"...𝙔𝙊𝙐'𝙍𝙀 𝘼𝙉 𝙄𝘿𝙄𝙊𝙏 𝙎𝙊𝙈𝙀𝙏𝙄𝙈𝙀𝙎"| Ae-ra x Reader Oneshot
╰┈➤ ❝ IN WHICH, reader is the Ultimate Bartender taking up shop at the bar counter in Chapter Three. A certain friend wheels in for a drink. ❞
꘎♡ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━♡꘎
A couple of small tinks filled the air as a spoon swirled inside a glass. The liquid inside was a vibrant orange as the spoon lifted out of it, resting atop a paper towel. You lifted the glass up and took a sip, eyes closing. Ah. . refreshing. Setting the glass back on the counter, you felt your shoulders dip down with relaxation.
It’d been a week or so since the last two deaths. They had hit hard-- harder than you’d expected. The entire time afterward, you hardly left your room. It was hard to see everyone’s faces as they dealt with the aftermath when you could hardly handle it yourself. Today, however, was different. An odd energy tingled in your fingertips, and you felt antsy. Maybe you had just sat still for far too long.
So, here you were. When the new area opened up, you hadn’t expected a bar to come with it. A multitude of ingredients and mixes were situated in storage areas behind the counter, and many pre-made drinks lined the wall. A dim, purple and blue light gave the room a softer vibe. For a second or two, you could even fool yourself into thinking you were at some regular gig in your old life.
The silence didn’t last forever, though. The door shifted open, hinges creaking from disuse. Your [E/C] eyes trailed over, spotting a familiar face wheeling herself in. Her pink outfit looked toned down in the room’s lighting, fitting the atmosphere quite well. That was something you had a trained eye for- being in a bar for so long, you could always figure out what suits the air and what didn’t.
“Aye,” you greeted with a nod, small smile tugging at your lips. Ae-ra hummed as she wheeled closer to the bar. You leaned on the counter, propping yourself up with your elbows. “Anything I can get you?”
“.. Is there any soda there?” She questioned, looking around you to see if she could spy any herself.
“Ahhh. . I think! Let me take a looksie!” You walked along the counter to the mini-fridge, searching through it. Doing so, you missed the small eye-roll Ae-ra gave at the word ‘looksie.’
“Aha! Gotcha!” You cheered, hopping up with a can of cola in your hand. You lightly kicked the fridge door shut and bounded toward the stacks of glasses, grabbing one and flipping it in your free hand. Sliding it across the counter’s surface, you then grabbed some ice and plopped it in. Finally, you poured the fizzing drink of liquid sugar and pushed it toward Ae-ra.
“You didn’t have to put that much into it,” the content creator commented, but took the drink nonetheless. You treated yourself to your own, leaning against the back wall. “Soo~ how’ve you been?”
“Oh, perfect,” Ae-ra spat out. “Getting framed for a murder after half the people here decide I’m the worst person here for something that’s not even my fault really cheered me up.” Sarcasm laced her every word, bitter at the trial’s events. At the very least, she knew she hadn’t caused this one in the slightest.
A couple of nervous laughs bubbled out of you, and you cleared your throat. “Well, it’s over, at least. Hey- I’m by your side, still! We made a promise, and I plan on keeping it. You don’t seem the type to go off and kill someone, y’know? The others just want someone to push a blame to. I guess it just makes people feel safer, or something.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” she seemingly brushed your reassurance off- although you knew better. You didn’t miss the almost-smile that she pushed away. A small silence prospered between the two of you as you each enjoyed your drinks. Some nice music would’ve put the whole scene together, if the bar had speakers. Maybe you could find a stereo or something somewhere in the bunker another time.
“How about you?” Ae-ra broke the silence. You blinked looking down to her. “Hm?”
“How are you doing?” She repeated, glancing back up to you. “You’re just... so chipper all of a sudden. For a whole week you were a mess, and now you’re oh-so happy and back to normal.”
Ah, she pointed it out, huh? Honestly, you were surprised she didn’t ask sooner. Your little agreement - promise, actually - to stay by each other didn’t just mean helping out in trials. Between all the catalysts, stimulants, and other people, you were each other’s solace. The one certainty that kept things from getting too out of control to handle. Neither of you wanted to wind up dead or betrayed, so you took each other’s backs.
“Well, I’m not... sure, actually,” you gave a sheepish chuckle. “I just... didn’t want to stay holed up anymore. I’m not over it, yet. Viola dying was hard- it still is, actually. But...” you paused, staring at your half-filled glass. “I can’t stay by you if I’m shut away, can I?” A lopsided smile shined on your face. It was on of your characteristic features- that goofy, heartfelt personality. The game hadn’t crushed you yet.
The content creator across from you heaved a small sigh that shook with a laugh at the end. “Whatever you say, [Y/N].” You laughed a little yourself. It was much needed, really. If the bunker got too heavy with depression, you would have no idea how to function. What you needed was a booming radio, loud chatter, and some guests to impress.
Well, there was one right in front of you, wasn’t there?
“Hehe~” You began grabbing an assortment of items- shakers and drinks, and another bottle of coke. Throwing some ice, the cola, and an assortment of other things into a shaker, you began shaka-shaking. You smiled just a bit more as Ae-ra watched, before tossing the shaker in the air. Nothing spilled out as you caught it, resuming the shaking. Once done, your poured it into a glass and swapped it with the old one.
“One new drink for the world’s best gaming e-girl!” You joked, flinging one of the shakers and accidentally hitting yourself in the head. With a yelped of pain, you glared at the metal cup as though it just insulted your entire bloodline, the fiasco resulting in a small laugh. Your glare shifted to Ae-ra, although in a more playful sense.
“... You’re an idiot sometimes, [Y/N].”
