It was a little before thirteen o'clock when the Missus heard her husband open the front door.

There was no mistaking his humming that rang through their small abode, nor the sound of him taking off his many shoes one by one. Knowing it could very well take her dear husband an hour to remove them all, she abandoned her teakettle to meander out of the kitchen. In a second, she peered around the corner into the front hall, just in time to see her husband reaching for his second shoe. "Allo, my love!"

The blue worm looked up, then grinned. "Ah, it's the Missus! I've missed you today, my love." He struggled to remove his shoe with his grubby hands, but relaxed as his wife inched over to help him. "Got any tea brewing?"

"Just put the kettle on. Any runners come by today?"

Mr. Worm could only chuckle, partly due to the events of the day, and partly due to his ticklish nature as his wife eased another pair of shoes from his feet. "Funny that, there was one runner today who actually listened to me. Girl abandoned the straight path to the castle altogether, and took the long way."

"Poor dear," the Missus clucked in sympathy, as she unwound the red scarf from Mr. Worm's neck and placed it on the nearby hat stand. "I suppose you asked her to come for tea?"

"Aye, she said no, but that's to be expected. Strange one she was; I really think she stands a chance."

"What, at beating the king? What makes you say that?"

His body rippled in the worm approximation of a shrug. It was hard to shrug when, as a worm, he lacked the necessary shoulders to do so. "Dunno, just got a feeling. Heard some folks around the Labyrinth are helping her."

"The king won't like that," replied the Missus, finally removing the last of her husband's shoes and putting it in a row beside the door. "Then again, I suppose telling her the wrong way to go is helping, isn't it? You're a regular old helper, my dear!"

"Aw no, I'm just a worm, same as you."

The sound of the kettle singing a steamy tune caught their attention, and the Missus went to answer its summons. "I heard quite a lot of shouting earlier," she called from the kitchen, as she took the kettle off from its dangling position above the fire. "Perhaps a few cannons too? I didn't dare check."

"Well that sounded like quite the time. Maybe our runner girl made it all the way up here."

Standing in the kitchen, Mr. Worm watched his wife fill up their pastel mugs, noting not for the first time how adorable it was that his love matched the pink color of the drink ware. With her apron tied around her middle, she made for a lovely sight at the end of a long workday. "Until today, I've never seen someone make it up to the castle before. Y'know, I passed by the fiery gang on me way home, and they said the same girl came by!"

Stirring her teabag around with a tiny spoon, the Missus raised a bushy pink eyebrow. "You mean she made it all the way out there? The fiery gang must be pulling your legs again."

"At least they don't pull off me head," Mr. Worm muttered. He pulled the sugar bowl from a nearby shelf, not bothering to ask how many lumps the Missus would require. The answer, for as long as they had been in love, was always two. "I did me job though, so the king can't be mad at me if the girl succeeded in getting to the castle. She did that with her own gumption, so I think she deserves to win."

"It would be nice for at least one of the runners to have a happy ending," his wife agreed. "I know it's your job to lead them astray, but don't you wish sometime that you could tell them the truth?"

"Well, if they agreed to come for tea, they'd certainly be on the right track!"

Mr. Worm and the Missus chucked as they looked out the window at the goblin city below them. Taking up residence in a pocket of brick within the goblin castle had been a risky endeavor, but it made for a lovely home in a warm, safe location. Aside from the stray musical number, it was rare that they were disturbed, which was perfectly fine for them. They were not the type to engage in song-and-dance routines, preferring instead to enjoy the quiet moments together. Thus, their new home was perfect, particularly since they had each other.

As their tea steeped in the hot water, there came the sound of clock chimes from within the castle. The vibrations rattled the crockery in the cupboards, and the worms dove for their mugs to keep them from crashing to the floor.

"Don't think I've heard that one before," the Missus wondered aloud once the noise had subsided. "Any idea what it means?"

"Blimey, I think that girl's beaten the king!"

"What, and made it all the way to the castle, through dangers untold and all that?" Seeing her husband's nod, she hummed in quiet pleasure. "Well, good on her! It's about time someone won back their wished-away. But what does that mean for us?"

"Us?"

"Well, is the castle going to collapse around us? Will there be a new monarch we have to serve?" She clutched her mug tighter to her body, her yellow eyes widening in panic. "We only just moved here! I'd hate to move again; we haven't even invited the king to tea!"

"Now now, my love, let's not get ahead of ourselves." Mr. Worm patted his wife with a blue tuft of an arm. "I'm sure the runner will go back to whatever she was doing before she came here, and the king will be his usual self. Even if she comes back from time to time, it wouldn't be a bother. She looked like a nice girl. I think you'd like her."

The Missus relaxed considerably at that. "Well then, I hope she comes back! We should invite her to tea the next time you see her. It would be nice to have tea for three instead of the usual tea for two."

"I'll be sure to do that, my love."

And in the shadow of the goblin castle, in the midst of one heroine's triumphant victory, the two worms sipped their tea in a rare moment of quiet peace.

Hello! Or maybe I should say 'Allo!

I always liked the Worm in the original film. Something about his design was so comforting and warm, and it always disappointed me that Sarah never took up his offer for tea! He just wanted her to meet the missus! So when I saw the concept for the LFFL Annivesary Contest-to write a story from a perspective other than Sarah or Jareth-I knew who I wanted as my focus for a sweet, gentle fanfic.

It's just a little snippet of a fic that I drummed up, but I hope people enjoy seeing the events of the film via a small, wormy perspective.