Work Text:
Bittersweet
Six couldn’t eat candy anymore. She’d only eaten it a few times, and that was well before she’d arrived on the Maw; well before her Hunger curse. She knew that normal kids loved candy, though. Just like they loved cakes, cookies, donuts...anything sweet or sugary. She couldn’t eat that stuff anymore without it making her sick for days. Six knew that a single piece of candy wasn’t worth all the vomiting and shakiness and inability to even move, no matter how good it tasted. Not being able to walk could mean death for her and Mono. Normal food was well gone now, perhaps forever.
Once upon a time, before her Hunger curse had robbed her of the ability to eat normal food, Six had had the chance to eat candy. It had been while she was at the Pretender’s Nest, scouring the deadly mansion for supplies to build her raft and escape. It was then that she’d stumbled across the Pretender’s tea party.
Crawling to the edge of a vent and peering out, Six had seen a room furnished with rich, deep purple rugs and wallpaper. There were little round tables dotted all over the room, each one surrounded by stools that seated dozens of dolls.
Upon the tables were cups of tea and doll-sized plates full of untouched food: small slices of cake, slightly stale cookies and pieces of candy wrapped in shiny, colourful foil. Six had never seen such finery in her life.
Her stomach rumbled at the sight of it.
Wary, Six looked around the room before deciding to drop out of the vent. The Pretender was nowhere to be seen, but Six had learnt from a very early age to be overly cautious. If she was very quick, she could snatch up a few pieces of candy and be on her way. It was too risky to stop and eat here, or to take any of the cake or cookies - she wouldn’t be able to carry them as easily, not without possibly leaving a trail of crumbs, and it would be more noticeable if the larger pieces of food went missing.
She headed to the closest table, the deep purple rug soft under her bare feet, and climbed up onto it. Her eyes widened in awe as she got close to the food. It was like she had stumbled into some heavenly feast of sugar. There was a sweet aroma hanging in the air. Six wasn’t very familiar with the scent, but it was delicious nonetheless. She let her guard down for just a moment to breathe in the delicious smell. Sugary, chocolatey and rich. It was pure torture: a hungry child beheld with all these treats, but unable to eat any of them except for what she could carry in the pockets of her shorts.
Either way, the candy alone was enough for Six. She moved carefully around the cold cups of tea and quickly grabbed a few pieces here and there from each plate. She made sure that what she’d taken wasn’t too noticeable, and then stuffed them into her pocket. The wrappers crinkled in her short’s pocket as she moved away - noisy, dangerous! - but it had been far too good to resist.
…oOo…
Tucked away in the safety of an air vent, Six removed the candy pieces one by one from her pocket. There were five in total, all shiny and brilliant and in a variety of colours. There was a red one that reminded her of blood. Blood was one of the only red things she’d seen. There was a green one too, like the Pretender’s dress. Dark purple, like the rug in the Tea Party Room she’d just left. Blue, like the sea she would sail her raft across to escape from this hellish place. And yellow, like the sun. The yellow one was her favourite. The colour was so vivid and bright, unlike anything she had ever seen, and it had an intensity that almost made her eyes burn, like she was looking at the sun. The yellow one was decidedly very, very special. She would save that one for last.
Six chose the colour she would eat first. She wasn’t too fond of the red one, considering it to be blood-like, and the purple and green ones reminded her too much of the Pretender. She’d eat those ones a bit later. She settled on the blue one first, picking it up with gentle fingers like it was some incredible treasure. Well...in a way, it was an incredible treasure.
Six only knew what candy was because every Halloween, she’d hear girls at her Orphanage whisper longingly about it. Trick-or-treating, or any kind of participation in Halloween for that matter, was strictly forbidden by the Matron. Too easy for the girls to escape if they roamed the streets at night, Six supposed. Some of the lucky ones who had tasted candy before described it as the best thing ever, sweet and in different fruity flavours. Six didn’t really understand what those words meant, but she’d longed for the taste of them just as much as the other orphans.
Very gently, Six’s tiny fingers unwrapped the first candy, taking care not to tear the beautiful foil. The candy inside was round and deep blue. She lifted it to her face, turning it slowly, observing every part of its surface. She sniffed it. It had a sweet scent, and some other flavour that she didn’t recognise. She licked it. The taste spread across the tip of her tongue, rich and tingling. She still wasn’t sure what the flavour was...but it was nice.
Six put the whole candy into her mouth and chomped down. It was crushed into halves between her teeth, and it made her ears ring. She winced. Maybe she wasn’t meant to bite it...maybe sucking slowly was better.
Six sat back against the wall of the vent and sucked on the two halves of the candy, the flavour and sweetness coating all over the inside of her mouth. She closed her eyes and moved the halves around and around with her tongue, feeling the sensation of them growing smaller and smaller.
This is special, she told herself. I have to remember it. This was probably one of the happiest moments Six had had, and she felt as if it was very important to remember it. As she sucked on the sweet candy, she tried to memorise every tiny detail about the moment, so she could call upon this happy memory in the future.
When the last of the candy was two small discs on her tongue, she easily crunched the tiny pieces between her teeth and swallowed them down. She was quite thirsty now, with the sugar coating her entire mouth and the back of her throat, but she had no water to drink here in the vents.
She carefully stashed the remaining candy pieces in her pocket, along with the pretty blue foil wrapper, and went off to find something to quench her thirst.
...oOo…
The remaining candies didn’t last very long. They were too difficult for a child to resist, let alone a starving one. Six sucked on the remaining candies to take the edge off her hunger, or simply out of sheer boredom. She’d been saving her favourite-coloured one, the yellow one, for last. Now it was the only one remaining; she’d eaten all the rest.
The purple one had been similar to the blue one, very sweet and rich. She didn’t know what its name was, though. The green one had been entirely different - with a cool, sharp taste that was strange in Six’s mouth, but also refreshing. It made her breath smell fresh and sweet. ‘Minty’, was the name of it, if she recalled correctly. The red one had been a flavour unknown to Six, but it had been delicious. She thought maybe it had been ‘acherry’, thinking back to what the girls in the Orphanage had said about the red-wrapped one: ‘ The red ones taste like acherry.’
Now for the yellow one. Six unwrapped it a little more eagerly than the others, still taking care not to damage the foil. She’d saved the little wrappers, wedging them into her raft as shiny decorations for when she departed from the Nest.
She sat down now against the island’s cliff-face, pocketed the wrapper, and then took a lick of the final candy. Instantly, a tingle zinged across the tip of her tongue and she shuddered, squeezing her eyes shut. Sour. This had to be...lemon? It was the candy flavour that some of the orphans loved, and others hated. Six took another hesitant lick, and the sensation swept across her tongue again. She couldn’t decide if she liked it or not.
Working up her courage, Six placed the candy on her tongue and closed her mouth, sucking to produce lots of saliva. The taste was very foreign to her - none of the food she’d eaten before shared this kind of taste, but she realised she liked it. The acidity was fun and unique, and she enjoyed the way it made her involuntarily shudder and pucker her mouth. Definitely her favourite of all the flavours she’d tried.
Thankfully, it turned out she’d saved the best until last. She was sitting in the sunlight at the edge of the sea, enjoying the warmth on her skin and the sight of her semi-completed raft rocking in the shallows. It was peaceful, and she was happy. And once she got off this stinking island and back to the Mainland, she’d be able to trick-or-treat every year and eat all the candy she wanted.
...oOo…
Six had sort of gotten her wish. It was Halloween, and she was back in Pale City, now with Mono. There were opportunities to take candy around every corner. Even though she herself couldn’t eat it, she had still found some for Mono so she could enjoy the way he enjoyed it.
“I got you something.” Six pressed three small candy pieces into Mono’s hand.
They were standing on a flat rooftop on the outskirts of the city. As the moon rose above them, they had a clear view of the cityfolk roaming about from door to door. Mono and Six had wanted to join in...but it was too dangerous. Trick-or-treating wasn’t like what Six had originally imagined when she’d been in the Orphanage. The only people on the streets were adults. Greedy adults who went to each and every house, trading all kinds of food from the homes they visited.
It was like some sort of swap. The adults would walk around with sacks full of various foods - with things like candies, cookies and donuts the most common. They’d knock on the door of a house and present the person inside with their sack. The house owner would stare inside it, pondering for a moment before bringing out their own sack. They’d usually come to some sort of agreed trade, the foods were swapped, and then the trick-or-treating adult would move along to the next house.
Six guessed that once the sacks were overflowing with their desired treats, the adults would go back home and stuff their faces. It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing - trading fairly for the food and treats you wanted sounded like a fun thing - but Six wondered if the kids in the city were involved at all. Once the adults returned home, their kids probably begged for even a single bite, going hungry as their parents feasted right in front of them. The event was purely for the adults. It reminded Six of the Guests on the Maw.
“How did you get these?” Mono asked, his voice full of wonder as he held the candies in his hands. He’d been getting ready to sleep, so he’d taken off his paper bag. Six could clearly see his face, and he was looking down at the candies like they’d vanish if he blinked.
The candies had spilled from someone’s overflowing sack in their frenzy to feast. Six had snatched the opportunity to take them for Mono, though it wasn’t much. “Someone dropped them in the street. Don’t worry, nobody saw me.”
Mono nodded, still awestruck. Six guessed he’d never eaten candy before, let alone held it. He sat down on the concrete rooftop. “Thank you, Six. Really.”
Six shrugged, but she couldn’t stop an amused smile from spreading across her face at Mono’s dazed response. She supposed that her face had looked exactly the same when she’d found the Tea Party Room at the Nest. Weirdly, she kind of missed that room, even though it set her on edge with the glazed-eyed dolls and the threat of the Pretender showing up at any second. She’d gone back there many times during her time at the Nest, stealing little pieces of food so she wouldn’t starve. Cupcakes, sandwiches, crackers, more candy. It had kept her alive.
The Nest, deadly though it was, had been full of finery and temptations. Six had even thought about - really thought about - staying there forever. It had everything she needed to live, and she was free of the Orphanage she’d grown up in...but if the inhabitants of the Nest ever found her, she’d be killed on sight, if not turned into a doll. She could’ve played out the rest of her days there, sneaking through the vents like a mouse and feasting whenever she wanted. But ultimately, Six had known she didn’t belong there.
Six came out of her thoughts, watching as Mono put two of the candy pieces in his pocket and held the third one up to the sky, turning it slowly to admire the way the shiny wrapper caught the moonlight. The packaging alone was so beautiful.
Six looked on, still smiling as she took in her friend’s awestruck expression. She was tempted to ask if he was going to eat it anytime soon, but she didn’t want to ruin the moment for him.
Mono crinkled the foil in his fingers, listening to the unique scrunching sound. Eventually, he came out of his daze and unwrapped the candy. It was a purple one. He looked at it almost nervously, like he wasn’t sure how to eat it.
Six came over to him and sat down cross-legged before him. “The purple ones are nice,” she said. “I’m not sure what they’re called, though. And you have to suck on it, no biting. It’ll last longer that way.”
He nodded, taking the little round candy in his fingers. A foolish grin cracked across his face as he lifted it to his lips. He put the whole thing in his mouth, beginning to suck. His eyes widened at the flavour and he excitedly locked eyes with Six.
Six grinned. “It’s good, isn’t it?”
Mono nodded vigorously. His tongue was apparently too busy working on the candy for him to speak. Six laughed and leaned back on her hands. This was another happy moment she could commit to memory. She looked from Mono’s happy face to the glowing moon above, savouring the chill of the night air and her friend’s sparkling eyes.
“Seriously, it’s amazing,” Mono said after a while. In a moment of forgetfulness, he pulled a yellow one out of his pocket and offered it to Six, who shook her head with a small smile.
“Oh - right. Sorry.” Mono remembered Six couldn’t eat it and sheepishly returned the candy to his pocket. “I just...it’s so good I wanted you to have some, too.”
“It’s ok,” Six said. She shifted, moving towards him. “You should eat the yellow one next. That’s my favourite flavour.”
“Really? What does it taste like?”
She smirked wickedly. “You’ll have to find out.”
“Huh? Nooo, I bet it’s not even your favourite. I bet it’s really gross and you’re just saying that to make me eat it.”
Six shrugged, still giving away nothing.
Full of curiosity, Mono took the yellow candy from his pocket again and eyed Six’s reaction as he unwrapped it and lifted it to his mouth. He looked so suspicious it was hard for Six to hold back her laughter. He sniffed the candy distrustfully, seemed satisfied, and gave it a lick.
A second passed. Then two. Then-
“UGH!” Mono shuddered violently, his entire face screwing up as he held the candy out at arm’s length. Six burst out laughing, gesturing for Mono to pass the candy to her. He gladly dropped it in her palm and wiped his hand on his coat for good measure. He turned and spat behind him, trying to rid the flavour from his mouth as Six cackled.
“It tastes like...like…” Mono gestured vaguely. “Like TV static! That cannot be your favourite flavour!”
“It’s called lemon. And I like it.” She looked down at the candy in her hand. Maybe she could just give it a single lick like Mono did, just so she could taste it, and then she’d spit it out. That alone wouldn’t be enough to make her sick, would it?
“You have weeeiird taste buds.”
“Maybe.”
Mono gave a last little shudder, recalling the taste. “I have to eat the last one now to wash the flavour out.” He drew the last candy out of his pocket, a red one, and unwrapped it.
“That one’s called acherry,” Six said. “I promise it’s good.”
“Acherry?” Mono asked.
“Yeah. Acherry flavour. I’m not sure what it is really, but it’s nice.”
Mono licked the candy. Instead of wincing, he made a satisfied noise. “Mmm!” He put it into his mouth and sucked, laying back on the rooftop. “This one’s my favourite,” he declared.
“But you haven’t tried the green or blue ones.”
“What are those?”
“The blue one tastes kind of like the purple one...but I don’t know what it’s called. And the green one is called ‘minty.’ It tastes really...I don’t know. Like really sweet and kind of cold. And it makes your breath smell fresh.” The description was poor, but it was the best Six could do.
“That sounds cool,” Mono said. “I think I like acherry the best, though. How do you know so much about candy, anyway?”
Six looked towards the moon, recalling her time at the Nest. She decided now would be a good time to tell Mono about it, and so she did. Mono sucked quietly on his acherry candy, listening in awe at her story.
“I can’t believe you survived…” he murmured.
“Me neither. But I’m glad I did, so I could meet you.” Six got to her feet. “I’ll go and see if I can find you the other candy flavours.”
“Only if you want. But if you like them, I bet they’re actually gross.”
Six stuck out her tongue at him. “If you’d prefer I can bring back nothing but lemon ones.”
“Ewwww!”
Six grinned, leaving Mono on the safety of the rooftop as she climbed carefully down the side of the building using a series of pipes. She landed deftly on the concrete of a damp, dark alleyway, looked around to make sure she was alone, then unfurled her fist to reveal the yellow lemon candy.
A lump formed in her throat as she looked at it. Could she risk it? What if her sense of taste had been affected by the Hunger curse and it tasted horrible now? She didn’t want to ruin the good memory she had of this candy. Sighing, Six curled her hand back into a fist around the candy and dropped her arms by her sides. She couldn’t bring herself to throw the candy away. It was too precious.
She spotted a dripping pipe nearby, and stared up at the water trickling steadily from it. She took another look at the candy. Just one lick...and then she’d have a drink and rinse out her mouth. It wouldn’t make her sick as long as she didn’t swallow, right?
Six stood near the dripping pipe and shakily brought her favourite candy to her lips. She found herself needing to close her eyes and brace herself. How could something as natural as eating candy feel so unnatural? Normal kids flocked to sugary treats like moths to flame, and yet...she was struggling to even lick it, despite wanting to really, really badly. But then again, she wasn’t normal anyway.
In a desperate moment of courage, Six cast aside her fear and licked the candy. The flavour didn’t hit her immediately, worrying her...but after a second or two, she felt the familiar sourness zing across her tongue and her face puckered. The mixture of sweetness and acidity spread across her tongue, exactly the same as the first time she’d tried it. Six’s shoulders relaxed and she let herself enjoy the sensation. The moment had been just like the lemon candy...acidic with her fear, but also sweet in the end, so sweet and rare.
Not wanting to risk it any longer, Six stood under the dripping water pipe and tilted her head back to rinse out her mouth. She waited a few moments to see if any nausea would come from eating ‘normal’ food, but it seemed she was safe. She wouldn’t take another lick, though. That was all she would allow herself. She scolded herself for being so selfish in the first place. What if she’d gotten all weak and nauseated and then an adult had found her? What then? What would happen to Mono?
Six abandoned the remainder of the lemon candy in the corner of the alleyway, burying it deep under the garbage so she wouldn’t be tempted to retrieve it. Quickly after that, she snuck out onto the lamp-lit street to find some more candy for Mono, refusing to look back.
From his place on the edge of the roof, Mono pitifully watched Six slip out of the alley and onto the pavement. He crushed the last of the red candy between his teeth, hard. He didn’t fully understand Six’s Hunger, but he vowed that if they ever managed to break the curse, then he would find her all the lemon candy she could ever eat.