Devil's Nest | Thursday Evening

[defenderofdesmoines]

When Annie came in tonight, she found Tiny in the middle of tidying up the axe range and straightening the targets. Which, of course, led to Annie realizing that they had somehow never had an axe-throwing contest, and that that needed to be rectified immediately.

And while Tiny did not participate or agree, per se, Annie still gamely squared up and threw an axe at the dead center of her target -- and immediately felt a sharp twinge from hip to shoulder.

Goddamn it. And now she'd be spending the night rolling her shoulder, sitting in barstools and twisting, and generally regretting that choice.

(Though she had decided that she'd won by default, since Tiny had just walked off instead of taking his shot. So it was worth it.)

~*Specials*~
Espresso Margarita
Kahlua Coffee
Revolver Cocktail

[if this looks like method RP, it's because it is. open, OCD-free, and possibly a little slow!]

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[doctorgingerspice]

One year ago today (by Fandom's reckoning, anyway; those months spent back in Chicago where it had only been weeks here made it a little weird), Will had been about to get married.

Instead he'd been kidnapped and nearly killed, which resulted in him being whisked off to Fandom for his own protection.

His feelings on the matter were, naturally, kind of complicated, so what better way to deal with that then head out for a drink? That the bartender tonight was one of the people who'd made him feel like Fandom was actually someplace safe in the aftermath of all that was an added bonus.

Though the last entry on the specials list seemed a little on-the-nose.

[defenderofdesmoines]

Mostly it was just thoughtless! And it had sounded good!

"Hey, Will!" Annie greeted him cheerfully. "Haven't seen you for a minute -- how's it going?"

[doctorgingerspice]

Well, it's not like Annie would have known Will was going to show up today...

"Ah," he said, tearing his eyes away from that specials board and giving Annie a somewhat wan smile. "Will you accept an 'it's complicated'?"

[defenderofdesmoines]

"In my experience," Annie replied, leaning against the bar, "that's usually not like, code for, 'secretly awesome.' But I'll accept it. Can I get you a drink?"

Maybe something that wasn't the thoughtless special?

[doctorgingerspice]

“Today, ah. Would’ve been my one-year wedding anniversary,” Will elaborated, because Annie was one of the two people on-island who basically had the full story already. “So. Complicated. I’ll just take a beer, though.” No sadness whiskey for this guy. Yet, anyway.

[defenderofdesmoines]

The sadness whiskey wasn't going anywhere.

"Oh, shit," Annie said softly, her expression immediately turning a little more concerned even as she moved to get his beer. "It's been a year already?"

[doctorgingerspice]

“Time sure flies, huh?” Will asked. “It’s a bit weird because when I went home earlier this year, it was months there and only a couple weeks here, but yeah. Showed up here on the 11th. Right after- well. All of it.”

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I remember that," Annie noted, sliding his beer over. "Did you expect you'd still be here a year later?"

She remembered how she had been able to tell something had been wrong, but of course not what. (Though, like. Annie would have never guessed the actual what it had been in a million years, with a million guesses.)

[doctorgingerspice]

“Not in the least,” Will admitted. “I thought I’d be hiding out for a couple months at most, and then get to go home.” Which had kind of been what had happened! He’d just decided to come back here in the long run.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Well," Annie said, choosing her words carefully. "For what it's worth, I'm glad you decided to stick around."

Since, yeah, it had sounded like he might have the option to return home if he wanted, now that things were settled (though, of course, not at all returned to how they had been.)

"And not just because it's nice to know we actually have a doctor around," she added with a smile, since he now could really appreciate, with context, how grateful she'd been about that when he'd first arrived.

[doctorgingerspice]

“Thanks,” Will said with a much more genuine smile. “I didn’t expect to like it here as much as I did, you know? I didn’t want to like it, back when I thought it was temporary.”

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I get that," Annie noted sympathetically. "This place grows on you."

Like a fungus, if a fungus came with friends and, like, the opportunity to meet your future children.

"And I bet it's nice to have it feel like a choice," she added thoughtfully. "Rather than the only option available."

[doctorgingerspice]

“Not to mention I had the cutest dog in the world with me when I came back,” Will said. Not that he was biased or anything.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I mean, that would definitely help," Annie noted, smiling. "I keep thinking we should get a dog or something, and then we end up in the 60s for two weeks and half my plants die, so maybe not."

Normal problems for people to have.

"And besides, your dog is the cutest dog. I shouldn't even try to compete."

[doctorgingerspice]

Will rolled his eyes. “Your life is so weird that you can just say stuff like that casually,” he said.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I mean, even for me, the time travel is new and weird," Annie told him casually, popping a cherry from her garnish tray into her mouth. "There's always a bigger, weirder fish out there."

Annie's home universe honestly seemed to take that as a challenge sometimes.

[doctorgingerspice]

"If this place gets invaded by actual giant fish I know who I'm blaming," Will said solemnly.

It'd be the same person he'd be hiding behind if the giant fish happened to have like, laser eyes or something.

[sword_chocobro]

It was Thursday and nothing terrible was happening, so Gladio was shirtless in the bar, grunting with amusement at the specials board.

"I knew I should have dragged Specs along with me today."

He could still call him, sure, but...well, he was in the middle of kitchen things when Gladio headed out. Coffee-related specials might be enough to break him out of it...

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I was feeling the coffee thing," Annie admitted with a smile. "It's okay -- I can still make any of these at a later date if he's, like, busy tonight."

She would just have to look up the recipes, which was fine, since she had to look them up even when they were the specials.

"Is Shoe Guy a coffee guy, then?"

[sword_chocobro]

"Shoe Guy," Gladio confirmed, "is a huge coffee guy. I'm pretty sure he'd just live at the Perk if they let him. It's a miracle we managed to stretch the stock of what we had back in Eos as far as we did; I'm pretty sure whatever was left of it wouldn't have stood a chance if he actually ran out..."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"And now he's back right in time for PSL season to fade into peppermint mocha season," Annie noted brightly. "Though I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing for a coffee lover. Though I will say, now that I know that, I'll have to bring Ignis some Jitter Bean grounds or something from my universe -- our coffee chain is the best one in any of the universes I've been in."

Including the Perk, though that might just be home universe bias.

[sword_chocobro]

"I'm sure he'd appreciate that," Gladio nodded with a faint grin. "Just don't take it personally if he still compares it unfavorably to Ebony. He's sometimes a little...."

Snobbish? Pretentious? Annoying?

"...particular about his coffee, too."

Easy for you to say, Mr. My Preferred Brand Obsessions Actually Exists in the Universe over here.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Well, can't fault for that," Annie noted, considering she did indeed compare everything from Starbucks to caf to her beloved Jitter Bean. "Ebony sounds intense, though. Like coffee plus. Maybe even espresso plus."

[sword_chocobro]

Please. Do not ever get Ignis started on caf.

"It is strong," Gladio allowed, "but it's really just canned coffee. That's it."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Something to keep my eye out for," Annie decided. "Or try to replicate, as the case may be. Can I interest you in one of these boring, normal-coffee specials? Or, like, are we venturing off-menu this week, Gladio?"