milliways_bar | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

Alex has a rucksack full of books and is entirely prepared to spend a few hours at Milliways working on homework so he has plenty of time to play football later. (Yeah, Milliways is weird, but he's not stupid; he's been offered a godsend to his free time, and he'll take it.) But he swings by the bar first to get a snack, and instead receives a note politely requesting that he tend the bar.

He stares at it. "You do know I'm only fourteen?"

Yes, the note informs him, it is aware of that.

Alex sighs and hops behind the bar, getting the idea of the layout before he attacks the specials board.

HAPPY HOUR SPECIALS
Milkshakes
(bartender is not qualified to serve alcohol)

Help the bartender with his coursework and get 2/3 off anything.

With that sorted, Alex settles behind the bar with a bag of crisps and a notebook to get in a little work in between customers.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Pfft. Who cares? You look old enough to drink," the Prince remarks, "and I definitely am."

Alex sighs. "What would you like?"

Better to get this over with, he figures.

"Alcohol," the Prince said helpfully, "two glasses."

Alex, after a bit of digging about behind the bar, pulls out something that looks especially fruity and not very alcoholic, which he pours into two glasses.

Enjoy.

The Prince does what can only be described as a somersault onto the Bar, landing in a crouching position. The Bar, after all, is not made of lava.

He nudges a glass over to Alex with a foot and picks up his own, drinking some of it with a thoughtful expression.

"Are you sure this is alcohol, kid?"

"Yes," he says, confidently.

He is not at all sure, but this is what you get for annoying the bartender. He firmly ignores his glass.

"Do you have any spiced mead I could add to this?" The Prince asks. "I mean, I'm just asking."

He nudges the glass again. "Drink up."

Deadpan: "I was always told not to accept drinks from strangers."

But, he'll look for something meadlike, if only out of curiosity. "What does it look like?"

"I was always told to accept drinks from strangers if they're paying," which the Prince isn't, necessarily, but who's counting? "Many times."

Beat.

"It looks like mead."

"So I'll just look for the bottle of mead that looks like mead, shall I?"

"Yes. Exactly," the Prince says, in the manner of a very proud teacher whose student has finally picked up a difficult concept.

How about this bottle of something that looks extremely blue?

Alex feels it might be mead. Where 'might be mead' means 'possibly fatal'.

Hey, it'll do.

"That looks good. You know you can trust something brightly coloured and foul-smelling."

'Trust' here meaning 'it might kill you until you are dead'.

Alex pours a generous amount.

He's not responsible if somebody gets killed during his shift, is he?

The Prince grins, downing it. His head snaps around a bit, as if somebody was slapping him.

"Ugh, that's good stuff," he shakes his head again and grins at Alex. "Try some."

"I'm working," he says, innocently.

"Even more reason to drink," the Prince says, "it'll make the shift go by a lot faster."

Beat. "Maybe not much for you, though. You look like a lightweight."

"I'm not a lightweight."

Don't insult the bartender, okay. :|

Sagely: "I think you are, though. You remind me of a deckhand on my first sea voyage. A sip of alcohol and he thought the fish were talking to him."

He glares at Prince and takes a sip of the blue stuff.

And keeps glaring.

"Very dainty and ladylike," the Prince grins. "Not that there's anything wrong with that."

How about a mouthful, then. :|

He actually does keep glaring as if nothing happened, though inside he can feel the alcohol hitting him. Too late, it occurs to him that he hasn't really eaten for a while.

"Drinking game?" The Prince suggests innocently.

Alex is suspicious. "Like what?"

The Prince thinks for a moment.

"You know 'Never Have I Ever'?" He asks. "I met some pirates once who were really fond of it."