Indy Cooper

Shine City Zero: Humble Beginnings

Sorry! It's been six months and I still am not used to tagging peeps.

Shine City Zero: Humble Beginnings

"Hello, Fenton!" Rowan smiled, a slightly warmer expression that she reserved for her regulars. Her left eyebrow twitched up into a quizzical expression as he made his order and expressed that it was story time. "All right. You're lucky, I have a bit of it left, and if this keeps up with you guys dropping in, I might as well go ahead and open early. Boss won't mind a few extra bucks in the drawer." She disappeared below the bar for a moment, the rattle of glasses clearly audible, and came back up with a tumbler and a pint glass. Her hair flickered around her head as she twisted and bent down to sort through a bin of what appeared to be completely random cans and bottles, retrieving one with an orange label and decorated with flames. Setting that on the counter, she turned again and snagged an expensive looking brown bottle labelled in faded yellow paper and block Olde English text, eyeing the contents against the light before she popped the top off. She set that down too, letting it breathe while she retrieved a few ice cubes for each glass. She poured two fingers into the tumbler of the good stuff, popped the soda open and poured that deftly into the pint glass, and slid them to their respective owners.

She nodded to Veronica first, saying, "That whole shipment got sent to us by mistake, but the boss wants to see how well they go over so we kept them. The label's in Japanese, but it's got habaneros on the label, so it should be hot enough for you. I haven't had a chance to try any of them yet, so you'll have to let me know what it's like." She winked and added, "No charge for guinea pig drinks, as per usual, and let me know if you need crackers or another drink, since we're open now, it seems." Then she slid around the bar, speaking over her shoulder to Fenton. "I'm listening, but I gotta click the signs on and what not. What's the scoop, Fen? And are you staying long enough for a tab?"

She moved with alacrity to the front door, flipping over the 'open' sign and turning on the window neons before resuming her spot behind the counter, pausing only to start pouring herself one of the cheap-ass pints she tended to favour. She had just been settling with her elbows on the counter to listen to Fenton when the door chimed and another girl walked in. This one seemed to take the place in, along with her and her regs, in just a glance, then squared her shoulders and walked up to the counter. As soon as she started speaking Rowan recognised the voice from earlier.

"Yep, I'm Rowan." She turned back to Fenton and shrugged. "Duty calls. Tell Veronica, I'll try to keep an ear out if you need anything." Then, she pulled a clipboard out from underneath the bar and set it down, motioning for Azura to take a seat across from her. "So, the boss isn't down yet, and won't be for a couple more hours yet unless I phone him. If you want an interview right away, that's your fastest bet, but in the meantime, there's the, y'know, typical application thing. Let me know if you need a drink or have a question, alright?"

@BubblegumQueen@Pilatus@SamaraJayne96

Shine City Zero: Humble Beginnings

Rowan glanced up, using her free hand to brush a loose lock of her purple-black hair behind her ear as she took a drag and dropped her smoke with her other. "Oh hell, hey...uhh...Winters, right? Valerie? No, Veronica. Ummm. We're not exactly open, so I can't serve booze yet, but I can getcha a soda of some sort." She stood, leggy frame evident because she had, due to the midsummer heat, decided on a thinner sort of jeans, as many looks as they might draw. After all, she didn't notice when people were paying attention to her, and it's not like patrons could see much behind the bar, right?

"Ha, yeah, you'd actually be surprised how often I see people both through the goggles and not." She squinted in the sunlight, dusting off her apron and flicking the butt of her cigarette deftly off into the trashcan near the door, the cherry falling just short and avoiding a fire. "Or maybe you wouldn't, who knows?"

As the bass from Veronica's headphones caught up with her ears, one could almost see Rowan wince, though she would never admit it to a customer. "I haven't seen you here this early before, I don't think. Then again, most people avoid the place for the first half of their night to begin with, y'know? Walking past during daylight for even our regulars must be a bit weird. Tell ya what, you look like you've had a long morning, why don't I getcha somethin' to ease the boredom, eh?" And with that and a turn of the hips, Rowan disappeared into the front door of the bar, leaving it unlocked and inviting despite the early hour. Her almost smoky voice, rough from overuse over the past few years, came echoing behind her as she said, "You like the spicy stuff, yeah? Just got a shipment of weird as hell flavours, might be able to hook you up."

@BubblegumQueen

Shine City Zero: Humble Beginnings

@Pilatus she's been working there for some years now, I'm sure she can make food for regs off hours without too much disciplinary action.

Shine City Zero: Humble Beginnings

I am liking how many drinkers there are in this cast.

Shine City Zero: Humble Beginnings

@Pilatus I assume Joel's a regular? Not that Rowan minds guessing.

Shine City Zero: Humble Beginnings

Cue applause and cheers

Shine City Zero: Humble Beginnings

@SamaraJayne96 Well, Rowan only works at the Cornerstone, she doesn't own it. But co-workers would be fine by me if that's where you're headed.

With as much as she works she'd be the manager if they could afford it

'Misthophoroi' - A Sci-Fi Mercenary RP

@POOHEAD189 Your signature picture makes me very happy! Spike is the best.

Shine City Zero: Humble Beginnings

Cornerstone Bar

Just before noon

There was a dull thud and a rattle of glasses as Rowan set the last tray of clean glasses behind the bar, readying for the afternoon. Despite not being open for more than four hours, she had been here for more than two already. Last night had been hectic, with Bobby calling out sick and John missing in action, leaving only Rowan and the owner to handle things, so she had come in early today to finish the cleaning and set up. The whole place smelled of PineSol and wood polish, the refrigerators were stocked, and she herself had finally finished the dishes. The last few finishing touches for herself were next.

Despite being a lot less classy than Mochavine, and much less flashy or modern than the night club, Rowan had set her home here at the Cornerstone, and took a fierce pride in the place she worked, maiking sure that it felt like a second home for her regulars (although not home-y enough that they felt they could break the rules). To that end, she had sought approval for a number of ornaments and other assorted accoutrement to spruce the place up. Not a lot had met with approval, but enough that she had given the old place a bit of a polish up without removing the essential character. Her pride and joy was a limited edition vinyl record of some very old jazz guy (she didn't actually listen to jazz that much, but the owner had loved it) carefully framed and hung just behind the bar. She puttered around for a few minutes, dusting, lighting a bit of incense, and making sure coasters and napkins were stocked all over. Not that the place was large enough to take long, but she put extra care into making sure everything stayed the same every time they opened. No surprises for her regulars, that wasn't what they were here for!

Glancing around, Rowan realised she had run out of things to do. Smiling to herself, she made her way out the front and sat on the curb, basking a little in the sun and closing her eyes whilst she fished a cigarette out of her apron pocket. Although the summer sun was making her black apron and pants heat up, it felt good to be warmed up like this from time to time, though not as great as in winter. She lit her habit-stick and settled in for a nice round of people watching, something she did as often as she could. With her ability to read people's faces, it was easy enough to make up stories for how someone's day was going, and imagine what drink would perk them up. This was the activity that caused her to lose time most afternoons, and this one was shaping up to be a lazy enough Sunday for it to happen again.