Day 56: Lil' Tyke Toys (Early Afternoon)

[hairraising]

After lunch with the downright gentlemanly Facilier, Rapunzel made her way back down the street ("Wicker", apparently) to a place that had caught her eye on the way earlier. She might have stopped there before, but between her need to get directions from passers-by and the rumbling in her stomach, she figured it could wait for later.

Well it's

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[savagesolitude]

The self-satisfied smirk on Claire's face as she cleared it of the last remnants of ketchup said it all. The Tasty Burger had been worth it. Having only one coupon for the place and not wanting to waste the five dollars she was allotted, Claire reluctantly left the restaurant behind. If she'd had a second coupon she would be using it right now. Even if her belly was full to the brim. Hamburgers were amazing and she was sorry that she had ever had to do without.

Now, there was another ticket for a place called the Twin Pines, which Claire carefully perused and tucked away separate from the rest in the right pocket of her coat. If they were having dinner in Doyleton, she was going there next. Maybe they would have fish and chips. She might have sworn off them after working at the Fish & Fry for so long, but it had been years since she had set foot in that place. And though seafood of all kinds was a mainstay of her diet on the island, how often did Claire get to roll those fish in batter and cook them in oil? Never.

She was already licking her lips. She had lost her taste for lollies, but fast food was here to stay.

Though she regretted the motion when a blast of wind hit her and froze her freshly wet lips. Claire ducked her head and pressed a mitten to her mouth, hurrying along. Where to now? She'd rounded the block, but there wasn't much for shopping here. Or sightseeing, with this kind of weather. The charm of the quaint little town wore off quickly when more than ten seconds outdoors sent Claire into bone rattling shivers.

One sign in particular did catch her attention. She squinted at the brightly coloured letters, fingering the gift card in her pocket. It would be nice to have something for Aaron when she got to California. She couldn't get him much on the island, but here...

This was absolutely it. There was no better way to spend her money, Claire decided. Anything like a weapon would just get taken away at the end of the day, and she wasn't good with electronics the way Sayid was. She could barely program her microwave clock. Even if she could buy something useful, she would rather use the money for her son. She had a long time to make up for.

The notion was momentarily lost when she entered the store. Claire's attention immediately landed on the girl with the long hair (very long hair) bouncing up and down at the lolly display. Puzzled, Claire drew closer. She'd been just as distracted by the sweets upon entering the Pet Store with Andrew that night, but that was because she hadn't eaten in days and was stranded from modern food for the past three years.

Was this girl...well, her hair certainly hadn't seen a pair of scissors in years. That wasn't enough reason to go assuming anything, but the sheer glee she was bouncing up and down with made it hard to think she'd even seen a chocolate bar before.

Claire stopped behind her shoulder, glancing between the girl and the lolly stand. "Are you hungry?"

[hairraising]

Rapunzel knew she had five "dollars" to work with, and looking at the prices for the various confections, she could already tell that that sum would get her pretty far. She was at a point of indecision, however. Part of her wanted to get as much candy as her card could get her, more than Gothel had ever gotten her before. The other part, however, knew that there were other things she could be buying as well, and she would only be setting herself up for disappointment if she didn't have any money left for them. For instance: the toys this very same store sold. Hmmmm...

She was shaken from her deliberation by a voice, which startled her slightly. Rapunzel turned to find a woman with scraggly blonde hair, about her height, maybe about Eugene's age. She looked nice enough, though, hair aside. And was it just her, but did the woman speak with a bit of an unfamiliar accent? Huh.

"Oh, uh, no! I actually just ate. I've just never seen this much candy in one place before!" Rapunzel answered, unable to keep the excitement out of her voice. "My mother-" Rapunzel stopped herself, correcting hastily: "The person who took care of me, she didn't let me have it often. I just wanted to get some to take back with me."

[savagesolitude]

"Wha- The person who took care of you? Your mum?" Claire quirked her head at the woman. She was, by far, old enough to be out and about on her own. And that slip about her mother was indicative something more serious than simple teenage rebellion. She'd never denied being related to her own Mum, and Claire had been awful in her day.

Perhaps it was a step-mother. A flash of a scowl overtook her suddenly, because the word only reminded her of Kate. Oh yeah, she could understand the sentiment if that was the case. Completely.

She worked the frown off her face in favour of the befuddlement of before. "Did you know what you wanted?" Claire peered over her shoulder and perused the selection. There was more variety than there had been at the pet store, but she still didn't know all the brands. "I used to really like Tim Tams, but I don't think they sell them in America."

[hairraising]

"No," Rapunzel said instinctively when the woman asked if she was talking about her "mum". She sighed shortly after a moment. "No. Well, sort of. It's a long story."

She stared past the glass at the candies, not really focusing on them anymore as images of Gothel overtook her mind again. Especially the ones of her twisted, angry expression as she chained up her "daughter", tried to take her away, stabbed the man she loved through the stomach...

Rapunzel scrunched her eyes shut. Breathe... Breathe.

After the moment passed, she shook her head. "Sorry. Uh, no, not really. I've had these honey-type things before, but I don't think they sell them here either. It's all new to me."

[savagesolitude]

Well, there was definitely a story there. Claire blinked at the girl, puzzled, and then turned her eyes away. "It's all right. I get it. I lived with my Aunt Lindsey after my mom got put in the hospital. She was a nightmare sometimes."

The woman was never outright malicious, but there was always a tension there. A thin thread between the two of them that earned them rights to basic civilities and barely anything more. She blamed her for the accident. Aunt Lindsey had never said it aloud, but she could feel it. An underlying anger in every argument they had. Claire had been grateful for the chance to move in with Thomas, but that had hardly ended well either.

The girl didn't seem to be doing so well. Claire dipped her head down to catch her downcast eyes, a hand settling on her shoulder. "You sure you're okay?"

There wasn't much for Claire to do here, but the least she could do was help her with the candies. She wondered - if briefly - if she was like Andrew or Grell. From a time when none of these things existed. But Claire hated the thought, so it was soon banished for less confusing things.

"Um. I liked the peanut butter stuff a lot back before the island, but I think I've lost my taste for sweets. But, um...Mars bars are always good." She pulled the darkly wrapped lolly from the stand, passing it over to the girl so she could read the label. "There's not much with honey here. Sorry."

[hairraising]

Rapunzel's eyes followed the woman's hands as she reached for a package from the stand and offered it to her. She took the "Mars bar", studying the words as best she could. Half of them she couldn't even recognize (just what the heck was a "carbohydrate"?), but the name emblazoned in red print on the front intrigued her anyway.

"Is it named after the planet?" she asked, looking back at the woman, hoping that maybe she could lead the conversation away from painful things and toward a subject that was more her forte. "Is it red inside or something? Is that why it's called that?"

[savagesolitude]

The question caught Claire off guard. "I'm...you know what, I'm not sure. It could be." She frowned at the package. "It's not red inside, it's chocolate and caramel. But...Ares was the god of war and this is...they say it's an energy bar..."

She shook her head. No, no, that was reaching too far. Even for astrology's sake. "No, that can't be it. They must call it that because it sounds cool. Loads of little kids like space and the planets and such. They must have named it that to make them think it was fun."

Or so her theory went. She turned back to the rack, clasping her hands on her knees and surveying the selection. "There's a lot of good ones here, though. Do you like caramel? Or white chocolate? Peanut butter?"

The mischievous corner of her mouth quirked at that, gaze settling on a likely looking suspect. She was half tempted to buy one herself now, but she only had five dollars and she didn't know how much was needed for Aaron's gift yet. Besides which, she had yet to properly loot through her own selection in the tool bag.

[hairraising]

Either way, it sounded like a flimsy reason to name something after Mars, but the name seemed to stick anyway. Maybe that was it: someone had just been tossing random names around, and that was the one that stuck. Sometimes the perfect coincidences just happened.

A flash of Eugene passed through Rapunzel's mind at that thought. Despite herself, her cheeks flushed briefly.

Rapunzel cleared her throat slightly, holding the bar a little closer to herself and smiling brightly at the woman. "No, this one sounds great! Thanks for helping me pick, Miss... Uhhh...?" She laughed with some embarrassment, realizing that she'd never asked for a name.