1000_cranes | (no subject)

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The doors are closed and locked and it's just the two of them, a bowl of soapy water ont he bar. Charlie's stopped before cleaning, sat down on a stool with her shoes kicked off and her chin cradled in her hand. She's pulled the pins out of her hair and it's tumbled around her face. Cadi's with Geoffrey so she knows that she can relax. She arches an eyebrow.

"Okay, let's start easy," she says. "Screwdriver, please."

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"That one has...vodka," Jon said, pulling that bottle out and setting it on the bar. There was a juice involved, as well, and on a lark he reached for orange juice.

"Hope it isn't the mango. Orange, yes? Vodka and orange?"

"Vodka and orange," says Charlie, with a bright grin, reaching up to twist her hair back from her face. "You're doing better, handsome."

"I do try," Jon said, half-grinning while he fixed the drink and fiddled with the bit of orange to make something approaching a garnish. That was something that was expected in these modern taverns, apparently.

"In Westeros, you're lucky to have a clean tankard to take your ale in. We've never put bits of fruit on our drinks."

"Well, we don't really do that kind of thing in Midland, either, but we're all livin' on a magic island now, so something's got to give."

She manages to keep a straight face while she's watching him fiddle but it's a close run thing.

Once he finished with the drink, he pushed it along to Charlie with a little more flourish than what came to him naturally. It was a new thing, bartending, and Jon was trying to embrace it for all it was worth.

"There you are, milady. One screwdriver."

"Well, I wish I had, like, a gold star or something," she says, taking a sip from the drink. She coughs before she can catch it - it's a little strong, but that won't hurt.

"Are you going to have a drink with me?"

"I could have one, yes," Jon said, pouring his own screwdriver. It was a bit lighter and fruitier than he would have liked on his own but drinking with someone else always meant a bit of compromise.

"To...learning, then?"

"I prefer beer, if I'm honest,but it doesn't hurt to branch out, does it?" she says, taking a sip from the glass before she raises it to him.

"To learning. And new friends?"

"And new friends," Jon agreed. "It's not really all that bad, considering," he said, looking at the glass with its silly garnish and light, airy drink. So much different from the taverns he was used to.

"Not something I'd order outright, though."

"And what would you order?" asks Charlie managing to keep her expression wide-eyed and innocent. "What does a big, ole sword-wielding fella like you do for fun where you come from?"

"I would probably drink cider or ale. My brother, Robb, has a cider mill here on the island."

It was amazing, actually, and Jon was hard-pressed to remember ever having anything better.

"Sometimes mulled wine, too, especially if it was a bitterly cold day."

"We serve Robb's cider here sometimes," says Charlie, nodding. "I've been drunk on it more than once."

She takes another swallow of her drink.

"Totally worth it until the headache kicked in."

"I've never gotten a headache from the cider," Jon said, laughing a bit. "Now, wine? Wine tends to do terrible things to me. I can't ever drink too much of it."

"Don't get me started," says Charlie, rolling her eyes. "Really, I ought to stick to beer, but I've never got the sense." She raises her eyebrow. "I've always behaved terribly, too. Can't help it. It's like flippin' a damn switch."

"Alcohol can do that to a person," Jon said sagely. He thought, of course, of King Robert Baratheon, whose taste for wine ultimately did him in.

"I've always been able to hold my cups well, though, so there's that."

"Well, that's that then," says Charlie, straightening up on her stool as though she's made a decision. "Next time I get wasted, you're in charge of making sure I get home. Especially now Ianto's not around."

"Send you home and make sure the little one's settled in too," Jon said, shaking his head once in affirmation. "Least I can do, since you gave me a job."

Jon always remembered kindnesses, few and far between as they were when he was back in Westeros.

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