fh_adventures | In Jareth's Castle, Saturday Afternooon

In Jareth's Castle, Saturday Afternooon

Well... That hadn't gone quite as planned. The right words have been said, and Jareth has simply laughed in the faces of our would-be rescuers. What now? Three challenges? That wasn't in any of the clues! Play fair, Goblin King!

Then again, saying, "It isn't fair" never really seems to do anybody any good in here anyhow, does it? Drat.

[Follows this post! For Team Jareth and for our pretty pretty Princes and Princesses! If any of you need an NPC for your trials, please, visit us over at this post and we'll send somebody by as soon as we can!]

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I think Holmes takes to you a little better than he does me, Jono noted, shaking his head. I'd have made an excellent test subject, if I'd ever let him.

Jono, this was not what you were here for.

You know you can't stay here, luv. Yer needed, back there.

"Needed for what? So your new girlfriend can whine about what a horrible person I am? Please. I have better things to do with my time," she scoffed.

Yes, Emma had rather picked-up on Raven's dislike of her. And was not impressed.

Jono shook his head.

I can't speak for Raven, he thought, the force of that notion softening just slightly. He didn't like that Raven disapproved, either. It was... awkward. These... better things. They involve playing with shiny objects, then?

Because that struck him as far more important than growing up and becoming the headmistress of the Massachusetts Academy. Really.

"Don't be deliberately dense, Jonothon. It doesn't suit you," she sneered. "Oh, no, wait, it does. Because if you don't have to think about things, it makes life so much easier, doesn't it? You can just wallow in your pity and never even consider what else is possible."

"Here? I'm a princess. I am wanted and adored and celebrated for what I am. I have power. You expect me to go back to that, to our world? Where I'm going to need to hide my talents so I don't end up on a vivisection table in some lab? I would think you'd be the first to sign up to stay here."

To Jono's credit, he only flinched a little. And then he squared his shoulders and made a grab at that sphere she was playing with. It was distracting, damn it.

Things change, he noted, simply. You... you do people a world of good, someday.

But there was that nagging, in the back of his mind. He would run away, if he'd been given the option. What good did he do anyone, anywhere? He was a champion when it came to wallowing, he'd never grow up to be anything of any note. And home...

There wasn't a hell of a lot about home that was even remotely worth going back to.

"I am not your Emma," she hissed, trying to keep her crystal away from him. "You don't want the lessons I have to teach, not here, and not at your other school, either. Why else would you be hiding at Fandom?"

This isn't just about me.

Ange, Lee, Ev, M. Even Penance, though nobody knew anything about her. Maybe Jonothon was still running from it, but he could name more than a couple of people who weren't.

And even if it was, can you blame me? It isn't my Emma that I'm running from.

It was himself. It always had been. It helped, to some degree, that he'd never heard anybody make dehumanizing remarks about him here on the island. No, 'does he even have feelings?' from his classmates.

"Why should I care about other people, especially ones I don't know?" Emma scoffed. "What has anyone from our world ever done for me?"

For that matter, who at Fandom would even care if she stayed here? Karla had tried to run from everything Jareth offered. Jack had made his choice. Beka, Valentine, and Rose were gone, and everyone else had someone else. No one needed her. Even Peter was over there trying to console Helen.

"Here I've got power. Control. Everything I want at my fingertips. Why should I give all this up, just because some older version of me 'does world of good'? Does she even get anything out of it? Has anyone ever said 'thank you,' or is she just taken for granted?" As usual.

"I don't care about good, I care about me."

Edited 2010-12-11 23:27 (UTC)

Jono's brow creased at those words. Was Emma Frost taken for granted?

No. No, Jonothon really didn't think she was. He'd still be in London, probably dead, possibly hiding underground like some sort of freakish Morlock if it wasn't for her. He didn't take that for granted. If he did, would he be here right now?

He could have turned back any time between last night and right now.

What do you get out of this? You get to run away. You get to play princess for a self-absorbed berk with bad hair, lording over a bunch of royal subjects who spend most of their time making fart jokes and drooling on themselves. That's some inheritance, Miss Frost. I ought to be jealous, shouldn't I?

Edited 2010-12-11 23:32 (UTC)

Jono better think fast, because that was a furious Emma lashing out to slap him right now. She wasn't afraid of his fire, and she wasn't afraid of him, now or ever.

"Fuck you," she spat. "You have no right to talk to me about running away."

Jono took that slap, shut his eyes tight and felt it. Maybe he did deserve it. He usually did.

The bandages on his face were askew, just underneath the place where his cheek was turning an angry shade of pink. He left them be, for now.

The question still stands. What do you get out of this?

Calm. Level. Stung, somewhere deep down, but he could focus on that later. Now wasn't the time.

"Jareth wants me," Emma retorted angrily. "Someone wants me for me."

"No freaking out about what I might or might-not do with my powers, no throwing me away, and no reservations. I'm wanted here, which is more than I can say for anywhere else."

Jono considered that, and then looked at the other people around them, still ignoring the curl of flame that was creeping up the side of his face. Now was not the time. Now was not the time.

Is it you he wants? No ulterior motives in th'least? I'd say kidnapping you is a funny way to show it.

But then, what did he know, right?

"Kidnapping? No..." Something flickered across her face. "Jareth wouldn't do that. He said we could stay if we wanted."

Jono raised an eyebrow slightly. Something in his bionuclear psionic heart twisted a little for her, though he tried not to let it show, if for the sake of her pride alone.

Emma, luv. You don't remember how you got here?

"There was a party," she replied, slowly, like Jono should already know this. "I had a stunning dress and a mask, and then I was here."

"I was going to leave...but I ended up staying."

Jono hadn't been to the party, alas. Jonothon was one of the only people on the island who couldn't possibly have gone.

How did you get to th'party, Emma?

"I..." Emma's eyes narrowed slightly. "I don't know."

Great, Jono, make her paranoid. Emma was loads of fun whenever she was paranoid.

Well, better paranoid than slapping him across the face again. Sort of?

From what I heard, those who had been abducted were at that party, he noted. As well as those who had eaten peaches, that day.

Which just smacked of poison, or at least hallucinogenic drugs. Which might also explain why Emma couldn't quite remember how she'd gotten here. And yes, he was letting those thoughts drift right up close to the surface of his consciousness. Pick up on that, Emma Grace Frost.

"So help me, I will slap you again Starsmore." Paranoid, cranky Emma. "There is nothing wrong with the occasional use of hallucinogens, if used properly."

"I'd offer to let you try the peach wine, but..."

Slap me again. Jono replied, actually reaching up and pulling his bandages down, clear from his face. Here. This ought to help yer aim.

Yes, he was now in the process of trying to have a pissing contest with Emma Frost.

So, sneaking those hallucinogens into th'food of unsuspecting strangers in order to unwittingly manipulate them into doing yer will, that's yer idea of using them properly, is it?

"No! What fun would that be? I mean..." Emma shook her head, fingers curling into her scalp. "Stop it, Jonothon, you're making it hard to think!"

I can't, Jono replied, shaking his head a little. I came all this bloody way for you, Emma. If I had guts, I would've been gored by a bloody minotaur for yer sake. I'm not going to let off now.

"WHY?" she screamed at him. "So why did you? Why didn't you just stay in the dorms and leave me be?"

Because unlike yer new friend here, Jono thought, casting a quick glance at Jareth before looking back at her, unperturbed by her screaming, I care enough to ask you what it is that you want, before going right ahead and forcing it on you. He didn't even kidnap you in person, did he? He probably sent some of those bloody goblins of his to do his dirty work for him. There's how much you mean to him, Emma. Yer a pretty new toy to him. An item on his shopping list for somebody else to round up and deliver. That's all.

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