Chapter Text
Four friends with her, drinks all night, the evening looked so good for Calli. She finally managed to get her colleagues to come to her place and get a few cocktails, courtesy of her previous job as a bartender. All four of her kouhais were sitting on the other side of the kitchen bar, while she was picking up alcohol, slicing lemons, shaking and mixing. The startup was rough, as it had been a while since she last used her skills, but still, after everyone drank their first few drinks, alcohol helped, and the mood lightened up. They shared a few more drinks, then, noticing everyone barely holding it, ended the stream, so they could keep going, privately this time.
Poor IRyS was already leaning back on her stool, needing to hold onto Bae as she whispered something in the rat's ear, that made both very giggly as Bae's face turned a slightish red and pink from the alcohol, and probably what she heard, too. On the other side, Ina cut back to a slight mutism, leaned over the counter, waiting for the next drink. Cece was just finishing her last drink, a failed attempt at a Piña Colada that ended up too strong for Ina to drink, but barely affected the German. Calli was almost impressed, until she realized. Cece was still getting a little tipsy, and the barmaid grinned, turning her back to discard empty lemons.
This was gonna be good.
A porcelain cheek made contact with Bae's own, as Cece leaned against her too.
"Hey girls... Whatcha talkin bout that got you so red?"
Calli barely restrained a choked cough as her usually restrained kouhai got way bolder than she anticipated.
"Oh, heeeeeeh--" Bae hesitated, but IRyS leaned over in front of her, elbows on her lap, and whispered the seemingly important secret to the automaton, which nodded, first, but then started giggling, too. Then she turned to face IRyS, and without a warning, both reached for each other's face and clumsily kissed, more because of IRyS missing the target than Cecilia's own giggliness at the action. lips barely touched corners, but Bae immediately gasped, and Calli dropped her shaker, the entire drink destined for Ina spilling on the floor.
Calli immediately leaned down with a sponge, but she could still hear the soft giggle of Cecilia as Bae protested, saying it was totally immoral and that they were lucky they weren't on stream anymore.
"Awwww, someone's jelly?" Cecilia's voice resonated in Calli's head for a moment as she finished sponging the cocktail from the ground. She had to resist answering with a yes, because she knew her kouhai would reach for her next if she said anything.
“No, no nooo noooo nooooooo-” Another sound of kissing cut down the protests of a very embarrassed rat, and Calli bolted upright, to catch Cecilia licking her own lips, still holding Bae by the collar as the poor Australian woman had a large lipstick mark on her lips, one that wasn’t her usual color.
“There, now everyone has their share~” IRyS concluded with a giggle. Noticing Mori looking at her, she smiled. “Look Cece, someone’s unkissed, and waiting for you~”
Ina gasped, finally realising what happened next to her. “So that’s what you meant when you said you wanted to flirt with the customers…” triggering another fit of hilarity from all the girls, while Calli shook her head. Leaning over the counter to grab the empty glasses, she stopped as Cecilia’s hand got a hold of her glass right as she was taking it. Both hands made contact, and the barmaid looked upright to see the woman grinning.
“Do you mind if I try making my own drink, boss? So you can hire me”. She stumbled from her stool into the other side of the bar, in which she started considering the various alcohol bottles available. Picking a few, seemingly at random, she started pouring some of the pineapple juice, vanilla extract, a half-cup of brandy, and then three cups of milk and some brown sugar. Calli was pondering how that might taste, but when Cecilia turned to her with a sad look on her face, she had to hold back a laugh.
“I don’t know how to shake, boss… Can you help me?” said with such a sad puppy face that Calli just couldn’t say no.
“Sure, here, let me-” but she was cut off by the automaton’s back nestling against her chest, putting her hands, holding the shaker, in her senpai’s hands. Calli could barely hear the gasping of the other three colleagues, still sitting at the bar, as her face turned red, and she blurbed a few words of approval as she started to slowly help Cecilia, making the movements required for a good, quick shake. One that lingered for far too long once they were done, Cecilia leaning against her for a few seconds, before she poured the drink into Ina’s glass with one swift and elegant motion, before sliding it over the counter to Ina.
“For you… My rival.”
Giggles from Bae and IRyS again as the automaton dramatically turned, waving away her short hair with a flick of the hand– and immediately making contact with Calli again, falling face first against her chest. Cecilia almost tripped as she bounced back, but Calli caught her before she fell, and, pulling her close, made sure she was stable on her footing.
“Are you alright, Cecilia?” Calli muttered, still a bit red. But her face turned back to a strawberry as she noticed the large opened eyes of her kouhai in her arms, and the silence as everyone else paused, waiting for something to happen. Cecilia gave a smug smile, and nestled more into Mori’s arms.
“Ohhhh, senpai, I’m so scared… Please hold me…” For a second, she had her puppy face again, before going into a fit of laughter again, joined by Bae and IRyS a second later. Mori turned her head away, trying to hide the red on her cheeks, but that only exposed her neck, in which Ceci laid a gentle kiss before turning away from her arms, not hearing the silent scream in the barmaid’s head. Swaying her legs back to the drinker’s side of the counter, she sat on her stool, leaning against Ina, who silently drank the cocktail she prepared.
“So, rival? Wadayahthink?” Ina’s face lit up as the first taste of the drink hit her, and she nodded, before taking another sip. Cecilia was smug again, pointing at Calli, who was trying to hide her red face by preparing drinks for everyone again. “See boss! I know my stuff!”
She then turned to Bae, grinning. “So senpai, wadayahthink?”
Bae hesitated. “About what?” she tried, and Cecilia’s grin grew even larger.
“Don’t you tell me you forgot, Bae! I can’t believe I’m so, when you haven’t even wiped my lipstick yet!” Hilarity from IRyS again, and now Bae matched the red on Calli’s face. Cecilia laughed too, a crystalline sound that warmed everyone’s heart.
Calli’s eyes crossed Bae’s, then IRyS’, then Ina’s. All of them apparently had the same idea in mind. Cecilia was being a menace to their hearts and red faces, and she needed to be dealt with. As she stood upright again, Bae wrapped her arm around Cecilia’s shoulder, pulling a surprised automaton close, as Ina leaned in from the other side, trapping the German woman between her two senpais. IRyS surprised her again by grabbing her from behind, and Mori tilted forward until all their faces were all real close to a slightly confused automaton, before her own cheeks turned red, finally realizing the situation she put herself in.
“Wait, g-” She tried, knowing it wouldn’t save her from the consequences of her actions.
“There’s no waiting, Cecilia. You know what you did, and you know what’s gonna happen.”