"SERVE UP AT TABLE SIX!" 

DING!!!

Marinette Bushway. Born and raised in Louisiana but her mother was from France. She visited the country from time to time when she wasn't so busy. Blind in her left eye due to an accident while playing Bibi guns with her siblings when she was younger. She still has the drive to pursue hunting. Preferably waterfowl and deer. She's pretty into hunting, so she's down for anything related to the subject. But will never poach. Her father taught her the proper way to hunt and to abide by the rules. Her father is one of Louisiana's best game and fish wardens on this side of the bayou after all! She always looked forward to hunting season of all sorts. And she was a pretty good shot too! Especially with her hunting dog Lucy. A black poodle and pitbull mix. And yes, before anyone objects to anything, Poodles are more than just fancy cut show dogs. They are traditionally waterfowl hunting dogs and are extremely smart. And being part pitbull just made it better for Marinette. Apparently Foxy got her the rescue puppy from the shelter and gave her to Marinette for a birthday present a few years back.

Foxy Escarra is Marinette’s childhood friend. The duo had met on a hunting trip when Foxy’s dad became a U.S. citizen. Since he wasn’t really used to the hunting laws in the States, they’d tagged along with the Bushway family and became fast friends. She, like her mother, was Spanish American, both having been born U.S. citizens while her father was “full blooded Mexican” as her mom called him. She had her father’s unique purple eyes while she had her mother’s flowing ginger hair. And her rebellious nature. Her kindness was more from her father. When she saw Lucy and Natsu at the rescue… She had to save them. And since Marrinette’s birthday was coming up at the time, she figured Lucy would be the perfect gift!!

“So Blaze’s little serpiente de fuego* is serving drinks at the bar.. he’s quite the useful little lamia.” Foxy commented as she came in for her break.

*Fire snake

"Oh? And how's Gaster? The petit timide*?"

*Little shy one

"Is he enjoying that bowl of fried and seasoned jumbo shrimp that I cooked up?" Marinette boasted with pride that both her cooking and hunting skills were getting better.

“He was, now he’s swimming in the bathroom sink..” She giggled. “Just wait until Zash sees that.”  

Marinette face palmed and pinched the bridge of her nose in an attempt to keep the migraine down while frying the chicken.

"We really need to get a small pool or aquarium in the back room…" She muttered. But then her question from before popped back up in her head.

"By the way, are we going to that Lamia place after our shifts? And if we are, I need to stop next door to Ichiko's shop to pick something." Marinette said as she took the fried food and put them on a separate platter while yelling a string of French curses to the other cooks to "hurry it up!"

“Great minds think alike, I was coming in here to ask you the same thing.” Foxy admitted. 

"Great! I ordered my camo suit to be sewn up after hunting with that hog. Also I want to get something special for the little guy." Marinette said, chuckling.

仕立て屋の店

Shitateya no mise

*The Seamstress' Shop was a decent sized fabric's, sewing, and multiple types of art store. It was like a cute version of Hobby Lobby. Ichiko was the store owner and had items that a hoarder could only dream of. Her store was across the street from the restaurant and were good friends with Blaze. Although she's been busy lately to even notice the scaly companions. This should be interesting.

A few hours later...

“Hey Ichiko! Get your butt over here and give me a hug!” Foxy demanded.

"Coming~~~!!!" A minute later a short woman that had short strawberry pink hair, mismatched eyes, pale ivory skin, and wearing a cute Lolita outfit. Honestly she looked like one of the characters of Strawberry Shortcake. 

Once she saw Foxy and Marinette in her shop, she squealed in delight. She ran from behind her counter and gave a bone crushing hug to her Latino and French friend.

"Ooofffff!!! Good to see you too Ichiko…" Marinette choked out.

“You’ve been missing out on a lot at the diner, niña!” 

"Ohhh~~~ I know!!! But business has been doing great so far! In fact, you two are the one of the many customers that have come by in the last hour!" She beamed.

"Is that so? Not to rain on your parade or doubt you any… but did you do something different? Advertising maybe?" Marinette asked.

"Well awhile back, this bunny lady came in with this strange little pet- oh! I mean companion on her shoulder! He was so cute! I believe she called him a "Chain"(?) But she said his name was Rodger. He didn't seem like a "Rodger" though… He seemed more like a Frank to me…"

"Woah, woah, woah!!! You saw another Lamia? Well what did you do for her..?" 

Foxy was now very interested in the conversation.

"Well she said that he needed a new hoodie that was washable and durable for him. But I told her that I didn't have a hoodie that small. But she simply asked me if I could make her one. At first I was hesitant about it, but seeing the cuties' eyes, I couldn't help but give in! So I told her that'd I work on it and we handed each other our numbers so we could keep touch. And after only a few days I was able to finish it! I was even surprised myself at how good it turned out! So I experimented more and I had a ton of good looking clothing products! So I called her up and handed it to her and she was ecstatic! She said that I needed to advertise this so I did! And now business is booming!" She cheered.

“entonces ya tienes ropa de Lamia*?” Foxy asked, grinning. She looked at Marionette, wiggling her eyebrows.

Translation: So you already have Lamia clothes?

"Yeah! Are you guys by any chance getting one?! A Lamia I mean." She said getting excited. 

"Actually yes. We were on our way to get one. But I came here first to pick up my camo outfit. How much do I owe ya?" Marinette asked as she brought her wallet out.

"Oh! Don't worry about that dear! It was an easy fix so there's no charge!" She said encouragingly.

"Are you sure? It was a nasty tear… lucky I didn't get caught up in that." Marinette muttered.

"Well, how about this, you don't have to pay for it as long as you bring in those cuties for tailoring and you can pay for the clothing for them. How about that?!" She seemed absolutely on cloud nine. She must've had a Red Bull again.

Marinette laughed at the thought. But agreed to her business idea.

"Okay! I'll keep your suit here until you come back with them. Good luck!" Ichiko yelled out as the two made their way out.

“Muchas gracias, Ichiko!” Foxy called back, waving. 

As soon as they were out Marinette was still trying to process that other people and monsters were now finding out about the place. I guess that sponsorship that Blaze offered worked. 

"Well, let's find the place before they're sold out!" She cheered, dragging Foxy down to the bus station.

“¡Santa mierda mujer*! I’m coming! I’m coming!” Foxy giggled, running to catch up so she wouldn’t be dragged.

*Holy shit woman!

A half hour of a bus drive later…

They finally arrived at the lone bus stop and got off in search of the mysterious shop.

After about a fifteen minute search in the secluded neighborhood, they found the building matching the description. They stood there nervously at the intimidatingly colored building. The snake building seeming to stare right into their souls.

That was until Rain opened the door.

“Rain! Thank God, is this place always… like this?” Foxy couldn’t really find the words to describe the building. “I mean, I get it’s a Lamia shop, but seriously, this seems a bit.. Overboard?”

“Mm, you get used to it. You two coming for a Lamia companion or two?” Rain asked as she stepped aside to let them in. 

“Yepperoo. Do you usually bring Gaster here with you? Since he doesn’t like being alone and all that?” Foxy asked, walking in with Marionette trailing behind her. 

“Always. He helps me around.” Said bitty poked his head out of her pocket, waving.

Marinette waved to the bitty. "How did you like your meal that I cooked? Good yeah?"

“Wonderful, thank you miss Marinette.” Gaster praised.

"Thank you timide*. I'll be sure to cook more for you. Just let me know about what you crave and I'll make it." Marinette smiled.

Gaster smiled but was slightly confused about what she called him.

Rain led the way to the back. She was about to call for Ms. Scales but before she could get a word out. They heard a "come in, come in~" from the other side of the door. Rain walked in with the girls and saw the "old" woman at her desk going through papers upon papers of never ending work. The woman mumbling an incomprehensible slew of words that the women couldn't make out. It kinda sounded like… Spanish curses?

"How can I help you my dearies~?" She cooed out as she put the paperwork down.

“Something tells me you already know, Senora.” Foxy replied, eyeing the woman.

The woman eyed the Hispanic woman with a dangerous glint in her eyes but made a mischievous smile on her face from under her numerous robes.

"I take it this is the Latino woman who knows some of the legends of my lovelies' ancestors~?"

“Uh yeah… that’s Foxy.” Rain pointed to the red head. “And that’s Marinette.” She pointed to the raven poofy haired woman.

Ms. Scales sniffed the air. "Ah~ the Foxy one~ you have the blood of my lovelies' worshippers~ They were good people~ It's an an honor to meet the next generation of the Mexican branches' Lamia Priestess~ And here I thought they were all wiped out~" she purred out.

She felt confused and a bit uneasy that Ms. Scales knew all that about her. It had her on edge. “Uh, nope. Still alive..”

"Hmmmm~" she sung out. Pretty much every bitty lamia in the room had their eyes on the new visitors now. Foxy and Marinette stared at every one of them until their eyes landed back on the woman.

Marinette at this time was really questioning her childhood friend's true identity at this point, but right now, the woman gestured for them to come over. With hesitation they sat across from her as she pushed some files towards them.

"Browse at your leisure~"

Foxy hummed, looking from file to file until two in particular caught her interest. The King file and the Coral file. “Mari, you should check this one out.” She passed the King file to her. 

Marinette opened the file.

https://images.app.goo.gl/Eo53xLsPfjFwRZAa8 

Bitty Type: King

Species type : Underfell Papyrus

Snake Type: King Cobra

Size: 1-2 feet total, 8-12 inches standing (miniature)/9-13 feet total, 4-6.5 feet standing (full-sized)

Venomous: Yes

Personality: Proud and noble

Likes: Being admired, cats, children, being read to, cooking, showing off

Dislikes: Rudeness, bullies, being mocked, feeling helpless or weak

Compatibility: Will protect shy or timid bitties, does not tolerate aggressive or dangerous bitties

Feeding Habits: King will hunt for his own food whenever possible, he doesn’t mind whether it’s raw or cooked, loves dried fruit but hates coconut

Additional Information: Each King has a unique skull pattern on his hood, and though the hood is usually spread to intimidate a potential threat, Kings also flare the hood to show off their markings.

"Huh, he sounds sweet. I wonder if he likes dogs though…"

“They prefer cats, but they don’t dislike dogs.” Foxy replied nonchalantly. 

"Well looking at his file it doesn't appear to… but you didn't even look at it. How'd you know…? I'm still going to interrogate you later on about this." Marinette muttered. "But it says that he's also a hunter! Maybe he can come with us during hunting season, eh?"

“Oh yeah!” She grinned excitedly. “Too bad Corals aren’t the same way.” She giggled. “They are too lazy to hunt.” She was avoiding the topic of her knowledge for now. At least until they could talk alone. 

https://images.app.goo.gl/JpVSVAVAwE2dVKbm7 

Bitty Type: Coral

Species type: Underfell Sans

Snake Type: Eastern Coral Snake

Size: 8-12 inches total, 3-5 inches standing (miniature)/3 feet total, 1-1.5 feet standing (full-sized)

Venomous: Yes

Personality: Tsundere and temperamental

Likes: Shiny items, affection (though he denies it), attention, tactile items

Dislikes: Being grabbed, being ignored, people taking his treasures

Compatibility: May have trouble getting along with other bitties, prefers affectionate or gentle bitty types

Feeding Habits: Too lazy to hunt but he will eat raw or cooked meat, give him mustard to dip his food in and something crunchy like chips or crackers for a snack

Additional Information: Coral may struggle to express his emotions, but he craves love and attention. He just doesn’t know how to ask for it.

Marinette raised a curious brow at her friend. "You want him?" She asked curiously.

“I’m drawn to him, is more like it. It’s a little hard to explain..” She chuckled lightly. 

Ms. Scales' smile grew wider. "Well have you chosen your… "companion"~. She purred out.

“I have, Mari? Will you take a King or do you wanna keep looking?” Foxy asked. 

"... You know what, what the Hell. I'll take one!" 

"EGG-celent choice~ Unfortunately for me, I have paperwork to do. But Rain dear? Can you show your friends where the little lovelies are~?"

Rain nodded. “This way ladies.” 

They got up and followed Rain to one of the lower left side of where they kept the Kings and Corals. 

“Note, Kings usually spread their hoods as a threat display.” Foxy warned her friends before stepping under the railing. 

The Kings and Corals were either kept in separate tanks or grouped together in large ones.

"Why is it arranged like this?" Marinette asked Rain.

“Most Kings and Corals are siblings so they are kept together. The ones that are separate are either the only ones to hatch or are in heat/rut.” She explained. 

"Lamias get heat too? Is there something I'm going to need to help with that?" Marinette cautiously asked as she watched a sleeping King in a separate tank.

“Something tells me that it’ll be fine.” Foxy mumbled, looking at the Corals. 

Rain looked… shocked? At what she said, while Marinette just raised a curious brow.

“WHAT ARE YOU STARING AT ME FOR? IF YOU’RE GOING TO STARE, YOU SHOULD AT LEAST SAY HELLO!” The King that had been sleeping was now staring at Marinette. 

Marinette jumped a little at his volume, that he was awake, and the fact that she had been staring too long.

"S-sorry. I was listening to my friend… and you are…?" Marinette asked inquisitively. 

“I AM EDGE.” He greeted her with a smirk.