[Merlin] Long nights only get longer

[rexque_futurus]

Cal was two hours past when his relief was supposed to show up. Or rather, the arse who was supposed to stay and cover serving before the closers got in bailed and now the closer was late and him, being the nice guy that he was, didn't like seeing the one poor girl having to cover a match night rush all on her own. Most of the bar was full, and

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[youretoolate]

Blue. Both of their eyes were still blue. The difference, though, was that Merlin very much wanted to ring the other two eyes with dark bruises. He didn't let himself think about why his reaction was so visceral and so near violent, but he knew. "You could've started me off with a pint of your darkest ten minutes ago when I came in. If you can accomplish that now, though, I'll still be pleasantly surprised." His slight smile was not, however, pleasant at all.

[rexque_futurus]

Suddenly, Cal was very very glad he hadn't let Meera take this table. He smiled with all the forced politeness he could managed. "Right, my apologies, sir. We're a bit busy and understaffed at the moment, but I'll be right back with that as soon as I make sure the new girl hasn't drowned." Normally he wasn't like that with his tables. Normally he was charm and grace and a bit of the friendly upsell and an jar full of tips at the end of it. When he served, that was.

There was just something about this guy, some kind of arrogant...couldn't he see that it was nearly packed? Still, he smiled and left, pausing to warn Meera away and ducking back behind the bar where Dave was getting ready to snarl at him a bit for being hours late, cheers.

When he returned he set the drink on a coaster on the table and pulled out his ticket pad. "Anything to eat or just the pint?"

[youretoolate]

"Yeah actually. Fish - real fish, not that fake shit. And chips. Hot." It was a very physical thing to restrain himself from being more abrasive even than this. "Kind of surprised you didn't ask the last time, but I probably shouldn't be. I'm sure you'd be working somewhere else if they'd hire you." And surprisingly he was genuinely pleased now, his smile amused, though, of course at - he read the nametag - 'Cal's expense. "Right, Cal?"

[rexque_futurus]

Cal bit down hard on the inside of his mouth. "Yeah, see here's the thing. My shift finished two hours ago, but because you're such a charming bloke, I'm gonna go ahead and cook your order myself, stay a bit longer just for you. And when you're done eating, be sure to close out your tab, sir. It's under unreasonable twat." And he smiled the entire time he wrote down the order. The kind of smile he gave people before he utterly trounced them.

"Oh, and when you go online later to leave your scathing one star review, make sure you put that the cook was the arsehole to you before you bemoan the fact that you couldn't leave zero stars." A sharp turn away and the special flaming drinks that were being lit at the bar might've burned a bit harder and higher than usual before Cal pulled himself together.