A bar in Baltimore | Friday Night

[knife_bender]

Diego was a pretty simple guy. He didn't require anyone to go all out for a bachelor party, which was why he was fairly confident Luther could pull it off without it being a complete disaster.

There was a bar. There was karaoke at said bar, and the added benefit of there being arcade games at said bar. Perfect way to get a bunch of dudes hammered the night before a good chunk of them had to leave on a trip overseas.

[For the dudes who better get off their ass and sing. Hold for some OCD We're good to go!]

Comments

Re: Bar

[pocketpretzels]

Please, contain your shock at the fact that Watts was starting his night off with a glass of wine.

Re: Bar

[carrythemwithme]

"Non, non," Frenchie was tsking as he wandered over and placed a neat shot of whiskey in front of Watts. "You cannot drink wine while the rest of us are undignified monsters, my new friend."

He didn't know Watts, sure, but to Frenchie, all strangers were generally just friends he hadn't been introduced to yet.

Re: Bar

[pocketpretzels]

"Nothing is stopping anyone else from also drinking a perfectly dignified glass of wine," Watts pointed out.

He was going to put it aside for a moment to down that shot, though. Because refusing it would just be rude. "Llewellyn Watts," he introduced himself, sticking out a hand once he put the empty shot glass back down on the bar. "Detective. Just Watts is fine." Preferred, actually.

Re: Bar

[carrythemwithme]

"Serge," he returned, shaking the offered hand with a bright, eager smile. "But you, Watts -- please call me Frenchie. Everyone else does."

This group was huge on nicknames, for some reason. At least the origin of Frenchie's was probably pretty obvious, given his accent.

Re: Bar

[pocketpretzels]

"All right, Mr., ah- Frenchie," Watts said. "My thanks for the drink. I'm certain I'll repay the favour at some point tonight."

Re: Bar

[carrythemwithme]

"M'sieur Frenchie," he corrected playfully. "Watts, mon ami, I will hold you to that -- though if I have any say in it, we will soon lose count of drinks and who owes who what."

At least Uber was one of those apps that existed across multiple universes, so Frenchie already had it all set on his phone to make sure they all got home.

Re: Bar

[pocketpretzels]

"M'sieur Frenchie, of course," Watts replied with a wink. "And it's to be one of those parties, then?" Look, he'd never been to a bachelor party- er, this type of bachelor party- before, this was all a very new experience.

Re: Bar

[carrythemwithme]

"Naturellement." No, only kind of. Frenchie had been reined in. "It is Diego's -- how do you say -- last gasp of freedom! It is all balls and chains and misery and 'Honey, did you take out the trash?' from next Saturday until the end of his life, non?"

Frenchie, who actually knew the bride better than the groom, probably, was clearly joking.

(Though he still thought he should have been allowed to get a bunch of strippers. All kinds of strippers! He was the absolute opposite of picky!)

Re: Bar

[pocketpretzels]

Clearly joking or not, he was talking to someone who often had trouble discerning when someone was joking.

So yes, he was just going to squint at Frenchie for a beat or two. "Ah," he said finally, taking a sip of his drink. "Exaggeration. For comic effect."

Showed how far he'd come in two ways: one, that he could discern it was a joke at all, and two, that he didn't actually agree with the statement in all seriousness.

Re: Bar

[knife_bender]

"Hey, Boss," Diego greeted, looking down at the wine. "Starting it off very classy, I like it."

Re: Bar

[pocketpretzels]

Watts's expression was mildly surprised, because he was honestly used to people poking fun at him for his alcohol choices. "Yes, well. We'll see where the night takes us, won't we?" he said. He certainly didn't object to other drinks. Unless they were White Claw. None of that.

Re: Bar

[knife_bender]

"You might get bullied into taking a shot," Diego warned. "It's happened...three times already tonight."

Re: Bar

[pocketpretzels]

“I can handle a shot,” Watts assured him. “Or three.”

Re: Bar

[knife_bender]

"Good," Diego said. "The shots will help with the singing."

Or help you be totally uninhibited during the singing. Either/or.

Re: Bar

[pocketpretzels]

"So I hear," Watts said. "Miss January helped me decide on an appropriate song, as it happens. Since I am... significantly behind on what's considered popular."

Re: Bar

[knife_bender]

"Oh, yeah. Didn't really think about that." But Diego didn't tend to think things through in any situation. "Well, you picked a good person to go to. Annie's good at that kind of stuff. And she's a way better singer than me."

Re: Bar

[pocketpretzels]

"She did mention she'd done so professionally," Watts said with a nod. "So I'd imagine she's a sight better than most."

Re: Bar

[hasaknightjob]

Steven bumped shoulders with him. "Doing all right?"

Re: Bar

[pocketpretzels]

Watts beamed at him, not quite drunk but clearly pleasantly buzzed. "M'good," he confirmed. "You? It's a lot of new people all at once." Which was usually what overwhelmed Watts, but given that for once he actually knew more people present than Steven did, he felt it best to check.

Re: Bar

[hasaknightjob]

Steven noted Llewellyn's state and decided to pace himself so at least one of them could find their way home that night. (Especially since he'd never hear the end of it if the one in question turned out to be Marc.)

"All right so far," Steven said. "Met some nice people."

Of course Steven hadn't met everyone yet. Hopefully he wasn't jinxing himself to accidentally offend someone.

"You?" Steven asked.

Re: Bar

[pocketpretzels]

Hey now, he wasn't planning on getting wasted... on the other hand, general unfamiliarity with modern cities still, so perhaps Steven had the right of it. Though he'd only had to tug him back from accidentally stepping into oncoming traffic once on their way over here.

"Mr- sorry, Monsieur Frenchie over there seems all right," Watts nodded towards him. A beat. "For a Frenchman."

Re: Bar

[hasaknightjob]

Steven looked where Llewellyn indicated. He hadn't met Frenchie yet, though on the plus side they had at least two languages in common.

"He's not from the island, is he?" Steven asked. "I imagine he'd be handy for that holiday they're doing."

Re: Bar

[pocketpretzels]

Watts shook his head. "Friend of Miss January's," he explained. "We should go to Paris sometime. City of light." He frowned. "... Wait." That didn't seem right.

Re: Bar

[hasaknightjob]

"I'd love going to Paris with you." Steven wanted to brush his fingers against Llewellyn's hair but restricted himself to bumping shoulders again. "The museums. The wine."

It was a sign of Steven's love he remembered the wine.

Re: Bar

[pocketpretzels]

"It's good wine," Watts agreed happily. "Good museums, too. I'm sure they've updated an exhibit or two since I've been last..."