Drink in the Nightlife

Characters: Reese Morgan, Valerian Cassidy
When: A few nights after they first meet, but days before the rest of the families reach Azoth Manor;
Where: Mint
Summary: Remembering to stop by at the place where her new friend, Valerian, worked, Reese heads on over to Mint.

Mint,
Seattle, WA

Dressed in a sweater dress and her boots, Reese waited in line to enter the club/bar. Thankfully, she was near the front of the line, since she had only walked from where she was staying at temporarily. She was fortunate enough to have met some people during her stay in the Emerald City. She met Valerian at the bookshop, and then Ethan not even later that night. Then again...it was funny how both of them had the same last name...'Cassidy'...maybe they were related? Or just had a common last name. Whichever the reason was, it didn't matter as the line moved and a couple minutes later, Reese was already inside the club/bar.

The staff were dressed provocatively, which to anyone meant all the more 'fun'...however, Reese just shook it off; she knew what it was like to have a certain dress code, from her experiences as a waitress at a gentleman's club for only a short while back in college. She made her way through the crowd and over to the bar, where she found a seat just right in the middle. Sitting down, she was glad to have found the seat--the club was starting to get a little packed.

"Excuse me? Can I get an Irish Car bomb and a Kamikaze?" she asked the bartender that was behind the counter.

Valerian hadn't been at Mint long that evening. Things had been running smoothly, almost boring. His uniform for the night was leather, as it often was. His top consisted solely of a leather form fitting vest that stopped right below his navel, and his pants were made of leather and were very tight. Around his wrists were leather cuff-bracelets. His hair, as was typical when he was at Mint, was pulled forward and laid over one eye. He almost hoped that something would go wrong, or one of the cocktail waitresses would get sick and have to go home, so things would get interesting.

A very familiar voice cut through his inner thoughts. A very familiar voice. He set the bar rag down on the counter and turned around to see whose face the familiar voice belonged to. He almost smiled at the sight of her. She looked absolutely beautiful. His smile almost revealed some teeth. "Yes you can, if that is really what you want." He said as he gathered the different parts of the drinks, and made her order quickly and efficiently. He wondered if she used his card to cut the line. He probably should have told her that was what the card was for after all.

Reese took the time as she asked her question to give a once over look at the bartender's attire...now, if she was into the dominatrix scene, she'd probably find his attire to really--her train of thought fled as she saw the bartender's face...it was Valerian, the same one she met at Pegasus Bookshop the other day. His hair looked different now than it had when she met him Grandma Sophie's place.

"Someone looks as though they were rescued from being bored to death," Reese jested as she smiled. "I heard of this place for a while, but I've never had the chance to be in here while in Seattle. Guess it was time to check out your bar," she added as she blew back a curled bang from her eyes.

Dominatrix was definitely not what he was going for. He would be disappointed to hear that. The outfit would have been scrapped. He wasn't quite sure what look he was going for, but it was scandalous to say the least, so he was happy with it. It wasn't latex leather, or fake leather. While he did have a few latex items, he felt that real leather was less trashy.

"Well you are here now, and if there is anything I can get for you, let me know." He said as he put a menu in front of her. "Bar appetizers." He said, that way she would know what it was. "Everything will be gratis this evening." He said with an almost smile. His boss gave him a certain amount of "gratis money". He had two thousand dollars each month that he could use on the patrons. He normally didn't even use half. He had to ring everything up, and scan his card, that way everything was accounted for and still free for the patron. It was a neat system. "So it is your first time here. I hope you showed the bouncer the card I gave you."

Reese smiled as Valerian placed a menu in front of her. Boy was she hungry at that moment.

"I'll be sure to pick something out from here...and funny enough, the bouncer is someone I know, so I didn't even think to use your business card. I used to live in the same town as the bouncer before I left for college and my dad moved to a smaller house once I graduated from high school," Reese said as she looked at the menu.

She looked back up and was surprised that Valerian looked good with this particular hairstyle: it made him look different and...well, she was a woman, so she was entitled to say that Valerian was a good-looking guy, at the very least.

He really was pretty good looking, especially if you like dark broody guys, and luckily for him, lots of people did. Not that it did him a lot of good really because his shyness kept him from completely capitalizing on his smoldering good looks. Can't have your cake and eat it too. He walked to the end of the bar and filled a few orders for the cocktail waitresses. He walked back to Reese.

"Find something you want to eat?" He said as he turned the page of the menu. "The Veal Kebabs are supposedly very good." He said. He had never actually had them before, but he heard they were to die for. He leaned against the back bar and observed.

Reese stuck the tip of her tongue out as she was still looking over at the appetizers. She looked back up when Valerian spoke to her.

"I think I'll go for the steamed dumplings you got here...and maybe the sushi combo as well," Reese said as she pointed out her order. "And maybe I'll get an order of the veal kebabs as well, since I'm sure that you're a little hungry or close enough to it." She added as she tilted her head a little, letting the curls cover one of her eyes.

A girl with an appetite. It was refreshing to see a girl who didn't worry about eating food. Half the girls at Mint had eating disorders, or so he thought. She ordered nothing he could eat, but to be truthful, he wasn't really that hungry. He had been a vegetarian for several years. It was tough because sometimes he craved meat like crazy, but being a vegetarian was something he stuck to seriously.

"Order what you want. I don't eat anything with meat in it, and I have a salad in the kitchen." He said to her informatively. "I'll have Nova run down to the kitchen and put your order in. We were supposed to get a computer based ordering system, but it hasn't been implemented yet." He said with a frown. "We have an IT guy, and he is horribly lazy." He looked for a waitress. "Nova. Take this to the kitchen please." He said as he handed her a piece of paper. "You are killlllllling me Val." She said with a sigh as he watched her blue hair disappear down the stairs.

"You have a IT guy that's lazier than a camel on a cold night...well, then you might wanna get someone else, especially if Mint's supposed to be one of the best clubs to go to in Seattle," Reese said as she took a sip of her Kamikaze drink.

She was impressed--the drink was exactly the same way as she liked it...a bit bitter from the alcohol, but sweet enough to make you not notice it at all.

"I'm guessing you got this from the book I helped pick out, huh?"

"I agree, but he is the owner's nephew supposedly." He said as he continued to lean against the bar counter. "I've already familiarized myself with the system, but we have yet to implement it. I don't think my waitresses will have a problem with it. They will be glad they don't have to run to the kitchen." He said as he remembered all the times Nova bitched about having to go to the kitchen.

"No. I'll show you what I made." He said as he turned his back to her and started preparing a drink. It took a minute to make, and he had made quite a few of them. He turned around and placed the drink in front of her. "Its called Banshee's Blood. Its a quarter shot of Creme de Cassis, a quarter shot of Black Cherry juice, and Champagne." He said as he placed the drink in front of her. "It isn't as sweet as it sounds. It has a very balanced flavor."

Reese took the drink in her hand and took a sip of it. She was surprised by how good it was, nodding her head to Valerian.

"Not bad...it's got a nice kick to it, but not being too over the top," Reese said as she looked up. "Just out of curiousity, do I look better with the curls or not really?"

Reese took the drink in her hand and took a sip of it. She was surprised by how good it was, nodding her head to Valerian.

"Not bad...it's got a nice kick to it, but not being too over the top," Reese said as she looked up. "Just out of curiousity, do I look better with the curls or not really?"

"Well to be honest, I was worried about the Champagne making it a little too over the top, but the flavors balance nicely, and between you and me the profit is nice." Surely she knew that if you add champagne to a drink, it allowed the price to inflate. The cost was five dollars, and they charged twenty for the drink. A fifteen dollar profit was nothing to sneeze at, and considering he had made about a hundred of them this evening alone, for a whopping Fifteen hundred dollar profit. He was pretty pleased with himself.

"I like it either way personally. I think its more flirty in curls, and more high-class straightened. Both are nice." He said with a blush. Shy again.

Reese nodded her head as she took a bigger sip at the new drink.

"Need me to be your guinea pig for another other drinks you've picked up recently?" Reese asked as she down the rest of the beverage in one gulp and set the glass in front of herself.

Reese was glad that she was part Irish--otherwise, drinking would NOT as easy as riding a bike when it came to heavy liquor and being able to handle a lot in a short period of time.

"Do you mind if I have a cigarette in here? Or, do I have to wait til I make my way outside in order to have one?" she asked as she played with a keychain of a dreamcatcher on it.

"Actually. If you don't mind." He said with a slight grin. "I try not to test the drinks out on the patrons in case they are gross." He said as he looked at the bar space under the counter. "I keep the good stuff under the counter." He said as he bent down and started pulling out strange bottles of things, fruit, a juicer, and bar tools. The bar was covered in ingredients, plates, and napkins, and even herbs. He clearly was very good at what he did. Nobody ever guessed that he had a degree in Sociology. It didn't seem logical.

Nova walked over to the bar counter. "Not tonight Valerian. Please." She said with a frown. He just looked at her. "I'm doing it." He said. "The other bar is on the other side of the room, and Micah is working it. He can handle the extra load." Valerian said as he motioned with his hand for her to go away. "Now then." He said as he started slicing fruit quickly and placing them on the black plates he set on the bar. "Please go ahead. You can smoke at Mint. Just don't blow it at me." He said as he looked at her keychain. "That is a neat dreamcatcher." He said.

Reese took out a pack of Cloves and lit one up. She was good at making sure not to blow it in the direction of other people as she took long drag from the cancer stick.

"Thanks...one of my lucky charms, to be frank. Not really superstitious, but hey--beggars can't be choosers," Reese replied as she watched in fascination of what Valerian was cooking up.

She knew that the book she picked out would come in handy. She just wasn't sure how good of a choice she had made when she picked out that book at the bookshop a few days ago.

"Guessing from what that waitress's face, I'd say that you two don't meet eye-to-eye at times?"

His laugh seemed to be made of silver. It wasn't loud, but it conveyed a happiness that his face rarely did. "Not at all. Nova and I get along. She just gets frustrated because I depend on her to help keep things running smoothly." Well that was certainly true, but he knew that she did get frustrated with him. He was a top notch bartender. His drinks were always made quickly, and they were never sent back. He didn't have a heavy or a light hand. "I shut this bar down for the next thirty minutes so we can play around. Pick a fruit, and I'll try to pair it with something." He said. He often made Nova do this with him, but she wasn't fun, and hated doing it with him.

Reese flicks the ash from her cigarette on a nearby ashtray as she exhales, leaving a slowing trail of smoke leaving her lips. Her brown eyes scan the fruits in front of her, all of which were just aching to be picked. Her eyes went from the luscious strawberries, which would give off a sweet sensation in her mouth, to the scrumptious cherries, in which she could tie knots on the stem with her tongue in second nature to breathing.

"Why don't you surprise me?" Reese asked, leaving her fate in Valerian's hands, giving the young bartender her complete trust in his talents.

He smiled. He studied the fruits for a moment, and then picked up a few strawberries, and a half of a lemon. He looked around the bar for a moment and picked up a few cherries and threw them into the juicer for a minute until all that was left was juice. He opened the side of the juicer and the juice poured out into the glass he nuzzled against it. The fruity smell permeated the air. He liked the smell of the fruit.

"Nowwww." He said as he pulled out a clear bottle. All it said on the side was Strawberry. He infused the bottles of liquor with different flavors. "Strawberry Rum." He said as he poured some into a metal shaker, and then poured ice, and the juice into the metal shaker. He replaced the lid and shook it vigorously for several minutes. He took a clean glass and dipped the top into water and then dipped it in sugar to coat the rim. The drink was poured into the glass and garnished with a pineapple and a cherry. "Try this." He said as he handed it to her.

Reese smiled her thanks as she took the glass, her fingers brushing against Valerian's for a brief moment before she got the glass in her grip completely. She took a sip of the drink and was a little taken back by the strong rum taste and the bitterness of the lemon at first, but it faded into the rest of the fruity concoction of the juice.

"This is pretty good. Which one is this?" Reese asked as she placed the glass down after taking a gulp of that drink.

He almost dropped the drink when her hand touched his. He watched her face, and at first he didn't think she would like it, but the bitter eventually faded, as he figured it would. Valerian used a rag to wipe down the counter to make sure it was clean. He liked a clean bar, rather, he loved a clean bar. He liked cleanliness.

"I really don't know. I was planning on that being the feature drink for the next summer maybe. Its fresh and cold, and fresh and cold belongs in the summer right?" He said wondering if it really was a good drink for summer. Maybe he should have used raspberries and strawberries? He would just have to test it out.

"That sounds about right...might have used raspberries in this one...lemon seems to be in its own category with lemon drops and kamikazes, don't you agree?" Reese said as she took a cherry stem and went to tie a knot on it with her tongue.

"I was thinking the same thing." He admitted as he started gathering some more ingredients. What was that drink he was going to make for Christmas? He tapped the bar as he thought to himself. "The lemon flavor is very versatile. It has a cool and refreshing flavor, but you can also use it to mull wine in the winter." He said as he started gathering ingredients again. "This one, I may have to redo. It has almost an acquired taste. You'll either love it or hate it. He grabbed a bottle of Zen Green Tea Liquer and Midori. He then juiced a mango and added some white pepper to the juice, and set it aside. He poured some cream into a clean shaker, and added the other ingredients he had gathered so far, and added crushed ice, and shook vigorously. Valerian strained it into a champagne flute, and sprinkled nutmeg on the top. The result was a creamy cocktail that had the color of a Christmas tree.

"Chances are I'm not going to use this one at Christmas, but I don't want to use the one I came up with last year either." He said with a sigh as he wiped down the bar again.

Reese took a sip of the second drink, masking that it wasn't really good very well.

"You're on the money with the acquired taste part..." Reese said as she let out a cough.

Sliding the second one back, she grabbed the first drink and polished it off in two gulps.

"Ok, what else do you have me to try out?"

He laughed again. "See why I can't serve that!" He said as he handed her a glass of water. "That was option one. This is option two." Meaning, he just came up with Option Two while he was looking at the raw ingredients on the table. He hummed as he gathered the cranberries and threw them in the juicer. He juiced them once, emptied the juicer, and juiced them again, that way he could really get a good cranberry flavor. He liked this drink idea. He emptied the juicer into a glass and set it aside.

He juiced a small amount of lemon. About one half an ounce worth, and added it to the cranberry juice. He took a Rosemary sprig and muddled it with a simple syrup mixture. It gave the Rosemary almost a sparkle, and it was quite aromatic. He added Gran Marnier to a clean shaker, and then added the juice mixture with ice. He shook it vigorously for a minute and strained it over a Rocks Glass, with ice in it. He carefully added the Rosemary sprig, and handed her the drink. It was a red drink with a green accent. The colors were right, for sure!

Reese took the new drink and tried it out. Surprisingly, it had just the right amount of kick to it just like the first drink she tried out. Taking another sip, she nodded her head at this one.

"Yeah, this one's a keeper," Reese said as she took yet another sip. "The lemon really compliments the Gran Marnier here...all in all, a very good wintry drink for sure."

Reese smiled as she felt a little 'loose' from the alcohol and was wondering when the food might show up. Not that she didn't want to drink anymore, but she liked pacing herself as far as drinking went.