Gabriel elbowed through few tavern patrons straight to the first free table. He was here for the second time this week already which was quite an accomplishment. Asgar, his friend and teacher, would be surely proud of him. Speaking of which ... before sitting down, Gabriel looked around to see whether red-haired wick was already here. He said he had few errands to do before coming to the tavern. Gabriel hopped he would be here soon since the last time he was here he met that guy, Burns, again; he very same guy who had destroyed his workshop a week ago. Gabriel felt his stomach shrink; the whole situation was not a pleasant memory. Although, believe it or not, it had its positive side; his workshop had been cleaned again after a long time. And it seemed bigger too, without all the statues.

Anyway, it was his birthday today, well, not really today but it was this week, and he decided that even if Burns shows up, he’ll have a good time tonight. And tonight he’ll order something manly since it was his seventeenth birthday.

Asgar was running a little later than he would have wanted, but finding good canvases had taken him a bit longer than he had expected. Then, he had to bring them back to Gabriel´s shop, since he didn´t fancy dragging them along to the tavern and risk getting them ruined before he even got to paint on them. After that was done, the wick threw a quick, obligatory, glance into the mirror [a little vanity anyone?]. Leaving his hat in the shop, he just took his coat, Varg in one of the pockets as usual.

Reaching the tavern with quick steps, the redhead pushed the door open and stepped inside, starting to look for his friend at once. Luckily he had the advantage of height, so it didn´t take him long to spot Gabriel sitting at one of the tables. Making his way to the table through the crowd, Asgar sat down opposite his friend. Well not after ruffling the boy´s hair and giving his shoulder a good squeeze. “Happy birthday!” Asgar exclaimed with a broad grin as he sat opposite. “Feel older?” he added a little teasingly, the grin still in place. People made such a big deal of growing older, and maturing with each year and that. If anyone asked his opinion, he never noticed much of a change. He himself was probably getting more childish each time instead of the other way around.

“Good to see that you didn´t start getting drunk without me,” the wick went on to comment while carefully adjusting his coat, so the pup inside the pocket would be comfortable. It was quite amazing how the little furball could be perfectly calm while being carried around in this fashion, but once he had his paws on the ground, he was a bundle of energy.

There was nothing better than to see an old friend again. Although Asgar had been staying at his place for this week, Gabriel was still glad to see him.



“Not really, no, “Gabriel replied with a grin, trying to comb his now messy hair (thanks to Asgar) with his fingers.

True, biologically he was a year older yet he still felt like he was fifteen years old. Actually, he felt nothing to be more precise. Not older and not even smarter. He was just he, nothing special, and he didn’t understand what all the fuss about getting older. He would worry about that when he would be fifty, or maybe sixty. Who knew?



“I don’t even intend getting drunk,” he said. “And you won’t try to get me drunk either. One ‘manly’ drink and that’s all.”

Speaking of ‘manly drink’, he didn’t even know which one was considered as such. Magma and Deal Breaker maybe? But those two were already too strong for him.

“Asgar, what do you usually order?”

“Thought as much,” the wick said with a slight smirk. Birthdays were overrated when it came to getting older; BUT a wonderful opportunity and excuse to go out and have some fun. Not that an excuse was really needed if one wanted to go for a few drinks and have fun.

“Aw… really?” Asgar asked, pretending to be disappointed about it. Actually he hadn´t expected Gabriel to be up for heavy drinking the whole night. After all, the boy had only turned 17 and as far as the wick knew wasn´t much of a drinker. He wouldn’t really force his friend to drink anything he didn´t want to. That didn´t mean, that he wouldn´t encourage a few drinks though. “Me? Get you drunk? Would I ever do that?” the wick asked again, putting on a perfectly innocent look, blinking his vivid green eyes to strengthen the effect.

“Hmm… depends on the mood. But now, I´d go for some Magma. What do you think? Want to try?” Asgar wasn´t sure that Gabriel would be okay with that, since maybe he would consider it a little too strong. But maybe the boy would be overcome with curiosity and want to try anyway. Or maybe not. The wick wouldn´t force him, however, he was curious as how the boy would react to the drink. “Hmmm… a Deal Breaker would work too. Or is that a bit too strong for your taste?” Even if Gabriel decided to go with something much weaker, the wick wouldn´t tease him about it. After all, the boy was supposed to enjoy himself, not get drunk out of his mind.

Phineas was oblivious, of course. Ginny had instructed him to be the "waitress" in the bartender-bartendee relationship, but he was rubbish at picking up on social cues. He didn't even hear the word "birthday"; over the years, Ginny's ears had fine-tuned themselves to pick up on that word, as well as "anniversary," "engagement," "fired" and the phrase "burn down the building."

Sighing at him and frowning, she poured a mug of ale and pushed past her gangly assistant (she refused to think of him as a replacement for Stu, who had been a proper Guardian, with none of the sashaying and excuses). With practiced ease she wriggled her way through the room to the table where Gabriel and Asgar were sitting.

"Free mug for the birthday kov," she said, recognizing Gabriel with a wink. She set it down. It wasn't the best stuff, but it wasn't the worst stuff, either. There was at least twice as much drink as there was foam. "Salutations, gen'lemen. What can I get you?"

Gabriel squinted and tilted his head slightly back.

“Stop blinking at me like that,” he remarked. “It looks awfully ... Weird, you know.”

No matter how beautiful green Asgar’s eyes were, the blinking didn’t quite work on Gabriel.

“I don’t know. I think Magma might be too strong for me. The same goes for Deal Breaker. I don’t have a wish to spend the rest of the night half dead here. Or gods know where else. One way or the other, I know I won’t enjoy it.”

Thinking more and more about the drink, Gabriel realized that he enjoyed being, as said few days earlier, a fruitcake. And who knew, maybe Asgar would be needing help getting home. Although, considering his height and Gabriel’s height...



That was quick, too quick for Gabriel to react properly. He didn't expect someone would bring him a free bevarage for his birthday. Moreover, how did she know it was his birthday? Oh, right. Asgar was pretty loud when he came in. Anyway, all he could produce at the moment was a weak smile and a blush, accompanied with surprised Thanks.



He glanced at Asgar and then back at Ginny.

“Um, something not too strong but not too light?” he blushed even more as he heard his own words. Good ordering, good.

Asgar chuckled as his friend told him to stop blinking at him, but did as he was asked. Though he did remember, that Gabe found it weird and would gladly use it again, just to annoy him a bit. That´s what friends are for, after all!

“It´s fine. Just take something you feel comfortable drinking,” the wick shrugged. He might joke about it, but he wouldn´t really force the boy to drink anything as strong as he had just suggested, and not try to bug him until he´d give in and just ordered Magma or anything even stronger. “We want you to enjoy your birthday after all… not regret it for days or weeks to come,” he added with a slight grin tugging at his lips.

Watching Gabriel blush as the mug was set on the table in front of him, Asgar couldn´t hold back the amused smirk that tugged at his lips. The boy seriously needed to get out more often and spend some time among people instead of putting all his time into working.

Looking at Ginny then, as she greeted both of them, he answered with a Hello and a bright smile, quite on the charming side. The wick had a tendency to flirt, at least a little, with almost anyone, so one could hardly expect anything else of him. “I´d like some Magma.” He did drink occasionally so he figured that he´d be fine… as long as the number of drinks stayed low. Which was probably quite unlikely, but that was something to worry about later.

Ginny nodded sympathetically at Gabriel. He was about her age, but didn't look like he'd been drinking long. "You'll be wanting a Sweet Whice to start, I'll bet. Not too strong but you won't get the piss taken out of you for ordering it."

Turning to Asgar, she sized him up and slipped into Tek. "Oes, kov, right up. Say, ye look fair close. Been here 'fore? Must be tsat, else they ent bothered with ye." She grinned, referring to the wick ban, which was still in place for wicks without a writ of residence. "Then, y'order Magma, so ye fair manna brave."



((**translation: you look familiar, have you been here before? you must live in the city, otherwise you'd have been arrested. then again, you just ordered a ridiculously strong drink, so you've clearly got some balls.**))

Gabriel nodded. Sweet Whice sounded good enough.

“Sweet Whice then,” he ordered, still sceptical about his drinking abilities.

He liked liquors but then again, he didn’t drink them several times a day to get used enough to the alcohol. Oh, he could just imagine how merry this night would be; Asgar drunk because of Magma and Gabriel sick because lack of alcohol experience. Yea, life was hard. And too short to be worried about it, so he put a smile on and stopped thinking about the all possible outcomes.

A wave of smooth Tek got his attention. The only parts he understood properly were bothered, Magma and brave. Why would he be bothered? Gabriel just wanted to open his mouth to ask when what he remembered sent shivers down his spine. Asgar was wick; a wick without a permanent residence as far as he knew.

Used to alcohol or not, he badly wanted to drink up that Magma now.

The smile didn´t falter even for a moment as Asgar listened to what Ginny was saying. It had been a bit of surprise when she had started using Tek so much instead of just a word or two. The answer to the questions came in the form of a slight shrug of the shoulders that could mean just about anything.

“Or jus´ mung,” the wick finally said casually, not looking worried at all. After all, once you decided to break some rules, best thing to do is act like you´re not doing anything wrong. You just have to pretend that you have nothing to be worried about, you are far less likely to be noticed by someone who´s out for rule breakers - much less likely than if you keep glancing around like a nervous rat every few moments.

“An´ if? Ye won´t dob to any jent, eh?” he asked with another warm smile. She didn´t seem like she wanted to go and tell on him, otherwise, she would hardly have talked to him about it first and just slipped away. Or so Asgar assumed and hoped. Looking at Gabriel he noticed that the boy looked quite uneasy by now. He must have understood enough of the conversation, to realize what they were talking about. Leaning over the table to ruffle his hair again, the wick grinned. “Cheer up, it´s your birthday, not funeral!” he said, switching back to a dialect Gabriel would understand. Asgar had known the risks he was taking with coming to town but chose to ignore them, so it wouldn´t do for Gabe to get all worked up and worried about it.

Looking back at Ginny, he remembered to ask “Could you bring a glass or some small bowl of water too?” Though the little pocket monster sleeping inside the coat would probably sleep most of the time, having some water handy in case would be good he decided to wake up and feel thirsty. Having something whine and yowl in the pocket of his coat wouldn´t be the best way not to attract too much attention, after all.


((I know I probably did a butchery of Tek, but I did try to use it ”))

Ginny laughed. "Ne, I ent in the mood to deal with brigk, kov. 'sides, I'd be missin' the ging from ye."

She nodded to his request and hopped off to fetch their drinks.


((sfsr!))

How could he have forgotten the ban so easily? Gabriel was, despite Asgar's comforting words, shaken. What if someone knew that his friend didn't have permanent residence here? It could get very nasty.

He blankly went with fingers through mess of his hair. Asgar had a point again, he should cheer up since it was his birthday.

"You know, you could live with me," Gabriel offered. "Just in case, so you could say where your home is. I doubt the owners will mind since that room is practically mine."

Actually, he had no idea what woul the owners say but Asgar has been staying there for a week already and still no word from them. So he presumed that they didn't mind or simply didn't care.

He took a sip of his 'birthday' ale since it was actually free and because of courtesy. But those two statements didn't mean he would like it; he grimaced and tried to swallow, in the same time hoping that Ginny didn't see his reaction.

“Don´t worry about it, seriously. We´ll discus it tomorrow morning if it will make you feel more at easy, but for now just forget about it,” Asgar told the boy with a carefree smile. Of course he was worried at moments that someone would figure out that he had no place actually being here, but he just kept it all in his mind. No need to worry Gabriel with it, after all, he had decided to drop by on his own. No one had forced him to come here and risk getting arrested. Though the part about Gabriel not worrying was shot to hell now, since the boy seemed to have remembered the ban. Ah well, at least it had worked for some time.

Watching as Gabriel drank the ale – or tried to anyway – Asgar smirked amusedly, before he had to laugh at the expression on the other´s face after the first swallow. “You seem to be reaaaaaaally enjoying that,” he remarked after he had managed to stop laughing, eyes sparkling with amusement and barely contained laughter that wanted to burst forth again. The boy really wasn´t much of a drinker… but then again, he was still exactly that, a boy. Maybe he´d develop a taste for alcohol with time and maybe not. It wasn´t really something important, so it didn´t matter, though some would probably use it as an excuse to pick on the boy. “Good thing you didn´t go into acting. You´d fail miserably,” the wick added, giving a low chuckle.

Ginny elbowed her way back to the table with the two drinks, setting them down carefully and putting her hands on her hips.

"House rules, y'gotta finish that whole thing," she joked to Gabriel. With a wink, she turned to head back to the bar.

Gabriel froze, taking her joke seriously, although she winked at him. Seconds later, when he realized his mistake, he blushed to the roots of his hair. He could already see Asgar choking with laughter because, truthfully, he would laugh too if he could see his own expression. Giving him a shy smile, he sank deeper in his chair.
“That was a joke, right?” he muttered, playing with the mug of ale.

((Short post is short. And I'm lazy .))

“Mujo ma,” Asgar said to Ginny before she turned to leave, and it was obvious, that he wasn´t thanking her only for bringing the drinks.

Gabriel´s reaction as he was told he had to drink the whole mug was indeed very much hilarious and Asgar had quite a hard time not bursting into gales of laughter. The poor boy was just too gullible sometimes. Actually managing to keep a straight face, Asgar nodded to confirm that it indeed was a joke, but his eyes were sparkling brightly with suppressed laughter. “No need to get embarrassed though,” he added, an amused smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth. “And try not to be so adorable when you are, you´ll have hordes of women fawning over you and I´ll get ignored,” the wick added as an afterthought, faking a pout, before he laughed at the mental image.

Another wave of blush spilled over his cheeks.

“I will try to be less adorable then,” he answered, thinking about Asgar’s words which had, at least at first sight, double meaning. Did he mean he would be ignored by Gabe or by women?

“No need to worry,” he then added with neutral words, “because as far as I know you, you’re harder to ignore than pink chrove with polka dots.”

Gabriel smiled and looked at Asgar. True, even if he wanted to ignore his friend, it would be quite impossible. Asgar would definitely take care of that. As for women ignoring him ... well, double impossible, unless they’re blind.

“Cheers then,” Gabriel took the drink he ordered and prayed it had better taste than ale.

He took one big, manly gulp of the drink; as manly as he could. And he also manly decided this was his last drink. It was better than ale, yet still he couldn’t manage to drink it all as he already fought the shivers that wanted to take over his body.

“Aw… you give such nice compliments, Gabriel,” Asgar said with a touched expression, which was just faked, but nevertheless quite convincing. Until he grinned, of course, then it became more than obvious that he was joking.

Though Gabe was probably quite right about what he said. Asgar wasn´t all that easy to overlook. It was on purpose, of course, since he enjoyed attention. Being quite a social person, he liked to talk to people, have people around him most the time and he also greatly appreciated people complimenting his work… well compliments on his looks weren´t discouraged either.

“Cheers,” replied the wick, also lifting the glass with his drink. Taking a gulp, he closed his eyes for a moment, feeling the liquid flow down his throat, leaving a burning sensation that lasted for a few moments. “Bearable?” he asked his friend with a slightly amused grin, wondering if Gabriel at least liked the drink he was having now helped him chase away the taste of ale that the boy obviously disliked.

Gabriel slowly nodded, although this nod was a lie. To him this was as drinkable as mud. However... he made another sip and shivered; despite the taste, he couldn't stop sipping the drink.

"That's funny," he said. "I don't like the taste of it, yet I can't stop drinking. Hm, maybe because I'm thirsty," and another sip.

"Yep, deffinitely thirsty," and somehow dizzy.

When it came to alcoholic drinks, even those with really low percentage, Gabriel was pathethic. And because of that he didn't know how much was he capable to drink. Anyway, unfurtonately, this one cup was enough.

"Wow, I... don't feel... gud," he gasped and hid his face between palms.
He felt really, really dizzy. And happy.

Gabriel started to laugh histerically, with no apparent reason.

((Short post is short.))

Leaning his elbow on the table, Asgar leaned his chin on it and watched Gabriel, green eyes sparkling with amusement. “Ya… I can see you enjoying it,” the wick commented after seeing the boy shiver, but to his even greater amusement the other nonetheless continued drinking.

Shaking his head and making the beads on the braids clink against one another, the redhead sighed. “Are you thirsty or are you trying to be tough?” he asked, a bit more serious now. “Because you certainly don´t have to do that for my benefit,” he added, lifting his glass to take another mouthful of his drink.

With a bit of astonishment the wick watched the alcohol start to show effect on his friend, even though he hadn´t drank much. It was amusing yet at the same alarming “That´s it… you´re never going out drinking without me…” Asgar declared after another moment, with a determined expression. Didn´t want the boy to run into the wrong people when drunk, after all, and if it was so easy to get him drunk, even worse!

Downing the rest of the drink, Asgar set the glass on the table, leaning back in the chair. “You really are drunk, aren´t you?” Somehow it was a bit hard to believe, even though there was no other explanation. Chuckling as the boy started laughing; the wick leaned forward to ruffle Gabe´s hair. Taking hold of his chin, he held his face still long enough to take a good look at the other´s eyes, which were indeed a bit glazed-over from the alcohol.

Shaking his head with a bit of disbelief again, Asgar smirked slightly, letting go of Gabriel´s chin and reaching for the mug of ale still sitting on the table next to his friend. “I think I´ll take this… Otherwise I might be picking you up from under the table,” he explained with a bemused expression. He was feeling the warmth from the Whiskey, but since it took a bit of time to kick in, he wasn´t feeling the drunken haze yet. Maybe he wouldn´t feel much at all. And maybe Varg would sprout wings and start flying around the tavern.

Gabriel blinked few times, trying to focus. Despite the strange sensation, it was fun being drunk. He could just dance in the middle of the room.
“Why y-you stole my ale?” he asked with amazement and blinked again. Focus, focus.

Was it really fun being drunk? Gabriel couldn’t think properly and thus he couldn’t find the answer on his own question. Another burst of laughter escaped from him as he imagined himself under the table. This wasn’t really THAT amusing, but he just couldn’t help himself.
Absently he combed his ruffled hair with fingers.

“Why do you always ruffle my hair, Asgar?” this fact made him angry. This was even stranger feeling because he could usually control his anger. Actually, he usually suppressed it so that was probably the reason why he suddenly became so irritated.

“It’s already so messed up and then you come and mess it up even more,” he turned to his friend, his face almost as red as Asgar’s hair. Gabriel’s mind was oddly clear now, with almost no though, which contributed to unusual sincerity. “Speaking of messing with me... You know that you touch me veeeery often,” Gabriel leaned forward and pointed his finger extremely close to Asgar’s face. “Not that it bothers me. I like when someone shows me affection,” now he touched the tip of Asgar’s nose.

The room spun again and Gabriel almost fell off his chair. This didn’t bother him though; he just kept going with his speech.

“I like when YOU show me affection. Akshully, I like you more than affection. And your dog too. He’s cute. You both are cute. Did I mention how I like your hair?”

Deep inside he knew what he was doing and that he shouldn’t be showing such fondness, but right now he really didn’t care what he was talking.

“Two simple reasons. One: You don´t like the taste anyway. Two: You´re drunk enough as it is,” Asgar explained to the boy as simply as he could. After he was finished with that the wick brought the mug up to his lips and proceeded to drink it, not stopping until the mug was empty. Setting the mug back on the table, he licked his lips to gather up any stray drops that still clung to them.

Patiently, he waited for his friend´s laughing fit to finish, still amused about the influence the alcohol had on the boy. Arching a brow at the sudden change of mood, he put his elbows on the table, linking his fingers and leaning his chin on them, while he listened to the explanation for Gabriel´s sudden angry expression.

“I ruffle your hair because I like you,” he answered, shrugging his shoulders briefly. It was a kind of reflex, not really something he thought about when he did it. The wick was one of those people who will stand next to you and lean on your shoulder with their arm or just touch your hand or arm while talking, ruffle your hair and so on. Invading personal space? Well, maybe a bit. This type of behaviour was, of course limited to people he saw as his friends, not just anybody.


“I can stop it if it bothers you that much,” he said with a brief sigh, as Gabriel went on about his hair being messed up enough as it was. It would take quite a bit of conscious thinking and reminding himself not to, but Asgar was quite sure that he could lose the habit.

He didn´t get very far with his thoughts in that direction though, since the boy obviously wasn´t finished with his talk yet. A puzzled expression appeared on the wick´s face as the other started with ´messing with me´. The boy was one of the last people he would mess with and he couldn´t quite imagine what had given his friend that impression.

In an almost childlike gesture, Asgar followed the finger with his eyes, which made him look cross-eyed once the finger reached his nose. “Huh?” was the most intelligent reply that he could manage at the moment. Usually his tongue ran quite a bit better than this, but it seemed that the alcohol had started to slowly show effect on him too, since his mind felt slightly fogged and a bit slow. “I… uh… like you?” he offered as an explanation [for the second time] at Gabe´s comment on always touching him, finally shifting his gaze from the finger and fixed it on the other´s face.

It was a relief to hear that Gabriel didn´t mind, though. //…no getting rid of the habit…// the green-eyed wick thought at that, grinning briefly. It would have been possible, but would also have demanded quite some effort, thus not having to do it was quite welcome. Not to mention that he didn´t want to put an end to the habit anyway. Physical contact was an important part of relationships for him; relationships between friends AND other relationships. Otherwise they kind of seemed… cold.

The dark red brows rose high, slightly glazed green eyes sparkling with amusement at how badly Gabriel had managed to mispronounce his name; it had actually taken him a few moments to understand what the boy had said. The wick just had to laugh as Gabe just went on with speaking, the sentences growing shorter and the logical connection between their content growing thinner. “I´ll keep that in mind. … I´m flattered. … Indeed he is, though he´s a wolf. … I am…? – I AM! … Indeed we are, and you are too. … You did, just now…” came his replies to what the boy was saying, a grin spreading over his face.

“You´re awfully honest when drunk…” the wick said after a moment of silence, then chuckled. “… and it´s contagious!” he voiced the realization that followed a few moments later. “…boy… we´re both drunk now…” was another realization that followed another few moments later and was followed by a brief outburst of laughter.

“Geez!” Asgar said as soon as he had stopped laughing. Leaning on the table with one arm, he let his head fall forward and ruffled through his own hair with one hand, making the beads clink again. Lifting his head enough to look up at Gabriel from under the dark brows the wick was grinning. “We should seriously get out of here before we do something stupid and get thrown out…” he said, still impressively coherent, though the mischievous glint in his eyes and the way his gaze shifting around so much, not finding a steady target at all, probably told enough.

Gabriel didn't even listen what Asgar had been answering to his gibberish. Well, he heard few stuff but mostly he was charmed by his friend’s hair. He just felt an urge to braid his hair. Or did he want to pet his dog? He knew that the urge involved something soft.

»I love you, maaan,« he sighed with a sigh of teenage girl in love and threw himself around Asgar's neck. »Know why?« he then poked the red haired wick in the cheek. »Because you... »he thought for a second. »You...« another second and another cheek poke. »Because I can live with you. You gave me roof over my head...« again, a second passed.
»Or did I give you the roof? Why the h-hell you need a roof? It's awfully hard to carry it around. You can hurt y'self.«

Gabriel pushed himself away from Asgar (he had to push himself away from him, otherwise he wouldn't be able to move from him) and leaned on the table with one elbow.

»Yes. I will pay, 'cause it's my... anniversary. I think. I know that I invited you, so who cares why we're here.«

Balancing himself on the chair, he then tried to take the money out of his pocket. This simple task proved to be the hard one as he kept loosing the balance. When he finally managed to put the money on the table, he turned back to Asgar.

“Another round or what? But I must tell you, I can’t drink another round. And you, my friend, are drunk. You mustn’t drink anymore. I will just call the waiter and then we will head home, right? Right.“

Gabriel leaned slightly forward and waved to the waitress.

Ginny hadn't been paying attention; her eyes were a bit glazed over, as though she were distracted by some kind of daydream, but the wave caught her eye, and she walked casually over to the table.

"Five tallies," she said, too exhausted now to play cutesy with the men; besides, they seemed more interested in each other than her. She flashed the very drunk one a smile.

“Umf-!” The wick had to quickly steady himself with his arms on the table as not to smack against it as his friend threw himself around his neck suddenly. “Aw, and I thought I´m the only one,” he commented, though not making it clear if he meant it ´Love you too maaan-´ or ´Yay, someone other than myself loves me!´.

With a highly amused expression he listened to Gabriel go on about the roof and finally come to the conclusion that it didn´t matter. “You´re so messed up…” Asgar concluded with a chuckle. The boy really shouldn’t be allowed near alcohol again, that was for sure.

While Gabriel went on about the anniversary, the wick frowned, as if just remembering something and started going through the pockets of his coat. The frown deepening when he couldn´t find what he was looking for. “… Varg?” he called finally, not too loud, before growing still and waiting for a reply. As one of the pockets started to wiggle, the frown was replaced by an expression of relief as Asgar reached into the pocket to pet the pup. “Don´t make me worry like that…” he murmured and could only hope that no one was paying attention, otherwise he´d look like some loon who was talking to someone no one else could see.

Attention focusing back on Gabriel, he could only shake his head and laugh. The boy´s monologues were quite amusing. “You spend too much time alone,” the older one concluded with a shake of the head – he should really stop doing that since he was starting to sound like a wind charm. “Dun answer all the questions yourself, I feel left out,” he added a moment late, pouting briefly.

Standing up a bit cautiously, the red haired wick leaned his hip against the table, while his friend paid for the drinks, flashing a smile at Ginny – habits die hard, even when intoxicated. Having determined that this balance was still working for now, he straightened up, stepping around the table and to Gabriel.

“Up, Gabe,” he told the boy, holding onto his arm, since he wasn´t quite sure what state the human´s balance was in. “Fotamos,” he told Ginny with a smile “Have to get the kov to bed…” he explained, even though it was probably of little interest to her. “… … his bed,” was added a few moments later after the slight ambiguity of the statement dawned on him. “To sleep it off…” was added as an afterthought since it still didn´t sound quite right.

Trying to determine which way through the tavern would result in bumping into less people when leading the boy towards the door, the wick finally opted for lifting the boy up, over his shoulder, one arm over the other´s legs to hold him steady. “Wave bye-bye,” he jokingly told Gabriel.