[Gift] Mixing Things Up

Jidao was excited. 

He loved to drink copious amounts of alcohol. 

He loved to learn new things

There for, he would love making and mixing cocktails with Hops. 

He excitedly padded into The Rabbit Hole, a huge smile on his face as he waved at Hops who looked up from her prep station. She’d gotten all the ingredients out for making one of Jidao’s favourite drinks - Smooch Hooch. 

How could somebody not love a drink with that kind of name?

“Hi Hops,” Jidao said with a smile as he walked or rather skipped over to her.

“Good afternoon Jidao, are you ready to learn some mixology?” she asked him and he nodded enthusiastically at her question.

“Yes, I’m so hyped for this I could barely sleep last night, so what’s first?” he asked her as she invited him behind the bar. This was so strange! He’d never been this side of the bar before but of course, he’d spent a lot of time on the other side. 

Asking Hops for one more drink, slurring his words as he tried to compliment the bun or buns next to him.

Good times.

But this would be different.

Today he was learning and learning was fun - especially when it involved alcohol!

“Okay Jidao this is your station, it has the same ingredients as mine, we’re going to go through this together, one step at a time then I’ll test you and see if you can do it by yourself,” she explained simply.

Jidao nodded and smiled.

“Do we get to drink them after?” he asked as Hops was about to start and she smirked.

“If you can get it right on your own, I’ll let you drink it,” she replied and Jidao took that as a challenge, a challenge he was not going to lose!

Jidao watched intently as Hops described the process to mixing the drink. He observed her adding each ingredient and followed alongside her as best he could. Though when she started twisting and spinning the shaker he felt out of his depth. There was no way in hell - literally - he was going to be able to do that.

But he tried anyway.

Only for everything to spill everywhere. Drenching his shorts and his fur.

“Fuckin shit sticks,” he growled as he tried to stop the metal shaker from falling only to watch as it clanged to the ground.

“Jidao, you’re a mess,” Hops said with a sigh, shaking her head. “You didn’t have to spin the shaker, you could have just shook it.”

Jidao sighed and nodded.

“Sorry, Hops,” he said and she shook her head.

“It’s alright, just clean that up and we’ll try again tomorrow, okay,” she told him and the other spent the rest of the evening cleaning his mess before heading home.

That night, Jidao didn’t sleep.

But not because he was excited for his class, but because he was determined to get it right.

The succubun spent the entire night making the Smooch Hooch, spinning his shaker, and pouring out copious amounts of cocktails until every single glass in his apartment was used up.

He wouldn’t mess up a second time. 

When he arrived back at The Rabbit Hole he was determined and Hops could tell.

“You think you’ve got it?” she asked him as he confidently set up his station and nodded to her. “Okay big guy, show me what you got.”

Jidao preceded to create a masterpiece. He added the ingredients like a pro, and rolled the shaker along his arms, spinning it to and from each hand before pouring it into a glass. He added a straw and looked over at Hops who took the drink and sipped it silently.

The silence was deafening but Jidao felt a wave of pride as Hops nodded.

“Perfect,” she said.

“Thank the demons, I need a drink,” Jidao said melting from exhaustion. “Or a quick nap.”