Chew on this

Bad Guys Need Flowers - Pt. 25
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Everybody had the same note again. Sally again held her own note in her mouth. Everyone missed, again, how this had happened.

Nobody really had anything to say, so Rog chimed in: “I’m hungry.” Nobody really had anything to say.

Eventually, Cal avoided the matter entirely: “Has anyone else tried asking the people they live with to get food for them?”

Rog: “None of my roommates were around when I woke up. I checked the refrigerator, the cupboards, the couch, the medicine cabinet. Nothing. Not even toothpaste.”

Cal hmm-ed, probably worrying about what would have happened if Rog had found something edible in the medicine cabinet, before responding in kind: “That’s pretty much what my house was like today. No mom. No food. I don’t remember the toothpaste situation.”

It was Midnight’s turn, so she added: “Sure. Same.” The details were conspicuous in their absence, and would have been questioned in a more astute setting. The current scene, however, included a cat, a scorpion, and two boys who moments ago realized they might have been talking to a girl with unbrushed mouths.

Midnight moved on: “So, which shop are we going to rob?”

Rog attempted to respond through the side of his face, aiming his breath over Midnight’s right shoulder: “What?! You want us to obey the note?”

Cal smirked at Rog’s comic display of insecurity, but he agreed with the spoken sentiment, aiming his breath over the left: “We must still have other choices before we commit to crime.”

Midnight: “And what would those choices be? None of our usual cupboards are stocked. The local law has expressed its discontent with our desire to buy food. And personally, I don’t trust the land around our modern community to harbor anything safe to eat. The council loves to canvass the city in bug spray.”

Rog: “True, but the council is justified after some of those mosquito summers.”

Midnight: “They had to do something, or else risk losing the moneyed population. Despite my natural inclinations, I can’t say for sure that I wouldn’t have voted against the decision.”

Rog: “A wise perspective, my dearest.”

Cal halted the tangent: “We can go to other cities to get food.”

Rog: “Yes! Far away cities, like Tokyo.”

Cal: “Or closer ones, like Rocktree.”

Rog: “Yes! Or closer ones, since my car doesn’t get great mileage – one of its few drawbacks.” Rog winked at Midnight - an increasing occurrence.

Midnight: “There is no reason to expect better luck elsewhere.” She held up the note. “This does not exist outside of our other experiences. A note told us scorpions were going to attack. They did. Now a note tells us we’re going to have to steal food if we want to eat. We do.”

Rog: “Another wise perspective from my dearest. I choose my dearests wisely.”