WHO: Andrew Jacobs & Nora Adler Mateo WHAT: Friends meet for cocktails... weird magic stuff happens WHEN: backdated to August 16th, evening WHERE: The Crimson Kestrel RATING: PG (medical references)
Andrew arrived at the Crimson Kestrel, early for a change (who said Drag Queens were always late?), and seated himself at the bar with his long legs folded neatly underneath the counter, waiting for his friend-date. The friend in question, Nora, wasn’t someone he’d known for long - but then, the same could be true for all of his friends in Snowcap. The man himself hadn’t even been here three months yet.
Once he’d got the attention of the person behind the bar, he ordered a pair of cocktails from the specials board and took a sip of the one meant for himself, the other awaiting Nora. He sipped again, and waited.
And waited.
And waited some more.
What on earth was going on?
Nora wasn't usually late for anything. Not work, not family events, not date night with Teo. Nothing. So she wasn't going to be late to cocktails with Andrew either. Especially not cocktails with Andrew. Mainly because of the cocktail part, but also because of the Andrew part.
Sidling up next to him at the family bar, the redhead grinned and took her cocktail, wincing a little after taking a drink and finding it watered down.
"Oh, yeah, no. Can I get a fresh one of these please?" she asked the bartender, politely, turning to look at her friend and smiling. "You must have gotten here early for that to have happened. I thought we were meeting at 6."
Maybe she got her times mixed up, but she doubted it. She usually was spot on with these kinds of things.
Upon Nora’s arrival at the bar, Andrew had lifted one of his eyebrows as he awaited what he assumed would be the excuse for her late arrival - but when that didn’t come, he knew something wasn’t quite right. It was unlike Nora to be late, yes, but more importantly it was unlike her to be downright rude. When she mentioned the time, though, he knew something was definitely wrong. Just to make sure he wasn’t actually losing his own mind, Andrew’s eyes went first to his watch, then flicked up towards the clock on the other side of the bar, a frown beginning to form on his face.
“Um, Nora?” he began, unable to hide his concern. “We were supposed to meet then… have you seen the time?”
Seriously, what on earth was going on?
The redhead blinked and looked down at her watch. An hour? She was an hour late? Where had that hour gone? The last she'd checked she was walking out of the house twenty minutes early and looking forward to all the alcohol and gossip Andrew might have. At the very least some information on his book and how the writing was coming along. And now...
"Oh... I don't feel so good," she murmured, dropping into her stool with her own concerned look crossing her features. She'd lost time somewhere and, for the life of her, she couldn't figure out where. She didn't dawdle. She hadn't stopped anywhere in between. She'd left her house and come straight here but...
Apparently, she hadn't.
For a second, the image flashed through her mind of the alien guy meme, but a quick shake got rid of that. Nora was pretty sure she'd know if she'd been "probed" by someone who wasn't her husband.
Andrew immediately stood as Nora plummeted into her seat like a stone, concern writ large on his face as he leaned over her, watching her face. “Did you feel OK before?” he asked, watching her breathing and the movement of her eyes, looking for a sign that a Healer’s call may be more necessary than the call of a Crimson Kestrel cocktail special. “Or has this been coming on a while?” As much as gossip was something he’d looked forward to, he wasn’t a selfish prick. Well, not entirely, anyway. At least his friend’s welfare concerned him more.
“What time did you leave the house?” he asked, pulling his stool closer, determined to help figure this out.
"I don't understand," she started, shaking her head slowly as she tried to piece together the timeline. "I left the house twenty minutes early. That's all it takes to get here. Twenty minutes. How did I end up an hour late?"
She looked up at Andrew, her eyes mirroring the concern in his eyes. "I came straight straight here. I came straight here. I don't understand." When a fresh cocktail was put in front of her, Nora grabbed it and downed it swiftly, setting the empty glass on the bartop and waving her hand for another.
"How did I lose time?"
“So you’ve lost… wait a minute,” he began, his eyes lifting to the bar’s ceiling as he calculated in his head. “Well, when you got here you felt like it was right on time, yeah? So that’s what you’ve lost, a full hour. And it’s not like we have daylight savings to play around with here,” he added, accepting his own fresh cocktail from the bartender. “And dead on an hour… that’s freakishly precise.” He sipped the cocktail, thinking some more before setting it back down.
“Honey… I think we’re going to have to take you to a Healer. And some kind of law enforcement, maybe, if the medic thinks it’s a good idea. I don’t like the sound of this at all.”
A healer... okay. They could take her to- No. That would be too much. They'd have to take her to Njall. Or one of the docs in town. "Not to Teo. I don't want to scare him," she murmured, not exactly paying attention to any one thing. She loved her husband too much to make him deal with this. "One of the docs here in town. I can see them."
It was then that she lifted her eyes to focus on Andrew, concern and fear written all over them. "What do you think happened? Could it have something to do with why all the magic is fucked up?"
She hoped that was the case, because this whole No-Maj thing sucked. She knew Cate had it bad, but this was just overkill. Magic was part of who she was, like a limb. Losing it was painful... and this? This was just scary.
“We can take you there, yeah. It’ll be quicker than going up to the reserve,” Andrew nodded in agreement, standing from the bar and getting the barmaid’s attention. He pulled out his wallet quickly, setting down a generous tip for the glasses left on the counter, and turned to look back at his friend.
He shrugged a little, offering his arm. “I’m guessing there’s something around here that’s interfering with magic, for sure, but I won’t lie to you Nora… this worries me. It might not be magical, so I think we need to get you to the doctor to rule stuff out.”
His intention was simple - side along apparate with her to the nearest doctor (once out of range of the bar, of course), getting Nora seen to ASAP. Of course, guiding her apparition would also mean she wouldn’t get lost or delayed on the way, which seemed to be a problem...
Nora wasn't really sure what the reasoning could be. She hadn't eaten anything different, hadn't gone anywhere she'd never been before, didn't take a detour and lose track of time, she wasn't pregnant if that could even cause such a thing. Hell, she hadn't even pregamed because she knew what drinking with Farrah / Andrew was like!
Sliding her hand into his arm, she let him steady her as he told her he was worried. "Trust me... you aren't the only one," she assured him.
As soon as Nora’s arm had slid inside his, Andrew covered her hand with his and escorted her to the door of the bar, keeping her steady by waking all the way. They were a good five or six metres away from the entrance when Andrew spoke next, keeping his hand on his friend’s arm more firmly.
“The nearest one is just off Main Street, yeah?” he asked, barely waiting for her nod before the pair of them disappeared with a loud ‘pop’.