Notes: For Hartmon Halloween - Drinks

The Bartender

Hartley hadn't been thrilled with the idea of going to the party in the first place. But Lisa had insisted and telling Lisa Snart 'no' was not something Hartley was good at.

He was even less enthused when he got there, however, and laid his eyes on the bad lighting, the cheesy decorations, the unnecessarily skimpy costumes, and the black drinks in clear plastic cups. Hopefully some of that was soda because if it were all cocktails with activated charcoal in them...

But, no, the drink menu at the bar set up in the basement - and this frat had a very large bar down there - showed Hartley drink after drink with the very thing he didn't want to imbibe. Never mind that it didn't taste good, it could easily fuck with his anxiety medication. It was a twice daily dose and he'd taken the second one right before heading to the party. He really shouldn't be having alcohol at all, but sipping on a five-percent-alcohol beer wouldn't hurt that much. However, Hartley didn't see beer or soda or anything but those damn charcoal drinks.

Hartley sighed and scowled at the Halloween bar menu. "Do any of these stupid things not have activated charcoal in them?"

"Ah, come on Hart, get in the Halloween spirit," Lisa teased.

"If I get into the Halloween spirit with these drinks, then I'll be rendering my anxiety medication useless. You do know what activated charcoal does, right?"

"Uh..." Lisa hesitated and then shrugged. "Not a clue. Sorry."

"It binds to a number of drugs, rendering them inert," said a guy who popped up from behind the bar. "Not so much with alcohol, but a lot of presecription medications get rendered useless. Which makes it great for treating drug overdoses, but not so great as a drink additive when you don't know if it'll screw with your medications. Sounds like it'll do that for you," he nodded to Hartley. "And you'll want to avoid it too," he gestured to Lisa, "if you take birth control pills and intend to hook up with anyone tonight because it has been known to negate that." The cute guy - perhaps just one of the frat brothers playing bartender - wrinkled his nose, adding, "I've been giving those warnings for the last half hour and no one has been paying attention."

"Well, hopefully everyone will remember to use condoms, but to be safe... got any beer hidden back there?" Lisa asked. "I'll be taking no chances."

"Beer for the lady - we've got..." he rattled off a few names and Lisa perked up at the name Temptress. As the bartender checked Lisa's id, he asked "and for your boyfriend?"

"Boy who is my very gay friend," Lisa corrected.

Bartender guy's grin widened just a little and he gave Hartley a closer look. "For your cute friend then?" He handed Lisa back her id and the requested beer.

"Ah..." Hartley found himself blushing. "Soda if you've got it?"

"Coke, Pepsi, Root Beer, Sprite..."

"Coke's fine," Hartley accepted the can.

"So, what's your name, hot stuff?" Lisa asked teasingly. "And are you free at any point to help my friend here loosen up a little?"

Hartley stuck his tongue out at Lisa.

She swatted his arm. "I'm sure you'd rather offer that tongue to our bartender here instead."

It was Hartley's turn to swat Lisa's arm.

"I'm Cisco Ramon. I'm a mechanical engineering student by day, but by night - or at least for tonight, anyway - I'm one of two bartenders the guys hired for the party but, as usual, Barry's running late." Cisco grinned, "but once he gets here, I could take a break. If you'd be interested in dancing... though I'm afraid I haven't got your name yet since I couldn't card you for the soda."

"H-Hartley. Hartley Rathaway." He smiled shyly, suddenly feeling like the crappy party might be worthwhile after all. "And I'd love to dance with you."