"This is the third place we've been to."  She reminded him--as if he needed to be reminded.
        With each early-opening fast food drive-through they visited, his grin only got wider.  He hadn't gotten to eat like this in a long time.  "Yes.  But they all have different kinds of breakfast sandwiches."
        She sat back in her seat, trapped between being amused and horrified.  Even if she'd literally been living in a cave for her entire life, she'd have somehow instinctively known that fast food was very, very bad.  "Aren't you a doctor?"
        Alright, only one more car in front of them now.  "Aren't you supposed to know nothing about the outside world?"
        Touché.  "Is all of this as good as the Chinese food?"
        "Better."  He promised.  "Hold on, gotta order."  He cleared his throat, driving up to the speaker and preparing to order anything and everything that looked good.  "And two extra large coffees."  He finished.
        Hm.  She'd never had coffee before.  It always smelled nice on those occasions when she'd walked by a coffee shop, though.  More than she could say for the people that frequented them... 

        Another stop and an insane infusion of caffeine later, they were parked in a large office parking lot, devouring more calories than any human being had any right to.  Lucky for her.  Except for the caffeine shakes.  Of all things to affect her...
        "You okay there?" he teased, two sandwiches down.
        She grunted, finding her second sandwich's wrapping nearly impossible with her shaking fingers.  "I'm not sure.  I've only consumed half of what's in the container."
        He gave her an unshaking thumbs-up.  "It takes time to get used to."  Third sandwich opened, he dug in.
        She shook her head, amazed.  These humans... funny creatures.  But good food. 

        It was back on the road twenty minutes later, heading... west, was it?  Maybe.  Probably.  Not that it mattered.  Robbie wasn't quite sure where he was going, anyway.  It was somewhere he hadn't been before, at least.  A thought struck him on the open road: "I'm not sure I can call you Kara anymore."
        "It's a poisoned name."  She caught one of his meanings, staring at the scenery.  Everything out there was new.  "And not safe."
        He nodded.  "So... got any more names you like?"
        She balled her fists, fingernails cutting her palms--and hoped he wouldn't notice.  To be honest, she was desperately resisting the urge to cry out, "Give me a name!"  She knew it might be... misconstrued.
        Unfortunately, he could hardly help but notice when her already pale knuckles became even whiter in his peripheral vision.  "Did I say something..?"
        "No..." she tried to relax the tension eating at her shoulders, through her spine--everywhere.  "No, it's...  Fine."
        He knew better--with a distinctly strong impression that he needed to delve further.  "What is it?  About the name?
        Emotions were spinning again, and she didn't know how much she could tell him.  She didn't even understand it herself...  It was an... instinct she'd had since the very beginning.  The name they'd give her was merely a code for something; not a real one, not hers... it had been incomplete, that way.  "A name is... really important.  I don't know why.  It just... is.  It's... controlling..."  But that wasn't the right word at all.  "It gives... or it takes..."
        He unconsciously licked his trembling bottom lip.  Why was he connecting with her like this..?  "You mean... a name can have... 'power'?  It has... a certain force to it that might... unlock something?"
        She shivered, feeling every last dead thing she'd just put in her stomach.  That wasn't... exact, no.  But it was as close as she could have gotten with the language she could grasp.  "Something... like that.  I can't name myself... I don't... have a name..."
        "Charlotte."  The word had come to his lips without so much as a thought regarding it.  He wasn't even aware that he'd been the one that said it until it was clear that she was looking at him with a quiet sort of... acceptance.
        "Why Charlotte?" she inquired, so softly that she wasn't even able to hear herself over the hum of the car.
        But he could.  "It's from a Cure song.  It... fits."
        A cure song... she misinterpreted, liking the sound of it.  Charlotte.  She could go with that.  "What about you?"
        "Eric."  He grinned, suavely.  "That is, unless you want to name me..."
        She smiled a little, shaking her head.  "No.  It's... you.  It's yours."
        Interesting she should say that.  All of his life he'd wished his name had been Eric.  He'd never really given too much thought to changing it legally, but... what did it matter.  It'd matched the paperwork he'd stolen, anyway.  Knowing the drive might be long before he found a place to stop, he carefully nudged through the case of CDs directly behind him.  He knew it by heart, absolutely certain of each and every album in his possession.  One thing he had to have installed in that car was a decent stereo.  Everything else had been allowed to go to hell, clearly.  In his hands was Faith, by The Cure.  He slid the disk in, finding the correct track.
        The newly-dubbed Charlotte was a little too busy trying to figure out how to get rid of the additional caffeine shakes to notice.  She'd needed something to wash the food down with...  The music that suddenly came from everywhere at once, however, distracted her attention entirely.  It was... surreal.  Beautiful.  She'd never gotten to hear anything like that...  She let go a sigh of satisfaction, leaning back fully into the seat.
        He grinned at her reaction, glad she had taste.  "This is your song."
        She reflected on his statement, opening her mouth to inquire further because she simply didn't understand--and then she heard the lyrics.  She was transfixed for a good deal of time, trying to make sense of the words as they flowed... it was poetry.  Sung poetry.  She had to wrap her arms around herself to stop the shivers... but they weren't at all unpleasant.  Somehow the sounds and the sentiment together were... ecstasy.  She'd heard music before, but... she'd never... heard it...
        The rest of the car ride found them listening to every Cure album he owned.  Not all of them, but enough to keep them occupied for the drive.