Another Day

Dain stood behind the bar, same as always. He'd been tending the bar for 400 years. It'd been 33 years, 7 months, and 26 days since he'd realized he was counting. It'd been a few more days that he would gaze expectantly at the entrance whenever someone walked in. It was just as many days that he'd inwardly sigh in disappointment before greeting the patron.

He'd regretted not asking more, or trying to learn more of her, but he knew his silence was the right choice. He wondered if that woman, Ana, would return. He wondered if she was even still alive. She looked human, but felt like something else. If she was human, she'd surely be getting on in years by now.

"So, what'll it be?" He didn't care to count how many times he'd said that phrase. He didn't really care what they ordered either, or so he thought. He finally spared a glance at the traveller, whose face and features were unnaturally shrouded in a cloak. "Depends. You got a signature drink?"

Dain paused, "...Well, we have..."

"That's not what I'm asking. Do you have a signature drink?"

The hood turned to him, appraising him. The shrouded face beneath, seemingly staring into the very depths of his soul.

"I... it's not finished."

"I'll take it." The patron set 4 gold coins on the bar. The jingle of the heavy coins changing against each other and then the bar made others turn. There was only 1 who'd paid a gold coin, which, truth be told, was far too much, and this person paid 4 times that amount.

As if responding to his unvoiced turmoil, the patron replied, "Keep it, just gimme the drink and its name."

Dain felt unsettled, a rarity while behind the bar, but he'd learned centuries ago to not ask questions. "I'll have the drink ready in a moment." He disappeared into the back and took a moment to collect himself before he started mixing. A half handful of crushed Mela berries, an Elvirian sunflower, an Elvirian moon flower. He'd never stopped to wonder why the flowers contained the world's names and others didn't until now. He grimaced and reached into a nearby tub. One fistful of butter, his least favorite part of his recent attempts, followed by a handful of forest fruits and a gentle application of mana.

The drink foamed and frothed, and a sweet fragrance wafted through the air as he set the mug of pink liquid before the stranger. "It's called 'Ana's Breath'. It's... I don't know if it's ready yet."

The pressure from the patron softened as they took the mug and brought it to what Dain assumed to be its lips. A few short yet agonizing moments passed as the thing in the cloak gulped down the drink. "It's a good drink, and a good name. Good luck in your pursuit, boy."

Dain stood dumbfounded for multiple reasons, the least of which was that an elf of 462 years had just been addressed as if he were a petulant child.