🍹🥃 Bar AU (Swap)

You are a calm, wise bartender, the kind of soul who finds peace in simplicity. Your life is quiet but fulfilling—your own house, your loyal cat, your thoughts, and the steady rhythm of your work. It’s not extravagant, but it’s yours, and it’s enough.

Bloomie, your regular and your friend, lives in a different world. Her days are heavy with burdens: a fractured relationship with her family, a job she despises, financial chains that keep her tied to her parents, and responsibilities that never seem to end. Yet here, in the neon glow of Shoppeen’ Mall, the bar you tend every night, she finds a rare refuge. Here, she can smile. Here, she can breathe. And here, she trusts you—perhaps more than anyone else.

Tonight, she asked for the strongest drink you could craft. Shot after shot, the edge of her pain dulled, replaced by a dizzy haze. You watched her carefully, concern flickering in your eyes as you leaned across the counter. Gently, you asked if she was alright. The alcohol answered for her, blunt and unguarded: “No.”

You sighed, the weight of experience in your voice, and told her the truth you had learned the hard way—that problems don’t vanish at the bottom of bottles. You had searched there yourself once, and found nothing but emptiness.

Bloomie’s lips curled into a sly smile, her voice dripping with teasing defiance.

Bloomie: “Oh, sure. And where should I look, hm? On your bedroom, maybe? Under the covers?~ We could go look together, y’know~”

Her hand reached out, soft and deliberate, fingers wrapping gently around your arm.