he squints he thinks he can make out where forest stops and ocean begins, way off on the horizon. Or maybe that's just his imagination.
Jareth is wandering through the herd, talking to his charges in a cheerful voice. He has named them after various plants for the most part, but one or two are named after fellow villagers. Such as the utterly stubborn little male named after one of the village elders who would argue with you were you to say the sky was blue.
Mikal, for her part, is winding her way up the mountain. Jareth's cousin, the villager in charge of the goats, asked around for one of the hunters to bring a sack of provisions up to Jareth's camp up on the mountainside. Mikal intercepted him before he had asked many people and volunteered to go. For her part, Mikal takes her usual route up the mountain, going form patch of cover and camoflague to another.
Mikal almost dawdles -- she's in no rush now, which gives her plenty of time to berate herself for offering to take food to the really... CUTE goatherder. She just knows he's going to laugh at her when she can't manage to speak without stuttering -- if she manages to say anything at all! She sighs, wondering if she'd do better to hide the food, go hunt the white-coated khidra she was told is up on the mountains now... and then go find Jareth with the food.
Mikal reflects morosely that with her luck, if she did that some monster would find the food and eat it first. Then again... maybe she'll get lucky and the khidra will eat her first, and she won't have to face Jareth at all.
Mikal finally decides, about halfway there, that she'll just hurry while she's there. She can run in, hand him the food, and run away again. That's it! If she spends next to no time near him, she won't need to talk -- and then she won't stutter!
When Mikal gets near the place where Jareth has the herd, she hears him happily belting out a bawdy song that would have shocked quite a few of the villagers. When she gets close enough to see him, she finds him down on one knee, singing it to one of the youngling goats with many a theatrical flourish.
Mikal pauses, listening... then slips silently to cover. She crouches quietly there, covering her mouth with both hands to stifle the giggles!
Jareth is a little indifferent about his clothes, and so they are rather much-patched and a little grubby. His hair is pulled back into a ponytail. Well, it is in theory. In reality, about half of it is pulled back and the other half is all over the place. As he reaches the climax of the song, he does his best imitation of a traveling singer that passed briefly through years back. Not many entertainers stop in Stanton. Once he's done, he hops up to his feet and takes several florid bows, "Thank you, thank you. I'll be here all summer."
Mikal is stifling giggles behind shelter, her eyes alight with enjoyment of the song. The first Jareth knows of her presence is a small, startled shriek -- and then she comes rolling out from the underbrush as if she'd been pushed! She sits up, glaring back at the bushes indignantly!
At the climax of the song, as Jareth was taking bows, he noticed that the goats further down the mountain were starting to be alert and wary, doing the whole staring-at-nothing-he-can-see thing that makes him think there's some kind of predator (Not a monster, though; the herd tends to simply bolt and run en masse when one comes near.) It's at that point that Mikal appears.
Jareth stands up and looks around alertly, reaching for his herding staff and beginning to move cautiously toward the goats that seem to be fidgety. When Mikal comes rolling out of the bushes, he laughs for a moment and then grins. He pushes his hair out of his eyes a little as he goes down to meet Mikal. He rather likes the shy semi-wild child.
Mikal blinks at the laugh, her head whipping around -- then turns a bright red as she notices the boy heading towards her! She scrambles to her feet, hastily and nervously brushing leaves off her sturdy clothing; she's actually brushing far more than is necessary, since her wide-eyed gaze doesn't leave Jareth as she does so. As he gets closer she straightens up, her mouth opening and closing a few times before she manages to get out, "Huh- huh-h-h-hi!" She blinks nervously up at him, unwittingly twisting her fingers nervously together... then essays a weakly nervous smile as well.
Jareth grins at Mikal and reaches out to brush of a twig or two she might have missed. Or maybe he's just doing it to show willing to be helpful, "Hi yourself. What are you doing up here in goatville? Not that I'm not happy to see you, mind. They're great listeners, but they don't talk much."
The pretty young goatherd often seems utterly clueless as to the way his looks effect people.
Mikal's eyes widen as she watches Jareth's hand come towards her... then she seems to simultaneously both relax a bit and look faintly disappointed when his hand goes back to his side. She blinks up at Jareth again, and when she meets his eyes she blushes again, tongue-tied. She hasn't a clue what he just said!
Jareth chuckles again and says, "Did somebody send you up to quiet my singing? I didn't think my voice reached quite that far." He squints out toward the village, "Of course, with Maita's sharp ears..."
Mikal inadvertently glances over her shoulder to see what Jareth's looking at -- then blinks again, remembering why she came. She hastily fumbles off the shoulder strap of the bag of food, holding it out with both hands towards Jareth, "Uh, y-y-your-your c-c-cuh-cousin, he, uh..." she blushes again, adding a bit desperately, "Food!"
Mikal blinks as she registers what Jareth said, and adds in injured tones, "But I like your singing!" She blushes hotly again, ducking her head but still holding out the knapsack of food.
The goatherd smiles and reaches for the bag. His hands fold over Mikal's on the strap, "Why, you know, I think you might be right!" At her slightly clumsy, but extremely heartfelt compliment, he laughs and says, "It's almost lunch time. Would you like to join me? I've even got a little beer tucked away. I try to make it last, but it rarely does."
Mikal brightens, her gaze rising to meet Jareth's for a moment before it slides nervously away again. She nods emphatically several times, staring intently at one of the goats behind Jareth.
The goat looks warily back at Mikal, tilting it's head at her.
Mikal grins at the goat -- she so knows that feeling! That sort of 'Are you okay? -or should I run?'
Jareth takes the knapsack and slings it over his shoulder, taking Mikal's hand to tug her toward the little hut he uses for shelter when he's up here with the animals. "I figure we'll eat outside. It's sort of uh...." He glances into the hut an d says, "... apocalyptic in there."
After a moment, she notices that a number of the goats are still looking at the bush she was hiding in.
Mikal is boggled -- he's holding her hand! The goats barely register on her consciousness... she's pattering along next to Jareth and staring up at him happily. What a nice guy!
Jareth leads Mikal to a little clearing in front of his hut. There's a fire ring here, but there's not one lit just at the moment. He ducks inside and comes back out with an earthenware jar that has a heavy cloth tied over the mouth. He glances toward the goats and follows their gaze toward the bush, asking Mikal absently, "Did you drop something when you fell?"
Mikal is standing a bit bemusedly, looking around as if she's not sure what to do. She blinks at Jareth's question, staring at him wide-eyed for a moment before she shakes her head mutely once. She looks back towards the bush a bit puzzledly -- then her eyes widen and she flushes again. She gives Jareth a nervous sideways glance, then tries making a coaxing noise, "C'mere, goats! Leave the b-bush alone, nice goatlings...!"
Jareth grins and puts the jar down with the knapsack, "Sit down if you want I'll be right back. They're getting a little spread out." He picks up his staff and heads for the outskirts of the herd, whistling
Mikal nods nervously to Jareth, although her gaze is traveling around the perimeter of the clearing. She sits abruptly, frowning in concentration.
The dog, a friendly, messy-looking creature that looks to be half rag-bag, half-wolf is herding some strays higher up the hill, but raises his head as Jareth whistles to him, barking once and going back to rounding up the group he was concentrating on.
The herd is fairly easy to gather together, since by now they've learned to -- mostly -- stick together. So shortly they're all gathered together in front of the little shelter, comfortably flopping around or chewing contentedly. They don't seem to be panicking or looking around in disturbed dread anymore.
Jareth pats a couple of the goats on the head, speaking fondly to them as he settles down next to the huntress girl. "Sorry about that." He tugs the cloth cap off the beer jug and offers it to Mikal, "I don't have glasses. We'll have to share."
Mikal nods slowly, watching Jareth a bit nervously as she accepts the jug. Once its weight is in her hands she glances down at it a bit startledly, as if it had surprised her. Her voice is soft, a bit surprised, "Oh!" She sniffs cautiously at the jug, then takes a careful sip. She rolls her eyes thoughtfully as she savors the flavor... then smiles and has another mouthful. She holds out the jug with both hands, adding shyly, "Th-th-th..." she takes a deep breath, then blurts out, "Thanks!" Her voice cracks a bit and she blushes, hastily looking off towards the underbrush. For some reason that seems to give her a bit of courage and she straightens, even though she doesn't yet meet Jareth's gaze.
Jareth grins, watching Mikal's face as she tries the beer. It's not ice cold, but it is pleasantly cool from being kept in the darkest corner of his little hut, "You're welcome. Thank you. My cousin usually has problems getting someone to hike up here with my food if I forget it. Apparently they don't like the smell of the goats." He shrugs as if to say 'Who can figure people.'
Mikal looks back at Jareth startledly, "Oh, that's silly! It's not just goats up here, after all!" She hesitates, as if reviewing her words -- then turns beet red again and hastily turns her focus on one of her belt pouches, "I, uh, I mean it -- you -- uh, like, y'know, uh-" A moment later she holds up a tiny and neatly folded package, with a bit of cord knotted about it. Her voice is a bit desperately, nervously bright, "Spices?!"
Jareth says, "Exactly! It's gorgeous up here. Quiet. Lots of lovely plants. I think it smells better than the village." He takes the little packet and sniffs at it appreciatively, "Lovely idea, but I like my bread and cheese plain. If I were making a stew now.. that would be different." He cups her hand in one of his and puts the packet back in her palm, "Thank you."
Mikal stares at Jareth open-mouthed for a moment... then blushes again and grins shyly at him, her head ducked so she's peering up at him through her bangs. She looks a bit like a fox-kit when she does that -- like a loud noise would send her skittering for cover. "Y-y-y-yoo... you're wuh-wuh -- sure." She tucks the packet away again, then balances neatly on the log she's sitting on, her arms wrapped about her knees and her chin resting on her knees, watching Jareth with a shyly happy smile.
Jareth hums a little as he uses the knife on his belt to cut slabs of dark bread and farmhouse cheese. He offers the first to Mikal with another flash of that grin and then cuts his own portion. The rest he tucks back into the knapsack to be dealt with lather. "I hear you've been busy lately."
Mikal whispers a soft thanks, sitting and nibbling delicately on the edge of the bread, still watching Jareth through her bangs. She blinks at his comment, considering, then adds puzzledly, "I was? Er, am? Uh, what?"
Jareth grins, "See, you can talk!" He pats her hand and says, "I just hear you've had a lot of company out in the woods lately. All the critters and varmints and creepy-crawlies."
Mikal blushes again, almost dropping her bread and cheese when Jareth pats her hand. She recovers it, then glances a bit indignantly towards the underbrush. She takes a deep breath, looking back at Jareth and says firmly, "I can so talk! I think... I th-th-thiii... uh..." Her gaze goes back to her food and she nods a bit sheepishly, "Uh... yeah..."
Jareth smiles at the top of Mikal's head and wolf's down his own lunch. He doesn't push her much just now, wanting to give her time to recover her composure.
Meanwhile, Jareth's dog has been trotting about the herd, tongue lolling happily as he does his work. He meanders around to Jareth and Mikal to mooch some food.
The goatherd chuckles and reaches into the knapsack, breacking off a crumb or two of cheese for the dog. He scratches around the animal's ears saying, "Sure, ignore me when I call you, then ask for some food."
Mikal nibbles at her bread and cheese again, watching Jareth with the dog and smiling quietly.
The dog seems to laugh at that, tongue lolling at the rubbing. But then he lightly noses Mikal a bit, and freezes. Then a moment later he's sniffling all over Mikal curiously, except his tail is still.
Mikal blinks a bit startledly at the dog, then smiles again, reaching out to gently ruffle his ears.
Jareth blinks, seeming startled by the dog's reaction, "Well, that's just strange..." he leans over toward Mikal, sniffing the air around her, getting close in at her shoulder and neck, then leaning back with a shrug, "You smell fine to me."
After a moment, the dog lifts his head up, looking at Mikal, then looking around, ears twitching. Then, looking about opposite the two from the herd, he flattens his ears, and what sounds like the start of a growl comes out.
Jareth sits up abruptly, then stands up, reaching for his staff as he peers in the direction the dog is growling. Occasional disdainful of Jareth's desires or not, he's a good herd dog.
Mikal looks really startled at Jareth's sudden movement, jerking back reflexively! She falls off the log with a small squeak of alarm, already flipping so she lands on her knees and one hand, the other safely holding up the bread and cheese. At the growl she squeaks nervously again, jerking back once more from the dog, and ending up with her back against Jareth's knees. She's staring nervously at the dog, not realizing where she is, as she starts to scrabble one-handed upwards onto Jareth.
Jareth doesn't seem to mind having Mikal pressed up against his legs. In fact, there's a brief flash of a grin before he goes back to seriously trying to see what his dog is growling at. He reaches with his free hand to help Mikal when she starts groping upward.
The dog moves quite deliberately and carefully around the confused pile of people, staring intently at a clump of bushes about fifty yards away.
Mikal gets hastily to her feet with Jareth's help, although it's clear her gaze is fixed on the dog and she's not aware she's grabbing at the young man. She sighs faintly in relief, relaxing a little as the dog moves away from her -- then stiffens again as she watches the dog move towards the underbrush. "Uh... n-nice doggie! Come back over here, nice d-d-doggie, yes?" She gives Jareth a worried look, "Call him back, please?"
Jareth shakes his head and starts moving after the dog, "I don't think so. He smells something over there." He picks up his staff again and makes sure his knife is to-shand as he moves.
Mikal patters hastily after Jareth, grabbing his arm nervously, "Uh! B-but it's nothing! He's mistaken, it's a, um, the wind changed, see the clouds moving? Th-there, that's all! N-nothing to worry abuh-bout, l-let's eat lunch, yes?" She stares up anxiously at Jareth's face, tugging gently at him.
Jareth pauses and smiles down at Mikal, eyes twinkling a little bit, "We'll finish lunch, I promise. There might even be some berries around here for dessert, but I need to check on the dog. My cousin would skin me alive if I let a raptor wolf run off with one of the goats."
Mikal says indignantly, "He wouldn't! He has much better manners than- than..." She suddenly turns bright red, ducking her head again.
Mikal gnaws indecisively on a finger, staring at the now-silent but still alert dog -- then comes to a sudden decision. She gabbles hastily, "Well! Been a pleasure but just gotta run so much to do you know see you later!" She stuffs the bread and cheese into her mouth as she runs forward towards the bushes the dog is staring at, almost literally vanishing into them. There's not even the sound of crashing underbrush; when Mikal slides into the forest she's gone.
Jareth stands there, blinking after Mikal and saying, "Well, damn." He rubs his chin and calls out, "You don't have to run away! Remember! Berries!"
It's over 24 hours later -- a chilly spring mountain nightfall -- and Jareth's seated by his fire cooking a savory stew when his dog leaps suddenly to its feet again, growling and barking. Out of the darkness comes a very tired voice, "Jareth? It's Mikal. Can I share your fire and dinner? It smells heavenly...?" The dog is, quite frankly, horrified at the presence of so much khidra scent -- he keeps barking and growling and stiff-leggedly circling, to the extent that the goats too are starting to get disturbed and rise from where they'd bedded down.
Jareth stands up, peering into the darkness. He whistles sharply to the dog and snaps his fingers, "It's just Mikal, boy." To the girl he says, "Of course you can. You're always welcome at my fire."
Mikal comes trudging in with a weary sigh. She looks much less tidy than she did the last time Jareth saw her. She's obviously been through a bit of a fight; she's limping under a large bundle strapped to her back, and there are bloodstained rags tied around both leg and arm on her left side. Her hair has always been a bit fly-away from her braid, but now it looks like she rolled around on the ground violently and didn't bother to tidy up afterwards. She's even using her bow to help support her -- a huge no-no for anyone at all familiar with archery. The dog gives Jareth an indignant look, then bounds off to circle the goats and herd them gently away to the far end of the clearing. It's clear the dog is determined not to fall down on his job, at least!
The herder moves to help Mikal. He whistles through his teeth and says "Give me that bundle. You go sit down. I've got some liniment in the hut... do you need some water?" There's some real concern in his eyes and voice.
Mikal lets the bloody hide-wrapped bundle slide off her back with a relieved sigh, then nearly collapses by the fire. "I... would kill for some... stew? Please?" It's clear she's so tired she's having trouble holding more than one thought in her head at a time.
Jareth looks at the bundle for about 2.5 milliseconds and then moves to the fire, dishing up stew into his own bowl for her and pushing it into her hands. Then he ducks into the hut and comes out with a pot of liniment, settling down beside Mikal and beginning to unwrap her leg. He's not even close to being a healer, but he's worried and it shows in the way his brow wrinkles.
The story comes out in dribs and drabs as Mikal ravenously devours the stew, talking between bites and occasionally falling silent with a small gasp as Jareth works on her wounds. She'd gone cautiously hunting the white-coated khidra she'd heard of in the area. Unfortunately she'd not realized it was a breeding female -- and so she'd nearly tripped over its cub! She'd slain that one, but the mother had come running at its howls, grabbing and tossing her... Mikal's face is slightly grim as she relates how disturbingly close it had been.
Jareth goes still and blinks at Mikal saying with admiration and a little awe in his voice, "You took down two khidra? By yourself?"
Mikal blushes hotly at the question, drawing in a breath -- then nearly chokes on the stew she'd been hastily chewing! She hacks and coughs for a moment.
Jareth smiles and gently spreads the liniment on Mikal's mangled leg. "You're something else, you are."
Mikal looks mortified, several minutes later, at nearly choking herself to death! Her face is bright red and she has trouble meeting Jareth's gaze. In fact, she seems to have a bad case of the stutters as well, and in desperation she hastily grabs the bowl of stew and finishes it assiduously off.
The wounds are obviously claw marks, probably from the fight with the khidra. Jareth purses his lips and pronounces, "You're staying here tonight."
He waits until Mikal is done with the stew before he starts working on the wounded arm. He's half talking to himself when he says, "We need to get you bathed, too. Blood's unpleasant."
Mikal's face is drawn with pain and exhaustion as she nods to Jareth, then adds tiredly, "Is it all right if I sleep here by the fire, and work on the hides tomorrow? I still have to tan the hides, but I was so tired I just peeled them and some other useful bits off the khidra carcasses, then headed for the nearest safe shelter I knew of." Hopefully she adds, "Uh, I'll, uh, help keep the fire burning to keep the asdrin away if I can stay?" It takes a few heartbeats for her to register what Jareth just said, and she looks a bit pole-axed! "Uhhh... I... I am? I mean, uh... thank you?"
Jareth says, "The only think you're taking care of tonight is you. You need your rest." He flashes a smile at her, "But out here might be best. Inside's still sort of apocalyptic." Once he's got the wounds cleaned, smeared with liniment and re-bandaged, he sits back on his heels to survey his work.
Mikal blinks bemusedly at Jareth a few times... then she whispers, "Th-thank y-y-you, Jareth. I... I... I -- th-thank-" Abruptly she realizes she can relax now -- she's going to make it! -and everything hits her all at once. Her face crumples and tears start running down her face, "I -- y-you 'n Raph, I w-w-woulda been dead!"
The crumpling girl electrifies Jareth and he wraps his arms around her, hugging her and rocking on his knees a little, petting her hair as he makes gentle shushing sounds.
Mikal hunches up and clings tightly to Jareth as she weeps silently, her body shaking in release.
It takes her a few minutes to cry out her fright and pain. When she's finally done, not even sniffling any more, she feels almost numb with exhaustion, and it's clear she's having trouble keeping her eyes open. She manages to slur a slow, "Thnkss..."
Jareth settles on the log beside Mikal and gathers her against his side, still making comforting sounds, "You're welcome." Without really thinking about it, he kisses the top of her head.
Mikal's body slowly relaxes, going limp as exhausted sleep finally claims her.
Jareth waits until he's sure Mikal's asleep before he gently shifts her to the ground and then gathers his bedroll from the hut, wrapping it around her and tucking his pillow under her head. He whispers, "Sleep well. I'll be right here." And he is. He settles next to the fire to watch over her.
Mikal has slightly restless dreams, twitching and making small unhappy noises.
Mikal ends up coiled tightly into as small a ball as she can make as she twitches.
When he gets tired, Jareth slides down to curl himself around Mikal, sleepily telling the dog to keep an eye out. When Mikal's twitching wakes him at one point, he strokes her hair until she settles.
Jareth wakes up the next morning surprisingly comfortable, despite the cold morning mountain dampness; he's firmly braced against something big and nicely solid, radiating warmth. Mikal is spooned tightly against him on the other side, nearly clinging to him. In her sleep she looks even younger than her true age of 16. Glancing down at her, Jareth remembers a rather weird dream he had last night -- he'd been lying here with Mikal asleep and tightly curled up against him just like this. He'd looked towards the fire and sleepily wondered if he needed to get up to push more wood onto the blaze... and something had casually strolled out from behind him to do just that! Jareth is sure it was a dream, though -- the image of powerfully muscled and jaggedly fanged jaws silhouetted by firelight as the raptor-wolf put a log on the fire was just too surreal to have really happened. Raptor-wolves weren't true monsters -- they were 'natural' -- but they were animals. They sure as heck weren't smart en
They sure as heck weren't smart enough to keep a fire burning! Gleaming slitted eyes had regarded the two humans for a moment after that... and then the dream raptor-wolf had strolled just as relaxedly back past him again!
It takes a moment for Jareth to register that the dog is over there so... what's behind him? Slowly, with the memory of his very strange dream still fresh in his mind, the goatherd turns his head to see what it is he's leaning back against.
Jareth sees a broad, strong, bony head. There's a heavy, thick mane sprouting from the powerfully humped shoulders Jareth's leaning on. Dark, slitted eyes open to glance at him for a moment... then close relaxedly again. Definitely a raptor-wolf.
For a moment, he considers his options: 1) Scream like a small child and try to drag Mikal away from the enormous critter. 2) Scream like a small child and curl into a ball. 3) Assume he's still dreaming. 4) Assume he's crazy. Eventually, he realizes none of those are really feasible and leans his head down until his lips aren't quite touching Mikal's ear and whispers, "Don't panic... but, uhm, there's sort of an enormous raptor-wolf behind md."
Mikal shifts a bit, one small hand closing on part of Jareth's shirt. Her eyes open slightly as she glances, then nods, contentedly cuddling closer, "Mmhm... 's m' brother Raphael. Mmm... warm..." Her voice trails off as she fades back into sleep.
Jareth swallows slowly and, still keeping his voice very soft, he says, "Your... brother... is a raptor-wolf?" He's doing his level best to keep the seesawing emotions out of his voice. Is he crazy? Is Mikal crazy? Is he still asleep? Without even thinking about it, he closes his hand over Mikal's where it's clutching his shirt. Despite all the confusion, it's rather nice to have her not acting like he's a khidra about to spring.
Mikal is still groggy and half asleep, so her voice sounds sort of blearily pragmatic, "Mmhmm, half brother. Gotta be cuz Poppa never talks 'bout Momma 'n no one's ever met her... so figured out he musta been hiding her, y'know?" Her voice is a little small as she cuddles more snugly against him, adding sadly, "Villagers'd kill us if they knew...'
Mikal sleepily rubs her head against Jareth's chest much like a kitten as she adds, "Don' be mad please..."
With some hint of pragmatism, which is a bit odd, so it must be the fear, Jareth asks, "Is he going to eat me? Or the goats?"
Mikal says, "Nu-uh, he ate the cub so he wouldn' be hungry." She blinks, coming a bit more awake as she indignantly adds, "Raph wouldn't hurt a friend!"
Mikal blinks again, starting to realize what they're talking about. For a moment her small face goes white -- then she glances worriedly at Jareth, "How... how did you know about Raphael? D-did Norris tell you? He said he wouldn't -- he promised!"
Jareth explains, "I didn't know I was a friend until just now." He thinks a moment and carefully turns his head, saying respectfully, "Thank you for watching the fire." Talking to animals is normal for Jareth.
In some small part of his mind, Jareth wonders when Mikal's going to realize she's snuggled up against him and go running off.
The huge raptor-wolf raises its head; the powerful jaws part, showing those jagged fangs as it leans towards him... then the big wet tongue slurps relaxedly over Jareth's face! Mikal gets a small case of the giggles, watching, and adds in quiet happiness, "He likes you! He says I have good taste in ma- uh..." She turns bright red, hastily turning her face into Jareth's shirt!
Jareth makes apparoximately the same face he does when the dog licks his face. Only on a much, much larger scale. He rubs his face dry with one grubby sleeve and blinks, scratching his cheek as he puzzles that one out. The mischief-maker in him grins and he says, "Of course he likes me. I'm a likable guy. Plus, I'm a great cook and sing like the very birds. The dog's howling is really just his way of applauding... I think."
Mikal giggles into Jareth's shirt despite herself... then, a few heartbeats later, she glances shyly sideways at him through her bangs, "You... you don't mind? We can... can hang around today some and it'll be okay? You won't tell anyone?"
Jareth thinks about that and carefully stretches, keeping one arm around Mikal. He beats down the urge to try and steal a kiss. Big brothers tend to frown on that, as he's discovered painfully a time or two, "I won't tell anyone. And the dog's a notorious liar. No one will ever believe him."
Mikal laughs again, and this time it's a bit freer and more relaxed. She spontaneously hugs Jareth, "Thank you! You're so nice, Jareth -- like Norris but funnier!" She sits up, glancing around and stretching, then grins ruefully, "And I really need to cure these hides today." She looks back at Jareth, beaming as she happily pats his side and says sincerely, "Thank you. It's nice to not be always alone, just the two of us against the world."
Jareth grins, "Also, much scrawnier and more goat-smelling." He carefully stands up, trying not to disturb Raph, "Alone isn't always fun, I'll grant you that." He tries to go about his day as usual, but keeps stumbling mentally and physically over the raptor-wolf. He puts together a passable porridge for himself and Mikal, feeds the dog and offers Raph some of the meat he uses to feed the dog, not sure if that would be rude or not. Unsurprisingly, he's a little off his banter game for the first half of the day.
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