Jack and Sally ran off the grounds of the farm or three brothers with big smiles.
Sally couldn't contain her excitement and spread her arms out as they ran, letting out a massive cheer. They had finally done it. They had gotten all the paperwork.
"Yeee! We did it! We did it! We did it, Mister Skellington!"
Jack smiled at her enthusiasm but gave a determined wink.
"We're not out of the fire yet, Sally. We still need to actually fill out all of that paperwork."
Sally grimaced and her arms fell a bit.
"Right... I forgot. Shall we head back to the town hall then?"
"No, it's too far, and probably closed." he said, shaking his head. "There's somewhere else we can go though."
"Where?" she asked.
"My apartment. It's not far."
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Jack and Sally waited patiently as the elevator slowly ascended the various floors. Every so often they would sneak glances at each other and turn away before the other could notice. The one thing that was on both their minds was obvious.
The kiss.
Each recollection of it brought red to their faces. It had been so sudden, so unexpected for both parties. Sally had done it in the heat of the moment to shut Jack up. Jack had not been expecting it at all.
It had been so quick that neither of them could really analyze what it had been like.
Jack distinctly remembered a feeling of indescribable warmth. The warmth was immediately followed by thousands of tiny shocks going into his body. They had spread through him and effectively shut his mind down briefly. It had been over as soon as it started, though. The briefness of it made Jack almost disappointed, now that he reflected on it. The absence of these electric tingles traveling his spine when he kissed Sally put him in a state of insatiable want.
Sally was faring no better from her silent corner of the elevator. As she glanced at Jack's brooding face her eyes fell on his lips. Her eyes roamed over their curved glory and she yearned to try kissing them again, only slower this time. The first kiss had felt more like hitting her face against his than kissing, but it had been pretty great nonetheless. Still, she certainly wouldn't refuse a redo.
The intense impulse to lunge at him and claim her territory was almost overwhelming, but she still stopped herself.
They still weren't in the clear yet, and work would have to come before they settled some relationship developments between her and Jack.
Jack's mental debate was similar to hers. While he was interested and eager in continuing his... research of the feelings he felt when he kissed Sally, it wasn't the time.
They both came to a silent decision.
We can talk about the kiss when our job is finished.
They stepped off the elevator and walked into the dim hallway.
Sally was actually slightly surprised by the building Jack was staying in. she had kind of been expecting... more.
Not that it was a total dump, though. It was just that with a fancy title like vice mayor you'd think he was staying in a suite.
"It's not luxurious, I know. I spend most of my money on clothes." Jack admitted.
"It's a lot nicer than my apartment, at any rate. At least yours has a vending machine." she said guiltily.
"Eh, it's not worth it. It only stocks those weird Oreo rip-offs."
"What are those even called?" she said, genuinely curious.
"No idea. New- hoos, I think?"
"At any rate, we should probably get inside and get started. We only have about four hours left to finish these papers." Sally said seriously.
"Right. No more dawdling." Jack said with a nod, pulling the key out of his pocket. He fumbled with the key nervously as he tried to jam it into the lock.
He had realized several moments ago that this was the first girl he had ever actually brought home. Had he left any of his undergarments out? Had he remembered to put the dishes away? In his nervous state he couldn't remember.
Sally was also anxious, twisting her sweater and waiting to be let inside.
He finally unlocked the door and awkwardly stood to the side to usher her in.
"Um, w-welcome to my humble abode."
"Oh, thank you." Sally said as she nervously skipped inside.
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"Oh, wow." Sally breathed as she took in Jack's apartment.
It was spacious, with a large living room to walk into and two bedrooms on the left hand side. The living room led into a small but functional kitchen. It was polished to an opulent shine , fitting Jack's tendency to keep things neat. In fact, the whole apartment looked neat. The couch and chairs that were placed tastefully in the bottom left corner of the room were arranged in a perfect U shape around the television. All the knives and pans in the kitchen were hung in neat rows for display.
Jack let out a sigh of relief when he saw that, he had indeed, put the dishes away.
Sally took a step forward, her jaw hanging loosely.
"It- it's so big." she said incredulously.
Jack looked around, unimpressed, and raised an eyebrow. "It is?"
"Compared to my apartment, yeah." Sally said as she gazed at the furniture. "My apartment is like a shoe box compared to yours."
"I'm sure that it only looks that way. I just don't have a lot of stuff to fill the space with."
He was being modest. Her apartment would have fit into Jack's living room and there still would have been space. Not to mention that hers looked like a pig sty. She made a mental note to clean up when she got home.
Her attention was suddenly drawn to one of the far walls and she jogged over to it excitedly. It was covered in little painted fans and cloths and... samurai swords.
"Is all of this stuff...?"
"Yeah." Jack said as he joined her. "I'm really into the Japanese culture and some of my Judo sensei's gave me all sorts of stuff."
Sally carefully pulled a sword off the wall and examined it. "Awesome. Do you actually know how to use these?"
"I do."
Sally stayed silent for a second and then blushed slightly. "Could... could you show me?"
Jack nodded and took the sword from her. He stepped back into the open space and then unsheathed the weapon. Sally waited eagerly and he let out a breath before demonstrating the moves he had been taught. Cutting. Jabbing. Parrying. Slicing.
It was just practiced movement for Jack. For Sally though, it was like watching a dragon in battle.
The way he moved was like fluid. His movements seemed so natural, like the sword was just an extension of his body. It was almost like he was dancing to some unheard melody, twisting and twirling like a swaying snake. Sally watched in awe at this spectacle that was reserved for her alone.
It almost felt like she shouldn't be looking on. This was a dance that was meant for only dragons to see. In that moment, even though she knew it probably already had a title, she named the dance.
The draconian skeletal waltz.
It just seemed fitting.
Jack finished with a humble bow and sheathed the sword. He glanced up at Sally to see her staring at him like he was an alien from another planet.
Worried that he had done something wrong, he was surprised to see her smile and clap.
"Mister Skellington, every time I think you can't get any cooler you dump some more ice on yourself." she said admiringly.
He blushed bashfully and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Oh, well thank you." he said quietly.
"Don't mention it." she said grinning.
Jack then remembered why they were there in the first place and pulled the papers out of his pockets. He checked to make sure they were all there and walked over to his coffee table. Sally followed him and watched as he spread the papers across the table so he could examine all of them.
Sally joined Jack as he sat crossed legged at the short table and glanced at the paperwork. She winced.
"Yeesh. This isn't going to be easy." she said honestly.
Jack nodded and sifted through everything. "If we work as fast as we can for the next..." he glanced at his watch "... three three and a half hours, we should finish in time."
"You really think we can do it?" she said warily.
"Not really. But we have to try."
Sally nodded and grabbed a loose pen sitting on the table. Jack pulled his own from his pocket and they got to work.
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About an hour in, Jack glanced at Sally.
She hadn't stopped or slowed for a single second, and her eyes looked bloodshot. Her hand looked like it was cramping up. Jack immediately felt bad fro putting her through this. She was certainly going beyond the call of duty.
"Sally." he called softly.
She snapped up to look at him, but her hand didn't stop moving.
"Y-yes?" she said.
"you can sleep, if you want. You look like you could use it."
She shook her head and set her lip defiantly. "No way! I can't leave you to do all this by yourself."
"Sally, we've been running around all day. You must be exhausted." he said sympathetically.
Sally's eyelids were obviously fluttering from the need for rest, and it was apparent that she was fighting to stay awake. She stubbornly refused to sleep, though.
Jack was starting to feel it too. His focus on his work was waning dangerously and his lids kept closing further and further, no matter how much he pinched himself. But he could go without a night's sleep. Sally shouldn't have that taken away from her.
She shook her head again. "No, I'm not tired."
If he wasn't so depraved, Jack would have chuckled at her cute determination. He was so lucky to have such a devoted assistant.
"Fine, Sally. Let's just focus on getting this done."
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At the two hour mark, Jack was fading fast.
Sally had already collapsed on the floor next to him. The pen was still clutched in her hand and faint snores racked her body. She had done well, Jack thought fondly.
He was on the very last piece of paperwork. In the home stretch. His vision was blurring and it was getting harder to think. The thought of sleep was so inviting that he was tempted to just roll over with Sally and go to bed. But he couldn't. He was almost done.
And with an hour and a half to spare.
He just needed to finish off the last paragraph and then he could run down to the IRS office and submit it while Sally slept. He had done it. They had done it. He gazed at Sally's peaceful face with admiration. He held himself back from kissing her cheek.
And there, it was done.
Jack gave himself a mighty pat on the back and gathered up the papers into a neat pile. He stared at them in triumph and almost laughed.
No time for that though. He still had to hurry.
Grabbing the pile, he stood up to race out the door.
However, his legs buckled out from underneath him.
He fell onto the floor next to Sally and winced in pain. He tried to lift himself up, but his arms felt to weak.
Every muscle in his body felt sore. Every bone ached. He felt like it was impossible to get up. And slowly but surely the soft carpet lulled him into a half awake-half asleep state. He fought to stay conscious and reached out to the fallen stack of papers. His arm wouldn't make it, though.
As the end approached, Jack's arm fell and his eyes slowly shut. His breathing was slowing and he was entering the world of dreams.
And finally, he fell asleep.