Open Log Featuring the new Lavender Jack Lounge

[defendwhatremains]

Who: Johnny Summer defendwhatremains and OPEN
When: Mid July-August
Where: Apt B2 The Lavender Jack Lounge
Summary: Johnny got his bar aspirations off the ground while everyone was away and is now ready for business! Feel free to make your own top levels/mingle or come find the bartender himself.
Warnings: Underage drinking will be allowed, he's from 1920s Europe-ish

It had taken some work (and persuasion) and...most of his accumulated savings to see his project through and set it up within Unit B2 of the apartments, but those finishing touches on the Lavender Jack Lounge made it all worth it.

A place to call his own...to find shelter in, as needed, and offer as the same for others as they needed. A place where those who might feel out of place might find some comfort and normalcy. At least, that was the goal. All he could do was open the doors and hope the rest fell into place.

He posts fliers both at ADI's housing and Bonnie's a week before the 'grand opening' to let word of mouth do the rest...and make sure no one came knocking about 'changing their mind' on letting him have the space. No one does and the opening afternoon is met with the front door wide open to unit B2 and a new plaque on it announcing the bar in simple etched wood.

The Bar
Grand décor of a bygone age decorates key places and with key pieces to lend the idea of opulence when the budget was markedly smaller. Still, it transforms the apartments to a place of warm lighting and comfortable seating and inviting atmosphere. Particularly in the living room-turned-lounge. The kitchen doubles as the bartop with stools set up along the line of the counter. A closed and opaque box marked 'Donations for the stock only' sits quietly at a corner with a small hole in the top, but no other prices are listed with the chalkboard menu set up on a wall. The music switches from soft crooning to something closer to big band in the lounge, but all that same 'retro' feel for the current era.

The Games
Deeper in the apartments are the three bedrooms standard to the rest of ADI housing. One room is wide open to the rest with its entrance framed in thick green curtains held back by beaded pulls. The room itself is decorated with velvets (or the cheaper option, where it could be afforded) and a handful of different styled tables. One is clearly meant for poker or other similar betting games, while the others stand clear and ready for whatever use patrons might see fit. A bookcase in the corner offers various games of chance, dice, and strategy with still room for more to accrue with time.

The Dance Floor
The two other, closed, rooms both sport signs of their own. The one at the back of the hall simply says 'Private to the proprietor' and boasts a visible lock on the outside. The final door, however, stood across from the games room, simply says 'Dance Floor: Door to remain closed please.' The door is not locked, but the reason for it being closed is made clear: loud, dance-focused music with a mixture of music featuring a heavy beat and some with a more synth-focus plays within. Strategically placed sound dampening pads line the door and parts of the ceiling and walls to keep the music insulated, but once inside the lighting and sound do a decent job of mimicking a modern nightclub with the addition of some seating along the walls, places for people to keep their drinks as they need, and a small water station set up in the adjoining bathroom.

From an hour or so before sunset until around two in the morning, the doors to the Lavender Jack Lounge remain open and the bartender himself behind the bar in the kitchen to greet visitors with a welcoming smile and an earnest question after their health.

Comments

Bar

[bossyboiler]

She had kept his offer in mind.

Kate shows up a little after sunset, not wanting to drink alone tonight. Where are her roommates? Mostly likely at their new house working on fixing it up. She'll help later once she's purchased enough cleaning supplies for two houses. In the meantime, there is alcohol to be had.

She puts a twenty into the donation bin and then takes a seat at the bar. "This is a real nice place you've got here."

[defendwhatremains]

He recognizes her face and voice from her question on the network and it brings a small yet earnest smile to his lips. As soon as she's sat, he sets to rolling up the sleeves of the black button down he's chosen for the night and washes his hands to start gathering the copper bar tools he has set up.

"My thanks. It isn't the club I had back home, I'll admit, but it will serve a similar yet different purpose, one this place needs, I think. I'm glad you could make it, Kate. Do you have a preference, or shall I surprise you?"

[bossyboiler]

"Surprise me, please, Mister Summer." She smiles pleasantly at him before nodding her head. "I'm sure it's not what you would make back home but you've done a marvelous job just the same." She is surprised that ADI let him convert an entire apartment into a bar but with all the people that have left, it doesn't surprise her that much. "I'm sure you'll have a lot of patrons." Because why travel to a bar, in this oppressive weather, when they have a bar close to home?

[defendwhatremains]

He nods to her request and starts in on an Old Fashioned, complete with a peel of orange he runs over the open flame of his lighter before running it around the rim of the glass and dropping it in. Johnny sets the drink down in front of her on the counter with a genial smile. "That's the hope. No, it's nothing like the Margravine, but that was...maybe what Gallery needed." Or what he needed. "What the people here need is some place they can relax without being warned at every turn that we can't make friends outside of ADI here."

[bossyboiler]

She watches him make the drink and accepts it with the smile. "Thanks." Kate swirls the glass a little but doesn't take a sip just yet. "They do need that. It's hard making friends outside of ADI. There's no common interests and you can't trust the people outside of ADI when you can't really tell them what you do."

the bar!

[hellojon]

The entire atmosphere of this place feels old-fashioned in a way. Elias, an old-fashioned man at heart, appreciates that. Hopefully the drinks match the decor. He's not one to get absolutely plastered the way that kids these days do...but there's nothing wrong with a good glass of scotch or a perfectly mixed Manhattan.

As he takes a seat at the bar, he gives Johnny a nod. "You've done a wonderful job with the ambiance of this place. So many establishments these days lack that touch of class."

Kids these days with their nightclubs and their loud music and their disco dancing.

[defendwhatremains]

He's cleaning up a bit when Elias takes a seat and Johnny smiles over at him as he dries his hands and comes over. The black button down with its rolled up sleeves is still immaculate, something he's been careful to maintain. Presentation was half the charm, after all.

He gives Elias a subtle once over and lets his hand linger on a low ball glass. "I couldn't agree more. I put a lot of research into the local bar scene to understand how people in this era might have improved things, but in the end...I'm afraid I've proven to be a rather old dog with these new tricks. I have a dance room down the hall by request, but I can't say I'm much for the sort of music that's popular these days. Is there something you'd like to request, or shall I make a guess?"

[hellojon]

Presentation that Elias greatly enjoys. After all, there's nothing wrong with a touch of class.

"A simple glass of scotch would suffice. Though if there's a cocktail you feel particularly good at, I'll try that instead."

[defendwhatremains]

A small smile turns the corner of his lips and he plucks up the low ball glass to plop one of his large, circular, ice cubes in before reaching for a rather fine scotch. That was one improvement: the liquor variety was to die for.

Johnny slides the glass across to his patron. "You don't strike me as a man who enjoys frills. Still, if I had to choose, I'd expect an Old Fashion or a Whiskey Sour might be more to your liking."

[hellojon]

Elias gives Johnny a nod, looking at the drink with an appreciative little smile. There we go. That looks good and the quality of the scotch certainly gets his approval.

"I do enjoy a good Old Fashioned," Elias muses. "The problem, of course, is that people tend to do a horrible job mixing the cocktail. It's far easier to make a poor cocktail than a good one."

[unnecessaryflourishes]

Even now, Emet-Selch is not all that much of a bar person. Not absent any good reason otherwise, anyway. But he's not forgotten his promised offering of stories all the same - and it's true enough that he still has no shortage of those. Plus, there's little denying that a quieter moment will no doubt be more than welcome after the events of the past few months. To say little of what is likely yet to await them.

For now, however, he puts that out of his mind, making his way to the lounge without so much as a second thought.

"I see you managed to find a suitable place."

[defendwhatremains]

Emet-Selch is met with a wide smile when Johnny sees him come in and he gestures to one of the chairs at the bartop. "Well, it got undeniably easier when both of my roommates vanished, I won't deny it. I didn't know them very well, but they seemed like decent men. Hopefully they found their way out of here or onto greener pastures. Please, have a seat. What can I get for you?"

[unnecessaryflourishes]

"I can certainly imagine how it might."

Not that he's any less concerned about the fact that people have vanished, and more than simply one or two, given what he has heard. But he can at least acknowledge that sometimes the absence of others does make matters easier. For a variety of reasons.

Still, there's a nod as he takes a seat.

"What do you have available?"

[defendwhatremains]

He casts an arm out to take in the bottles he can see beneath the cabinetless counter, then starts plucking a few he thinks might go over well.

"I tried to open with a broad selection at hand, though it's ever changing and growing. If I were to guess at what you might like...I would offer tequila, gin, and brandy. You seem like the type who can maybe appreciate a touch of sweetness to his drink, but might prefer to mix it with something sour to both enhance and quell it. Either that or something botanical and tart that could be made with a hint of sweetness, like a honey flavor, to contrast." He looks back up once he's lined up his offerings to see his patron's reaction.

"Am I at all close?"

[unnecessaryflourishes]

Though not all the names are familiar to Emet-Selch - the curse of differing realities, mostly - he listens all to the same. Even if it is more to the descriptions than anything else. Still, he doesn't immediately answer, instead taking a moment to consider.

"Both would suit. The latter was more common in Garlemald, though the former would speak more to ages long past."

Either, needless to say, are something that he would be more than willing to drink.

Edalyn Clawthorne | OTA | Mid-July

[edalyn]

The Bar

i. (for Johnny!)
Eda doesn’t appear to care about being fashionably late; it’s almost as soon as the bar opens that she shows up and slides onto a stool. She gives the menu a quick glance, though it’s not as if she doesn’t know what she wants.

She looks a bit… tired, but she flags Johnny down with a toothy grin all the same.

“Right, I’ve got to see what you came up with.”

ii. (open!) cw: artifact inflicted loneliness
Eda can continue to be found at the bar for a good part of the night, nursing a string of not-quite-apple-bloods. She seems a little tired, and a little distant, but almost eager to talk if someone actually gets her attention.

Come on, have a drink with her. Or two. You don’t have anywhere to be, right?

The Games
“How’s that one work?” Eda asks, curiously, about whatever game you happen to be looking at or playing.

“I’m still trying to get the hang of all these Human Realm games. You guys have some weird rules,” she adds.

This probably would have been more convincing when she hadn’t lived here for well over a year, but she does her best to sound innocent all the same.

Unless, of course, it happens to be a game you’ve played with her back when Eda was showing up to George’s card nights. In that case, she simply asks if you’re up for a round.

[defendwhatremains]

Quietly, his eyes take in a few of the signs of a person worn down at the edges, but has enough taste to leave it be. For now. You certainly didn't start conversation that way, not when one of the guests of honor -in his approximation- hasn't even had a drink yet.

He greets her with a wide and genuine smile and starts gathering up a few bottles of things and his shaker. "Of course. I'm rather fond of the taste myself, but I have a few other options for alterations depending on your input, so let's see how this goes."

He starts with a small layer of brown sugar and follows it with the bitters, a mixture that turns to a paste with his mixing before the cranberry juice, ice, and apple vodka follow. Johnny shakes the tumbler and even manages a small twirl with it for flare before cracking the seal. He strains it into a chilled martini glass and finishes it with a peel of apple skin to rest on the side before offering it to her.

"Here we are. I hope you like it."

[edalyn]

Eda rests her chin on a hand as she watches him curiously, seeming a little amused by the flare; it's normally not a mixed drink at home, which means there's something just a tiny bit funny about the whole affair. Not that she's complaining.

When the drink is ready, she takes the martini glass and sniffs it, before trying a sip, looking thoughtful for a moment, and then draining around half in one go.

"Well... I think it's about as close as we're gonna get without an apple butcher," she decides.

"Which means it's pretty dang good." She definitely likes it; she wonders if it would be possible to get closer, but she's not quite sure how she'd describe the difference. Maybe if she asked Raine really nicely... but no, she probably can't convince them that's a justifiable use of magic.

Sorry this is so late wauh!

[rainestorms]

Bar!

Raine took a moment to read the menu after they approached the bar, and squinted at it behind their round glasses. They didn't really understand many of the drinks on the menu, but when they read apple blood they let out a short "hm."

Raine took out their wallet, and happily placed a twenty dollar bill into the donations before they ask:

"You have apple blood. Did you learn about it from Eda?"

Wine Red (For Edalyn)

Raine had eventually relocated to another, more private feeding table when they got the message that Eda was on her way. Raine already ordered her drink, and spent a little more magic to make it taste like actual apple blood for her. Raine watched the doorway, and though they were excited to have an actual date with Eda, they were also..

Incredibly anxious. The last time they'd gone on a date with Eda was over a decade ago. Things were different now, and though their dusty wine-coloured sweater, dress pants, and nicer shoes all make a very nice display of being on a date they still worried. They dusted lint off themself, checked how the sweater was 'French tucked' like how that very stylish man on tv showed them.

In fact, they probably missed Eda walking in with how much they're trying to make sure they've not forgotten anything. They remembered to tell Hunter they'd put the leftovers in the fridge, right..?

Wine Red

[edalyn]

Raine wasn't the only witch feeling anxious about the night. Which was silly, Eda knew. It was practically just a matter of semantics.

They'd been dating again for a bit now. Raine had been her date to Rue's wedding. They'd spent plenty of time together, gone places together—and done plenty of other things together.

But something about being on a date still felt different. Which was perhaps why she'd put a little effort in. Her short hair was, if not neat, at least artistically dishevelled, and she wore a dress they wouldn't have seen her in before.

A dress she was... already regretting, because it wasn't the most comfortable thing to move in. On the other hand, she looked good and she knew it. Perhaps most notably, she'd been changing form a little more often, and tonight she was a witch—albeit one with a fluffy tail she didn't used to have.

She couldn't help a smile when she spotted Raine, and the way they were dressed. Nor could she help the desire to be just mildly mischievous when she noticed the fact they hadn't appeared to notice her yet.

She sidled up to Raine's table, before putting a hand on their shoulder and leaning in to give them a kiss on the cheek. "Hey, Rainstorm."

[rainestorms]

Raine's surprised by Eda's arrival, and she pulled their attention away from a feather they'd found stuck to their sleeve.

"Oh, Eda!" They took the cheek kiss happily, and leaned into her touch. "How was your day today? You look-"

They sat back a little again, and and got a better glance at the surprisingly still intact dress Eda was wearing. It was red, ironically almost matching their sweater and definitely matching the button up shirt they wore under it. How the dress hugged her body, the way it let her shoulders bare and let them frame the dress- Raine always thought Eda was beautiful, but there was something special in seeing such a rare sight.

Raine put their fist over their mouth for a moment as they gathered their thoughts, and continued to speak.

"-You look very pretty tonight. I really like your dress, it.. Compliments how gorgeous you already are. Is it new..?"

They said it with a slightly bashful smile, and a light blush to their cheeks as they complimented her. They stood up, and gave her another peck on the cheek before they pulled her chair.

"Here, sit. I got you a drink already, I hope you don't mind..."

[edalyn]

Eda grinned at Raine's surprise, but then couldn't keep from blushing at least faintly at the way they reacted and looked at her. It was another thing that wasn't new, but the novelty hadn't worn off yet. Especially now that she was spending more time in witch form. It was slightly easier to feel secure as a seven foot tall monster, in some ways at least.

"Thanks, you look pretty dang good too," she said, making a point of eyeing Raine over as they pulled her chair out for her.

"Why would I mind that?" Eda asked with a snort, as she sat down. Instead of reaching for her drink, however, she wrinkled her nose in irritation as she shifted around in her seat.

"The dress is new," she added, "but I forgot how much I hate this kind of skirt."

With a sigh, she decided on the completely reasonable solution of reaching down to start to rip said skirt with her suddenly claw-like nails.

[rainestorms]

"Thank you, Eda," The bard moved and sat back down, though they caught the way she looked at them as well.

It was still new and exciting to be admired by Eda again. They wanted more of it, though their focus was mostly on Eda's dress and what she was doing with said dress.

"Oh?"

Raine watched on, eyebrows raised slightly when Eda tore away the bottom of her skirts. Raine looked more intrigued than anything else. They're used to Eda doing things like this already, and frankly they've never really cared. They have their own sensory hang ups, and it was fun to watch Eda tear things.

When Eda finished they put an elbow on the table, and let their chin rest against their palm.

"Maybe you could keep the extra fabric and make something out of it," They suggested, but also couldn't help but loop back to the whole matching situation. The red of the small flower print along their white button up matched her dress, and of course the red sweater complimented it.

"I hadn't even planned to, but we're matching. Did you know what I was wearing?"

No worries! That's been me for a week!

[defendwhatremains]

Johnny looks up from where he's making note of what's been ordered or asked after during the evening and shares a small smile with Raine. "I did, actually. When I asked for requests for the bar's stock, that was what she mentioned. I went by hers after to try what she said tasted similar and from there, I made my own variation."

He sets his pin and notepad aside and gestures to one of the chairs at the bar. "I've always made the assumption you're from the same world. Is that correct?"

[rainestorms]

"I'm not surprised, it's her favourite." They replied, as they sat down and adjusted their chair to be a little closer.

"And you would be correct," Raine is clearly proud of this fact, based on the way they light up a little more. "Eda and I are together, actually, but we've known each other for a very long time. She's actually going to meet me here a little later tonight."

Typically Raine would be a bit more timid about their relationship, but things where a little different here. No Belos or Covens here to tell them what they can and can't do. They could relax about things for once a little more.

But, their attention needed to return to other matters.

"I'd like to try it. I could give you my opinion as well."