In Which the Girls Get Drunk and Xanaria Has to be Pulled Away From a Diner

It wasn't long before they found themselves in a quiet bar. It was clean, if a little shabby. The lights were clear, but not glaring. The bartender looked up as they entered and a smile lit his face. "Dani! It's been a while! We got a new beer in, brewed in small batches by a couple in C, would you like to give it a try?"

Xanaria smiled back, "Sure, sounds good..."

Liam. Dani supplied grudgingly.

"Liam." Xanaria finished smoothly. "And one for my friend. On my tab."

Liam nodded and before long they were seated in a little corner table with two tall beers. They tasted awful, but they did the job.

Xanaria watched Justina's shoulders begin to loosen and bit back a relieved smile. She knew her friend was in a lot of pain, but she wasn't sure how to help. This seemed like a good start though.

"You know," Xanaria mused, "All this running around to wildly different places reminds me of those bedtime stories; with the fox, and the boy, and the magic portal. Except without the heavy handed morals."

Justina raised an eyebrow. "I don't think I know that one. How does it go?"

"Maybe they're just in my metaverse. There must be dozens of them. There's a boy, his name is Jack because it's always Jack when you have a clever boy for a hero."

"A lot of our fairy tales do that too."

"He gets lost, but he finds a magic ring that can open portals in the air. Unfortunately it recharges slowly and he can't steer it. He goes all sorts of places. Some of the stories are funny like the one where he appears in the middle of a festival and accidentally gets crowned the king. Some are sad, like when he appears in a burning forest and he has to spend days trying to hide from and outrun the fire but it keeps popping up again. Finally the ring is recharged just as he's running full speed trying to reach a lake before a blaze catches him. The fox tells him to wait until he's in the lake to use it but he's scared and tired so he opens a portal right away and runs through. The fire follows him and burns down the town he comes out in.

Most of them are less extreme, though. And he has this fox with him who can talk and gives him advice. Alas, he's a bit of an idiot and always ignores the fox the first time. Things go badly but he listens the next time the fox tells him something, and he wins the day."

"Does he ever get home?"

"Oh, yeah. There's at least three different versions of that one. Oddly enough, only one tells how it all began."

"Will you tell me one?"

"Sure. Let me know when you need another refill. So, once upon a time there was a boy named Jack who…"

Xanaria told the story well with practiced ease and an exaggerated tone of condescension that had Justina giggling before long.

When Xanaria finished the story she grinned and downed the last swallow of her drink.

"Some of them are a little heavy handed, but when I was a child I loved those stories. What are the stories like from your home?"

"Oh, similar in a lot of ways. Although the details are different."

"Tell me one?"

"Yeah okay, um." Justina paused. "Wow, I suddenly can't think of anything. I mean, besides Disney movies. But those... aren't quite right I think. Give me a moment?"

"Of course, let me just get us some more drinks."

Back at the bar Xanaria was able to get Liam's attention easily.

"Hey," He smiled. "Ready for another?"

"Yeah, my friend wanted to try something different though." She scanned the drinks list on the wall behind him.

~Any suggestions?~ She thought tentatively.

Dani ignored her pointedly. So Xanaria picked something at random that looked relatively cheap and harmless. "Could we get two Blueberry Blitzs?"

Liam blinked twice. "Ah, sure Dani…"

Huh, Dani snorted, Well, I do deserve to be punished.

~Wait, are they bad?~

Dani didn't accepted the small purple drinks when they arrived and returned quickly to their corner.

"Here you are." She set them gently on the table. "I think they might be a bit strong. Also after this we should probably change bars, I think Liams starting to notice there's something odd going on with me."

That boy has always been too perceptive for my good.

"Ah, I think Dani agrees. We should drink these first, though. It would look pretty weird to cut and run without trying them. Have you thought of a story?"

"Yeah, there's a fairy tale called Tatterhood. It was one of my favorites growing up, I always asked my mom to read it to me. It's… Celtic, I think? Irish or something. So, it's got a badass heroine instead of a meek little bride in training like they usually do." Justina took a sip and her eyes went wide. "Woah. That is… that is something. Take it slow."

Xanaria eyed her own glass distrustfully. "Is it bad?"

"Yes." Justina nodded emphatically, but then cocked her head. "But also…" She took another sip and then winced. "Yes. It's bad. I'm going to keep it anyway."

Xanaria took a sip and gagged at the combination of sticky sweet, bitter sour, and lots of alcohol. She pushed it away a little resolving not to have anymore. "So, Tatterhood, huh? I like the name."

Justina smiled. "Yes. So, once upon a time there was a Queen…"

As the story went on Justina grew more and more animated. She found a spoon somewhere and brandished it energetically, to illustrate the story. She mimed fighting off trolls and casting spells. When she got to the end she set it on the table with a flourish.

"That is a great story." Xanaria grinned reaching out to put a hand over Justina's manically drumming fingers. "Also I think there's some kind of stimulant in that drink." She added eyebrows drawing together as she looked at both empty glasses now sitting in front of Justina.

"I think you might be right! I do feel a little like I chugged a redbull or two!"

"Shall we relocate now? Find somewhere new?"

"I think that is an excellent idea!"

With a nod to Liam they stood and headed out the door. There was a wide variety of bars and restaurants off this hallway. After a few minutes of walking Xanaria pointed to one.

"How about that one?"

Justina looked at the sign and then shook her head. "Anything called a 'club' will probably have loud music and dancing people. We need something smaller."

"If you see one called Becklin's Bar, Dani thinks they're pretty good. But she won't tell me how to get there."

Becklin's, or the coolant drain off they sell in the hold. It's not like it will change where we are come morning.

~Seriously, is there anything you want to-~

No. Drink. Let me be.

Xanaria stopped suddenly as something caught her eye. It wasn't anything special, just a simple sign above a plain door, like most of the places in this poorer section of the station. It wasn't even a bar. Justina, who had kept walking when Xanaria first stopped, returned.

"What is it?"

"I think we should go in here." Xanaria said slowly.

Justina frowned, "Joe's Diner? We're looking for booze, not french fries and milkshakes."

"I know, but…" Xanaria paused. She wasn't sure how to explain that something about this place felt important. Felt right.

Justina sighed, taking her arm and pulling her gently down the hallway. "How about we come back to it, okay? When we're done drinking and start thinking about how much the hangover's going to suck. We'll get Mozzarella sticks, hash browns, and all the soda we can drink, deal?"

"Okay…" Xanaria let herself be pulled but she kept looking over her shoulder until they turned a corner.

Not far down the hallway Justina saw one that looked perfect. She stopped suddenly pulling on Xanaria's arm.

"Oh! Oh! How about this one?" It was a door almost identical to the rest but with a small diamond shaped window in it, more decoration than most had along here. It's sign proclaimed it The Black Widow's Tavern. Through the window they could see what looked like a clean and relaxed room. Almost all the customers were women. The light wasn't bright, but it was warm.

"Alright." Xanaria said with approval.

They went in. Justina nodded to the woman behind the bar, who smiled back.

"What can I get you?"

"Got any ciders?"

"A couple." She allowed with a shrug. "Genuine thing is rather pricey this far from the nearest tree. I have something similar made of blackberries, though. Those don't need as much room as trees. Or so much water."

Justina saw the woman try to share a bemused look with Xanaria, and giggled.

"That sounds perfect! We'll take two blackberry pretend cider things." Justina grinned with way more enthusiasm that the statement deserved.

The woman twitched one eyebrow slightly but refrained from comment and turned pulling two bottles from somewhere.

"Thank you!" Justina sang out.

Xanaria put a hand on her arm. "A little less loud, maybe?"

"Oops." Justina giggled a little.

The woman behind the bar smiled and nodded at Xanaria respectfully. Xanaria nodded back, and as they turned away Justina thought she looked a little relieved. She's probably just glad she didn't need to try and talk like Dani.

They found a small table against one wall that felt relatively private. The couple two tables down the wall had obviously reached the same conclusion. They were holding hands and smiling into each other's eyes, adorable as anything. Xanaria flushed a little and carefully crossed so she had the seat facing away from the young couple.

The blackberry drinks were exceedingly good. Xanaria and Justina talked about stories and giggled over small things. Over Xanaria's shoulder Justina saw the blond girl steal a kiss, then look down at the table blushing while the brunette looked awestruck. She snorted softly. God, they're young.

Their conversation veered off to music and movies and plays. The young couple had gotten over their shyness and were making out with growing intensity.

After a while the energy spike from the purple drinks faded. Justina regretted finishing Xanaria's when she'd set it aside. They lapsed into a calm and happy silence.

The couple got up from their table and made their way out the door, arms around each other's waists and heads leaning together. Justina watched them go. Xanaria looked away.

Maybe it was the alcohol, or the quiet, or the trust they had built, but Justina found herself saying, "Xanaria, can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Who's the girl with the rabbit's ears?"

Xanaria choked, spraying the table with a mouthful of blackberry cider, "How did you…"

"Dreams. I think you're leaking through when I sleep."

"Ah."

Xanaria was silent for a while, rubbing the table with a napkin long after it was dry. Justina waited. The aftermath of the energy spike from the blue drinks it seemed was a sluggish sort of calm, she could wait until Xanaria was comfortable.

"Lupe. Her name... is Lupe. She's my best friend." Xanaria shook her head. "I suppose you already know. She was my love."

Xanaria peeked up at Justina, who nodded quietly with a peaceful smile, waiting for her to go on.

Xanaria smiled relieved. "Lupe was the most clever, fearless, and selfless person I have ever known. Her father had a farm up the river and she would send me pictures scratched in cherry bark by setting them afloat and hoping they would be caught up in my fathers irrigation gate. A lot of them didn't but she said it was more about the sending than the receiving anyway. The morning after I kissed her for the first time she sent me hundreds of little hearts. I was cleaning them up all day. Most of them weren't bark, she tore leaves into heart shapes and… I had run away afterward you see. I was scared I had destroyed everything. My Father thought it was funny. He didn't know what was happening but he told me I had better run along and reassure my friend I wasn't mad at her. He thought we had an argument because… Well, that doesn't really matter." Xanaria stumbled to a stop and bit her lip.

Justina, hoping it wasn't out of line, suggested, "Sometimes the best place to start is at the beginning. We have all the time we want."

Xanaria nodded slowly and took a gulp of her drink. "Right. The beginning. Well, our fathers were both farmers along the Whitetail River, in the land owned by Baron Grayson…"