The Art of Cocktail

[GrassDragon]

GD is back in the RP scene! Some of you may not know me, it's been a while since I've RPed here. I've managed to find a little extra time in my schedule and wanted to get back into RPing, so here I am. Enough personal stuff though, on with the story.

The Art of Cocktail is a bartending school. You (the RPers) will attend this school, for whatever reason your character finds necessary. It's likely a lot of you will actually want to become bartenders, but you don't have to. Even if everyone intends to become a bartender, you don't all have to be alike. In fact, I'd love to have some really great character diversity here.

If you've ever been in one of my RPs before, you probably know that I don't like to write long plots and all that. I like it when skilled writers come together and write together! So this is all you get right now. I'll make a semi-long post to get this thing started once all the characters are in that will create a setting, but that's about it. I also don't want any of the posts to occur during bartending school; that's just the "excuse" for your characters to know each other. Everything should happen outside of class as you get to know each other.

Here's the character sheet:

Name:
Age (above 21):
Short bio:

I don't want a lot of info about your character, just enough to know that you know who he is. You can reveal your character through posts.

I also would like to keep the size of this RP small and the quality high, so this will be a semi limited RP. PM me your character sheets first, and in a few days I'll pick who's in. Hopefully I can revive some of my old RPing buddies for this thing.

[Vhaeraun]

Hmm. Sounds interesting. I'll see what kind of character I can bullshit up.

[Ender]

I hope I qualify as one of those old RPing buddies.

And since I'm one of the only guys around who can RP a girl effectively...Ender is back to his feminine side.

[GrassDragon]

Of course, you two are definitely in. I´ll make my first story post tonight (I hope) to get some interest going, because then I´ll be gone for the weekend.

[Ender]

I think you need to raise some interest.

[GrassDragon]

(OOC: Wow I'm so rusty. Haven't written anything in months. Hopefully this will pique peoples' interest a little though. There isn't much of a definite plot. It's pretty open ended, I just want it to revolve around drinking culture. Not every post has to take place with a beer in hand, but I'm sure you understand what I'm getting at. I'm gone until Sunday night by the way.)

Name: Chris Petton
Age: 23
Short bio: Finished college after getting a Masters in BA. Now kissing ass up the corporate ladder at a company that sells home networking hardware. Hasn't had a girlfriend in a while, hasn't gone to a club in a while, hasn't called his mom in a while.

Ring, ring.

"City morgue, you kill 'em we chill 'em."

"Dave, how do you still think that line is funny?"

"Didn't you laugh just a little on the inside?"

"Not at all. Actually I'm laughing a little bit thinking about what would happen if it hadn't been me on the phone."

"That's what caller ID is for. Why are you calling me anyway?"

"Remember that bartending class I was telling you about?"

"Yeah. Please tell me that you are gonna become a bartender and make me drinks every night."

"I think I'm going to take the class and become a mixologist."

"What the hell is a mixologist? Is that a new word for bartender?"

"No, it's someone who mixes drinks at home and stuff like that."

"When you say 'at home' you mean at my home right?"

"Dave, why can't you stop talking about that?"

"I like drinking!"

"No, you like getting drunk. I like drinking."

"You only like to sip little girly cocktails and stuff like that."

"Which is why I'm going to bartending school so I can sip girly cocktails at home alone, instead of around crazy drunks like you."

"Why are you telling me this Chris?"

"I want you to pay me back the money you owe me so I can pay for the class."

"Isn't it ironic how I borrowed that money to buy alcohol in the first place?"

"Don't sidestep the point at hand."

"Fine, but you better make some really good shit for me once you become a bartender."

"Yeah whatever, can you bring it over this afternoon?"

"Sure, I guess I don't have-"

"Great."

Click.

~~~

It was a good day to drink an expensive beer. Not just a plain old, run of the mill, let me have whatever's on tap at the local bar beer. This was a let's crack open that imported bottle of Belgian beer day. And so Chris did.

He sat in his tiny apartment, listening to classic rock, and sipped his expensive beer. The windows were opened wide, and the cool autumn evening air floated into the room. The sun was starting to dip in the sky, and Chris had pulled down the window shade a bit to block the light.

Chris felt pretty good about himself. The bills were paid, dinner was just a two minute microwave away, and he had gotten to sign up for his bartending class earlier that day. He thought about what he would do once he could mix drinks like a pro. The weekend after the course was over he'd throw a party for his friends. They would bring the booze, he'd mix the drinks. He imagined himself throwing bottles around and filling up glasses with concoctions that only the most seasoned of drinkers would dare taste. One of his friends would name an obscure drink and he'd be able to make it, perfectly, without hesitation.

He felt confident that the class would do all this and more. In a few weeks he'd be writing blogs, and naming new drinks, and hosting parties. After all, it was a bartending class, and at the end he should be a bartender, right?

At least he hoped so, because his social life really wasn't doing so well right now.

[Vhaeraun]

Name: John Sailor
Age (above 21): 24
Short bio: John is a lady's man - at least, he tries to be. In actuality, he has a very interesting way of dealing with women (Which means that he rarely gets the ladies, chalking it up to the women being blind). He decides to take the bartending class because he thinks it's the best way to get chicks. After all, 'chicks would have to be crazy not to want to date a bartender,' or so he says.

I'll probably end up editting something in here, and if not, then there's always a next post. *shrug*

[GrassDragon]

(OOC: Go for it Vhae, you can start posting whenever you want. Same goes for you Ender. Trying out a few things in this post, namely writing in first person. Let me know what you think of the writing.)

"Can we go over the plan one more time?" I asked hesitantly. I wanted to make sure everything would go smoothly, not even the slightest hiccup.

"There is no plan Chris, it's a party. When something unexpected hits you just roll with it. If you have to have a plan every time you go to a party, you're going to end up not going to parties."

"I really don't want to be here anyway dude."

A broad smile appeared on Dave's face. "Yes you do. You should consider yourself lucky. A sophomore getting invited to a senior's party? I still think it's pretty crazy."

"You got invited too," I said, trying to lessen his point.

"Yeah, but we're talking about you here, no offense." My face contorted as I tried to decide whether to take the truth as an insult or not. "And you got invited by a smokin' hot babe."

"She's not that great," I lied. I had liked Suzi since the day I saw her. I had motivated myself to talk to her despite my terrible skills with girls. I managed to make a joke or two every once in a while. And when she invited me to the party I nearly had a stroke right there. Now that would have been embarrassing.

"Why do you always act like this?" asked Dave, now a little upset. "You like a girl, you go flirt with her, she invites you to a party. This is a good thing, not a bad thing. Stop acting like such a wimp and do what you really want to do. Go in there, sit next to her on the couch, make some small talk and then swoop in for the kill. It's really not that difficult, even you could do it."

Again I tried to decide if I would take the truth as an insult. I hadn't had the best history with girls. Well, I didn't really have any history with girls. I was pretty shy and actually tried to stay away from girls as much as possible. They seemed to be a pain to deal with anyway, and I had never met anyone that didn't have some terrible story involving girls.

Suzi made me want to be outgoing though. It was probably nothing more than a simple crush, I couldn't really think of any specific reasons why I might like her, but even if it was only a crush, this was the farthest I had ever gone to try and get a girl. Now I was standing on the front lawn of some unknown party hoster's house, trying to build up the courage to walk inside.

"No response?" Dave said curtly.

"Fine, I'll go in. Just give me a second to prepare myself."

"I haven't got all night, I have to get drunk at some point."

"Then go in and I'll be there in a minute," I said.

"Yeah right, I'll wait right here and when you're done with your little pow wow we'll go in together."

I really didn't know what to expect. Would there be wall to wall people like in the movies? Would everyone be passed out already? What if she's not even there yet?

"Okay, time's up," Dave said, interrupting my thoughts. He started walking towards the house.

"Wait, you said when I was done."

"I changed my mind, I'm tired of waiting. Get your ass in gear and let's hit the party." At that point I couldn't argue anymore, because Dave was already inside.

"Fuck," I said under my breath. I didn't want to be left out on the lawn by myself. But I didn't want to go inside yet either.

What was I waiting for? The situation would not change in a few minutes. The party would still be going on. People would still be drinking and dancing. Suzi would still be waiting for him to show up. Nothing would change.

That thought motivated me to go inside. Standing out on the lawn was doing nothing for me. At least I'd have a story to tell tomorrow if I went to the party, even if it didn't go so well.

I almost wish I had just turned around and gone home then.

(OOC: Flashback, if that wasn't obvious.)

[Nickodemus]

Name: Pandora
Age: 21
Short Bio: Pandora has a sort of sixth sense some would say. And seeing as she is blind that might make sense. She grew up with all manner of toys and developed a natural talent for throwing them up in the air and catching them. As she went though school she used it to her advantage and to amaze her friends. When she got into college is when her talent truly kicked in. As she joined up with a bunch of friends to "keep an eye on them" she was bored and started messing with the bottles. tosing them up in the air and landing them in her hands pouring them easily into the drinks was no problem and she was gradually placed into the role of drink maker. You see its a lot easier to make drinks at home then pay to much at a bar....


I'll get an intro post going for her soon. and yes I was OK'd.

[GrassDragon]

The three of you can make your intro post at any time now. I´m on vacation until Sunday night.

[Vhaeraun]

John sat near her at the bar. Her eyes were startingly green, her hair a deep black. Leaning back against the bar, John sipped his beer as he 'watched' the TV which was so convienently situated above her head. He noted she held herself to a high standard, ordering a Strawberry Daquiri rather than the beers the regular clientele purchased.

Catching the bartender's eye, he winked. The bartender rolled his eyes and chuckled to himself as he fixed up her drink. But, instead of giving it directly to her, he handed it to John, saying, "Don't fuck up this time, kid."

John laughed as he took the drink and strolled calmly to the woman. She looked him dead in the eyes, wondering what could possibly be so important to cause him to interrupt her drinking. Setting the drink down on the counter in front of her, he said, "I believe this is yours. But, what I don't believe is why such a beautiful woman such as yourself is in a run-down dump like this."

The bartender walked up at this, overhearing it. However, since he and John had known each other for years, he said nothing, suppressing a laugh. John sat down next to her as he said, "Bartender, would you be so kind as to put this beautiful woman's drink down on my tab?"

Letting out a gruff consent, the bartender walked off to the gaggle of girls down the bar who was hailing him. Turning back to his target, John asked, "So, what brings you here?"

The woman chuckled, "I was in the neighborhood. Thought I'd stop in. Get a Daquiri."

John nodded, "Ah yes. The good ol' 'I was in the neighborhood' excuse. Works everytime. I won't pry. Oh, and the name's John, but you can call me Jimmy. Most of my friends do."

The woman took a sip of her Daquiri and smiled. She replied when she was finished dabbing her lips with a napkin, "Pleasure to meet you, John. I'm Tiffany."

Tiffany offered her hand - the usual handshake gesture - but John was slightly more savvy than that. Instead, he grabbed her hand, turned it palm down, and kissed it. The bartender saw John again, and nodded at this display. He felt sure John had this cat in the bag.

Tiffany, however, seemed a bit more surprised than flattered. She didn't pull away, but John knew he messed up somewhere. Cursing his luck, Tiffany took another drink of her Daquiri before saying, "I've got to get to work. It was a pleasure meeting you."

John scribbled something down on a piece of paper quickly, and slipped it into her hand. She looked puzzled, but John smiled and said, "Maybe we could do something this weekend. Dinner perhaps?"

Tiffany looked at the scrap, and saw the number. Shrugging, she said, "We'll see."

With that, the prize of John's week walked out of the bar. Chuckling, he turned to the bartender, who was shaking his head. John threw up his hands, "What? I did good, if I do say so myself."

The bartender responded, "Your approach was too direct. You need to tone it down next time."

John shrugged, and the bartender walked off. Thinking to himself, he replayed the exchange in his head. He just couldn't figure out what he did wrong. Getting up, he dropped a few bucks on the counter for the bartender as he walked out. When he walked past the window to the street, he noticed a sign posted in the window:

Are you looking for something new? Do you want to change your life? Well, here's the chance of a lifetime. We are now looking for participants in a bartending class. If you think you could pass as a bartender, please call Julie at the following number.

John raised an eyebrow, but smiled nonetheless. Taking out the pen he used earlier, he wrote the number on his hand and walked home.

[Nickodemus]

Pandora


She sat in the Bar "watching" the display. The smells all around captivated her and she liked to be here. It kept her out of the doldrum that was her home life at the moment. She has just moved in to the house and wondered what her room mates were like. Mom had called her three times already and she had to get out of the house so she could think.

"Normal peoples moms didn't call that much did they?" she thought to herself. It was then that she smelled him. Someone a little to tipsy and drunk was staggering up to her table. She took a drink.

"<wistle> wow baby, you are one fine looking specimin. Damn I would love to take you out for a ride."

"Go away frat boy." was her subtle reply. She didn't feel like talking right now.

"Awww baby, don't treat me like that. Can't you tell I am the sexiest man in this place?"

"Umm no. I'm blind would you please go away and leave me alone. I'm not here looking for a date."

"Hey." came a call from out near the bar. "Can't you see the lady wants to be left alone. Scram before I beat you."

She sighed a relief as the man went away grumbling.

She sipped some more on her drink while wasting the night away.



<occ> sorry its short but I am here i guess. Damn i hate being out of work.>

[BlackHawk]

Name: Josh Higrin
Age (above 21): 21
Short bio: Josh is currently trying to raise money so he can finance his clothing company, Abrost. He has gotten some money from winning clothing design competitions (Threadless and the like) and has invested some of it in stocks and has used the rest to pay for the website and some of the initial clothing. He has enrolled in TAoC because he was always interested in being a bartender and figures it would be a good job on the side to bring in some money for his clothing company.

Approved :).

-----------------------------------

Josh leaned back in his chair, stretching as he tried to figure out his current coding problem. He was coding the site for his clothing company and was trying to decide whether to go with a pre-made e-commerce product or code his own.

From across the room the ring of his cellphone came. It began to play "Turn Soonest to the Sea" by Protest The Hero. Getting up he went over to the coffee table to pick up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey Josh, it's Tam."

"Oh, hey man, what's up?"

"There's a small party at Kendra's, I was wondering if you'd wanna go."

"Yeah sure thing, you want me to pick you up?"

"Yes sir" replied Tam with a chuckle.

"Alright, I'll see you in 15."

With the click of his cellphone closing Josh turned to his computer, saved everything and then grabbed his keys and headed out.

A brief elevator ride later and Josh hopped into his VW GTI and drove off blaring some Alexisonfire. It was a fairly uneventful fifteen minute drive to Tam's apartment building. Tam was one of Josh's good friends from University so they went back a couple of years.

"Hey there" said Tam who was waiting outside his apartment building.

"Hop in" said Josh, who drove off after Tam got in, towards Kendra's house.

(OOC: Just something for now, if someone wants they could show up to Kendra's party too :) ).

[GrassDragon]

(Sorry it took so long for me to post again, I've been ridiculously busy. Here you go though.)

Look at that steak. Something to be admired for sure. He couldn't wait to take that first juicy bite. He carefully took the steak off the stove and put it on his plate, loaded up on mashed potatoes and steamed green beans, and put the plate on the table. He grabbed a beer out of the fridge and sat down. A little juice on top of the steak glistened in the dirty kitchen lights of Chris' apartment.

"Time to dive in," he said, picking up his knife and fork. The knife slid through the meat easily; it was as tender as it looked. He put the first bite in his mouth. All of his preparation was worth it. He had spent most of the afternoon working on this dinner and the steak was perfect. Definitely worth his Saturday.

Chris has barely taken his second bite when the phone rang. He got up to grab the cordless and sat back down at the kitchen table.

"Yup?" said Chris unenthusiastically. "What can I do you for?"

"Dude, guess what we're doing tonight," came Dave's perky voice. Far too perky for Chris' current mood.

"Well I'm eating a deliciously steak that I spent all afternoon preparing, and then I'm probably going to watch a movie."

"If we were on a game show you would have just lost all of your money, 'cause that's wrong. We're going to a party!" Chris could hear his smile over the phone and rolled his eyes.

"I am not going to a party tonight," he said curtly.

"I thought you'd say that. That's why I'm at your front door." Just then Chris heard someone knocking on his door. "See? I thought ahead."

"Dave, what are you doing here?"

"Let me in, we can talk about it."

"I don't want to talk about it, I'm not going."

"Actually I thought you wouldn't let me into your apartment. So I brought beer."

"I already have beer," said Chris, now getting annoyed.

"This is Czech beer. Ever heard of Budvar?"

"Seriously? Where did you get that from? Hold on I'm coming." Chris hung up and went to the front door. When he opened it Dave nearly ran over him. "What the hell dude?"

"I don't actually have any beer, so I had to get in the door before you closed it." Chris sighed. He had gotten excited.

"I already told you I'm not going."

"Is that steak I smell?" said Dave, sniffing the air.

"No, you can't have any. Bye Dave." He opened the door and motioned outside.

"Here's the deal. You know Kendra? She's having a party over her house tonight. I think she won the lottery or got a new job or something, because I heard there's tons of free booze there. Eat your wonderful steak, throw on some clothes, and let's go. It'll be good for you. And I'm not leaving without you anyway, so no arguing. I'll wait on the couch."

"I'll wait on the couch" was actually a threat when Dave said it. Last time he told Chris that he'd wait and sit on the couch he was there for three and a half days before Chris finally gave in and washed his clothes for him because he had run out of detergent. Ironic.

"Fine, but I'm going to take my time with that steak, you can't rush me for this thing. I really spent all afternoon working on it. Got it?"

"No problem, the night is young my friend. We have all the time we could want."

[GrassDragon]

"So how much alcohol are we going to need?" asked Samantha. She and Kendra were sitting at the kitchen table, trying to put together a shopping list for their party that night.

"We really don't need that much, I only invited a couple people," she answered. "Maybe just some beer and vodka or something."

"You have to remember that those people will invite more people Kendra," said Samantha.

"Yeah, I know that, but even if they invite a friend each we're talking about a dozen people maximum. I really don't want this to be a huge deal. Our apartment isn't that big and I really don't like it when tons of people are here."

"Whether you want it or not, people are going to come."

"I don't think so. We'll see, I guess."

"Yeah, we'll see."

(OOC: Kendra is going to be so surprised :D)

[BlackHawk]

(OOC: Sorry guys, most especially GD).

Tam let out a long low whistle as they pulled up to Kendra's apartment building. There was a large group of people already heading up with cases upon cases of beer.

"Well then, so much for the 'small' party Kendra envisioned" said Tam as he got up and shut the door.

Turning the keys to turn off the car, Josh watched the large group enter the apartment building as his music slowly faded in the background, giving way to the cheers and laughter of the excited group. "Let's do this thing" he exclaimed joining Tam at the sidewalk.

They walked up to the entrance falling in behind the other group at the elevators. Idly looking at the group Josh noticed one of the girls -- "Ash! Oh wow I haven't seen you in forever!"

Ashleigh, or Ash, for short, turned to see Josh and let out a scream as she ran through her bewildered friends to jump into Josh's arms. They had been great friends in University but fell out of touch when Ash's apartment went under, forcing her to move unexpectantly.

"I can't believe it, I heard Kendra was having a party and some of my friends were going too. It's amazing, wow, I haven't seen you in ages!" she said frantically as the hug ended. She stepped back a bit and then exclaimed "I can see you haven't changed a bit, but...is that your clothing company? Abrost? Oh my god! You actually made it! I'm so happy for you."

Josh laughed at the state of his long-lost friend. All he could do was smile; after standing there for a good minute looking at one another Josh realized he was forgetting his manners. "Oh, umm, Ashleigh this is Tam, I think I introduced you guys once at a party or something."

"You can call me Ash too, and I think I remember you, weren't you quite the player in your days?" Ashleigh said as she extended her hand.

"Well, I mean, just a little" replied Tam trying not to laugh as he shook her hand.

As a high pitched "ping" announced the Elevator's readiness to cart the party-goers upstairs Ash began to introduce her group of friends to Tam and Josh.

(OOC: Hope that's good for now :) ).

[Black.Ice]

OOC: I think GD said this RP was dead, but I'm not sure...

[BlackHawk]

OOC: I think GD said this RP was dead, but I'm not sure...

OOC: Oh, haha, that might explain why he has a new RP. Maybe I'll just look into that one. Thanks for the heads up.