v-day happy hour

[i_am_your_host]

When the Master of Ceremonies approaches the bar, he's presented with a heart-shaped napkin with a note on it.

Happy St. Valentine's Day! Be a sweetheart and take tonight's bartending shift, won't you? XOXO

"I would be delighted, my dearest," he croons warmly.

With pink chalk, he writes on the specials board:

Gin
Vodka
Brandy
Schnapps (pineapple, apple, cherry, peach)

Then, pouring himself a glass of gin, he nimbly hops up onto the bar and sits with one knee drawn up, his other foot swinging free. Leaning back on one hand, he raises his glass to the bar at large.

"Come, my darlings!" he calls cheerfully from his perch. "It's happy hour, time to get drunk!"

Comments

[not_his_pa]

William's tired after his long and bruising Friday the 13th, but a good night's sleep in Milliways has helped.

Some of his bruises are just visible over his collar and there's one on the side of his face as he glances up from where he was reading at the counter,

"Don't know if I want to get drunk but I could do with a whiskey. Are you some kind of performer?"

[i_am_your_host]

Very few details escape the Emcee's observant eye, but the boy's bruises are plain as day.

"Whiskey it is, darling," he chirps, and he reaches back behind the bar for a glass.

"And I am indeed a performer. What gave me away?"

He flashes the boy a red lipped grin before finding a bottle of whiskey and pouring out a shot for him.

[not_his_pa]

The worst bruise has almost the look of a horn in it, that was from when one of the cattle leaned into him while he was trying to get it out of a shrub.

He smiles and looks awkward as clearly it was a stupid question, "Cause you've got style."

[i_am_your_host]

That makes him chuckle, a bright, musical sound.

"Why, thank you, darling. I like people who recognize style when they see it. I am the Master of Ceremonies," he says, offering him a pale slender hand to shake, "but everyone calls me Emcee. And you are...?"

[halfemptyglasses]

"That's assuming all of us can."

So says Mirai, who has just been popping up at every happy hour now.

"Ah, it's Valentine's Day? I was wondering what time of year it was here."

[i_am_your_host]

"Indeed it is, Fraulein," he says. "Personally, I can take it or leave it, but some people seem to enjoy it. For those who don't, there's always the part about getting drunk."

A pause and a smile.

"Would you like something non-alcoholic to drink?"

[halfemptyglasses]

"Then I haven't missed much here," she comments. "But I've been gone a while on my side. It's April at home."

She smiles a bit in return. The Emcee is good at drawing that out.

"Tea would be nice, please? And every time I've come down here with someone tending the bar, I've asked for whatever's ready to eat in the kitchen. It's been something different each time."

[i_am_your_host]

"Time between our worlds and the end of the universe can become a little erratic," he agrees.

"And tea it is, darling. Is there any type that you prefer?"

He swings both of his feet up, spins around on his bum, and spryly hops off the bar. There's a kettle of hot water at the ready, so all he has to do is fill a tea ball with whichever tea she likes.

"And would you like something sweet or savoury from the kitchen?" he asks as he prepares a teacup.

[intoaman]

Diaval pours over the specials board, clearly taking care to read the words right. "What are the words before apple and cherry?"

[i_am_your_host]

Emcee eyes the pretty young man, and glances over his shoulder at the board.

"Gin, vodka, brandy, schnapps, and pineapple, which is one of the fruit flavors that the schnapps comes in," he explains in a genial tone.

[intoaman]

"Schnapps. Pineapple." He relishes the new words, tracing just above them for the shapes. "I like cherries. Can I have some of that please?"

[i_am_your_host]

"Of course, darling."

Leaning back slightly, he reaches for a glass behind the bar. Then he picks out a bottle of clear red liquor, uncaps it, and pours out a measure.

"There you are. Now, don't drink it too fast. It may taste sweet and delicious, but it will get you tipsy."

[diehard_daniel]

"I'll take some brandy," said Daniel sidling up to the bar. He placed a thick book on her surface and leaned a staff against her.

He's looking rather pale today, his hair is grey and short, and his face has swirled grey scars on it. The skin has a network of fine wrinkles networking the face the man.

[i_am_your_host]

"Coming right up, mein Herr," he chirps, and he leans back a little to pluck up a glass and a decanter of brandy from behind the bar. He pours out a shot, and slides the glass over toward the man.

"Looks like very heavy reading you've got there."

It's a thick book. Heavy? Reading?

...What? Awful puns are his specialty.

[diehard_daniel]

Daniel snorted, his cataracked eyes watching his sever with amusement, "Oh yes, it is pretty heavy. Makes a good weapon."

He picked up his glass with pale grey hands and took a drink.

"Yup that's what I needed."

[i_am_your_host]

He smirks, wrinkling his nose.

"Must you often use your reading material as weapons?"

[takingthechance]

"That's not a half bad idea." Sam has spent the last week or so praying that they'd leave London soon... and now she sort of wishes they'd spent another day there. Sort of. "You know, I don't think I've ever had any of those."

[i_am_your_host]

Emcee is indulging in a hearty sip of gin when Sam arrives, and at her remark, his foot stops swinging in mild disbelief.

"Really? You've never tasted any of these before?"

[takingthechance]

"... Not knowingly?" She makes a face at his disbelief - it isn't her fault that the reason she got to leave home was the same reason many hard alcohols have become outrageously expensive. "I've had parsnip wine."


...

"It was atrocious."

[sunbaked_baker]

"May all the gods bless you and the Bar's sense of timing, Emcee," Rae says, sitting down heavily on the nearest barstool. She looks tired, and the kind of vaguely pissed-off that originates as grief and guilt but has chafed into piss-offedness. Sunshine is aware of it, however, and is actively trying not to be pissed-off at people. They don't deserve it.

"Everything on that list sounds good right now, so surprise me with whatever."


(ooc: The mun just got in from her valentine's day date, and is going to crash shortly, but she wanted to tag in, if slowtimes are okay. <333)

[i_am_your_host]

Emcee raises his eyebrows at her declaration, but he recognizes well enough the signs of someone who needs a drink, and fast.

"I shall take that blessing and cherish it, darling," he purrs with a grin, as he reaches back behind the bar for a glass.

"And you need something strong, but sweet. Much like yourself, methinks."

Producing a bottle of pineapple schnapps, he fills the glass, and slides it toward her.

[sunbaked_baker]

"You're too kind," Rae replies, accepting the glass with a faint, short-lived smile.

"Can't remember the last time I had pineapple schnapps," she remarks, appreciating the tart-sweet-sharp smell before drinking. This isn't the way to go about solving what is wrong with her situation, but there isn't currently a way of solving that. This is just to pass the time.

"How have you been, Emcee?"

[street_sparrow]

"Hello, Emcee", Gavroche says with a grin. "Now, which of those schnappses haven't I tried before..."

[i_am_your_host]

"Ah, bon soir, darling," Emcee greets the lad, returning the grin.

"There is really only one way to find out: have a shot of each to remind yourself?"

[street_sparrow]

"I think I will!" he agrees cheerfully, never one to resist a bad influence. "Taking time to taste them properly, of course."