Devil's Nest | Thursday Evening

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Daaaah dah dah, something in September," Annie sang under her breath as she set out garnishes tonight and wrote up her specials. She was at least on-key, even if she clearly knew, like, exactly one actual word of this song.

Tiny grumbled something from across the bar, because of course, there was another flaw, besides her obvious lack of lyrical knowledge.

"I know it was yesterday," Annie finally acquiesced, looking up from another set of nah nah nah, nah nah nah nahs. "I know. But the song is stuck in my head now."

And now it would be stuck in Tiny's, and maybe yours too.

~*Specials*~
Undead Gentleman
Grapefruit Collins
Autumn Spiced Tonic

[ooooopen]

Comments

[pocketpretzels]

But not this guy’s!

“Evening, Miss January,” he greeted, taking his seat at the bar with his usual flourish.

[defenderofdesmoines]

Yet, anyway.

"Hi, Mr. Watts!" Annie replied cheerfully, leaving Earth, Wind and Fire imitations to (possibly more lyrically-informed) others for the moment. "How's it going?"

[pocketpretzels]

“Quite well,” he told her. “Did you have a nice time on your holiday?”

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I did! As nice a time as anyone can have in Iowa, anyway," Annie replied, rolling her eyes lightly with a shrug. "And with my mother, who can be kind of A Lot."

She totally pronounced those capital letters.

[pocketpretzels]

"Ah," Watts said with a nod. "I have never been to Iowa, so I have no basis of comparison there."

He also had no basis for comparison with regards to mothers, seeing as his own had died when he was a child. Details!

[canondisasterbi]

Michael tipped his hat in greeting to the cute be-suited guy. "Hey. Nice threads."

[pocketpretzels]

“… ‘Threads’?” Watts repeated, glancing over at Michael. His eyes flicked up to that hat and he frowned a little. Judgily.

[canondisasterbi]

Excuse you, Michael's hat was amazing. If uncouth to be wearing indoors per early 20th century manners.

"Suit," Michael clarified. "And I mean that unironically. Gotta love a guy with a unique sense of style."

He was way too used to flirting with people who were visibly disapproving of him, yes.

[pocketpretzels]

“I wear what I like,” Watts said. “But I’m glad it- meets your approval.”

Did he have any idea he was being flirted with? Debatable.

[hashtag_chocobro]

A lot had changed, in the last few months/ten years, for Prompto, clearly, and one of those things was the fact that he was now actually old enough to drink at the Devil's Nest.

He knew he probably shouldn't make too much of a habit of frequenting the local watering holes too much now that he was back, but he was staring down the barrel of another sleepless night, and he figured it would at least be better than trying not to pace around the apartment and disturb Liz from her own sleep too much.

"Oh, hey!" And look at that, a face he actually remembered and recognized fairly easily. "Annie! You still--"

He cut that off, though, with a shake of his head, and the reminder that it hadn't really been that long for everyone here, it really wasn't that unusual that she'd still be working here when it had only been a few months. That still was taking a lot of getting use to, and so he grinned a little sheepishly, and redirected.

"How've you been?"

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Holy shit, Prompto!" For all that Annie kept up on radio regularly and thus knew that Prompto had returned (and, seemingly, had returned alone), she hadn't actually seen the guy in question since he'd been back. "Oh my God, hi, how are you?"

And, being somewhat familiar with how hair growth might indicate a passage of time -- though she really had no idea in this case -- her smile was fading into a once-over of concern. "How long's it been?"

Clearly not just a summer.

[hashtag_chocobro]

"Ahhh..." Now Prompto's laugh was a little sheepish, too, as he rubbed the back of his neck; it definitely made it easier, though, when people kind of noticed. "Ten years? So, uh, yeah, it's definitely been...interesting...But it's really good to see you! And, hey, congrats. On...the wedding, too! Looks like I got back just in time to make it!"

Hopefully, it went way better than the last wedding he was going to!

[defenderofdesmoines]

You know, it probably couldn't go much worse.

"Holy shit," she repeated, full-on staring. "I mean -- thank you, seriously, you really are just in time, but...my God, Prompto. Where do we even start?"

Oh, wait. They were in a bar. There.

"Anything you want is on the house," she offered, vaguely waving at the specials. "Welcome back."

[hashtag_chocobro]

"Thanks," Prompto gave an odd, wavering kind of smile, the one that was really trying not to make a big deal about the ten-years thing, but knew it was kind of hard for the ten-years thing to not be a big deal. "And, I gotta ask....Undead Gentleman?"

That one kind of spoke to him a little, all things considered. Being back here sort of felt like being dragged back from the dead...

[pocketpretzels]

Annie’s reaction was hard to miss, really, which was why Watts turned to face him, squinting as he gave Prompto a once-over.

“Are you, then, the Mr. Argentum I’ve heard so often about?” he checked.

[hashtag_chocobro]

And a reaction like that was definitely one that made Prompto's eyes lift up a little in surprise, because, well, he never imagined he was the type of person that anyone would 'hear so often about.'

"Uhhhh," he started, oh-so-eloquently. "Maybe? I mean, I don't really...know of many other Argentums around here," and the only other one wouldn't have been a mister, "so....maybe?

"You know Liz?" he then guessed, because, as far people who would have much to say about him, she was probably up there at the top.

[pocketpretzels]

“I do, yes,” Watts confirmed with a nod.

He didn’t elaborate, mostly because… well, it was complicated, and you didn’t just drop ‘Your girlfriend is my boyfriend’s best friend, and at one point they had romantic feelings for each other and as a result of that and my own previous relationship issues I’ve spent nearly our entire relationship low-key terrified he’d leave me for her’ on someone he’d just met.

[hashtag_chocobro]

And, as someone who had already had an awful lot dropped on him in just this past week alone, up to and including the fact that ten years had only been about four months, and that that girlfriend who had developed romantic feelings for his boyfriend had been pregnant with his child for the entirety of his absence, Prompto really appreciated that.

But the simple answer made Prompto grin a little, somewhat crookedly, and he nodded. "That's...probably it, then," he said, before adding a little sheepish, "Good things, I hope?"

Although, with the circumstances, he really wouldn't be surprised if there weren't the case.

And that would be entirely fair.

[canondisasterbi]

"Prompto!" Michael greeted. "Doing any better today?"

[hashtag_chocobro]

Prompto had to laugh a little at that, because gods help him if he was actually doing worse.

"Hey, Michael," he said, with a grin and a nod of his head. "Doing much better." Having actually had time to actually, you know, process and not worry that it was all just so weird Fandom fluke was helpful like that! "Thanks. How you settling in?"

[canondisasterbi]

Michael shrugged. "Alright, I guess. Hosted my first customer at the junkyard yesterday, always exciting. And did you know someone parks a pink spaceship over there?"

[canondisasterbi]

Michael was blessedly free of earworms as he came in. That probably wouldn't last long. But he did feel the need to make a point of trying out both of the island's bars by the end of his first week on the island.

"You all have some interesting specials around here," he noted.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Oh, I'm the boring one, as far as specials go," Annie noted with a grin, giving this new guy a curious once-over. A new person! New to her, anyway. "I just figured I'd be cutesy about summer and fall drinks today. Hi!"

[canondisasterbi]

New to most, actually.

"Howdy," Michael said with a smile and a tip of his hat. (What? He was on the East Coast. It was practically required that he lean extra hard into the whole "cowboy" aesthetic around here. "Guess I should follow the seasons, start the gentleman and end in the fall spices?"

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Oh, wow, an actual cowboy with actual cowboy manners," Annie noted with the grin that that hat-tip absolutely deserved. "Undead Gentleman to start it is, and -- welcome? Are you new to Fandom, or did you sneak in this summer while I wasn't looking?

Honestly, there'd been a fair bit of the latter.