Disclaimer: How's it going readers? Phoenix here and I am giving you guys a little treat. As you noticed Sanctuaire is taking too long to complete, and sadly being a junior in college is draining all of my time and energy and mood. I am still writing and the pages are progressing but it is really slow. Too slow, even for me.

So I decided to write something for you guys to enjoy and to let you know that I am still around, I am still writing, and I just need more time. Hopefully this little oneshot can get you guys in a mood.

Happy reading!

LOVERS' COCKTAIL

Bartenders have seen it all.

Bartenders have heard it all, and listen—if they were the decent kind of bartender who did not mind a story now and then—to what people have to say.
It was not an easy job but it was rather enjoyable. But sometimes that depends on the patrons and their behavior; sometimes there was the tendency to be hostile and bar fights would break out. That would always be the worst case scenario to any bartender of any club or other establishment. Still, that did not change the fact that bartenders see all, and hear all.

Another night behind the bar was nothing to Tifa.

She was on a roll as she served every customer with their drinks, even entertaining them with some flair bartendering. She had seen and heard it all, just like a good bartender ought to. She worked with the drinks like it was all a second nature and perhaps it was.
Tonight the customers were behaved; as they should or they may have a date with Tifa's fists. That was another reason why people came over, for the drinks and knowing the bartender would know how to maintain order.

Prompto, the DJ, worked a few ways away, beside the bar. He was good with his mixer and the music he provided helped the customers get in the mood.
As a bartender, Tifa's eyes were always open and scanning the scene around her even while she wiped the bar top clean for the next customers to sit down for a drink.
It was this sort of awareness that made her so observant of people who enter and leave the establishment. Her friends once teased that she could read people like a shrink would, yet she was better than a shrink.

Her wine-colored eyes looked to the left side of the bar to take note of a woman drinking down shots. By her expression, she could tell the young lady was bored and depressed; she came to the bar to drink her misery down while at the same time entertain herself somehow. When she noticed Tifa's glance, the bartender smiled reassuringly as she continued to wipe the bar clean.

Across the way Tifa could see a group of friends sharing a couple of drinks together, laughing, and smiling… This made Tifa smile at the scene before turning her smile to a man who came up to the bar for some drinks. She juggled the bottle and poured it in a glass before handing it to him. She watched as he walked off to join a man who looked similar to him. A brotherly bonding time, no doubt.
In a corner, a young couple smiled and laughed before the woman left her purse with her boyfriend to go get a drink. He smiled as he watched her every move.

Tonight was a good night, and Tifa could feel it. She glanced at Prompto he spun his records. He too was enjoying this night.

Just as Tifa began cleaning up another little mess made by drinks on the bar top, she glanced up to see a man in dark clothing, sitting in the corner of establishment. He looked stressed, his head was in his hands and he was slouched over in his seat.
A breakup? No, that was not the reason; his body language was not one of a jilted lover. He looked like a man who had too much placed on his shoulders and he was losing precious sleep. Tifa knew these types well; they always had too much on their plate and hardly had any time to themselves. A drink or two would be the only thing they could get that was close to a good time after work.

As she came to this conclusion, something else caught Tifa's eye. She looked to the other side and saw a woman, about the same age as the man she saw, leaning against the wall. She seemed bored but her eyes shone with what looked like frustration.
Perhaps she had an argument with someone. A family member or a friend, or perhaps she was having trouble with life.

Now Tifa has indeed heard a lot of sob stories and seen a lot of distressed patrons, but these two looked…unique. To her, they stood out among the other patrons. Both of them looked so different, yet similar in ways that even Tifa could not possibly read. She also knew they were new to this place; she was familiar with every usual patron and these two were newcomers.
She continued to wipe the bar until she looked up again to see the two new enigmas approaching the bar at the same time, both unaware of the other's presence.

Tifa stood upright and waited for their orders, watching them with observant red-wine-eyes. Both of them spoke their orders but it became muddled due to the unintentional unison they had as they spoke. Tifa watched them in slight amusement.

"Red Lo—"

"Blue Dr—"

The two looked at each other—or rather, the woman with rose-colored hair glared—at each other before they both looked forward and stared at nothing.
"Go ahead." The woman said patiently. The man with dark spiked hair shook his head. "No, you go first, I can wait." Tifa watched them as they had their mini-argument. This was not uncommon; this was another little scene bartenders always saw.

The woman rolled her eyes. "You order first, I could care less." She said with a grumpy huff. The man next to her looked somewhat intrigued. "No, I insist. Ladies first."
Groaning in defeat, the woman with rose-colored hair turned to Tifa. "Red Lotus." Tifa nodded and grabbed a glass before the dark-haired man spoke, "Wait. Give me a Blue Dragon." The woman glared at him in annoyance and Tifa shrugged at them in amusement as she grabbed a second glass—a martini glass. She looked over to where Prompto was and let out a shrill whistle at him.

Prompto lifted his head and looked over at the bar then grinned at the signal. He stopped the music and changed the tunes.

A smooth jazzy sound filled the air as Tifa twirled the glasses and placed them on the bar in front of her. With smooth movements, speed, and well-trained hands that came with her job, Tifa tossed the ingredients into the air, along with a bottle of vodka, lychee liqueur, and cranberry juice. She juggled the items before setting the lychee liqueur and cranberry juice down while she tossed an open shaker into the air and poured vodka into it.

Her two customers watched in surprise and awe at Tifa's sudden show of skill as the female bartender juggled multiple items while making their drink.
Tifa got out the ingredients for the Blue Dragon cocktail, and the man's eyes widened when she tossed the bottle of vodka over her head and reached back to catch it with ease before it hit the ground. The two glanced at each other, sharing their awe at the bartender in front of them.

Prompto watched as Tifa worked, chuckling at how well she could always entertain the customers even if they had the worst day of their life.

Tifa then grabbed the lychee liqueur and cranberry juice off the bar and tossed them into the air as well, pouring both into the shaker filled with vodka. She capped the shaker and shook it. Her two customers watched carefully as she tossed the shaker into the while she quickly poured the ingredients—Absolut Mandrin vodka, and Blue Curacao liqueur—of the Blue Dragon cocktail into a second shaker.
She caught the Red Lotus' shaker as he landed then tossed it back up, along with the shaker filled with the ingredients of the Blue Dragon. The two customers smirked, now more than interested in the flair skills of Tifa. It was obvious they were taken by the little show despite how nonchalant the woman tried to act.

Tifa smiled as she poured the contents; Blue Dragon spilled into the martini glass while the Red Lotus was strained into a chilled into the old-fashioned glass filled with ice. The bartender then placed a cherry into the blue cocktail and for the Red Lotus, a pink flower for a nice little touch. She placed the drinks in front of the two patrons who reached for their glass, only to freeze on the spot.

Their arms intertwined from needing to reach over in front of the other to get to their drink, since the bartender had swapped them around. They glanced at Tifa who merely smiled at them innocently, yet knowingly.

The man smiled shyly and leaned in to sip his Blue Dragon and the woman with rose-colored hair did the same for her Red Lotus. They looked at Tifa again and nodded in approval; a sign that the drinks were good and the customers were satisfied.
The unlikely pair walked off to a corner to talk since they had been introduced to each other in a way. Tifa listened in, hearing the man utter the name "Noctis", and the woman, "Lightning". Intriguing names for such intriguing characters, she thought. She would not be surprised if they two of them parted on good terms and even exchanged numbers.

The pair now seemed to get along, even holding proper conversations with each other and despite the glares and eye-rolling Lightning gave Noctis, and she was polite and was a good listener. Noctis for his part was a true gentleman; he made no moves on Lightning but he also made it clear he was enjoying talking to her so far. Hard to find such sweet and polite men these days...

The bartender looked over at Prompto and gave him a thumb up. The blonde DJ grinned widely at Tifa's apparent success. He knew she was always good with reading people, and this was not the first time she made two patrons talk to each other. Now if only Tifa would assist him with a redhead he had been eyeing for some time…

As Tifa wiped the bar cleaned once again, she smiled to herself. Yes, bartenders had heard and seen it all, but even they learn something new every day, and even meet new people that they could not read like all the others. But in the end, a good bartender would know that a good day ends with smiling faces, happy customers, and quality drinks served up by yours truly.

All it took was lending an ear, a shoulder, and some lovers' cocktail.

-XIII-

Lovers' Cocktail

2 measures Kahlua

1 measure tequila

Ice

Cherry

In a mixing glass, stir Kahlua and tequila with ice. Strain into a cocktail glass and decorate with a cherry.

WARNING! I am not an expert when it comes to cocktails or any other alcoholic drinks as I DO NOT drink alcohol at all. I merely researched for drinks and their recipes, even asking advice from some friends. I have checked several different sites for the recipes of the mentioned drinks in this story.

Each site different in the way the cocktails are made, even the recipe, so please forgive me for any errors that I may have committed! If any of you wish to mix your own cocktails based on the recipe I wrote down/hinted, then do so at your own risk, and whether they are correct or not, please drink responsibly!

And there you have it!

I wanted to try something new and different so I got inspired by a video on YouTube. For those who want to see the video that inspired me, just look at the video titled "Cuba Libre & Mojito World's Best Bartender". The video is in Russian but watch it anyway and I think you may get the idea of what's going on.

As you also may have noticed the story, though in third person, is Tifa's point of view from her work as a bartender. She has no lines in the story but the point was to have her do her thing without even needing to say anything, as she is mostly an observer. The story is still Lightis though it seems more subtle and perhaps down-played, but rest assured, the couple of this story is Lightis. With a hint of something else thrown in there as well, if you caught it; it's really easy to spot!

And as I said, I wanted to try something new so this is sort of an experiment but I enjoyed writing this. It's short but it is a oneshot after all.

I hope you readers enjoyed this little oneshot story I wrote for your entertainment, also letting you know that I am busy with college, but not dead or stopping with writing at all! Sanctuaire is still being worked on as always and I do wish to put up the next chapter but for now the progress is still very slow.

Thank you all for still supporting my stories, and looking forward to a new chapter, or anything new in general! Your support really helps a lot and it makes me want to write again even more! I am anxious to get back in the game soon! Thanks again for all the love for Lightis and my stories!

Until then…