The Neon Demon

by **Abigail Bryant** Thu Dec 09, 2021 7:05 pm

IN THE MIDDLE OF WINTER

YOU'RE THE SUN

Another night lost to this place. Abi sighed as she poured yet another beer, placed it on the counter, and fetched the terminal in order for the patron to make the transaction. She flashed him a brief smile and managed to get out a quick ‘thanks’ before going back to cleaning the stack of filthy glasses the runner had just brought in. There was a certain sense of comfort in this routine, but Abi often found her mind wandering to other places entirely.

Until she was distracted by a guy at the bar who was hogging one of her co-workers to do a shot with him. Abi raised a curious brow. Due to the music, she couldn’t really hear what was being said very well, but she could see that the man was being quite obnoxious solely from his body language. He was leaning forward on the counter so much he could topple right over. Already sick of this guy, Abi headed on over to Skaði. “You up for a quick smoke break?” she asked, offering her colleague a chance to get out and take a breather for at least a minute or two. Hopefully, this guy would’ve found another target by then.

☰

code made by kahlua of caution

by **Skaði Vikander** Thu Dec 09, 2021 9:04 pm

but stars burn out my dear
and everything golden dies

The moment her weak smile would disappear from her face, the man on the other side of the bar would mark her down as rude, and that wouldn’t be good business. He was well on his way to getting himself drunk, but it seemed that he had the intention of bringing her down with him. There was no stopping to a drunk mind, that was something she had learned over the years, but that didn’t make it any less annoying when you were simply trying to do your job.

”You’re going to fall,” she dryly remarked when the man almost seemed to be climbing over the bar. She didn’t get much of a clever response, as he merely smiled at the fact that she had at least spoken to him again. Skaði took in a deep breath, before she perked up as one of her colleagues came over. ”Yes, please, I could use one,” she muttered, putting her towel down before turning away from the man, already heading for the exit. She figured dealing with customers like this man was something she would never get used to.

+ tag Abigail
+ notes none

BY MITZI

by **Abigail Bryant** Fri Dec 10, 2021 12:38 pm

IN THE MIDDLE OF WINTER

YOU'RE THE SUN

If you were someone who grew annoyed at other people rather quickly, being a bartender certainly wasn’t for you. Many people were at their absolute worst after knocking back a few drinks, so patience was a definite must-have in this business. People slurred their words to the point where they were no longer comprehensible, tried to tell you their life story, or were simply unbelievably rude. If she wasn’t as easy-going and laid-back as she was, Abi was sure she would have gotten into a thousand arguments by now, each and every one of them completely useless. What a lovely job she had.

The man she was eyeing was probably no different. He saw a pretty girl, and his first instinct was to get her drunk in the hopes of lowering her standards to a point where she would consider sleeping with him. Unfortunately for him, Skaði was probably stone-cold sober. She accepted her suggestion for a smoke break, so Abi turned to the exit at once, leaving their colleague to fend for herself for a few minutes. Once she passed through the back door leading outside, she let out a big sigh and reached for the pack of cigarettes in her back pocket. “Don’t you ever get tired of working here?” she asked, putting the cigarette in between her lips and lighting it. “I mean, it’s all good fun, but sometimes…” There had to be more to life than this, right?

☰

code made by kahlua of caution

by **Skaði Vikander** Fri Dec 24, 2021 12:36 am

but stars burn out my dear
and everything golden dies

The routine of pouring both familiar and new faces a drink was something she considered soothing at times. It was mind-numbing work, most of the time. That didn’t mean it was the easiest job out there, however. The drunk customers made sure of that. Tonight was simply another example of the thing she hated most about this job. At this very moment, the man across the bar was thinking he was one of a kind. The magnificent mind behind this masterpiece of an idea: trying to get a girl drunk in order to take her home. Sadly for him, she wasn’t going to step into his trap. This was a working night, and that meant that she wasn’t going to taste a droplet of alcohol.

Skaði was quick to follow her colleague outside, taking in a deep breath of cold December air. Her lungs filled with the midnight cold and she closed her eyes for a second, gathering herself together before she focussed on her light-haired colleague. ”I do, very much so,” she agreed with Abigail. Somewhere these days, she would reach the age of thirty-two years. And there she was, serving drinks to drunk and lonely men. She couldn’t say her ‘career’ was taking off. No, it had hit rock bottom. Bills were piling up on her kitchen table and the long, late shifts forced her to pay a ridiculous amount of money to her babysitter. ”Nights like these I wish I could do something else with my life. Something that… has more meaning.”

+ tag Abigail
+ notes none

BY MITZI

by **Abigail Bryant** Fri Dec 24, 2021 1:34 pm

IN THE MIDDLE OF WINTER

YOU'RE THE SUN

It wasn’t all bad. There were plenty of fun evenings in Little Soho, and her job allowed her to meet the most interesting people at times. She got to laugh at other people’s drunken antics every so often and she received a lot of free drinks herself whenever she came her as a patron instead of an employee. There were perks to this job, as there were perks to any job, but Abi no longer believed that those outweighed all the cons. Especially on nights such as this one, where they were pretty understaffed and the patrons were particularly annoying, she found herself wondering whether she should be here at all.

Abi took a deep drag of the cigarettes, feeling that familiar sensation of warmth and calm. Like a warm blanket wrapping around her in the cold winter air. Apparently, Skaði felt the same way as her, which was no surprise. They were both in similar situations, she believed. Young, smart women who weren’t anywhere near where their potential could actually take them. Curiously, she looked at the brunette. “What would you do? I mean, if money or time didn’t matter, what would you choose to do?” she asked. Abi very much doubted that either of them would be choosing to work here then.

☰

code made by kahlua of caution

by **Skaði Vikander** Mon Jan 03, 2022 1:39 am

but stars burn out my dear
and everything golden dies

Little Soho had been her lifeline for many years now. Even though she had worked here on and off, they had welcomed her back time after time. There was nothing else she could do other than pouring beers and mixing cocktails. She had never finished school, even though she had attempted to do so in the past. Perhaps it hadn’t been in the stars for her, as all her money and time went straight to the care of her daughter these days.

Nights like these were no fun, though, and made her question most of her important decisions. Skaði took in a deep breath of the cold air, feeling herself calm down more now that they were standing here. She had needed this break more than she had expected. She looked aside as Abi spoke again, putting an interesting question out there that forced her to think for a minute. ”I think I would want to be a marine biologist, studying creatures in the seas up north,” she said, slowly nodding. ”Or, I would want to be an archeoligist, I’ve always thought those people had such interesting jobs, discovering things everywhere.” Yes, she would probably pick one of those professions, as she had no clue what else she would be good at. She had never truly studied for anything, after all. ”What about you?” Surely, Abi would come up with something interesting too.

+ tag Abigail
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BY MITZI

by **Abigail Bryant** Sat Jan 15, 2022 10:45 pm

IN THE MIDDLE OF WINTER

YOU'RE THE SUN

Abi knew that she should be grateful to have a job at all. There were plenty of people who were far worse off than her. People who couldn’t make a proper living for themselves. She was pretty fortunate to have a roof over her head, food on her plate, and above everything, a very loving girlfriend. A few years back, she had been in a pretty terrible place, and she was grateful that she had been able to get out of there somehow. But still, that feeling like she was missing out on something greater never really went away.

Her lips curled upwards in a warm smile when Skaði mused about being a marine biologist, or an archaeologist. “Those are some wonderful choices,” she wholeheartedly agreed. It was nice to hear that the people around her had ambitions of their own other than pouring drinks and arguing with drunk people. She would be concerned if they didn’t. But with Skaði, it was her situation holding her back. With Abi, it was just herself. “Honestly, I have no idea,” she admitted. “I’ve given it a lot of thought, but… I don’t know. Maybe I’m one of those people who isn’t really passionate about anything.” Which was a depressing conclusion to arrive at. “Maybe I’d like to be a food scientist. Or a dietician.” It seemed interesting enough, kind of. “Or maybe not.” Maybe it was just stupid to even think she could do anything of the sort.

☰

code made by kahlua of caution