Chapter Text
It was almost midnight. Vi took a deep breath of the cold, dry air. She turned from her seat to glance at the nearly full bar. People were everywhere—dancing to the booming music, sipping colorful drinks, engrossed in their conversations. It was just another ordinary night at The Last Drop.
Vi was used to the noise and chaos of the bar. She had been around since her father managed the place. She could still recall watching him practice bartending tricks and preparing tables for the evening rush. To her, he had always been incredible at it. Vander’s always been passionate at what he does, no matter what. Back in his early days, he had been a well-respected commanding officer at the military—something he had decided to leave behind to father his children instead. After becoming a veteran, he thought of starting a business to provide for his daughters. The Last Drop began as a simple bar which grew to be famous in Zaun for its impeccable reputation. Best known for its one-of-a-kind menu, striking ambience, good crowds, and not to mention how great of a character Vander was to be around. The word was, there is no other place like The Last Drop where you could be stupid and still feel safe all the same. There’re a number of heroic stories about Vander going around—but those are stories for another day.
At the ripe age of sixteen, Vi asked her father if she could help out at the bar. To everyone’s surprise, they found themselves a prodigy. The young girl was quick to pick up on the ins and outs of running the business. Vi learned everything she believed she needed just by observing people go about at the bar. Aspiring to be just like her father, Vi worked really hard to do just as well as him. Whether it was perfecting bartending tricks or managing the whole place—Vi was nothing but good at it. Regulars even began calling her “The Daughter of Midnight Zaun,” a nickname she found more silly than flattering.
It has been nine years since then. Naturally, Vander entrusted the role of taking care of the bar to Vi when he retired. And The Last Drop has only gotten more prominent with time in her hands.
“You alright?” A familiar voice called on her attention. Claggor, a good friend. He slid a glass of lager across the counter, smoothly landing into the palm of her hands. Vi sighed heavily in response, frowning.
“So, you still haven’t talked to her, huh?” He asked.
“Did she call again?”
“Third time today.”
Vi downed the beer. Claggor had been a wonderful friend, always taking calls from different women, all asking about Vi. Only that day, he had to answer from one very adamant woman whose name Vi couldn’t even bother remembering. Claggor had been firmly putting her down for days, gently giving her hints that Vi is not one to look for a “serious relationship”. He even joked from time to time that she should rather waste her efforts calling a more deserving person.
“She said she was just checking on you—something about being concerned ,” he added.
Silence. Not the first time something like this had happened.
“Why don’t you give her a chance?” Claggor pressed, “She seems genuine.”
Vi had no response to that. No . She had quite a lot to say to that, actually. But she could not bring herself to say it aloud. Maybe it was the exhaustion finally catching up to her, or maybe it was the damn biting chill in the air. Either way, she stayed quiet, kept words to herself and watched droplets running down her glass instead.
“Vi.” Claggor said, tossing a dishcloth over his shoulder and placing firm hands on the bar. He was using that tone—the one he reserved for life lectures to Vi. Such a stupid thing to do, she always thought. “What good do you think comes from this habit of yours?”
She exhaled deeply. “Nothing… I guess.” Vi finally gave in.
“Exactly. How many more women are you going to ignore just ‘cause you ‘don’t feel like it’?” Once again, no response. “Just give one a chance. You never know—they might be worth it after all.”
He wasn’t wrong, and Vi knew it. Despite all the lessons she’d learned at the bar, from watching her father close and observing countless people, she never expected to miss the most crucial one: keeping meaningful relationships. Unlike Vander, Vi wasn’t exactly great at hitting it off with other people. Sure, she had friends from her childhood, like Claggor, but that was it. Of course, not that it mattered to her. She was, after all, a well respected woman at Zaun. And it was not like she struggled with communicating with others as all she did for work was to take orders from customers, talking to the regulars or being the person-in-charge, but she actually never thought of it as anything more than business responsibilities.
Vander thinks it was his fault for raising his daughter around the life of the bar too young, but Claggor believes Vi has always struggled with this, long before she started helping at the job. Besides, he could swear she had seen her punch more assholes outside the bar than she had tried to make friends. Friends. Such terrifying nonsense to her.
“I know,” Vi muttered reluctantly. “I’ll do it,” A short pause. “Someday.”
Claggor raised an eyebrow, silently calling out her excuse. Vi raised her hands in mock surrender. “I will! I promise!”
Claggor chuckled a few under his breath before returning his attention back behind the bar. Vi slumped back into her seat, pondering on the heavy weight of the air in her lungs. She never bothered herself with this problem before. But as much as she hated to admit it, spending meaningless nights with women who were more than interested in sleeping with her had become very tiring.
“This is stupid,” she whispered, taking another sip of her beer.
“What is?” A heavy arm landed on her shoulder, making her choke mid-drink. “What seems to be your problem for tonight, boss?” The voice teased.
“Back off, Mylo.” Claggor called out without looking up from the drinks in his hand.
“Wha– Excuse me?! I am just worried for our friend here.” Mylo protested.
Mylo . He happened to be another friend of Vi’s through Claggor. She always found him annoying… and very idiotic. And still, she had grown to like him from being a loyal friend to her family.
“She got herself in another girl problem, didn’t she?” Mylo grinned.
“Fuck off!” Despite it all, Vi always knew there was no way she’d trust this scrawny idiot over the bartender. She grabbed the tray from his hand and smacked him with it. “Don’t you have your own problems to deal with?”
“Ow!” Mylo yelped, rubbing his head. “What’s up your ass today?” Or should I say, what’s not up your ass today?”
Vi stood from her seat, ready to throw punches, but Claggor intervened. “Alright, enough of this!” He handed Mylo the tray. “Take this to the table at the corner, will you? Let’s leave her alone before you lose your job over that dumb face.” He turned to Vi. “And Vi, take a breather. You’re tired. We’ve got this.” He gently pushed her shoulders back down to her seat. “Mylo, let’s go.”
Mylo clicked his tongue. “Yeah, I love this job too much for that. Hey, you know more Pilties are coming these days.” He rambled on over the bartender’s shoulder.
As they walked away, Vi sighed in relief, the tension in her easing off. She leaned over the bar, taking another sip of the alcohol. A moment of peace, then she decided to follow Claggor’s steps with her eyes.
Her eyes landed on a woman dancing rather lewdly, staring back at her from the dancefloor. Her look was very suggestive, something Vi would usually jump on—much like that woman her silly friends mentioned earlier.
Vi didn’t seem to have a type. Her history with women proved as much. She had been with a number of different kinds of women throughout the years, and never once led on a ‘certain kind’. Oftentimes, she’d end up waking next to women she met at the bar the night before. These women, usually hooked her on by giving such titillating looks, just as how this dancing woman is giving her. She didn’t look bad, Vi thought as she ran her eyes over her. She was in fact a very interesting woman with those red heels and exposed ankles, short black dress hugging lush curves, and piercing eyes. She definitely looked like someone Vi would want to have fun with. But this could only go two ways based on her experience: She would accept this sexy invitation, maybe dance with her a little, flirt her way through the night, bring her home at 3 in the morning, kiss her without even knowing anything about her at the front door of her house, gets dragged into bed, wakes up in the morning, leaves the house (with a note, if she’s lucky), have her call Claggor—in which he will turn down, and never spend the night with each other again. Or, she could save this woman from all the trouble. That night, she chose the latter, giving her an innocent smile and looking away.
That’s when she saw her. Busy drinking her red colored cocktail with a cute little umbrella in the corner. It was dark from where she was sitting but Vi caught a glimpse of her hair that looked like a peaceful midnight waterfall, dropping all the way down to prominent shoulders. Vi couldn’t see as much, but she had this purple camisole on, showing off elegant collar bones and toned arms. She was pleasant to look at. It was almost like catching a sunset at the beach in the middle of winter. She was breathtakingly shining despite the cold dark room swallowing her. Vi didn’t immediately grasp what about this woman actually caught her attention, but never did she mind for even a second. All her thoughts were suddenly out the window. She didn’t even notice how long she had been staring at her…
Until angelic eyes caught in contact with hers.