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The little wind chime above the entrance gave a soft, metallic whistle as the front door eased open.
A cool gust of night air slipped inside, carrying the faint smell of rain and damp asphalt before the door slowly swung shut again with a thump, and the gentle scratching of another birds talons entering the bar.
The few remaining patrons barely acknowledged it. One lifted his head just enough to squint towards the entrance before immediately deciding whatever, or whoever, had walked in clearly wasnt worth the effort to get up. Another snored loudly from a booth in the corner asleep, completely oblivious. Clearly no one in the bar was in the right mental or physical state to care.
The bartender didnt bother looking up, he was way too tired of dealing with these drunks.
Only Avery did.
Well...
Sort of.
His face was still pressed against the countertop as one bleary eye lazily drifted toward the doorway. It took several painfully slow seconds for his alcohol soaked brain to process what he was seeing.
Tall.
Beautiful.
Elegant.
Feathers that shimmered with dark reds, rich beiges and whites, and hints of deep green, caught the dim bar lights, almost glowing despite the darkness her colours like the most beautiful apple to be ever seen.
"...Pretty birdie..." he mumbled absentmindedly, his small white dog tail wagging as he looked at her as if she was eye candy.
His eyes narrowed.
"...Wait..." A confused expression slowly spread across his face as something clicks in his overly melted brain as he notices the peacocks vast tail feathers.
"...Is that... a dude?" Another pause, the gears in his head turning, not really though.
"...No... it can’t be… can it…?" His head tilted as he continued to examine the mysterious figure, clearly they had just got from somewhere important, some rich special occasion… actually, maybe… a date?
"...A woman...?" Another pause as he thought for a bit, clearly that wasn’t helping him either way.
"...Can female peacocks even... have tail feathers like that…?" His brain audibly gave up, as per usual when he was drunk.
"...Eh... who cares… doesn’t really matter anyway…" His pressed his forehead against the dark wood with a dull thunk every few seconds whenever he started loosing the fight against sleep he would softly raise his head and bonk it gently again to avoid the tiredness. Avery turned his head back to the bartender and gave him the best puppy eyes he could… which, as a drunk grown dog, isn’t as flattering as a puppies would be. Still, he relented and begged to the bartender while the newcomer was sorting themselves out with their coat.
"...cmon..." Averys voice came out muffled against the countertop. "...just... one more..." he whined, he looked quite pathetic to anyone who was sober..
The bartender didn't even look up, recognising the whiney slurred voice better than anyones else’s, his ‘favorite’ patrons.
"No." The bartender said, already feeling a headache coming on if Avery wouldn’t stop.
"...just put it on my tab..." Avery slurred, reaching out to paw at the man with little to no success from how tipsy he was.
"No."
"...please..."
"No."
Avery let out the most defeated groan imaginable and his ears flopped back down lower behind him. "... youre mean... yknow that…?" His tail lazily swept the back of the chair he was sitting on.
The bartender simply continued polishing another glass not interest to listening to the man’s petty insults, before he looked up at the new person in the bar, not exactly new to him, hes seen this face a few times before.
The ‘newcomer’ walked calmly toward the bar, though there was an unmistakable irritation in every step. Their heels clicked sharply against the wooden floor, each step sounding just a little more annoyed and heavier than the last.
She sat down next to Avery, he was unconscious enough to count as not there, she let out a heavy sigh that sounded like she had been holding it back for years, she slumped back in the seat and just looked at the bartender with that tired pleading stare.
The bartender finally looked up at her from the glass he was polishing, placing it down on the shelves behind him with the rest of the glasses and bottles.
"Long night?" he asked and sighed already digging around in a cabinet, looking for exactly what she needed.
She stared at him for a moment, before replying tiredly "...You have absolutely no idea."
"The usual?" he looked up from the cabinet taking out a large glass.
"Please." she spoke before throwing her head back and taking a deep breath to calm her nerves.
The bartender poured a generous whiskey without another question, looking at her as she downed it.
She wrapped a wing around the glass for a second before taking a big gulp, closing her eyes as the liquid burned down her throat and the warmth spread through her chest.
"...Gods above..." she murmured after the swig.
Another sip.
"...I swear if one more man tells me 'im almost there' he’s a lying scum bag.”
The bartender snorted quietly. "Oh? Care to tell us the story this time, Rochelle?”
She let out a dramatic groan, dropping her forehead onto the counter for a brief moment. “You want know what happened?" She didnt wait for an answer, and continues in the same breath, clearly upset.
"So this guy asks me out, right? Really sweet messages, compliments every five seconds, saying how excited he is to finally meet me, picks this nice little restaurant downtown—honestly, I was thinking maybe this one might actually be worth my time."
She rolled her eyes so hard it looked physically painful.
"Silly me."
Another drink.
"I get there early."
Sip.
"I order a drink."
Another sip.
"He texts me."
She pauses before continuing.
‘Hey! Running a little late, traffic is awful!'
She paused again, a scowl creeping up on her face.
"Fine, totally fine, i don’t mind waiting an extra few minutes for this ‘AWESOMEEE guy’."
Another sip, this time bigger and harsher, the glass sounding a louder clink against the counter.
"Twn minutes later." Her voice shifted into an exaggerated impression.
"'Almost there!' this scoundrel told me."
She took another drink from the bartender immediately after he poured it.
"Twenty minutes."
‘Just parking!'
She let out an incredulous laugh masking how upset she really was, tears slightly welling in her eyes as she gritted her teeth and pushed back.
"Forty-five minutes."
‘GPS took me the wrong way!'
She slapped the counter with an open palm.
"AND GUESS WHAT? The restaurant is ALREADY CLOSED! What? does he plan on having a picnic outside with the homeless guy on the street as our third wheel?”
She threw both her wings into the air dramatically enough that a couple feathers fluttered loose landing on Avery making him sneeze and almost topple his drunken self over.
"And this absolute dick has the audacity to tell me he's 'five minutes away’, like huh? five minutes away from what exactly?! he didn’t even check the restaurants schedule!”
She sighed dramatically "And then..." she looked into the amber liquid in her glass.
"...Nothing."
"No apology."
"No explanation."
"No message."
"Not even one of those pathetic 'sorry I got lost maybe next time' texts.”
She huffed, feathers puffing noticeably around her shoulders "I got ditched and loved bombed by this absolute asshole."
Avery, who had been quietly absorbing every word through his alcoholic haze, slowly lifted his head from the counter.
His ears twitched.
"...Mm..."
He blinked several times before looking over at her.
"...That..." a yawn interrupted him "...That really sucks..."
She glanced sideways, slightly irritated at his lack of caring, but still, he was some stranger drunk in bar, he didn’t need to feel bad for her.
"Right?" she replies hastily, trying to squeeze another response out of him when he looks like his soul is about to be the thing squeezed out of his body from the ammount of alcohol he’s injested.
"...Mhm..."
His eyes wandered over her colorful feathers again.
"...Can I ask..."
She looked at him expectantly.
"...Why did he ditch ya?..”
"I wish i knew, i mean he DITCHED ME, how would i know?”
"...Like..."
He frowned with drunken concentration, looking her up and down.
"...Was it..."
A pause.
"...Catfishing?"
She blinked.
"...Excuse me?"
Avery continued before his survival instincts could intervene.
"...Yknow..." he vaguely gestured at her with his paw sloppily "Cause you kinda look like..." another pause and a small drunk giggle.
"...A drag queen or..."
SMACK.
His forehead bounced off the counter with a squeak.
"Owwwieee..." he whined, placing a paw on his forehead, sounding more like a puppy than a grown dog.
Rochelle stared at him with complete disbelief.
"...Did...” she slowly set her whiskey down and gave him a deathly glare "...Did you seriously just say that to my face?"
Avery immediately sobered by around 60 percent after realizing what he said.
"I..."
"You looked me dead in the eyes..."
"I..." he stammered, feeling very scared of this very attractive woman who was definitely not turning him on.
"...and your first thought was 'drag queen?'"
"I CAN EXPLAIN." he spat out before he could get another whack to the noggin.
"Oh, this should be good."
"I don't actually have an explanation."
"I figured." he paused, trying his hardest to form atleast one thought.
"I just..." He buried his face in both hands.
"...God, why am I like this…? I’m so stupid" He slurred his words, eyes falling closed as the bartender rolled his eyes and went to call him an Uber to get him out of the bar and for some of other patrons out of the bar aswell, everyone needs some sleep after this night…
Avery buried his face in his hands "...I'm making this worse..."
Rochelle watched him for a long moment,
then... she sighed "...You're fine, pup."
He looked up from his self wallowing "...Really?" he asked, feeling slightly better about himself.
"I've dealt with worse." she leaned back slightly "Far worse." a small frown crossing her face
She tapped her glass thoughtfully against the counter.
"Usually when I start complaining in bars..." she sighs, recalling some memories… "...some drunk decides it's the perfect time to flirt." she rolled her eyes “You’re the first not to, so you get props for that… and you’re kinda funny.” she snorted.
His ears lifted up softly “So… does that mean anything?” he questioned, waiting for a… slightly positive response at least.
She sighed her eyes trailing over him, the alcohol getting to her head “… Drinking buddies?”
He nodded his head feeling heavy “…Yeah, drinking buddies.”
Well this was one way to end a drinking night…