Crispy laughs, opening her mouth to its full, terrifying extent. It's like watching a pale, fleshy Pac-Man about to chow down on some ghosts; the whole top of her head practically rolls back on a hinge. The sound that comes out is even worse: a distorted, echoing howl that triggers some primal fear-response that Jesse is powerless to act on because of her otherworldly presence. Satisfied that she's scared the crap out of Jesse, she closes her mouth and fixes her fake, smaller smile.
"You smell so good when you're scared, Jesse" she says. She strokes her many chins and eyes the fryer again. "But I suppose you did let me eat you for free, when I already owed you a freebie and said we could come to an arrangement ... fine, here you go." She reaches into a pocket on her apron, removes ten green plastic tokens, and tosses them to Jesse, who somewhat impressively manages to catch them all in one go.
"Tokens?" Jesse asks.
"Try not to spend them all in once place," Crispy giggles.
"What ... do I spend them on?"
Crispy shrugs. "Games, food, rides, prizes. It's a circus, use your imagination. You'll probably find that some of the booths here in the Midway will let you make an arrangement in case you run out. Maybe you'll even like them, ha!"
Jesse starts to leave the booth, then realizes he's naked. He turns back to Crispy, who is already steepling her fingers in anticipation again.
"Could I buy my pants back with these?" he asks.
Crispy flashes a quick, full-mouth smile. "You can buy back your pants," she says, "but not for ten tokens."
"How much, then?"
Crispy looks up and down Jesse's naked body. "Cute boy like you ... let's say twenty."
Jesse gulps. "Any chance we could, um, come to an arrangement to get me some more tokens? I'm not sure I should walk around here naked like this."
"Well, since you're such a sweet and savory boy, I'll tell you what. You let me fry you and eat you again, that's another five tokens."
"Only five?!"
Crispy laughs. "I should make it four for sassing back to me like that, but I'll be gentle for now. Yes. Only five. And zero after that. I'm running a business here!"
"So how could I earn the other five here?"
"I'd have to sell you to someone else to eat. Might take a few times, though, because I'd already be 15 tokens in the hole from you. I bet I could sell you three times and break even from that, so let's say I sell you five times today. You'd get eaten, you'd wake up in here, and after the fifth time you'd get your last five tokens and I'd make a little profit."
Jesse gulps, looks at the fryer, and tries to imagine being fried and eaten five--no, six--more times today, just for pants. He doesn't like it, but he also doesn't like being naked.
"Or, and I'm only saying this to be as fair as I can be to you," Crispy continues, "you could try and win some games with your tokens, maybe make a little profit and buy your, ha, clothes back. Or you could check out another booth here or there to see what kind of deal they'll make you. It's up to you, Jesse."
Jesse looks at the coins in his hands and the various food stands and Midway games around him. Letting Crispy eat him and sell him seems like the most certain-to-work way to get his clothes back, but ... if he has to get eaten that many times, is it worth it?
The geography of this creepy circus/carnival seems to switch every time he looks away, but he can make out a "Test Your Strength" sort of attraction just a little ways away, and next to that are some other games of chance. Maybe he could gamble some tokens and win something there. Or, honestly, he might even have fun, as strange as that sounds now.
There's also, still, the eating contest and other food stands nearby. The clown twins promised him tokens if he competed--or did they say "volunteer?" he's having trouble remembering--and maybe ... maybe if it comes to it, another food stand here might offer him a "first meal bonus" if he lets them eat him too. He's also going to want to eat something himself sooner or later, and these places do serve food ...
What does Jesse go with?
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