Devil's Nest | Thursday Evening

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Tiny, look."

Guess what Tiny didn't do, everyone.

"Look, look, I made it look like snow," Annie continued, holding up her glass and displaying the coconut rim very proudly. "Because it's snowy out, get it?"

Annie was from the Midwest, and thus Annie had arrived in a puffy, unflattering coat, serious leather boots, and was kind of having a ball with the snow, thus far. (Give her until February and she'd be sick to death of it, though.)

"Are you more of a summertime person?" She was also so used to Tiny just walking off on her that she hadn't noticed he'd gone back to check the kegs until she'd relayed a whole anecdote about how much she liked snowball fights.

Oh well.

~Specials~
Snow Martini
Cinnamon Toast Crunch Shot
B&B

[2022 is off to a truly terrible start and we're gonna be flying OCD-free as a result. open!]

Comments

[sword_chocobro]

Gladio had literally just been hiking across the island with barely a coat.

He was definitely entering the Devil's Nest without a shirt.

And, okay, there may have been a sneeze in there, too, but he'd spent a lot of time outside that day, clearly his allergies were just acting up on him again.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Nuh uh!" Annie was already pointing at him as soon as Gladio walked in, and that sneeze was, like, damning. "Like, impressive, my dude," in so many ways, but focus, Annie, "but you're gonna catch a cold running around without a shirt right now, Gladio!"

And cue her looking around for her -- once-again, totally vanished, weird! -- coworker, who probably had an extra shirt around here that would fit Gladio. (Tiny, like, lived here, right? Annie had never thought about that, huh.)

[sword_chocobro]

"It's fine, Annie," Gladio assured her with a chuckle, and a look that suggested that he was touched, really, by her concern, but he was used to battling Ignis on matters like this and usually won, so best of luck to her if she thought she could out-fuss that guy. "Trust me. I just have allergies sometimes."

In winter.

Really!

[defenderofdesmoines]

She super could not out-fuss Ignis, but she was totally the kind of person to proudly proclaim that She Told You So if anyone here did end up with the sniffles, so there.

"What are you allergic to?" she asked with just a touch of suspicion. "Nothing's blooming right now."

Because it was all dead. And snowed on.

[sword_chocobro]

Gladio shrugged, and his face would have been completely expressionless if not for the faint grin that lingered because he was pretty much prepared for that one.

"Who knows?" he said. "Different planet. There's probably all sorts of stuff in the air my system's not used to."

Maybe (doubtful, but maybe!) it was all the glitter.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Does it snow much where you're from?" Annie asked curiously, already kind of just checking whether the hot water carafe and the coffee were both still hot before she even thought about offering him a drink. (Just because she couldn't out-fuss Ignis didn't mean there would be no fuss.) "Because if that's the case, I'd think you'd want to, like, take extra precautions, even."

[sword_chocobro]

She did have him there, Gladio'd have to admit that, but he was still just going to shrug and lean on the bar a little, because it may be a little brisk outside, sure, but it was just fine and warm and downright cozy in here!

"Not a whole lot, no," he admitted, "but hey. What doesn't kill you, right? I've done plenty of training in extreme conditions. If I can handle a frost bomb from Specs or Noctis, I'm sure I can handle a little snow."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I have some ice cleats I can recommend," Annie shared, still frowning a little at his whole shirtless ensemble (or lack thereof), "but there's no shame in training in slightly warmer clothes, you know. Now, do you want, like, a hot drink? I make a really good hot chocolate. Or spiked coffee."

Spike hot chocolate, too, for that matter.

[sword_chocobro]

It was almost as if the narrative read his mind.

"Spiked hot chocolate?" Gladio threw out there, with a hopeful lift of his eyebrows. "Bit too late for coffee, I've got another class to teach in the morning."

One that would involve mostly standing around and torturing poor teenagers, but still!

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Can do! How do you feel about peppermint after Christmas?" Annie asked, as though he'd have strong opinions on such a thing, as she started to get the ingredients together.

Look, she herself was off all things peppermint until next Novemberish, but peppermint schnapps did pair well with chocolate and coziness.

[sword_chocobro]

"Is that even a thing?" asked Gladio with a snort of a laugh, so there was your answer there, Annie, and he shook his head. "I didn't even know about Christmas a few years ago, so as long as no one from the Christmas Police is going to come in and try to bust me over it, I think that sounds really good. But, I mean, you're the expert. I'll defer to the bartender on this one."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I feel pretty confident," Annie decided, reaching for the schnapps, "that if there were Christmas Police, I'd know about them. Like, I'd probably be deputized, by this point."

God, that sounded like a fun job.

"But you should be safe, and it's a classic combination for a reason."

[sword_chocobro]

"Let's do it, then," Gladio confirmed with a grin, and then kind of had to ask, "if there was a Christmas Police, you think they'd have uniforms with those red Santa hats?"

Because you had to admit, the whole idea of Annie decked out in some of those Christmas outfits but with a deputized flavor for the sake of protecting the holidays from Crimes against Christmas was kind of cute as hell.

[superjoanjett]

There was a pause as Jessica sat down and looked at the special board. And now she was torn. Because ordering something off the special board would ruin her entire record of ignoring it with disdain. On the other hand.

"Cinnamon Toast Crunch shot."

Who knew character growth was even possible with someone like Jessica?

[defenderofdesmoines]

"If it helps," Annie told her, not even bothering to hide her glee, "it's mostly fireball with a cute name."

But she'd also totally taken a page out of Summer's book and made up a few shots ahead of time, look at that. Annie would never be a good bartender, no, but she could imitate her friends who were genuinely better at it all day. Thus, she was able to barely pause before proudly placing a shot before Jessica, complete with a, "Ta da!"

[superjoanjett]

Jessica eyed the shot warily. "Did you say fireball? Does it taste like fireball or Cinnamon Toast Crunch? Because that's an important distinction here," she said, now perhaps reconsidering her life choices.

Not the ones that made her life a dumpster fire. Just tonight's drink choice.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"It tastes like creamy cinnamon-sugar," Annie offered, kind of hedging because she hadn't really thought it tasted exactly like Cinnamon Toast Crunch. "So the Fireball's more of an accent."

[superjoanjett]

Jessica warily picked up the shot and sniffed it, shrugged and drank it in one gulp.

She made a face when it was done and put the glass back on the bar.

"Yeah. I think that's enough variety for me for today. Bourbon?"

[defenderofdesmoines]

"You don't say," Annie replied with one hand already on a bottle of bourbon. "I'm proud of you for expanding your horizons, though."

[superjoanjett]

"Apparently my weakness is breakfast food themed shots of crappy cereals I enjoyed," Jessica said wryly. "How's life with you? Boyfriend still a cat?"