Bartending

[markedcard]

It's been a while since Merlin was in Milliways, but that doesn't stop a politely worded napkin request once he's made it to the counter. One he finds agreeable. Bar is kind enough to produce a book of drinks, and after skimming through it, he dutifully marks them up on the board.

Today's Specials
Unicorn
The Dragon
StardustSatisfied with his

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[ostro_goth]

"Greetings," Teja says to the young man who reminds him both of Eirene's lover, and of long-lost Merlin, the Amberite.

"I would try one of those drinks, but not one with vodka in it."

[markedcard]

"Your best bet is the Stardust, then. It's the only one lacking vodka as an ingredient," replies the not-so-long-lost Merlin. Helpfully.

[ostro_goth]

Ahhhh - but Teja does not know that this is, indeed, Merlin. He had not given his name when they spoke before.

"I will drink that, then," he says.

[markedcard]

"Hope so, since you're ordering it."

It doesn't take long to gather the somewhat colorful ingredients, mix, shake and pour the finished product into a glass for the sombre goth. He's kind enough to resist putting a tiny umbrella in.

[ostro_goth]

"Indeed," Teja says. "I have never yet ordered a drink merely to pour it away."

A tiny umbrella would, indeed, not be a good idea. It would engender Gothy sarcasm, most likely ending on the words '... not invented in my time!'

[markedcard]

"If you do, that's your business. People do stranger things all the time than pour out recently ordered drinks."

Merlin would probably say something like time is relative.

[ostro_goth]

But Teja sips his drink, peaceably enough. "It is good," he says, "it would be a shameful waste to pour it away."

Oh, Merlin has no idea how relative time has become for Teja: - he has a house in 2009, and a lover from 2059. Still, he can be stubbornly conservative at times.

[markedcard]

People are a product of their upbringing and subsequent experiences, and, he's found, if said experiences are far afield of what's safe and known, then most of the time the old is embraced instead of the new.

"Good deal."

[ostro_goth]

One must have one's cultural ground to stand upon, of course; even if it is tiny things, like small umbrellas (or their lack) in drinks.-

Teja sips his drink. "So you got used to this place, did you, and no longer think that tricks are being played upon you?"

[markedcard]

Must one?

"Something like that. The fantastic is seen in a completely mundane light here." Which is nice for him.

[ostro_goth]

One must. The constant need to reinvent the wheel and oneself is disorienting to most.

"It is," Teja says. "After one has spoken to a dragon, visited worlds of the future, and been a cat, nothing can be very strange any more."

Except, maybe, little umbrellas in drinks.

[markedcard]

Unless one embraces change like animals embrace things to hunt.

"That's true. Is there a dragon here?"

Little umbrellas and miniature weapons.

[ostro_goth]

Miniature weapons in his drink would make Teja laugh!

"There is," Teja says. "His name is Kédra. We have made music together: he sang in his dragon way, and I played my harp."

[markedcard]

"Huh." Merlin isn't sure how to take that. Most dragons of his acquaintance know he isn't human, something about the way he smells, so some thinking will have to be done before he approaches the beast in residence here.

"Must sound pretty cool."

[ostro_goth]

"It was amazing music, that I would not have thought of by myself," Teja says.

Pause.

"It was quite some time ago; but I have seen him again, upon occasion."

[markedcard]

"I suppose dragons do that."

Beat.

"Be amazing, I mean."