the perfect eighth ring.

[nonsumqualiseram]

[ In the nine rings of hell, there exists a store. A store whose only function is to trap the souls of the unwilling, and torment those unlucky enough to claim a paycheck with that company's logo. Its name is... Mattie's Super Mini-Mart--For all your life's needs.

The most evilest of evil places.

...Or maybe that was just Sarah, once again, "relishing" her perfect citizen job--an escape from the tedium of a life that required her to do nothing. A life little more than morning, noon, and night.

So she could say, in poetics and scars. So she could say, if she ever deigned to speak of herself at all.

At any rate, she was off in five minutes, and only had one more customer to ring out before she could escape. ]

Comments

love is not a service that she offers.

[nonsumqualiseram]

[ The cheerful smile, shined to perfection. The careless beeping of the scanner. This was life and she was living it, day by day by day. ]

Thirty-three forty-seven.~

[ And her last customer was a girl, quiet and fleeting. Nondescript, with items of the same. It was boring, and Sarah thrived on the opposite. ]

You live around here? [ A perfect smile. ] You've been staying under the radar if you do. I make it a business to know all the interesting people here.

[ Literally, more than figuratively. ]

tears :'( </3

[negata]

<sub>[And what a perfect trap this was.

Too many things fell into place in one single moment and she was overcome with the want to both sprint and sigh with it all, because this was too familiar, too much, and too unwanted all at once, already. But in this moment she was touched by an understanding that was as perfect as it was wished that it could have avoided, because she knew this girl. Not intimately, of course, but her type. She'd said as much, herself.

She wanted nothing more than to leave.

Her car felt miles away suddenly, and there was an urge to look away to confirm it that went ignored. Instead she smiled politely and offered her money: two twenties, removed earlier.]</sub>

I am staying around here, yes. And as flattering as that is to hear, I would hate to see your bottom line suffer: it would likely do better without me, I'm afraid. But while I have you so cleverly fooled, why don't you tell me what you find interesting?

[nonsumqualiseram]

[ Oh, Sarah had, of course, ran into a clever one. Or at least one who considered herself that. Sarah couldn't decide if that was more interesting or more boring in the end.

There was no beat missed, no discrepancy in expression-- Sarah keeps the charm, keeps the smile, and waves the girl's words aside with a hand motion. ]

Nah, nah; you're selling yourself short. Even your response just now was different than what the majority of people would say. If you're looking to remain incognito, you've got a bit to work on. You stand out too much.

[ She smiles again, watchful. That, at least, was easily read. ]

There's the saying that you can be subtle while drawing attention, but you haven't quite hit that aspect yet.

[negata]

<sub>[It's decided. She is making it a point to do all of her shopping online, if she could help it.

The setting is different, the pattern, familiar. If she could so easily buckle under unwanted attention or conversation, she would not lasted this long. The fact that she is so close to her goal is why she can't falter, now. She continues to smile.

She says nothing of selling herself short.]</sub>

Isn't that a contradiction? Which am I doing, trying to be incognito or trying to garner attention, subtly? It can't be both, unless you mean I'm doomed to failure either way, because someone will always notice.

_{[Unfortunately. It's said casually, but it carries more truth than she'd like.]}

It's the earrings, isn't it.

_{[Her smile turns a shade knowing. They're peacock feathers. Far from subtle, but she couldn't leave them behind. She tried.]}

[nonsumqualiseram]

[ So clever, and yet... So not. Sarah's smile brightens a shade. ]

Ahh, you misread me.~ I was only saying that if you're going to draw attention regardless, there's a way to be subtle about it. To be "forgettable even while you draw the gaze of others," you know?

[ The note about the earrings is a good red herring, but Sarah is a connoisseur of such things. If the girl was only notable for her appearance, Sarah would never have stopped her. And her expression shows it. ]

Your earrings? [ She exaggerates surprise, then grins. ] I hadn't noticed them until you pointed them out.

[negata]

<sub>[She won't ask, not this girl, but from the moment she caught her earnest attention, it's been running through her mind: what did she do wrong, what did she do wrong, what did she do wrong, wrong, wrong.

This girl is too wily and clever. Asking would be admitting intentions, as well as defeat. She'll do neither, not like this.]</sub>

I'll keep that in mind when I want to be forgettable.

_{[A gentle incline of her head.]} Really. Well, I guess we all miss some things, sometimes.

_{[If only it could have been all of her, not that she believes the statement for a moment.]}

[nonsumqualiseram]

[ Both comments are taken, and Sarah watches for a moment. A girl of this age, this disposition... If she was playing for normal, she failed as much as Nigel does, and Sarah's quick to spot it just the same. It's in the responses, the layout of each sentence. And just as Sarah had told Nigel over and over, it's likely if she told this girl, Sarah would fail to enlighten all the same.

That type never gets it.

And anyway--

She hands over the change, then presses a hand to her chin as if in thought. ]

Tourist season's over so there's no long-term motels open right now. And from the look of things, you're sticking around for a while at least. Are you at the Morales house up on 3rd or the Stocker apartments?

[ She makes a face. ]

Don't say you're staying at the Linkerton co-op. That place is such a craptastic den of inequity.