fandomtownies | Caritas; Wednesday [07/24].

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Caritas; Wednesday [07/24].

~~Caritas is filmed before of a live studio audience~~

Summer paused, blinked, and looked up at the ceiling as she entered the bar, tray of jello shots under her arm, and frowned. She then looked over to Tino.

"You heard that, right?"

Tino just shrugged, slightly more exaggerated than usual, which seemed to send off a peal of laughter from somewhere beyond the bar's four walls.

"Okay," said Summer, moving in to set down her shots, "now I know you had to have heard that."

And the laughter responded in kind, clearly appreciating this joke more than just the visual gag, throwing in a few cheers as if Summer had just dropped an iconic line or something like that, one they'd waited on and expected to hear nearly every week.

"Ugh," Summer made a face. "Well, this is going to be fun. And let me guess, now we hear the--"

And, sure enough, there was a swell of music and a song that was definitely not coming from the band.

"--theme music. Yup. There it is...."

And she'd remark about how this was going to be a long night, but she knew that would only garner more canned laughter, so she just shut up and get to setting out her shots and getting the evening started and gave Tino a glare every time he tried to landa one-liner, because you knew he was totally eating this whole thing up.

Wednesday Jello Shot Special!
Banana Daiquiri
First One Free to All Wednesday Activity Participants!
Even if you weren't QUITE yourself at the time.

Caritas is open!

[[ and please do mod your live studio audience! ]]

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Regina walked in to a loud chorus of cheering.

". . . the hell?"

Well. At least they weren't cheering obscenities?

"Awwwww," said Summer, snorting faintly and giving Regina an almost apologetic smile as she wiped on one of an endless stream of dirty glasses with a towel, "they like you! I've got twenty bucks riding on the hopes that if Seivarden comes in, they'll just boo."

It would make this whole thing worth it, honestly.

"Hey, Regina," she then offered. "Apparently, the bar thinks it's in a sitcom toni--"

Another round of laughter, including one really annoying guy she was starting to notice a lot more, cut her off.

"...this audience is way too easily amused," she added, which only worked to set them off again.

"It's a thing. What can I get you?"

"Right," Regina said, just barely stopping herself from answering back with something sarcastic that would likely set off another round of laughs.

Or wouldn't, which would possibly be worse.

"Anything but whiskey," she said -- and, yeah, there was the laughter. That was going to get old extremely quickly. "My diner is apparently now in some sort of spaghetti western. I may never want whiskey again."

"Like, with actual spaghetti?" asked Summer, who instantly regretted it, because that was a real knee-slapper right there.

She wanted to say you kind of got used to it, that you just sort of ignored it after a while, but that would be a lie.

"How about a martini?"

With the extra audience, she almost felt it was required for her to make at least one tonight or something.

"That sounds good. Maybe make it an appletini?"

That got a knowing Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh from the imaginary audience, making Regina look up defensively. "What?" she asked. "I like apples!"

They laughed and cheered. Regina was fairly certain some spectral woman called yeah you do! suggestively.

She really wished there was someone she could throw a fireball at.

"Yeah, okay," said Summer, quirking a brow at the mysterious invisible audience, which was apparently somewhere toward the ceiling, against the fourth wall, before it then quirked at Regina and she went to start on the drink, "but now I really want to know what's up with you and apples."

"I told you," Regina said. "I like them. Used to have my own tree back in Maine." The audience had gone suspiciously quiet, as though in anticipation. Regina shot it a dark look -- also going for that vague, ceiling/fourth wall place as the target of her glare -- then sighed. "And I . . . may have used them to curse a few people in my time." And there came the hooting and laughter. "Why is that funny?!"

"So, in other words," said Summer, as she started giving the appletini a good shake, "I should probably avoid the apple pie at the diner from here on in."

Which, by the way, and surprising no one, the audience found hilarious and Summer just groaned, disgusted, and started to pour the drink.

"That's it," she decided. "No more witty repartee. I'm just going to be straight and serious and boring for the rest of the evening."

Which elicited a long, complaining, disappointed 'awwwwww' from the audience.

"Nope. No sympathy. Maybe if you guys can learn something called moderation and self-restraint, I'll reconsider."

There was, in response, a long, appreciated silence, and Regina had a drink in front of her, too, placed neatly on a fancy bar napkin.

"...better. That's a good start."

"If it works, I'll be impressed." That got a chuckle. At least it was a restrained one? "And no, any apple-based goods I make now are fine. I'm reformed."

"That sounds like just the sort of person running around cursing pies would say," Summer pointed out.

And the audience started to let out a long, scandalized series of ooooooohs, but Summer lifted a finger, glared into the...whatever where the voices were coming from, and said, through clenched teeth, "Don't."

The ooohing aburptly stopped. though someone did let out an awkward sort of cough.

Summer let the warning glare linger a little longer before relaxing with a long-suffering sigh and a shake of her head.

"Uh huh," Regina said, raising an amused eyebrow at Summer. "Cursed apples or not, sounds like you're much more intimidating than I am." She pointed at the ceiling, as that restrained chuckle sounded again, then opened her hand as though to say "see?" "So clearly I have lost my edge."

Summer's expression may have been a bit skeptical at that. In general, she'd learned to be skeptical of any sort of flattery (well, not any, she was very good at ignoring that little stab of skepticism when she wanted to, and sometimes when she shouldn't, but whatever), but it felt like it was well-founded when talking to someone who may or may not still curse apples.

Although Regina had apparently botched up the curse that landed her here in Fandom, so...maybe this wasn't too far off the mark, either.

"Maybe you're just out of practice," Summer offered. "I've got a pretty good intimidation racket going, really. With your staff, actually, at the diner. I'm the whole reason why there's always pancakes there every Sunday."

And, yes, she was going to preen, just a little, about that. And even allow the little 'whoo! yeah!' that drifted over from the supposed studio audience.

"To be fair, my staff isn't that hard to intimidate." Regina had been meaning to get into the diner on Sundays, but ~~her mun kept forgetting~~ found it one of the better days to stay in and work on her curse research. "You may be right, though. Still, I'll take the hit to my reputation over going 'dark side' again any day."

The audience cheered at that one. Regina shot the ceiling an arch look, and they at least dimmed the volume down a little. She nodded to herself and sipped her drink.

Summer had to snort a little at the clear approval of the audience for Regina's apparent change in heart, but that piece of Summer's own dark side (currently being put to use doing terrible things to bananas and exposing innocent students to such monstrosities, of course) couldn't help being a little intrigued.

"So what made you change your mind?" she asked, not...entirely expecting an answer, not from someone she barely knew, but still, any answer she'd get would probably be interesting.

Regina gave her an enigmatic smile and sipped her drink again. "Villains don't get happy endings."

It was, of course, much, much more complicated than that, and involved at least one adorable little moppet. But that would suffice for now.

That was such a corny response that Summer felt the audience really missed the mark with their awws and cheering, because she was pretty sure that warrented a groan if anything.

"Yeah, but...." Summer offered with a reluctant sort of a shrug, "happy endings aren't all they're cracked up to be, either. But I mean, that's good. Good for you, and I mean that, like, legit. Villains don't do too great around here, usually, anyway."

Just wait until someone found out you were trying to eat your cat, for example...

But, still, even with the cursed apples thing, Regina didn't strike Summer as all that bad. She supposed, though, her bar was set pretty high...

She was starting to wonder, though, just how close to that bar Regina might have actually gotten.

That depended on where “ripping out people’s hearts to control their minds” or “ruining the lives of an entire kingdom out of spite” fell on her scale.

“Well. Thank you for your support.” Regina saluted her and finished her martini. “I’m not convinced yet that anyone does well here.”

"Well," Summer countered, with a faintly wry grin. "You are talking to a nineteen-year-old community college drop-out who owns her own store here, so....some people don't do so bad for themselves here."

A lot better than she'd be doing if she were back home, that was for sure.

She nodded to the empty glass. "Another?" she asked.

Ahhh, and see? This was why it was always important to pop into the bars around here every once in a while; there was sure to be some lovely new blossom Shunsui had yet to meet!

At least the audience's winking, nudging ooohs and cheers would have warned you of Shunsui's approach, Regina. If the sheer presence of the large man in the flowery pink robe and wide straw hat (with, it should noted, a small green sentient slime on his shoulder, he hadn't bothered dropping little Slime-chan off at the apartment yet) wasn't warning enough.

"Lovely evening for a drink ♥," he started by way of greeting, and, really, he'd rather liked the cheering when he came in, but it was rather ruining the smooth effect of a delicately offered opening line to have those disembodied voices chortling and whooping suggestively like that, honestly, this was about finesse! He shook his head slightly and tried to ignore it. "Almost as lovely as the comapny ♥. You simply must allow me to treat you ♥."

Regina arched an eyebrow at that. She could actually detect flirting without the peanut gallery, and this man wasn't half bad looking at all. "Thank you," she said, giving him a small smile (to a chorus of awwwwwws). "You look like you're a long way from home."

Also, Shunsui was about as subtle as a sledgehammer.

And he was also exceptionally pleased at the easy acceptance, the encouragement from the mysterious viewers only added that much more warmth to his answering smile. "Only compared to some ♥," he drawled smoothly, then tipped his hat, offering the lady a small bow; he tilted the hat back up to reveal his beaming, adoring face again as he offered an introduction. "I am Shunsui Kyōraku, and what an absolute pleasure it is to bask your radiant aquaintance ♥! And who might you be, if I may be deemed worthy enough to have the name of such beauty pass my lips ♥?"

Oh, yeah. This studio audience was eating this up with a spoon.

Regina couldn't decide if this guy was actually from a florid romantic epic or just really wished he was. Either way, she couldn't help the amused smile at his antics.

"Laying it on a little thick there," she noted (to the audience's delight), but offered her own bow in return. "Regina Mills. I own the diner."

Shunsui was from a florid romantic epic, actually! Sure, he'd written it himself and no one really ever read it. It was, in fact, the worst selling book in Soul Society history, but that didn't change the fact that he was very distinctly the hero of the disgustingly florid and overly romantic My Kittens are So Shy.

And he seemed completely unperturbed by the criticism, especially since it was not nearly so harsh as what he was often used to receiving. "Ahhh, yes, of course ♥! Regina~~ ♥!" He repeated it like a sakura-scented sigh/ "That means queen, does it not? How perfectly fitting ♥ I don't believe I can imagine anyone even coming close to the regal majesty one might expect from such a name as you clearly do ♥. You know....I've never much bothered with the diner here, but perhaps I should reconsider that..."

It was a little sad how well this was working on Regina. It’d been a long time since she’d been a queen, and she hadn’t exactly been seen as anyone’s idea of majesty when she was, but it was still nice to feel appreciated.

“Well. Let’s just say my mother had high hopes for me.”

The audience got a chuckle out of that one.

"No doubt you live up to those expectations in more ways than one ♥," Shunsui offered smoothly, leaning in a little, with the soft, satisfied sort of smile that went along with having managed to hold a conversation with a beautiful woman this long without a single threat of violence thus far.

"So what's the lady's poison ♥?" Shunsui asked, with an unwitting choice of words that the audience clearly appreciated. "I'm sure Summer-chan here can mix you up something truly tantalizing, though," and here he extracted his jug of sake from his obi and gave it a little shake, sloshing the liquid inside around, "I also come quite prepared with my own ♥. Do you drink sake, Regina-chan ♥?"

After all, who wouldn't immediately be all for accepting a drink from a mysterious jug from an overly affectionate stranger in a bar?

Since his plans for napping at the park had been completely thwarted by the Wednesday activities (he realized he should probably start listening to radio again; that might make it easier for him to plan for optimal park napping possibilities), Shunsui's whole day was off, and so he figured it was as good a time as any to start hitting up Caritas and the Devil's Nest again. Honestly, it was a little surprising that he hadn't managed to duck into one or the other far, but he had been preoccupied with getting settled...and renewing old friendships ♥!

He was not, however, expecting the bright greeting cheers and a few wolf whistles when he opened the door and breezed in, robe and haori all a flutter, and he had to laugh. "Now that," he declared, "is definitely new, but I do rather like it ♥!"

He encouraged the cheers with a tilt of his hat, a knowing smirk, a few waves of his hand to suggest that they keep bringing it, as he floated on over to the bar, eager to see what magnificent flower might be waiting there, eager to pour him some sweet nectar of intoxicating bliss.

And found...Summer.

He blinked.

And then his face broke out into a bright, beaming grin. "Summer-chan ♥! Why, hello, my radiant little spitfire boss ♥! What an...unexpected surprise!"

He had clearly not hidden his disappointment as well as he thought, because the invisible audience that so eagerly ushered him in was now snickering and making knowing little sounds, eager for the assured mischeif about to unfold.

"Shunsui," Summer greeted him with the tone of a person who clearly felt that the last time they'd seen each other had not been nearly long enough. "I don't know why I'm surprised to see you come in," the audience started to chuckle and heckle a little with the maturity of fourteen year olds. "Maybe it was just wishtful thinking. Did you run out of sake?"

Shunsui chuckled a little, reaching of the jug hanging from his obi and shaking it a little, sloshing around the liquid inside. "Of course not ♥," he said. "Why? Would you like some ♥? Perhaps we can do a taste test, see which is better, mine, or the bar's &hearts?"

The audience was clearly in favor of this idea if their cheers were any indication.

"I thought I might imbibe in something a little different today," he drawled with a shrug, and that slow, lazy grin, "because who doesn't love the combination of fine spirits and fine company ♥? And while already I've been blessed with the honor to discover just how lovely your company is, Summer-chan, I simply must ask: what in the world is such a bright young blossom such as yourself doing wasting so much of your time working? Between here and the store? When do you make time for fun ♥?"

Well, that hit right to the quick, now, didn't it? Summer scoffed a little, something the audience clearly picked up on with their goading little expressions, and she pushed all that out of her field of attention. "I have plenty of time for fun, thank you," she said loftily. "Or, at least, I will, but for now, I've not only got a new spaceship to take care of, but a whole shop I've got to put together in outer space, remember? I'm pretty sure I mentioned that in the caves yesterday. I mean, you probably know from running it before that the store brings in a good amount of money, but, come on, that's not nearly enough. So I picked up this job, as well as teaching, to just sort of...you know...give it that little boost..."

There was a faintly awkward pause.

"...so, you know, generous tips are always welcome, if you feel so inclined."

Even better if he could work for free or something, which Summer almost considered throwing out there, since Shunsui did seem weirdly amiable about a lot of things...

"Owning a store," Shunsui emphasized that point with the sage-like incredulousness of someone who had actually owned that store himself, after all, though the work he'd done for it was minimal. Still! Even with his lack-luster job, he knew with confidence how much work it could be!, "bartending, and teaching? Summer-chan ♥!" Shunsui wagged his head back and forth, clicking his tongue disparragingly, and was pleased to hear that the audience sympathetized with him a great deal. "That is far too much work for someone so young and beautiful and bright ♥! You should be other there breaking hearts, not breaking your back ♥!"

And though the grin on his face remained in place, his head tilted a little and his eyes went a bit thoughtful.

Which should possibly worry her.

Oh, it difinitely, definitely did.

Summer snorted, because, yeah, she'd sort of given up on her heartbreaking days pretty much since she left Hemmorhage, which was...god, almost a year ago now, yikes.

"Yeah, well," Summer's face was a little pink with the effort of trying not to think of wasted youth...whether it was what she wasted before or what she was wasting now, "some things are just worth it."

She'd decided that a while ago, too, even if maybe she was dragging her heels, and she knew it, because anything worth doing was also usually mildly terrifying, too.

"...so ka ♥?" Shunsui asked, looking at Summer even more thoughtfully still, a strange mysterious smile on his face as he worked around the spark of an idea in his head. An idea that may need a little more time, but something had clearly set itself into motion.

Nothing to discuss now, though, when there could be drinking! Shunsui broke off his pensive look with a bright, boisterious laugh, slapping a hand on the bar as he pulled himself up.

"Be that as it may," he declared, "your bartending skills leave much to be desired, if I may be so bold to say so, Summer-chan ♥ I have no drink to enjoy! No drink to toast to your success! But let's chance that, neh ♥? You know my love for sake...indulge me, if you will, and share with me what you love ♥. Bring me your favorite drink, lovely, lovely Summer-chan ♥. I leave my pallete in your soft hands ♥."

Which was a good sign of just how little he did know Summer, to make a risk that bold.

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Caritas; Wednesday [07/24].

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