Sparkle On 3

Vivian danced through the crowd at the Rabbit Hole, weaving her way between the press of bodies, intent on her destination - the bar.

This all might have excited her once, but it all seemed... terribly dull now. Where was the pizzazz? Where was the life? The adrenaline? The fun? Murmur's sake, she didn't want to spend her time making idle chitchat with strangers who wanted to fuck her anymore - she wanted to have fun damn it!

Unfortunately, she was pretty sure that nobody in the Rabbit Hole would be willing to swordfight her, so she was just going to have to make do with some alcohol and chatting people who were going to just bore the hell out of her. The pains and perils of having a day job... She wouldn't have come here so close to Mochi Moon without it - but alas, they wanted a silly little 'mixer' for the employees to 'get to know each other better'. Vivian thought it terribly stupid, but she was getting paid to show up.

She had no idea why they had decided to host it so close to Mochi Moon, though. She didn't think any employees were even actually talking to each other - if she had to bet, she'd have bet they'd all scattered to find friends who were likely here as well, thanks to the timing. She... supposed some of her old friends were here. She could find them if she wanted to do that... but she just couldn't fathom doing that. It sounded so fucking boring, just like everything else she had done during her first few years in Burrowgatory.

The line waiting for Hops made her want to scream with frustration. She was required to be here till midnight - she deserved to at least be drunk. That would give her something to do, at least... It just crawled and dragged and lasted for what felt like an endless eternity.

"Oh, Vivian! I haven't seen you in a long time!"

Hops' voice snapped Vivian out of her reverie. (Well, reverie was a nice word for what she had actually been doing - focusing on keeping herself from beginning to scream until the bouncers dragged her out just didn't have a short enough word to explain it). "Oh, yeah, I've... switched gears with my life, I guess."

"Do you still prefer an angora sour?" Hops asked her.

Vivian contemplated that for a moment - angora sours were still tasty, sure, but she wanted something more... intense. "Could I get a skeletini?"

"A skeletini? Well... I don't usually make those during winter, but I guess I could do one as a treat since it's been so long since you've been here." Hops began to mix. "You look a lot different too."

"I... got bored with my life," Vivian said, leaning against the counter. "I just... wanted things to be different. Sleeping around gets boring after a while."

Hops nodded understandingly. "What did you do?"

"Changed jobs, picked up some new hobbies... I'm really into fencing and sword-fighting now."

"Wow! I guess being here again must seem really tame to you."

"My job made us come... No offense, but I am so bored I feel like I am losing my mind with boredom being here again."

Hops giggled as she finished the skeletini. "Oh no! Well... Maybe you'd find the sparklers fun? There's a little party out on one of the patios to watch some fireworks later, and they've got sparklers to hand out in the meantime."

Setting something on fire sounded like the height of fun right now, and Vivian lit up at the suggestion. She pulled Hops in by her tie, giving her a kiss on the lips before taking the skeletini. "You're the best, thank you so much!" Without further ado, she hurried to begin hunting the patios for her target, drinking as she went.

It only took her three tries to find the correct patio, by which point her skeletini had been drained and she was tolerably drunk at last. It was packed, but she managed to slip through the crowd till she found a tired looking bun with a box of sparklers. "Can I have one?" she asked them.

"If you take three I can be done working," they said, looking exhausted.

Well, how could Filigree refuse that? She took the three left in the box, flashing them a grin. "Done!"

She scurried off to find a more quiet patio, and flung herself into one of the chairs there, giggling as she withdrew a lighter and struck the first sparkler alight.

It burned with bright blue and white sparks, delighting her. "Oh these are so fun!" She held the base securely, watching it go. This was so much more fun than talking to random strangers! She could do this all night long!

By the time midnight came, she had managed to burn through all of her sparklers at last.