Another order picked up by the other fellow, he quickly passed it off to the shorter assistant who’d been minding her own business, setting up slices of ham. ”Order’s up, just some fries to go.” Readily the white haired girl nodded, taking the order and blinking at it. She almost didn’t notice the waitress standing there getting a minor look of panic.

”She wants them for later!” she blurted, Chesha raising an eyebrow as…well that’s what “to go” meant, right? ”And please just make them simple truffle fries, no more of that inventive stuff! I really don’t want to have to explain sushi hiding in there or heavens forbid anchovies!” Even Chesha’s face scrunched up at that one, having been unsuccessful at dealing with at least the canned version of those little bastards.

Truffle oil though…it wasn’t something she’d gotten her hands on yet as the sous chef handed it to her from their myriad of oils, figuring it faster than letting her search through. He was kind enough to point out they were in alphabetical order however for the exotic ones given the impossible to miss large grapeseed and olive oil ones. Pondering though she found herself rereading the order, ’To go….’

Well if they were meant to be a snack for later then she stopped to consider. For one thing this person didn’t seem to share some preferences with Chesha. Expected even if a little disheartening. It meant she might not like the softer fries that the cyborg did, and more importantly it’d be best to avoid them turning soggy down the road. While the oil would be used for flavoring she couldn’t let it completely stay on the fries, going through a few possibilities as she filled a low pot with the oil and started cooking them a handful at a time in a cage. Once the first batched reached an appropriate tan color she removed them, carefully placing them atop a flat pan sporting a multitude of holes. This way the oil could drain without being reabsorbed like with paper towels, allowing each of the thin strands to remain crispy. A few more handfuls later – careful to spread them out so they wouldn’t simply drip on each other – Chesha added a small smattering of garlic, salt, and parsley for flavor with a few tosses of the bunch to spread the flavorful goodness.

Into a plastic bin they went, a few sprigs of parsley added for presentation before she clipped the ends shut. Rather than place it in a bag herself the short girl left it atop the window for the waitress to inspect as she suspected the woman might do either way. So untrusting of her!

The woman would take her time with the rest of the meal that was set before her. Now that she knew nothing was wrong with it she could relax and enjoy herself. About ten minutes would pass as she finished what was left of the food, the waitress coming by once during it to make sure she was still enjoying herself while dropping off a glass of water. A simple thank you would be made as she took a sip of it, to keep from drinking too much wine so early in the morning.

It wasn't long before her waitress went up to the cooks window and began inspecting whatever had been set up there. A nod of approval before lifting the container and bringing it her way. "All right. I know you wanted it to go but would you mind trying one to make sure they taste all right? I looks fine from what I can see but I'd prefer you knew it was good before you have already left the place."

"Yeah, it makes sense for me to try it at least." It was not that she had no faith in the woman behind the curtains. It was just a countermeasure to ensure everything went well for all sides of the situation. Opening the container yo try one, the woman would grab one of the still hot fries and pop it into her mouth. It was at that moment that Hure knew, she had fucked up. At the same time as she did this there was a loud slamming as a ball of some kind made impact with the window right next to her. The involuntary gasp sucked the hot fry down her throat, causing her to choke. The waitress would panic, yelling for someone to help as she had no clue on what to do.

Left to her own devices finally, the rhythmic chopping of the knife through green onions soothed her. That constant beat, the simplicity of the slice with a good knife: all a comfort. Just because she’d taken a light liberty or two with a plate didn’t mean the woman needed to transform into a watchful hawk out of nowhere. Things returned to the nice song created through steaming pots, clanging and sizzling pans, and cutlery against cutting boards. Right up until the sound of panic and an increasing silence permeated the small room.

Even worse the voice of panic sounded familiar, though instead of harsh it came off as pleading and unsure. Eyes couldn’t even catch sight of the male owner, the chef having already dashed through the doors to try and help. The short girl and the other tall fellow remained in the kitchen, watching through the window to see how things might turn out whilst staying out of the way. It would seem the female owner – more in charge of the dining room itself – beat her husband swiftly to the distressed woman and already performing a Heimlich maneuver to dislodge something. Crowds obscured their vision, especially the tall husband standing in the way at the ready in case he needed to take over. Once the thing came loose from the woman’s throat they fussed over her from what Chesha could tell, concerned over her well-being more as kind people than worried business owners.

”Doesn’t look good kid,” the other man murmured to Chesha, his large hand gently patting her on the head and mooshing the small, white hat, ”I think that was your table” Chesha’s stomach fell right out of her. Luckily not a case of the literals, but she held vague recollections of walking away from the window.

The attempts at breathing were in vain, hands reaching to her throat as the panic finally struck her. Would she suffocate and die right here? Would this be her last moments on this world? What a terrible way to go! The female Fishman did not notice the people running up to her once they got there, she had been in the midst of an exhale when she had gasped, the short breath she had taken gone almost as soon as she had started choking.

The sudden pain near her lower ribs and stomach would have made her shriek if she could have. It took a few moments of the repeating pain for her to realize someone was giving her the Heimlich maneuver to attempt to save her from death by truffle fry. There would be one more hard compression as an inhuman noise left her mouth; the cry of pain as well as the coughing up of the fry as it expelled at high velocity onto the floor near the other side of the building. The coughing fit would last for quite a while, the girl falling to her knees on the floor as she tried to get ragged breaths of air into her oxygen deprived lungs. She could hear questions around her, the woman looking up to see a man and woman asking her if she was okay. A few more coughs and a throat clear later the woman would try to speak. "I...I think I'm fine now..." The words made her cough some more, her throat quite sore due to the event. "I can't thank you enough, you saved my life." The woman would stand back up, the couple stepping back to allow her to sit down at her table before anyone else came out to see what was going on.

Either she’d killed an unfortunate customer or the person would become very angry at her and it’d result in the usual: she’d be kicked out and fired. Jobs didn’t last long typically with the girl often on the move. A stable lifestyle would likely never work out for her. Too many things to run away from. That didn’t mean she wanted to leave immediately though. In fact the girl found a spot of happiness in managing to stay somewhere for a longer length of time. It felt like…well what she suspected “home” to be like. A comfort and moment to relax, to forget about her worries and simply be.

Unfortunately she hadn’t apparently been at her best today and now possibly killing someone with a fry – probably that same person who kept refusing her plates – things might look bad for not only the owner, but herself as well. ’No use getting him caught up in my problems,’ she determined, forgetting to remove the aprons from her body for a block. Sometimes it was nice not to hear the logical reasoning of Alejandro and feel “alone” for a moment in time.

They made her a bit conspicuous however so she removed them, wadding the trio up into a ball and carrying it back to the couple’s house so she could retrieve her things. No use staying there after all that and possibly being labeled a murderer. At least this way the couple wouldn’t be associated in a bad light, just thought of as “too kind-hearted” or something.

”Guess we’ll be laying low for a while Alejandro. Not like I really wanna be known as the “Fry Killer” or “Fry Cook Killer” or something lame like that. I suppose it’s never too early for a drink either.” As if sensing her mood the mouth at the end of her tail said nothing, merely accepting the placing of a cloak over him.

The people that saved her had turned out to be the owners of the very place she had been eating at. After everything that had happened the two felt so bad that they decided to just let her have everything on the house. After all, who wanted to pay for something that they had nearly choked to death on. That did not stop Hure from at least leaving a tip for the waitress and leaving some Beli with a note that said; "To the owners, for helping me in an emergency." After leaving, with her truffly fries container in a small paper bag, the woman would head back to the tavern so that she could prepare to play later on in the evening.

Only a few hours later would everyone find Hure in the tavern and wandering around. Her throat felt much better after she had gotten some of the flavored ice that the barkeep had gotten for her. All it had been was shaved ice with rum poured over it while sitting in a cone shaped paper cup. It had been delicious, and the cold had soothed her throat enough so that she could play. Guitar in hand the woman would slowly make her way to the stage before speaking into the mic that would allow everyone to hear her. "All right people. Tonight is request night! If anyone has a song they would like me to play, sing, or both please feel free recommend one. If your song is playing and you don't like it I will let you change it, just make sure not to make me change a lot!"

Things took a very interesting turn after she’d left the very nice couple running a restaurant. She’d begun dwelling on the earlier events, wondering where she’d gone wrong. It wasn’t as if she could ask someone who’d choked to death on a fry their thoughts on said fry before death. After a while though she finally settled on the realization that they’d likely hold a grudge against that particular fry and wouldn’t have anything nice to say even if they liked it. A skewed perspective wasn’t a helpful one to say the least so she eventually dropped it. Finding a way to make lunch had been a bit tricky too, some primo streaks wrapped up in her bag without a grill to sizzle on until she’d stricken a conversation with a lunch cart fellow. His thing held a neatly built in stove top for him to grill burgers and the like on, something she’d wondered over and eventually through their discussion he permitted her to cook them up some food. He wanted to taste these “primo steaks” for himself (and it’d apparently been a while since he could properly afford one).

The fellow enjoyed it while she left with a happy belly and soothed mentality and a slightly lighter bag. For his kindness she’d left him a few more slabs to share with the family while getting away without saying where she procured them. “Secret source” had been enough for him.

Eventually her feet brought the girl to a bar, the idea of drinks and snacks rather alluring. Occasionally the bottle allowed the girl to forget things easier than…well, heavens knows how she forgot normally. Things had a tendency to just slip away after a bit and only occasionally resurfaced in recollection. Like her brain fishing for obscure memories. Chesha hated that.

Ears tickled at the thought of requesting a song after she’d ordered a full bottle of vodka, soda water, and a bowl of lemons. As lemon juice trickled into the stout glass Chesha motioned to one of the waitresses, ” ‘Ey, can you ask her to sing “You Are My Sunshine” please?” When the woman gave her a weird look the short girl pulled the woman down to her level so she could receive the full force of her annoyance, ”I don’t judge you for your choice in men so don’t judge me for my request. I don’t have to steal your tips to make ‘em lighter.” This time the woman nodded and quickly toddled off to inform the singer of the choice.

There would be almost no takers to the requests at first, how odd. It wasn't until a worried waitress came up to her with an odd request that the songs would begin. Odd was not the word for this. Someone had requested 'You Are My Sunshine' for the first song of the night. Unsure as to how people would respond, but now unable to refuse as it was an official request, the woman would begin playing the intro music to it before beginning to sing along. She would skip the slightly sad intro to it, simply going to the part that most people usually wanted it to start at.

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy, when skies are gray. You'll never know dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away."

That was are far as Hure would get before a bunch of people began to swear and argue and yell. One man's voice stood out among the rest, quite a few of the crowd agreeing with the song. "What is this shit! Sing something better, like 'Ain't No Rest For The Wicked!'"

Without hesitation, the female with pink hair would begin playing the intro before beginning to sing the intro to it. "I was walking down the street when out the corner of my eye, I saw a pretty little thing approaching me. She said I never seen a man, who looks so all alone, Could you use a little company?" She would continue singing the song, no one interrupting for a good portion. That was a good sign, though who knew what could happen next.

To the very soul the sound of those lovely words soothed the pale girl to the point she couldn’t help lying on the counter of the bar. Normally in a better mood she’d have enjoyed the spinning capabilities of the stool, but she’d lost a bit of her pep throughout the day. One whole verse of the sweet, sweet voice reminded Chesha of a short yet beloved memory as glassy eyes gazed beyond the contents of her glass. She was cheated of another verse.

People rose up, apparently upset that someone placed a request and for something not “grittier” or whatever. Well it forced a request out of someone, but Chesha felt her hand grip the glass almost dangerously hard as the bubble popped prematurely. Just like getting a sundae and dropping it after one lick of the whipped cream on top. Not even a chance to catch the cherry.

Even the sweetened alcohol with its delayed burn down her throat failed to calm the girl back down, though she’d only had a sip or two prior and many glasses to go before she’d end up on the ground. This time she beckoned the woman in the short miniskirt and half buttoned shirt with but her finger, pleased to see how quickly the woman trotted over. The fear in the edge of her eyes meant she’d listen, something Chesha could appreciate after experiencing much the same. ”Tell the woman to play “Bad Romance” if you would. Show the bar a real good time.” She tried to give the woman a sweet smile, but whether from earlier’s threat or it not quite turning out as she’d planned the woman sprinted off. Well no matter, as long as Chesha got what she wanted little else mattered, though they’d already spoiled it to a degree.

The song got nearly to the end when another request came through. Not only was it a decent song for the tavern, but it was one of Hure's favorites to sing as well!

A few finishing notes would be made to the current song before she started off with the very first part of the song. The oh's and first few lines would be easily done by the woman before she got into the run part of the song! "Rah rah ah-ah-ah! Ro mah ro-mah-mah! Gaga oh-la-la! Want your bad romance." Her body would sway to the beat as she continued singing the song that many seemed to be enjoying now. "I want your ugly, I want your disease. I want your everything, as long as it's free. I want your love, love love love, I want your love." The words would be said as she grew close to a female patron that was not quite looking at her face. The blush that came along made her laugh internally as she continued with the lyrics of the song. "I want your drama, the touch of your hand. I want your leather studded kiss in the sand. I want your love, love love love, I want your love!" This time it would be said to a woman with a black cloak that hung down in an off way as she sat. After making sure this one was looking at her, the scantily clad mermaid would sing a little bit more of the song to see what kind of reaction she got before moving on. "You know that I want you, and you know that I need you. I want it bad, your bad romance!" The pleading way she did it caused whistles, hoots, and hollers from some of the drunken ones in the crowd as she did it. Now to see what this cute girl did before she continued on.

The other song finally ended, more annoying to her for cutting off her first request prematurely over distaste for the music itself, and so started her’s. The opening always gave cause for a little giggling, the weird drawn out words tickling for some reason and yet oh so fun to hear as she heard a few first grumblings from other patrons. More than likely they simply hadn’t heard it to date, the song a little out there and perhaps exotic to some rink-a-dink tourist trap of a town. However they soon came around as they watched the woman not simply sing the words, but give proper feeling to them. Her very body seemed to dance – as much as one could whilst playing an instrument in a crowded place – and went so far as to connect to the audience.

Head in the palm of her hand Chesha watched this lively mer-woman cause some female patron to blush, the singer curiously not aiming at any of the men thus far. Then again as some of the catcalls and cheers started perhaps they didn’t really require any further inspiration? About to take a drink she realized the woman’s attention turned to the pale customer. Oh so easily an open smirk crept along her lips, showing teeth as she brought up a hand and wiggled her fingers in a slight “hello” to the woman, eyes half-lidded though whether or not the performer could tell from their distance was another thing.

Thinking on it though, when had she last had some proper company? ’Hmmm…prolly a few boats ago?’ Heavens knows most people wouldn’t even go near her backside with Alejandro guarding it, even when he merely wanted to discuss some inane topic or another. As some man stood up to holler – and try and receive attention – he blocked Chesha’s view and broke whatever momentary spell began there. Without those siren eyes beckoning to her the woman turned to her glass, taking a healthy swig of the bubbly beverage.

It seemed the siren's call was working on this woman as well. The girl she had targeted seemed to react positively in an almost beckoning way that, had she not been on the job, she might have tried her luck with her. Sadly it would end there, the two finding a screaming man coming between the two of them. That was her time to move, continuing the song as she began to creep her way to the stage in her dance like movements. "I want your love, I want your revenge. You and me could write a bad romance. I want your love and your lover's revenge. You and me could write a bad romance." The song would continue in earnest as she made her way to the stage before she heard one drunken customer complain about the stupid song.

It was clear her was drunk beyond what was needed for being here. The man should have left, but stubbornness just caused him to drink more instead of stopping when he felt the effects more than what was the stopping point. Another man would disagree with him, causing the already upset drunk to take a swing at him. The ensuing chaos of a bar fight would start, making the song stop as the pink haired female went to the back of the stage and prepared to use the tavern provided guitar as an improvised weapon of self-defense should anybody come at her at an inopportune time. It would only be a short time before it was resolved and people would be escorted out, she just had to make it to that point before she could continue her song.

Again someone decided to rain on Chesha’s parade. The excited fellow was quite fine: she encouraged positive attitudes about these things. Besides the performer needed to cater to the crowd and not focus solely on a single person in the audience so while the moment had been enjoyable she accepted its inevitable death. Now having someone interrupt yet another request of her’s before it could find its proper end? Truly, truly outrageous actions like finding a cache of gemstones. A more vicious part of Chesha wanted to have Alejandro bite him, let the man learn to keep in his place. Perhaps even let a bone break? There was definitely something satisfying about feeling the grind as the marrow inside squished and the harder exterior slowly gave way beneath the pressure…but no.

She’d already unintentionally caused someone to choke to death earlier that day – so she’d decided despite never properly finding out – and the girl refused to sacrifice her vodka for the greater good. Even if the greater good was merely her rising temper. Besides someone else gave him a good through ’Crack!’ to the skull, another breaking their beer bottle on the fellow’s head as he stumbled and brought him fully to the ground. This left all three parties to be escorted out, one of them taking their date along with him who could barely walk in a straight line. ’Good, get her out of here before she starts trying to sing along off key.’ For now though the cloaked girl would simply wait and enjoy her drink, not exactly eager to have another song disrupted due to stupid audience critiquing. Since when did everyone suddenly become judges of a talent show anyways?

It would be a few minutes before the whole situation panned out and ended up with a trio of people being escorted out of the tavern and told to stay away for a few days. That was why people tended to try and behave here after a while. There were no outright bans, but they would kick you out for a while. That meant none of the good rum, or food, that they served, as well as not getting the entertainment that many places did not have; a beautiful bard!

Taking a break for a few minutes, just to get a full glass of rum to make her feel better and quench her thirst at the same time. The crowd would slowly calm down, the fight having brought the adrenaline in the place up to unsafe levels if it got rowdy again. Once she felt it would be safe to do another attempt at playing more music, Hure would skip onto the stage before sliding to a stop before talking loudly to everyone there. "All right people! It seems that the half time show has ended and I've had some of the great rum you can get only at this tavern! Shameless plug aside, how about we get back into the request night and get one of those waitresses and waiters to bring me what you want to hear!" The other workers would nod to her as they began to walk around to see if anyone had a specific song they wanted to sing. It seemed nearly no one wanted to ask for something, the fights over the previous three being almost too much for them to want to try another.