Scene 1: The Costume Shop

[Setting: A delightfully chaotic costume shop, packed with racks of absurd outfits and bins overflowing with plastic spiders. Paper bats dangle precariously from the ceiling, and faintly spooky music plays from a staticky speaker near the counter.]

Claire and Serendipity, God of Happy Endings, wander through the aisles. Claire is browsing earnestly, holding up costumes and frowning thoughtfully. Serendipity, by contrast, is meandering with the air of someone casually rearranging destiny for her own amusement.

Claire (holding up a cat costume): “Too basic?”

Serendipity (picking up a pirate hat and plopping it onto Claire’s head): “Far too basic. You’re Claire. You need something with drama. Flair. Sparkles, maybe.”

Claire (sighing, setting the hat aside): “I don’t even know what I’m going as. I just want something that doesn’t make me look like an idiot.”

Serendipity (grinning): “Darling, the whole point of Halloween is to look like an idiot. It’s tradition. Besides…” (she gestures at the store around them) “…every costume implies something, doesn’t it?”

Claire (narrowing her eyes): “Are you implying that costumes are, like, metaphors for who we secretly want to be?”

Serendipity (mock gasp): “Me? Implying? Never. That’s not my department.”

Claire (raising an eyebrow): “Oh really. Then whose department is it?”

Serendipity (waving a hand dismissively): “Oh, there’s a whole God of Implications. Delightful, three-legged sort. Loves lurking in ambiguity.”

Claire (blinking): “Wait, what?”

Serendipity (plucking a feather boa from a nearby rack and draping it dramatically): “You’d love her. Or hate her. It’s hard to tell. But let’s focus on the task at hand: costumes. You need something that screams ‘Claire.’”

Scene 2: Costumes and Assumptions

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[Claire stops in front of a rack of medieval gowns. She fingers the fabric thoughtfully while Serendipity circles her, occasionally tossing random accessories into Claire’s arms.]

Claire (absentmindedly): “So… costumes imply something about the person wearing them?”

Serendipity (smirking): “Oh, absolutely. A knight implies bravery—or a desperate need to overcompensate. A witch? Mystery, power, or maybe a well-hidden love of cackling. Every choice is an assumption waiting to be made.”

Claire (frowning): “But aren’t assumptions kind of… bad? Like, they stop people from seeing the real you?”

Serendipity (picking up a glittering mask and holding it to her face): “Oh, assumptions are fascinating. Necessary, even. They’re shortcuts for our brains, little stories we tell ourselves to make sense of the chaos. The question isn’t whether assumptions are bad—it’s whether they’re useful.”

Claire (picking up a fairy costume): “So, what would this imply?”

Serendipity (tilting her head): “That you believe in magic. Or that you wish you did.”

Claire (rolling her eyes): “And this?” (She holds up a dinosaur onesie.)

Serendipity (without missing a beat): “That you’re nostalgic for a simpler time—or secretly long to crush cars under your feet.”

Claire snorts, shaking her head. “You’re impossible.”

Scene 3: A Costume with Meaning

[Claire finally lands on a starry cloak and a crescent-moon tiara. She twirls experimentally in front of a mirror while Serendipity lounges nearby, draped in a cape made entirely of faux fur.]

Claire (half-smiling): “Okay, this is nice. What does it imply?”

Serendipity (leaning forward, studying her): “That you’re reaching for the stars. Or maybe that you’re grounded in the night. Either way, it suits you.”

Claire (softly): “It’s funny, though. I never really thought about how much costumes say about us. Like, I’m just wearing this for a party, but now I feel like I’m… telling a story.”

Serendipity (grinning): “Exactly! Halloween is the ultimate storytelling. Everyone walking around, wearing their assumptions on their sleeves—or claws, or wings.”

Claire (laughing): “And here I thought it was just about candy.”

Serendipity (standing, tossing a skeleton glove onto Claire’s pile): “Oh, it’s always about candy. But the implications are the real treat.”

Scene 4: At the Counter

[As they approach the checkout, Serendipity grabs a top hat from a display rack and sets it jauntily on Claire’s head.]

Claire (amused): “You’re implying I need a hat now?”

Serendipity (smirking): “I’m not implying anything. I’m stating it outright: hats make everything better.”

Claire rolls her eyes but doesn’t take the hat off. The cashier rings them up, barely glancing at the eclectic assortment of costumes.

As they leave the shop, the bell jingles behind them. Outside, a three-legged rabbit sits in the shadow of a lamppost, thumping a paw rhythmically against the pavement. Claire pauses, frowning.

Claire (muttering): “Was that rabbit…?”

Serendipity (grinning, nudging her along): “Oh, don’t think too hard about it, darling. Some things are better left implied.”

[End Scene]

[retcon:1]