An Evening at the Rabbit Hole

It was a late night for Hops at the Rabbit Hole. Customers just wouldn’t stop coming, nor would they stop drinking. The tips were okay, and things were going as usual for a busy evening. However, a tap on the booth caught her attention, before she saw a hand waving out towards her, gesturing for her to come closer.

“Hey, you’re Hops, right?” the woman asked.

“Yup, that’s me! What can I get you?” Hops replied with a bit of a chipper in her voice.

The bun before her looked familiar, but she hadn’t really known her personally. Maybe it was from an ad she saw for a performance, but the bun had the air of a musician to her, from her outfit to even the way her voice flowed. She was pretty and refined, like a waxed and tuned instrument.

“Angora Sour, please.” 

“Gotcha, coming right up!”

With a smile on her face, Hope pulled out her trusty drink mixer and started mixing the drink right in front of the woman.

“Oh, I’m Breve, by the way.”

“...O-Okay?” Hops said, unsure of why the bun had suddenly decided to introduce herself.

“Sorry, that was rude of me. I’m just not used to that kind of politeness here at the ‘Hole. People just come and go, usually.”

“Ah,” nodded Breve, “since I’ve been here enough times, I thought you’d want to know my name. I always order the same thing…so I thought you might have noticed by now.”

Hops’ cheeks flushed red. It was hard to remember anything when she was constantly drinking on the job. Apparently, she HAD met this woman before. With an awkward smile, she pulled out some flavor syrups and mixed them into the drink, dusting a bit of her secret ingredient in.

“Ohh! Um, yeah! I think I remember you! It’s just hard to think of every face that sits at this booth…”

She slid Breve her drink. Breve placed a bundle of carats down neatly, wrapped in a brown bag which appeared to be sealed with a wax press. Everything about this woman was classy, from the drink she ordered, to the way she presented herself. Hops couldn’t help but feel like she was being disrespectful by forgetting her, but Breve’s smile didn’t seem to falter.

“Hmm…so, do you like making drinks?” Breve asked, leaning her cheek into her hand as she sipped at the Angora Sour.

“I guess I’m more of a fan of drinking them, eheh. I wouldn’t be here making drinks if I knew how to put a glass down. It was fun getting to learn how to make them, though!”

Breve perked her lopped ears up a little.

“Oh, I’ve heard a lot of this bar’s specialities were your creations.”

“Mhm, getting to experiment with the flavors is my favorite part.”

Hops started pouring other order’s drinks in between their conversation. Breve didn’t mind as she stepped away to help someone, which the bartender appreciated.

“What about you?” Hops asked, “Are you a musician or something?”

“I am. How kind of you to notice.”

This seemed to strike Breve in good favor. Her chest puffed ever-so-slightly more out, and the shine of her horns seemed to reflect more of the lights above.

“I’m a violinist. I do solo concerts. Can’t have other instruments drowning out the sound of my beautiful tones, after all.”

“Yeah, it definitely leaves more room to appreciate the sound when it’s all you can hear.” 

“Mhm. My wife enjoys listening to me play the most, but honestly, I’ll play for anyone willing to listen to it. It’s my greatest passion.”

“Ah, so, are you like, self-taught?”

“A bit. I had some private lessons when I first came to Burrowgatory, but it didn’t take much for me to get the hang of it. I’m very good at picking things up, you know.”

“Ohh, I see..”

Hops got the impression this bun was really, REALLY in-tune with her vice. Both literally and musically. She could only imagine how passionate she was about her musical skills if she was willing to open up this much about how proud she was of her skills.

The two continued to chat for a little while more, before Breve stood up after finishing her drink, dusting her long legs and smiling at Hops.

“I’d like to learn how to make the one I drank tonight, if you don’t mind. How about I come by tomorrow?” Breve asked.

“Huh?” Hops blinked.

“You still do bartender lessons, right? I saw an advertisement for it on the door.”

“O-Oh! Yes, yes!”

“Then it’s settled.”

Breve smiled and left without another word. Hops was feeling tipsy from stealing sips of booze when she was grabbing ingredients from under the counter, so whether or not she’d remember Breve was coming was up for debate. Still, the interaction was awkward enough to leave a fuzzy imprint on her drunken mind, so there was hope she’d have some semblance of being prepared for the woman’s arrival. No doubt Angora would tease her about acting so embarrassed about having a ‘fancier’ customer push herself onto her, she thought. Come to think of it, she felt like Angora and Breve might even get along…two classy women with refined taste. Maybe, she thought, she’d find a way to introduce them to each other down the line. Or, maybe she’d drink the night away and forget about it all by next week.