Melania takes up my challenge first and her face screws up after downing each shot. She's not a quitter though as she smiles prettily at me and reaches across the table. Stealing Verite's cider, she chases the shots with it and gives me a sassy wink. Oh! Now she's flirting with me and I laugh brightly as she's drank more alcohol than I originally dared her to without coughing. "Nicely done. You've just dodged restroom clean-ups for the next week."

Verite's turn and she downs the shots, one after the other, holding her breath the whole time through the first two. She's turned a bright shade of red that sets off her hair and her eyes are wet as she reaches for the third. If she makes this one, I'll be very surprised and sure enough, she's coughing and choking as I hand her a bar towel to cough into. She gave it a great try and I slide the glass of cider her way as I smile and say, "That's was better than I expected. You do have some tolerance to you."

Setting the bottle of Violet Charm wine in front of her, I continue, "This wine matches your hair and it would make me happy if you took it as a consolation prize, for being a great sport. And this too," as I lean forward and kiss her cheek. Chuckling, I add, "And now you owe me a favor. Would you mind if I waited on it? I'd like to think about it first," I say as I flash her a sweet smile.

Recalling that last week was a holiday, I turn to both girls, saying, "Did either of you attend the masquerade last week? The Tavern was a-twitter with news of how much fun it was and I'm sorry I missed it but a friend needed me. I did provide the liquor though so I was in there in spirit," and I chuckle again. Dorian said the punch was a rousing success and I'm interested to hear what they thought. "How was the punch?"