Disclaimer: I do NOT own The Nightmare Before Christmas, Tim Burton does. I made up Molly but that's it folks!
Author's Notes: I'd like to thank my good friend, Marissa, who is the one this fic is deticated to, and also to another good friend, SexySaiyanSakura, who without her help, this chapter or several others, might not have lived up to their full potential. And thank you to those who reviewed since my last chapter! Now...ON WITH THE NEW CHAPTER!
Chapter Six: Foes Change to Friends
"Keep up the good work folks!" Shouted the Mayor with his megaphone in hand as he walked through the town square. "Only 60 days left until Halloween!" The Mayor was in a pretty good mood today, and it was obvious with his smile on his happy, rosy cheeked face. Everything was going according to the Halloween plans that he and Jack came up with, especially without a certain raven haired rag doll causing problems with the minions of the still assumed dead Oogie Boogie. In fact, at the moment he was making his way to the Witches' Shop to check up on the daughter of Dr. Finkelstien to make sure she was behaving.
The short and stout elected offical opened the door to the shop and tipped his very tall top hat at the two witches. "Afternoon ladies!"
"Good afternoon Mayor." The two witches greeted politely as the Mayor walked up to them. "Care to buy some Marrow Mints?"
"No-no." the Mayor first responded shaking his head and waving his hands in front of his face, but then looked thoughtful. "Well..." He had to shake his head to rid himself of his indecisive train of thought in order to keep on task. "What I really came to ask is if the Finkelstien's girl has been working hard like she's suppose to."
The witches looked at each other before they returned their gaze back to the Mayor. "Perhaps you should be the judge of that..." the shorter witch said as she jumpped off her stack of books that she used so she could see over the countertop and lead the Mayor into the back room where all their edible merchandise was made.
This caused the Mayor to switch faces so that his worried blue and white face was in front. "Why...?" he began to ask until the short witch opened the door and showed the Mayor of town what Molly was up to.
The rag doll was busy making treats, humming the melody of their town's theme as she worked and when she had to move to do something else, she did it with a graceful twirl or some other form of dance. "...I am the shadow on a moonlit night, filling your dreams to the brim of fright!" Molly sang softly as she slid in two trays of unbaked bone biscuits into the oven and closed the lid of it with her foot.
"She's been acting so...cheerful for the past two weeks now..." the short witch informed the Mayor in a low whisper to avoid catching Molly's attention.
"...and it's downright...scary..."
The Mayor seemed wry of the rag doll's strange change in demenor, "Do you know why she's become so..." then he remembed that horrid word Jack used to describe Christmas last year, "...jolly?"
The witch gave a shrug, "No, and she's been working so diligently that she's going to fill the quota for next year!"
Both of them jumpped when they heard Molly's voice say, "Hello Mayor."
After both the witch and the Mayor recovered from their momentary fright, the Mayor greeted her back in a polite stutter. "H-hello M-Molly..."
"Checking up on how I'm doing?" the rag doll asked as she leaned against the doorway.
"Um...well...yes..." the Mayor continued to say, his worried face on but it soon changed back to his happy face. "And I must say, I'm impressed Molly!"
Molly responded modestly, "I'm just doing my job." Looking at the time, she then said to them, "And now it's the end of my shift so I guess I'll have to see you later Mayor."
As the rag doll walked out of the kitchen and out of the shop itself, the Mayor turned to the Short Witch and asked her, "You gave her a shorter work day?"
"We had to, or else we'd be up to our necks in bone biscuits!" she repsonded.
Molly was indeed becoming more enthusastic around work, and walked around with a smile on her face. Nobody in town understood what caused this change in her. Truth was, it was because of her frequent visits to the lair of Oogie Boogie to see the Boogie man with the same interests as her. The once apathetic rag doll now had something to look forward to instead of the same old thing. This caused her to work more efficently, and this in turn, gave her a shorter work day, which meant more time to see Oogie.
"Well, it looks like you three did a good job of cleaning up in that room." Oogie stated with a grin as heard the groans comming from Lock, Shock, and Barrel.
They were standing in a hall of his lair, or rather, Oogie was standing and the children were sitting down on the ground exausted. A cruel chuckle of amusement for their misery escaped the large sack man until he heard the familiar arrival of Molly's boots echoing off the walls in the torture chamber. Oogie walked past the tired children to go greet Molly with his stitched grin, one that she returned with her own stitched, black painted lips.
"Hey Boogie boy." she greeted as she approched him.
"Doll Face..." Oogie responded, with his grin growing. He had grown very fond of having the daily visits from the rag doll, more than he would have liked to admit to anyone, even himself. When he thought back to how they first met, he could have never guessed that things would end up like this. Not even a month later could he figure out how it happened, but he would never regret whatever it was that caused it.
A soft chuckle escaped her as she told Oogie in a determined tone, "You're going down today! I'm not leaving here until I beat you at pool Boogie man!"
"Well then you're not leaving here today, since I have something diffrent planned for us." Oogie said with a chuckle.
Molly gave him a curious look, "Really? What is it?"
Another chuckle, which was deep this time, came from Oogie, "You've got to guess Molly dear."
Raising her brow, she asked, "I thought you hated guessing games."
"Only when I'm the one guessing." Oogie replied.
"At least give me a hint. For all I know it could be anything." Molly sighed, now understanding how Oogie felt when she played guessing games with him. It really wasn't as much fun to guess as it was making someone else guess.
"Alright," Oogie agreed and thought for a moment about what he should tell her that wouldn't give away too much of the surprise. "Hmm well, it's a room that you have to move a lot in."
Not able to resist teasing the Boogie man, Molly pretended to guess, "Your bathroom?"
Oogie's smile dropped as he gave her a dry look and replied sarcastically, "Yes, I am planning on drowning you in my toilet." This caused Molly to giggle, and since Oogie wasn't patient enough to continue the guessing game with her, he ended it. "Close your eyes."
Molly gave him a skeptical look for a long time until she finally obeyed and closed her eyes, "Okay..." she sighed, "...I can't see...so now what?" It wasn't long after she uttered those words that she felt his burlaps hands take hers into them and felt the looming presence over her that once made her uneasy.
"You follow me." Oogie stated in a whisper, walking backwards now into the hall of his lair, leading her slowly towards a room that was past the Billiard Parlor that they spent many hours playing Bat Snot in. Past the Kitchen where they had prepared several dinners together in the past month, and into a room on the right side of the hall for once.
At first sight, the room Oogie lead Molly into was dark, and almost nothing in it could be seen just yet. Once he got her right in the middle of the room, he then let go of her hands and said, "Okay...now open your eyes..."
Just as she opened her eyes she realized it was pitch black in the room, and the only thing she could see was the neon green burlap sack that she now called her friend. "Okay Oogie, is this your idea of a..." Oogie walked over to a wall and hit a switch which made the entire floor to light up in neon colored tiles, and from up above them was a large jack-o-lantern lamp which changed colors every five seconds. "...wow.."
Her expression of surprise and wonder was like sweet honey to Oogie, and it was a very diffrent kind of enjoyment that he had only recently experienced. After all, he was use to getting his kicks from torturing others, but this felt just as rewarding...maybe even more...maybe.
Walking around the room and inspecting the disco-styled floor, Molly turned back to Oogie and told him, "This place is so so wicked Boogie!"
"Well of course it is!" Oogie replied proudly, "I created it, though I haven't used it in awhile so I had those kids do something useful when you left yesterday and clean it up a bit. Didn't think this lair built itself, did you?"
Chuckling softly, Molly told him, "Of course not. It's just so amazing, it's hard to believe you built it all by yourself."
Oogie walked over to her again and held out his hand for her in a dramatic gesture, "Shall we dance then?" When he was rewarded with her soft smile and delecate looking hand, the Boogie man's grin grew wider so the corners of his mouth seemed to disapear behind his head. "Hit it!" Oogie ordered in a comanding tone as he pointed to a still dark corner of the room, and almost immediatly, the corner was lit up in the same kind of neon lights to reveal a jazz band of skeletons Oogie had found around his lair.
The skeleton band's largest and most attention grabbing instrament was a large coffin shaped piano with a tall skeleton that glowed a neon yellow on the far left. The Saxophone, Trombone, and Clarinet player were a neon red, blue, and green and the Trumpet player was bright violet and of average height. Upon Oogie's order, the all began to play their instraments to create a loud, and fast pace jazzy tune for the two to dance to.
Molly was impressed by the band, the room, the whole thing. When she turned back to stare into Oogie's empty sockets, and grinning face. She returned it with a nervous grin, "You know I've never had a dance partner before..." she admitted reluctantly as she now avoided his gaze.
"Neither have I..." Oogie responded softly, catching her attention, "...so we'll just learn together." Wrapping his free arm around her waist, and holding the hand that held hers out to their side, he began to lead Molly in a slow dance at first. When the doll woman got the hang of the dance steps, which didn't take long, that's when Oogie picked up the pace and Molly was able to keep up and in no time the two were enjoying themselves greatly.
As the first song came to a close, and a new instramental song began to be performed by Oogie's skeleton band, Oogie dipped his dance partner, causing her to giggle in a delightful way. "You must have a lot of fun with such a room like this." she said to him.
Smiling in an out of character softness, Oogie replied warmly, "I do now..." and with that said he began to lead her in another, slower dance.
"It couldn't be because of me, could it?" Molly asked with a knowing look.
"Maybe..." the Boogie man admitted after looking thoughtful for a moment but he added quickly, "...or maybe those three pains in the neck have finally stopped bugging me...hard to tell really." Then he decided to twirl Molly around then turned her into him in a half embrace for a moment before spinning her out so that they would be as far apart as they could without letting go of each other's hands.
"You're not that bad of a dancer Boogie boy." Molly complemented before Oogie pulled her back to him and continued to dance with their bodies closer.
"And I for one, am greatful that you're not half bad." Oogie responded, trying to make it sound more like an insult than a complement. "After all, those boots of yours would hurt if you stepped on my feet."
Not able to resist the natural urge to tease her new friend, Molly pretended to almost step on his foot, making him wince from the expectation of pain. "Hehe...you mean like that?"
Oogie narrowed his eye sockets before he spoke in an irritable sarcastic way, "Oh ha ha..." After watching Molly stick out the tip of her tongue to continue her playful mockery, he grinned and stuck out his own tongue right back at her, which was a yellow and black stripped snake with red eyes that made a hiss as it emerged from his mouth. This of course, caused Molly's viberent green eyes to widen from the unexpected visit of his snake tongue, making its owner smile more. "Something wrong?" he asked, pretending to be oblivious, then acting like he suddenly realized what she was surprised about. "Oh...hehe..." leaning closer so his face was closer to hers, he added, "It bites too..." and the snake in his mouth that served as his tongue emerged again trying to bite Molly's nose but the rag doll leaned back far enough to avoid it.
After that the two continued to dance without much conversation between each other as the band continued the melodys that their foot work relied upon. Oogie performed a series of twirls and dips as they danced through several songs, and in turn, this caused Molly to laugh in her lovely feminine way. It wasn't until the band ceased their playing to take a break when the two dancers decided to do the same. Molly felt a little lightheaded from all the twirls and dips, but her pale face still held a smile that would have gone ear to ear if she had ears. Oogie's face reflected a smililar grin, and at the moment he felt a little awkward since he could not think of anything to say at in the moment of silence which felt uneasy to him.
"You know I have a lot of fun with you." Molly spoke first, which made Oogie feel luckier than he would have felt if he had finally rolled a seven with his dice.
"And people say I have no social skills..." the Boogie Man responded with a deep chuckle.
Molly's wide grin changed to a soft smile as she chuckled her reply, "Most would say the same of me." Oogie began to feel awkward again when this left the two of them with very little to say. He especially felt odd when she continued to stare up at him with her big green eyes, but this adoring gaze was soon broken when those lovely eyes widened. The rag doll gasped before asking, "Oogie, do you know what time it is?"
Oogie glanced over to the corner where the band was and remembered that there was a clock in the same corner. "It's almost six o'clock Doll, why?"
Another sharp gasp of distress came from her, "Oh no, I should have left awhile ago...I told my mother I wasn't working late again!" Taking his hand in both of hers, she told him in a reasuring tone, "I'll make sure to come and see you again tomorrow, that is if I'm still alive." Molly laughed nevously over her somewhat exaggerated statement before dashing out of the room to head back home.
Oogie waved with a bewildered look, since it seemed so sudden that she had to leave. With a big sigh, he walked over to a bar that was on the other end of the room near the corner where the band was performing. "Why does it seem that whenever I start to enjoy myself, she has to leave?" he asked no one in particular with a sigh of disapointment.
The bartender, which was yet another skeleton that glowed blue, shrugged its boney shoulders before shaking up a drink for its depressed master.
Molly ran all the way back to the Labratory tower, and when she reached for the door, it suddenly opened, and her mother, Jewel, stood there waiting for her with a very upset look on her face. "Molly Finkelstien!" her shrill voice shrieked, causing her daughter to cringe from both the sound and from the impending lecture that would soon follow. "Where in All Hallos' Eve have you been! You informed me this morning as you left the house that you wouldn't be working late. Now tell me why is it that you're here at..." she glanced over to a large grandfather clock that was inside the enterance room of the Labratory and pulled her lip back in anger. "...six fifteen at night!"
"I was...just out..." Molly replied, feeling like slapping her forehead for not thinking up of an excuse. Lately she must have gotten rusty, for it seemed harder and harder for her to come up with excuses as to why she showed up late.
"Out?" Jewel repeated with a raised brow, "OUT! Out doing what!" Grabbing her daughter's arm to pull her roughly into their home she then slammed the door, creating a loud wooden smack echoing off the walls. Turning to her daughter, who was now giving her an apathetic look, giving her a more doll like apperance, the blonde mother continued to scold Molly. "I bet you were out with those friends of yours again, weren't you! And you were behaving so well for the past month aside from this suspicious behavior going out to this unknown place practically every day for hours on end! I talked to the witches today, they have told me that a couple of weeks ago they made your work days SHORTER! So care to tell me what you've really been up to?"
Molly blinked once before she narrowed her eyes in irritation. Did she have to justify everything she did? Perhaps she deserved that in the past when her credibility was questionable, but now she had made sure to act in a way that the town and her mother considered proper. Couldn't she at least be rewarded with a little more freedom? Of course not. Not when what she could be doing with that freedom might tarnish her mother and her father's good name. At least that's what the raven haired creation knew her mother was thinking at the moment. Still she felt the need to point this out, "I haven't been doing anything that would hurt your reputation, mother! I think I'm woman enough not to have to tell you every little thing I do aside from breathe!"
"Excuse me!" Jewel responded, taken aback by Molly's back talk. "Don't you dare sass me young lady! Your father might be too busy to discipline you, but I sure as Lucifer, am not!"
"Why can't you ever listen to what I have to say! Everything else I have been doing for the past month has been what YOU or someone else tells me to do! I LIKE making my own decisions! And one of them happens to be not telling you about what I do with my life after work!" Molly continued to stand up for herself, raising her voice in a very confident tone that she used when she defied Oogie Boogie.
Jewel's jaw dropped, "Molly Finkelstein..." she said in a soft tone, which changed back to her shrill yelling voice, "...you WILL tell ME what it is you're up to! It's a boy, isn't it? You've been spending these hours with a man you KNOW neither your father or I would approve of, HAVEN'T YOU!"
"IT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!" Molly yelled to match her mother. Truth was that her mother was most likely right, but not in the way her mother thought. Right after she did this though, she felt her mother's hand across her face, leaving a stinging sensation on her pale cheek. After being slapped, Molly could not help but take a step back, since she had never been slapped across the face before. Placing her hand to the cheek that had been hit, she felt it that it was sore and could feel it growing red without having a mirror there to vindicate this notion.
Her furious mother still stood in front of her, glowering at her before she said in a virulent tone, "That is the last time you will get away with disobeying me Molly Finkelstein! You're not yet a woman until I decide you are, and that will be when you are married to a man both your father and I approve of and you no longer live under our roof! Now go to your room!"
At the moment Molly felt a serge of emotions which was mostly outrage towards her mother's behavior and frustration that she would never be trustworthy in the eyes of her mother. Not that keeping the secret visits to Oogie's lair a secret made her particularly trustworthy to begin with, she only did that because she knew her mother would never approve of her going to gamble with a friend who happened to be the Boogie Man. After hearing her mother's demand for her to go to her room, the rag doll bolted for the door and ran out of the Labrotory and down the stone stairs, heading towards the cemetary. She could hear her mother calling out to her to come back but she ignored it.
When her disobedent daughter would not come back, and since Jewel was not the type of lady to go running after people, she threw her arms in the air. "I can't deal with her anymore! I don't know where I went wrong but this has to stop!" Slamming the front door again, she then began to think about how she might be able to control Molly better. "Using force doesn't seem to work as much as it use to...hmmm...I'll figure something out..."
After this incident happened, Oogie sent the his three little minions out to play while he made dinner, and actually planned to feed them instead of having them eat candy for their dinner like he usually did. Though lately, Oogie had been feeding them for the past week. "It's been so great having Molly and Oogie see each other every day!" Barrel declaired with a jump. "I wonder what he'll make tonight!"
"Can't be Snake and Spider stew, we had that last night, plus I think he's getting a little tired of it." Lock said with a grin as he and the other two trick-or-treaters walked towards the cemetary on foot this time.
"Awww..." Barrel moaned hanging his head in disapointment.
Shock shook her head, also in a good mood that night, "See boys? I knew that making it seem that Molly really liked Oogie so he wouldn't kill her would lead to them being friends! Now Oogie and Molly are happier, and so are we! And it's all thanks to me!"
"No it's not!" Lock was quick to protest, "You didn't come up with the idea for them to meet!"
"Well you didn't!" Shock growled, getting in the boy dressed as a devil's face.
Barrel watched as Lock and Shock began to fight in the predictable manner the always did, and was greatful this time that he wasn't apart of it. Shock had a mean right hook, and Lock was prone to biting with his pointed teeth. The two fought physically with each other all the way to the cemetary, and even more when they were there. The boy dressed as a skeleton though, grew bored of watching them fight without something delicious to munch on, and began to look around the cemetary. Usually the hanging tree was around, but it seemed the tree was in another part of the area tonight. However, something else caught his eye, and his curiousity got the best of him as he left his fighting friends to investigate. He thought he saw the back of someone's head that he knew, and when he peeked his head around a circle of tombstones, he saw that his guess was right.
"Molly?" he asked with wide eyes, jumping back as well after the rag doll snapped her head up to see who called her name. Her face had been buried in the palms of her hands, and now Barrel could see her slightly red eyes, which could only be a result from crying. "W-what are you doing here? I thought you went home?"
Molly didn't seem like she wanted to answer, and since Barrel didn't know what to do, he decided to get his other two cohorts who came up with better ideas than he did. It took awhile, but he managed to break up their fight and convinced them to come over to where he found Molly. Once Lock and Shock saw Molly, their eyes widened, since they never saw her look so sad before they all glanced at each other, only thinking of one thing to do to try and cheer their friend up.
"Ugh...I'm all out of ingredients for Snake and Spider stew, Worm's Wart, AND Centipede Casserole!" Oogie bellowed in his kitchen, throwing up his arms. He was in an okay mood, but now he didn't know what to make for dinner. Scratching under his chin, he then happened to glance over at a large jar of flies. "Ah...that'll be diffrent..." When the sounds of multiple feet comming towards the kitchen caught his attention, Oogie turned to glare, assuming it was his minions. "I told you not to bother me when I'm cook..." he began to yell at them irritably, until he saw that they were not alone. "...ing...?" At first he was caught off guard by seeing Molly back, since she hadn't been gone for more than an hour. Not able to stop himself from grinning at her unexpected return, he said to her with a croon, "Why, Molly...to what do I owe this unexpected surprise?"
"Um...I was...just out for a walk..." Molly replied softly, avoiding his gaze.
Since Oogie didn't seem to notice her odd change in dispoition, Lock decided to approch their boss and held a hand to block his mouth so nobody besides Oogie could hear him. "Something's up with her. You might wanna cheer her up and find out what it is Oogie." Before Oogie could respond, the devil costume clad boy ran out of the kitchen along with Shock and Barrel to leave the two alone, but this didn't mean that they wouldn't linger close by to find out what was going on with Molly.
As he watched the kids leave, Oogie thought with a growl, 'Little brats left me! Just how do they expect me to...cheer her up? I don't cheer people up, I scare them!'
But before the Boogie man could think of something else, Molly asked him in a softer tone than she normally used, which now struck him as odd. "So...you were making dinner?"
"Split fly soup." he replied, then began to ponder over just how he could cheer Molly up.
"Need help?" she asked, trying to sound more like herself, but her enthusiasm just wasn't there.
Oogie grinned as he extended his hand to her, "I think I could use a hand..." then he added mentally, '...that was corny.'
The joke didn't really seem to make the rag doll smile. "What do you need me to do then?" she asked in her still distant tone.
"You could get that jar of flies over on that shelf." instructed Oogie as he pointed to where she could find the jar. He watched as she moved in a sluggish pace, which was unlike the normal Molly. Something happened in the time that passed after she left his lair, and whatever it was must have been very upsetting. Even when in the face of danger, she had that feisty spirit, but now those eyes held a dull look as she brought the jar of dead flies over to him. "Mind stirring while I add them in?" he asked her after taking the jar from her. Molly shrugged and took the wooden spoon and began to stir the contents of the bowl with an idle look with one hand.
While Oogie added the flies into the pot, he glanced over at Molly from the corner of his eye and took notice that her left cheek was red. Once he was done adding the flies, he set the jar down then took a step closer towards the raven haired doll. Reaching out to touch her reddened cheek gingerly, he asked curiously, "What happened Doll Face?"
Upon feeling the burlap hand bursh against her face, Molly flinched slightly, then looked back at Oogie, in the eyes for the first time since she came back but quickly avertered her gaze. "O-oh this?" she asked in a stutter. "I-I..." she had to think quickly of an excuse that sounded convincing. "...I fell. When I was running back home, I tripped over something and fell."
Noticing that her eyes were also slightly red, Oogie raised his brows, not entirely convinced but he did not press her for the truth. Cupping her chin with the same hand that touched her cheek, he turned her head so she would look at him. "Must have been a hard fall."
"W-well I was running fast..." Molly added, though it still didn't convince Oogie, so she continued to avoid looking at him in the eyes.
Letting her get away with another obvious lie, the Boogie man told her, "Well I have something you could put on it so you don't have a bruise on your pretty little doll face."
Normally such a gesture would have earned him a warm black liped smile, but Molly seemed alarmed instead. "Oh no, it's not that serious, really."
"A bruise on your face?" Oogie questioned, "Oh I beg to differ my dear." Ignoring her protest, he began to search through a cupboard for the item he informed her about.
"Oogie..." Molly sighed, "...you're really making a big deal out of nothing. I'm sure it won't bruise, really."
"Nonsense! You can never can be too careful." he responded with a careless tone before he grabbed a container that he had been searching for. Popping open the lid, he dipped his hand into the container which was filled with a milky white cream. It was something he developed himself to use on his juvenile minions, since they managed to beat each other until they looked like purple and blue spotted Dalmatians. Using the cream free hand, he tipped her delecate chin up so he could apply the cream on the sore cheek.
Still managing to keep her distant eyes away from him, she mumbled softly, "Thank you."
Oogie's old grin returned to him, "Don't mention it...just don't tell anyone that Oogie can be nice."
'Who would I tell?' Molly thought with a very small smile as he finished applying the cream. "I won't tell."
'Ah-ha! So she finally cracked a smile! Now I'm getting somewhere!' Oogie thought with a chuckle, "Was that a smile I see? Been wondering where that went."
Knowing that he wasn't as oblivious as she had hoped, Molly was quick to act defensive. "I just haven't had a reason to smile yet is all."
Pretending to be upset, the burlap sack man pouted and asked, "What about my corny hand joke?" When all she did to reply was give him a dry look, Oogie let his shoulders droop. "Could have humored me."
"Hahaha..." Molly laughed, though it was a sarcastic one, "...there, happy?"
"No, but I'll humor you." Realizing that the soup had come to a boil, he added, "Soup's done." Turning his empty sockets back to Molly, Oogie told her, "Here, go sit down and I'll fix us both a bowl."
Molly took a seat that was as close to her as possible, and even when Oogie sat a bowl in front of her, she could not find the appitie to eat it. Instead she stared at her dull expression that was reflected in the greenish black soup. Her head rosed when she heard the Boogie man say to her, "I didn't poison it, and my cooking isn't that bad."
Just to appease him, Molly took the spoon in her hand and quickly sipped the small spoonful before leaving the metal utensil in the bowl and now stared at the cracks in the wooden table.
"Alright, what's wrong Molly?" Oogie asked at last with a sigh of defeat, since being subtle wasn't his forte.
"Nothing, why?" she questioned with a glare of annoyance.
"Because it's obvious you're upset about something when you're using a bowl of soup as a mirror." was Oogie's reply.
"I'm just not hungry." the rag doll woman clairfied with a matter-of-factly tone before pushing the bowl towards Oogie. "You can have it."
Looking at the bowl for three sections before returning his focus on Molly again, Oogie Boogie grinned, "Do I look like a fat sack of bugs to you?"
"Do you really want me to answer that Boogie?" she growled, now getting very annoyed.
Pouting, he responded, "Only if it makes you talk."
"Fine, then yes, you do!" she answered sternly.
A sniffle came from the Boogie man, "Okay be mean to me then."
Rolling her green eyes, Molly sighed before growling, "You're the Boogie man, you should be able to take mean comments better than this!" Standing up, she then yelled out in frustration that wasn't necessarily directed towards Oogie. "CAN'T I BE MEAN IF I WANT TO BE!"
Watching her as she threw her hands up in the air and begin to stomp out of the kitchen and down the hall with a few blinks, Oogie decided to follow her. Once she was back in his sights, he marched up to her, with a more stern sounding voice and his brows narrowed. "Yes normally, though your mean usually isn't so mean." When she turned and gave him a glare, he sighed and added, "Look, if you don't want to tell me what's wrong I can't help. And as you can see, I'm not so good at the whole cheering up thing."
"WHO TOLD YOU I NEEDED TO BE CHEERED UP!" the shorter doll woman demanded, reminding herself a little of her mother at the moment, but she couldn't help it. She felt so angry at that moment, and Oogie's questions seemed to make it worse.
"Your friends did..." Oogie answered in a still calm tone, which even surprised himself, since normally he'd be yelling right back at her. "...something I've never had before." he added bitterly to himself.
"Oh boo-hoo! Poor Oogie-woogie." Molly cooed with a slight pout to mock a sympathetic response.
Now that Oogie had reached his limit, he no longer felt the need to make her feel better when all she would do is yell at him and degrade him. "Apparently I was right! So why did you come here then? Just to yell at me? Go back home!" Waving her off he turned his back to her and began to walk away.
'No wait, I didn't mean it! Please don't make me go back home!' cried Molly mentally, wanting to voice her thoughts out loud but her pride prevented her from doing so. "Fine! I will then!" she finally said before she turned to leave, frantically trying to think of where she would go now. That was, until she felt her arm being grabbed roughly and pulled back towards the Boogie man.
'She's just being stubborn!' he thought to himself as he pulled her to him and told her sternly, "Not until you tell me why you came here? I don't think it was to yell at me for being...nice." When they both engagged in a glaring contest, Oogie felt the need to add, "I can be patient when I choose to be Doll Face." and kept a firm grip on her arm.
Green eyes continued to glare at him stubbornly, but finally a sigh of defeat escaped Molly. "Lock, Shock and Barrel saw me in the Cemetary and brought me here okay?"
"Then why were you in the cemetary? I thought you said you had to get home?" Oogie continued to question her, never letting his grip on her arm loosen.
"I did go home...but then I left..." she answered bluntly.
Looking more curious now, he continued the series of questions and answers, "Left hm? And your..mother didn't mind? From the way you sounded earlier she doesn't seem the type who would like that."
"Ha!" Molly scoffed at what he said, "She keeps telling me I can't do things that involve my own decision making. She's just so..." Molly clenched her fist in anger, but in a moment she sighed, casting her eyes down. "...you just wouldn't understand." Soon she felt the burlap hand loosen around her arm, and eventually pulled away when Oogie walked a few steps from her, sitting on the ground so he could lean back against the wall.
"Then enlighten me Doll Face." he finally replied, as he patted the area on the ground next to him.
With a sigh, she obliged to his wish, and sat down beside him. "You see, I'm suppose to do what she says. My father can care less about what I do, because I'm not his responsibility. I'm my mother's. So she feels like she has to boss me around in order to keep me from doing something that would tarnish her reputation. And for the past month I've made sure that I kept myself out of trouble, so that maybe she could lay off, but nooo!" Putting on a high pitched voice, Molly began to immitate her mother, "You're not a woman until you're married to a man your father and I approve of and no longer live under our roof!"
Oogie had been listening to her intently, and snorted at the last comment. "Trust me Doll Face, you're very much a woman." To emphasize his meaning, he raised his brows a few times with a grin.
Molly shook her head in disaprovement, but her small laugh betrayed her action. "Tell that to my mother then." Yet another sigh escaped her lips before she leaned to the side and resting her head on Oogie's shoulder. "Hey...sorry about before. I was just taking out my anger on you but that's no excuse. I should have talked to you like a real friend."
"Well you can always try that next time." replied Oogie. When she scooted even closer towards him, and leaned even more against him, he watched her in silence, feeling odd at the moment. It wasn't everyday that he had someone willingly lean on him, especially not a beautiful woman; rag doll or not.
"Oogie? Think I can stay here for the night?" asked the raven haired doll, with half open eyes, speaking in a sleepy tone. "I'm just so tired."
Unable to stop himself from grinning wide, he answered softly, "Of course. Maybe letting your mother worry for a bit would teach her a lesson."
A soft yawn came from Molly, "Yeah...maybe..." Her eyes closed all the way now, she scooted even closer to him, practically using Oogie's side as an oversized pillow. "Good night Oogie."
"Night...Doll Face." Oogie was able to make himself say in response. Again he was surprised by her want to be closer to him, and her security to think it was alright for her to sleep against him. Thoughts about how angry she got when he used her as a pillow came to mind, but he did not mention it. After all, they were a lot more friendly to each other now. It was laughable now, how easily he let the rag doll get away with doing things he normally would never let anyone do. Pretending to strech his arms up so he could raise them, he then put his arm around the slumbering Molly. In response, Molly leaned back more, so that now most of her body was resting against his shoulder and ample stomach. Oogie watched her sleep with a grin until Lock, Shock and Barrel got his attention.
"I'm hungry..." Barrel blurted out first, his voice seeming to murder the silence that managed to fall between Molly and Oogie, in a moment that the burlap sack didn't want to end just yet.
Narrowing his brows at the three children, he opened his mouth to yell at them, but when Molly shifted her weight, he remembered that she was trying to sleep. "Then go into the kitchen and serve yourselves!" he managed to surpress his anger so it came out in a harsh whisper. The children then ran off towards the kitchen on their short legs, chuckling the whole way at the sight of their rag doll friend sleeping on their boss.
Phew, SO SOOOOOOOOOOOORRY for the late update! I have been busy yet again! But good news is that I managed to update the story and in the meantime, come up with a NEW idea for the fic! So tell me what you think of the chapter? One month can certainly change things for both Molly and Oogie, can't it?
Oh and Jewel slapping Molly wasn't intended for some kind of drama, it was used to show that Molly is after all, A DAUGHTER who rarely gets punished. She wasn't really upset that her mother slapped her, even though it was the first time she had gotten one. She was more angry with the fact that Jewel monitors her so much. Just wanted to clarify that.
I'd like to thank the following for their reivews:
Quillian91
Queen Freaky
Moonliterider
Jack's Sweetie
SexySaiyanSakura
Virdrag
Marissa
White-angel
SappireLight
PyroManiac198
Kaitlynn
Last chapter I updated recieved ELEVEN REIVEWS! Three of them by new readers and reviewers! I hope that you all continue to read along with the new chapter and the chapters yet to come. And a note to new reviewers, I hope you've enjoyed the story so far! I look forward to seeing your reviews on this chapter! I'll try to make update the next chapter as soon as possible!
LaterZ,
Sydney Daimao