Mixology 101 [Hops, Shibani]

Shibani sighed out in woe as he rested his cheek on the bar counter. Hops was rambling on and on about the bar, where things were located, what steps to do when the bartender is suppose to prepare to make a drink. It was difficult to focus on what she was saying since Shibani only mourned the fact that he was even here in the first place. He began thinking about how he got here...

The door to the dango shop was suddenly slid open with cheerful force, eliciting a quiet glare from Dan. Hops' voice rang out in the normally quiet shop. "Shi-baaaa-niiii!"

Hops bounded into the shop in her cute bunny suit styled work attire, her bow bouncing with her heeled steps. Dan was glad that his shopfront didn't have tatami mats due to his customers' inability to remove their shoes before entering, and with every click of Hops' heels the confectioner was reassured that his decision was the right one. His sharp gaze followed the bartender as she made her way to the backroom where Shibani's pillow pile was and his ears picked up on the sleepy complaints of his companion mixed with the cheerful-yet-determined retorts of Hops.

"Come on, you lazy bun! We're short staffed at the bar and I need another worker! I don't want my manager to have my head!"

"Find someone elllsse.." Shibani whined out as he tried to bury his face back into his pillows. He let out a sudden cry as Hops grabbed his feet and promptly ripped him out of his warm haven of softness.

"Everyone else is doing something, so you're the perfect person for this!" Hops grinned at him as she began dragging Shibani out of the room and across the floor, giving a gleeful wave to Dan. "I'll be borrowing him for a bit!"

Dan just sighed and waved them off dismissively, watching with a slightly raised brow as Shibani let out a pathetic whine, his fingers trying to hold onto the floor as he was dragged out the door.

The white bun let out a soft whimper at the memory. He really wanted to stay within the soft confines of his pillows and dream his day away, not be stuck here at the bar listening to all the noises of clinking glass and drunk buns yelling. Still, the counter top felt nice against his face. Maybe he could doze..

"Hey, are you even listening?!" Hops jolted the sleepy man out of his thoughts. She had an irritated pout on her face, her hands in fists on her hips. "I'm going to run it by you again so you should listen this time, okay?"

"Fiiine..." Shibani yawned out before standing up straight at the bar. He didn't think he could mix drinks well. He could try, and he didn't mind trying now that he was here, but did he have to wear the same outfit...?

Hops smiled at Shibani before turning to the bar once more. "Okay, this one's an easy recipe. It's got a rich and smooth flavor, and it's not complicated, so even someone as lazy as you should be able to make it." She grinned at Shibani's pout at her playful jab and grabbed a glass, giving it a skillful spin in her hand-or at least, it would have been skillful if she didn't nearly drop it. She let out a sheepish laugh and set the glass down on the counter. "Make sure you use a liquor glass like this one. Got it?"

"A liquor glass..." Shibani stared at the shiny glass on the counter. It looked like it was polished to hell and back with how the light reflected on it.

"Yes! It can't be any other, so make sure you get it right. And we'll take this whiskey here to fill it. But before that we have to add a little something first!"

Shibani's eyes sparkled a bit in curiosity. What could Hops add to this drink to make it so nice yet so good? He watched as she leaned down under the counter, opening a mini fridge and scooping out some ice in a metal scoop. At least...he thought it was ice?

"Ah, hehe, I can see the confusion in your eyes." She gently rattled the ice in the scoop, ignoring the sound of one of the cubes hitting the floor. "'But Hops, why's it that weird color?' you might be asking. This is what makes this drink so special! Watch!"

Shibani's eyes followed Hops' movement as she let some cubes fall from the scoop and into the glass, her tongue sticking out slightly in concentration as she tried not to let anymore fall out of it's designated path. The sound of the ice landing in the glass rang out a loud clinking sound. It was higher pitched than a lot of the work he was used to hearing Dan do, which was more muffled and deeper in tone.

"And once that's finished-" Hops started as she put the scoop away and picked up the whiskey bottle- "we pour in our alcohol. This is where the magic happens." She grinned as Shibani moved closer to watch. She poured out the whiskey into the glass, nearly spilling some over the edge as she did so. The ice cracked when the alcohol came in contact with it and the cold cubes were slowly submerged by the drink. Everything seemed normal, but the more whiskey was added, the more it began to change. Slowly the colors turned in the glass, the floating cubes of ice remaining their lightly tinted color while the alcohol flowed towards the bottom as a different color, giving the drink a beautiful gradient color. "And that's how you make Bourbun shine!"

"Wow, so pretty," Shibani quietly spoke, his sleepy gaze watching as the ice floated and moved in the melting process. "Is that it? What about your 'secret ingredient?'"

"As I said, this is a simpler recipe, so it doesn't need my secret ingredient!" Hops grinned at him. "Not all drinks here require my special touch, you know. Bourbon, Sin and Tonic, Drabsinithe, and Hopscotch are ones that don't require it as well. Aaannndd..." She grinned as she took the glass of bourbun in her hand, swirling it a bit, "...you can enjoy them a bit quicker than some of the others." She gave Shibani a playful wink before downing the drink quickly, letting out a heavy, happy sigh of satisfaction at the small burn it had going down her throat.

Shibani watched as he let out a playful huff, knowing that Hops' tab was only going to grow from this. But maybe if he learned how to mix some of these drinks he could share his knowledge with Dan and make him one on a particularly stressful day. He decided to give it a try with Hops' gaze watching him. Strangely enough, he didn't seem nearly as clumsy as she was, but he wasn't as fast, either. He stared at all the colorful ice in the fridge for far too long until Hops showed him which one was the correct one to use, then he took ages to pour the whiskey because he kept yawning in the middle of tilting the bottle. Still, once he got the hang of it he was capable of making a drink without messing up.

"Wow, I'm impressed, Shibani. Why don't you do work more often? You could always work with me~" she teased him, poking at his squishy cheek playfully.

"Nuh uh, Dan's shop is better. It's quieter and smells nicer and-"

"You just want to burrow in your pile again.." Hops interrupted him. "We both know you'd just sleep."

"Sleeping takes a lot of energy."

"That's a load of bullshit!" The bartender's laughter rang out at the humor of the situation. "Alright, listen, we're not done here yet, but I don't think you have the speed to get everything done. I have an idea, however.."

In the end, since Shibani wasn't as clumsy and Hops was very quick, they made a plan for the night for the sleepy bun to gather the glasses on the counter and Hops would do the mixing. It wasn't the best, but there were fewer glasses broken than usual and that was a plus in Hops' book! Less breaking, less marks on her tab. She did have to call Dan towards the end of the night to pick up Shibani, however. The poor bun worked himself more than usual and he ended up passing out over the counter. But for Hops the highlight of the night was when Dan had to come in and carry Shibani out while trying to maintain a stern face. It was unusual for the larger bun to look flustered in public, but seeing Shibani in a bunny suit was almost too much for the guy to handle. Hops grinned and waved teasingly as he quickly carried the sleepy bun out quickly, laughing when he had to shift Shibani like a ragdoll so he wouldn't hit his head on the doorframe.

She was totally going to drag Shibani back to work at the bar sometime, even if only for her own amusement and for the benefit of keeping her tab from growing any larger.