Dazy Nights - A Bartender!Hawks Series

Part One: Dazy Nights

She was a regular way before Kegio had even started working at the bar located at the corner of the street called Dazy Nights. It was close enough to campus residence where she could just walk straight there after a long day of classes, or just study. A lot of students went there - the beer was cheap and the lounge aesthetic made it easier for them to unwind. She was in the middle of her undergrad when Keigo started working. She liked to spend some afternoons at the corner of the bar, sipping on Moscow Mules until she was too tipsy to focus and words began blurring on the page.

He mostly worked the day shifts at first, smiling at her as he cleaned glasses and wiped down the bar while she set up her little station in her usual spot. Eventually they got to talking. Kegio was in school too, but it was easier for him to take some time off to work to pay for the sky high price of tuition that they all were pressed with. He liked to joke that pretty wings and an even prettier face wasn't enough for him to get by in the financial aid office no matter how hard he tried.

She noticed he was easy on the eyes from the beginning as did everyone else. Covered head to toe in his own confidence despite all he was allowed to wear was a pair of black jeans and a shirt. At first she assumed it was just the usual charm that bartenders used to get tips, which she always fished around the bottom of her purse for. But then she began to realize that no, that was who Keigo was. Alluring. Kind. Funny. Hot.

Once he started working the weekends, she got to see him more often. All undergrads came to hang out at Dazy Nights on their days off, even more so at the end of the week. The food was pretty damn good, the DJ played good music and took requests, and they always had some type of "buy one get one free" or "ladies drink free until midnight" type of special going on.

He always kept an eye out for her, she knew he did. Hell, anyone around her knew he did. Even when she was with her group of friends, he'd slip her an extra shot of tequila on the house, refusing to let her pay with a subtle wink before turning to another customer waving a napkin to catch his attention. It wasn't like she was oblivious to it; her girl friends all swooned at the fact that she had his attention. Keigo was notorious for being single yet for some reason, always turning down every advance that he got politely with the same excuse: "There's someone I'm kind of interested in, I'm sorry."

But she never made a move. The risk of this mystery person not being her was too much to make her walk up to him and ask. So she just sat in her corner, smiled at him when he walked over to hand her a Moscow Mule without her having to ask, and buried her head into her books.

One night, she was just tired. No, not tired, absolutely drained. Every ounce of energy in her body she spent walking to the bar only to slump down in her dark little corner. It was a Thursday. Not one of the usual days where she would go to the bar to drink because she had a class the next morning at 8am, but she had already made up her mind to skip it. She needed to drown her head in alcohol and have her only concern be a hangover when she woke up the next day.

Keigo found her as he walked in for his shift. Her head was slumped into her arms as she spun ice cubes around with a straw in an empty glass, a dejected look on her face. Her hair was messy, tied low, strands falling out, in the university hoodie and a pair of leggings that looked a tad overwashed.

He didn't do anything at first. He knew that it was one of her sad days and she wasn't feeling the best. Just as he walked up behind the bar, he quickly filled two glasses of rum and coke with a squeeze of lime at the top before sliding over.

"Bad day?"

She sighed, taking one of the glasses from him. "I totally flopped my midterm. Like completely flopped Keigo."

He sighed and leaned on the counter with his forearms. His wings ruffled before settling down behind him. "I really don't think it could have been that bad."

She sucked hard on the straw, eyes low. "I didn't answer more than half of it. I left them blank. I just...it was like my entire brain went empty. And I studied so hard! You know that I've spent hours in that damn textbook trying to make it make sense."

"What, the classical Greece one?"

She nodded, forgoing the straw and pouring the rest of the drink into her mouth, wincing at the kick back of the rum before she frowned at him.

Keigo sighed and patted her hand. He was warm. Soft. Strong. "Listen, send an email to your prof, tell 'em what happened and ask if you can do a makeup. Blame it on a panic attack. Or just bat your eyes all pretty and tell him that you'd do anything, stress on the word anything for-"

She tossed a balled up napkin at him appalled, but she was smiling. He smiled back at her, patting her arm gently again before slowly bringing it away.

"Thanks Keigo."

"Anytime lil' bird. Drinks on me tonight okay? I'll drop you home later too if you want."

"You can't keep giving me free shit you know."

"I can, and I will."

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AN: Welcome to Dazy Nights, a short story about Hawks being your favourite bartender. I'm attempting to post at least once a week with this story, but all of the chapters are already up on my Patreon where everything goes first without a schedule. I also have more mature (18+) content that is posted there as well. You can find it in my linktree that's posted in my bio, along with other links to find me!

Any questions, comments, and concerns are welcome! Other than that, thank you for reading.