Monk hadn't been paying much attention to his surroundings, knowing that he had a few minutes before Ewan came back. The only one who might bother him before then was the waitress, but even that would be incidental; he would order until Ewan was back anyway. Ewan always ordered for both of them (once, Monk had found that sort of sweet). The man approaching the table startled him, and he was even more taken aback when he grabbed the drink.

"Uh, you can't —" he started, but the stranger already had. Monk stared. Was Ewan going to notice that someone had taken a sip off his drink? If he did, how was Monk going to explain that? It would be his fault, however he framed it. If he said a stranger had just waltzed over and picked it up Ewan might think he was making up stories. If he believed him, he'd ask why Monk hadn't done anything to stop it. Maybe after this guy was done Monk could pour some if his own beer over to hide it.

It took a second for him to process what the man had said, since his actions were so distracting. When he did, he quirked an eyebrow. "Like, in this booth?" he asked, confused. Was taking Ewan's drink some sort of weird power play in return for Ewan and Monk having taken his usual spot? It wasn't as though Monk had anything to do with where they'd sat... but he was rather used to having to solve problems he had no hand in creating, by this point.

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