7th September, 1894 — The ABC, Saturday Evening

For the first time in months Konstantin found himself in the pub towards closing time without having partook of a single drop of of their wares. An impromptu gathering at the home of an ardent teetotaler he had known for some years had occupied his evening and the libations had been strictly those that refreshed without inebriating. Between the abstinence, an excellent repast of beef and the conversation of the enlightened Konstantin felt more like himself that he had in some time. He certainly looked more himself, smartly attired and clean-shaven and really, far more comfortable in this skin than the one he had been wearing of late.

And yet, he had still found himself in the ABC. Perhaps because it was a familiar habit now? Or perhaps the simple act of socialising as he had once done so easily was now something he required a stiff drink to combat?

"Excuse me," he said, wedging himself at the bar next to a slimy looking man who was saying something to the barmaid that sounded like- "What did you say to her?!" He barked, standing to his full height and glaring down at the man who looked between him and the young woman before deciding to cut his losses. Kons watched him go with a menacing glare until, sure he had gone to lick his wounds, he turned back to the barmaid. "Sorry about that. I can't stand hearing men speak to ladies like that."

---

Eileen Buchanan | Daffodil Grimstone

  

The night had been pretty busy, ebbing and flowing like a typical Saturday. Fortunately there had been no big kerfuffle and she'd only needed to throw her boot once to get a rowdy group of men in the back corner. The regulars knew if she threw something, they were minutes away from getting kicked out and frankly it wasn't worth the trouble for anyone, so they learned to mind their manners.

Leeny had been ignoring Skibs and his normal unpleasantness for the better part of an hour. His method of flirting was beyond creepy and she'd had some of the bigger guys foist him from the bar before. Tonight it seemed that a well-dressed familiar face would do that for her. "Honestly, I don't even hear what he says anymore, in one ear and out the other." Typically she could handle herself, but Skibs was a particular kind of gross. "I appreciate the gesture though, drink's on me, wha' can I get for ya?" Leeny didn't stand much taller than the bar itself, and tonight she had on a comfortable blouse and some of those fancy pants that looked like a skirt, if the buttons were buttoned the right way. She'd saved up to have a couple pairs made just for working in the pub. The chignon she'd wounder dark locks into was coming out, but that was also normal for this time of night.

---

  

---

Kons held up his whiskey glass to the girl, indicating silently that it could do with refilling if she was feeling generous. He had been coming here long enough to know that one did not get on the wrong side of this young woman - not that he had any intention of doing so - but he felt an odd sense of pride that his actions, unnecessary though they had been, had been appreciated.

It made him feel strangely warm.

“Just whiskey, I think,” he looked around the bar cautiously. “Nice and quiet tonight. I don’t suppose you’d care for one too?”

Belatedly he realised that she had made the offer first and laughed at himself; another thing he had discovered he could do in these long cold months, along with drinking himself into oblivion and still getting to work, and avoiding his old friends like the plague: . “On me, this time.”

  

Leeny had already started to reach for the same whiskey he'd already been drinking, hopping off one of her carefully placed boxes, unto another and back. If she was feeling lazy, she just summoned things, but on a night like tonight there was just too much going on for her to try. With her luck she'd hit the kid taking the dishes to the back in the head with something.

"So quiet," Leeny laughed at the busy bar around them. It was pretty full, but not nearly as crowded as she'd seen it in the past. Busy enough she didn't have a lot of time to be having a drink herself, but she could pause and celebrate the fact that Skibs was now off in the corner probably losing money at cards. "But I could go for a drink." She said as she pulled a second rocks glass from below the bar top and splashed a decent measure in for herself.

She raised her glass to his, "Cheers to you, savior of the evening."

---

  

---

He toasted her back, momentarily oblivious to the room around him as the whiskey hit the back of his throat - he was not going to allow himself to become maudlin, but a few wouldn’t hurt. Adding to that that he had successfully been sociable tonight he thought he had earned it.

“Does he do that much?” He asked, gesturing with his glass towards the vague direction he thought the imbecile at the bar had skulked. “You shouldn’t have to put up with it, you know?” He said far more earnestly than he meant to - she was no fool, he could tell that, and besides which look at where they were. The home of people knowing what they should and shouldn’t live with.

  

After taking a swig, Eileen moved away for just a moment to pour a couple of pints, returning swiftly to her glass and company after handing them off and pocketing her tip. "Every night," Leeny scowled in the pervert's general direction. "Oh I don't," she grinned slyly now. Eileen did not take shit or unwanted advances from anyone. "He just doesn't understand the word no. Probably because I'm a woman the size of a child." She wasn't sure which part of that was more disturbing, actually. "I've got a mean stinging hex, he's found that out the hard way." She assured him with a salute of her glass to take another sip.

"I'm Eileen, by the way." She figured if he was going to entertain his heroism, he may as well know that much.

---

  

---