Six
Plans For A Banquet
Gimli woke the next day when a goblin once again rapped on his door to remind him that breakfast would be served at seven. Gimli grumbled loudly as he climbed out of bed.
"Stupid Goblin king and his stupid meal times. He probably wont even show up again. What does he think I am, invisible? Humf!"
He washed, dried and dressed once again in his same clothing. He began another string of grumbled complaints along the lines of needing some new clothing to wear and how Jareth wasn't a particularly good host.
The Dwarf found his way easily to the dinning hall and waited once again for Legolas and the Goblin King to appear. He wondered briefly where Hoggle was, whether or not he slept within the castle or had a home elsewhere. The other Dwarf could prove to be a good friend and with Legolas' time so obviously taken up Gimli was going to need a friend in this place.
He sat in his seat, drumming his fingers loudly on the tabletop. It wasn't until some fifteen minutes later that the little goblin came trotting out of the kitchen. Gimli sighed and got down from his chair before the goblin even reached him.
"Let me guess. His majesty and his companion will be taking breakfast in the King's chambers and will not be coming down until later."
The goblin opened to his mouth to confirm this and invite the Dwarf to take his breakfast in the kitchen when Gimli interrupted.
"Thank you but no thank you. Now I'm going to go and tell the Goblin King what I think about his strict meals times and tardiness."
The poor goblin looked horrified, his jaw dropped open and he began to tremble violently. Gimli turned from him quickly and headed for the door, the little creature calling out desperately after him.
"Sir, please! I….I….you shouldn't disturb his majesty! He will be so very angry!" The small goblin squealed loudly and dropped to the floor, quaking in fear at the thought of the wrath of his King.
The door slammed loudly behind Gimli and he assumed as he stomped up a flight of stairs that the goblin he had left in the dinning hall would recover his nerves enough to race off and tell the others of the Dwarf's plans. He didn't care. By the time they could all chase after him he'd be banging on Jareth's bedchamber door.
Thanks to Hoggle he knew exactly where to head. A few twisting hallways and two flights of stairs brought him to the entrance of Jareth's forbidden wing. Well the goblin King himself had never said that this wing was to be off limits to him, only Hoggle. So up the flight of stairs he went, climbing quickly up into the darkness, fearing nothing for his heavy footfalls. He cared little if Jareth had warning of his approach, he was not trying to catch the goblin King at anything, he simply just wanted to yell at him.
Now he was in unfamiliar territory but if he had learnt anything from Hoggle's tour of the castle it was that Jareth's bedchambers would be behind the most elaborate doors in the castle. And sure enough he found them.
At the end of a short hallway he found himself confronted with a pair of enormous craved wooden doors. They were a deep blue colour and bound with black wrought iron. The handles were great black rings of iron that hang, one on each door.
Gimli raised a fist to the thick wood and pounded heavily on it. Almost immediately Jareth's muffled voice could be heard yelling at him through the door.
"I have told you! We will be taking breakfast in my chambers in an hour! Do not disturb me again unless the castle is burning to the ground."
Gimli grumbled on the other side of the door. Really, who did Jareth think he was? Sure he was King but Aragorn was a King too and he certainly treated his subjects and servants with fare greater respect.
Gimli brought his fist to the door again and banged loudly for a second time. This time he received no reply from within the chamber, which only served to infuriate him further.
Finally after being left standing there for several minutes with no reply from within Gimli decided to take matters into his own hands. Taking in a deep breath he gripped one of the iron rings tightly and hauled open the heavy door enough from him to step into the dimly lit room. He suddenly wished he hadn't.
The room smelt of sex and he supposed no one had bothered to pull any of the drapes aside to let in some fresh air. He wrinkled his nose at the smell.
He could hear the heavy panting breaths of two males echoing throughout the room but it seemed to fade suddenly as his eyes fell upon the figures on the bed. From where he was standing in the doorway he was presented with Jareth's naked back as the Goblin King knelt behind Legolas, leaning over him slightly as he thrust into him.
Upon hearing the door open Jareth turned his head to see whom it was who had dared to enter his chamber but never let up on the rhythm with which he was pounding into the Elf beneath him. His blood boiled even hotter when he spotted the Dwarf standing in the doorway, staring open mouthed at the sight before him.
"What is it you want?" Jareth mumbled around the riding crop he held clenched between his teeth.
Gimli blinked several times, taking in first the riding crop in Jareth's mouth, then the red marks that could be seen on the back of Legolas' thighs and finally the fact that Jareth, even though he was well aware of Gimli presence, had not paused in his copulating with the Elf.
Finally, when he was not answered, Jareth removed a hand from Legolas' hip to take the riding crop from his mouth.
"I asked what is it that you want? It obviously must be terribly important if you feel the need to barge into my private chambers in such a disrespectful manner."
It was at this moment that Legolas suddenly realised to whom Jareth must be talking and flushed terribly with embarrassment at the thought of his friend witnessing such an act as he was participating in with the Goblin King.
"It has been more than a day since I last saw the likes of you two and I'm sick of showing up for your allocated meals only to have you not turn up." Gimli fumed.
Jareth tossed his head back and roared with laughter, ending it in a long moan as he trust particularly hard into Legolas.
Gimli would have been lying if he had said that standing in the doorway witnessing the Goblin King engaging in sex with his friend didn't leave him feeling embarrassed and horribly uncomfortable. However he was kept angry simply by the fact that Jareth didn't seem the least bit phased by his presence in the room, aside from his obvious irritation at being interrupted.
"Why would you care if I didn't show up to my own meals?"
"I don't but you promised you would give me something to do in this dump two days ago and you still haven't. That and Legolas is my friend and you have no right holing him up in your bedchambers like some animal."
"I do not treat you as such do I fair Prince." Jareth said as he lent further over Legolas, the Elf moaning loudly in pleasure as he did.
"See no complaints from his end?" Jareth turned back to Gimli and gave him a sly wink.
Gimli rolled his eye upwards and threw his arms up in the air.
"Very well. At least tell me something I can do to begin my duties."
"Hedgewort not entertaining enough for you?" Jareth paused, waiting for a response but when it didn't come he continued. "Very well. You can begin by cleaning my dinning hall, restoring it to the glory it once possessed. We will be down for lunch and I will provide you with further duties then."
Gimli was about to answer him with the Goblin King directed an icy stare his way.
"Now get out!"
Gimli thought it best not to argue and so he gladly turned and left the room, the sounds of heavy breathing finally shut out as the heavy door to Jareth's bedchamber slammed shut.
He certainly hoped he would never have to do that again as he slowly trudged down the stairs. At least the Goblin King had given him something to do. Cleaning the dinning hall should occupy him for at least a few days. Maybe he could enlist Hoggle's help and once Legolas managed to remove himself from Jareth's embrace he might be able to get the Elf to help him out too.
When Jareth finally swanned into his dinning hall at lunch time, wearing black knee-high boots, grey breaches and white shirt open down the front. Gimli recognised the outfit as being one he had worn when they had challenged his Labyrinth. Jareth smirked cynically at Gimli as he noticed the Dwarf catch sight of the riding crop he was carrying.
Legolas followed wearing his soft leather boots, tights and silver under-tunic but had left off his heavier outer tunic. He smiled at Gimli without blushing, having gotten over his previous embarrassment quite quickly once the Dwarf had left.
"Well my hall is looking a little better. Perhaps you will prove yourself useful yet Gimli." Jareth commented as he took his seat at the head of the table.
"It's good to see you're keeping busy Gimli." Legolas smiled as he sat to Jareth's right and Gimli climbed up into the seat beside him.
Gimli chose to ignore Legolas' comment as he could find several faults with it.
"I was hoping you might enjoy helping me to restore the dinning hall Legolas." Gimli asked his friend.
Jareth dropped his fork halfway to his mouth and stared open mouthed at Legolas as he answered.
"I'd love to Gimli. I can think of many things we can do to it and it will give you and me a chance to spend some time with each other."
"What?" Jareth growled as he gripped the edge of the grand table tightly.
"Jareth as much as I thoroughly enjoy our time together Gimli is my friend and he deserves to occupy some of my time as well. Besides, don't you have duties to your kingdom to preform?"
Jareth continued to glare at the Prince before finally heaving a sigh in defeat. He supposed Legolas was right, now that he was as close to happy as he had been in a long while he could probably afford to take some time to see to the restoration of his kingdom. It really had fallen into disrepair and he owed it to the goblins, at least for their loyalty, to fix up a few things.
"Very well." Jareth said with a wave of his hand. "Go spend time with your friend. I'll just entertain myself."
Legolas bit back a laugh. If he didn't know any better he'd think Jareth were sulking. But then the Goblin King did not sulk.
"Thank you Jareth." Legolas said sincerely, placing a gentle hand over Jareth's.
The Goblin King looked away, an air of disinterest about him. Legolas smiled before turning his attention to his barely touched lunch to give the food the attention it deserved. He was surprised that goblins were such good cooks. It turned out that the goblins Jareth ruled over were nothing like the goblins he knew from Middle Earth and it amazed him how different they truly were and yet their separate worlds would have them referred to as the same being.
Jareth excused himself once lunch was over. He whispered something into Legolas' ear before kissing the Elf's neck and leaving him alone with Gimli.
"Well it's nice of you to find sometime in your busy schedule with the Goblin King to find some time for me." Gimli grumbled.
Legolas merely smiled back at his friend before spooning a mouthful of food into his mouth. He had a few grand plans for the dining room and couldn't wait to get started on it.