bartending!

[antishinra]

Tonight's Specials:
Absolute Heaven
Blue Heaven
Almost Heaven


Tonight's theme is probably not the hardest one to ever figure out, but the small smile on Tifa's face and the humming coming from her as she puts away her chalk and gathers her hair in a ponytail both say she's not so homesick that she's not content to do her work.

On the contrary, her shift's one of only times all those other thoughts fade away into background noise.

Her smile turns into a grin as she ties an apron around her waist. "Can I get anybody a drink?"

[ooc: Thanks for the tags, guys! A little later than advertised, we're taking these babies slow from this point on.]

Comments

[sleazeoverstyle]

Tonight, he ain't here to drink. He's here to see the lady behind the bar: no muss, no fuss, no jokes, no fightin', none of that shit. Last time he was here he promised her somethin', and he might be a fuck of a lot of things but a liar ain't one of them.

Closing the door on the streets of Midgar, he glances around and sees Tifa, walks over. In his hand there's a big-ass stack of papers all bound together and stuffed into a folder; he sets it down on the bar's surface and slides it over to her.

If she opens it -- he ain't so sure she will and it depends if she's still pissed off at him or not -- she'll see a hand-written note at the very front with the single word sorry scrawled on it.

And beneath it, she'll find this.

"Here. Told you I'd bring mine next time. Doesn't matter to me if you read it or not, but at least open the folder."

[antishinra]

The minute she sees Reno's familiar face approaching the bar, she has to school her expression into careful neutrality. She's never been fantastic at hiding how she feels, but this time... this time, she thinks she's doing pretty well.

But then he sets that big folder full of papers down in front of her and slides it over, and she looks down at it wonderingly.

He told her he'd bring this?

He told her he'd bring this. It's his file from Shin-Ra. Any belief she'd had that he'd actually do it disappeared fast after their last conversation, but now she opens the folder with her thumb and forefinger, a little too delicately, and sees the note there in front.

And she hesitates.

Her eyes feel a little too large, but after a moment she looks up.



"Want a drink, Reno?"

[sleazeoverstyle]

"Nah. Turns me into even more of an asshole than usual and I ain't here to make trouble."

Shrugging, he looks anywhere but at Tifa. Apologizing definitely ain't part of his usual m.o., and she ain't gonna find another sorry in the whole friggin' dossier, no matter how hard she looks.

He knows. He's read it.

"For once."

[antishinra]

She closes the folder for the moment, not intending to go through it in front of him but not really sure if letting her look at it and taking it back immediately are his plan.

He'll probably let on one way or the other soon enough; she doesn't exactly want to come out and ask him.

She smiles slightly, but only because he's pointedly not looking at her. "I could get you a drink that won't turn you into even more of an asshole."

[sleazeoverstyle]

Oh, yeah: that makes him laugh and everything. "The fuck. You know a drink that'll do that, you could retire young. I'd be your best spokesman." Now he does turn and look back at her 'cause the uncomfortable moment's gone, even if the truth is that he could stand to be less of an asshole and he knows it. "What kind of drink you have in mind?"

His eyes go to the folder. It might make good bedtime reading, but only 'cause it's so friggin' boring. "That's yours to keep or burn, whatever you want to do with it except share it. I have a friend in HR, told her I needed a copy. She owed me a favor."

[dontloselight.livejournal.com]

Here's a face Tifa hasn't seen for a while - at least not this version of one.

"Almost Heaven," he reads off the list, his deep voice possibly quite familiar.

He pauses.

"What makes it almost, but not quite?"

[antishinra]

If her face lit up any more at seeing him, she'd probably be a neon sign. "Cloud!"

(It's been a while since she's seen him. She's almost as happy to see him as she would be to see Gaia's Cloud, and almost immediately she's embarrassed by the idea.)

"Probably the price. Heaven wouldn't charge for drinks that good." She grins. "Tonight it's half-off, though. Want to try it?"

[dontloselight.livejournal.com]

"Hello, Tifa."

(That's all right. Cloud is - even if no one can see it - pretty happy to see Tifa, too.)

He takes another moment to ponder this, eyes slowly moving from the list to her. Then he nods.

Sure, he'll try the drink.

[antishinra]

He nods, and if a simple nod can possibly be comforting.... this one is. There are good reasons she thought he was her Cloud when she first met him.

She's smiling a lot more widely than before when she starts preparing his drink, and she divides her attention fairly evenly between Cloud and the drink itself.

"I haven't seen you around lately. How've you been? Is life at Hollow Bastion going well?"

[dontloselight.livejournal.com]

"There haven't been any attacks," he replies, watching her. "And most of the city has been rebuilt. People are starting to return."

It isn't the same, but it's good enough. It's a new start. And that makes him as pleasant as the stoic, usually quiet man can be.

"How are you?"

[sleazeoverstyle]

"Well, well. If this ain't a sweet little reunion."

First Lockhart, then Valentine, now Strife. It's like bonus day for wanted criminals... if he gave a fuck. Lucky for them he doesn't, and when he's here he's off the clock.

"How you doin'?"

[dontloselight.livejournal.com]

Cloud turns to him, expression blank and rather indifferent.

He can't say he recognizes him ... unless he's from that Organization of cloak-wearers. What was his name ... Axel?

"Fine," he replies plainly.

[sleazeoverstyle]

That's weird. As in really weird. What, no fuck you, Reno? No animosity? Like Cloud's asleep or somethin', he waves his hand in front of the guy's face.

"Hello, Reno, what the fuck you want? That's what I was expecting to hear. What is this fine shit, Cloud?"

[acts_of_gord]

"I don't think I know what's in any of those," says Gordon thoughtfully, looking up at the sign. "Should I?"

[antishinra]

The look she gives him is just as thoughtful as the expression on his own face.

"That's a good question. Are you from Earth?" She smiles a little. "We have a few drinks similar to these where I'm from, but I'm still getting the hang of the variations. My personal favorite's the Blue Heaven. It might be because of the blue Curacao, and I've read that's named after a place on Earth."

[acts_of_gord]

"We've run into some problems along the way, but it's still Earth," Gordon says. "I think I've had about enough of beer for a while- I'll try the Blue Heaven. Thank you."

[antishinra]

In her mind, a person who can say that kind of thing is probably a person who deserves a really good drink. She immediately gets out a clean glass and sets to work pouring ingredients into her shaker.

"What kind of problems have you run into back home?"

[mogget_cat]

Yrael eyes the board with a dry smile. "Why would someone choose a drink that is almost heaven over something that is absolute heaven?"

[antishinra]

"You bring up a good point."

And it looks like he's decided to go male again for the moment. She grins in his direction.

"Maybe some people just aren't quite ready for heaven. I take it you're not one of them."

[mogget_cat]

"From what I've heard, heaven sounds boring," he grins. Thus his preference for Milliways.

"The drink version, however, sound much more interesting. Think I could I try one of each kind of heaven?"

[antishinra]

She laughs out loud. "My favorite kind of heaven is my bar at home, so I don't think I can argue with you there."

If she had sleeves on, she'd roll them up.

"For you, I think I could mix one of each." She starts setting out three appropriate glasses. "Which one do you want to start with?"

[theflyingsquirl]

One spandex-clad mutant supervillain, approaching the bar. It has been a long day, a long and very weird one, and given his usual standards that's saying a lot.

A drink would be very good right about now.

"Got anything really strong?" he asks. "Oh, and some sunflower seeds."

[antishinra]

"I can make you something really strong."

She does have to do a little bit of a double take when she sees him, but if she can serve drinks to Wilbur, almost twice her size and tentacled, she can serve drinks to just about anyone.

And she does love her job.

"Sunflower seeds?" That's a request she's never gotten before, but she starts looking around behind the bar. "I bet we have some back here somewhere."

[theflyingsquirl]

He leans against the bar, squirming a bit. This is why he normally wears casual clothes; he doesn't feel so self-conscious in them. Strange that the clothes do what the visible mutations do not.

"I think I'm the only one who asks for them here, but they're good. And yeah, the stronger, the better. Ever just have one of those days?"

[antishinra]

Letting out a small noise of triumph, she produces a bag of sunflower seeds from behind the bar and pours some into a bowl. As she puts the bowl on the bar, she nods and smiles a little.

"I've had a few of those days."

She absently wipes her hands on her apron. "Have you ever had Atlantean? It's the strongest drink I've ever had anywhere, but I'd suggest you drink it slowly." Gesturing behind the bar, she goes on. "Or I could just mix you something, if you'd rather."

There was that blue drink, Adios Motherfucker. She never did tell Vincent the name of it, but she knows it was pretty strong. Definitely cheaper, too.