Pog Mahone's Irish Pub, Mainland, Maryland, Monday Afternoon

[not_every_mage]

This was quite possibly the tackiest Irish-themed tavern in America, Anders mused as he waited for the bartender to fill his order. It wasn't even a culture from his world, but he felt offended on behalf of the poor Irish whose culture was being reduced to beer posters, green lights and plastic shamrocks stuck on everything that would hold them. But the music wasn't too painful and the bartender took a lenient attitude toward the underaged, so it was where Edward and Anders had ended up.

It was still fairly quiet in the bar, though Anders suspected it wouldn't be once Happy Hour started and the drinks got cheaper. He wasn't one to complain about either cheap drinks or crowded bars, so that was hardly a negative.

He brought the round back to the table and passed a pint of something black and bitter over to his companion. "Cheers."

[OOC: For he who is named in the post.]

Comments

[not_every_mage]

"About the same. Work, eating, sleeping, spending time with Nathan, gardening for Professor Reno's class if you can believe it," Anders ticked off. "I was mad last weekend but so was half the school. Apparently we're just supposed to accept it."

[doesnotkneel]

"I did hear some odd noises that weekend," Edward mused. "Thought that was just Barry mucking about, as he does."

[not_every_mage]

"I was some" -- Anders made a face at the word -- "wizard from England. He was horribly confused, a bit of a snob, and stuck with the name Albus to boot. You're lucky it missed you."

[doesnotkneel]

"Sounds it," Edward said, his brow furling into a confused frown. "Don't sound like it makes much sense to me, to be honest. Even for the island's standards."

[not_every_mage]

"Not at all," Anders said. "I'd call it possession but possession doesn't just clear up on its own, does it? I suppose we just have to trust the people who say nothing bad's going to happen."

[doesnotkneel]

"Suppose so," Edward said, and he would have ruminated on that more had the bartender not returned with two very large pints and matching shots. "...But here we are, then."

He squinted. "I suppose we put the shots in the drinks...?"

[not_every_mage]

"I guess?" Anders looked equally mystified. "Won't it splash?"

[doesnotkneel]

The bartender rolled his eyes. Kids. "You drop the shot in the drink, mix it, then drink it as quick as you can," he said, before stomping off to brood over the other side of the bar.

Edward shrugged and lifted his shot. "You heard the man. See it as an adventure."

[not_every_mage]

"And we were just complaining about a lack of them," Anders said, and -- with a dubious look -- added the cream to the stout and swirled to get it to mix.

It looked brown and vaguely forbidding. Feeling a bit like he was back in potions class, Anders lifted the glass to his mouth and took a small neat sip.

"It's better than most potions, I'll give it that much."

[doesnotkneel]

"It's drink, of course it is," Edward said merrily. "And I don't think you're supposed to sip it, mate."

He demonstrated by taking a gulp of his own-- then he pulled a face. "Oh, that is nasty."

He didn't sound like he minded.

[not_every_mage]

"Maybe it gets better if you're used to it," Anders said, and took two larger swigs in fast succession. "No. It doesn't."

Though of course he was going to finish it either way.

[doesnotkneel]

"I think it gets better when you finish it," Edward said, which was just a good reason to keep on chugging. "I really do."

[not_every_mage]

"And even better after you finish two or three?" Anders guessed, and took a rather determined swallow of his. "Hmmm. It's not quite as bad now that I've had half."

[doesnotkneel]

"The trick is to keep going," Edward said sagely, from his great plateau of knowledge some two-thirds into his own drink. "And you might want to keep going fast before the cream curdles."

[not_every_mage]

"That would be a tragedy," Anders said, glaring at the glass as if it had personally offended him. And then he drained the rest in a single gulp and let out a long, satisfied sigh.

"I think I'm sad it's gone."

[doesnotkneel]

"It is very tragic, isn't it?" Edward said, staring sadly at his own glass. "Barkeep! Another!"

[not_every_mage]

"Make it two," Anders called, then laughed a little as he turned bacy to Edward. "If I drop dead trying to keep up with you, say good things at my funeral."

[doesnotkneel]

Edward let out a laugh of his own. "Ah, I'll try not to tell anyone about how you died because you were a lightweight," he teased. "Three pints, I won't say, three pints and poor Anders made it to the floor."

[not_every_mage]

"I was assuming you weren't going to stop at three," Anders said, a smile crinkling the corner of his eyes. "But thanks for worrying about my honor."

[doesnotkneel]

"Your honor is incredibly important to me," Edward said.

It was not.

"Four pints? Five?"

[not_every_mage]

Anders snickered.

"Once I put away a good third of a bottle of Antivan brandy," he shared. "And then puked all over a templar's boots. It was a stellar day all around."

[doesnotkneel]

Edward thought about it. "Six pints," he said at last. "My friend Anders would like to go six pints before getting sick all over the boots of someone disagreeable. I think that's fair."

[not_every_mage]

"Six is a respectable number," Anders agreed. "I could even skip the vomit this time. As I recall, the cleaning up after wasn't as fun as you'd think."

[doesnotkneel]

"Are you sure?" Edward said, grinning.

The bartender put another glass and shot glass in front of him. "I'm certain that given enough time, we'd be able to find someone disagreeable."

Anders was so going to end up puking on someone's shoes tonight. Edward's own honor depended on it.

[not_every_mage]

"I'm certain that given that many of these, we'd decide anyone around us was disagreeable," Anders said, grimacing as he mixed his second car bomb. "Probably they'd deserve it, too. A lot of people are twats."

[doesnotkneel]

"Entirely true," Edward said, dumping the shot back into his own pint. "'Course, we could also look into one of those tiny fruit drinks you were mentioning after this."

He just preferred to be drunk enough to think that was a good idea, first.

[not_every_mage]

"That really would turn my stomach," Anders said, sounding strangely pleased by the possibility. "Y'know what, though? I'll do it. 'Cause trying new things is good for you."

[doesnotkneel]

Edward grinned at him. "See?" he said, reaching out to give Anders a firm pat on the back. "That's what I like to hear! Trying new things. A whole new frontier."

Which involved half-emptying the pint he currently had down his gullet.