Devil's Nest | Thursday Evening

[defenderofdesmoines]

The tradeoff for getting a whole extra day off last week was that this week, Annie had been stuck at the tower until about an hour before her Thursday night bar shift back in Fandom. And while it was tempting to take the out and just head home -- especially since she hadn't had time to change -- Annie was both full of pent-up energy still and kind of looking to have a drink.

"I don't want to hear it," she told Tiny, pouring herself a beer as she caught him eyeing her headband.

Specials
Aperol Spritz
French 75
Bellini

Might as well, like, embrace the sparkliness if she was bartending as Starlight, right? Though she had at least thrown a hoodie over it all to tone it down a little. (And really, more than appearances, her feet were gonna hate her at the end of this.)

[oooooooopen with a few snatches of SP because I have to actually try to conduct a 6th grade band today]

Comments

[sword_chocobro]

Oh, sure. That hoodie definitely made the whole get-up good and subtle and barely noticeable.

"Big plans for the night?" Gladio guessed with a quirk of his scarred brow.

What could he say? He always had been pretty good at noticing details that might otherwise go unnoticed...

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Holdover from my day plans," Annie corrected, sighing and gesturing to herself. "I didn't have time to change before my portal from New York."

Or wash off her makeup, or put her hair up in its requisite messy bun, or do any of the things she normally did to de-Starlight and make herself Annie again.

[sword_chocobro]

"Well," Gladio offered, since his player he was pretty sure he'd never really seen the whole superhero get-up before, and, even if he had, that didn't exactly negate the statement, "you look cute." His chin jerked toward the other bartender. "I think Tiny needs to step it up."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Oh, man, can you imagine Tiny in a cape?" Annie clearly delighted in that image. Maybe because she was picturing her own cape, and that was hilarious. "And thank you. Want a sparkly cocktail? I figured I'd, like, theme it up."

[sword_chocobro]

"I'd love a sparkly cocktail," Gladio assured her, "even without the theme."

Because, you know. Also hilarious.

"Which one's the sparkliest?"

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Probably the Bellini," Annie decided, considering the three and reaching for the stuff to make the drink. "It's also the pinkest."

Just for bonus hilarity.

"When I got this job, Summer actually did a whole, like, party of just sparkly, themed drinks," she shared, fond and proud at the memory.

[sword_chocobro]

"Well," said Gladio, looking suitably impressed by the details, "I can't say no to the pinkest. And that sounds about right. I've gotten the impression that she tends to really lean into a theme when given half the chance."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I mean, technically if you count the bar night she did in my honor, I got two parties," Annie added, agreeing with that assessment as she worked on the drink. "Which, for the record? Is more personal recognition than I've gotten from Vought in the year I've been working for them, aside from, like, I get a whole lot of swag with my own face on it."

[sword_chocobro]

Well, of course, now he had to ask.

"What kind of swag?"

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Well, that decides it," Annie said, because like...every kind of swag. "I'm bringing you Starlight merch next week and you can see for yourself."

Or at least what she could grab at the tower before fleeing for a totally real emergency when Diego texted her early next week.