Two Dearest Friends

Their First Date

She shows no remorse for Finklestein after he scolds her and locks her up again. What sympathy should she have? It's all a repeated game. His threats continue to fall on empty ears, and she's happy she's beginning to outsmart him.

She's chipper sweeping the floors as of late, constantly hanging nearby the door and discreetly watching it, waiting for Jack to burst through it any moment now, pick her up, and take her away with him. Away from this place she is forced to call "home". The Doctor discourages her closeness to the exit and demands she'd focus on her priorities instead.

What he doesn't know is that she already has sorted her priorities, and he isn't apart of them.

She is in the tower's restroom one afternoon, cleaning the cracked mirror when she hears two hearty knocks come from the door. She freezes where she is - rag in hand and spray bottle in the other. She sits there and listens for any voices. Then, she hears Finklestein exclaim that the door is open from the second floor, and when it slowly opens after, there is some sort of silence. A genuine laugh breaks the ice.

"Jack, my boy! Up here!"

Sally can't describe how fast she drops the cleaning supplies onto the floor. She attempts to leave the restroom as quickly as possible, but realizes she still smells of a mix of poison and bleach. She takes a moment to freshen up and gets frustrated at how long it takes to pamper herself. When she's finally done, she creeps down the halls with her head bowed into the shadows. Two voices are coming from upstairs, one belonging to her King and the other her creator. Both of them are standing in front of her room. Finklestein is the first to see her, and he double takes the sight of his ragdoll as she creeps up from behind Jack. That's when the skeleton follows his gaze and finds her, perking up and smiling.

The Doctor beings to sputter some words, attempting to form coherent sentences. "I- You see, my boy...what I meant was-"

"She doesn't look grounded to me." He says, snapping him out of his fumbling. "She doesn't look asleep, either."

"I - erm - well, she's supposed to be! Did you sneak out of your room again, Sally!?"

Finklestein feels guilty as he shakes his fist as his innocent creation. He isn't happy that his fib is uncovered right in front of the King -- why couldn't she have stayed downstairs cleaning and save him the humiliation? He has a lot of planned for her today, and what Jack is describing is going to get in the way of everything. His pathetic attempts at avoiding such plans failed, and now he's just hoping to make his excuse more believable. Lying to Jack wasn't a very honorable thing to do as it is...

He notices his struggle and tilts his skull with a smile. "Really, Doctor, don't worry about it. I'll have her safely back in your hands before you know it."

As much as Finklestein knows he keeps his promises and his creation will most certainly be returned in time, he still shakes his large head. "I'm afraid the answer is 'no'. She IS my ragdoll, and I have a say in what she's allowed to do and not do."

Sally stands by idly in the background, watching the scene unravel with worry. Can the Doctor stop their date from happening? Will Jack be unable to take her away from here? Her leaves swell as she holds her hands together, but then the skeleton turns to her and smiles endearingly. He has no worrisome features about his face at all - as if the whole situation is under his control.

"I'm afraid this isn't a matter of choice. I'm going to take her on the account that Sally is important for Halloween this year."

Finklestein is baffled. His creation? Important to HALLOWEEN? He can't believe any bit of it - Sally has no influence on the town or its holiday at all; he made sure of that. The apprehension in his voice is apparent as he replies, "-What do you mean?"