@kaeyha, unprompted » ( always accepting ) : kaeya shouldn’t be behind the bar, he’s effectively trespassing, but he knows how bartending works and charles won’t tell ( it's a cash in on a favour ). and rather fondly, despite everything, some things haven’t changed, including the layout of angel’s share’s bar and stock. finding the glasses and necessary ingredients were easy, and he falls into the rhythm of it, methodically mixing the drinks like he has been for years. with a touch of cryo, he adds ice cubes shaped like brilliant, glistening little suns. ❝ here. ❞ kaeya announces gently, sliding the glass towards aether to try. ❝ it’s gone through a lot of adjustments since then, but this is one of the first drinks i ever made. ❞ / summer heatwave inspired ;) a deliciously crafted drink for aether to combat the heat
this evening’s entertainment : the curiosity & the cat, and aether who is leading man in perceptive gold as he watches kaeya’s too-familiar movements behind the bar. there are some veins he won’t touch -- asking about secrets invites others to ask in return, and there are too many things he can’t answer, too many things he won’t to risk it. they have drawn their lines, and though each has taken their turns testing the limits of it with eyes a touch too watchful or a comment just the wrong side of shade, well... he likes to think he and kaeya have something like, mutual understanding.
but.... he’s so, so curious. mondstadt is so predictable. there is rain when there are clouds, and sun when there is sun. the people walk their routes into grooves in the ground. he could leave and come back years later, and there will still be the flower shop down the street open at six in the morning, and choir practice in the grove in the afternoon, and in the evenings the chatter will crowd around angel’s share to talk about the day. a kind of simplicity that only comes from real freedom.
and kaeya isn’t like that. he could blink and there will be a new faucet, a new shade, a different side of him he hasn’t seen. like the very casually way he mixes the drink, and slides it across. the condensation on the outside is frosted over with cryo when he touches his fingers to it, pads at the tip sticking just slightly, and he stares into the concoction like it will give him some answers. watches the little suns clink against each other.
“ you’ve missed out on your true calling. “ which is a way of saying, you sort of remind me of diluc sometimes, without really putting that into words. his tongue presses against the back of his teeth and he slides his fingers absently against the frost, dragging a nail through it until it gathers a chill. he smiles. suffused light, bright and golden. “ the practical applications for cryo are endless i bet. “
he should ask what it is first but -- he trusts kaeya more than he should given the information he knows about him, which is so little he can count the facts on one hand ( 1. diluc’s brother 2. calvalry captain 3. a very good liar ). it seems disingenuous to even fake at caution. he could say it's poison, in that ‘ i am being very serious, trust me ‘ way of his, and he’d probably still drink. so he does.
and it’s good. of course it is. just cold enough to leave a lingering chill. still, he makes sure to give a nice & long thoughtful expression, absently twirling the glass so all the cubes clink against each other in a nice little rhythm of sound. his final score, when the last of it has disappeared and he swipes his tongue along the rim to finish it off –
“ it could use some work. “ a quick smile, not even trying to advertise itself as anything but what it is. he very gently sets the glass against the bar and slides it across the way, resting his chin in one free hand, the picture of innocence when he adds, “ you should make another. for practice. “
