B1 Chapter 16 - A Second Date

Jackson came to pick me up from work. I started early today, so the sun hadn’t set yet. “Wanna go drinking? My treat.”

“Oh? You don’t have to do that,” he said. “I can buy-”

I put a finger on his lips and placed my other hand on my bracelet. “You’d been helping at the shelter and got me the core that got turned into this magic item. I don’t just wanna be a taker. I wanna give at least a little bit too. Isn’t that fair?” I asked.

He blushed. “I… uh.”

“Say yes,” I said.

“Yes.”

I smiled. “Good boy. Any bar you'd like to go to?”

“Yeah,” he said as he grabbed my hand. He led me to Patrick's place. It was the bar all the guards went to. I've been to all three bars in town before, so I knew them well. They were all about the same, so this place wasn’t particularly special.

“Two meads,” I said as I flipped a coin to Pat.

“Coming up, lady,” he said.

The bar was at the time of night when it would keep picking up. Guards were pretty good customers, and they would all pretty much leave around the same time. So we wouldn’t have to worry about it being too wild all night.

Jackson was carrying the two mugs as we sat at a table. “So you like mead.”

I did in the past, but I wondered if I still did. I took a sip. “Oh my gosh, that is so yummy,” I said as I took another big drink.

Jackson laughed a bit. “Really, this is just the bottom of the barrel stuff. Guess your first time having alcohol?”

“Nope, but I guess I never had any that tasted this good before,” I said, taking another big drink.

“Woah, slow down,” he said. “You don’t want it going straight to your head. Also really? I’m afraid of the swill you must have had before.”

I chuckled. The swill I had before was the same stuff, but I guess I wasn't the same. I noticed a feeling of lightness in my head. Warmth came a moment later too. Wait, no way! Am I a lightweight now? Eh, oh man, that’s no fair. It tastes so good. I want more.

I took a big gulp and finished the first mug I had. “Another!” I shouted.

“You heard the lady,” Jackson cheered as he downed his mug and smiled at me.

He had pretty eyes.

“Wait, is Jackson and the new girl an item?” I heard people muttering.

“Well, Jackson? Are you?” a large, burly man with blonde hair asked.

“Captain!” Jackson said, straightening his stance.

“Relax. We are both off duty,” he said. “So, are you?”

“Well? I mean,” Jackson paused and glanced at me.

“Maybe he is,” I said as I sipped my mead. “How about this? I’ll answer if you can outdrink us.”

He let out a large belly laugh. “How about two on two then. The winner pays the loser's tab. Deal?”

Stolen story; please report.

I glanced at Jackson. “Game?”

He looked nervous but stood next to me. “You’re on.”

We sat down at a table, and Dawn came and sat next to him. “Wait, you're her husband?”

Dawn nodded. “Yep! I can drink a decent amount myself.”

The barkeep brought over twelve mugs, three each. He raised his hand and then made a chopping motion. “Go!”

I raised the mug and brought it to my lips. Oh god, it was like cane sugar to me. I never wanted anything more in my life.

Dawn was gulping hers down the slowest of all of us, but she didn’t seem that affected by the first or second mug. Her husband, on the other hand, was the first to finish the three before us. I was next followed by Jackson.

“Hick,” I said burping.

“You sure you can continue?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine, just can’t a girl get some bread or something. All this liquid with nothing else is making me feel bloated.”

“In a contest of consumption, you want to fill up on bread?” he asked.

I nodded. “Watch me.”

The barkeep brought the next twelve and some breadsticks for me. At this point, the entire bar surrounded us and cheered for either the power couple or the newbie couple. I guess I was the latter. Wow, the room was spinning. I grabbed one of the small breadsticks and angled my jaw up as I slowly slid it down my lips and throat. No biting needed.

That got the whole bar cheering for us even louder for some reason. Sadly, that got me off to a slow start. But my stomach felt way better. By the time I got through my three mugs, I was the third to finish, with Jacksom being the last.

“Come on! You can do this, Jackson!” I said. I leaned over and kissed his cheek. His face went flush as he raised his arms in a cheer.

“Round three!” I shouted. “More bread!”

The barkeep was quick on it as he brought them over. I tossed the bread to Jackson. “Please rip into smaller pieces for me.”

While he was doing that, I began downing my mugs. Between mugs, I would just open my mouth and signal Jackson to toss them into my mouth. Again, this got all the patrons roaring again.

I managed to finish first this time. Both Dawn and her husband were slowing down.

“You’re not bad, Alexis,” Dawn said as she burped. “Oh my.”

I began slamming my mug against the table. “Round four!” But I quickly realized Jackson was struggling with his last mug.

I kissed him and sucked some of the sweet nectar from his lips. I guess maybe this was cheating, but who cared? He said two against two. Plus, it just felt right.

The bread was helping a bit, but the room was still shaking for me at this point.

Round four began, and Jackson ended up grabbing his mouth as he ran off to a bucket the barkeep had.

Dawn managed one more mug but then raised her hand up in resignation, down to me and the husband. We stared at each other as we kept drinking. Our second mug and then our third.

The barkeep came up. “To win, you would need to drink two more than him. Are you sure-”

“Hell yeah!” I shouted. Honestly, I just wanted more of that sweet, sweet nectar.

He brought the fifth round. I was definitely getting close to my limit. Not cuz it was alcohol, just my stomach couldn’t hold much more. He downed one and then paused before waving it off. Ha. Just needed to drink all three. One, two and… ugh. My belly. No. Won’t lose! I forced the third down and then showed my clean mouth.

“Winner!” the barkeep shouted.

The husband raised his hand to offer a shake, but I quickly ran to the bucket that Jackson had used. Oh god, that felt so good. At this point, the room wasn’t just spinning in one direction; it was like omnidirectional spinning.

“Let’s get the ladies home,” someone said. I couldn’t recognize who. A few arms helped me to my feet, and I noticed it was dark outside. Wow, it didn’t seem like anytime at all.

“No, she isn’t staying at the guild; she is at the shelter,” Jackson said.

“She’s wasted. Shouldn’t we take her to the guild even if it's just for one night?” someone asked.

“Nancy will worry if she doesn’t come home; we will have to notify her then,” someone said.

“I’m fine, I just,” I paused, almost needing the bucket again. “Just need a bed and for everything to stop spinning.”

I think we were walking towards the shelter. I wasn’t actually sure. A piercing sound seared into my ears as I desperately tried to cover them. Wait, was that the shelter alarm system? Was it the slavers this time? Oh no, the girls were in trouble! I tried to break the boys' grip but tripped and landed face-first in the dirt. Everything went dark.