Caritas, Sunday

[suitably_heroic]

"I know you like margaritas," Atton started, "But this is a little over the top."

Tino opened his mouth.

"I'm not talking to you," Atton said, rolling his eyes. "I'm talking to the bar."

The massive palm tree that had popped up behind it - containing a margarita tap - didn't reply.

"Come on!"

[[ open! ]]

Comments

[died8yearsago]

"Hey," Rosa came in and leaned on the bar with the attitude of someone who owned the place, and not someone who'd been there only once before, "you guys are putting on the game, right?"

It was Superbowl Sunday and it was a bar, and if they weren't, then this place was officially going to be too weird for her.

[suitably_heroic]

"Which game?" Atton shot back.

Tino waved both arms at him.

"... Okay, I guess we are," he amended.

[died8yearsago]

"Which game?"

Seriously, what was this place?

"What, do you live under a rock? The Superbowl, you nerd. What else?"

[suitably_heroic]

"Oh, can the attitude," Atton said irritably. "I'm not from this planet, lady."

[died8yearsago]

"Of course you're not," Rosa muttered, and, so help her, she was almost starting to believe it a little bit. "Do they serve beer on your planet?"

[suitably_heroic]

"In my galaxy?" Atton corrected. "As a matter of fact, they do."

He reached for a glass.

[gobrookeyourself]

Brooke somehow hadn't been to the bar since she'd been back in town, and once she realized that, it was time to fix it immediately.

Also she needed a break from work before her head exploded, which was why she thought of the bar to begin with.

"Okay, I know it's been a while, but I didn't expect the palm tree," she said when she walked in.

[suitably_heroic]

"The palm tree is probably newer than you are," Atton said, side-eyeing it.

[gobrookeyourself]

"Is it here for a reason?" Brooke asked slowly, stepping up to the bar anyway.

[suitably_heroic]

"The bar is really enthusiastic about margaritas today?" Atton ventured.

[gobrookeyourself]

“Oh,” she said, immediately brightening. “Then so am I. One margarita, please.”

[suitably_heroic]

"All right," Atton said, eyeing the margarita tap on the tree...

... and ignoring it in favor of snagging some triple sec.

[gobrookeyourself]

“Usually the bartender doesn’t save someone from a bad decision until around the time you call for a cab,” Brooke pointed out.

[suitably_heroic]

"Hey, if you want Tree Margarita, fine," Atton said, pausing halfway to the tequila. "But you gotta write a note that I'm not liable for whatever weird poodoo it does to you."

[gobrookeyourself]

“Signing a waiver is way too much work,” Brooke said. “I’m surprised you didn’t make Tino try it and see if he falls over.”

[suitably_heroic]

"If I kill Tino, no one is going to man the bar for me when I head out for a smoke," Atton said practically. "And I'd have to clean this place myself."

[gobrookeyourself]

“I’m not saying kill him, I’m saying like, let him take a sip and have 911 at the ready,” she said.

[suitably_heroic]

"Still more work than I'm willing to put in," Atton said.

He put down the tequila and went rooting around for the last, vital ingredient.

[gobrookeyourself]

“You are no fun,” Brooke decided, shaking her head.

[suitably_heroic]

"I'm fun," Atton retorted. "Fun enough to know I don't want to poison the guy who does all the work for me."

[[ wtf why didn't this go through ]]

[gobrookeyourself]

“To be fair, we don’t get poisoned when edible stuff rains from the sky or pours out of the faucets,” Brooke stated. “...As far as I know.”

[suitably_heroic]

"No, but he could turn into a hedgehog or something and make my life harder," Atton retorted.

[gobrookeyourself]

“Wait, why would a tree margarita turn him into a hedgehog?” Important question.

[suitably_heroic]

"Why would we wake up with different genitals once every year?" Atton said.

[gobrookeyourself]

“I’d think a tree margarita would at least turn him into something... tropical,” Brooke said. “The gender switch thing still happens here?”

[suitably_heroic]

"You think the weirdness ever stops?" Atton said. "I mean, a woman who looks exactly like one of Skywalker's grandkids just walked in the door of the bar..."

[gobrookeyourself]

And suddenly Atton was her friend. “Thank you for knowing the difference! Also I am taller than her.”

[suitably_heroic]

"Now I don't know whether to admit I cheat or not," Atton said. He tilted his head. "... Though yeah, I guess she is tinier than you."

[gobrookeyourself]

“How do you cheat and how can I get everybody else to do it?” she wondered.

[suitably_heroic]

"Well, one, I'm a Force user too, and I can tell you're not," Atton said. "And two, you're a little more 'I can break you by shouting at you', a little less 'I can break you with my pinkie'. Though I guess that's just observational."

[gobrookeyourself]

“I seem like I can break someone by shouting at them?” Brooke considered. She could, it just didn’t occur to her that she could. “I should try that more.”

No, Brooke, you can’t yell Tino into trying a tree margarita.

[suitably_heroic]

"You develop an eye for customers when you work here for a while," Atton said sagely.

[gobrookeyourself]

“And you can cheat.” Which she was a little jealous of.

[suitably_heroic]

"It helps," Atton said, pushing her drink towards her.

[gobrookeyourself]

“Thank you,” she said, taking the drink to sip. “I’m gonna follow this up with a tree margarita.”