Disclaimer: I do not own Nier or any of the characters, nor am I making a financial profit from this. All rights belong to the respective owners and licensors. Square Enix, Yoko Taro, Cavia, etc..
Author's Note: I started replaying the first Nier and talked to Devola in the tavern. She first said, "Wanna let a girl buy ya a drink?" So, I chose that as the title. This FanFic is my take on a "what if'' situation, as in, what if Nier let Devola buy him a drink?
You better believe this is going to have some citrus in it. So, yes, it's a lemon. ;) So enjoy, and thank you for reading! Feel free to leave a review and some constructive criticism if needed. Thank you in advance!
***
It was a long day filled with much sweat. Nier had just finished traveling back and forth between the fishing town, Seafront, and his village. It was exhausting, but he had no choice, nor would he complain about it. He spent all of his time, from when he awoke to lay down to rest, striving and working his fingers to the bones for his beloved daughter, Yonah.
Yonah was Nier's world, and he would do everything and anything to protect his little girl and care for her needs, especially whatever could possibly help or maybe even cure her of the dreadful disease, the Black Scrawl, that plagued her.
He pushed open the door to the tavern and stepped inside. It was dimly lit, and just about everything inside was made of wood. To his left was the bar, with the bartender and two customers chatting and laughing. He wore his normally gruff expression, but he smiled inwardly at the peacefulness of it. Then, the harmonic singing and stringed music played on the bar's stage caught Nier's attention.
He looked forward, and to no surprise, he saw Devola softly projecting her soul into her music. After watching her momentarily, Nier strode to the bar and sat on one of the tall wooden stools. He zoned out as he watched the crimson-haired woman, getting caught up in her melody and letting the lyrics flow into himself.
He became lost in his own little world, letting her song wash over him.
"Hey!" A woman's voice pierced his thoughts in what seemed to be seconds later.
His face shot up, and he looked to his side, where he saw Devola looking at him with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.
"Wow. I thought you were going to ignore me until I walked away."
"Oh! Devola... Sorry about that. I must've spaced out for a moment."
"Mhmm. Sure." She teased with a playful wink.
"I'm serious!" The silver-haired man shot back, causing her to laugh.
"You're always serious. You know you can chill out, right?" The lithe woman said as she rested her hands on her hips.
"Chill out? What does that even mean?" He raised an eyebrow.
She shook her head with a light chuckle. "Oh, never mind it." Devola dismissed before waving over the bartender. "Hey, can I have one of your strongest fruity drinks? I feel like trying something new."
"Coming right up, ma'am." He replied.
Nier's eyes got wide. "Um. Devola... Are you sure that's a good idea?"
She narrowed her eyes at him and wore a questioning look. "What do you mean?"
His eyes widened once more, and he turned his gaze to the bottles of liquor behind the bar in an attempt to feel less of the heat from her assuming glare.
"I'm waiting...." She insisted while putting her hands back on her hips, this time in an annoyed manner, and cocked her head to the side.
Nier gruffly chuckled before nervously replying. "Well, I mean... You know how you were when you drank before."
As he finished his sentence, the bartender sat a tall glass of some type of dark blue drink with a melon slice on the rim onto the counter and slid it over to the angelic-looking woman who was currently looking at her friend with the fiery eyes that rivaled those of a demon, that could potentially even scare away a Shade.
"Oh? How was I?"
After a moment of hesitation, he worked up the courage to respond. "You're... extra friendly." Nier nodded after speaking as if agreeing with himself on his choice of words.
A mischievous smirk crept onto Devola's face before giggling. "So, that's what you meant?"
"Yeah. That could be dangerous. You wouldn't want some creep taking advantage of you, would you?" The big, muscular man asked sternly.
Devola couldn't help herself. She started chuckling and tried to fight it by placing her hand over her mouth. "Well, no. I can't say that I want a "creep" coming onto me." After working through a few more small giggles, she stilled her laughter and adjusted her hair with her fingers. "No creeps wanted."
Nier raised an eyebrow and looked back down at her drink. It had dew running down the sides of it, and he could hear and see the ice cubes gently bumping into each other as the counter got shaken by other villagers walking by. The slice of melon had its juice trickling into and down the side of the glass. The deep blue color made it look even more tantalizing. He imagined it had to at least have a couple of types of berries in it.
The crimson-haired woman caught him eyeing it and grinned inwardly before snapping him out of his trance again.
"Wanna let a girl buy ya a drink?"
"What? It's the middle of the day." He looked at her like she was crazy. "You shouldn't drink so early either. Maybe even not at all."
"Oh, come on. You just need a day to breathe and lighten up, Nier. I know you have a lot on your plate, but that's exactly why you need to throw one back occasionally."
"..."
He was taken aback by her words, knowing Devola was making sense--at least a little bit.
"Bartender! We need another one of these, please!" She called out, not waiting for an actual reply.
"Hey, I never said I wanted one!"
"You never said that you didn't either." She retorted, to which he just huffed. "Besides, you were looking at this drink like it was the first bit of water you've seen after traveling through the desert for weeks!" She carefully waved the glass back and forth before him, causing him to eye it once again as the tempting fluid waved to and fro.
Before he could argue further, the bartender sat down another dark blue drink before Devola, who slid it over to Nier.
"Drink up." Her voice was demanding yet showed soft concern.
He looked at it, then at her, then back to the drink. Hesitantly, he reached out his hand, pulled it down the bar to him, and sniffed the tasty-looking beverage.
It smelled very fruity, but the alcohol was evident. Not overpowering, but he could tell it was there. However, it's faintness made him feel more at ease about drinking it. The sweet scent helped coax him into indulging as well.
With a short gruff, he took a large swig of it, expecting it to taste awful despite its sweet aroma. But to his surprise, it was downright delicious. Nier had never had such a flavorful booze in his life! It tasted even better than it looked!
The redhead grinned from ear to ear, seeing how delighted he was with it. "You see?"
The buff man nodded before chugging the rest, setting the empty cup on the bar, and letting the sound of glass thud on the wood.
"Woah, there, big fella. That's a pretty strong drink you just inhaled. Did you even get to taste any after the first bit?" Devola laughed cheekily.
The silver-haired man let out yet another huff. "You don't need to worry about me. I can handle my booze."
She raised an eyebrow at his words. "Um, did you just throw shade at me?"
"Of course not. If I threw a Shade at you, you would be running around screaming." He joked as he slid the empty cup back and forth between each hand.
Was he already reacting to the drink? If so, she loved it. If not, she still loved it.
Excitedly, she exclaimed, "We'll see who can handle their drinks better!" Before motioning for two more to the bartender, who had them already mixed up and ready to go for the pair of friends.
"Hey, now. I never agreed to a competition!"
"Agreed? You're the one that started it!" The devilish woman said as she snatched up her first drink and gulped it down. Nier stared wide-eyed as Devola slammed the now empty cup onto the counter with a satisfied sigh, then took hold of the second glass.
"Devoal, wa--" He tried to say but was completely dismissed as she pounded down her other glass.
"There." She squeezed out the last bit of oxygen in her lungs before gasping for air almost as strongly as she did the drink. "I'm one ahead of you."
"Damn it! This isn't a competition! You said a drink! But, alright then! Bring it!" Nier shouted as he lifted a hand to wave over the bartender, but he was already walking up with another for each of them.
"Once she gets started, I know she doesn't stop." The man chuckled as he sat the glasses down, which were no sooner than picked up by the pair.
***
After a couple of hours and many drinks of many varieties later, Devola and Nier were stumbling out of the tavern, patting each other on their backs and laughing their asses off. It got the attention of many of the nearby villagers, but neither of them realized it. They were too caught up in their conversation.
"Holy crap. You can drink like a madwoman!" The silver-haired man exclaimed as he struggled to keep his footing.
"That's because I am a madwoman!" Devola replied loudly, followed by a playful cackle, which caused the two of them only to laugh even more.
"That Weiss can be a real killjoy. He only made snarky remarks about us having a good time and 'acting like unruly children.'"
"Yeah. He can be a downer. It's probably for the best that he left before we did." Nier nodded as he spoke.
"Yeah. He was so quiet it was like he wasn't even there at first."
As the conversation died, the two walked aimlessly down a stone path surrounded by grass with a few trees in comfortable silence. The crisp air nibbling at their skin and the sounds of the wildlife that lived there provided a calm atmosphere.
"So, where exactly are we going?" Devola asked as she looked down at her feet and took long, dance-like strides.
