2019-07-14 - New Favorite Drink

It's eight o'clock and Declan isn't very busy. There are a few people at the bar, nursing tall drinks, and two at tables. They chatter is quiet, and the music isn't very loud. The rush is long over after work, but it's hot outside. Too hot, and that's drawn a few people to the air conditioning. Declan cleans glasses while glancing around, making sure no one's asking him for another drink or order.

Genevieve had made the decision at some point that it was useless to stay home, so she put on a spangled red and gold crop top, a pair of skinny jeans and tempted Eli out of the house. To be fair, it wasn't very hard to do, cabin fever might just be going around. She pushes open the door to the Pourhouse, pulling Eli in while her other hand immediately starts to wave happily at Declan. "I've come to try out this, can you guess my drink game!" She calls out, flashing Declan a smile. "It's good to see you." She pushes her fingers through her hair, shaking some of the moisture from outside off.

"And I'm here to make sure she has someone to lean on when she needs to get back home after the guess my drink game." Eli adds, though his expression is light and amused. He dressed in bright blue jeans and a short sleeve, black shirt, collared with buttons down the front. He was happy enough to get out and it's the kind of weather that the air conditioner at the apartment struggles with at times. "Good to see you again, Declan." He adds, making his way toward the bar along with Genevieve.

Declan looks up from a glass and grins. He sets it down while Genevieve's declaration gets a few turned heads. Oh boy. "Yeah, sure. Pull up a stool and I'll start on that cosmo." Eli is given a nod. "Yeah, man. It's good to see you both. He grabs a container and starts to work with vodka and triple sec. Cranberry juice is gathered from the fridge, along with a lime. "How you guys been?" he asks while working.

Genevieve perks up at the mention of a cosmo, bouncing on the bar stool as she drags a small bowl of pretzels closer. "It's not my drink, but I'm here to try new things." She aims a slightly guilty look at Eli when he mentions why he's here. "Oh no, you're also here because I like your face very much. You also need to have a drink, we didn't drive and .. hopefully we won't drink enough that we can't walk home." The thought though, it makes her laugh softly. "I think we've been good, I've been good. Busy selling people pot cookies and joints." She smirks, shifting so she can cross her legs. "Have you been well?"

"Oh, I plan to drink. I've proven pretty recently that I can drink too much and still be able to dance and walk, so I think we'll be able to stumble back to the apartment unless things really get out of hand." Eli replies, settling in on the stool next to Eve and folding his arms, leaning forward onto them. "Things have been good with me too. Mostly been working this week. Been translating a - I'm not exactly the genre. I was going to say it's a romance novel, but more like a mystery novel with a lot of time spent in the bedroom." He shrugs. "Always a challenge to keep the author's intent with certain passages."

It doesn't take Declan very long. He add a little more cranberry juice than normal, but otherwise it's a classic cosmo. The flavor does suffer from the brand of juice, and that it wasn't freshly squeezed. The vodka is smooth and top shelf, though. It has a nice, gentle bump of alcoholic flavor at the back end, tempered by the lime juice. He slides it between them. "Doing great." Declan smiles and looks between them both. "What language is it in?" he asks Eli.

Genevieve pulls the glass close, picking it up to tip it for a sip. She hums and takes an actual drink, licking her lips as she sets the glass down. "This is good, and I like drinks with red in them." She's subtly trying to hint Declan in the right direction. She pushes the drink toward Eli so he could taste it. "Sometimes I try to get him to read some things to me, it's a very relaxing way to pass time." She looks amused, leaning against the bar. "If we dance here, I'm gonna probably combust with embarassment." She glances around, this doesn't seem to be the dancing type of bar.

"The novel is in English. I'm translating it to French right now. It has been a great help to be living with someone who grew up speaking the language. Now we just need to get someone to move in who speaks German, too." Eli says, giving a quick grin toward Eve. He pulls over the drink and does the same, sipping it and then taking a proper drink, nodding as he does so. "That's pretty good. I like a bit of sweet, but I don't usually drink straight up sweet cocktails. But, the cranberry is tart enough." He turns to look around the bar, agreeing. "No dancing here. I think the Firefly is really the spot in town if we need to do that again."

Declan thinks for a moment, biting his lip. He raps his knuckle on the bar, back and forth, while staring off at the wall. "I've got something. It's not very common. So... here we go." Grinning, probably because he loves this game, Declan goes back to the fridge. He gets strawberries and... champagne. Okay. Stems are cut free before he starts crushing the berries in a bowl. He talks while he works. "Not sure I know anyone who speaks German. That's cool, though. I wish I had a knack for writing." He looks up at Eli. "You wanted a Manhattan, right? I can make that next." Crush, crush. In the strawberries go into a glass.

Genevieve watches Declan while he's deep in thought, and when he starts to make another drink, she leans in to watch. Strawberries are pretty yummy. When the champagne comes out, she actually claps, clearly excited to taste whatever Declan is making. She glances over at Eli and smirks. "Find a place to put them, and sure, we can add another roommate. Maybe they can sleep on the roof, keep the pot safe." She plucks another pretzel from the bowl and crunches it. "You should give duolingo a try Declan, I used it for a while to learn ...shit, what is that language. The one that the white haired lady on Game of Thrones speaks? Just for shits and giggles, and.. it worked pretty well." She aims a fond look at Eli. "Men speaking foreign languages are hot."

"May yeri mahrazh be ven davra a dothrakh ven yeri hrazef." Eli says carefully, not doing much of a job with a Dothraki accent - if that's really a properly defined thing for an imaginary language. He laughs and shrugs. "Why were you trying to learn a fake language? I need to start spending some time working on a couple more languages. I can get contracts to translate the same work into all of them. More money, less paperwork." He adds, turning to watch Declan making the interesting drink. He nods. "Good memory. Yes, a Manhattan would be perfect once you're done with that creation."

There's one splash of freezing cold gin that goes into the strawberries, just a bit, before the champagne follows. The rim of the glass is decorated with a strawberry slice, cut thin. Bubbles nearly escape over the top of the glass. "It's a rossini. One small variation." He slides it over to Eve and shakes his head. "I don't watch that show, but-" he turns as Eli starts in on the Dothraki. "Wow. Yeah. Okay, here comes that Manhattan." He does wait for her reaction, though.

Genevieve pulls the drink close, plucking the strawberry slice from the rim to slip it into her mouth. She licks her lips and lifts the glass to drink the rossini, her eyes closing. "I.." She takes a deep breath and a deeper drink, setting the glass down before she opens her eyes again, aiming a grin at Declan. ".. I have a new favorite drink." She gazes at the glass, almost reluctant to shift it toward Eli for him to try. Then he speaks Dothraki, and her lips curl into a smile. "See? Hot." She leans over and gives him a kiss on the lips, bolstered by the liquid courage she's had a few gulps of. She toys with the remainder of her pretzel, shrugging as she remembers to answer his question. "I hate subtitles, even when it's for fake languages. Weird huh? If I can't speak it, I want to learn. Though, I've not had much luck with anything, my brain just defaults things back to French." She taps her temple and smirks. "I'm broken."

Declan grins at Genevieve and lifts up his hand for a high five. "Nice." Then he's off to make Eli's cocktail. It's mixed quickly, he's made a lot of them in the past. "You want it with rye or bourbon, Eli?" he wonders. Once the answer is given, he adds the whiskey to the vermouth and gently stirs. After, he lets it sit and goes to get an orange that's been partially peeled. "Where'd you grow up?" he asks Even while moving around between things.

"Ah, but I could listen to you speak French all day. I'll never have that natural accent." Eli say, grinning as he is kissed. He takes the reluctantly given drink and gives it a sip, making an appreciative sound. "Oh, that is really good." He comments, but then pushes it back toward Eve without taking any more. He's afraid he might get attacked if he tries to drink too much of it. "Rye, please." He adds to Declan, watching as the drink is poured. "I still want to know what the old favorite drink was." He says, glancing between Declan and Genevieve.

Genevieve picks up the glass, taking another drink, her cheeks pink as Eli compliments her. "Oh, well my original favorite drink was a tequila sunrise. Yes, I know, it's a sin to befoul tequila by putting things in it, but I did it." She aims an apologetic look at Declan. "A friend of mine, she recently started bartending, she came over and tried to make me one and I think she overdid the tequila." She takes another sip of her new favorite drink and her eyes find the brand of tequila that the bar stocks. "I wouldn't mind trying your hand at it, if you're inclined. She shifts her ass on the stool and pulls her credit card from her back pocket. "We probably should have started a tab, huh?" She finishes off the rossini, setting down the glass, her tongue wetting her lips. "That was amazing."

Declan smiles up at Eli after the compliment and keeps on mixing. The drink is poured into a bourbon glass, even though it was made with rye. Cherries go in next. The orange peel is rubbed across the lip of the glass firmly. That part takes awhile as he listens to them talk and flirt. Mostly, he concentrates. The final step is to wipe his fingerprints from the glass and slide it over. It's a classic Manhattan. The rye has a good, familiar burn and the bitterness is only slightly tempered by the orange and cherries. The cherries did come out of a jar, they weren't done in house, so that definitely holds it back. "No judgments," he tells Eve. "You want it straight, or a sunrise?" He takes the credit card. "Cosmo's on me. I'll set this up, though." And he does, moving to a tablet.

"Thank you." Eli says when the Manhattan is delivered, taking a sip of it and giving an approving nod, after watching Genevieve decimate her drink in record time. Guess it really was her favorite! "Any interesting news coming through the bar the last while, Declan?" He asks the bartender, watching him over the glass. "Sometimes this town seems to have more going on than I can really keep up with, other times it's properly quiet. I figure this would be the kind of place where you'd hear a lot about what people actually care about, rather than what gets written up in the local papers."

"Sunrise please, Declan." Genevieve eyes the cherry in Eli's drink, considering stealing one, but managing to behave herself as she finishes off her pretzel. She reaches out, running a hand up and down Eli's arm as he asks his question, turning to watch her tequila sunrise come to life. The cosmo is remembered, and she inches her fingers to drag that glass back to her, and she finishes off the sweet cranberry drink. She is slightly tipsy now, but she's managing to stay steady on the bar stool.

"Really not much more than what's unusual," Declan answers. He hands Eve's card back while grabbing a bottle of Patron. "People talk. Some of it's... yeah. Pretty depressing. This town just has that... that thing." He spares a glance to Eli, one that a lot of locals give one another. The moment passes when Declan lifts up a highball glass and starts filling it with crushed ice. "But you know. A lot of it's just normal gossip that I try to keep to myself. Part of the job." In goes a shot and a half of the tequila. Enough for most people to get a respectable buzz if drunk slowly, or tipsy if drunk fast. As she's already had a drink, it's probably steering her more towards the latter. Next, he pours orange juice. Glug glug glug. "I love this part." Declan grins when he pours in the grenadine. It slooooooowly runs down the side of the glass... and sinks to the bottom. It settles down there, red on bottom and orange on top. A cherry and orange are served up as garnish. He slides it over. "May I ask you guys something?" He looks between them both.

Eli nods to Declan's explanation and his expression tightens just a little at the mention of how it is here. Yes, no secret about that. "Yeah, I wasn't looking for you to share the personal gossip. More wondering if you'd seen any trends. Not sure if it's a good or bad thing that it seems pretty quiet right now. I guess the summer is often a bit easier on people." He sips at his drink again while he watches the sunrise in Genevieve's glass, smiling. "Very nice. Ask us something? Of course."

Genevieve takes up her drink, gazing at it with open adoration. She's a big fan of grenadine. She takes a sip and makes a happy face, setting it down again so it can be enjoyed slowly. "This is really good, but you've won me over with the strawberries and champagne and I don't think I can go back now." She gazes at the tequila sunrise, a slight smile on her face. "I'll drink the hell out of this though." She blinks as Declan glances between them, nodding along with Eli. "Of course, ask away?" She gives Eli a brief glance, winking at him before she takes another sip of her drink.

Declan abandons his question for a moment and thinks about what Eli says. His lips form a thin line while he squints, looking off at a wall. "Not... that I can think of off hand. But I'll pay attention. If something comes up? I'll send you a text or something." Declan turns to Eve. "You have no idea how happy you just made me." His hand goes to his heart, and he smirks. "I love that game, and I'm glad we found your drink." His hand lowers back to the bar. He looks back between them, attention not settling on either one for very long. "I get off at ten. Any interest in doing something after?" It's spoken casually, but with a smile that's definitely been practiced in a mirror a hundred times, and used maybe half as many over the years.

Eli sips at his drink again after smiling at Eve's comment and then directing his attention back toward Declan to see what the man wanted to ask. He was likely expecting something else, but he smiles back toward Declan in a friendly enough fashion. "I don't really know what our plans were beyond having a couple drinks tonight. What did you have in mind?" He asks. The booze helps with his awkwardness in social situations a great deal, but it doesn't make him less clueless. He glances toward Genevieve to see what she thinks.

"I don't spend enough time in bars to find a new favorite drink so that game was helpful." Genevieve smiles as Declan says she made him happy, and she raises her glass. "To new friends and awesome drinks. Now I will have something new to order if we go back to Seattle anytime soon." She says the last to Eli, grinning before Declan puts forth his question. She tilts her head slightly, she might have caught something from that question that Eli didn't, her eyebrows rising slowly. "Interest in doing something like food.. or..." She trails off, letting Declan provide the other options, that way she won't embarrass herself, see how that works?

Declan continues to look between them both, but smiles a little after Genevieve's question. Very clever. "I could eat, but I was more thinking my place or your place," he gestures between the two of them. Their places. "I hadn't really made hard plans or thoughts. More just seeing where things went, wherever that might be." He tilts his head back and forth, maybe thinking about saying more, but ends up leaving it at that. He blushes about as much as he did during breakfast a few days ago.

Eli sips at his Manhattan and leans over to have a brief and quiet exchange with Genevieve before straightening up on his stool again and shifting blue eyes to consider the man behind the bar. He clears this throat and smiles before speaking again. "I mean, we'd be up for hanging out, Declan. But, I don't think, ah, things will really go anywhere. Or we wouldn't want them to go anywhere beyond friends enjoying some company over a drink or some takeout." So, this has colour coming to Eli's cheeks as well, and he stumbles over the words. So much for the booze smoothing out his social anxiety. He glances toward Genevieve, perhaps to make sure she agrees with his assessment.

Genevieve is the only one who isn't blushing. That could be because she's had a few drinks, or it could be because she's not embarrassed by this line of questioning. She presses her lips against a smile, picking up her drink to sip from it before she decides to speak up. "I play a really mean game of spades, and I own a cannabis dispensary so we wouldn't be bored. Nor hungry." She reaches out, rubbing a hand across Eli's shoulders, offering him some unspoken support with the caress and a smile. "You're a great guy, Declan. We wouldn't want to ruin what is proving to be an excellent friendship by getting messy." She reaches for another pretzel, breaking it into a piece before she takes a bite.

As one or the other speak, Declan focuses on them. He replies to Eli first. "Gotcha." Some color fades from his cheek, but he still smiles. "I'm still down for takeout, drinks, and," he turns to Genevieve, "cards. But I suck at cards, fair warning. As in... I'm actually really bad," he chuckles a little, and leaves the rest uncommented on. "Like I said, I get off at ten. Want to do my place or yours?"

"The roof at our place is great so long as the weather holds." Eli replies, relaxing a bit and sipping at his drink. He doesn't seem in any way upset or put off - just awkward. When he watches Genevieve respond he openly admires her composure. Maybe it will rub off? "I don't mind cards, but I'm pretty bad at them too. I guess that doesn't matter so long as I don't have money or clothing on the line."

"It'll give us a chance to use the new lights I put up there." Genevieve glances at Eli when she says that, and for a brief moment she actually does look uncomfortable. Her brow furrows and she glances down at her drink, willing her expression to clear, put the smile back on. There we go. "We can just sit and bullshit, and eat. I'm not getting waffle tummy grumblies right now, but I'm feeling like I could eat a burger or something. We have plenty of food at home, I can throw something on the grill for us and we can get to know each other better." She drinks from her glass, looking pretty satisfied with the plans, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Even if the weather doesn't hold, as long as it's not a storm, we've those big umbrellas over the seating area."

"I'd put money down on cards, but no more than twenty," Declan offers with a shake of his head. "And roof sounds good." He turns to Genevieve. "I can help you with the burgers. I don't usually work in the kitchens, but I've been working in restaurants since I was sixteen. I'll grill, prep, fry, clean - whatever. Just lemme know." He looks back down the bar and sees a few people who need attention. He turns back and looks between them. "Seeya in a bit."