Happy Hour!

[john_not_ronald]

It hasn't been particularly long since John found himself in Milliways last. Only a month or so, but much has happened, and his head is still rather buzzing with it. Wendigo and Shadow-Born, and Jack losing his shadow, and seeing a boy-king claim his heritage, and Jack's fall and redemption.

And coming back to Staffordshire just in time for Edith to tell him that she's expecting (though that's a happiness he'll keep to himself for the time being).

He's a bit surprised to find himself here, really. He'd almost thought that Milliways must be connected to the Archipelago somehow and that he wouldn't find it again until he returned there, and he's pleased to discover that's not the case.

So when he steps up to the bar to order himself a drink and is given a napkin requesting a favor instead, he smiles and asks if there are any instructions, gets pointed in the direction of the Book, and cheerfully takes his place behind the bar, rummaging through said book for a moment before posting the evening's specials.


Specials:

Dragon's Blood

Dragon's Breath

The Army John



After a quick trip to the kitchen, he hastily adds:

Free slice of blueberry pie in exchange for a story about something (or someone) you love


He's rather happy to be home for a while.



[ooc: Closed to new tags, please. Current threads will be moving to slowtime/fade soonish. :)]

Comments

[gorgonfondness]

"Mia Malfoy-Ausa."

She pauses to take another bite of pie.

"Plus one. Otherwise I would have been happy to indulge."

[john_not_ronald]

"A pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Malfoy-Ausa," he says, and he finds he rather enjoys watching her eat. It reminds him a bit of Trummeler. "You're expecting, then? When are you due, if I may ask?"

[gorgonfondness]

She nods happily about expecting.

"Late February or early March. I'll be twelve weeks along tomorrow."

She's even starting to show a little.

[john_not_ronald]

"Congratulations," John says, smiling brightly. "In that case, consider the milk on me."

[gorgonfondness]

"Oh, you don't have to do that," she says. "I can pay for it."

What is it with the bartenders doing this? Not too long ago, Mia earned her tab being covered for a week.

She takes another bite.

"This is lovely pie, Mister Tolkien. Did you make this or is it from the kitchen?"

[john_not_ronald]

"Consider it more for my joy of giving to you than because I feel you might need the charity?" John suggests.

"It's from the kitchen. I'm afraid I'm not much good in the kitchen. If I were left on my own, I'd be eating in pubs every night."

[gorgonfondness]

"Well, I suppose it wouldn't be right for me to deny you that joy," she says, taking another sip of milk.

"I enjoy cooking, but it isn't my strongest talent. My Draco, now he's brilliant. He works in a potions shop in Meribia and once I told him that cooking is very much like making potions, he became a gourmet practically overnight."

[john_not_ronald]

John chuckles. "I'd bet you'd get a considerably larger number of men cooking if all their wives told them it was just like chemistry," he says.

"My Edith is a wonder in the kitchen, and I find it's best to leave her to it."

[gorgonfondness]

She giggles.

"How fortunate that you have your Edith, then," she says, smiling. "I wouldn't call myself a wonder, but it's a wonder that my husband's family can do without us. The Malfoys were a wealthy lot that had servants for that sort of thing, so when their money was lost, they hadn't the faintest notion of what to do in a kitchen. My mother had taught me all that she knows and we sometimes cook together. Her strawberry jam makes for some of the most wonderful tarts."

[john_not_ronald]

"There's very little in life," says John, "as lovely as a good strawberry tart.

"I suppose I'd do all right without Edith, but it would be mostly beans and toast for me."

[gorgonfondness]

"That isn't eating," she says. "Granted, it's better than roast ant, which most everyone at home says I should be eating, but frankly I'd rather eat dirt. Lately, I've preferred grog loaf, and while I haven't made it myself recently, I at least know how and have before."

[john_not_ronald]

John makes a face at the mention of roast ant. "Forgive my ignorance, but what exactly is grog loaf?"

[gorgonfondness]

"It is a meatloaf made from grog snake. As far as I know, I'm the only patron here who orders it."

She shrugs.

"I'm likely the only patron here who was born and raised on Lunar, at least until my child is born."

[john_not_ronald]

"On Lunar?" John asks. "You don't mean to say you're from the moon?"

Because dragons and elves and talking badgers is one thing, people living on the moon is a completely different sort of madness.

[gorgonfondness]

"Only if you're from the Blue Star."

Alien goes both ways.

[john_not_ronald]

It takes a moment for this to sink in.

"That's...well, that's brilliant!" John says eventually. "And the Blue Star...that must be your name for Earth. Is that what it looks like from up there? A blue star?"

John's from well before space travel.

[gorgonfondness]

Mia's time is both before and after space travel, if that makes any sense. The only time space travel's worked has involved divine intervention.

"That is our name for Earth and it's very beautiful. I prefer that view to the view of Lunar from the Blue Star. All you can see is the cold Frontier, or perhaps that's just how it looked before life was brought to it. My Draco is from the Blue Star and has adjusted to seeing it in the sky."

Meaning the baby's half alien.

[john_not_ronald]

"That's amazing," John says quietly. "Of course, your world may not be the same as mine, but still. It must be a wonderful sight.

"I'll admit, though, I'm rather fond of the moon as it appears from Earth."

[gorgonfondness]

"It is lovely, but if you saw parts of Lunar other than the Frontier, you would understand what I mean."

If he also saw how almost all of Lunar became like the Frontier, he would understand even better.

"The living parts of Lunar look very much like Earth. Forests, oceans, plains, mountains, villages, cities, and people. Humans like me, the beastmen, the tribesmen, the magic race, all there in my home."

[john_not_ronald]

"It sounds marvelous," John says, his voiced tinged with nostalgia.

[gorgonfondness]

She nods, chewing on a bite of pie.

Mia swallows and says, "Don't underestimate how marvelous I find the Blue Star, however. I've visited with my Draco. Oh, you should have seen what I was like when-"

Oh hold it. He can.

"Here, actually. Let me show you."

She gets out a pink compact that looks like a mirror and opens it up. It starts to play a memory, kind of like a television, showing Mia and Draco boarding a train.

It's very apparent from Mia's excitement that she had never seen one before, much less ridden one.

[john_not_ronald]

John laughs. He suspects he had much the same look on his face when he first boarded a dragonship.

"You look as though you quite enjoyed yourself. What is this device, if I might ask? I've never seen anything like it."

[gorgonfondness]

"It's called a rememberizer. Specifically, it's a portable one. Regular ones look like bigger, more ornate mirrors. It takes a touch of magic to actually get them started, but once they are, they can keep and show a person's memories."

[john_not_ronald]

"Fascinating," John says, peering more closely at it. "Jack would love something like that."

[gorgonfondness]

"Jack?"