**We look down upon a young buck, mostly covered in sandy brown fur save for the lighter patch on his throat and the white underside of the tail poking from the hem of his black dress pants, his white button up shirt looking disheveled as if he had been running or fighting. He keeps his heap propped on one hand while the other shifts between taping on the bar and his left ear, twiddling with a couple of silver studs on it. As he droops his head one could see the small antlers arching back from the top of his head, the sharper ends rounded off as it was customary in the city.**

**He sits alone at the bar, soft jazz filling the room with a pleasant atmosphere while couples and small groups chat. A few small laughs even manage to break through the music. But this solitary soul is not here for pleasure, his cloven hooves tapping nervously on the hardwood floor as he is haunted by his thoughts...**

_Who knew you could be done for before even hitting 30?_

The thought crosses your mind as you sit there bleary-eyed, staring at the half-finished glass of beer in your hands. You take a deep breath before downing it in one go, your ears pulled back as you feel the drink burn your throat on its way down.

“Just as bad as the last one…” you mutter under your breath. Of course, this is no fault of the establishment or the civet that has been serving you for who knows how long. You chose quantity over quality and, as such, have been drinking the cheapest thing they have besides water.

You never thought of yourself as a drinker anyway, at least not before tonight; you might as well add alcohol poisoning to the list of things ruining your life. With a deep sigh, your mind wanders back to how you got here.

You were such an idiot, bright-eyed and cocky, ready to leave your small hometown to make it big in the city. And not just any city; Silvapolis, the grand capital of Demmaris, where everyone is free to become their true selves. 

Guess you’re just a loser then, doing miserable office work to just barely make ends meet just so that the landlord can then yell at you for the rent being late, skipping meals to save up for said rent… _All just so that you can get thrown out that job without warning with some bullshit “downsizing” excuse._  And without that next paycheck, you won’t be making the rent… So you decided to blow your last bit of money getting drunk… not that it matters.

You groan and rub your temples as a headache starts to set in. Wasn’t this supposed to help you forget? Maybe you should’ve started with something stronger...

“Here…” the sound of a glass sliding across the bar breaks you out of your wallowing. The civet bartender hands you another drink; you don’t remember her taking the last one, but it sure is gone from your hands. She sure seemed nice when you first sat down on the stool, willing to lend an ear to your sorrows… However, you were not in the mood to talk, and she’s been silently fulfilling your request to “Keep them coming…” ever since. 

You reach out for the glass sitting before you, and that’s when you notice, this is not your order.

Before you sits a tall curvy glass, very much unlike the mugs you’ve been nursing from, the sparkly liquid inside fades from pastel blue to pink at the top, garnished with a slice of strawberry and a tiny parasol.

You ogle the glass before turning to her in confusion.

“A little gift from boot 7…” is all she says with a smug knowing grin, making a gesture over to the other side of the room.

Looking over to where she pointed, it takes you a moment to focus your eyes, but there is one person giving you a knowing wave. A tall, dark, pure ebony mare squeezed into a relatively tiny booth.

Your ears shoot up as you’re thrown out of your drunken haze and switch to panicking. You don’t know what to do! A random hookup was not in your plans. 

Admittedly, your plans were to drink until you couldn’t remember your name, so maybe this isn’t that bad of a turn of events…

**PROMPT:** A mysterious stranger beckons…

It seems you caught someone’s attention, but what will you do about it? Ignore the woman and continue with your night? Try to leave without making a scene? Actually accept the invitation? Will you even dare touch this flowery drink?