Day 56: Bath and Beauty Shop (Early Afternoon)
Chatting with Peter had been reassuring and a sure way of grounding herself and shaking off the previous night. It was a reminder that she had to make what she could of the last part of this day before they got stuffed back inside. Which wasn't exactly admitting defeat or coming to terms with the low likelihood that they'd actually escape. It was more like helping her keep her sanity until then.
So, she remained in the Tasty Burger booth for a little after lunch, borrowing a pen from the cashier so she could write a possible shopping list. $5 wasn't exactly a lot, so she had to think about what she could afford with it that would actually be useful. Of course, there had been a handful of other coupons that had come in her paper bag that morning. So, she reached into the pocket of her jacket and began to dig through it, pulling out the remainder of the coupons and the card she'd been given.
Flipping through them was surprising and at the same time … very not surprising. There were no coupons for strictly useful things, but rather the kind of things that would help the patients relax. A massage or facial, a manicure. More food. She chewed on her lip as she assessed them. What was the point in getting a manicure when your nails would just chip that very night, anyway? And was anyone seriously going to be taking these things and thinking there weren't strings attached?
But really, there didn't need to be strings. The strings were knowing that they'd just be shut up in the institute again in t-minus … well, at this point, she didn't need a watch to know it had to be only a few more hours. Too bad it didn't seem like they were selling those anywhere. She picked up the card, ready to shove it back into her pocket, and noticed that it wasn't one of the $5 ones. Which was … pretty weird, considering just yesterday, she'd checked her dog tags and seen a definite Class D.
Forehead creasing a little, she reached into her shirt and pulled the tags out again. The class had changed. Now, it read C. She stared for a minute as she processed, then tucked it back and put the coupons all back in her jacket pocket. A week. She'd been there a week and it had changed. Too bad she hadn't managed to figure that out before she ran into Peter. It'd shed some light on the ranking system, at least.
As ridiculous as it seemed to be the thing to focus on right now, she dropped the pen back off with the cashier and headed out the Tasty Burger for the Bath and Body Works-wannabe she'd seen earlier. Not the highest of priorities, but if she was going to be fighting monsters, she could use something to tie her hair with. Seriously. As practical as cutting it sounded, she wasn't even going to let that be an option. No way. She was not giving Landel or Aguilar or whoever that kind of victory.
It wasn't too long of a walk up Main Street before she ducked into the shop -- thankfully. Appropriate attire or not, she wanted to spend every minute she could out of the frustratingly blistering cold. As she browsed the merchandise, she snatched a package of thick, plain black hair ties. The heavy duty kind that she could rely on to last her until the next time she wound up in town. But, on her way to the check out, the lotion stand caught her off guard and she stopped to start sniffing her options. After all, it wasn't like the soap the institute was providing was great on her skin, and no matter how regenerable it was, there was no substitute for moisturizer.
[ free ]
So, she remained in the Tasty Burger booth for a little after lunch, borrowing a pen from the cashier so she could write a possible shopping list. $5 wasn't exactly a lot, so she had to think about what she could afford with it that would actually be useful. Of course, there had been a handful of other coupons that had come in her paper bag that morning. So, she reached into the pocket of her jacket and began to dig through it, pulling out the remainder of the coupons and the card she'd been given.
Flipping through them was surprising and at the same time … very not surprising. There were no coupons for strictly useful things, but rather the kind of things that would help the patients relax. A massage or facial, a manicure. More food. She chewed on her lip as she assessed them. What was the point in getting a manicure when your nails would just chip that very night, anyway? And was anyone seriously going to be taking these things and thinking there weren't strings attached?
But really, there didn't need to be strings. The strings were knowing that they'd just be shut up in the institute again in t-minus … well, at this point, she didn't need a watch to know it had to be only a few more hours. Too bad it didn't seem like they were selling those anywhere. She picked up the card, ready to shove it back into her pocket, and noticed that it wasn't one of the $5 ones. Which was … pretty weird, considering just yesterday, she'd checked her dog tags and seen a definite Class D.
Forehead creasing a little, she reached into her shirt and pulled the tags out again. The class had changed. Now, it read C. She stared for a minute as she processed, then tucked it back and put the coupons all back in her jacket pocket. A week. She'd been there a week and it had changed. Too bad she hadn't managed to figure that out before she ran into Peter. It'd shed some light on the ranking system, at least.
As ridiculous as it seemed to be the thing to focus on right now, she dropped the pen back off with the cashier and headed out the Tasty Burger for the Bath and Body Works-wannabe she'd seen earlier. Not the highest of priorities, but if she was going to be fighting monsters, she could use something to tie her hair with. Seriously. As practical as cutting it sounded, she wasn't even going to let that be an option. No way. She was not giving Landel or Aguilar or whoever that kind of victory.
It wasn't too long of a walk up Main Street before she ducked into the shop -- thankfully. Appropriate attire or not, she wanted to spend every minute she could out of the frustratingly blistering cold. As she browsed the merchandise, she snatched a package of thick, plain black hair ties. The heavy duty kind that she could rely on to last her until the next time she wound up in town. But, on her way to the check out, the lotion stand caught her off guard and she stopped to start sniffing her options. After all, it wasn't like the soap the institute was providing was great on her skin, and no matter how regenerable it was, there was no substitute for moisturizer.
[ free ]