For two weeks, the visions and nightmares continued. Blaise felt powerless against them, so Raven offered her unconditional support with it all. She was incredibly invested in it, she probably just wanted to get closer to the supposed curse. Every night, he stumbled through the bar doors, played his set dutifully, and Raven took her break to talk about it. Every night, Blaise sat in the back room and lamented his harrowing visions, thinking that Raven would get tired of hearing him whine. Every night, Raven's eyes widened at the stories. And every night, she edged further and further off her seat. Almost every night, he melted into a sobbing puddle of tears and Raven wrapped him in a caring embrace, whispering sweet nothings.
One night when Blaise stumbled through that bar door, instead of just getting the usual knowing smile from the bartender, an emphatic shout came from behind the bar. "Yo Ace. You remember about tomorrow right?!" She yelled, jumping up and down from excitement. A confused look came across Blaise's face for a moment. "Oh my God! How the hell could you forget?!" She signaled for her coworker to cover for a minute and ran over to him, lightly smacking him upside the head. "We're. Going. To. Easter. Island. Dummy." She said, ruffling his hair. "Ah jeez alright. Calm down, Ray." He said, hugging her loosely to his chest. "I'll pack tonight. And-"
"Wait you haven't packed already? I did that like weeks ago." Blaise chuckled and shook his head. "I better head up there. See ya after?" She nodded and ran back behind the bar. Blaise walked up to the small stage and set up his guitar, closing his eyes and singing his heart out once again.
"You took my heart by a string,
You taught my soul to sing,
You hold me in your arms
You amaze me with your charms,
So stay with me tonight,
And stay with me tomorrow,
And stay with me the tomorrow after that,
I'll be your light,
I'll keep your sorrow,
Stay with me forever and a half."
Blaise finished up his set and sauntered over to the bar, his guitar safely stowed in his case, clutched in his hand. He ordered his usual, straight whiskey and a shot of patrón, and as usual, Raven took her break straight after he'd paid and ushered him into the back room. But this time, there was a strange sense of urgency to it all, an excited energy that surrounded them both. Blaise tried not to show it, desperately trying to keep his cool, collected persona. And Ray simply let it out, not even trying to hide it at all. She bounced on her heels, gripping his hand in hers. Her lips curved into a toothy grin. "Are you excited cos I'm excited and we should both be excited. Isn't it exciting?" She rambled, the words tumbling out of her mouth at break-neck speed. In return, Blaise chuckled, settling his hand on her shoulder. "Ray, calm down. We still have tonight to get through first."
"Ooh. About that, I know we were planning to meet at the airport, buuuut we probably won't be able to sleep. Sooo how about we both stay on in the bar till we have to go to the airport? I'll just tell my manager I'll stay a little later and lock up when I'm done. At midnight, there is a security sweep, but we can just hide out in the store room when they come around. Come on, it'll be fun!" Blaise looked hesitant for a moment, but when he saw Ray's face lit up by the idea, a small smile crept across his face. "Only if I can get some free drinks out of this." Although she was much smaller, Raven crushed him in a tight bear-hug, her laughter ringing in his ears like the purring of a kitten. Blaise ran his hand through her hair and after a few minutes of holding each other, he sighed. "You should probably get back to work. You still have an hour left before you'd usually get off, anyway."
"Yeah I guess. When its time to close up, you sneak back here and wait till everyone is gone. I'll come and get you when they have." They both nodded, running on the same nervous-excited energy.
Soon enough, it was closing time for The Darkest Light. Patrons swigged the last remains of empty promises down their gullets and slumped sullenly out the wooden door. As the bar emptied, Raven cast a furtive glance over to the back room door. No apparent movement. The last customer eyed her up in his drunken stupor, then saw that she was staring daggers at him with her arms crossed protectively and shrugged, sloping out the door like all the others. Finally, the coast was clear for them both. She ducked through the back room doors and bumped into Blaise. Literally. "Oof. Sorry there, hun." He whispered. She giggled and straightened up. "Coast is clear. You can come out now. We have three hours before the midnight security check, by the way." She said, pulling him out to behind the bar.
He sat her down onto one of the many free barstools and stood, smiling at her, behind the bar. "I'm gonna change things up a little. This time, I'm gonna make you a drink. What would you like?"
"Hmm how about an old fashioned." She grinned widely. His hands expertly poured the alcohol into a glass with sugar and bitters, finishing it off with a twist of orange and an ice cube. He pushed it towards Ray and started mixing another drink for himself. Mixing the alcohol and straining it into a glass, he looked up for a moment at Raven, raising an eyebrow. She sipped at the golden liquid. It felt cool and refreshing with a kick to it. "Damn. That's good. Where did you learn?"
"Eh I used to work at a bar when I was younger. I was too young really, but they didn't seem to mind. I mostly just washed the dishes and cleaned the tables down. But there was a cool bartender there and he showed me a few things in his off hours." Blaise said, sipping his own amber drink.
"Blaise Blackblood. You never cease to amaze me." She smiled sweetly at him as he came around the bar to sit next to her.
They sat like that, just talking for a long while, until they heard footsteps outside. They stared at each other with wide eyes and Raven pulled him through a door behind the bar.
The darkness consumed them as they plunged into the small, cold room. As their eyes adjusted to the darkness, they saw that most of the room was taken up by crates and boxes of alcohol. To avoid detection, they ducked behind a few large stacks of crates almost as high as the ceiling. Unfortunately, there was only barely enough room to squeeze in between the stacks and the wall and barley enough room for both of them. Pressed together, they held their breath as the footsteps edged nearer. A hand turned on the door. It creaked open. A flashlight shined into the room, passing over them. The figure shrugged. The door creaked closed. Slowly but surely, the footsteps trudged away. They both let out long sighs, panting like puppies. Trying in vain to suppress chuckles, they both stared at one another in the darkness. Raven brought her finger up to Blaise's lips with a playful "Shhh." Their eyes trained now on each other's lips, Raven removed her finger and looked towards the door, hearing the closing of the entrance to the bar. "Okay I think the coast is clear now. We could leave." She whispered.
"Yeah, we could." Blaise whispered back. But neither one made a move to leave, their breath still hot against each other's skin, their eyes still trained on each other's lips. Without thinking, Blaise reached forward, cupping her face with his hand and kissing her full on the lips. Her lips moved warmly against his before she pulled back. "Too much?"
"Not at all, just not here. Come on, lets get out of here." She smiled, kissing him again and finding his hand in the darkness. They both walked hand in hand out of the store room and into the bar, pouring themselves more drinks and resuming their earlier conversation.