Think of all the luck you got.

[not_lost]

There were a lot of really weird and screwed-up scenarios that Fiona Gallagher could imagine herself in. Her involvement in these scenarios was usually begrudging and her father usually the cause, but picturing herself caught up in something beyond most people's limit of belief had officially became much easier after this past summer. (Finding yourself crouching in a hole in your backyard, covered in sweat and dirt, and ecstatic over having unearthed a dead relative's remains could do that to a girl.)

Despite that, she had to admit that the Nexus was pretty fucking crazy, even by Gallagher standards.

It had been just at a week hotel time since she'd opened the downstairs bathroom door and found the Nexus beyond, but having a magical luxury hotel where her toilet should be freaked her out a lot less than the fact that the place was essentially free. In Fiona's experience, if something sounded too good to be true, it always was, and she probably should've gone home, chalked the whole experience up to some bad seafood and never thought about it again.

She probably would have, too, if the people at the desk hadn't told her the bit about time differences and job openings.

Christmas was right around the corner, and she'd spent almost everything Jimmy had left her on that damned deal for work. (Not that she was complaining; the money had come at the perfect time, and now they'd have enough plastic cups in the house that they probably wouldn't need to wash a single glass for half a year.) Back home, it would cost her 150 bucks to get herself licensed to sell alcohol, and she'd have no guarantee of being hired anywhere. Here, they apparently only cared that you could mix a drink, and a lifetime with Frank had more than prepared her for that. The great hourly wage and tips she was earning meant she could actually afford to get everything out of lay-away this year and maybe even buy some extra stocking stuffers for the kids. The circumstances may have been weird, but for Fiona taking the position was a no-brainer.

Today was her third day behind the bar at the Smoking Room. She'd allowed herself to come through early enough to get a solid nap before her shift and was now practically chipper, turning a wide smile to the guests waiting for a drink.

"What can I get you?"

For the first time in a long time, she actually felt good about the future.

Comments

[bonetown]

"Oh my god," Alex says brightly, "Chicago meet-up in space," she says, her eyes bright and wide as she leans forward on the bar with both elbows supporting her weight. "I will totally take bartender's recommendation," she confides. "I can't believe you're from Chicago! This is like that time when I was in Detroit and I saw that drag queen that looked like Dave," she says, awed. "So, why are you here? Did you move or something?"

[not_lost]

"I still live in Chicago, I just work here," Fiona explained, her smile drifting into bemusement again as she began assembling a margarita. This Alex girl was really something else. "I opened my bathroom door one day and this place was on the other side. I can move back and forth between home and here, and the pay's good, so I figured why not, you know?"

The lime-garnished drink was finished and slid across the bar just in time for the telltale ding to sound from the kitchen window. Fiona stepped away and returned with a plate piled high with what had to be some of the most epic nachos in the universe. After setting the plate down in front of Alex, Fiona retrieved a fork from behind the bar and passed it over.

"You're probably going to need it," she explained. "Enjoy."

[bonetown]

Alex waves off the fork with her hand, already hand-deep into the nachos. "It's cool, I got this," she promises with a confident smile. "I'm not exactly a nacho-amateur. I am a nach-fessional," she says, leaning her head back so that the cheese and all the toppings fall into her mouth. Biggest waste of product ever is the stuff that falls onto the counter. Not that she lets it stay there.

What is she? An idiot?

Mouth full, she reaches for the margarita with her free hand and alternates between food and drink, only remembering the whole 'you're like a man-eating yeti when you eat, oh my god, is that a whole chicken?' advice Jane had given her that once. She grabs at a napkin and covers up her mouth sheepishly. "Sorry," she mumbles, swallowing down the last bite of nachos. "I was hungry." Except she's never really not. "Do you get paid for real? Like, real money dollars just to serve drinks?"

[not_lost]

"Don't worry about it, looking like a lady while eating is completely overrated," Fiona replied with a laugh, and set the fork beside Alex's glass just in case.

"I get paid for real," she continued, and fetched a damp towel from behind the bar to mop up a bit of wayward salsa. "They've got an option where you can get paid in credits for the hotel, like to spend in here or the shop or wherever, but I've got kids at home who need the money way more."

[bonetown]

Alex salutes with the fork, using it and her other hand as a sort of knife-hand-shovel combination to get the best use out of it. "That's so cool," she enthuses. "Do you think this place has like, a shop here? Or a store? Because my store back home occasionally, maybe, sometimes, a lot of the time doesn't have a lot of business and rent gets paid creatively."

Thank god for a landlord with loose morals, right? "You look way too skinny and young for kids, bee tee dubs," she says. "Seriously, rocking the Mom look!"

[not_lost]

Despite that Alex was far from the first person to make such a mistake, Fiona couldn't help a good-natured laugh as she shook her head. "They're not mine," she began, and then instantly reconsidered. "Well, they're mine, I'm their legal guardian and I love 'em more than anything, but I didn't give birth to them. They're my younger siblings. But thanks for the compliment anyway," she added with a smile, and then motioned toward the bar's main door.

"There's a shop off the lobby, sells things like cigarettes and magazines. You should totally stop by the hotel office, see what openings are posted. It's weird to say and kind of sad, but so far this is the best job I've ever had."

[bonetown]

"Dude, if they were yours, I would be asking for your anti-age potion," Alex says in a completely serious tone. "Because I know I may look like a little girl, but those wrinkles are a-comin' hard and fast," she guarantees, pretty sure that Jane's responsible for like, at least half of them. "I'm the baby of my family," Alex brags. "I've got two older sisters who pretty much have a constant competition to see who's more controlling. Being the youngest?" she confides. "Totally awesome."

And she could also use a job. "Do they interview you? Do I need references? Wait, what if I get fired, does that mean I get banned from this place?"

[not_lost]

Fiona had to wonder if Liam would feel the same once he was old enough to be aware of his place in the sibling hierarchy. Carl sure seemed to be getting plenty of mileage out of being second-youngest, but Fiona was determined to steer Liam on a less-destructive path.

"They just asked me what position I was interested in, and whether I had any experience. I hadn't bartended before, but I know how to mix drinks and I push cocktails at a club in the summer, so I guess that was enough," Fiona replied with a shrug, and then smiled. "You plannin' on getting fired?"

[bonetown]

"I don't plan on it," she confides, wiggling to the front of her stool so she can confide in Fiona like they're best friends. "But I've been my own boss for nearly five years, so it's kind of hard to know what an actual boss is going to want from me. I mean, I doubt they'll let me bring a racist parrot into the store like a cool boss."

[not_lost]

"I… yeah, I think that's probably a safe bet," Fiona haltingly agreed with a nod. For a moment, she debated whether or not she honestly wanted to know how a person acquired a racist parrot. "I've never even seen my boss, but one might come out of the woodwork if I put racial slurs or tropical birds into the mix."

[bonetown]

"Definitely not going to risk that," Alex says, crossing her lips as she gives a little seat-bounce in excitement at the idea of earning actual money. "Oh my god, this is crazy exciting," she says, draining the last of her drink through a straw. "I'm gonna need another one of those, but this one, celebration size!"

[not_lost]

Fiona laughed, astonishment threaded through the sound as she reached for Alex's emptied glass. This was definitely one enthusiastic chick, but who was she to judge? She kind of wished she could be so excited about so many things.

"One celebration-sized margarita, coming up," she said, still smiling, and began assembling the drink in a bigger glass.

[bonetown]

"Hells yeah," Alex cheers Fiona on excitedly, clapping her hands together like a precious baby fur-seal and leans her elbows on the counter. "So? You're the bartender, right? You probably see all kinds of hot guys here. I'm kind of on the rebound and I could use a parallel universe quickie. Any prospects?"

[not_lost]

"There are plenty of hot guys," Fiona had to admit. She was absolutely not looking, but she wasn't blind, either. "You into normal guys or you looking for, like, vampires or aliens?"

Fiona paused, rearing back, her eyebrows pulling together. "I can't believe I just asked somebody that question and I was being serious."

[bonetown]

"I don't know. I mean, no way do I want some hot guy munching down on my blood. It's my blood," Alex says possessively. "Plus, it's probably so loaded with sodium that I'd be a total turn-off. And I could never give up garlic cheese bread," she swears. "I don't know, I could use an alien guy. I mean, provided he doesn't have any weird antennae on his head."

"Other parts are cool, though," she says with a shrug, sipping deeply at her drink.

[not_lost]

Keeping a straight face after that was a complete impossibility. It wasn't only the implication of what Alex had said, but the nonchalant way in which she said it, and after a brief moment Fiona gave up, leaning forward to place her forehead against her forearms, which were draped across the edge of the bar. Her shoulders shook with her laughter, and when she finally stood up again, it was with an amused, melodic sigh, wiping tears from her eyes.

"Yeah, I… I really don't know about other parts," she admitted. "Depends on what they are."

[bonetown]

Alex waggles her eyebrows suggestively as she leans in on one elbow. "I bet they can get great reception down there," she jokes, closing her eyes with victory when she knows she landed the joke. Ten points for Alex! "Besides, I'd abandon hot vampires and hot aliens if I could get my hands on a rich guy with lots of bacon friends."

[not_lost]

By the point, Fiona really wasn't sure she wanted to know what bacon friends were, but she had to ask. This conversation was already one of the most amusing she'd had in a long time.

"Bacon friends? As in friends who cook bacon or friends made of bacon?"

[bonetown]

"They can be both, but for me, it's the ones who provide me with tasty, tasty bacon," Alex says, grinning widely as she lifts her shoulders in thoughts of some of the best bacon meals she's had in her life. "They gave their lives to be so delicious and I salute them," she says, seriously.