sunlight.

Daisy frowns deeply, placing her bouquet on the counter as he speaks, switching her hands instead to twisting bleach blonde hair around pointer finger.  “ Who’s Harvey? ”

It isn’t mean when he laughs, instead light-hearted. But he still stops himself as quickly as the short burst of amusement began — “ well, yeah, dirt. ” He said, with a gentle grin. “ But not exactly outside in this climate. I ... ” He waves the radish seeds in the air. “ Grow ‘em in my bathtub. I took off part of the ceiling, and have a sunroof, so they can all get the proper sunlight, and I water them as they need to be. ” Then, after a pause. “ I still shower, though, promise. Got one outside, hooked up to the same tank. ”

She carefully adds another stripe of pink polish atop her nail — she really shouldn’t be doing this on the bartop, but business has slowed considerably in the last hour — brows furrowing in confusion at the other’s words. Drawl is thick and as sweet as her already syrupy tone, eight years in Eureka and she hasn’t managed to forgo the twang of south eastern diction. “ Some of them got wives, ” Heaven tells her solemnly. “ They don’ even take off their wedding rings. Or they got the little tan lines. ” That’s punctuated with a giggle, though it really isn’t funny, however, it does act as one of the only astute observations Daisy Hernandez has ever made in her life. “ I think secrets make life more fun though. Like you’re a Bond Girl, or somethin’ ... ” She had always wanted to be a Bond Girl. 

Ricky has to think for a moment, because Wolfgang’s suggestions are probably miles better than anything he could come up with. Coffee is pressed to his lips in thought, and after a long sip, he decides. “ Seeing Double? ” A pause. “ ... D’s? I dunno. Half of the appeal in these things is the clever titles. ” He would consider it more than half, as anything that had titles like that didn’t exactly pique his interest when making more subtle purchases at the video rental. 

Claudia knew that people sometimes came to the movie theatre to ask for posters — presents or home decorations or ... firewood, as far she knew ( or gave a shit. ) But mostly they asked after they bought a ticket and saw a movie, hands sticky from dripped cola and buttery popcorn as they gratefully took the rolled up depiction of whatever they saw a month prior. The man in front of her leans up towards the glass, smiling politely; they’re outside the theatre, so she grimaces. “ Ticket purchase is required, actually. ” She tells him matter-of-factly, even though that was pulled entirely out of her ass — which she didn’t want to get off of to check, which was the whole point of this. “ My apologies. ” A beat. “ Sir. ”

God, she’s so glad he’s joking, and she doesn’t have to drag her feet back to tiny broom-closet sized office that smelled like stale popcorn and piss just to announce sheepishly that someone wanted to see a manager. “ Yeah, you and me both. But we have the death of art instead of Lennon, so ... ” Her nose scrunches together at his second thought. Really, she should, if you asked Claudia, and she wants to tell him this because she had better taste than anyone else in this fucking theatre combined, but she just picks at a hangnail instead. “ We have to pick what people think is gonna do the best. On account of, you know, ” A glance up. “ Needing to stay open. ”

She hadn’t. Prior to her stint of rebelliousness in Eureka, Claudia had been more of a hands folded, smile politely type. Robbing — that was wholly out of the question, even sips of a beer and passing of a joint had been then. So, instead, she smiles tightly. “ Yeah, ” She concedes, lying through her teeth. “ But not seriously. Like some fantasy fucking Bonnie and Clyde thing, but just with Faye Dunaway. ” Claudia always did prefer to fly solo. Though now, she was a little warmer to the idea of putting down roots in Eureka. To an extent. She’d consider Bucket a friend, sure, and there were other people she tolerated. But Claudia was still perpetually ready to flee, to self-serve and do whatever she had to do dig herself out of a hole. 

Claudia’s brows furrow in offense, and a faint pout settles on her lips. She’s certainly not short — but she’s nowhere near tall either, and attempts to reach up and grab the book would be futile. So instead, she crosses her arms and keeps the sour expression on her face. “ Right, so you just came here to maybe give me a book, and taunt me. ” There’s a beat. “ Actually, Eliseo, that’s right on brand for you. I’m not surprised you’re being a little shit. ”

Claudia could clearly see that Honey was not interested in surrendering herself to playing Claudia’s game, and though there’s a quick flash of annoyance that this woman probably won’t be as easy to get rid of of just putting more butter on her popcorn and saying goodbye. So — she ups the ante. “ Oh, don’t worry, we feed the popcorn that gets thrown out to the rats in theatre two. ” The same sweetness is applied, though now she adds in a dazzling smile. She snatches the popcorn bucket, and presses the button that dispenses the butter, not yielding until she looks at Honey again. The popcorn is absolutely drenched. “ Sweetest? Oh, bless your heart, ma’am. My mama always used to tell me I was the sweetest before she got a one way ticket through our windshield. ” It’s a sore spot still, and she feels sick to her stomach even saying it, but it’s worth it in order to make the other woman uncomfortable enough to leave her alone. 

Claudia looks up at Astrid, annoyed that he was interrupting her — even if he was merely asking her to do her job. That annoyance is present on her face as she speaks, so falsely saccharine that it sounds halfway to sarcastic. “ Gee, I dunno. If only there was some kind of daily published paper that had movie reviews in it. ” She feels bad, a little then, because he isn’t being an unforgivable shit like most of the people that arrive at the box office to a canned message, so she brushes her last response off as a joke. “ But seriously, man, I dunno. I got my free movie ticket privileges taken away because you, ” Fingers move adeptly to make sarcastic air quotes. “ ‘ Aren’t supposed to fall asleep in the theatre. ’ ”

It is exciting, if Ricky does say so himself. But — that’s not admitted out of fear of sounding full of himself. “ I ... wish I could explain it better, but some of it I don’t quite understand myself, ” he concedes, though the peppy confidence in his demeanor doesn’t fade. “ But — I can show it to you if you want. It’s better understood in action. ”

Claudia had become extremely occupied not with the book she brought, nor the magazine that lie splayed out atop the counter, nor her actual job — but instead, placing an empty popcorn bucket at one end of the concession stand, and seeing how many Sugar Babies she could lob in there. Another one slides into the top, and she pops one in her mouth as reward, when she hears footsteps ... and she’s already turned to face the counter again, look of droned complacency back on her face. She opens her mouth to begin the How can I help you? when the woman speaks of her own accord, and Claudia is left to respond to complaint instead. “ Company policy, yes. We’re not supposed to waste food, ” She says, boredly. Then, a dazzling customer service smile. “ But I can get you some more butter, if you need some to improve your theatre-going experience. ”

Claudia did not get paid to stand around and chat, and she considers briefly telling Malia this — but then she reconsiders the fact that she’s also not paid to sit behind the glass and read, so book is shut. She looks through said glass at Malia, chin propped into her hands as elbows rest on the counter. “ Let’s see. I’m living with a psycho, and my only solace from said funhouse is coming to work at a movie theatre where I’m bothered all day by people who think it’s their job to loiter. ” Eyes flick over Malia. “ And some of them don’t even offer me a cig when they’re smoking right in front of me. ” A beat. “ How does that sound? ”

Ricky doesn’t notice the smile forming on Asher’s face — that, or he doesn’t care, because he dives into explanation fluidly and without faltering. He’s completely serious, though the glimmer in his eye shows excitement. “ Well, it might actually work better in a storm. That way I won’t pick up as many radio stations if their towers get knocked. But I use alligator clips strapped to magnet wire, which is also linked to an unused telephone. I exposed the coil in the cord, and attached both of them to the antennae ... ” He keeps going, launching into some explanation about extended radio transmissions and direct contact, before finally finishing long-winded rant with a bright grin. “ ... if that makes any sense. ” It didn’t, but it’s clear Ricky is confident in it. 

She did need a joint. And she’d smoked plenty with Bucket, sitting on a curb somewhere, knees skinned and eyes bloodshot, exhausted from running away from whatever they’d gotten themselves into, and breathing in smoke. But now, annoyance held her in a grip too vicelike to even think about relaxation. She just needed to bitch and complain and be mean, and Beckett Graves was a better person than most to offer a listening ear and running commentary. She didn’t need I’m so sorry, Claudia, or that really sucks. She needed someone else just as frustrated with Mrs. Derry. Okay — maybe no one was just as. “ Yeah, me and my fucking multimillions I make at the theatre. I could rob that place blind and not have enough cash in my pocket to get me out of the state. ” She says, glumly. 

Ricky has to think about this for a bit longer than he did the clone answer, which could very well be a cause for concern, or a good indicator of his personality — depending on how one looked at it. Then, after another moment, he nods. “ Yeah, I’ll take a guest writing credit. Tack RICKY DAVIS on the back of the Betamax. I might need the promotion. ” Of course, the audience of people who would watch clone pornography and those who would read heavily researched works about the possibility of extraterrestrials ... he couldn’t exactly decide if they were mutually exclusive, or if the venn diagram was a circle. 

Admittedly, Billy’s wasn’t Ricky’s first stop for anything relating to his garden. First of all — the decrepit nature of the selection of vegetables and supplies ... and well, there was no second of all. He would have loved to support the local business, but unfortunately for him ... Target was the better option, even in spite of the lack of customer service. He always paid anyway. But there’s a specific need for carrot seeds now, because he finally got a basin deep enough to account for underground vegetables. As he walks down the aisle however, basket swinging loosely on his wrist, he discovers he has to wait patiently as the aisle is occupied — already an anomaly, but he can’t help but let out a laugh when the other makes a remark about either the climate or the selection. Or both. “ I wouldn’t say stupid, ” He says, reaching out to grab two packets of carrot seeds. “ Just ... dangerously optimistic. How are you planning on growing those? ” He gestures to the radish packets.