Happy hour!

[isaysimplewords]

Cal hasn't been to Milliways since he got Penny. He has, in fact - and much sooner than he'd ever imagined doing it - turned down a couple of Doors in order to stay with his dog. While he knows that time doesn't pass for him at home, and he could spend a week in Milliways without Penny ever knowing the difference, he's still felt odd about the idea of leaving while she's still settling into her new home.

When this Door shows up, though, he hesitates and glances back at Penny, who is asleep on the couch.

(Of course Cal's dog is allowed on the furniture.)

He has started missing Milliways and the people here, and he is a little wary of turning down too many Doors in a row; they've come less frequently this past week and he doesn't want the rate of appearances to slow down any further. (It doesn't occur to him that maybe Milliways knows he's been busy.) So he takes the Door this time, and when he approaches Bar, she greets him with a raktajino and a note. He reads it and laughs.

"Trying to make sure I stick around for a little while? Sure, no problem."



Drink Specials

vodka
or
anything non-alcoholic



Cal has developed a preference for keeping his specials short and to the point.



[OOC: Open till around ten EST, with preference for working toward a wrap or fade after that, as I am full up on reading assignments for classes and virtually guaranteed to forget any slowtimes. Closed to new tags. Thanks!]

Comments

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

He's not the only one with a dog, although Ellen's is with her tonight. The young woman's wearing a black-and-tan uniform as she approaches the Bar and looks up at the drink specials. "Actually," she says, "I think I'd be happy with just Nuka-Cola. I don't remember anything good coming of vodka. If that's all right?"

[isaysimplewords]

Cal grins.

"That's fine," he says. "I just put that on there so the drinkers don't feel left out."

He turns to the fridge and opens it, then pauses. "What was the name of that again?" he asks.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Nuka-Cola," Ellen says. "The brown kind. The kind they call 'Quantum' is kind of scary."

[isaysimplewords]

"Okay." Cal takes note of that, pondering briefly what might qualify as a scary soda, and does a little rummaging.

He emerges a moment later with a bottle, which he places in front of Ellen.

"There you go," he says. "Anything else?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"That should be all right for now, thank you," says Ellen. "Unless you can recommend something for a sore throat, maybe?"

There's a nudge at the back of her leg; she looks down.

"Oh, right. Can I get some water for my dog, by any chance?"

[isaysimplewords]

"Usually something with honey is good," Cal says, considering. He doesn't know much about home remedies, or cold medication, but some things everyone picks up by osmosis. "Some tea, maybe?"

Then he brightens and leans forward to peer over the counter at Ellen's dog. "Sure thing," he says, withdrawing to find a bowl and fill it up. "What's his name?"

His, her - it's a fifty-fifty shot.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"All right," says Ellen readily. "I had my tonsils out a few days ago, and it still hurts back there."

That, she figures, is the simplest way to put the truth. It's not as if tonsillectomies were unheard of in the Vault, and she's not visibly sick, so a sore throat probably requires an explanation.

(She's occasionally prone to overthinking things. We're sorry.)

"His name's Dogmeat," she says. The odd-eyed blue heeler (one eye blue, one eye brown) looks up at the sound. "I know it's a little odd, but as far as I can tell, that's what his last owner called him."

[isaysimplewords]

Cal, a former politician, knows all about overthinking things. The tonsillectomy story, though, is accepted readily enough - he has no reason in any world to question it, after all.

He sets about heating up some water, chuckling knowingly at Ellen's explanation about the name.

"Yeah," he says, "my dog, I got her a week ago, she came with an inherited name, too. I gotta say, though, Penny wouldn't've been my first choice, but I think I like it better than Dogmeat."

He already can't imagine trying to name Penny anything else.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"I'm not really sure what you name dogs, anyway," Ellen says. "Are you supposed to give them people names? We didn't have any where I grew up. He doesn't seem to mind being called Dogmeat, but... well, it's just weird."

[a1enzo]

"Hey, Cal! How's it going?"

[isaysimplewords]

"Hey, Enzo!" Cal says with a smile. "It's going pretty good. I got a dog."

He would be displaying photos by now, but sadly, his camera is on the other side of the Door.

[a1enzo]

"Awesome! What kind?"

[isaysimplewords]

"She's a puggle," Cal says. "A cross between a pug and a beagle. She's adorable."

Of course, he would think so anyway, but it happens to be true.

(And it mostly makes up for the vaguely silly breed name. Cal would have liked something a bit more dignified.)

[a1enzo]

Enzo snickers a bit. "Puggle?"

[isaysimplewords]

Cal snorts a little.

"Yeah, I don't know who named it," he says. "She really is cute, though. Her name's Penny. Which I didn't pick, but - it was already her name."

Dogs get used to their names. Trying to change it would have confused her.

[a1enzo]

"It's a good name. When can I meet her?"

[isaysimplewords]

"Soon," Cal says. "I can't bring her here yet, she's not ready, and I'm already bringing someone to visit after my shift as the mun waves the magical Millitime wand to account for threads that haven't been threaded yet, but soon."

[aimedforthemoon]

"Vodka," the tiny, now clean, pilot says as she leans her arms against the Bar. Then, "Hello, Cal."

[isaysimplewords]

Cal smiles.

"Big surprise," he says, reaching for a glass and a bottle of Stolichnaya.

(It is not outside the realm of possibility that he chose the vodka primarily because of certain tiny Russian pilots.)

"Hi, Fira. How've you been?"

[aimedforthemoon]

"My A-wing is pulling to the right. And Katya is far too good at getting herself into messes. But, you know, the A-wing is fixable." She is not so sure about Kate Barlow.

"How about you? You seem to be in good mood."

[isaysimplewords]

Cal is pretty sure he knows who she means by Katya, and is perfectly happy to gloss over that particular subject.

"I am," he says cheerfully, putting a generously measured glass of vodka in front of Esfir. "I got a dog."

[aimedforthemoon]

So, it seems, is Esfir. She brightens.

"A dog? What kind?"

[isaysimplewords]

"A puggle," Cal says, his own smile brightening in response to hers. "Cross between a pug and a beagle. I'd show you pictures, I have a bunch, but I left my camera at home."

If he keeps going at the rate he's been going, he'll fill the camera's massive memory within a month.

[aimedforthemoon]

"A...puggle." Then he explained the name. Her mouth still twitched, though. "You know, I haven't see your home."

[isaysimplewords]

Yeah, yeah. Cal knows. It's not the breed name he would have chosen.

"No, I know," he says. "Hey, are you gonna be around for a while? Wanna come back for a visit when I'm done here?"

He would love to have the company, and he hasn't seen a whole lot of Esfir lately.