#t;thunderstroked

In truth, Charlie wasn’t a big fan of seafood. But the people who worked at Rock Lobstah had been rather insistent that he stop by, and who was he to turn someone down who was genuinely excited by his presence? It was rock and roll themed, which of course tickled him. He’d decided to place an online order and pick it up, happily waiting around as the food was still being prepared, so he stood off to the side, and kept getting a really weird feeling from the Billy Bass on the wall. 

Deciding to ignore it for now, Charlie began to walk at all of the strange memorabilia they had around the place, like Bob Dylan’s toothbrush. Charlie pulled a face, reminding himself to be careful about throwing things out around here, he didn’t want to end up with a used tissue of his in a fucking frame. He turned away from the toothbrush and squinted at the frame of Eddie Van Halen’s hair clippings. What the fuck? He decided that it was better to stop looking around and just wait for the food, hoping it was as good as the reviews boasted.

Charlie looked around idly, making eye contact with another customer and nodding their head with a thin, but polite smile before turning away, and continuing to wait around. Then, Billy Bass started singing a very cursed tune in a language that felt unknowable. Charlie looked over to it, and swore that its eyes were glowing red. “Well that can’t be good,” he muttered aloud as he felt himself move closer to the mounted fish. 

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Before inadvertently inhaling pollen that stuck her in fox form for a few months, Mona had sworn to never look at a shrimp again. After the copious amounts of squirrels and rabbits (sorry Frederick) she had to survive off of, shrimp– or any underwater creature sounded absolutely delightful. It was what brought her to Rock Lobstah. It wasn’t her normal spot, but the kid on the edge of the sidewalk waving around a piece of cardboard with a number of different deals on it had her intrigued. 

The brine and fishy aspect to the restaurant was apparent before she even walked through the door. It was better than pollen, she supposed. God forbid inhaling salt water would turn her into some kind of sea creature. Then again, in this town, anything was possible. 

She watched customers and waiters from the corner of her eye, all the while head trained down on her cell phone as she caught up on requests from while she was gone. A slew of apologies were sent out, begging for the chance to reschedule. The couple she had been photographing that day had luckily brought her camera to the shop, but it then got stolen since it was sitting out for too long. Esther was sure to have a field day once arriving back in town about that one. 

Mona looked up from her phone momentarily to make eye contact with another customer waiting in line. She offered a polite, half-assed smile back to him before realigning her gaze with the feed of the online forum, parsing out what she missed out on after having been gone for so long. However, she was interrupted by that same customer’s voice– and an eerie tune falling from the mouth of the electronic bass that was mounted on the wall. “You’re going near it? After saying it can’t be good? Do you not have any self preservation?” 

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As soon as the other customer’s voice cut through his trance, Charlie took a step away from the thing, frowning. “I couldn’t control it,” he admitted with a worried glance in the other’s direction. “I mean. It started talking and then, I felt like I was being pulled into it.” He realized that didn’t make any sense, but he was quickly coming to learn that nothing in this town really did make any sense anyway.

The fish started singing again, though it was more of a chant than a song. It spoke as if the words were backward, and it was enough to make Charlie’s hair stand on end and take a large step away from it, this time not stuck in a trance that seemed to pull him inward. “Yeah, I fucking hate that.” Charlie decided, looking at Mona with an uneasy expression on his face. “Thanks for the save there.” He spoke, shoving his hands into his pockets before going back to waiting for his food, trying his damndest to ignore the cursed Billy Bass on the wall.

The funny thing about Charlie being at this place was that he was allergic to shellfish. But again, the people who worked there had been so insistent. He didn’t plan on eating it for himself, he would either give it to Finn or Wyatt, whoever he saw first. They’d eat it. The place had good reviews for their food, so he was sure it would be nice for them. And it wasn’t like these people were letting him pay for his food either. Instead, they were whispering to each other and glancing in Charlie’s direction. It caused him to purse his lips and pretend he didn’t see it. 

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“You couldn’t?” Well, that certainly did not sound good, or right by all standards of electronic singing fish. Mona took a small step back from it, eyes narrowed. The last thing she needed was to be sucked up through its mouth and to live in the dread fish’s belly. In this town, that might as well happen. The fish started to sing again, and this time her company at least had sound mind to take a step away rather than towards it. 

Mona did her best to not only to both ignore the fish, but pay attention to it at the same time. While her attention was trained on the wait staff running from corner to corner, plates of hot food burning their palms, she was trying to figure out exactly what it was the bass was singing. It was not a song she understood, but it seemed to be in reverse. If only it were in slowed reverb, then maybe she could… 

The amount of attention she seemed to be giving it was enough, because the desire to walk forward and outstretch a hand was overwhelming. Foxfire began to glow in the palm of Mona’s hand, and though the heat of it did not bother her, it was enough to pull her from the trance. She shook her head, grateful that something inside of her seemed to have its head on straight. She looked around quickly to see if anyone had noticed, shoving her hand into her pocket to reveal a lighter. “I sometimes forget it’s not polite to not use it indoors.” She offered a smile to the person ahead of her, then glanced behind her as a giant wheel of lobster fortune was set beside her. “Want a chance at 10% off?” The girl work a broad smile, and Mona turned her attention forward. “He was ahead of me. You can go first.” She had no intention of spinning the wheel. The other options were… was that a dunk tank with lobsters? What in the world could anyone want with that? 

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He looked over to the girl as light appeared, but shrugged it off as she produced a lighter, as if it explained everything perfectly. He went back to tapping at his phone when the worker asked the girl if she wanted to spin the wheel. When it was passed over to Charlie, he frowned and looked at his options. “I’m… allergic.” He finally admitted, holding up his hands in surrender. “Not enough to kill me, obviously but… enough to make me uncomfortable for a while. I’m just picking up for someone, thanks.” Charlie tried to go back to his phone, but the worker was insistent. 

“Come on, if it’s something shellfish related, we’ll send someone in your stead. Poor Johnny on the grill could use a break and have some fun for once.” Charlie blinked, suddenly feeling bad that Johnny seemed to be the one who would take his place if the wheel spun unfavorably. Taking a deep breath, he walked over to the wheel and spun in, looking back at Mona with a ‘well here goes nothing’ look in his eyes before turning back to the wheel, seeing it land on ‘Lobster Claw!’ What the fuck did lobster claw mean? What? 

Charlie turned to the worker to see that they had produced a comically large lobster claw. “What… am I meant to do with this?” He asked, putting his hands up as if in surrender. “Do I have to?” He then asked as a follow-up. “Johnny!” The woman shouted and a very haggard, very skinny-looking redhead came out of the back with a frown. “What?!” He shouted, only to see the lobster claw and frown. “Johnny here has to complete his kitchen duties with it on!” She announced with a clap of her hands. Charlie frowned, shaking his head. “Sorry, man…” He spoke, voice trailing off as he watched Johnny yank the lobster claw away and grumble something about ‘stupid shellfish allergies’ under his breath and went back to work. “Hate that…” He decided, taking a step back. “One spin is enough, I’m content to wait for my food.” He decided, wincing as he heard Johnny start shouting a string of expletives after something clattered to the ground. 

The Billy Bass began to sing again, lulling and melodic as it seemed to want to pull people into its thrall again. Charlie frowned, trying his hardest to resist, continuing to remind himself that there was something wrong with it, that it was cursed. He watched as a customer walked up to the bass and then… gone. He was gone, just like that. Charlie took a step backward, shaking his head. “I want my food so I can go now!” He decided, giving a nervous glance in the worker’s direction, who looked completely unphased. “Please, spin the wheel!” She then spoke as if someone hadn’t just been vaporized by the Billy Mouth Bass. 

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Mona watched with mild interest as Charlie spun the wheel. She craned her neck slightly, watching as the arrow landed on lobster claw with the kind of finality that could only mean one thing; that things were about to get far more strange than before. She watched as one of the women brought out a lobster claw, and then called for a skinny looking redhead from the back. He looked at the lobster claw, then at the two of them, back to the lobster claw, and pathetically crawled his way back to the kitchen, fitting the claw over his right hand. It was none of her business, and she knew it. She should just keep her mouth shut. She averted her gaze, only for it to swivel back up to the wall as the bass started to sing once more. 

Before Mona could insist on the customer moving back, they were gone. She nearly jumped out of her skin, stumbling backwards, far enough from the bass. So she’d been right– being sucked up into the fish was what would happen. Of course it was. Why wouldn’t it be? She had half a mind to melt it off the wall right there and then, but there was no telling if the rest of the place would go up in flames. 

“Me?” She turned to look at the woman who was pushing the wheel of misfortune into her face. “I would rather not, actually. I do not believe I want your food enough to take that chance.” Mona tried to take a step back, but a man with a bib on came to stand at her side, grabbing her elbow. “Please spin.” Mona looked to Charlie, eyebrows furrowed, then back to the wheel. “If it’s bad, I refuse.” She spun the wheel, watching in muted horror as it slowly landed on pearl. Before Mona could ask what it could possibly mean, the woman with the wheel was digging into the pouch at her side and began to throw small pearlescent rocks at her face. “You’ve just been pearl’d! Congratulations. If you gather them within the time limit, you get them for free. Time starts…” Mona dropped to her knees, not wanting to think about what could happen if she didn’t collect them in time. She gathered them up haphazardly, shoving them into the hand tucked to her chest. There were only about eight. One was at Charlie’s foot. “Excuse me, can I please have that?” God, she hated it here. 

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In a moment between the guy getting zapped to nothing and the girl being forced into spinning the wheel, Charlie decided he was in a death trap. Not only because of his stupid shellfish allergy but because everyone here was clearly on something. He let out a noise of frustration as the guy with a bib on seemed to beg at the stranger to spin the wheel. Then, she did. Well, no going back now, he supposed. Charlie watched as the wheel spun and landed on pearl. Ominous, wasn’t it? 

Charlie watched as the woman gifted the stranger a pearl, then watched as she started scattering to pick them all up. As she neared Charlie’s foot, he quickly stepped away from it to give her access to the small pearl. He then started looking around to help her find more, but the bibbed man put a hand onto Charlie’s shoulder and shook his head silently. No, he wasn’t to help her. This was a mission she had to impart on her own. Charlie frowned, how was he able to figure that out from a simple shake of one’s head? This place was bizarre. The more he stayed, the more he wanted to leave. 

He watched as the customer scattered about the place, picking up pearls with wild abandon. Then, it was over. Time was up and she’d gathered all the pearls. “Congratulations, you get to keep your pearls!” Consider it a gift from us at Rock Lobstah to you.” The woman behind the counter gave such a sweet smile that it almost felt sinister. What was this place? Charlie was never coming back, that was for sure. He rubbed at the back of his neck, eager to get the food and get the fuck out of dodge.

He almost cried with relief when a bag was brought out and his name was called, and Charlie accepted it gratefully, nodding his head as if his salvation was in the bag, because it was. He wouldn’t have to wait in this weird fucking allergen hell any longer. “Thanks.” He said, trying to grab it, only to be met with resistance. “We must ask you to perform here, just once.” The man pleaded, and Charlie hesitated. “I dunno man, I’m still figuring out my new career.” He tried to say, but only got met with the most pathetic puppy eyes he’d ever seen from a grown man.

Letting out a sigh of frustration, Charlie nodded his head. “I’ll talk to my team, they’ll be in contact. How about that?” He offered, which seemed to be enough for the stranger who released the bag and allowed Charlie to leave with his food. He looked at Mona and frowned. “You want me to wait until you get your food? Buddy system and all that.” He asked, not really wanting to leave someone who seemed as normal as he was alone in a den of weirdos.

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Mona contemplated for a very short moment falling away in a plume of gumiho colored smoke to evade whatever misfortune might befall her for not finding all of the pearls, but by the time the buzzer sounded and she was pushing her palms full of pearls into the woman’s view, she was told that she had won. The longer she looked at the pearls, the more convinced she was that they were real. Fake pearls weren’t this light. Weren’t these expensive? 

She looked down at her collection, suddenly feeling the weight of the waning much like her dignity as she shoved them into her jacket pocket. After this, she might just never leave her house again. Inge and Felix would need to start making house calls. Anyone who wanted to schedule an appointment would need to do so through an online forum. Mona would shoot them through a hole in five feet of glass and edit out the glare, need be. This town was hell, and the more she stayed in it, the more she regretted it. Still, she couldn’t leave. Either from Wicked’s Rest, or the restaurant, because Charlie was being pleaded with by the waitstaff. 

So this guy was a musician? He looked the part. Mona had guessed he was trying to recreate something out of his look– it was very 80’s. She remembered that era well, and the kinds of guys this one was were a dime a dozen. Not that she ever kept an eye on them for very long. Men weren’t much of her thing. “Oh, right. The food.” She frowned, then looked over to the hostess that looked like she was waiting for somebody to say something. 

She hadn’t even ordered yet, but suddenly, Mona grew afraid that if she remained in the establishment, they would take her pearls away. “You know, I’m suddenly not feeling very hungry. It must’ve been the…” She looked around them, then pointed to the bass hanging on the wall, “the fish.” This was a restaurant dedicated to seafood, so that didn’t make much sense. “The shrimp I’ve had a run in with before, they wouldn’t be happy I was here. I was doing it out of spite. I apologize.” She had nothing to apologize for. God, Felix must’ve been rubbing off on her. She exchanged a quick glance with her neighbor, giving him a curt nod, “we should go before we’re both made to stand the test of time in the belly of Billy.” The fish was starting to sing again, and it was better that they left before something else happened. 

Mona led the way out, pocket heavy with the spoils she’d made, meanwhile the smell of the individual’s food next to her had her stomach growling. “You have a shellfish allergy. Why are you here? Why did you buy their food?” 

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Charlie couldn’t help but snort at the stranger’s realization that she hadn’t even ordered. That was fair enough, given everything that had happened in this place in such a short amount of time. He nodded his head slowly, keeping the food at arm’s length. “I, uh. Got it because the staff kept begging me to stop in. They wouldn’t leave me alone.” He admitted, making sure his voice was quiet enough to not let the hostess hear. If she did hear him, she didn’t make any indication that she had.

“I’ll give it to a friend, it’s no big deal. Unless you want it?” Charlie offered it over, blinking. “They told me it was a lobster roll and a side of fries.” Charlie wasn’t sure why he bothered offering, as the very idea seemed to make the stranger look ill at the very suggestion. “Right.” He decided, pointing toward the door and holding it open for the two of them to leave.