She nodded. "As if hugging someone means they are weak somehow," she agreed. "Pfft. What nonsense." She sighed, as if washing her hands of people altogether. She thought of doing so, sometimes, but she still needed some of them to keep her energy up, and so she endured. "But yes, if you ever lay hands on some, let me know. And I will keep an eye open as well."
She smiled. "Good for a first effort, but yes, practice. Rolling the r's can take some work, and there are some z's sprinkled in there where you might not expect. And yes, I'll have another. We'll try your toast this time."
The easy mood was interrupted by a patron who seemed not to be able to keep his mouth shut. Not that many of them could, but he was particularly jarring, and Ilinca wasn't having it. But he was gone before she could formulate a scathing retort, to her chagrin.
Ilinca's eyes narrowed as she watched the customer depart. "Excuse me one moment, darling," she told Victor, slipping from her stool and following him into the crowd. She caught up to him easily, laying one hand on his arm. When he turned to look, she smiled her coldest smile and dug her nails into his arm. "Come with me," she said, in a voice that left no room for argument. She all but dragged him back to the bar, ignoring his protests the whole way.
"You owe our bartender an apology," she told him. "He is not here for you to be an idiot about, save that for the unfortunate women who no doubt cross your path on a daily basis." When it looked like he was going to refuse, she twisted his arm up behind his back, using her strength to force him up onto his toes. "Now." Even if he offered the mostly beautiful apology ever uttered, she was still going to hunt him later. But there was nothing wrong with forcing him to eat some humble pie first.