#stlbt

[incandescent-eden]

          Daisy swirled her French fry in the smear of ketchup that stained the greasy cardboard her sandwich had been in. She popped it in her mouth and chewed contemplatively. Swallowed. “How much of Styx and Stones have you listened to?”

           “Uh… I don’t know.” Diana dabbed at her mouth with the crumpled brown napkins Daisy had swiped. “Something about… mermaids?”

           “Season one,” Daisy said immediately. They flicked aside a few fries, landing on their prey before running it through the remaining ketchup. “One of my favorite episodes.”

           The term ‘favorite episode’ that surprised her. She tried to remember the last episode of any show she had really enjoyed, but could only come up with the image of Melly, drooling onto her shoulder, having fallen asleep on her bed while watching Full House reruns with her. “Have you been a fan for long?”

           Daisy paused to chew, regarding the half fry between their fingers. “I discovered the podcast a bit later on. She wanted to interview me for an episode in season two, and I happened to be free. I started listening after that, and we met up, and we started collaborating more and more after that.”

          She tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. Diana winced, imagining the grease on her fingers transferring over to her hair. Daisy continued, “We actually first met up here.” They smiled, a genuine smile that erased some of the sadness, made them sit up straighter in their seat. “No one looks at you weirdly at a McDonald’s, not unless you make a scene. Styx and Stones’s production quality was pretty low back then, so we just tried to record as quickly as possible into Melly’s phone.”

          She picked up a fry with pointed ends and held it up for inspection, still talking. “I don’t like fries that are too soft. She doesn’t like the crunchy ones. So, it worked out, I guess.”

          Diana peered at the pile of fries left on Daisy’s tray. The remaining pile was made up only of the softest ones, the ones that bent and lay flimsy, soaking the paper beneath them with oil.

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Songs To Look Back To chapter 3 alternative title would be “the exposition chapter” because I really wish I didn’t have to infodump, but I also need to introduce the ~horror~ elements of the larger plot and catch Diana up lol

All my love to my tag list (please send an ask or DM to be added or removed!): @luxaofhesperides, @axelcat, @boffinsandbeasties

[incandescent-eden]

          Another spray of water from the vegetable sprinklers. Diana blinked at the unripe bananas on sale in front of her. These were non-organic bananas, cheaper bananas. She tossed a random bunch in her cart before wheeling it away, wincing every few seconds at the screeching of the rusty wheel.

           Both the mushroom man and the cantaloupe man instantly looked up, their eyes trained on her. Diana cursed the betrayal of her shopping cart and its announcement of her whereabouts, as if was mocking her: ha! You thought coming at a different time could save you from the attention?

           Her steps echoed on the linoleum, almost drowned out by the incessant squeaking of the wheel. She silently ticked off the aisles she passed in her head. No matter how often she came to this store, it was so easy to get lost among the aisles lined with small boxes and jars and bags.

           Bread, she reminded herself. She needed to buy bread. Bakery bread tasted better, but the lights of the bakery were off, and uneasiness stirred in Diana’s chest.

           “Order a cake with us today!” demanded the overly cheerful sign above the bakery counter that showcased various oversaturated pictures of sheet cakes with garish, blobby frosting. A large yellow smiling emoji stared through her, with all of the cruelty of her neighbors, but none of the compassion.

           She hated being watched.

Songs to Look Back to, did you mean: the one time you will find me writing something that takes place in a contemporary setting?