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Cinnamon's sat at the bar, watching Sparkling get a bunch of various glasses out. Some bigger or smaller than others. Some with different colors. Just a wide variety of bottles of all shapes and sizes. He's got a variety of drinking glasses for his guinea cookie as well. The bar's totally closed for the night, except for just these two alone for the rest of the night.
“I do appreciate you helping me out tonight,” Sparkling began. “Sometimes the customers want to mix it up and I haven't updated the drink list in a while. Freshen it up a little. Keep things exciting. Just like your tricks, hm?”
He knows Cinnamon isn't even too fond or too adept with drinking, so he'll keep everything pretty "low" on the scale. ...Until he just decides to, uh, stop doing that. Which he probably will at some point. But for now, he's just gonna ease him into this.
“Y-yeah. Drink mixing and magic? Totally the same thing...” Cinnamon responded.
Turning back to Sparkling, he watches him place glasses down. He works as well, laying his cards out on the table, subtly marking them and practicing his memorization. He really agreed to this for the free booze, but Sparkling doesn’t have to know that.
“Aren’t you supposed to just give them what they want? What’s the reason for this if you just end up giving them their order instead of these weird combinations though?”
“Sometimes customers don't want to order just what they want,” Sparkling answered. "Sometimes they'll just say, 'Oh, that sounds good, I'll have that'. I'm a mixologist, Cinnamon. I can't let myself get rusty.”
After getting everything all set up, bottles and glasses all strewn about, he grabs two bottles.
“I know you like sweeter stuff, so...”
He pours some ice into his shaker, followed by a very specific amount of each of the two bottles' liquid. Closing it up, he gives it a hard shake for a few moments before popping that lid back off and pouring it into the glass in front of him.
“This drink's barely got any kick. Just something real sweet. Maybe I could make it harder for you though if you think it needs it.”
Reaching out behind Sparkling’s ear, Cin takes a mini umbrella and plops it into his glass. Sparkling slowly reaches up to check behind his ear. Did he really just pull one out from there? He glances back to Cinnamon, watching as he swirled his drink a little. Cin watches the mixture spin in the glass. Is he supposed to just shlonk it? Take his time? Then again, if he did, it’d take a while before they got done.
“Well, it’s as good a start as anything...”
Picking up his glass, he takes a test swig, gulping down half. He smacks his lips a few times, mulling over the flavor.
“...reminds me of Blackberry Cookie. Hm.”
Sippy sip. It really isn’t strong, but that’s alright. He does enjoy flavor in his drink that masks the throat burn.
“....n-not that I would know.”
“A decent start to the drinking, I suppose,” Sparkling thought.
He watches his face carefully as he takes a swig. Cin seems to be enjoying it. No harsh reactions, seems to be savoring the taste, seems like it could be good. Noted. But... what was that?
“Reminds you of Blackberry Cookie? Do you want to elaborate on that while I get the next drink ready?”
He's all ears. He pours two different drinks into the shaker again. This one's gonna hit harder. Not super hard, but certainly noticeably so. A drink with a nice hint of flavor, but a harder aftertaste.
“How was that, by the way? You seemed to enjoy it.”
“....”
No response from Cinnamon in regards to the first question. Yet.
He thinks back to after a showing at a prestigious manor. A maid seemed very happy with the way he had done his job with a flair and had cornered him in a hallway as he had been packing away his things. She had fiercely made out with him while he squirmed and was flustered for a good minute. He ended up getting to second base before she was called away, out of breath. Ever since that day, she would always give him a look when passing on the street.
“...just some perfume she wears. Nothing big.”
Finishing his drink, he pauses and examines himself. He doesn’t really feel much from that at all.
“It had taste, though maybe it could be a little stronger. It may as well have been juice at that point.”
Based on his awkwardly long pause and the previous stutter he had before he spoke, Sparkling has a sneaking suspicion that it might not "just" be some perfume. He decides not to press further on the matter anyway. That's his secret to keep. Reaching to the side, he takes notes in a little pocketbook.
“A little stronger. Got it. It's not supposed to hit particularly hard,” Sparkling explained. “Just something that tastes sweet. For the... less adventurous type.”
After he finishes shaking up that drink, he finally pours it into a shot glass and slides it on over to his lab partner. He's still got a few more ideas brewing in his head for other drinks.
”This one might go down a little harder.”
“Well, thanks.” Cin examined the shot. “I guess it’s just a little less sweet?”
As it’s just a shot, he picks it up and downs it. Well, Sparkling Cookie had meant what he said. Sputtering loudly, Cin starts to hack and cough loudly immediately, cards and doves flying out of his clothes en masse while he gasps for breath, leaving cards and feathers all over the counter. He reaches for his wand and drinks from a water stream that comes out of it, taking raspy deep breaths as he comes to. Watching Cinnamon's immediate violent reaction takes Sparkling by surprise. He shouldn't, he really shouldn't, but he can't help but laugh. He just holds a hand over his mouth and tries his best to keep it down, just letting out a ‘snrrrk’ sound. Besides, with that fountain coming from his wand, he seems to have all of this under control.
“Y-ye- ack- egh- ....that’s hard- eugh- harder...” he sputters.
"ooookay. So, should I pin that as 'too strong' or 'weak cookie'.....?"
Cinnamon takes the next minute or so catching his animals and cards, reordering them and stuffing them in places Sparkling never knew he had. From what he could see by peeking, anyways. It's amusing seeing him give gentle little coos to bring the doves down from the rafters.
“How about something that's only somewhat rough? It'll still probably taste decent, but I bet you could handle it. You're a tough enough patron to be able to take it, right?”
That last one wasn't even that hard, so his question comes off as half teasing, but also half genuinely asking.
With Cinnamon wiping his watery eyes, he clears his throat one final time, looking back to the shot glass he was given.
“Of course I’m tough. You saw me drink it all, didn’t you?” Cin pauses for a moment. “Well, almost all of it...”
He puts the shot glass upside down, watching the last drop slide down and hit the bar. Once it does, there’s a hissing sound as it melts through the wood, leaving a hole. Cinnamon gulps, but Sparkling doesn’t really notice amongst the noise of him mixing the glass.
“....yeah, I think I just had to get used to the stuff. Whatever. Bring on the next one.”
While Sparkling prepares his next drink, Cinnamon goes back to practicing his card tricks. While Sparkling shakes his bottle, he watches Cin mess with his deck, flipping the cards all over. Above his head, behind his back, into his hat and out Sparkling’s collar, freaking him out a little. Cin keeps messing with Sparkling in little ways like that, and he can't ever get used to it. After a good long while of shaking, he pops the lid back off and pours it into another shot glass, passing it right over to the busy magician.
“Hope you got used to it, then. You're getting better at drinking these. Confidence is important when it comes to the hard stuff.”
“I have plenty of confidence already,” Cin responded. “It’s more important than the magic.”
After a few more swirls, he takes the shot glass and slides the frozen drink out of it, starting to suck on the ice cube. Before Cinnamon even drinks the next one, Sparkling's already starting to mix another drink. He didn't say what it is or anything, just... mixing. He seemed to have this up and coming one in mind from the start.
“Picking up an earlier topic, do you like Blackberry's perfume? If you do, would you like some advice?”
Cin’s learned his lesson about flat out drinking a shot from him. With the shot still on the counter, he starts swirling his finger around the glass a few times, listening to him.
“Advice on her perfume?” Perhaps Sparkling’s gone nuts from the alcohol fumes. At least, he’d pretend he is if it delays talking about that particular subject.
“I don’t think I need to learn how to smell things...”
He finishes mixing that last shot, pours it into another glass, and just sets it off to the side for now. No need to worry about that. He'll get to it later.
“No, Cinnamon. That's not what I mean. I mean how to get close to her again. Based on when I asked about it earlier, you seemed to have... something else on your mind.”
With the bar closed for the night and everything all put away, save for the bottles and glasses they're using right now, he actually doesn't have anything to clean. His idle hands just rest on his hips now as he talks.
“What I'm saying is, do you need advice on how to get with her again, or do you feel like you have that much confidence?” He doesn't really crack a smile or anything. He's playing this fairly straight at the moment.
While Cin originally had an easier time keeping his thoughts under wraps, this is three drinks later. With the last of the ice cube dripping away down his throat, he just shakes his head at Sparkling’s words, his face now going red.
“I have NO idea what you’re talking about, S.”
Rolling a coin between his fingers, he swirls it between them before it reappears on his other hand. He goes back and forth, thinking out loud.
“She was just a simple audience member. A viewer in a magic show, that’s all. You act as though we had made out or something. You’re just a bartender. I’m the psychic fortune teller. On Wednesdays.” Cin starts taking the glasses, spinning them repeatedly on his wand tip.
With his face almost immediately starting to change to a different tone, Sparkling can tell there's definitely something more here. His eyes fall to following Cin's coin. It's a neat little way to keep one's hands busy. Not only is it entertaining for himself and others, but it keeps him from getting rusty. Even while impaired, it seems.
“Cinnamon, your blush doesn't lie. I never said you made out. But with you outright stating that and your face getting more and more red, are you sure she was just a simple member?~”
And there's the smile. He usually doesn't press his customers this hard, but Cin's less of a customer and more of a friend at this point.
“...By the way, if you break those glasses, you're buying them.”
“Shaddup.”
If any broke, he’d just have to do his famous disappearing act. Then never ever return to this bar ever again. Easy. Grabbing onto the next glass, he swigs the shot down and flips it on top of the spinning stack, keeping it going with a twirl.
“You don’t know me. Maybe I always blush when I talk about past girls. Besides, it shouldn’t matter to you what she meansh to me. If I needed lipshtick on my collar, I’d go to her." Capeesh?”
He keeps the glasses going, his face staying red, though probably for a different reason now. At this point he’s forgotten to rate the drinks, but his body language is clue enough of their strength. The glass spinning is getting more and more impressive the longer he keeps it up. And also more and more risky. That might be part of why it's so impressive.
“Most cookies don't start getting this blushy and defensive when talking about someone as small as an audience member, Cinnamon.”
Sparkling leans forward a little more. Not too close, though. He doesn't want him to freak out and drop all the glasses or anything.
“I think you might be interested in her from some kind of past experience...~”
Cin's totally wasted at this point. He can only really gauge the drinks based on how his body reacts to each one. Should he keep going? One more shot wouldn't hurt, right? He prepares another shot. Another hard one, less focused on the flavor and more on the strength of it. He gives it a fair shake before pouring it into the shot glass in front of him.
“I'd offer to give you advice with her again, but... you seem a little too forgone to remember any of it if I even gave you some at this point. The only real advice I could even give you is just... simple things. Or things that are easy to do in... your state.”
Cin usually has one eye closed, so it almost freaks Sparkling out when he opens the other and gives him an odd squinty look. Funky.
“Huh?”
Perhaps Sparkling’s words aren’t start to fall on deaf ears. Or maybe just being misinterpreted. Pulling down his hat, he moves his wand and lets the glasses fall into the hat, making quite the shattering sound.
"Oooooh. I get it. I get what you’re shaying.”
He flips his hat and places it on top of the final glass with the sound of falling glass shards tinkling against the counter. When Cin makes that face at him, Sparkling feels unnerved. What a weird face to make. He's never seen that kind of expression from him before. But when he hears the glasses shatter in his hat, he just closes his eyes for a second and sighs. He'll take care of that later.
“You’re trying to shteal her from me. I getcha. You’re trying to be all shmooth. Get my guard down. Well it’s not happening. You can’t do me dirty like that.”
He puts his hat back on his head with a huff, revealing the glasses not only unbroken, but all filled as well. Magic. Hell of a thing. Reaching down to grab one of the shots, Cin drank it down, squinted at Sparkling again, then drank another.
“She is MINE. And I’m not shpilling anything. So you can take your lame weak drinksh and peddle them to a weaker cookie. Try Cocoa. She’s lonely and is shad about it. Maybe if you’re nishe enough I’ll-“
What he’ll do is not certain. Cinnamon just slams his face on the bar and passes out on the spot. Was it from the alcohol, drinking two death shots? Or maybe was it a concussion? Who knows!
“Wait, Cin, I'm not trying to steal her from you. I'm just trying to....Oh. Erm...you alright, Cin?"
He walks out from behind the bar to shake Cinnamon's shoulder. He's out like a light. Welp. He'll just... get him out of here soon before the bar re-opens tomorrow. He's not gonna be looking forward to wiping drool off the bar in the morning, but that's what you have to put up with sometimes. He grabs Cinnamon’s unconscious body and lifts him over his shoulder. He’s heavier than he looks. He slowly trudges upstairs towards his guest room, specifically made for customers like this that have too much to drink. As they go, a few props, fake coins and handkerchiefs slip out from under his cape and fall to the floor while a few doves flap down to start pecking at the materials. Sparkling held back a groan, not wanting to guess what kind of state the bar will be in come morning.