Bar-tending is thirsty work.

[trickster_mk2]

Who: Gabriel, Ed, anyone else who wants to drop by
What: A little get-to-know you before shift starts.
Where: The Devil's Nest | South Side of Town
When: Just before opening.
Rating: TBA but probably PG-13

Comments

[trickster_mk2]

Gabriel smirked. He wouldn't have said that was observation, just deduction, my dear Ed. But as he couldn't, for the time being, see into the little blonde's head, he couldn't well answer that way. "Greed doesn't live here, he's got his own place. But as far as I know, he's not here at all yet. Probably taking care of something." Or someone, for that matter, but that was Greed's very own business and nothing what-so-ever to do with Gabriel. Even if he did feel a little spike of jealousy at the thought, he was well above and beyond that.

The angel paused then, at the mention of new meat, er, employees, and gave a little grin. "Well why didn't you say so?" He asked, gesturing for the blonde to come closer. "You know, it's sort of customery to get in early on your first day. Humans think it shows they're enthusiastic or dedicated or good time-keepers or something. Being early, that's sort of important. Don't want to miss orientation, do you?"

And with that Gabriel snaps his fingers, appearing on the customer's side of the bar, passing the glass forward. "Try it. It's called Sex on the Beach. Pretty tastey, even if I do have to say so myself." He adds, with a wink. "Ever worked as a galley slave? No? Oh well. Bus-boying should be pretty easy. Boring but easy. If we get any quiet bits, I'll teach you a few drinks, hm?"

Then he pauses, frowning and realises he's missed out a bit, "Yeah. I'm Gabriel. Don't expect angel, bartender extraordinaire... and whatever else I feel like at the time."

[nervetonotkill]

and then I was hit with the unannounced slowatus train, or something ... boo. I'm also feeling like Winry or Al, when I feel that I should probably apologize for Ed in this tag XD

Well, Ed's a brat, what else did you expect? Oh well, neither didn't really know what to expect when they were strangers, for now. Too bad the homunculus wasn't here, the alchemist could have given him a rude awakening. Shrug. "Who knows, he might be sleeping in one of those rooms too." Ed didn't really care about his location all that much right now, and if he wasn't here to tell the alchemist something about being on time for once, the better it was for Ed's current mood. Maybe. It annoyed him less when it was left unsaid. The whole thing reminded him about an annoying Colonel anyway.

"Because you didn't ask and just assumed that I was some kid from the street who just happened to be around before the opening." He was so good at first impressions. His golden eyes narrowed a bit at the word humans. So, the stranger wasn't a human? "Yeah, most of us do, but I'm not part of that group. I can leave it to old geezers." And Winry, and Al, they were good time-keepers. "Except when I'm bored enough to come here early." Which was why he was here right now, you just wait until Ed finds all the things to do in this city and he is going to be late all the time after that. Not really. He could try being ... About on time? Just on time? Whatever. It wasn't an impossible goal, but at least Greed knew who he hired.

Ed twitched as Gabriel disappeared with a snap of fingers. Okay - first things first; snap of fingers? Yeah, that thing produced fire from Mustang in his world. Not like he expected that thing to cause fire too. Second - WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?! He looked very surprised. As much as Ed had seen in his life, that was new. Sure, he'd get use to it if he was going to see it more, but there was first time's shocking surprise for everything. Thirdly - and his look was going all the way back to the very annoyed look now - the man was offering him alcohol? Well, not like it was a surprise in a bar, but... And what the hell's the wink for? Whatever. Edward looked as stubborn as ever. "So, you're trying to offer me a drink with alcohol in it? And you think it's tastey? It must be your lucky day, you can drink that untasty thing all by yourself, I'm not touching that damn shit." Slave? What the fuck? "No." Was working for the military of Amestris the same thing? Probably not. This man was a weirdo, not like Ed hadn't known too many weirdos before coming here, and most of them ended up being his friends. Tsk. "Boring, and probably too easy, except for the part where I should be ...acting like a good working pup." He was going to -- suck at it, probably, because his mouth usually talked before he had time to think about his words. Also, being at least somewhat polite? Yeah, that wasn't always easy either. That's why Al and Winry apologized for Ed's actions too often, but they weren't here to do that now. "But sure, I can take those so called lessons about making a few drinks." He'd learn fast.

Gabriel, okay so he had a name too ...Ed frowned. Angel? "Real angel, fallen here from Heaven or whatever you call it in your world?" It would have been more surprising if he hadn't run into all those things in Amestris. "Oh right. Edward Elric, Ed's fine, currently an alchemist without his alchemy skills... Usually just every place's regular troublemaker, who can fix the caused damage with those skills." He was just going to have to wait to get his alchemy back.

[trickster_mk2]

“You wanna go wake up the boss?” Gabriel asked, although it wasn’t about to happen, Gabe isn’t going to let it happen. Greed would turn up when he wanted, one of the perks of being the boss-man. “And whoever he might be with? Brave kiddo. But don’t worry your pretty blonde head, I can show you around as well as he can.” And that was true. Gabriel knew his way around the Nest by now, all the bits that Ed would need to know anyway, but he was pretty sure the boy was going to go off exploring by himself too, as soon as the coast was clear. He seemed to sort and, well, that was on his head. Gabriel wasn’t a baby sitter.

Even as Gabriel blinked in and out of sight, he laughed. That surprised face was darling, even if he wasn’t going to mention it. This was a boy who thought he was a man, and those were the most amusing sorts. “No alcohol for you? Fine by me.” Gabe replied, taking a swallow- hey, he wasn’t going to pass up the chance for something fruity and filled with sugar, not today of all days. “Any reason why not?” Code of Honour, maybe? Because the kid had a stupid amount of respect for legal-drinking-age laws? Because he thought Gabe was going to drug him? Whatever, Gabriel only wanted to know. They were going to be working together, when the kid turned up, so he better get some idea of who he was and what he was like.

Opinion so far? The boy was gonna be a pain in the ass.

“Not Fallen, no. That’s Lucifer. And he fell much further than Earth, kiddo. Come on, you got the stories back home, right?” He asked, sitting down on a bar-stool and taking another swallow of the drink, casually letting the wings, only one pair, shimmer into existence on this particular plane, their outline a haze. “But angel? Yeap. One Hundred percent pure, unadulterated angel.” He paused a second longer, letting the wings fade out again. “Maybe not unadulterated but you don’t need to know about that till you’re older, right?”

And with that, there was another snap of figures, and a cocktail shaker appeared in the air, at Ed’s eye-level. “So, let’s see what you can do, Ed the Alchemist without his Mad Skillz.” And yes, somehow the angel managed to pronounce the z.

[nervetonotkill]

"Hey, if I'm not sleeping because of his damn work place, then I won't let the bastard sleep either." They are friends, good friends actually, but knowing that from Ed's way of addressing his friends is usually impossible. He's been practicing this part with Mustang for years, after all, though his friendship with Ling and Greed and most people is different than the damn twisted respect thing with the Colonel. "Good point about his company though, I think I might just skip it." Besides, you said he wasn't here, so he is giving you a sharp look. "I can look around myself as well, like a good pup who's looking around in his new home. Don't need a babysitter." Or puppy-/dog-sitter. He... probably wouldn't get the puppy reference, but whatever. It sounded enough like a common thing, except to all the people from Amestris.

"Tsk." Thank your Dad for not getting a fist into your face for laughing at him, angel. It wouldn't be the first time with his short-temper, though someone laughing at his faces happens a lot. "Nope, you can --" Ed twitches. That was fast. "--have it, just like you're doing right now." Maybe he should thank your Dad for not giving you another funny face, because that could have happened too. Let's just say your actions aren't as shocking and annoying as two adult chimeras hiding behind a tree in two seconds. "Call it Code of Honour, or absolutism, or the fact that big amounts of that stuff's not going to do good for anyone." And he needs his brain for other stuff, he likes to keep his memory clear, he's bonded his soul with his brother - drunk party at the Gate for Al if he's drunk? Not that he's against other drinking it, in fact that's good because then he can get everything out of them while they're more chatty than usual. "Otherwise I'd have drink that stuff ever since I was twelve." So fuck about legal-age theory, it doesn't exist in his mind. Well, to him anyway - sure he can freak out if someone else's is doing something wrong for their age, but... That depends on the person and the situation. And who knows, he doesn't trust you yet, you could be trying to drug him. Nah, Ed's not that paranoid, you don't even have a reason to drug him - unless your reason would be something like drugging the first person who arrives... Whatever. That's really not a theory in his mind, though it's usually not impossible. In fact, it's just entirely possible.

"I know, read that stuff long ago. But what I meant was more like you falling from whatever's up there to this city." First you're in that place, next you wake up here. His golden eyes widen a lot at the moment when Gabriel shows the wings. "Those are real?" Because he's seen a lot that isn't real, but seems real and those seem real too. And he's giving an annoyed look at the age stuff. "Really? Try, I swear you'll be surprised." Dammit, he's seen too much for his age, but he's not going to tell about it to you.

Looks like angel had some MAD SKILLZ too, but at least Edward is less surprised by it this time. Kind of like that beard guy doing things out of nowhere, though Ed knows the reasons for his actions now. He's staring at the cocktail shaker, looking a littel confused, maybe. "I'm supposed to do something with that?" Not that he minds. Actually, it might be just better this way, like giving something for Ed to do is never a bad choice. Good life choices, Gabriel, really! "Hell, sure, let's get started right now." It couldn't be difficult to use that thing, again, dammit. Winry would probably warn the angel about Ed always breaking all machines in no time, but alas - she wasn't here, and really, how bad could the end of this be? Very bad, considering that Ed is in the situation with a machine, but... That's just part of the tiny details!

[trickster_mk2]

Now that was a fair point, and it makes Gabriel smirk again. “True, then again, I’m still not going to let you go wake him up. You don’t need your beauty sleep, and boss-man does.” That’s was true, but its good enough for the moment. And if the kid wants to go look around? Fine, although like most kids his age, he probably looks with his hands just as much as he looks with his fingers, and something will end up broken. They’ll just have to deal with it when they get there, won’t they? Besides, Gabriel really isn’t in the mood to play babysitter, and if the kid breaks something, it’s on his own head. “Fine, puppy. Just don’t pee on the carpet.”

Oh please? Drugging people? If Gabriel wanted you out cold and helpless, he wouldn’t have to do much more than think about it. Putting something in your drink? Not his style little blondie. But don’t worry, Gabriel has absolutely no foul intentions concerning you. Besides, he’s Mr Nice Angel at the moment. No smiting, biting or anything else even vaguely entertaining.

“Anything is bad for you humans in large amounts. You’re not exactly sturdy things.” Gabriel replies, and downs the rest of the drink. His stint as a human for two months when he first arrived hasn’t dampened any of his passion for sweet, sugary things; in fact, it might even be a little worse considering he had to eat things other than candy. “But sure, I can respect that decision. Whatever else you want, if we don’t have it here, we’ll get it in.”

The shadow of the wings beat, slow, lazy almost, but it causes enough of a gust, dust and dirt pushed out and way from the angel. Then they’re completely gone. “They’re real enough. Not good for you humans either, burns out those pretty eyes but they come in useful from time to time.” And talking about his wings is much preferred to discussing how he came to be here. “I ended up here just like everyone else kiddo, we’re all the same in that respect.” He sighs, and glances away, putting his thoughts in order, returning his gaze back. “Yeah? I bet.” He’s not even being sarcastic. All things considered? The kids that ended up here hadn’t had the most normal, or peaceful, of times back home.

“You mix cocktails with it.” The angel tells him, laughing softly. Dad in Heaven, has this kid never seen a cocktail shaker before? Gabriel thought they were pretty universal, shared whatever reality you ended up in. Maybe not. And hey, at least there are no moving parts in there for him to break? There isn’t much damage you can do to a cocktail shaker... famous last words.

“Alright then. Let’s go for simple, hm? You need... some vodka and Cointreau. There’s some on the prep shelf. And you need a lime and cranberry juice too. Bring it all over here. Daddy’s gonna teach you how to make a Cosmopolitan.”

[nestingdevil]

As the two of them chatted about the intimate workings of alcohol, something upstairs was stirring.

It made itself known with a loud thud of feet, the trampling of a creature on an unbalanced keel. The floor boards shook, sending silt spilling below. Then, the foot steps were on the move - it was the naked padding of feet that tolled against wood. A door crashed open upstairs and banged uselessly on its hinges. The sound moved down the hallway above before the stairs were groaning their own displeasure. And from the mid-afternoon haze, toes wriggled into view.

Greed yawned and threw a hand to the back of his head. He rubbed at the spikes, fanned them out between his fingers as he trailed down the steps. Perhaps unexpectedly, he had the remainder of a sheet wrapped around his waist - the white fabric was tied in a knot at his hip bone and with it, his fingers tangled to hold everything still. "I don't pay you if the place isn't open, you know. This is all on your own time, Alchemist."

The homunculus found the first floor and raised his head. His eyes held a laziness in them, an obvious effect of having been woken up by the stirring voices below. He blinked once at Ed, then turned a surprised look in Gabriel's direction. "Bonding?" He shrugged his shoulders and stuck a free finger into his ear. "Whatever you'd like, but like I said - you're not getting paid for this. I hope the two of you know that."

Sheet in toe, Greed passed the bar and opened his jaws again with a second yawn. His chompers glistened in the faint light spilling in from a window. "But don't let that deter - as you were." He turned his back and thudded it against the door leading to the kitchen, pushing it with enough force to have to bang against the back wall. "I'm sure I'm not needed in this conversation anyhow."