--- In TheGothHouse@y..., "Winter" <winter@b...> wrote:
> Winter sat at one end of the bar with his trusty clipboard in hand, going
> over the quarterly inventory.
> Currently in hand were some of the more expensive on the list.
>
> A brand new case of DeLile 1997 Chaleur Estate Red
> 6 bottles of Quinta do Noval 40 year Port
> Scotch...MacCallan, Laphroiag, Glenmorangie, Aberlour
> 1 bottle of Caol Ila Scotch
>
> Fresh barrels of Guinness and Samuel Adams Double Bock had just been tapped.
> The bar was
> clean, shiny, and ready for service.
>
> "Alright, who needs a drop of the creature?" rumbled Winter, ready and
> willing as always to pour
> the devils liquor and listen to anyone's joys and heartaches.

It had been a bad day for Christiane. No, make that a bad couple of
months. After awakening the statues on the roof of the Goth House for
the battle with the creatures from Hades, or whatever they were, she
had felt extraordinarily tired. She had dragged herself back to the
Arboretum, and laid down on the chaise in one of the rose bowers. She
had only awoken a few hours ago, inexplicably dressed in a pretty-
pretty-princess gown, and entwined with furiously blooming roses. If it
was a faerie joke, she certainly wasn't amused. And she wasn't
particularly happy that Zophiel had absentmindedly forgot about her and
gone off to save another dimension or something. He hadn't even left
her a note, at least not in a place that she could find it.

A drink was what she needed, now that she had gotten up, changed out of
the overly frou-frou gown (18-foot train? Who the hell was she,
Princess Diana?), and washed eight months of sleep crud out of her
eyes. And she still smelled of roses, even after a bath. Not
necessarily a bad thing, but she needed something sharp and alcoholic
to wash the sweetness out of the back of her throat.

Seeing Winter's comforting bulk at the bar and hearing his deep rumble
when she walked in was so appropriate she felt tears prickle at her
eyes.

"Winter, a shot of Jamieson's, and a Yuengling chaser," she said. "And
a hug, too, if you please. Oh, and if there is no one in the kitchen,
I'd like to make myself useful."