ArchivedLogs:Partying and Overwork

Partying and Overwork
Dramatis Personae Eric, Mai	2016-12-30 Eric and Mai discuss work, partying, and the upcoming New Year festivities.
Location <NYC> Down Under - Morningside Heights
Gritty, grimy, with food of questionable origin and unquestionable greasiness, Down Under is nevertheless a place to drink. That is about all that can be said for it -- that and it is a place to drink if you are short on cash. As such, it is frequently frequented by college students and those looking simply to get Very Drunk. For those none too concerned about the quality of their booze, this is the place to go. Friday nights at Down Under tend to be the busier nights, as the college students are less concerned about getting hammered before the weekend. The fact that it's the night before New Year's Eve does nothing to ease the crowd. The bar is hopping tonight, the press of students making up the majority, but a few regulars sitting along the bar in various states of inebriation. One, in fact, is already passed out face-down on the counter. Not a bad display for 9PM Down Under. Sitting in a leather jacket and nursing the large glass of Guinness in front of him, Eric is chatting with one of the regulars who is still sober enough to string sentences together in a rational manner. "I still can't believe the Falcons are the top of their division. Ain't right, man. That's just fucked up." Mai has not had the best last few days, but, fortunately she knows just the perfect cure for that, which is to have some good time, dancing, a few drinks, she isn't too picky of the type, as long as it will take her mind off the less pleasant events, and with new year fast approaching, it is not hard to find opportunities for that. Down Under might not be the classiest place in town, but its popular among the college students, which is how she heard of it too from a few friends, so she has come in along with a group of college students that includes a few people she knows, although they quickly drift apart in the crowd of the rather packed bar. She manuevers her way through the crowd with a bit of effort as she isn't exactly the largest person ever, but what she lacks in strength, she makes up for in dexterity, and soon finds herself at the bar, where she takes a seat on one of the stools, which happens to be right next to Eric and the gentleman he is conversing with, leaning a bit forward as she tries to get the bartenders attention to order something to drink. "Well, what can you do. We all know the fuckin' Patriots are gonna come in and crush all'a us in the end anyway. Even with Gronkowski out on injury." Eric says, bitterly, shaking his head. The police officer shrugs his shoulders, picking up his beer and taking a long, chugging swallow. He licks the foam off of his lips, glancing over to look over Mai as she sits down. He nods once, before turning his head back to the other man next to him. "You know?" "Yeah, yeah." Mai spends a few moments trying to wave at the bartender, who is most likely the most wanted man in the whole establishment at the moment judging from how many people are competing for his attention, before finally managing to draw his attention so she can place an order for a cider. Now with that extremely important matter taken care of, she can relax at her seat a bit and actually look around while waiting for her drink, brow arching some at the already passed out guy, damn, either that man has an awful tolerance or he started really early! She offers a smile and a nod to Eric in return as she notices the greeting, looking him over for a moment, though does not bump in to the conversation as sports aren't exactly among her fields of expertise. "Anyway. Fuck it. We'll see what happens tonight." Eric turns and lifts his drink again, taking several long swallows of the thick beer. Eric glances to his left once more, lifting his chin in a brief salute to Mai. "Finished with midterms?" Eric asks, raising his eyebrows. "Or do I have ya pegged all wrong?" The man's smile is bright, warm, and he sticks out a calloused hand. "Sutton. Eric Sutton." Mai mmhhmms and nods to the question. "Yeah, thats out of the way, time for some partying to balance it out." she offers in return with a light laugh, and as if on cue, her cider is placed on the bar front of her, she digs out a crumpled bill from a pocket of her jacket that she hands to the bartender in exchange. Taking a sip from it to get a taste, before she sets it down again and turns a bit on her stool towards Eric so she can more easily reach out with her hand to take the offered one to shake. "Mai Ling, nice to meet you Eric... you don't mind if I call you Eric, right?" She inquires, her hand shake is quite firm, definetily someone who keeps in good shape. Eric's handshake is quick, a squeeze of a hand and a tilted smile. He glances at her cider and smiles, picking up his own beer. "Please, go ahead. Ain't no one call me Sutton unless I'm workin', and even then...." He grins, shrugging his shoulders once. "You got anything lined up for after graduation yet, or are ya still got another year past this one?" Eric's eyes flick over to the bartender, and he raises the glass significantly towards the busy man, taking another swig. Mai laughs lightly at his reply as she takes another sip from her glass. "Yeah, it would sound awfully official for a place like this to go with surnames." She agrees with a quick glance around the bar. "But hey still safest to check first, as I guess some people do prefer that. And naah, haven't really thought that far ahead yet, one thing at a time. And right now, that one thing is enjoying the evening." she concludes with another laugh as she lifts her glass as sort of toast towards Eric to emphasize the point. "So what about you? On a vacation or something?" This suggestion is met with a bright laugh and a large smile from Eric. "Vacation? I fuckin' wish. I ain't get paid enough to take vacation that often 'round here, and my union wouldn't piss on me if I was on fire. Nah, I'm takin' tonight to relax, since tomorrow's New Year's Eve." Eric spins the edge of his glass on the table with one finger, tilting the almost empty glass this way and that, watching the liquid shift underneath a blanket of foam. "Ain't nobody get New Year's Eve off in my line of work." Mai leans an elbow on the bar and her cheek on her palm as she listens curiously at what Eric is saying, while occasionally taking another sip from her cider, preferring to take her time with it, not so much because the taste is awesome, but because the evening will have much smaller bill that way. "Really man? Damn, that must suck as New Year's is like one of the best days of the year for partying. But hey at least you get paid extra for working on a special day like that, right?" is pointed out before she pauses for another sip from her cider. "But I guess you will just have to have enough good time today to cover for tomorrow also, yeah?" "Time and a half." Eric says, with a wink and a grin. "Not really worth it for the hell'a night it's gonna be, but, I'm sure not gonna say no!" He chuckles at his own joke, lifting the glass to his lips and finishing the rest of his beer in one long gulp. He sets it down with a clunk, shrugging his shoulders. "What're ya plannin' on doing tomorrow? Not makin' work for me, I hope." Eric says, lips quirking into a little smirk. Mai considers that for a moment with her glass in hand. "Time and a half, eh? Thats not too bad, but yeah, I guess that New Year might not be as awesome for those people who have to clean up all the mess the partygoers make." she agrees with a giggle. Then shrugs at the question. "I dunno, haven't really made any big plans yet, thats the great part about the holidays, don't need to follow a schelude all the time, though it will probably include dancing and drinking at least." she admits with a grin, before taking another sip of cider. "Sounds like my kind of party," Eric says, grinning. He tugs out his wallet, gesturing over to the bartender. "Frank -- another Guinness." he calls out, loudly, as he opens his wallet to pull out a five dollar bill and toss it on the table. In the center of his wallet is a well-polished golden badge, an eagle on top, with "CITY OF NEW YORK POLICE SERGEANT" emblazoned across it. As quickly as it was visible, it's tucked back into the fold of the wallet, returned once more to his pocket. "I don't suppose you'd like 'ta trade. You take my shift and the time and a half, and I'll go dancin' and drinkin'?" Mai had been pondering what Eric's job was, she had been kind of leaning towards paramedic, but catching glimpse of the badge from the wallet reveals the mystery. Fortunately she doesn't have any kind of special paranoia towards police, so the badge just mostly makes her curious. She brings the glass to her lips to take another sip, then nearly chokes on it from laughing fit at his offer, reaching a hand up to wipe her mouth. "Oh my, while I wouldn't mind the extra income, I am not sure if your boss would be game with that, as I probably would be somewhat lacking in qualifications." she replies with a smile. "Yeah, you're probably right. For a bunch a' reasons, actually." Eric chuckles to himself, stretching out this way and that, his neck making a cracking sound as he flexes. The police officer winces slightly, then turns his eyes back to Mai. "Where'da ya go to school, anyway? And for what?" Mai nods a few times in agreement. "Yeah I can imagine, would definetily have been hilarious to see his or her face when you would have informed of that switch." she notes with a giggle at the mental image. Finally emptying her glass, she sets it down on the counter before replying to the question. "Nothing too fancy, just NYU, on graphical arts, betting on that being pretty high on demand in few years with how movies are using more and more cgi every year. And I like drawing anyway, so its pretty cool... well unless something changes drastically and end up not getting any work I suppose, then it would look pretty dumb." she concludes with a chuckle. Eric nods, slowly. "Nice. I'm not much'a an artist," he confesses, a grin on his face. "Doesn't mean I don't know what looks good, though, ya know?" He winks once at Mai, playfully, then glances up towards the bartender, to the five dollar bill in front of him. "Frank. Frank!" Nothing. Eric tosses a hand up, letting it thunk down on the bar with a clap. "S' like I'm not even here. Ah, well. Maybe it's a sign." Eric grabs the bill off of the counter and stuffs it back into his pocket. "What can ya do?" Mai gives a glance over her shoulder towards where the bartender is working at the other end of the bar at the moment, before returnign her attention back to Eric. "Well, if even you can't get his attention, I am not even going to try." she offers with a laugh, smiling at the compliment. "Thanks, your not looking all that bad yourself either, you know?" She offers it right back as she looks him over again. "Yeah, poor Frank looks a bit overworked, they really should have more than one bartender on shift at a time on peak times like the new year. I don't think he will make it back to this side anytime soon." "Doesn't look like it, nah. Still, he's probably makin' more in tips tonight than I'm gonna make tomorrow, so, I ain't feel too bad for him." Eric drawls, a grin playing about his lips. He glances around the room, checking out one of the girls who passes near by, then turns his attention back to Mai. "Anyway. I better get goin' before I get myself int'a trouble. Was good meetin' you, Mai." Eric reaches out his hand again, holding it open for her. Mai smiles warmly to Eric as she takes the offered hand again on her own to shake. "Pleasure was all mine, Eric. Hopefully will see you around some more too. Try to not get too stressed out there tomorrow, okay?" She offers to him in return. Eric grins and winks once at her. "I'll do my best. And don't ya party so much I need to show up, huh?" He laughs again, once, standing up and brushing some foam off of his pants. "Have a good night, Mai." With a quick little salute and another wink, Eric presses forward into the crowd, heading towards the door.