Late Night Serenade

After a long night on the town and in the pit, the best way to end the day always has to be a hearty drink. Darlet knew just the place to be when that craving hit. Guitar slung over his shoulder, thankfully still intact after a decent amount of work at the Casino kept it in his possession. Perhaps a few songs could coax out the cocktails he unfortunately didn't have the carats to pay for. His voice seemed to have done the trick for Angora, perhaps they could do the same for her trusty bartender.

The bar tonight was empty. Most likely due to the influx of tips and house wins his performance had caused. A lot less patrons had the time to worry about getting drinks when they had to earn back their losses. This worked in Darlet's favour. He approached the bar, slinging his guitar behind his back as he pulled himself into one of the seats at the center of the bar. 

Hops was taking care to clean each glass thoroughly before setting them back down. Her expression deep in thought until she saw Darlet out of the corner of her eye. Immediately pulling her cheery smile back on to greet him. "Hello there. What can I get for ya?" She set one hand down on the counter. Leaning on it in such a way that her ear fell over her shoulder, causing her to brush it back behind her.

Darlet's ever present grin twisted slightly as he gave her a sad look. "Aye. You've been here all night, I'm sure you heard my performance earlier. It kills me to say, despite all of my efforts. I didn't get a single thing to pay with for all my work." He held his hands up in defeat, the sad state of his bank account being fully out on display to the now skeptical looking bartender. "But. I'd be more than happy to pay for a drink. With a song? Just for you, a dedication to a stunning mixologist like yourself." He tugged at the strap of his guitar, ideally preparing to play an alluring melody for Hops and whoever else ended up wanting to see an encore. 

Hops studied him sternly, chewing the inside of her cheeks while she mulled over her current standing with the bar. It felt like a hard sell, but eventually she closed her eyes and let out a long sigh. "Okay. Okay. Fine. You get one. One! But I get to freestyle this, and whatever you play for me better be really good, or else I'm sending Angora to discuss your tab." She made a pouty face after that. She didn't mean that. Did she? Darlet did not want to have debt with Angora again, and he knew a good song to avoid that. 

He turned in his seat, leaning on the bar as he pulled the guitar over his shoulder. Tuning it and plucking at the strings to get a sound that was perfect. His clawed hand strummed at the strings, pulling a soft melody from the hard obsidian base. Hops seemed to perk up at the sound as she began pouring the drink, her head following the strums he played steadily. His words slid along the notes sweetly, and his eyes focused in on Hops as she worked. 

♪I can't dream like this forever. When we fail to feel what is never spoken. From my lungs escapes, the whitest of smoke. Because I've finally found the one.♪

Hops face flushed as she tried to avoid his gaze. The liquor she was pouring up to that point seemingly being spontaneous and lacking much mixer. Her cocktail almost looked like a long island iced tea without any of the diluting additives. If she didn't look down at the bottles she was using, she would have continued to keep pouring more liquors into the potent drink she was making. 

♪If you're a soul, I'm your mate. If you're the past, I am fate. If you've got time I can stay. If you're alive I can wait.♪

Darlet stood from his seat. His efforts now going past just a simple drink. He was treating this as a performance. Once again, amassing a small crowd of bar patrons to watch as he played for his drink. Hops finally finished the drink, meekly placing it down on the counter as she watched him walk around, putting full effort into the song he had chosen for her. His eyes occasionally lining up to meet hers, and that wry smirk tightening as he waltzed back up to the bar to greet her. 

♪Meet me in a raindrop. Falling on a rooftop. Dance with me until we find the words that we should act on.♪

He leaned forward in between phrases. Hops' expression twisting slightly as he grew closer. Darlet then placed his lips to the pair of black straws, taking a quick sip of the drink she had left for him. His eyes shooting open wide as he released the straws from his teeth and continued singing after a quick clearing of his throat. Hops seemed to lose the tension in her shoulders as he went back to performing the rest of the song, and when he finished the small crowd gave a brief round of applause before going back on about their business. 

When he sat back down, he let out a huff and snatched the glass. Sipping at the drink with a hardened crease in his brow. Leaving none of the liquid left at the bottom of the glass. "Hoo! That was damn worth it. What do you call that thing? Cause it should be named a Kitchen Sink. That's probably the only thing you didn't put in there." 

Hops rolled her eyes before taking the glass back from him. "I'll call it a Ruse. You should probably drink some water after that though, I wasn't really paying attention to what I was putting in there. It was kinda hard to." She gave a smirk, but quickly walked off to attend to the new customers that had seemingly appeared during his performance. He had gotten his drink, that was all that mattered. Although he could already feel a bit of a buzz off of what he had downed rather quickly, he didn't refuse when the buns around him offered to buy him a drink themselves. 

The night from that point was a bit fuzzy. He remembered letting Hops hold onto his guitar for safe keeping, and a kind hearted figure bound in rope. He remembers them saying something about lullabies. The rest of the night from then on, was lost to be figured out in the morning.