Midnight Bar

[Haerm]

Haerm smiles, a little embarrassed he looks her in the face again... and then asks, “ehm... can I ask you where everyone is?”

[onearmeddruid]

sonja shurgs her shoulders having been inside the kitchen for most of the day " i dont know" she said grabbing a cupcake softly humming to herself

[Haerm]

Haerm watches Sonja humming softly  grabbing a cupcake. Her voice is pleasant, her lips look so soft, and that cupcake looks so appetizing. “Can I wait here?” He asked, looking her in the eye again.

[onearmeddruid]

"Da" she said smiling sitting down on a bar stool kicking her feet taking bite out of the cupcake

[Haerm]

Blushing, he goes to sit next to her. He takes his backpack off his shoulders, placing it on the ground, near the stool he sat on. Agitated without even knowing why, Haerm moves his fingers on the counter, tapping as if he were playing a piano. Out of the corner of his eye, he continues to look at Sonja, hypnotized by her lips savoring that treat.

[onearmeddruid]

Sonja eats her cupcake frosting covering her lips and cheeks

 Granted she shouldn't be eating what she makes for customers but she loves her sweets

[Haerm]

Haerm blushing even more. The way she goes to wipe her lips, almost erotic, keeps him staring at without uttering a word. A few seconds, and then Haerm breaks the silence with a question: "I see that you like sweets... I have chocolates that I brought from Italy... do you want to taste one? They are typical of my country.”

[onearmeddruid]

sonja's eyes sparkle as she reaches out bouncing up and down at hte prospect of another sweet. Sonja nodded childishly " da" she said happily.

[Haerm]

Surprised by her reaction, a genuine smile is printed on Haerm's face. Without hesitation, the boy lowers himself to take his backpack off the ground, and then pulls out a sachet full of round chocolates, wrapped in a blue star silver foil. Haerm goes to open the sachet, and takes one of these chocolates, then placing it on her hand very gently. “This chocolate is called 'Bacio', and it means kiss, they are normally given to people... ehm... special if you can say so... but I have a lot of them, and you seem to be a good person, so go ahead!” He smiles embarrassed “ah! Yeah! When you open the foil, watch out for the note inside, they contain short poems or love dedics by great artists of the past.”

[onearmeddruid]

sonja grabs the chocolate and opens up the foil kicking her feet as she continued to hum to herself reading the poem as she stuck the bacio into her mouth

[Haerm]

The chocolate tastes like dark chocolate on the outside and gianduja towards the middle, with a hazelnut in the center. Haerm watches carefully, curious to know the woman's opinion.

[onearmeddruid]

she shuts her eyes and smiles as the sweet delicacy melts in her mouth happily twisting on the stool she sat on humming happily before opeening her eyes " i like that da?" she giggles out happily

[Haerm]

Haerm smiles shyly looking at her. He leaves the bag of chocolates on the counter, so Sonja can get more. Then he comes back to look at her amused, without saying anything.

[onearmeddruid]

sonja tilted her head curiously " what" she asks as she pops another piece of chocolate into her mouth blinking innocently at him.

[Haerm]

“Nothing” Haerm replied, continuing to smile amusedly. “It's just that it reminds me of someone I loved,” he said. Haerm shifts his gaze to the colorful reflections of the bottles on the shelves, letting out a melancholy sigh.

[onearmeddruid]

"something wrong?"she asks tilting her head

[Haerm]

A slight annoyance is visible on his face for a few seconds “no... everything okay” Haerm turns back to Sonja, and smiling kindly asks “I saw that there is a pool, is it open?”

[onearmeddruid]

"da it is" she said smiling at him

[Haerm]

“I'd like to go for a swim... will you keep me company?” He said, looking at her. “Maybe you also tell me about the place, and about you” he says, getting up from the stool and taking his backpack, and then looking around trying to figure out where to go.

 

[Continue to the Moon Pools ->]

Edited October 15, 2023 by Haerm

[onearmeddruid]

She smiles at him as she stood up to follow him toward the pools

[Haerm]

Haerm has been working at the Midnight for a long time, and between a cocktail and a beer served, he often felt a sense of boredom and monotony, especially in the last period, when there was not much news.

In those moments, when perhaps the customers were starting to be fewer, and almost no one came to get a drink, you could see him playing with his fingers on the bar counter, following a musical rhythm while he read or wrote in a notebook, or experimenting with new combinations for drinks, creating elaborate cocktails with strong and intriguing flavors.

But tonight, Haerm was doing none of these things... The customers had almost all left by now, and he had finished cleaning, but there were still hours to go until the end of his shift. So he decided to sit in front of the counter, as if he were a customer, and rest a bit, with his head resting on the shelf while he gesticulated with a coin between the fingers of his left hand.

[JustAesthetic Deactivated]

seiko had only been working at the clubhouse for a couple of days and he was already fairly popular with clients. thankfully, he didn't have any rude or violent ones up until now. the one he was supposed to keep company to seemed to be growing a little frustrated. seiko wasn't sure why. perhaps, it was due to the drinks he'd had. he was one of the last ones remaining, so he was easy to pick out of the nonexistent crowd. he was actively shouting and waving his finger at seiko, who kept his head lowered and mumbled apologies. sadly, he couldn't get up and leave. this man had chosen him to be his companion for the night and seiko had to see this " mission " through. the man finally stopped shouting and drowned his drink, before standing up. he tossed a hundred dollar bill at seiko and left. or rather, stomped outside. he'd made quite the scene. workers and customers stared at the blonde sex worker, who seemed like he was about to cry.

he grabbed the money and stood, feeling utterly humiliated by the situation. after a few minutes, everyone went back to what they were doing. thankfully, because seiko couldn't handle anymore attention. he went to the bar with the intention of having a drink. he needed it right now. surely, it wasn't against the rules to have a drink when not otherwise occupied. he approached the redheaded bartender and finally raised his head. he looked pretty pitiful, but beautiful overall. bold makeup enhanced his features and the skin tight dress he was wearing was showing off his lithe figure.

" can i have a strawberry daquiri ? " he asked, taking a seat on one of the stools and sighing. he hadn't expected this job to be so tough. but it was a job, nonetheless. and god knew that he needed the money. he was poor, after all.

[Haerm]

Haerm was strangely surprised to see his colleague sit down and ask for a drink, but without thinking too much he left the coin on the counter and went to the other side and immediately started preparing the cocktail.

He didn't say anything as he mixed the rum with the fruit, but he discreetly observed his colleague sitting and his melancholic expression as he waited for a sip of nectar to get him through the night.

With care and finesse, he prepared the cocktail glass where he later poured the now ready drink.

"Tough night?" he asked politely as he handed him the drink, letting it slide slowly from his fingers to his.

 

[JustAesthetic Deactivated]

seiko looked pretty depressed. he had always been bullied and being yelled at like that had reminded him of his childhood. his mother always screamed at him, calling him names and diminishing him. telling him that he was trash and would never amount to anything. blaming him for not having been born a girl, like she had wanted. but seiko had embraced himself as he was. a young man who looked so feminine, he could easily pass for a woman. a " femboy ", as he described himself. many men were into that and so was the man from earlier. he'd known all along that seiko wasn't born female and he seemed fine with it when he had requested company. but it seemed drinking had clouded his memory, because he shouted that he'd been tricked into hanging out with a man. he also pointed out how seiko was " gross ", before getting up and leaving.

as soon as the cocktail was pushed his way, seiko took a generous sip and let the semi - frozen liquid slide down his throat. the sweet taste of strawberry masked the alcoholic taste of rum, just as he liked. he looked at the bartender, who spoke to him and pursed his lips. " yeah. something like that. " he mumbled, looking at his hands. what was life like for people who were happy, he wondered.

[Haerm]

Haerm watched as his lips rested on the edge of the glass, the way his fingers held it, the gaze lost in the thoughts of those who don't know what to say or do if not perhaps cry.

Smiling bitterly, he had recognized the same pain he had seen in many others, and that a simple cocktail (as well done as it was) was a too temporary cure to heal that emotional wound that was so familiar to him.

”You're the newcomer, right? Seiko? I don't know if I pronounced it well...”

Smiling trying to be as reassuring as possible, Haerm rests at the counter, starting to clean the blender he had just used to make his colleague's cocktail.

“My name is Haerm, anyway”

His hands meticulously cleaned the inner layer of the blender. He had many small scars on his fingers, as if of cuts due to an inattention in the kitchen, but from the way he moved his fingers, easily avoiding the blades of the tool turned off, it was strange that he had hurt himself that way.

Finishing cleaning the blender, Haerm sat down again, but this time on the opposite side of Seiko, leaning on his own arm sinking his hand into his beard as he continued to look at Seiko.

Edited August 26 by Haerm