Thursday Night 'Tending

[young_tmriddle]

Once a long time ago, when Tom first came to Milliways, Bar would only give him lukewarm tea and not the finest quality of scotch. However, that time is long past, Bar gives him the best, and Tom is quite fond of both her and the people who tend her

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[snap_time]

The narration feels bound to point out that Bar, when properly functional, is no longer Bound to someone who dislikes Tom on principle.
Not that Larry knows anything about that. He just knows that if Lewis and Clark don't stop arguing over how to map the museum and actually do something to that end soon, he's likely to knock their heads together-- and hey, here's that bar again. With somebody actually tending, no less.
So he heads over and says, "Just some hot chocolate would be great, please."

[young_tmriddle]

"Certainly. Would you like a splash of anything stronger in it?"

He Accios the hot chocolate, landing it carefully before Larry.

"There you are."

[snap_time]

"No thanks, I got pulled in here from the middle of work - cool trick. How'd you do that?"
He already half suspects the answer will be 'magic.' But it can't hurt to ask, and anyway, sometimes Larry has a short attention span.

[young_tmriddle]

"The drink? Magic. I'm a wizard. Tom Riddle, at your service for the evening."

[snap_time]

"Oh, cool. I'm Larry. Daley. I'm not a wizard, just a security guard. It's more interesting than it sounds."

[young_tmriddle]

"Security guard? Here in Milliways, or elsewhere?"

[snap_time]

"Oh, back at home. I'm from New York, 200.......7, I think it is, now. I work at the natural history museum."

[young_tmriddle]

"It's 1998 for me, and I'm from London Below. Which is something of a natural history unto itself."

[snap_time]

"It... kinda sounds like it would be. I mean, with all the subway and sewers and stuff...
"Anyway. The museum's got an artifact that brings all the exhibits to life at night - came in with a pharaoh in the '50s. You haven't lived until you've been chased by a dinosaur skeleton."
...It just wanted to play fetch, yes, but still.

[young_tmriddle]

"I wonder if it's a magical artifact from my world? Though I'd think the officials of Wizarding New York would have taken care of it quickly. That's what happens when magical artifacts slip into the Muggle population in England."

[snap_time]

Larry shrugs. "Could be possible. I don't think many people actually know what the thing does. I'm not in the habit of spreading the word at home, unless I really trust someone. Even then, both of 'em needed to see it in action first."

[young_tmriddle]

"It must make things terribly interesting in your museum."

[snap_time]

"Oh, it does. The previously mentioned dinosaur just wants to play fetch, so these days there's less chasing me and more chasing its own rib. And it's less chaotic than it was when I started. Biggest problem at the moment's a couple statues of explorers arguing over how to map the place."

[young_tmriddle]

"Arguing? Can they not decide where to begin?"

[snap_time]

"I think it's somewhere between that and the fact that the museum's already got maps of its own, so they can't decide whether to call it a lost cause before they start, or try to show the new kids on the block a thing or two about cartography."

[young_tmriddle]

He shakes his head. "Sure you don't want something stronger in that cocoa? Sounds like you need it."