"What can I get for you tonight?"
Sometimes I wonder why I bother asking that question. I know everyone's usual order, very rarely do they actually shake it up. Sure, every now and again, I'll get a newbie who comes in to join the party but it's not often. That and they usually settle into a regular holding pattern of their favorite drinks fairly quickly. Sometimes I almost wish a fight would break out to break up the monotony of my nights.
"I think I'll try the Devil's Hand."
That's a new voice. Looking up I see a man with undercut silver hair and a wolf like mask sitting on top of his head. Recently off-duty then; almost all of my clientele were in their civilian clothes when they got to me. Silvery eyes practically oozed tiredness as the man dropped heavily onto a stool. I couldn't see his uniform for the bar but I knew who he was anyway. The latest hot-shot animal-based hero, Silver Moon.
Folding my arms atop the bar I raised an eyebrow at him, "You sure you want to start with that one, noob? It's pretty potent."
Silver just shot me a tired smile as he pulled his mask off and set it beside himself, "I'm sure."
Deciding I didn't want to push it I set about making the drink. The Devil's hand was probably one of the most potent drinks I'd ever mixed, right after the Hand of God. No one ordered that unless they wanted to totally forget their whole week. It had almost a 1,000 proof alcohol content because of what was in it. I had to actually get special permission from the city to make it. Devil's hand was slightly less but still required government permission. Even then each patron was only allowed one a night.
Carefully pouring the neon blue drink into the glass (inspired by the Devil Bringer from DMC I might add) I slid it over, "There you go. Just so you know you only get one of these a night, got it?"
"Thank you," he said, taking the glass before registering what I said. "Wait really?"
"Yep. Government regulated due to its stupidly high alcohol content. Same thing with the Hand of God. Though that only gets ordered by people who want to forget the week," I smiled before sliding over to fill another order.
Silver Moon looked down at the rather large frighteningly colored drink for a moment before taking a small sip. He barely set the glass down before coughing sharply. There was a barking laugh to his right as he pressed a hand to his mouth. Turning his head Silver saw a woman settle into the seat beside him, her flaming red hair being a dead giveaway as to who she was.
"Missy! I'll take my 'good day' usual please!" she called before turning to Silver. "Hey new guy, got a little bit more than you could handle?"
"I can handle it. I just wasn't expecting it," Silver grumbled, taking another sip to prove his point.
"Alright alright! Just joking, kid. Calm down. It's not everyday that a new face drops into the Haven. Especially still mostly kitted out," Crimson Blaze murmured as she looked Silver over.
"It was just a bit of a bad day..."
"Here you go, Crim. One Firespitter with a Strawberry Punch," I said setting the flaming fizzy drink in front of the woman. "Go easy on the guy, will you? He's not uptodate on the Rules."
"Rules?" Silver cocked his head to the side with a raised eyebrow.
"Yep, this place has Rules, with a capital "R". I mean, hello, that's Crimson Blaze next to you and over there is the Night Lord. This place needs Rules," I said leaning against the bar slightly. "Give me a minute and I'll fill you in."
"Or I could start filling him in on the basic stuff for you," Crimson smiled as she stirred her drink a little.
I just gave her a grateful smile before turning to the other side of the bar. While it might not have been obvious to a normal person it was plain as day to me the division in the room. This bar was unlike any other probably anywhere in the world. Here, my clientele could drop the building on my head if I screwed something up. Carefully dropping the last bit of liquid nitrogen into the Winter's Breath I passed it off carefully to one of the waitresses.
"Head straight for Kavalis. This won't stay like this long and if he doesn't get it fresh he might actually kill me this time," I said pointing out the tall scale covered man on the darker side of the bar.
"Yes, ma'am," the girl chirped brightly before weaving away.
I smiled softly at her back before the woman draped over Kavalis's arm caught my eye. She gave me a feral look before miming out drinking something. Plastering a smile on my face even as I internally rolled my eyes I set about making her usual. Surprisingly she was one of the normal ones. Most of the people who came through my door wanted the outrageous stuff, like Winter's Breath or Fallen Stars. Cadenza, Kavalis the Destroyer's significant other? She liked a good Manhattan. Out of everything one the menu it was one of the easiest things to throw together. Setting it on a tray I handed it off to another girl before turning back to Silver and Crimson.
"So what did she cover with you?" I asked looking at Silver.
"Wel, the whole preferably no costumes rule for one. Sorry about that, by the way," he mumbled looking down at his drink.
"No biggie. It's your first time in. I'll give you a free pass just this once. Anything else?"
Silver swirled his drink before replying, "Names don't really have much meaning. It doesn't really matter if we know each other's secret identities here because of the No Fighting Rule. It's just polite to call everyone by hero names instead of real names."
I smiled and leaned against the bar, "Good start. Did you cover the No Fighting Rule, Crim?"
"Not yet I was just about to get started on that one when you came back over," Crimson replied with a smile and a slight salute with her still burning drink.
Nodding I turned back to Silver , who was giving me a curious look, "The No Fighting Rule is from the very beginning of this bar. There are to be no fights between patrons lest the whole bar be emptied by force. Basically don't start a fight with either another hero or a villain. I don't care if they're your nemesis or any of that bull shit. You start a fight, the whole bar gets shut down and everyone has to leave. Next, we come to the Restricted List. There are some drinks that have a limit to how many can be ordered a night. The Hand of God and the Devil's Hand can only be ordered once a night, this is per person by the way. The Special Elementals can only be ordered four times. Special Elementals are Winter's Breath, Firacaine, Terra Burst and Thunders Divide. Those have special ingredients in them that are custom ordered for the Haven and are not cheap. I can't afford dishing out more than four a person a night."
"Should I be writing this all down? I feel like I'm going to forget this stuff come tomorrow," Silver mumbled as he sipped his drink slowly.
"Don't stress out too much, noob. Everything is already written down behind me," I smirked, jerking my thumb over my shoulder before tossing some of my green and purple hair back. "Just take a picture if you're that worried or keep one eye on the Board. I always give people a run down on thier first night so that they know the Rules exist. You wouldn't believe how many people totally ignore the massive sign behind the bar written in big bold letters."
Silver's eyes followed my gesture to see the massive stone tablet hung behind the bar. Sure enough, every Rule I'd told him was there and then some. Nodding slowly he carefully finished the last of his drink. Without even prompting I slid a glass of ice water and a mug of coffee in front of him while calling for one of my girls. Picking up his empty glass I waved it at her before setting it in a dish bin. The other woman smiled and headed to the back. I tried not to send my clients home without doing something for those who had the really heavy stuff. Sure, I know they're all super in their own right and that much alcohol probably won't kill them but I like having repeat business. That won't happen if they all end up with alcohol poisoning and die.
"Here you go, Silver," the sudden sound of another woman's voice startled the poor man into bashing his knee against the bar.
Crimson roared a laugh and pounded her hand on top of the bar even as the younger Hero glared at her. I found it hard to suppress a smile even as I set to wiping down and cleaning the few glasses that had been returned to me. Silver poked at the plate of food in front of him with a disinterested air. I half wanted to tell him to eat so he didn't have such a bad hangover in the morning, but decided against it. He'd eat if he wanted it.
It was almost twenty more minutes before Silver slowly pushed several bills across the bar top. I looked slowly from the money to his face and raised an eyebrow. He gestured wordlessly to the door with one shoulder as he moved to get up. I said nothing as he wobbled to his feet, barely managing to catch up his discarded mask as he did. Carefully picking up the money I counted it quickly before looking back at the Hero.
"You gave me too much," I said slowly.
"No, I gave you what you earned. Thank you," he mumbled before heading for the door, stopping with one hand on it. "By the way, I never got your name. I know they don't mean shite to you but still..."
I smiled as I slid the money into the lock box, "It's Jenna. Jenna Elm."