"Well, here we are," Chris threw open the doors with a flourish, catching the attention of his coworkers and the few patrons sitting around. Chris turned, grinning as he held his arms out to his sides, "Welcome to Cadelle's Bar and Grille!"

"The name needs work," Was Christina's instant response. Behind the bar, there came a loud cackle, and Christina looked past her brother to see a man with long reddish-pink hair bent over the bar counter, shoulders shaking in laughter. "Uh..."

A redhead with golden eyes eyed the other man, poking him, "Jack? Are you having another episode?"

"No, no, no!" The man, Jack apparently, straightened, still laughing, "No, I just wish Damian was here! He'd love her just from that comment alone!"

Christina pushed by her brother, who was pouting, and walked over to the bar, "And you two are...?"

"Bao Blackheart. You met my sister yesterday," The redhead waved. "This maniac here is Jack."

"Hey! I resent that statement!"

"Am I wrong though?"

"... No."

"Thought so," Bao smirked, as Jack crossed his arms and pouted. Bao turned back to Christina, "Anyways, so you're the infamous sister that Chris dropped everything for, huh?"

Christina squinted at him, hopping to sit at one of the bar stools. She set her chin in the palm of her hand, "Are you and Kuro twins?"

"No…?" Bao eyebrows drew in. "She's older than me by a few years."

"Because she said the exact same thing to me yesterday. Or at least, very similar to it," Christina answered, smiling at him.

Bao stared at her, before sighing and shaking his head. In the window behind Bao, a man appeared, "What's going on out here- who's the chick?"

"The chick," Chris seemed to materialize out of nowhere, glaring slightly. "Is my sister."

"Oh, the blonde who Masamune's been talking about since yesterday. Nice to meet you," The raven haired man tipped his head, accent bleeding through his voice. "Name's Tyler."

Christina squinted, "… Masamune's cousin?"

"Unfortunately," Bao snarked off. No one said a word to argue with him.

"What, is Masamune a criminal or something?" Christina asked.

"Or something," Jack said, dryly. "He's a cool guy, he's just… got a few issues."

"Don't we all?" A voice came from behind Christina, and she turned to see a brunette behind her. Upon laying eyes on her, he smirked and bowed, "Chao Xin, at your service. And you must be Chris' lovely little sister. A pleasure to meet you."

"I'm standing right here," Chris deadpanned. "Really, Chao Xin?"

"Sorry, my man! But you know me- I see a pretty girl and I got to compliment her!"

"Don't you have a date with Mei Mei tonight?" Bao sighed, leaning on the bar countertop.

Christina watched in amusement as panic flooded the brunette's expression as he frantically checked his watch, "Ah, dammit! Thanks for reminding me, red! I got to go get ready!"

In a blur of blue and white, Chao Xin was out the door. Bao snorted in amusement, "Did he even bother to tell Ryuto and Kakeru he wasn't going to be available tonight?"

"I'll bet the answer to that is no," Jack said.

"Don't come calling for me when that happens," Chris' voice was flat. "CC, come on. Let's go check out the flat."

"Oh! Yes, I want to see it!" Christina perked up, smiling. She turned, waving, "It was nice meeting you boys!"

"Same to you, darling," Jack winked at her. Next to him, Bao rolled his eyes and snorted in exasperation, "Come visit us sometime!"

"With any luck, she'll be working here by tonight!" Chris called, "Get back to work!"

Christina laughed as Bao flipped Chris off, unseen by her brother, as he was pulling her towards a staircase hidden away at the back of the building. There was a few beats of silence as Christina followed her twin, before Chris turned to smirk deviously at her.

"For the record, Bao's single,"

Christina blinked at him, before going red, "You ass! What makes you think I'm interested in him?!"

"You were practically making heart eyes at him!"

"I was not!"

"You totally were! You wouldn't give most guys the time of day, and you were practically in his face!"

"Shut up, you bastard!"

Chris cackled and bolted up the stairs. Fuming, Christina followed, the siblings unaware of the conversation going on behind them.

"Do you think we should tell them we heard that?" Jack asked.

"No!" Bao yelped, strangled, as red as his hair.

"Yes," Tyler piped up, smirking. "Looks like someone's got a crush."

"You shut your mouth right now, Blackout, before I set my sister on you!"

Jack and Tyler exchanged looks, before dissolving into fits of laughter.

Bao swore, and made a note to make their shifts hell.

Chris was laughing at her, somewhere, Christina was sure of it. Why else would he have Bao walk her through her training that night? It didn't help that said redhead seemed a bit distant from her, compared to earlier that day when he was eager to talk.

"Hey, Bao," Chris caught the duo's attention as he walked by the bar, a tray of drinks held over his shoulders. "Wales is here."

Bao grimaced, "Got it. Thanks for the memo."

Christina blinked, looking between the two men, "Is Wales a problem customer?" She'd heard the term being thrown around a bit, whenever Bao was pointing out patrons who had a tendency to get handsy, or become upset drunks.

"He's one of the best customers we have, it's the fact that none of us can get him to talk," Bao sighed, as he finished wiping a glass. His eyes flickered past Christina's shoulder, "Usually always sits down there at the end. Red hair, blue shirt. Can't miss him."

Christina turned to look. Sure enough, a ginger haired man, dressed in a blue shirt, sat at the short length of the bar, staring down at a menu.

"Orders the same thing every time he comes in. Fish and chips with a glass of red," Bao muttered. "But policy is policy and we gotta let him look at the menu and go through the regular ropes of taking his order…"

"You mind if I take it then?" Christina asked, and Bao startled, blinking at her, "If he's so easy, it'll be fine, right?"

Bao snorted, "Good point. Have at it."

Christina beamed and turned on her heel. Time to try her hand at taking an order independently, despite the fact that training usually took a couple of nights.

"Hiya, and welcome to Cadelle's Bar and Grille!" Christina chirped, as she finally approached Wales, "I'm Christina, I'll be your server tonight. Can I take your order?"

The man startled, and looked up.

Christina felt like she'd been dunked in ice water.

Ginger hair… pale skin… blue eyes… no source of life to be found…

A name bubbled up Christina's throat, right on the tip of her tongue, but she forced it back. She took a deep breath, and put a smile on despite the fact she was internally screaming.

"You're uh… new," Wales commented, blinking at her.

"First night," Christina said, ruefully. "I just moved into town, and Chris is my brother. Instead of wasting time looking for a job, he just hired me on the spot, almost."

"… Chris is like that," Wales muttered. "If this is your first night, shouldn't there be someone hovering over your shoulder to make sure you do your job right?"

Critical and sarcastic, huh? Oh, I've dealt with your kind before, buddy boy. You're in for a trip if you think you can shoot me down.

"As you can see, we're pretty busy," Christina felt her smile turn just shy of too sharp. "And Bao said you're pretty simple since you order the same thing every time you come in. So here we are."

"He said that, huh?" Wales tilted his head, looking past the blonde and no doubt clapping eyes on Bao. Blue eyes went narrow, "In that case… I'll take the mozzarella sticks as my appetizer, and Coke to drink."

Christina smirked, Atta girl, Crissie. You still got it.

"Of course, sir!" Christina scribbled the order down on her pad, "Do you know what you want for your main course?"

"… I'll know by the time you come back with my drink," Wales said, and turned his attention back to the menu.

Smirk widening, Christina turned on her heel and went to the kitchen window, "Order up! Mozzarella sticks for chair three!"

Nearby, Bao yelped and whipped around, wide eyed, "What?! How?!"

Christina smirked as she set to work on preparing Wales' drink, scooping ice from the cooler and into the glass, "A woman never reveals her secret, red."

"You've gotta tell me! Wales has been coming here for almost two years now and his order has never changed!"

"Hmm…" Christina tapped her chin in thought, Bao eagerly leaning forward, before her smirk returned, "No."

Bao nearly fell, "You insufferable blonde!"

"Yes?" Chris called over from the beer taps.

"Not you, your sister! She's as bad as you, if not worse!"

Christina laughed and poured up Wales' drink, before plucking a straw from her apron and walking back to the ginger, "Here you go, shuga! You know what you want to eat?"

"Thank you, and yes. I think I'll take the fettucine alfredo. No broccoli, extra chicken, blackened," Wales said, linking his fingers together to set his chin on them. "And your number."

Christina kept writing the order out, laughing, "Smooth, red. But you're not my type."

"A shame. I was hoping we could be friends," Wales' eyes glittered, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "I'm sure you already know, but my name's Wales."

Christina looked up, raising an eyebrow, "Well, if we're talking about a drinking buddy, I could be convinced. And yes, Bao mentioned your name."

Wales smiled a bit wider at that, and Christina turned to turn his order in, "Back in a bit, shuga!"

"What did he order?" Bao asked, as soon as she was within earshot.

"Pasta," Christina drawled, taking pleasure in watching his jaw drop. "Can patrons request servers? I think he may end up doing so. He asked me for my number."

Bao stared, and turned his head to stare at Wales. Christina looked over in time to see him smirk and wave. As Bao dissolved into curses, Christina laughed.

She was more than confident in the fact she was in the right place.

Me: should not be writing due to a sprained wrist
Also Me: does this chapter

Oh well. That's beauty without a little pain? I hope you liked the chapter!