Foaly's earpiece rang softly. A special line, only for his best friends. He shook his head slightly and answered a call.
"Hello, stallion! What do you think about having a beer after a shift?
"I can not refuse, Commander, it's not polite!" centaur answered enthusiastically, rubbing his hands. "See you at Drunken Troll at six."
"No, pony. You know, I do not leave Polis Plaza before half past six. And I have to wait for Grub, he will dawdle for another twenty minutes. We'll come at seven. Do not forget to call Number One. Ash wouldn't go, he has a date with his new girlfriend. Will Caballine come? Or today we'll have a men's party again?"
"She will. I'll also invite Holly, do you mind?"
"Sure! Frond, we sit next door, and it seems I saw her face last Thursday! I hate this job!"
"I hate it even more. Okay, Trouble, see you soon!" Foaly said with a rush and hang up. The red dot in Greenland was flickering on the screen. One of his magical activity sensors were emitting an alarm signal.
He opened the window of detailed data for the hundredth time, and gazed at the columns of figures. He had to admit that his system was out of order. Broken. All the data from the probes was a complete nonsense. "I'll think about it tomorrow," he said to himself, leaving the Ops and heading to the exit. He was already dreaming of pleasant evening with his best friends.
When Foaly entered a dim bar, he thought that he had come first. But looking closely he noticed Caballine at their favorite place by the window. She waved her hand greeting him.
''Hey, genius, and where all the others?''
''Trubs and Grub will appear at seven, Number One said that he will come straight from his magical classes, and Holly will probably be late for another half an hour, she always changes if you are around, she wants to put up a good show in front of such a beauty! Ash does not come, he has another date.''
Caballine looked down and said quietly:
"And Kelp brothers never have dates..."
"So what? Would you like them to moon after girls like Ash? No, thanks. That's why I like them! Kelp brothers are always here, always with us! No girls! What is wrong, dear?!"
Caballine looked at her husband with a mixture of sadness and surprise.
"I knew that you are a blind smug, but… Did not you think that they are lonely sometime, that they needed support, especially Trouble? And the funniest thing is that everything was going smoothly with him and Holly until you got between them!''
''Who, me? You asked me to study up how that date went!''
''By "studying up how that date went," I meant that you will retell all the details to me only, and not putting them on your idiotic site! Especially: "Trouble Kelp kissed me as if he was kissing for the first time in my life!" part. Of course, it came to his ears! And of course he was furious! How could he know that she was not the one who had posted these details on the web!''
"But my idea of flirting with Lili was just great! Number One said that Holly was jealous!"
"It was a bad idea. Holly was embarrassed, and when Trouble decided to stop putting an act on Lili, she had thrown her purse into his face in front of half of the Haven. Frond, I do not understand why he did not bury you alive when he found out who was the culprit!"
"He swore he would do it as soon as he found a replacement for me. As you can see, he have not found it in five years."
"He just had the generosity to forgive you, you blockhead. He even managed to restore good relations with Holly and Lili after all this story, although I thought that it was impossible."
"Holly was reconciled with him because she needed help in rehabilitation of Artemis. We could bring a clone to the surface imperceptible, but that was impossible to carry all that medical equipment and warlocks to recover mudboy's memory, so she had to tell him everything. He was not as angry as he could, just knocked over a table with a cry "God damn your mudboy!"
Caballine rolled her eyes. That was her husband, who rushes to the place where fanfare sounded and quietly disappears, if something goes wrong.
The conversation was interrupted by a noise at the entrance: both Kelp brothers tried to enter the bar door at the same time. At the end the elder brother twisted yongers hand and dragged him to the table ignoring the accompaniment of whining: "It hurts, Troub, I'll tell Mummy!" At the table Trouble released Grub, and both burst out laughing, but a few blue sparks slipped off the younger brother's fingers when he rubbed his hand. Trouble slumped into a rough wooden chair, and clutched his head. He was still wearing his dark blue jumpsuit, but he unclasped a cluster of golden acorns. His black short-cropped hair stood on end.
"Frond, how tired I am! Foaly, check your witless devises in Greenland! I can't ignore it anymore! You say it's "nonsense", but on my control panel there is an alarm signaling of emergency, the Council drums me into years that I do nothing. I'm not going to send my Retrieval commandos to deal with your crazy tins! If you won't solve the problem before Monday, I'll make a rug out of your motheaten skin.''
Foaly raised his hands:
"Sir, excuse me, sir! It will not happen again, sir! Guys, we're not here to discuss problems, so from this moment don't say a word about the work!''
''We are here to have a glass of beer, and not to discuss all sorts of stupid things that make me sick!'' Grub said, and raised his hand to call the waiter.
"Yes ladies and gentlemen?" asked the sprite.
''Three Guinness and nettle beer for the lady'' answered Foaly.
"And a glass of water, please." joined the quiet voice of a demon.
''Hi Number One! Any success in practical magic?''
''Oh, Trouble, there's no any! I can't make a good golem at all, they're so small and weak! The last one, on my order to break the wall, said that he wants to plant flowers. I'm not myself last couple of weeks, I do not sleep well and often see nightmares. Qwan says that I'm overtired.''
Commander gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder:
"You really work too hard, that's for sure! You need to rest. Do you want me to write you a permit to the surface?''
''Oh, no, Trouble, thanks, don't disturb yourself! I don't get tired, I just ... I don't know, maybe I'm just upset because all this problems with that spell...''
Grub put his hand on the shoulder of the young demon:
"You're too critical of yourself! You need to rest well!''
Number One smiled at the elf and thanked:
"That's what I'm going to do today! Thank you for inviting me!''
When Holly appeared, friends were already drinking a second glass.
''Sorry guys! The thoroughfare. There were two lanes down.''
Everyone burst out laughing as it was Holly's favorite excuse since she started her career. Trouble pushed his brother and moved himself, freeing her some space, she took a chair beside him and smiled
"You look nice, Holly.'' Said the elf, raising his glass.
"What can not be said about you. I haven't seen you for a week and it seems that you haven't slept since then.''
''You are right...'' Commander put the glass on the table and rubbed his eyes. "How's your pet?"
''Artemis? Silent. We've talked almost half a year ago and I personally saw him last year just before Samhain. After ''reincarnation'' he became extremely smart but still an ordinary person. Foaly was unable to replicate his brilliant brain.''
"Holly, I'm sorry, but it's not really my fault! His genius was not only innate abilities, but also a combination of characteristics of individual development! And what conditions did the clone had? He was growing up in a deprivation environment!''
''Oh. Please, shut up. I've heard that for a thousand times already! So, our friend fills in the gaps in education. His mind is now needed by mankind even more than ever.''
Trouble nodded.
''Finally, he can apply himself for something useful.''
Holly gave her friend a reproachful look. Even after all these years, Commander did not have any good feelings for the young man. But now he at least stopped despising him. Maybe in another five years when Artemis becomes a man, Trouble will treat him in a more friendly way. Holly sighed and looked down. Unlike the Commander, she was very sad for that, ''previous'' Artemis. He was not a saint, but something very important disappeared along with the body that was buried in the meadow, and she was thinking not only of her hazel eye, which gave Artie some magic. Deep in her heart she hoped that one day this elusive part of her friend would return and everything will fall into place.
They chat for another hour, when Number One got up and say goodbye to his friends, he had his classes early next day. Grub volunteered to walk him home. Half an hour later Trouble rose up, saying that he also needed some rest. He suggested Holly to accompany her, but the she shook her head and said that for Foaly and Caballine it would be much more convenient to walk with her their part of the way. Elf said goodbye to the company, paid at the counter and left.
When the door closed behind him, Foaly immediately began whine that he was not appreciated by his superior and he was working very hard and nobody noticed it. Holly and Caballine exchanged glances and expressed the idea that it was time for them all to go back home. Foaly was annoyed but he didn't want to contradict his wife. Barman said that Holly's bill was already paid by a man who leaved five minutes earlier. She smiled. Trouble always did this if he left first, because all the rest of the time Holly desperately resisted for his courtship.
Foaly and Caballine walked Holly home and wished goodnight.
It was their last peaceful evening altogether.