Caritas; Wednesday [09/11].

[somethingwithturquoise]

Summer only noticed it at around the third time "Dancing Queen" came up, but she realized that the band had been playing through the same three ABBA songs ("Dancing Queen," "Waterloo," and "Take a Chance on Me") on repeat. And when she asked why they were on such a specific ABBA-kick, she was met with a shrug and a nod toward Tino and a statement that it had been in the suggestion box.

"Ugh." Summer sighed. "Guys? I know you're a bar band, and taking requests is sort of what you do, but, honestly? Don't encourage him."

And once she'd realized her own limit for the same three 70s Swedish pop, she just gave up, grabbed a piece of paper, scribbled something onto it, and slipped it into the suggestion box, which somehow, the band seemed to magically know was her putting in a request for the same three Taylor Swift songs to be played in repetition.

They didn't even get to the second playing of "Blank Space" before another paper was slipped into the suggestion box, and they started in on their medly of the same three Dave Matthews Band songs.

Which was just, like, low, even for Tino.

"I am not getting in a song request battle with you, Tino!" Summer insisted, although, really, she had to do something and put in at least one more with BTS, which Tino countered with Creed.

Summer was just going to fashion some earplugs out of napkins rather than risk seeing what would happen next, because this man was clearly fighting dirty.

Wendnesday Jello Shot Special!
Fireball Cider
One Free for Each Song Request Made!

That'll keep him busy.

Caritas is open!

Comments

[thatwaslucky]

Wednesdays seemed to be the day where Rey came by to see Summer, so here she was.

And frowning at the sign.

"I feel like that will backfire somehow."

[somethingwithturquoise]

And Summer, who was feeling incredibly proud of her plan of attack but now was having some Serious Doubts, looked from Rey, to the sign, and then back to Rey again.

"Backfire how?" she asked, wondering what potential hole she missed in this plot. People put in songs, thus blocking out the songs Tino was trying to get played, and she might actually move some shots for a change. It seemed pretty win-win to her.

[thatwaslucky]

"What happens when someone has ten songs to request?"

Then imagine the song choices by number eight, Rey.

[somethingwithturquoise]

And yet Summer was quite convinced that no matter how bad the song choices after eight might be, it still couldn't possibly be worse than what Tino would consider the next step down from Creed.

"Well, then, they'll probably also have a lot of regrets tomorrow morning, won't they?" said Summer, who was nineteen, you couldn't expect her to be an actual responsible bartender at nineteen where the whole concept of a limit to your drinking was nonexistant.

"Also, I mean, like, you'd have to pace yourself, too. You can't just put in all your song requests at once."

[thatwaslucky]

"I'll trust your judgment," said Rey, who also didn't know better. "I am kind of curious how this would go."

[somethingwithturquoise]

"Saaaaaaaame," said Summer. "Especially since it really can't go as badly as it was going before you got here. Tino is, like, literally the worst, Rey. And I've worked for the actual Devil before."

But not the one here now teaching Law Enforcement.

"So, you got a song request?" she wondered. "Or just sticking to water tonight?"

She did appreciate Rey's dedication to staying hydrated, she will give her that.

[thatwaslucky]

"Water and maybe a soda?" Branching out, but you could just get water here and Rey appreciated that. "There will be no song choices, I don't know songs."

[somethingwithturquoise]

"Oooooh, soda!" Summer looked impressed, but in a playful teasing way, not, like, a maliciously mocking way because she's never, not with Rey. She started with the water as she spoke. "Mixing it up a little, huh? Are we taking the plunge straight into a Pepsi or Coke or keeping it clear with a Sprite or Sierra Mist?"

[thatwaslucky]

"I don't want to get too crazy," Rey said, "but surprise me."

Honestly she probably hasn't had two of those choices to make s judgment anyway.

[somethingwithturquoise]

Summer had to laugh a little at Rey's clearly unbridled unpredictability in this moment, and decided to throw her a curveball and went with Dr. Pepper instead.

"Variety is the spice of life, they say," she noted, setting glass of dark soda neatly next to the glass of water.

[thatwaslucky]

"Thank you," Rey said, even picking up the soda glass first, figuring it was Coke, and sipping it. "...That's new."

[somethingwithturquoise]

"Dr. Pepper!" Summer informed her cheerfully, because that's new was, in her book, still a relatively positive response. "It exists in some weird uncatergorized area of the soda dimension where no one can really explain quite what it is, so it often gets overlooks. Almost like root beer, but not quite, you know? Also, it probably has some of the best batch of off-brand names going for it, although I think Mountain Dew really wins that one."

[thatwaslucky]

"I didn't expect you to have opinions on this," Rey admitted, but she was trying not to snile.

[somethingwithturquoise]

"I blame my television-fueled commerically-driven capitalist suburban American upbringing," Summer offered with a smirk. "Branding is everything, I can probably name every single fast food mascot in the past twenty years before I could do the same for American presidents in the same time frame."

Which wasn't entirely true, but she was trying to make a statement on the oversaturation of oppresive commerical propeganda on impressionable young minds in this current crapshoot of a modern society here.

[thatwaslucky]

"I should probably ask you to show off here," Rey pointed out.

She probably recognized a couple mascots but could not name them, it just seemed like the thing to say.

[somethingwithturquoise]

"Should you, though?" asked Summer with a note of skepticism, but, of course, whether Rey asked or not, she was still going to do it.

"So, obviously, you've got your heavy hitters," she offered, "your Ronald McDonalds, your Burger Kings, your Wendys..." and she continued on with what she titled 'second-tier' and popular region options, your Jack-in-the-Boxes and their ilk, a subsection of restaurants that didn't necessarily have mascots but very notable symbols-the Taco Bell, Arby's hat, Hardee's star. She threw in a few more obscure little ones, a few dimensional-specifical oddballs, even a small bit about catch-phrase spewing spokespeople that weren't mascots in an official capacity, but had their time in the sun where they might as well have been--'Where's the Beef?' lady, 'Yo Quiero Taco Bell' dog...

"This stuff is so ubiquitous in our culture; I wasn't even alive for some of that stuff, and I still know about them, like they're just ingrained in our consciousness from the moment we're first set in front of a television screen. I was even Wendy for Halloween once. I mean, she was kind of my hero for a short blip in time. Redhead solidarity, and all that."

[thatwaslucky]

"Tell me you've given that speech before," Rey said, a little floored. And impressed?

[somethingwithturquoise]

"Actually?" Summer said, laughing before maybe preening a little. "No. That's kind of a new one. I guess you've just never had a chance to experience me when I'm in primo rant mode. That...was a pretty good one, though, I've gotta admit."

[thatwaslucky]

"I'm actually glad I got to see it," Rey admitted. "How was your week?"

[somethingwithturquoise]

Summer's smile in response to that was a little bit sheepish, but pleased, which she sort of chased off with a laugh. "Quiet," she said, "which is good. I'll take quiet, gladly. I'm waiting on some upgrades on my ship" --a paint job totally counted as an upgrade, don't even-- "so I guess it's just mostly trying to keep Turtle & Canary afloat while I still can and getting some last minute things in order. I need to think of a good name for the jello shop, but the best I've come up with is HelloJello. One word. Cutesy, but catchy. And it's not like anyone knows what jello even is out there, so that might make customers curious to check it out, and I don't think I have to worry about Kraft Foods finding out about it and suing the pants off me for copyright infringement, either..."

"...and how was yours?"

[thatwaslucky]

"Good. Mostly work and training. Trying not to call home to check when it is every day," Rey answered. "Seems like I've found a routine here, at least."

[somethingwithturquoise]

"That's good, though, right?" said Summer. "Good at least to get into a routine while you have the chance, if anything. I'm pretty sure this calm isn't going to last forever, anyway. Gotta get the most out of it before the island goes and throws everything for a loop again."

[thatwaslucky]

...*goes to finish writing a post*

"It has to be too early for that," Rey said, shaking her head. "I haven't been back long enough for things to go strange again."

Sure, Rey!

[somethingwithturquoise]

"Hey," said Summer, her grin a little crooked and wry as she shook her head at Rey's almost quaint sort of optimism. "You just missed a summer where it was a whole new brand of special each and every week. The fact that we've even gone this long without anything weird happening just feels weird now. I hope you're right, though. If I can manage to get out of here without adding anymore trauma points, that'd actually be kind of nice."

She had more than enough of those already, thank you very much.