Chapter Text
It was almost like a privilege to Sally when she moved in with the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town.
Her previous home was regarded as her once-prison. Where she had been locked countless of times inside of that metal building, behind her literal and figurative bars. There were plenty of sleepless nights spent in the room she was cooped up in for so long, occupied only by the sewing machine she had and the books tucked away under her bed. Her captor's possessiveness and obsession with her was a constant reminder of her upbringing. A 'wretched creation', she was once considered.
It wasn't the most pleasant part of her life. She avoided even remembering those times.
To say her health got better after she settled down with Jack would be an understatement. It took years of exposure to the outside world in order for her to realize her own self-worth. He had been the one to introduce her to such a thing, and remained an influential figure in her desire for freedom. Not only that, but of romantic interest as well - she had fallen in love with him from the start, enamored by his alluring kindness. To be invited into his home was like setting a bird free from its cage.
A couple of years passed since she first settled in. Autumn had started a week prior to this day, and it was showing beautifully in Halloween Town. The sky was at its most beautiful shade of orange this time of year. Every morning she would find the Gatekeeper raking all the leaves off of the trails and streets in town, creating piles that the children would ecstatically play and jump in. The creatures most exposed to the temperature equipped themselves with scarves and warmer coats, as the weather increasingly got colder as the months went on.
Sally busied herself this time of year in her sewing shop, knitting scarves and providing jackets and gloves to any creatures who desired them. When her day was done, she'd return to the Skellington Manor, where she would spend her nights with her beloved and their ghost dog. Normally, it was a relaxing time for her compared to the constant work and pressure of Halloween as it drew closer for her skeleton.
. . .
Today was another day where such a thing had affected them. Jack had to leave so early in the morning that she hadn't the chance to tell him goodbye. They would usually meet at the door when he had to leave, and she grew the habit of pulling him down by his lapels and leaving a kiss on his lips. It was a small gesture, but one that kept them both on their feet for the rest of the day.
She returned inside after tending to the garden in the small sanctuary behind their house. The ragdoll removed her coat and carefully set it on its rightful hook by the back door. Since October was coming around, the wind was getting cold. Any visit she made outside she'd have to bundle up for. Even Jack equipped himself with a scarf she made for him, along with a black jacket over his usual suit.
As she walked down the hallway, she was surprised to find his scarf wrapped on the coat hanger by the front door. A grin naturally formed on her lips as she eagerly turned and searched the room. It wasn't long before the tall skeleton presented himself from their staircase, opening up his arms and smiling at his fiancée.
"I'm home!" He announced. Merely seconds after those words left his lips, Sally came running and tossed herself into his arms. He was quick to catch her and enjoyed the pecks she laid on the side of his skull.
"You're back early," she commented in surprise as he carefully let her down. This only widened his stitched smile.
"And what a relief it is..! We thought the planning would last all day. I couldn't wait to return."
He began his stride through the manor and she innately followed after. He talked about his day - all of which was told in bright detail and exaggerated in ways that would make her giggle. His words were genuine and enthusiastic, and she loved hearing them. He always sounded so eager to inform her of his work. She was all too happy to indulge in the Pumpkin King's affairs in return.
As he went into light about the Grim Reaper making an appearance in the Town Hall, a ghostly apparition flew from the ceiling and ducked towards their heads, sniffing around in the air. They greeted their pet with smiles and received excited licks and pants in return. He followed them as they went down the stairs, their included company now intently listening in on how his master's day went.
"I'll make us some warm tea and toast," the skeleton insisted as they entered the kitchen. "It's been getting chilly. You've been keeping yourself warm, haven't you?"
"Of course. I was just checking in on the garden before you came home."
"Is everything wilting all right?"
"Just beautifully."
He ducked down to trail his phalanges through a few strands of her hair. In one smooth movement, he pressed his lips against her own, then resumed what he'd been doing. She smiled bashfully as she left into the other room. Zero followed after and laid by her feet as she sat down. She flattened her dress and began to fidget with her seams in thought.
Affection was no stranger to her, nor was it a foreign thing in her relationship with Jack. Nearly every day they shared their handful of kisses, embraces, and words of fondness. The first few times were almost intimidating, as she had never experienced such things before him. She recalled the early days where just getting close to him was enough to send her out of her wits. But that was an old feeling, she thought; one that numbed after they continued to share those exact things for a few years now.
Now the numbness had faded away, and she was growing particularly receptive to it again…
Every contact shared between them now, and she'd experience it all over again. The euphoria that turned her legs to jelly, the butterflies that crazed in her stomach, and the way her knees buckled as her mind was sent into a frenzy. Most noticeable of them all was an overwhelming hotness that overtook her body. It was driving her crazy. At times, she found herself desperately searching for some air. The cool winds outside would calm her down, but it was ultimately temporary, as the warmth would return later once Jack’s bony hands found their way onto her again.
"Be careful..! Remember how you nearly picked your arm off the other day?"
She jumped up in alarm to find the man of her thoughts standing across from her, looking concerned. She realized she had a good amount of thread bunched in her hand that she had picked out of her arm. She became flustered and muttered an apology, reaching for some thread and her needle to fix this mistake.
"Oh, please, let me,” he leaned down and grabbed the items out of her hands. "You know how I want to practice doing this."
As his hand touched hers, the heat prickled her fingertips and felt like fire cascading down her cloth body. She allowed him to do what he wanted, her eyes unsteady as she observed the man she was promised to. It was only Jack who ever touched her this way. She had never been comfortable with another person tending to her stitches before. She learned the hard way that other monsters touching her was an unpleasant experience and insisted she could handle her mishaps on her own.
But Jack was gentle. Whereas other’s claws and calloused hands would feel like an intrusion, his long fingertips navigated the threads on her body like he had known her for a lifetime. He threaded the needle on his first try and worked on sewing her forearm back on, humming under his breath as he did so.
The noise was a blessing to her frazzled thoughts. If she ever felt like she had been consumed completely, Jack’s voice would save her. He could break Sally out of whatever trance would ever possess her. She could listen to him sing and hum every night for the rest of her life. She knew of no other noise she would ever want to hear.
"Are you feeling alright?"
She was snapped back to reality when the spool of thread and needle was returned into her opened hand. When she didn’t reply, he continued, "-This is the third time I've seen you picking at your seams. Dearest, please tell me if something is wrong?"
She wanted to be completely honest with him more than anything. But she always held some diffidence around her beloved, as they came from two completely different worlds. She never felt such raw, powerful enamorment before. She hadn’t the faintest idea on what to do about it. How could she worry him with such a ridiculous problem?
‘I am too in love with you. I want you to touch me, but it makes me weak. I need you to kiss me, but I might be devoured whole. I’m craving more even after you have given me everything. What do I do, Jack?’
She thought of an excuse instead. It wasn’t an outright lie, but it avoided the bigger problem. “I’m fine, they’ve been a little bothersome lately. They feel…itchy?”
"..Itchy? Hmm."
He looked to be deep in thought, and it endeared her that he would concern himself about her so greatly. He returned to his full height and grabbed the plates and cups that had been waiting by the door. He must have set them aside the second he saw her picking at her seams in distress. He gently set them down on the coffee table between their chairs and began pouring their tea.
“If it’s bothering you too much, we can ask the Doctor about it. I’m sure he'll be able to fix whatever’s ailing you, my dear.”
She wasn’t sure if she wanted to bother her creator about an issue that was surely mental and not physical. And, really, Jack had more important things to worry about than her own discomfort…there was Halloween to prepare for. Her selfish desires could be cast away for a month or two. After their holiday was taken care of, she could pester him about her phantom heart feeling like it was bursting at its seams, so full it was.
The solution to feeling overwhelmed by Jack’s acts of affections, in her mind, was to involve herself entirely with him for a while…spend a week at home with him, kissing and embracing each other until she was calm again. She needed to spend more time with him – yes, that was it. She was missing him and feeling a physical longing after his extended days at the town hall. Once they were able to properly lay down and snuggle with each other, she was confident she’d feel back to normal.
“I don’t want to trouble him with this,” she shook her head. “I’m sure it’ll go away on its own.”
He sat down next to her in his tall chair and her charcoal eyes took this chance to get a proper look at him. He wore one of his white t-shirts with the sleeves folded at his elbows. It was normally tucked firmly into his dark pants and held up by a pair of suspenders, but had become loose with the extra layers he’d been wearing on top of it lately. The buttons occasionally became undone when the fire in the hearth warmed him too much, and the sight of his collarbone made her feel dizzy.
She had only felt his bony fingers and palms upon her blue skin - the feel of his skull as she cradled the back of his cranium during their more passionate kisses. If she hugged him tight enough, she could feel the jagged ends of his spinal column, and it had intrigued her greatly. She’d seen the bare skeletons on the branches of the Hanging Tree, and the model of a skeleton the Doctor had in his laboratory. He claimed it was for scientific purposes, but he would have no idea what it would do to his newly-created daughter.
She remembered staring at it back in the early days of her infatuation, wondering if that was how Jack looked underneath his clothes. After days of observation, longing eyes that tried to memorize the visage of her Pumpkin King, Sally came to her own conclusion. Their skulls did not match and there were parts of him that looked somewhat different to the other skeletons in town. But it was the only thing to give her an idea of him, of what he truly looked like, and she imagined him having an impressive body of hundreds of bones.
What she would give to see and count them all for herself. To know what the texture of his bones felt like underneath that suit. To run her hands along his spine and grow as familiar with his body as he was with hers.
It was almost too much.
“If you insist you’ll be alright, we won’t impose,” her to-be husband cleared his throat as he set his cup down. “Just promise you’ll tell me if it gets any worse?”
She nodded. That much she would tell him. She could live with these impure thoughts and feelings for now. The overwhelmingly-good shivers and shakes she’d feel every time he blessed her with his touch. It was only too much of a good thing.
She sipped on her tea and took a few nibbles out of the toast he brought for her. Jack started up their conversation again, acting as if what happened is already past them as he continued his stories about his time in the Town Hall. If there was one thing she appreciated him for, it was his ability to move on from things, and she wanted this to be forgotten by him completely until he had his hands free.
She allowed the tea to warm her stomach pleasantly as his voice soothed her into a new state of relaxation.
Sleeping was one of the things Jack Skellington greatly looked forward to.
Before Sally came into his death, it was almost a nightmare falling asleep, and not the frightening kind. Rarely would he get many hours in the night and instead tossed and turned restlessly. He tried everything back in those days - taking doses of Deadly Nightshade, opening the windows to listen to the bats fly around, or trying a more uncomfortable mattress. But nothing solved his insomnia better than she did.
Her presence in his home was enough to keep his troubles to a minimum. But when they started sharing a bed together…he experienced the most pleasant results. He was finally allowed peaceful nights of sleep. Her ability to soothe him with a mere touch of her hand and the beautiful lullabies she'd sing to him were undoubtedly responsible. Not to mention the way she looked every morning when he'd wake before her; so serene laying there on his bed, with her lips parted slightly as her figure gently moved with her soft breaths.
She was stunning. He'd guiltily admit to sitting there and admiring the way she looked when she slept. His ribs felt weak whenever he watched her for too long. He'd never been more in love, that was for certain.
The one thing he would never wish for is for his beloved to experience such restlessness. And when they went to bed that night, he could feel her moving around beside him constantly. He recognized the tell-tale signs of tossing and turning, and he heard a few huffs of frustration leave her lips as she flipped her lumpy pillow several times over. It was enough to stir Zero awake, who he could hear smacking his lips as he floated through the walls to retire elsewhere.
Sally had never had a restive night while they were in bed. She usually melted into his arms and drifted off along with him. Paired with the seam-picking he caught her doing today, he considered it a cause for concern.
He turned on the spider lamp on his bedside and sat up in the covers, facing her with a worried expression on his skull. “Sally, are you not sleeping well?”
She let out a long sigh as she turned to him, helpless eyes seeking his own. “I sleep wonderfully with you. Tonight just feels…too hot.”
Well, that was an easy predicament to solve. He peeled off the covers and walked over to the windows, pushing them open and allowing the night air to start filling the room. With such cold temperatures during the day, the nights were even chillier - a sure way to cool down the room for his beloved. Some moonlight was allowed in, but he ensured it was far away from their line of sight. He returned to their bed and enjoyed the way she smiled at him.
“Better?” he inquired, and she nodded.
“Yes, thank you.”
He cloaked the room in darkness again when he turned off the lamp and laid back down. He redirected himself to face Sally - having an excellent view of her as she tried to settle back down. To his credit, she did stop tossing and turning, but something was clearly amiss with the way her nose crinkled and eyebrows furrowed while she drifted off. Like she was having unpleasant dreams.
He gave it a while before reaching out to her and ushering her into his embrace. She was extremely receptive to him while asleep, curling naturally into his body and letting out a blissful sigh afterwards. This was enough to satisfy him, and he finally closed his eye sockets as he held his bride-to-be closely to him in his arms.
Her fingers ghosted along the back of his loose pajama shirt, enough to caress the ends of his cord, and it made him shiver.
She had never touched him like this, even when she was asleep. And while it made his eyes shoot open to look at her out of curiosity, she was still relaxed in his arms, so he let it be. He had his own habit of smoothing his hands down her back and waist while she slept, so comforting was her soft cloth skin to feel in the dead of night…she must find her own relief in touching him in return.
These new habits worried him, though. Not only was she picking at her seams nearly every day, but now she was struggling to sleep. Usually she was right at his side every night when they slept together, but lately she’d resorted to resting on her own side of the bed. He had to reach out to her tonight to get her to cuddle again, even though it was clear she wanted the close contact to begin with.
Why was she denying herself such closeness with him? Was she unhappy? Had he done anything wrong? His lips fell as he dwelled on such a matter. He had been away longer than usual to take care of his Halloween duties…it was nearly October and he’d be even more preoccupied soon. He thought her tasks in her sewing shop kept her at bay, but perhaps his absence was affecting her more than she led on. After all, he had been leaving early in the morning and returning late at night.
And that was no one’s fault but his own.
He decided that tomorrow he would sleep in with his sweetheart and give her the attention she needed before he’d leave for the Halloween preparations tomorrow. The Mayor could afford him being a couple hours late for one day, could he not? And if the man thought about coming by with that blasted megaphone of his, Jack would be more than happy to give him a piece of his mind…
He held Sally tighter the more determined he became, and she buried her triangular nose in the recesses of his collar. Yes, this was the right thing to do.