Ryder Adams (glassofmoonligt) wrote in worldsapart_ic, @ 2019-02-17 15:26:00 |
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It was no secret that Rhys liked Tooth and Nail, maybe a little too much, but he wasn't a complete snob and did, in fact, frequent other supernatural friendly establishments. One of those being Midnight because well it was a fun place to be and it was definitely somewhere he could let his hair down, both figuratively and literally. Of course, he couldn't just rock up in anything for Midnight. He actually had to put some effort into how he looked but that was half the fun so rather than rocking his normal torn jeans and t-shirt he was dressed in a smarter pair of dark jeans, boots, a button down shirt and his hair was artfully styled. The leather jacket he was wearing was checked in at the door and it didn't take Rhys very long to navigate the crowds in the direction of the bar. He couldn't start a good night without a drink. Behind the bar was none other than Ryder Adams, dressed up himself in something significantly smarter than his attire in Tooth & Nail. The dress code for the bartenders at Midnight was smart; black shirt and fitted slacks (even their bar staff had to be able to draw the eye). His hair was loosely styled and the top two buttons of his shirt were undone, just enough to see his collarbone and his sleeves were expertly rolled up. He had a cocktail shaker in his palm and he was smiling easily at a succubus on the other side of the bar as he spun it on his palm, shaking it once more for good measure before making a show of pouring it into the glass for her. Topping it off with a wedge of lime, he passed the glass over with a wink and then withdrew as she paid him, sticking the cash in the register. With his back to the club, he felt his shoulders stiffen as a scent that he'd become familiar with somehow managed to waft over the hundreds of other ones that were there. He put the cash in the register but by the time he'd got the change and turned back around, she had gone. He dropped the not insignificant amount in the tip jar. His eyes slid across to Rhys before his name was drawled by a vampire who ordered another cocktail with an obscene name, which caused Ryder to breathe out an embarrassed laugh, ducking his head as his gaze once more - subtly, he thought, well done Ryder - sought out Rhys before he started making the cocktail. He'd hopefully get to serve the guy once he hit the bar. Rhys' journey to the bar was a little waylaid on occasion as he ran into familiar faces and exchanged pleasantries because you didn't grow up in the Los Angeles supernatural scene and not to get to know people, though the closer he got to the bar the more he became acutely aware of a distinct scent that he associated with Tooth and Nail. It couldn't be, could it? The wolf slid onto a nearby stool and then leaned to peer around a couple of vampires who were busy making kissy faces at each other and yep there was mister tall dark and handsome looking very chic and downright irresistible in his all-black attire. He smiled slowly and waited, patiently. Ryder finished up the sunset-coloured cocktail and felt a colleague put a hand on his shoulder which made him stiffen. "Relax," she muttered, "you got a fan over there. End of the bar, cutie werewolf." "Stalker more like," Ryder responded quietly though there was little actual heat behind the word and his eyes cut past her to meet Rhys' and since he knew the guy had heard, god only knew why but he winked. Midnight was a popular place like the fighting arena. It was only a matter of time before their paths crossed outside of Tooth & Nail. He was glad that it was here, and not somewhere like Baxters or the grocery store where Ryder didn't have the false bravado of a bar to hide behind. He patted her side as he slipped past and moved over to the bar, grabbing a cloth and flinging it over his shoulder, placing his hands flat on the bar and leaning on them as he came to a halt in front of a very patient looking Rhys. "She's a perfectly good server, you know," he teased, thinking about reaching out and pouring Rhys the same kind of drink he had at Tooth and Nail, but then he didn't know if the guy drank something different here. "Small world, huh." Rhys feigned mock hurt when Ryder playfully referred to him as a stalker before he grinned at the wink though he did tip his head up to regard the taller wolf with a smile playing at the corners of his mouth. "Oh, I never doubted her credentials, but between you and me she's not quite as cute as you so..." He lifted his shoulders in a universal display of "what can ya do?" before chuckling. "But you are right, it is a very small world." He gestured to the row of bourbon lined up along the back of the bar. "Can I get a bourbon on the rocks?" Ryder still hadn't gotten used to Rhys' particular brand of conversation. The way he peppered it with blatant flirting. He figured that Rhys spoke to everyone like that so he was doing his best not to take it seriously, but it was hard considering how intense Rhys was when he caught you in that two-toned gaze. "Don't let her hear you say that," Ryder told him as he turned to start fixing Rhys his drink. "She'll be broken-hearted. I happen to know she thinks you're cute." The way her heartbeat had picked up when Rhys had spoken to her had told him that much. Ice in the glass, bourbon following a second later, Ryder turned back around and slid it over the bar. "You got a big night planned?" he asked, "Since you're all cleaned up an' all." Rhys was a natural flirt that was true but he generally only flirted when he thought the other person was legitimately attractive or had something about them that intrigued him. Of course, unless you knew him you weren't privy to that. "Oh yeah?" Rhys asked, tipping his head to glance over the other bartender before he rubbed a hand through his hair. "Maybe best we keep that between us." Big night? Well, not planned. Rhys never planned his nights. He just sort of went with the flow and whatever happened happened. "Not really," he replied honestly. "Just sort of letting the night take me wherever." "Yeah, now I put two and two together I realise that you're the guy she talks about." He stopped there because it wasn't his crush to share, really, and he'd be mortified if the positions were reversed. But she had talked about a cute blonde with striking eyes that came every now and then that she would climb like a tree. He cleared his throat and glanced around as some of the performers took to their various stages. Behind him was the large glass tank that the mermaid hung out in when she was in once a month, but it was empty tonight so there were just tropical fishes of various types swimming there instead. "Sounds dangerous," he teased. "Who knows where you could end up." Huh, good to know. Rhys smirked a little but didn't say anything because well he wasn't as arrogant as he liked to pretend he was. "Mm true," Rhys agreed with a chuckle as he took a sip from his drink. "But sometimes it's fun to take risks." He definitely did more than his fair share of that. "But as for right now, I'm happy where I am." "Not really a 'take risks' kinda guy," Ryder shared with Rhys, watching him sip his drink and then he chuckled. "Bein' happy here is one thing but you're missin' out on the show that's going on behind you." And wasn't that why people came to Midnight? "I dunno about that," Rhys replied with a confident smirk. "I'd say I got a pretty good show in front of me right now. I saw you doing those bottle tricks, man." He rubbed his thumb over his lip before regarding Ryder through his lashes. "Wanna show me a couple?" Ryder rolled his eyes. "You're awful," he told him though it was smudged with a gentle affection that surprised him. "You pay the cover charge to see the girls. And guys. Whatever your fancy is." None of them here really did it for Ryder so it was easy to focus on his job, fixing drinks and talking to patrons in between dances, though the people here were often less talkative than at Tooth & Nail. His eyes did drop to watch Rhys' thumb slide over his lower lip and his brows furrowed briefly, looking away before he was caught. He shrugged. "Can't do a trick with bourbon on the rocks," he pointed out. "Didn't take you for a cocktail man." Well, Ryder was not wrong there. He was awful but Rhys made no apologies for the way he was because if you were going to be something then you might as well go full speed ahead. "I might have done that initially but that was before I knew you worked behind the bar," he said with a flash of his pearly whites. He shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not, but I'm thinking it's a fun thing to watch." Ryder snorted and ducked his head to hide the smile and the colour that picked up on his cheeks as Rhys flirted with him. He honestly didn't know how to take it, what with how Rhys was with Kira, and how he probably was with others. So he decided not to read into it and instead just shook his head. "I'm not gonna give you as much of a show as the girls," he told Rhys, boldly folding his forearms on the bar and leaning forward, "Wouldn't want you to have wasted your cover charge." He was gonna say something else, eyes dipping for the briefest of seconds before his attention was caught by someone. "Looks like you might get a chance to watch," he drawled after a moment, fingers tapping the bar. "Y'all just hold on while I serve." He smiled a little, hurriedly but still bright in its own way as he greeted the patron, long fingers snatching on ingredients needed to make and prepare a cocktail, spinning one of the bottles on the open flat of his hand, making a show of it. His eyes, however, kept drifting back to Rhys right up until he'd served the drink with a flourish poured over ice. "Pretty sure whether or not the show is enjoyable is up to me," Rhys shot back with a grin as Ryder leaned in a little closer but then gave a small sound of protest when the other wolf had to go take care of somebody else. Fiiiiine. Rhys instead turned his attention to Ryder's display and what a display it was, definitely worth the door charge, and as it came to an end he gave the other a round of applause. "Bravo." Ryder snorted, taking the cash from the woman - who tipped very generously - and when he spotted Rhys clapping, accompanied by a praise that seemed genuine, he ducked his head to hide how his lips curled up into a smile that was equal parts flattered and embarrassed. He rubbed the back of his head and wandered back over to Rhys. "Happy now?" he asked, glancing up, dark eyes meeting the mismatched ones for a split second before he looked away, feeling his chest lurching a little. Rhys dazzled Rhys with a huge grin. "Very much so." He smirked as he picked up his drink and took a sip. "And FYI? The show was definitely enjoyable." Midnight was known for its shows but they were normally of the more naked or exotic nature but Rhys was certain he could watch Ryder make cocktails with those hands of his for hours. "Can I get another?" He asked as he gestured to his now empty glass. Ryder stretched over the bar and curled his fingers around Rhy's glass drawing it across to himself. "You're ridiculous," he said, embarrassed. He was just the bartender, it wasn't as though he was doing anything that the others couldn't do. A couple of the bartenders could also do things like tie knots in cherry stems with their tongues. He'd thought about learning that but it was a largely useless skill, and learning to juggle bottles was more useful. Sliding a few ice cubes into the empty glass with a chinking sound, Ryder's long fingers snagged on the bourbon and, with an arch of his eyebrow and an upward quirk of his lips that was definitely flirtatious, he spun it on the open palm of his hand while setting the glass at a tilt and making that spin, too, eyes still on Rhys as he then poured the drink into the spinning glass having flipped the bottle end over end first and catching it without taking his eyes off the other wolf. Stopping the glass from spinning, Ryder nudged it back in Rhys' direction. "Sure." Rhys' lips tugged into a very pleased smile as Ryder showed off his bartender skills to pour him a drink and he lifted his eyebrows almost suggestively as he caught that flirtatious look from Ryder. "You that good with your hands outside of a bar?" He asked innocently as he lifted the glass and took a sip. Though it was bravado since honestly, Ryder had no idea if he was any good in that sense (but he did have great hand-eye coordination so it wasn't a lie) he met Rhys' eyes and lifted a shoulder. "Never had any complaints." Eyebrows lifted and Rhys barely contained the flirtatious grin that spread across his lips. "Is that right? Good to know, really good to know." He winked and then turned his head as somebody called his name and sure enough there was somebody from his pack. "I'll be back later, just gotta check in with a friend of mine." He rummaged out his wallet and dropped cash on the bar along with a hefty tip before with a parting look he headed over to sling his arm around the neck of his packmate though admittedly his eyes lingered on Ryder. Ryder just lifted a hand and saluted Rhys, embarrassed at the size of the tip that had been left but at the same time he guessed he was at work. Still. Felt weird. His attention was drawn from Rhys pretty quickly, though, drawn to someone else who wanted serving and so Ryder got swept up in work once more which was good to it distracted him from that unpleasant empty feeling in his chest. |