fandomtownies | Caritas

Annie had arrived at Caritas much, much earlier than she usually did on Wednesday – so early, in fact, that Tino had initially tried to shoo her out before Annie had instead shoved an armload of pink birthday decorations at him and told him to make himself useful.

And thus, by the time Caritas approached its normal opening time, the bar had been fairly covered – haphazardly in spots, and tackily over the top – in pink fringe, pink birthday balloons, a truly silly amount of pink glitter scattered around (thankfully, they still had that vacuum), and a banner draped above the bar.

The specials were a little different from what most people were probably used to, too.

Wednesday Cocktail Specials

First one free for a karaoke song, or participation in the Wednesday Activity!
(ALL drinks free if you are the Birthday Queen)

Pink Lady
Twenty-Three
Cosmopolitan
The Summer Smith (Red Bull, strawberry vodka, rosé, edible glitter, served in red solo cup)
Smoker's Cough

Birthday Cake Pudding Shots
(vegan/virgin available)

Summer Smith-Crafted JELLO SHOTS
Birthday Cake
Pink Lemonade
Chocolate*
Tomato Aspic (???)

Caritas was open, even if it was a little pinker than usual, and at least one of the bartenders might not be who you expected to see back there!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Stark had been headed to his usual spot but Summer was on the wrong side of the bar and that meant he changed course and headed right for her instead, taking in all of the pinkness as he went.

"You got a party," he said, grinning at her. "Good."

Excuse you, Summer was in exactly the right side of the bar for her (kind of) birthday, and the absolutely radiant grin on her face as she made her way through a Cosmo showed that she couldn't be any more pleased about it, either.

"I did get a party," she said, with a happy sigh and a grateful look toward whatever Annie was doing at the moment that she hoped the temporary bartender for the evening could feel. "And it feels awesome, and one of the specials has mayo in, Stark."

He, more than anyone, should be able to appreciate how amazing that was.

"I'm glad you got a party," Stark told her, smile softening. "And another day off of work."

"I'm not," he said after a pause, "glad about the mayo."

"I'm not going to tell you which one it is," Summer informed him, looking far too pleased with herself over this particularly cruel challenge, although, really, maybe process of elimination would be his friend here. "But you have to get at least one of the specials, and you knoooow, if you took on class solo on Friday, then I could have a whole week off of all my jobs."

"But then I wouldn't get to see you for our last class," Stark pointed out. "And you wouldn't get to horrify me."

That was a sentence that ought not to sound so very fond and yet here they were.

"I'll try a pink lady," he told her, waving down a Tino. "I'm sure that will taste good."

That was quite the smirk Stark was making no attempt to smother.

To which Summer was going to quirk such an eyebrow at, but there was no denying the smirk on her face, either.

"A Pink Lady," she said with a note of approval into her own drink, "is always a good choice. And you are my favorite person to horrify, so I guess I can make a birthday-week work-exception for class on Friday."

"I've enjoyed plenty of pink things before." Very recently in fact! "And the name reminds me of someone."

"I'm your favorite?" Stark asked, flashing her a look that could only be described as hearteye. "You're my favorite person to be horrified by."

"Well," said Summer, with a confident lift of her chin before hiding a smirk in her drink, "that's hardly a surprise.

"...I am pretty good at it," she added, a moment later, just enough to let that obvious assumption linger a little as a more broader concept before narrowing it down with a convenient justification. "And who does it remind you of?"

Looking at Stark now with the utmost innocence in the curious tilt of her head. "I'm not sure it's ringing any bells."

"You're very good at it," Stark agreed. "At many, many things."

Was he thinking back to Monday night? Maybe. Definitely.

"It reminds me of my favorite bartender," he said. "She just had a birthday."

"Mmm." Summer's thoughtful hum of agreement may have indicated that she, too, was thinking of Monday night...and also not too long ago, either, after the shenanigans.

And then a snort.

"No way," she said. "I just had a birthday, too."

Monday had been a good night. Tuesday had been a good morning. Cleaning off after shenanigans had also been good. It had been a good week thus far.

"You did," Stark told her with a grin. "You're my favorite bartender, you know."

"I know," Summer smirked, and was definitely thinking of a very specific part of Monday now.

"Even when you aren't behind a bar," Stark told her, looking very intently at the smirk on her face. "Always."

That intent look on Stark's face softened the smirk on Summer's face a little, pulled some of the swell of her bravado back a little.

"Well," she said, "you do have pretty good taste."

Stark wanted to retort that she tasted good but he wasn't feeling that bold right now. Not here with other people around.

"In some things," he agreed, still watching her carefully.

Yes, he was thinking about kissing her right now. But again, not here with other people around.

"Most things," Summer corrected, with a small mental flail to try and find something else to latch onto to keep herself from getting caught in the undertow of meaning, of seriousness, of sincerity.

She nodded to Stark's drink. "Speaking of," she said, "how is it?"

"It's very good," he said. "Annie must have good taste in drinks as well."

"I'm glad you think I've got good taste in most things. It meant I could choose well, for Monday."

Caritas | Wednesday

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