The spikes of Ruby’s necklace felt cold against her chest, and this was apparently the only chill she felt. She wore a mini-dress and fab gold boots, attracting the shocked attention of those bundled up with scarves and cloaks. Ruby was accustomed to the cold; she lived mainly outdoors, in trees and empty houses. Ruby only vaguely noticed temperature - hence the seasonally out-of-place outfit.

Ruby did not notice the stares she attracted; she almost never did - she was focused on her own path, her own hunt. Though she tried to lurk in the shadows, she glittered in the light, and almost never paid for a drink. Ruby always managed to find money somewhere. She understood the system of trading, though did struggle occasionally on the idea that things could not always be bartered for. Drinks were at a set price, for one.

Ruby found her place by the bar, a dark corner where her near-white hair glowed. Her thick eyebrows showed that she was thinking, about what no one could be sure. For Ruby the hunt was on -- alcohol, of some variety.

I'm getting too old for this shite, Hayes thought to herself as she forced a smile on her face as she handed the middle-aged wizard his sixth drink of the night. He'd been leering at her all evening and 'affectionately' touching her arm anytime it was anywhere near the top of the bar, and she was tired of trading pleasantries with him. At least he was tipping her generously, although the least he could do at this point was buy her a drink, for Christ's sake. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes at his umpteenth attempt of flirting with her and forced out a laugh that sounded strained. For better or worse Death&Co. was a fairly nice establishment, and it was only for that fact that she bit back the scathing remarks on her tongue.

Hayes let out a sigh that turned into a yawn when he finally left her alone, probably to harass someone else who wasn't interested in him. She was tired. Some days she seriously considered quitting one of her two jobs, and today was one of those days. But she was far too sober to contemplate making any serious life choices. She had less than an hour left in her shift until she could pour herself a drink, sit at the bar, and have a think about her life. Or have some fun. She deserved it for putting up with what's-his-face, anyway. At least the bar wasn't mobbed the way it usually was on a Friday night. Perhaps that was due to the colder weather. It was freezing even inside, though Hayes was usually cold regardless of the temperature. Nothing a drink wouldn't fix, though. Her eyes darted around the bar before she knelt down as if to grab something from underneath the bar, then swiftly removed her flask from the inside of her jacket pocket and took a few swigs.

Ah. Much better.

When she popped back up, licking the whiskey off her lips, she took notice of a bleach-blonde girl by the corner of the bar. She'd served her a few times in the past, but knew next to nothing about her. Hayes didn't really have a memory for faces, but the girl's hair and loud fashion had made an impression. The blonde was pretty in a way that Hayes couldn't really identify. She wasn't necessarily her type, but the girl was oddly compelling.

"What can I get ye?" she asked, flashing a smile as she walked over and crossing her arms to lean on the bar to take the girl's drink order.

“What can I get ye?”

“Anything with vodka,” Ruby answered promptly. She didn’t know the names of drinks very well, only the types of alcohol. It wasn’t something she felt like she had to learn, even if she regularly went to the bar. When requested like this usually Ruby ended up with something the bartender was good at making anyway.

She leaned forward toward the bar and peeked at the assortment of glasses and alcohols. For whatever reason she was always curious about the different shapes and sizes. The servers all grabbed at them with confidence, they knew the connections between drink and cup.

“Anything with vodka.”

"Anything?" Hayes responded with a wink, not waiting for a response while she grabbed a tall glass and a bottle of First Guild Pepper vodka.[1] This particular vodka tasted of hot peppers and honey, and she filled the glass ^3/4 of the way with the spirit. Turning to one of the many shelves behind the bar she grabbed a jar of honey and, after fumbling for some spoons, added two generous spoonfuls to the vodka. The next step was to heat the drink so the honey dissolved, which Hayes accomplished with her wand (for the heating) and one of the spoons (for the stirring). The final step was to charm the drink to emit smoke ("Vapos"), which Hayes admittedly overdid. She could never find the right balance when it came to that spell.

Suppressing a cough as she handed the blonde her drink, Hayes made an effort to wave some of the smoke away. "It's a Ukrainian Ironbelly, Class XXXXX. And it's on the house if you don't like it," she said through the smoke. Hayes herself wasn't much of a vodka fan, but if the girl didn't like it she'd have no problem saving it for herself for later and making the girl another drink. The pepper and honey combination was actually rather nice, although she greatly preferred the whiskey version of the drink (made with Western Honey Pepper Whiskey[2] and called the Hungarian Horntail on their drinks menu). 

1.	See here.
2.	See here.