(Untitled)

[mr_gaeta]

"I can't. I'm sorry," says Gaeta when the napkin appears at his elbow, right next to the pages he's been filling with neatly-penned notes. "Not tonight."

Don't give me that, buster. You and I both need a break, reads the next napkin -- and before Gaeta can protest further, Bar snatches up his notebook. It vanishes into thin air as she adds, You'll

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[killitwith_fire]

"Something spicy," Axel says, to the bartender's question.

[mr_gaeta]

"...Nothing more specific than that?"

Gaeta isn't the most experienced bartender Milliways has ever seen, and the vast majority of the alcohol on the shelves doesn't come from the Colonies. Recommendations, let alone making drinks up off the top of his head, aren't exactly his strong suit.

Still, preemptively, he reaches for another book of cocktail recipes.

[killitwith_fire]

Axel shrugs a little, and then points.

"I get good results from the stuff on that shelf. But I'm good with surprises," he adds.

[mr_gaeta]

Gaeta looks to where he's pointing. Red Savina Liqueur, says one medium-sized bottle.

He isn't sure what red savina is, but the multitude of flames and warning labels all over the bottle look promising. (And slightly worrisome. Just how spicy does this man want?)

"How about this?" he asks as he retrieves it.

[mr_gaeta]

"That's all right, ma'am," he reassures her. "Just give me one minute."

At least coffee's not too hard to frak up. He fetches a canister advertising itself as THE FINEST COFFEE ON GAMMA-6!, measures out a few scoops into the nearby coffee machine, and sets it to percolating.

(A few of the settings available on this particular coffee machine: Extra-Crispy, Airplane Swill, and Molten Lava. Gaeta hopes the "Tasting Faintly of Artificial Hazlenut" setting will turn out something decent.)

As he waits for it to finish, he eyes Elle, thinking. "I'm sorry," he says at last. "I know we've met, but I can't remember your name."

[mr_gaeta]

"Felix Gaeta. Pleasure."

The eyeing doesn't entirely stop, especially when a few more memories drift back to the surface.

Gaeta might not remember her name, but he remembers what she can do.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"My tab's not actually very high at the moment," says the young woman in the strategically reinforced blue-and-gold jumpsuit. "And I'm not really all that good at making up stories, anyway. Can I get something anyway?"

[mr_gaeta]

"Sure, that isn't a problem at all. It just won't be free," he adds, a touch apologetic. "What would you like?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Oh, that's okay. I've still got some caps, I can afford a Nuka-Cola," says Ellen. "The regular kind, not the Quantum. Thank you, sir."

[mr_gaeta]

"I'm sorry, could you repeat that, please?"

Gaeta has a sinking feeling that he was supposed to understand all of that.

[venusadept_2]

"Do you have any idea how expensive it is, playing host to a dragon? Especially when he follows you in here and wants to try one of everything?"

In point of fact, (this) Felix's tab is pretty low. That doesn't stop him from trying - and failing - to come up with a good story.

[mr_gaeta]

Gaeta quirks a small smile. "I'm surprised the dragon can fit through the front door," he remarks.

This could be taken as an invitation to fabricate even more!

[venusadept_2]

Felix shrugs a little. "My world's dragons - the normal ones, anyway - tend to be just a bit over eight feet high, and they're pretty flexible."

This is not fabrication. At least, not on the pup's part. The flexibility of video-game enemies is often difficult to judge.

[mr_gaeta]

Gaeta considers this with all the gravity it deserves.

"All right," he says, finally. The smile broadens a touch. "I'll give it to you. What would you like?"

[friend_of_lucy]

"I.i keep forgetting to pay it and usually find myself with books when I find myself here. Also for something called Mardi Gras, she took away my hooves and I was cold."

Tumnus is perhaps not the best at stories but he's trying.

[mr_gaeta]

"Your...?"

Frowning, Gaeta leans over the bar.

Oh, look at that. Hooves.

(He's seen those hooves before, hasn't he? The not-quite-a-man looks familiar, anyway.)

[friend_of_lucy]

Perhaps, Tumnus is always passing in and out of the Bar,

"Yes, I'm a Faun. Does that mean my story isn't good enough?"

[mr_gaeta]

"Um."

The faun seems so earnest, and nervous besides, that Gaeta's finding it hard to say no entirely.

"How about drinking for half price?"