"JEWEL! JEWEL! WHERE ARE YOU, MY PRECIOUS JEWEL!?"
A raspy voice resonated within the observatory just outside of Halloween Town. The voice sounded frantic and dire, as if its owner was on the thin line of losing their insanity the longer the minutes grew. A tall, slender figure several feet below the source of noise looked up from her work. She had been in the midst of reading the Town's monthly edition of Gothic Magazine until Doctor Finklestein's alarming voice interrupted her session. She briefly got up from her chair and started heading up the ramps, rather quickly than her usual strutting manner.
"Coming, dearest!" She replied.
As soon as the woman was on the second floor of the building, her pace naturally slowed and she returned to an expressive way of walking. She was sure of her steps and took them with pride. Even though her dark green dress was, by itself, appropriate clothing, she still insisted on wearing shannon faux fur around her shoulders and hat. She took pride in the jewels circling her neck as well as the elaborate earrings that complimented them. Her makeup and false eyelashes tied her look together with careful touches. Her getup was - as The Pumpkin King himself would call it - "slightly extravagant".
She soon found her husband's voice emitting from Sally's old room. It was the biggest on the second floor, with what one would call the largest window in all of Halloween Town. Jewel Finklestein walked in to find many boxes and items sprawled everywhere on the floor. It was clear that there was no organization among them, that everything had just been tossed around in a moment of dishevelment.
Doctor Finklestein was currently at the other side of the room with a pile of clothes sitting on his lap. He was currently ripping all the old dresses and clothes from the hangers that were in the closet. Jewel found his short assistant scampering around the room, gathering the trash and throwing the items on the floor into their appropriate boxes. She passed by Igor with ease, not even bothering to acknowledge him, and headed over to her husband without a word. The Doctor heard the steps of her boots and snapped his head in her direction.
"You look perfectly remarkable, my dear!" He greeted her with usual enthusiasm. "Tell me, would you be interested in keeping any of these?"
He offered her the pile of dresses and clothes that once rested on his knees. Jewel blinked her long eyelashes before taking them from him. She started to glance through the pile and noticed right away how abysmally they had been arranged. Many of the dresses were made from various scrap pieces, none of which would suit her usual sense of style. She scoffed and threw them behind her with much thought, which, evidently, happened to land right on top of Igor's head.
"I don't think they're for me," She said dismissively.
The Doctor peered behind her and found that the hunchbacked assistant was curious with the batch of clothes that had landed on him. He turned back to his wife and gave her a regretful sign of the hand.
"I apologize, Jewel. I should have known." He took a few moments to consider something. "I'd go into Town to buy you some new dresses, but...it's just not possible, I'm afraid."
Jewel tilted her large head at this reply. Her blonde streak of hair momentarily came into her view, and she brushed it back with a small, gloved hand. This certainly was out of the ordinary for him to say. Halloween Town was at its finest supply of clothes than it used to be. Ever since Sally had taken the official role of the "Town's Seamstress", she seemed to be providing only the most quality of outfits. Ones Jewel would certainly model if she had the chance.
"I saw this really wonderful dress in Sally's shop the other day," She mentions pridefully. "It was a wonderful shade of blue, and it had the most gorgeous lining of faux fur. If you wouldn't mind, dearest-"
"Sally's shop?" The Doctor repeated abruptly. "I can't do that. I'll go into Town to buy you something elsewhere."
She placed two hands on the sides of her hips. She was ever so rarely upset and never formed her face to show disgust - it did make her look older - but she had to express her disappoint somehow. "Why not?" She rebutted. "You said I could own whatever I want. And I really would like that dress."
Finklestein stubbornly grunted. "My dear, it's-"
"-It's nothing." She suddenly replied, turning away from him and crossed her arms. "You don't want to spoil me anymore. I understand. I could just...make a dress myself, after all."
The idea of his beautiful wife, in her perfection, her glory, settling for a task that clearly belonged to the lower class upset Finklestein. He motioned his wheelchair forward and leaned upwards so he could lay a hand on the back of her shoulder. Jewel sniffled before turning back to him and holding her nose in the air. A gesture that he recognized as sadness. What he didn't know was that Jewel had only been faking it.
"Alright, alright. If you really want the dress, then I'll go into town and buy you the thing." He lowered his head and scoffed. "Even if that means that I have to see that treacherous girl again..."
Jewel was touched by his gesture. But something upset her about mentioning Sally as "treacherous". Something that wouldn't normally occur to her, but the part of Finklestein's brain was informing her that he was wrong. She did have, after all, access to his previous memories and feelings. And what she recognized, after a long period of understand these aforementioned thoughts and feelings of his, was that the Doctor never truly was heartless for Sally. He still had some care for the ragdoll, deep down in his brain somewhere.
She said, "That's false and you know it."
"False?" He repeated the word in disbelief. "Jewel, I'm the Mad Scientist! The genius! The Doctor of this Town! I know everything. And I know, for absolute certain, that Sally is not worth either of our time."
"You love her," Jewel mentioned. "My brain tells me that you did. You were so upset with her leaving you. You miss her. And instead of taking it out on Skellington, you're doing it to yourself by refusing to see her."
"What would seeing her change it?" Finklestein snapped. "I don't miss her! Not one bit!"
He stubbornly rotated his chair so his back was facing her. He found himself in the direction of the window. They got Igor to clean it a little while earlier, and now he could see the whole Town from his observatory. He unconsciously wheeled himself closer and watched as the monsters roamed down below. His small eyes, behind those dark conveyors of glasses, soon reached the Skellington Manor. Its small silhouette managed to form itself into a tear that was now creeping out of the corner of his eye.
Jewel stepped forward and placed a gloved hand on the back of his wheelchair. She opened her mouth to console him, as any reasonable being would. But she found her husband suddenly looking at her with a frown. Not one out of anger she was used to seeing - but one out of reasonable sadness. She clutched at her chest to witness him crying, and leaned down on one knee. She went forward and wrapped her arms around him, and Finklestein followed suit with his own.
"I..." He breathed into her shoulder, piecing his words together. "I can't hate Jack. The boy is only making her happy with where they are...but it still troubles me that she's away from home."
She felt his tears suddenly climb its way onto her dress. She looked over at him and found that Finklestein was now crying into her shoulder. Her lifeless eyes widened as she went to clutch his shoulders closer to hers. She had only seen him cry once, and that was when she was first created. He remarked it being out of nothing but "pure joy for his perfect creation". Now it was out of...dejection.
He took another shaky breath and said, "Jewel, my dearest...my wonderful wife - you are my everything now. Sally has left me, but you are all I have. Please...promise me you won't ever leave like she did."
Jewel naturally shook her head. "Never, dearest. I...would never."
"Good..." He kept holding her, rubbing his nose with his glove. "That would absolutely devastate me, I believe."
Something unnaturally warm crept into her chest just now. As if the phantom heart he had given her when she was created was finally bursting into life. She's always loved him. Not because he created her, but because she felt like she could truly relate to him. In some bizarre way, she felt like she was his other half. She understood how he was feeling; she knew what exactly to do and say to make him feel better. He completed her and she completed him. It was painfully obvious now.
This warm feeling overcame her, and Jewel didn't think twice as she let go of the Doctor and leaned into him. She clutched both sides of his face with her hands and brought him closer to her lips. It turns out that their large mouths were a perfect fit, for their kiss was not only pleasurable but felt absolutely natural. He had tensed during most of their kiss, but soon relaxed once he came to terms with their situation.
They both broke the kiss soon after, and the two of them gazed into each other's eyes past their spectacles. There was a long period of silence shared afterwards, where neither of them broke their gaze or dared to move. A smile grew on Jewel's lipsticked mouth, and Finklestein couldn't help but return it. He seldom smiled, but now it felt most appropriate. She leaned forward and placed another peck on his mouth, standing up straight and enjoying the sight of her smiling husband.
"We are very similar, you know." She comments after awhile. "Why is that?"
"Many reasons, my precious Jewel." He reached for her hand and stroked it. "We are alike, your mind and mine."