Duke parked the duck-cycle. Mallory got off, removed her visor and eyed the small building they had arrived at. It looked old and neglected, and the sign, which was badly in need of a new paint job, said "Glass Half Empty". Somewhere nearby, a pack of dogs was barking incessantly as a motorcycle's roaring engine echoed through the streets.

Not that any of this was shocking. When Duke had invited her to join him for a friendly drink, he told her the place was rundown, but he had failed to mention exactly where it was. It just so happened to be in what was known as the bad side of Anaheim, where most of the buildings were old warehouses and the chances of getting mugged (or running into a rogue Saurian) were alarmingly high.

Mallory glanced at Duke. "So this is the place?"

"It's nicer inside," he said. "Somewhat."

Mallory didn't get her hopes up, but she had no intention of complaining. Duke opened the door for her with a humorous little bow. "Madame."

As they stepped inside, Mallory was immediately hit with the smell of cigarettes. The interior was more appealing than she expected, if only slightly, but practically empty. There were a couple of bikers at the pool table, who were too engaged in their game to notice the newcomers. The only other occupant was the bartender. He looked up from the glass he was polishing and, seeing the ducks, smiled politely. "Evening," he said.

"Hey, Hank," Duke replied.

"Be right with ya," said Hank.

Duke seated himself at a table in the corner, and Mallory sat across from him and looked around. The old paint on the walls was chipping in some places and gone completely in others, and she was almost positive she saw a rat disappearing into a dark corner. But aside from this, it was surprisingly tidy and, in some odd way, almost inviting.

"So, what do you think?" Duke asked her.

"Well," she said slowly, "it's definitely quiet."

Duke smiled, almost apologetically. "I just like the privacy, ya know?"

"Yeah, I get that. It's actually not that bad."

The light above them started flickering. Duke simply turned the bulb, and the flickering stopped. "Anyway, the drinks are good," he said. "And I'm buyin', of course."

"You don't have to do that."

"I invited you, drinks are on me."

"Yeah, but after today–"

"No, no, forget that. Please?" He looked at her intently, and she just nodded. "Now, what did you want?"

"I don't know. I might just get a soda or something."

"I thought the whole reason you rode with me was so you could drink."

"Yeah, I'm starting to rethink that."

"Well, I'm not sayin' go nuts or anything. You did say you'd take it easy."

"That's what I said at the Stanley Cup party, too. Remember?"

Duke chuckled. "I think everyone remembers, sweetheart." Mallory glared at him, blushing under her feathers, and he promptly wiped the smirk off his beak. "But that was champaign," he pointed out. "Maybe a little too much of it. Why don't you just get a beer? We could even split one if you want."

"I don't really like beer, though."

"Well, it's up to you."

Mallory sighed and thought for a moment. "Maybe I'll get a margarita," she concluded. "I've never had one of those."

"That's tequila," Duke said. "Think you can handle that?"

Mallory paused, then asked him quietly, "What exactly is tequila?"

"Are you serious?"

Before she could retort, Hank came up to them. He was a tall, burly man, completely bald with a graying goatee. "Well, well," he said, addressing Duke. "You finally brought a friend."

"Mal, this is Hank," said Duke. "He owns the place."

"And manages and serves," Hank added. "A pleasure, Miss McMallard."

Mallory, somewhat shocked by the warm welcome, accepted the hand he had extended to her. "Nice to meet you," she replied. "Are you a hockey fan?"

"Not until you showed up, I wasn't. Never thought I'd see aliens, never thought aliens would like hockey, of all things – or beer, for that matter. But then Duke wandered in here one night, and now he's one of my best customers. Strange world, isn't it?"

"I'm one of your best customers? That's just sad, Hank."

"It's true. You pay for your drinks, got proper etiquette. Can't tell ya how many troublemakers I've had to throw out of here."

"You know, some people don't really like to have us around," said Mallory. "At all."

"Well, that's a shame," said Hank. "I can tell you ducks have merit, probably more than most of the folks around here. I couldn't care less where you come from so long as you're civil. Now, what can I get for you?"

"I'll have my usual," said Duke. "Mal?"

"Uh..." Mallory gave him a questioning glance, and he just shrugged.

"Whatever you want."

"I guess I'll have a margarita," she told Hank.

"Excellent choice," he replied. "Be right back."

"He seems nice," Mallory remarked as he returned to the bar.

"Good old Hank," said Duke. "Feels weird to be welcome in a place like this, doesn't it?"

"Yeah. You know what I've realized?"

"What?"

"Most, but not all, of the humans are idiots."

Duke chuckled. "You've been hangin' out with Nosedive too much."

"Ugh, tell me about it."

Hank came back a minute later with a beer and a margarita and set them on the table. "Here ya are. On the house, by the way."

"Are you sure?" said Duke.

"How often do I get celebrities in here?" Hank replied. "You enjoy yourselves. Let me know if you want anything else."

"Thanks, Hank."

"Yeah, thanks."

"No problem."

Hank went back to the bar, and Duke waited as Mallory stared down at her drink. Then she took a small sip and her face contorted into a grimace. "Wow," she muttered.

Duke did his best not to grin. "You like it?"

"Yeah, it's great."

"Just out of curiosity, when was the last time you had a drink?"

"The Stanley Cup party."

"And before that?"

"Uh..."

"Okay, never mind. Just take it slow, will ya?"

"We did agree that you'd drive us back, didn't we?"

"Yeah, well, no offense, Mal, but you're on the dainty side of the lightweights, and I'm not takin' you anywhere on a duck-cycle if you get all..." Duke twirled his hair around his finger and made a high-pitched giggle. "All right?"

Mallory just gave him a blank stare. "Please don't ever do that again."

"Hey, I'm serious."

"Duke L'Orange, are you babying me?"

"You didn't know what tequila was a minute ago."

"Well, some of us aren't familiar with Earth's endless selection of drinks, okay?"

"And that's why I'm here."

Mallory glowered at him. "Look, if I start acting... weird... you can take this away from me. Deal?"

"Deal, and you'll thank me later."

"I'm thanking you now."

"Cheers, then?"

"Cheers."

Minutes dragged by. The two ducks chatted casually off and on about trivial things, and whatever tension that might have been lingering between them slowly melted away. Soon Duke was lounging in his chair and ranting about Nosedive's constant antics, which Mallory found amusing despite the day's events. But after a while, when they hit a pause in their conversation, she just stared silently down at her glass, seemingly deep in thought.

"What's on your mind, Mal?" Duke said.

"Do you think we'll ever get back home?" she asked seriously.

"'Course we will," he replied. "Why wouldn't we?"

"We destroyed the Raptor's generator."

"If Dragaunus managed to get an entire ship out of the water before we could get to it, I'm sure he can fix the generator."

"But what if he can't?"

"Well, there's gotta be another way back."

"It's Earth, Duke."

"I know. I know it's been hard for everyone lately. It's just– Can we forget about that right now? We're supposed to be havin' a good time."

"You're right. Sorry." Mallory sighed. "Drinks and weighty conversations don't go together, do they?"

"Eh, I wouldn't recommend it."

She took another sip of her drink, then asked suddenly, "Hey, how come you never call me 'kid'?"

Duke almost choked on the last of his beer before composing himself and looking at her oddly. "What?"

"You call Nosedive 'kid', and Tanya, and even Wildwing sometimes."

"It's just a nickname."

"But you never call me that, and Wildwing and Tanya are older than me."

"That's true," he said after a moment's thought.

"So...?"

Duke sighed deeply as he searched for the right words. "I don't know. I guess you always just seemed older – mentally, I mean. Ya know, you've always been independent. I knew that from the second I met you. Tanya and Wildwing are different. They're always doubtin' themselves, they need someone to keep 'em goin'. Usually that's me, and I love 'em for it. But you, you've never needed anyone, not like they do anyway..." He trailed off, then chuckled dryly. "You never needed me. Never looked to me for anything in the world. So, I guess to me, you're just... different. I don't see you as a kid, never did."

"Hm." Mallory stared down at the table, absently fiddling with her straw as she considered this.

"'Course," Duke added, "I'm still seventeen in my mind, so–"

"Well, that explains a lot."

He just laughed. "Nah. I like to think I'm young at heart, but not that young."

She chuckled quietly. Then she groaned and ran her hand over her face.

"How you doin'?" Duke asked her.

"My head feels so weird," she said.

"Good weird or bad weird?"

"Like Nosedive's flying the Aerowing inside it... and crashing."

"Okay, maybe you should stop there."

"I'm not even close to drunk, Duke."

"Did you wanna be?"

Mallory eyed her drink, then pushed it toward him. "Oh, take it. I don't even want any more."

He took her glass, noting with some amusement that she had only drank half, then took a sip for himself and set it by his empty bottle. The light above them flickered again, then it went out. Mallory glanced at it with minor annoyance, but Duke ignored this and looked around the bar. The bikers had left and they were now alone, save for Hank. "Well, looks like it's just us," he said. "Hey, you up for some 8-ball?"

"Mm-hmm." Mallory nodded, rubbing her temples, and stood up slowly. "You know, I think I'll pass on the margarita next time."

"Yeah, that might be for the best," Duke replied, steering her toward the pool table. As he set up the game, she planted her elbows on the table, resting her beak on her fists and staring off into space.

"Do you want somethin' else to drink?" he asked. "Like a soda, maybe?"

"I want water," Mallory said.

"Okay. Here, you can break." Duke gave her a cue and went to the bar. "Can I have some water, Hank?"

"Sure," he said. "How's your friend?"

"Uh, she's not much of a drinker."

There was a loud thud as Mallory knocked one of the balls off the table.

"I see," Hank said, handing him a glass of water. "Good luck."

"Thanks." Duke picked up the stray ball and gave the glass to Mallory. "Get a bit overzealous there, sweetheart?"

"You know I suck at pool," she said flatly. "Deal with it."

"Half a margarita – unbelievable," Duke muttered to himself. He took the other cue and lined up his shot. "Just try not to take my other eye out, all right?"

"No promises, patchy."

Duke gave a wry chuckle. "Did you just call me 'patchy'?" Mallory smirked at him, and he narrowed his eye in mock offense. "Well, I was gonna go easy on ya, but now..." He sunk the 9-nine ball in the side pocket. "You're goin' down."

They played several rounds. To no one's surprise, Duke won all of them. Mallory didn't seem to care, and aside from occasional small talk, neither of them said much.

Finally, though, as Duke was once again on his last turn, Mallory decided to break the silence. "So, is this where you go when you disappear?"

"Sometimes," he said, preparing to sink the 8-ball. "There's other places."

"Like where?"

He looked up. "You wanna see?"

Mallory glanced around, then leaned over the table and said in a low voice, "Is it somewhere nicer than here?"

"Eh, depends on your definition of nice."

"Why are you always so vague?"

Duke just smirked. "Keeps things interesting."

After a moment of thought, Mallory set her cue back on the table and started for the door. "All right, let's go."

"You up for a ride? It's kind of far."

"I don't have anywhere else to be."

"Hold up there, Mal." Duke sunk the 8-ball with a smug grin. "And I win. Again."

"Oh, shut up," Mallory grumbled.

"Good night, Hank," Duke said as he followed her out.

"Yeah, good night, Hank," Mallory said, waving to him cheerfully.

"'Night," said Hank. "Hey, maybe you can bring the whole team sometime, eh?"

"Yeah, I'll try," Duke replied.

He and Mallory returned to the duck-cycle. She put on her visor and placed her hands on his shoulders as he started the engine.

"You sure you're good to go?" he asked her.

"Do you think I'd get on if I wasn't?" she replied.

He regarded her for a moment. "Just hold on tight."

Mallory rolled her eyes, but she wrapped her arms around his waist anyway, and he drove off into the night.