Two Dearest Friends

A New Friend...Or Three

Her fear feels worse as the minutes go on. She is anxious being alone in a crowded place like this - she hasn't the faintest idea how to approach someone. They all seem so intimidating...some of them are scarier than she anticipated. Jack is right about that one, at least. She decides, on a whim, to settle on one of the empty seats, waiting until he returns. She settles in and starts to hum, hoping to calm her nerves.

The longer she is alone, the more her thoughts drift. Soon, she is thinking about Jack. There is a lot to think about him. She assumed seeing him again would be a frightful occasion, with how much the Doctor praised his scariness and his title as Pumpkin King, but he is such a gentleman! In less than an hour alone, he helped her down the stairs, made sure she didn't get lost, and even helped her with her arm.

He is kind. Nothing like Finklestein made him out to be - he made it seem as if Jack is a mighty King, and everyone below him are his commoners. But he doesn't treat her that way - he insisted on showing her around and said nice things to her. She doesn't know him very well, but he still helped her. He is also incredibly handsome, for a skeleton...

"Uh, miss?"

The voice startles Sally. She jumps and flushes, wondering if anyone is reading her thoughts. She finds a shorter man standing in front of her. He is wearing a green coat and a tall top hat, with bulging eyes and pale skin.  

The ragdoll stands and brushes the seat off. "I'm so sorry! I didn't know this was someone's-"

He holds a hand up, making her go quiet. "It's quite alright. It's not my seat, anyway. I was just wondering if you were here for assistance?"

"Oh, no." She shakes her head, remembering what the King told her. "I'm with Jack."

"-Skellington?"

"Yes."

"I know plenty of women who say the same thing." He chuckles. She stares at him blankly, not understanding. He clears his throat.

"Anyway, my name is Mr. Hyde. I work on organizing paperwork. I believe I have something for you in Finklestein's name. You are his new creation, right?"

"Why, yes I am." She nods, gaining a little confidence. "My name is Sally."

Hyde tips his hat to her with a smile. "Well then, follow me! My desk is right over here."

His pace is so fast, she almost trips just following him. She rushes into the other room to catch up. She finds Hyde scrambling through a pile of papers on what she could only assume to be a table. He finds one for her and turns around to hand it to her. It has a stamp on the corner of the page and the rest is filled with nothing but scribbles. She looks at it and feels the fear pile into her stomach.

She doesn't know how to read cursive.

"If you can, make sure they go to Finklestein. He hasn't been into town, so I thought giving it to you would be a good idea."

She looks up from the paper and smiles weakly. "Yes, I'm....sure he has been expecting these."

Hyde bids her goodbye with the tip of his hat and sits back down on the desk. Sally takes her leave and begins her return to the other room. While walking, she looks at the paper nervously. It looks important; most of it is scribbles she can't understand. On top of that, there is a bold signature at the bottom she can't read, either.

She squints her eyes and tries to make out visible letters on the paper. She ends up bumping into someone. The paper falls to the ground as the ragdoll goes to regain her balance. She scrambles to pick it up and looks at who she bumped into.