(Untitled)

[i_spoiled_it]

When the door opens for Steph this time she is framed against the background of a busy street in Nairobi, instead of the quiet villages she's been in.  She looks frazzled and tired and sore. And when she looks up and it's the bar, not the hotel lobby she expected, she looks very pleased.

"Finally.  I missed you," she informs the gleaming countertop

Comments

[tobeclosetohim]

"Oh, thank fuck," is a little miserably dark.
From a blonde sinking on a stool.

It's not her shift.

"Three shots. Dealer's choice."

[i_spoiled_it]

Steph manages a tired grin for her. "I don't mind doing it, I really don't. I love Bar. But I kinda just wanted to sleep, you know?"

She selects a bottle at random from the shelf, and looks at it doubtfully. "Limoncello gonna do it for you?"

[tobeclosetohim]

"For the first one."
As it's very. Yellow.

She hates offering it, but.
"If you're beat, I could--"

Working a bar, while tossed.
Well, she's good at that, too.

[i_spoiled_it]

Steph gets three shot glasses, fills one with the limoncello , and slides it over.

She smiles at her, grateful. "No, no. I'm good for it. Happy Hours are always kinda fun, you know? It's not like I'd get much sleep anyway, around here."

[cutting_edgex23]

X, gearing up for her late night into early morning Security shift, slips onto a barstool, head tilting slightly as she studies the specials board.

Then Steph.

Then the specials board again.

"People are rude?"

Beat.

"To you."

This pause is longer.

"When you are working."

The question of whether those clarifications narrowed things down enough to ever garner a 'no' answer is --

Well. It's probably not a very good question, is it?

[i_spoiled_it]

Steph grins. "Not yet," she says, brightly. "But they might be. And then I have an excuse to charge them full price."

Helpful!

[cutting_edgex23]

"I do not think you need an excuse," X says, after a momentary silence.

"For that."

She is very serious.

[i_spoiled_it]

"No, I do," Steph says, nodding seriously. "It's Happy Hour. People expect cheap drinks. I need to give them a reason if I'm going to sock them full price."

[v_accidentprone]

A wild Alex appears.

He is holding a carton of milk with a drawing on it. Also, his name. "I think someone noticed I left."

[i_spoiled_it]

Steph looks suddenly slightly shifty.

"It's possible."

[v_accidentprone]

Alex offers her a crooked smile. "At least your cover is still intact."

Beat.

"I think."

[i_spoiled_it]

Steph grins. "It was the beard. I knew it'd be the best disguise ever. How'd you go once you got home?"

[crabbycustomer]

"I NEED A MOVIE RECOMMENDATION," Karkat says, without pre-amble. The more he talks the more likely he is to wind up paying full price. "SOMETHING WITH A COMPELLING RIVALRY AND A SLOW BUILD-UP. IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE VIOLENT BUT IT CAN'T HURT."

"I HAVE HAD ENOUGH SOGGY HUMAN RED ROMANCE BULLSHIT FOR ONE WEEK."

[i_spoiled_it]

Steph peers at him, intrigued and amused.

"... I don't really watch many movies. Um, the Fast and the Furious, maybe?"

[crabbycustomer]

"OKAY WELL THAT TITLE IS PROMISING AT LEAST, WORTH A FUCKING SHOT."

The bar appears a DVD for him. He sighs heavily. "I DON'T KNOW WHY I BOTHER, EARTH TALES OF CALIGNOUS INTENT ARE PRETTY MUCH A HUGE EXERCISE IN BULGEBLOCKERY AND STRANGLED GLOBES, BUT I DON'T KNOW HOW ELSE I'M EVER GOING TO GET A TENUOUS GRIP ON YOUR PINK MONKEY PSYCHOLOGY."

Yeah he was pretty much never going to get those half-price drinks.

[i_spoiled_it]

Steph ... is totally not giggling at him. Totally not.

"Calignous? Wait, are you calling us pink monkeys?"

[seat_five_girl]

Ako adjusts her hat as she sits down.

"Do you have an suggestions?"

[i_spoiled_it]

Steph considers.

"Are you a beer drinker? Beers are easy.

"Hey, I like your hat."

[seat_five_girl]

"Thank-you," says Ako, "But, um, I was thinking maybe more like a soda?"

[i_spoiled_it]

"Oh, right." Steph grins at her. "Sorry. I learned to bartend from Indiana Jones, so I always seem to automatically go for the alcohol. Soda is good too! What sort?"