Chapter 2: Dice

Sally frowns in concentration.

Picking up on the mental debate that has been going on for the past hour in her mind, she begins to slowly trudge onto the path leading to the graveyard.

As of now, her problems remain as such: what to do about her fiancée's constant lack of sleep. She can easily pick some Deadly Nightshade and put it into that night's dinner (given that it only be in small amounts) so that Jack would finally be able to get the rest he deserves after countless of sleepless nights.

But...maybe he won't really appreciate being sedated (poisoned is a harsh way of putting it, Sally thinks) into sleep.

What to do...

The gate creaks open, sounding oddly louder than usual. The young rag-doll quietly makes her way towards the small patch of land that holds several types of plants, ranging from innocent herbs to poisonous flowers. She kneels on the ground as she expertly picks several leaves of Deadly Nightshade (something she is all-too familiar with), carefully checking that she avoids the harsher looking ones. From experience, she knows the size and shape actually do influence its strength.

As she finishes, a low moan echoing through the evening sends a chill down her metal spine. Her hands begin to shake and she drops the stems. But curiosity has always been her weakness; it is something Doctor Finkelstein regrets creating her with.

"Curiosity killed the cat, you know," he tells her everyday.

Well, she is undead, so she can't possible die again, now can she?

With that, Sally abandons her "gardening" and proceeds to cautiously approach the source of the noise. By now, the sound grows louder and much more heartfelt. Her heart hammers in her chest at this. She only realizes that she has strayed deeper into the graveyard than ever before when her foot gets caught on a large crack on the dying grass. Surprised, she squeaks a loud "eek!" before falling down. The moaning stops immediately, and Sally's breath seems to catch in her throat.

What now?

Her eyes want to look up, yet her mind screams at her not to unless she wants to see something that will scare her to re-death. After all, nobody is around to help her. She is too far away from town.

"Who's out there?" A scratchy voice barks out, startling her. Wait...is she alone?

"I am," she calls back against better judgment. Gingerly attempting to rise, Sally pulls her foot off when it proves to be an issue. Besides, that is not her biggest worry at that moment. "Is something wrong? Where are you?"

"Don't come closer!"

"Why not? You sound hurt..." As she says this, the voice seems even nearer, pushing her forward. She walks to the direction of that sound, only to stop in front of a large headstone. She is sure that this mysterious person is somewhere behind it. So, unthinkingly, she peers around to check.

Her first reaction is to gasp.

It is a he. A really good-looking he.

Jet black hair falls messily around his pale-white face, with his longs bangs blocking his eyes from view. His jaw seems tense, as if he's clenching it. He is sitting against a tree trunk across from her, but she can tell that he is pretty tall. Lean and slender, too.

He looks up and she meets his shocked gray eyes. "YOU!" he yells furiously, frantically forcing himself into a standing position. Alas, given his current condition, he only manages to tumble, face-forward, to the cold ground. Just as he prepares to feel more pain—like he hasn't had enough already—something soft cushions the fall. Eyebrows raised, the young man looks down and finds that Sally lies below him, full of concern in her expression. It takes him another moment to register the fact that his head rests on her breasts, and that their position is simply questionable from a distance.

Blushing, he sits upright (off of her, of course) and looks away. "What is wrong with you?" he snaps. After all, he is Oogie Boogie. This is Jack's lady, the one he almost boiled in his stew. Why isn't she running headfirst to town shrieking that he's back? And why did she have such nice boobs?

Scratch that thought.

"Uhm...I'm confused here," the said-woman tilts her head to the side slightly, rising to her feet. "What's so bad about helping you?"

"Don't play dumb. I know you're just aching to get back to that bone-head. Go right ahead, d'ya really think I'll be able to get away like this? Go!"

"I really think you're mistaking me for someone. And I can't just leave you here by yourself! Look at you—you're famished, alone, cold..." she trails off, narrowing her eyes, as a memory of running away and being in that exact position clouds her mind. Except that time, nobody helped her...

'This poor man doesn't deserve that same fate!' she tells herself indignantly.

"Come with me."

"Are you crazy?" Besides, the Boogie Man never accepts help. No, he orders and gets what he wants when he wants. Otherwise, he's as good as asking politely like everyone else in that stupid town, and he prides himself for being different. Duh.

"No, I'm pretty sure my mind's stable." Sally smiles gently, crouching down so they were eye-level. Oogie rolls his eyes, mentally thanking whoever gave the girl enough sense to keep her legs together. That dress leaves him too many opportunities to sneak a possibly inappropriate glance...

"I doubt that. Look at who yer talking to!"

"Who am I talking to?"

That stops him.

And suddenly, he remembers.

Lost. He had lost that night to the gangly Pumpkin Jerk-face, who had enough nerve to pull his seams apart. All his bugs, the ones that look him centuries to collect and nourish, had scattered, either to their deaths or freedom. The 'head' bug was squashed by that fat lobster-man, and everyone had assumed that was it.

Wrong.

Saint Chubby destroyed the bug that told the others what to do. He did not, however, kill the bug that held the Boogie Man's soul, which basically had all his memories and mind stored safely inside. It had taken almost a year of aimless wandering before Oogie found a body to control—the body he was using now. But the bug had been starved and battered, so naturally, changing bodies did nothing to help that. In fact, he had gotten even weaker. How did he even get into the graveyard from out there in the first place?

No matter.

He has returned, and everyone is clueless.

Perfect.

"You don't know who I am!" Oogie cackles evilly, momentarily forgetting his pain, and he punches the air in triumph. He reaches for his dice but halts himself. There hasn't been any dice available since his apparent defeat. Darn it.

"I-I don't. Erm, my name is Sally, by the way, mister...?"

"Dice. Call me Dice, doll-face."

Thirty-seven hours of non-stop work causes Jack to wonder how in the Underworld did he ever think that Halloween is a bore. Surely something that requires so much work and constant attention is anything but boring! Maybe tedious is the word.

Either way, he has finally finished today's assignments and some of tomorrow's work, so quite honestly, he is more than ready to get several hours' worth of a good night's sleep. If at all possible, he hopes he can doze off for half the next day...ah, wishful thinking...

Grinning tiredly, he climbs the steps to his front door, happily enjoying the sight of his house. He's actually home before midnight...

The first thing that greets him when he crosses the threshold is his wonderful pet ghost-dog, Zero. He seems extremely pleased to see his master, at the very least, and floats up all the way to Jack's face to lick the side of his cheek. Well, that's a first! He misses him that much!

"Oh, excited to see me? You haven't done that since you were a little puppy! I've missed you, too, Zero!" Jack laughs appreciatively, petting his dog's small, translucent head. He considers pulling out a rib for a quick game of fetch, but vetoes the idea when he remembers that his beautiful fiancée is probably waiting for him at this moment. "Where's Sally, boy?"

Yapping contently, Zero turns his head so his bright pumpkin nose is pointing in the direction of the large living room. Jack nods in understanding, and motions for the ghost to follow.

"Sally? Sally dearest?"

"The couch, Jack!"

"Ah, of course. How are you, my lovely—?"

"'Sup, bone head?" Oogie, comfortably on the black, leather sofa, reclines against one of its arms and waves mockingly to the suddenly-frozen Pumpkin King. "Put on a couple o' pounds, eh?"

"Dice!" Sally reprimands from her position next to him. She glances meaningfully at her love before facing her 'friend'. "That's Jack Skellington, our amazing king! This is his house, you know."

"Psh. I know everything about His Kingliness."

"Who—who are you?" Jack doesn't know which bothers him more—a stranger speaking to him like they're the best of friends, or the fact that the same guy has Sally fawning over him. Okay, so maybe that's an exaggeration, but it is still disturbing all the same.

"Oh, yeah, you have no idea. I'm the Boog—I mean, Dice. Heheheh." Oogie snickers and changes his attention to the young rag-doll. "Get me a pillow, Toots."

"Say please," Sally reminds him, her tone of a patient mother teaching her stubborn child manners.

'Dice' flinches at the word, but otherwise mutters a very reluctant "please".

Satisfied, the rag-doll hurries up and leaves the room to fetch a pillow, but not before beaming lovingly at Jack. Taking advantage of her absence, the skeleton offers a hand to their guest.

"I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself properly. Jack Skellington, as my lovely lady said. But please call me Jack."

"Okay then."

"You said you were Dice?"

"Yup."

"Interesting name. I see you wanted to change it quickly."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Oogie raises an eyebrow; surely Bone-Boy doesn't know?

"Er. I mean, you changed your name already, you know, from your name in the mortal world."

"Oh."

"Heheh. Yes. Ah, how exactly did you die? I now remember Mayor telling me a new resident is coming. I must've forgotten it was today."

"So you're forgetful? Not a nice quality for a king..."

"Huh? No! I just meant it slipped my mind..."

"You drop things, too? Man, and you're supposed to rule this place?"

"Here's your pillow, Dice!" Sally calls cheerfully as she re-enters the room, completely oblivious to the hostile atmosphere. She positions the cushion behind her new friend. "Comfy?"

Oogie smirks, relishing the fact that Sally's breasts are once again close to his face, but this time, Jack is there to see it. "Very."

"Sally! I wish to speak to you at once!" Jack, without waiting for a reply, grabs his future wife hastily and leads her to the kitchen, away from the Boogie Man (although he doesn't know it).

Sally looks up at Jack, horrified, placing her hands on her cheeks. "I'm sorry. I know I should've asked you before I took him in. But—but he looked so lost and alone! I felt so bad for him—he was hungry and cold, too—and I didn't want to leave him in the graveyard—and—"

"Shh, shh. No, I'm not mad. Please don't cry, my love, I could never disagree with you." He pauses thoughtfully, licking his lips slightly. "I am, however, curious as to why he seems to dislike me and why—ah—he is very...friendly...around you." A bony hand soothingly strokes her face and she calms down. Being Sally, she is not aware of the meaning behind Jack's words.

"He doesn't! Dice—he needs to adjust, I think. He didn't like me at first either."

"Really now?"

"Yes...I swear, he acted like he hated me...But he'll change, I promise!"

"Mmm. Oh, alright, I'll take your word for it." He slowly kisses her then, with a large grin against her lips. It feels just as amazing as their first.

"So can he stay?" Sally sighs when she can breathe again. She relishes these moments, and her arms act of their own accord as they wrap themselves around Jack's neck.

"I guess so. He'll be in the guest bedroom, I suppose." 'Farthest away from ours,' he adds in his mind. The last thing he wants are unnecessary interruptions at night…heh.

"Thank you so much, Jack! I'm sure we'll all get along great!"

"I hope so, dearest. I hope so..."

A/N: Hahahaha, Ooogie's a perv! Geez, him and Sally's chest...

Yeah...

I still don't own the movie...*sigh*