"Here. This one's on me."
Kyra looked up in surprise to see the bartender standing in front of her, holding a tall glass filled with milky brown liquid. She swiveled her head left and then right, half-expecting to see someone next to her reaching for the drink, but there was nobody nearby. "Um, thanks," she said, accepting the glass. "What's the occasion?" It wasn't Ladies Night at 'The 100', and it was too late for free drinks even if it was. It wasn't that Kyra was unused to getting free alcoholic beverages, but usually they were from cute guys. The bartender's sudden generosity made her just a little bit curious.
The bartender smiled tenderly. It was a little incongruous on her; between the shaved head, the half-dozen piercings in each ear, the studs and rings in her tongue, nose and lip, and the tribal tattoos that ringed her arms and neck, she looked like the only human warmth she was capable of involved setting people on fire. "You looked like you've been having a miserable night," she said. "I thought you might want a drink."
"Tell me about it," Kyra said. She tilted her head as she knocked the shot back. The drink tasted smooth and sweet on her tongue, with just a hint of coffee to balance the sugary flavor. Kyra could barely taste the alcohol, but the drink slid down her throat with a warm sensation that told her there was plenty concealed behind the candy-like taste. "Wow!" she said. "I think I've got a new favorite drink. What is that?"
"It's called a Paralyzer," the bartender said. "Want another?"
Kyra almost said yes, but painful experience had taught her that the better a drink tasted, the easier it was to drink too many and the nastier the surprise was when you realized that 'too many' was about four drinks ago. "Let's let this one hit bottom first," she replied instead.
"Sure thing," the bartender said, taking the empty glass. "But if you want another, just ask. They're on me." Kyra looked at her quizzically, and she shrugged. "Like I say, you look like you've been having a rough night. I see a lot from back here, and I couldn't help noticing the way you keep striking out with the guys tonight."
Kyra snorted derisively. "I haven't been striking out with them," she said. "They've been striking out with me." She wasn't sure whether to be amused or offended that the bartender thought she couldn't pick up a guy in this place. She'd seen women whose teeth numbered in the single digits walking out of here with a guy on their arm. "I just dumped one scrub. I don't need another hopping into my bed, you know?"
Kyra jerked her thumb over her shoulder in the direction of the dance floor. "I mean, I cannot believe some of the guys out there. One of them actually tried the 'imaginary lasso' thing on me. As if!" She grinned. "I got out a pair of imaginary scissors and cut it. Then I went to the bathroom."
The bartender smiled back. "You're here a little early to hook up with someone," she said. "These are the guys who want to find a girl, get out, and get laid."
"And I have no problem with that," Kyra said. "Just...whoa." She wiggled her jaw experimentally. "My tongue feels numb."
The bartender's eyes twinkled with mischief. "That means it's working," she said, wiggling the empty glass in her hand. "Want another?"
Kyra stuck out her tongue for a moment and tapped it lightly with her finger. "Sure," she said. "Just don't let me have too many, okay? I don't want to get totally soused and go home with some loser."
"Don't worry," the bartender said, "I'll make sure to cut you off when you've had enough."
"Thanks, um..." Kyra paused, feeling a little sheepish.
"Sally," the bartender said. "But my friends call me Sal." She handed Kyra another paralyzer.
"Thanks, Sal," Kyra said. She didn't really think of the other woman as a friend, but anyone who was handing out free drinks was a friend until the liquor supply dried up. "So where was I?" She swallowed the drink, marveling at its thick, syrupy smoothness on her tongue. "Oh, right, the scrubs! Oh, God, Sal, you wouldn't believe it. This one guy out there, I mean, he had a gut that looked like he'd swallowed a beach ball. And he's like, 'Hi,' and I was just like, 'Why are you even talking to me? Do you think I don't have any standards at all?'"
She rolled her eyes. "And he was one of the better ones! I mean, he was dumpy and unattractive, but at least he dressed nice. I haven't seen fashion sense this bad since the circus left town. They should be forced to put warning labels on leather pants, you know?"
Kyra paused to take another sip of her drink, then realized she'd swallowed it all. Those paralyzers really did go down too smooth for their own good. "And the pick-up lines!" she said, regaining her train of thought. "'Do you live around here?' 'Are you a dancer?' 'I'd love to photograph you.' I keep expecting to hear 'What's your sign?' or something. It's like 'Bad Dating Bingo'."
Sal nodded. "I hear you," she said, mixing another paralyzer. "It's enough to turn you off guys completely."
"Oh, don't remind me," Kyra said, accepting the drink gratefully. "I actually got propositioned by a girl." She grimaced. "Some skanky bull-dyke chick asked me if I'd like to have a threesome with her." Kyra paused for dramatic effect. "And her girlfriend." She knocked back the paralyzer in one long, easy swallow. "I mean, why did she even come here? Why not try some lesbian bar or something?"
Sal shrugged. "Maybe she knows someone who works here."
Kyra nodded absently. "Maybe. Anyway, yeah. I, um...I can do better. Than these guys, I mean." She looked down at her empty glass, feeling faintly as though she was missing something. "But, you. Um, you were saying something about..." Kyra blinked owlishly. "About it being too early?"
Sal nodded. "Yeah," she said, mixing another paralyzer. "You just need to stick it out, is all. Hang out a while with me, take it easy, you know?"
Kyra nodded right along with Sal. "Thanks," she said, taking the drink almost without thinking about it. She was too preoccupied trying to figure out what kept nagging at the back of her mind. It was something Sal had said, something that probably would have made perfect sense to her if she hadn't already had... She set the empty glass down slowly, trying to figure out how many drinks she'd had tonight.
Sal took the glass away, but showed no signs of mixing up another drink. That was probably a good thing, as far as Kyra was concerned. Those paralyzers went down so easy, but they hit like a...like a...she tried to come up with a good simile, but her head felt too thick and muzzy to think of anything clever. "Um, Sal?" she said. Her voice sounded slurred in her ears. "What's...um...what's in..." She trailed off. Her jaw felt too heavy and her tongue felt too clumsy to keep talking. Instead, she just let her mouth hang open slightly while she concentrated on not falling off her stool.