thoughtformed | [audio]

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[Did you hear that scream? If not, she's not sure how you missed it while her windows and door were wide open.

Frying pan in hand, she scrambles away from her angry adversary, fumbling to get her phone to call out to her fellow technologically-stunted acquaintance.

There's a terrible noise in the background as she puts out a mass call over the network for a single young man.]

Hiccup! Can you hear me? The sink, it... it's roaring at me-- no, growling! There must be a monster or something terrible living in it, and I don't know what to do, and it won't stop!

[That's right folks, Rapunzel has unfortunately discovered the garbage disposal. And who can be bothered to read the unopened mail on the counter when the sink immediately next to it has "come alive" and is on the offense?]

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It's very nice to meet you, Arthur. And thanks again!

My name is Rapunzel. Just Rapunzel, though; nothing more.

[8D]

Ra-- [Wait, what?] Rapunzel? Ah.. what a charming name. There's an old story about a girl by that name, where I come from.

Really? I didn't know that. You'll have to tell me the story sometime! Or... at least send me in the right direction in the library.

To be fair though, Mother did say floral names are common. I guess it's not so hard to think I share the same name as a storybook character.

If you have the time, I don't object to telling you the story. It isn't terribly long and one of several fairy tales I have committed to memory.

In that case, I'm all ears.

[Does she have anything better to be doing? Aside from baking up a storm, not so much; and baking can be done at any time of the day. Now that the mystery of the sink monster has been solved, she's more than willing to take a break to listen and chat.]

Aha, alright...

[Ehem.]

Once upon a time, there was a man and woman who had long wished for a child, without success. Behind their house there was a magnificent garden, full of the most beautiful flowers and herbs, but it was surrounded by a high wall, and none dared enter it because it belonged to a powerful enchantress who was feared by all the world.

One day, the woman was standing by the single window that overlooked the garden, and she saw a perfect flower growing in a flower bed. She was so taken by it that she began to pine away in her longing for it. Her husband, who loved her dearly, begged to know what was wrong, and she told him how she longed to taste the rampion, and if she didn't, she'd surely die. The husband loved her very much, and he decided that he would fetch the plant for his wife, no matter what the cost.

At midnight he descended into the garden, over the high wall, and picked some of the rampion for his wife. It didn't sate her, however, only made her crave it three times as much, and he knew that he would have to go back.

[England pauses here, and there's a soft clink as he sips his tea.]

The second time that he ventured into the garden, he was caught by the enchantress. "How can you dare," she said, terrifying the man with her anger. "Descend into my garden and steal my rampion like a thief!" She declared that he would suffer greatly for it, and he was very afraid, begging the enchantress for mercy and telling her of how his wife craved the plant. The anger of the enchantress softened, and she told the husband that he would have as much rampion as he desired, if he consented to bring her the couples first born child, which she promised to raise as a mother would. In his fear, the man agreed, and when the child - a daughter - was born, the enchantress appeared immediately, gave her the name 'Rapunzel', and took her away.

Rapunzel grew into the most beautiful child under the sun, and when she was twelve years old, the enchantress shut her in a tower in the middle of the forest. The tower didn't have stairs or a door, only a single window at the very top, and when the enchantress wished to enter, she would stand at the bottom and call up 'Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair to me.'

[She listens intently, hanging on every word, though the reasoning shifts from ignorant interest to vaguely unsettled confusion. In fact, there's a hesitant pause before she speaks again.]

I wonder if Mother named me "Rapunzel" after the girl in the story. We live-- lived in a tower too. Actually, it's kind of similar to the tower in the story... Mother got in the same way too.

But...! She isn't an enchantress, that much I'm sure of. And I definitely wasn't taken away.

[He makes a softly thoughtful sound, but for now he isn't thinking too much on it. It's not unheard of for people to share similar lives and similar names, even if such things are from stories.

Of course, the fact that many people in this place are from stories does give him pause...]

Ah... I don't mean to upset you or cast aspersions on your mother's character.

Oh, don't worry, I'm not upset! Just... kind of surprised that there's a story that shares some of the same things that my life back home did.

[She hesitates again, not exactly sure how to best phrase what she wants to ask.

Well, here goes nothing.]

Um, is there anything else in the story about that Rapunzel's hair, anything else different besides its length?

[He thinks about it for a moment.. it's been a while since he told this story to anyone.]

Mm.. no, I don't believe there was. Why do you ask?

O-oh, no reason! Just curious!

[Look at that smile; there's absolutely withholding of the truth.]

Hmn.

[No, he doesn't believe her, but they only just met and it's none of his bloody business.]

Do you want to hear the rest?

[Good man, England. The magic hair will be a concern for another day.]

There's more?

[And here she thought that was all there was to the story.]

Of course!

Of course, that's barely the beginning.

[He tells her the rest of the story - the arrival of the prince, how he watched to see how the enchantress entered the tower and mimicked her, and how Rapunzel was so frightened upon seeing him as she'd never seen a man before. The prince and Rapunzel fell in love, and hatched a plan to help her escape from the tower.

Though, before they could carry it out, they were foiled by the wicked enchantress, who cut the girl's hair, cast poor Rapunzel into the desert and used her golden braids to trick the prince into the tower. When she told him that Rapunzel was lost to him forever, such was his grief that he threw himself from the window, surviving the fall but blinding himself in the thorny bushes at the base.

For years he wandered, blind and in misery, until finally he was reunited with Rapunzel and the twin children that she'd conceived with him, knowing her voice when he heard it. When she fell upon his neck and cried, her tears wetted his eyes and they cleared.

The prince led Rapunzel and their two children back to his kingdom where they were joyfully welcomed, and they lived happily to the end of their days.

So, Rapunzel, what do you think?]

[She listens in suspense, horror, and wonder, though there is undeniable relief over the similarities to her own story and this one having ended back in his recital of the first half.]

You had me worried there! I thought the ending was going to be bitter. What a cruel string of events, though; I feel terrible for that Rapunzel.

[And all the more grateful that her Mother was nothing like the horrid enchantress.]

A lot of the Grimm brother's fairy tales were like that. I'm certain that I could find you a book of them if you're interested.

[He can guarantee he has one somewhere and if he doesn't, he can find one.]

[Gruesome or not...]

I would love to read it.

[Simply, Rapunzel can't pass up the opportunity to read about people and their lives for the first time since leaving her tower, no matter how wrong things go for them.]

Excellent. What would be a good place and time to get it to you?

Now that my sink doesn't sound like it's going to eat me and I'm not completely distracted by it, any time! I... really don't have set plans for my days, aside from cleaning every morning.

Ah, well then, I have some time later in the afternoon.. about two hours from now?

That would work! I'll just... stick around the house then.

[It's hard to tell the time without being around a wall clock; if she stepped out for the day, she'd completely lose track.]

Oh, don't stay in on my account! Ah.. I may need to know where you are, too.

[Yes, that would help.]

Well, I can't exactly take the wall clock with me, so it's easier if I stay put.

I'm in South 202 when you're ready to come over.

Ah, you don't have a-- I suppose not everyone owns a watch. I shan't keep you waiting for too long, in that case, miss.

Oh! No, please, there's no rush. The one thing I do have is plenty of time.

[Yanno, like an eternity, literally speaking.]

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