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“What will it be?” The drinksmith addresses the guest in front of him.
The guest seemed to be taken aback, not expecting anyone to acknowledge her existence at all. Especially not the particularly intimidating male manning the counter. “Oh no… no. It’s fine.” She shifts in her seat, brushes her silver-gray locks off of her face in an attempt to keep attention off of herself.
“If you say so… but you know, I can tell something’s troubling you.” The brunet drinksmith points out. “Everyone needs a break sometimes. Lookit me, after my Bloodhound’s duties are done I hang around this lounge.”
“You take a break from work… by taking more work?” The silver-gray haired girl asks.
He chuckles. “Sounds stupid, but I love Siobhan and I love this place so I don’t mind. The only patrons who come here are mostly the Sweet Dreams Troupe though so I was pleasantly surprised to see someone around.”
“You’re certainly active.” The girl seemed to lower her guard. “Seems like you’ve got life all figured out. I’m a bit envious.”
“No I don’t.” The silver haired girl was surprised that he admitted it without hesitation. “Sometimes I can’t quite keep up with who I’m supposed to be, which is why things like this help a lot.”
“Things like what…?”
The drinksmith smiles slightly. “All of this. Helping out my friends, doing my duties to the fullest, and a little bit of entertainment on the side. It enriches the soul.” He laughed.
“Is it really that simple…?”
“You’d be surprised.” The drinksmith nods to himself. "I've gotten this far only because I had received so much from so many different people. I consider myself a mosaic of them, someone who was only complete with their help."
“I’d like to know more.” She says in curiosity. “Though I don’t intend to just mooch off of your kindness. Ka- Mhh… My friend always told me to be gracious with someone else’s time. Give me a drink. I don’t need anything specific, just surprise me.”
“Coming right up.”
He takes a large wine glass, ice, some drinks that she can’t quite recognize, and decorated it with a slice of lemon on the rim of the glass. She couldn’t quite get how the drinksmith had done it, but the color of the drinks had layered so beautifully. The bottom of the glass had a beautiful teal-green color embraced by a violet-red layer on the top. It was a simple, yet rather elegant drink. The process enchanted the silver haired girl that he hadn’t realized he finished making the drink.
“Ah, thank you.”
“It was no trouble.” He was already cleaning. He’s quite experienced in this kind of work.
The silver haired girl simply smiled. “Earlier… you were right. I’ve always been troubled by it but, I don’t feel quite fulfilled with my life right now.” She admitted sadly. “All of my life since birth, I’ve always trained and strived to succeed to be this one thing and now that it’s over I just- I don’t quite know who I’m supposed to be exactly. Who am I outside of that? I ended up being troubled by such a thing.”
“Sounds like you’re carrying quite a lot on your shoulders.” The drinksmith sympathizes. “I don’t quite know your circumstances closely, so please forgive me if I offend you. The thing is, all it takes for you to find that answer is to live.”
“Live…?”
“Mhm. To live and to take your time.” The drinksmith affirms. “Don’t be afraid to approach new things. Try to experience so many new things that you couldn’t help but say, ‘ahh but I like this one better’. Don’t be afraid to be lost in loving or falling out of love with that one thing either. It is in your experiences in loving something that you find out who you truly are.”
“Oh…”
“Did I offend you in some way?”
“No you didn’t!” She shakes her head. “It’s just- it made a lot of sense. Though I couldn’t quite wrap my head around with how simple it is. All this time I thought way too much about it.”
“Don’t blame yourself for overthinking. There’s no shame to it.”
“Thank you…” The silver haired girl smiles and takes her drink and gives it a slow sip. She didn’t quite know what she expected when she took in how the drink had looked, but the distinct strong sweetness of the drink was a pleasant surprise for her.
“How do you like your drink?”
She looked down on her drink. “I… I don’t know if I liked it or not. Though I was particularly surprised with how sweet and refreshing it was.”
“I’ll take it as a compliment!” The drinksmith takes the girl’s vague comment with a charming smile. “I wanted to give you something like that since you seemed to need a little cheering up.”
“I see. That’s so sweet of you.” She gives it a little more sips. “If I may ask, what is the name of this drink?”
“Resplendent Rendezvous.” The man answered. “The name’s rather pretty, huh?”
The silver haired girl nods. “Yeah.”
“Will that be all?”
“Oh! Um-” The girl scrambled to get her thoughts in order. “I’d like to know your name. If you don’t mind?”
He smiled that same charming smile from earlier. “Certainly. I call myself Gallagher.”
“My name is Firefly.” She introduces herself too. “Hey, Mister Gallagher- will I see you here again if I come back?”
The drinksmith thinks. “If I have a shift by the time you visit, that is.”
“Then let’s see each other again someday in the future, Mister Gallagher. I enjoyed your company very much.”
“I could say the same thing.” Gallagher smiled.
However, when Firefly visited the lounge the next time nearing the Charmony Festival’s end, any traces of Gallagher were gone. The one who currently ran the bar, Miss Siobhan does not know what had happened to Gallagher either. He had disappeared so suddenly as if he was just a figment of the girl’s imagination. She searched Penacony with all the allotted time she was given to by Elio, but in the end she couldn’t find him either. It was as if he had been a bubble, beautiful but transient.
She was afraid that he had found out she was part of the Stellaron Hunters and ran tail, but she knew the kind Gallagher wouldn’t have done that. Though she couldn’t see him anymore, she will always remember his kindness. That he had encouraged her to be more than what she was made for. That she should live for tomorrow’s sake.
For that reason, she shall try to live a little longer to find an answer as to who she truly was.
This one-of-a-kind Resplendent Rendezvous will forever be engraved in her heart.