All I'm saying about this is that the entire first half of this is because of your prompt :-p
Dinner "What do you think all these names mean?" said Kraulik after a few seconds. I shrugged, and then got gently jostled as Kraulik nudged me towards C deck and the general direction of the Lampshade Bar. It seemed like a stupid name for a bar to me, but I didn't know what appealed to people who booked cruises anyway, and it had hardly been my choice to come on this one. "You're Wildling, that guy is Finesse... Chuckles has pet names for a bunch of you." He looked at me sideways. "Were you sleeping with him? I'm not judging, just asking." I half-laughed; it caught in my throat. I'm not sure if that was sympathy for Chuckles's plight now, or my reaction to the idea of sleeping with him. He was a scrawny little guy with a straggly beard and big eyes... I'm sure he was the dog's dinner to the right person, but definitely not someone I looked at and desired. "No," I said. "I don't think that idea ever crossed my mind. Were you?" Kraulik looked taken aback. "I don't have a pet name on that list," he said. "Yeah, but maybe we're the ones he hadn't managed to sleep with yet." Kraulik looked even more taken aback, and then he laughed. "Right, I guess I invited that. No, I'm pretty much asexual. I... no, there's not much more to say. I don't find anyone on this ship attractive." There was silence while we walked to the bar, and when we went in the two women in there looked at us, then got up and left. I raised an eyebrow at Kraulik as the door swung shut behind them and he shook his head. "Seriously, not attractive. Show me a boat with an engine and two weeks supply of food and water and then I'll get horny." I laughed properly at that, all the while agreeing with him. That would be the sexiest thing I could imagine right now as well. "Finesse is an odd name," I said, thinking back to how we got to this conversation. "Usually it's to do with elegant solutions to things." Kraulik went behind the bar and busied himself washing glasses -- everyone managed to leave their empties on the bar, but no-one ever washed them unless they wanted one. He poured gin into one glass and then waved a hand in a questioning gesture at the rest. "I'll try the whiskey," I said. "Third bottle, top shelf. I've not had that one." "Caramel coloured ethanol," said Kraulik. "There's no way they left the real spirits here for us. How well do you know Finesse then?" He poured and I thought about it. "Not much, but maybe better than most," I said. "The first month or so, when everything was... uh, settling out, he and I talked a bit. We were on the same corridor, and two guys are less of a target than one. There was another guy for a while, Doug, or Dave or something, but he decided to throw his lot in with the Shuffleboard tribe. I think they threw him overboard a bit later." "Chuckles seems to have known more about all this that we do," said Kraulik. He pushed my glass to me and I tasted it. It was strong and peaty, it tasted like decent whiskey to me. "Maybe we should keep following his lead." "What do you mean?" "Let's ask Finesse what he'd do about the burglar alarm and the blocked off door."
2 comments:
All I'm saying about this is that the entire first half of this is because of your prompt :-p
Dinner
"What do you think all these names mean?" said Kraulik after a few seconds. I shrugged, and then got gently jostled as Kraulik nudged me towards C deck and the general direction of the Lampshade Bar. It seemed like a stupid name for a bar to me, but I didn't know what appealed to people who booked cruises anyway, and it had hardly been my choice to come on this one. "You're Wildling, that guy is Finesse... Chuckles has pet names for a bunch of you." He looked at me sideways. "Were you sleeping with him? I'm not judging, just asking."
I half-laughed; it caught in my throat. I'm not sure if that was sympathy for Chuckles's plight now, or my reaction to the idea of sleeping with him. He was a scrawny little guy with a straggly beard and big eyes... I'm sure he was the dog's dinner to the right person, but definitely not someone I looked at and desired.
"No," I said. "I don't think that idea ever crossed my mind. Were you?"
Kraulik looked taken aback. "I don't have a pet name on that list," he said.
"Yeah, but maybe we're the ones he hadn't managed to sleep with yet."
Kraulik looked even more taken aback, and then he laughed. "Right, I guess I invited that. No, I'm pretty much asexual. I... no, there's not much more to say. I don't find anyone on this ship attractive."
There was silence while we walked to the bar, and when we went in the two women in there looked at us, then got up and left. I raised an eyebrow at Kraulik as the door swung shut behind them and he shook his head. "Seriously, not attractive. Show me a boat with an engine and two weeks supply of food and water and then I'll get horny."
I laughed properly at that, all the while agreeing with him. That would be the sexiest thing I could imagine right now as well.
"Finesse is an odd name," I said, thinking back to how we got to this conversation. "Usually it's to do with elegant solutions to things."
Kraulik went behind the bar and busied himself washing glasses -- everyone managed to leave their empties on the bar, but no-one ever washed them unless they wanted one. He poured gin into one glass and then waved a hand in a questioning gesture at the rest.
"I'll try the whiskey," I said. "Third bottle, top shelf. I've not had that one."
"Caramel coloured ethanol," said Kraulik. "There's no way they left the real spirits here for us. How well do you know Finesse then?"
He poured and I thought about it.
"Not much, but maybe better than most," I said. "The first month or so, when everything was... uh, settling out, he and I talked a bit. We were on the same corridor, and two guys are less of a target than one. There was another guy for a while, Doug, or Dave or something, but he decided to throw his lot in with the Shuffleboard tribe. I think they threw him overboard a bit later."
"Chuckles seems to have known more about all this that we do," said Kraulik. He pushed my glass to me and I tasted it. It was strong and peaty, it tasted like decent whiskey to me. "Maybe we should keep following his lead."
"What do you mean?"
"Let's ask Finesse what he'd do about the burglar alarm and the blocked off door."
Greg - I'm not convinced that had anything to do with my prompt at all :P
Anyway, enjoyed the brief diversion and where things ended off has me curious to see how bringing a third member into this little team will turn out.
It certainly didn't turn out great for Chuckles...
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