Evening at the Rabbit Hole

With Flint in another part of Burrowgatory working on some sort of “surprise”, so his place was closed, and no performance gigs available, Zepp found himself wandering the streets of the city, looking for something to occupy his time. The sight of the Wonderland Casino caught his attention, but not for the card games. Gambling wasn't exactly his forté. Instead, he wandered into the adjoining bar, The Rabbit Hole. While it'd been a while since he last visited, as he preferred the vibe of Flint's arcade, he'd heard mentions that the bartender made “the meanest spirits in Burrowgatory”, or something along those lines. 

The place was quieter than he expected it to be, with only a small handful of patrons currently seated inside. He sat down on one of the bar stools, and had a look around. It was much different aesthetic wise to his usual scenery, this place being one of luxury. Instead of shining chrome and glowing neon, here, the bartop was polished marble, with rich mahogany furniture. Large, shimmering crystal chandeliers illuminated the room, and artwork and marble sculptures lined the walls. Not his style, but beautiful, undeniably. 

“Hey! Welcome to the Rabbit Hole! What can I get for you?” A peppy, upbeat voice asked from behind the counter. He turned back around to face its source. A pink haired gluttony bun, in a tight black suit, just barely covering her torso, covered with pink frills, bubbles and bows, frilly white cuffs and a collar with a black bow adorning it, a big smile across her face. A shining, silver name tag on her chest read “Hops”. She extended a hand, holding out a drinks menu.

“Oh yo! Could I get a..” He took it, and got slightly overwhelmed by the amount of specials listed. Most seemed to be puns on traditional cocktail names, but at this moment he wasn't prepared to go through them all. “Uh, could I just get a classic mojito, by any chance?”

“Sure thing, coming right up!” The bartender turned around, almost tripping over her own two feet, but managed to catch herself, shaking the shelves of glass bottles behind her. Seemingly unphased, she began to mix up the cocktail, muddling mint leaves, lime slices and sugar in a small dish. Once the mint was sufficiently crushed, she poured it into a glass, tossed in some ice, and measured out the rum, and stirred the mixture. Finally, she topped up the rest of the glass with soda water, garnished the concoction with mint and a lime slice, and placed the drink in front of him, with a fancy coaster underneath, then went to mix another drink. 

He took a sip of the off-white mixture. He was taken aback by how it tasted. The balance between the citrus fruit, mint and the sweet sugar was perfect, probably the nicest cocktail he had ever tasted. He gave a glance over towards Hops, who, from the bottles that were left out on the counter, seemed to be making a simple vodka cola, topped with a lemon slice. She took a swig out of the tumbler, and once she realised she was being watched, attempted to hide the evidence on a shelf underneath the counter, before back over to him.

“Sorry, sorry! Something wrong with your drink?” She seemed flustered, cheeks lit up crimson. “Oh no, no! It's brilliant, honestly.” He smiled at her, taking another drink from his glass. “Best mojito I've ever had, genuinely.”

Somehow she became more red. “Oh, it's nothing special really, but thank you. I have an experimental take on one, but the ingredients aren't available this time of year.”

“Oh? When are they then?”

“Come the start of spring I should be able to source the stuff!”

“I'm looking forward to it already, deffo will be back for em, though I'll probably be back in the meantime.” As he was speaking, Hops had gone back to retrieve her filled tumbler, and came back, leaning against the smooth countertop. 

“I don't remember seeing you around here at all, and well, I get to know the regulars well, what brings you down here? The casino, or just here for the drinks?” Once finishing her sentence, she downed the rest of her beverage. 

“Just the drinks, heard good things. Wanted to taste test that for myself.”

“And it seems you're impressed on that front.”

“That I am, thanks…” He began to skim down through the drinks menu. “Hey uh, what'd be your favourite thing off of this to mix up? Mind if I get one off ya once I'm finished off me glass?” He raised it slightly, showcasing the glass to be drained to about one third remaining. 

“Oh, that'd be a Hopscotch! I'll get one right up for you!” 

“Named after yourself?”

“Yeah… heh” she gave a bit of a nervous laugh, as she dashed over to start preparing the drink. All he could recognise from the ingredients she used was the whiskey, the rest being unfamiliar to him. As he finished his glass, she turned back, drink in hand, and her tail swinging behind, its tip catching the whiskey bottle. “Hey uh watch yourse-”  The bottle came clattering to the ground, shattering. The sound startled the poor barkeep, who dropped the glass, spilling it all over the counter, and Zepp. “Oh shit, sorry! Sorry!” She rushed to try to grab some napkins, again her tail getting caught, this time on the empty glasses. “Woah hold up, calm down a second!” Too late. They joined the whiskey on the ground. “Shit, shit.” She handed a huge bundle of napkins to him, and started cleaning up the glass on the floor. “Sorry, uh, I hope I didn't ruin your jacket. If I did I'll get it repl-” 

“No no, it's fine, wiping off without issue. Do you want a hand with that?”

“No, my mistake. Besides, I can't be having patrons getting injured by glass.”

“Sure?”

“Yep. Don't want to get into any more trouble…”

Once the mess was sufficiently cleaned, and she was sure that none of the alcohol had stained his clothing or the countertop, she mixed up another Hopscotch, taking every movement slowly and cautiously, making sure nothing else got broken. The drink, which had been of an orangish hue in the bottle, now took on a pinkish hue, with a cute, bunny shaped pick to top off the drink. Once again, one of the best drinks he had ever tasted. “This shits great… How you make em so well?” Her cheeks became flushed with colour again. “Oh well, I've been experimenting for a while, and well, came up with my own formulas.” 

“Mind sharing any?”

“Perhaps, well-”

Before she could start her explanation, a lavishly dressed bun, covered in all kinds of expensive fabrics and jewellery, entered the bar. Angora, Zepp assumed, owner of this place, and the casino. Matched what he'd heard about her anyway. “Hops, dear, do you mind bringing something to my table? I'll send someone else to cover out here for you.”

“Yes ma’am, right on it.”

She then disappeared back out through the casino door. 

“Guess it'll have to wait for another time, then.”

“Yeah, sorry about that. And for the spilled drink, and for-”

“It's chill, it's chill. See ya again? Hopefully when you aren't so busy.”

“Yeah! Look forward to it. By the way, I don't think I got your name, did I?”

“Zeppelin, but most call me Zepp, don't overly mind which.”

“Alrighty! See you around, Zepp!”

He paid his due, and she went off to do her duty. Before he left, he placed a hefty amount of carats into the tip jar, one Flint would never let him get over, if he found out. Back out into the night he went, this time in the direction of home.