Picani's Growing Social Circle

I went to a local bar and wasn't really sure what to expect, but I knew I didn't want to deal with an incident like the bar fight in Antz or any other movies, and then somewhere a fight broke out, due to a need for reassurance of dominance.

I wasn't sure what exactly to do or order, but then I remembered secretly seeing an article about drink orders inspired by cartoons. I scrolled up and down until I saw one called an Articuno. When the bartender approached me, I wasn't certain how well he'd take the name of my order, so I just asked if he could mix together 2 oz. Hpnotiq, 0.75 oz. Gin, 0.25 oz Lime Juice, and Club Soda to fill. He shrugged before going to prepare it, and I heard someone ask for a Butterbeer for himself and another person. I followed the voice and saw a guy in glasses and with no facial hair right next to a guy with facial hair and no glasses that seemed to be several seats away from me.

The guy with facial hair looked at me and said, "What? Haven't read Harry Potter before?"

"Are you kidding? I consider myself a Hufflepuff with Ravenclaw tendencies," I defended.

The man with glasses laughs, but I wasn't sure what was so funny.

"We both identify as Slytherins, but you might probably know how the quizzes are, I assume," he says after laughing.

I was thinking for a while before deciding it might be a good idea to introduce myself before continuing.

"Oh, I'm Emile, and you guys are?"

"Oh, I'm Ben and this is my brother Jon, but we usually call him J" the man with facial hair answered.

One of the bartenders came back with two mugs of what I guessed was Butterbeer. The brothers grabbed their drinks before moving closer to me.

"I think I saw that it's possible to order a Butterbeer at Starbucks. I was thinking of surprising my boyfriend with the article," I told them.

I saw the bartender who took my order come over with my drink in hand.

"Speaking of orders that aren't often asked for, thank you, sir," I told the bartender.

J looked at my drink, due to what I guessed was curiosity.

"What did you order?"

"Oh, from the looks of it, an Articuno," I told him.

I showed them my phone so they could see the article.

"Sorry, I kinda brought my love for cartoons with me. Sometimes it feels like I'm Lazlo and that love is Lamar—oh, I mean Lauren," I nervously joked.

The two brothers looked at each other and smiled.

"Oh don't get us started on Disney," J told me.

I felt more enthusiastic as soon as Disney was mentioned.

We talked more and in between discussions regarding Disney and then some, I found out that they both vlog about Disney and Harry Potter stuff, and tonight they thought it would be a good idea to get out of the house while J's son was spending time with his "Padme" and see if the first bar that came to mind would proceed to serve Butterbeers. I told them about being a therapist and how I've gotten mixed responses from my patients regarding my evident love for cartoons and how some people jokingly get surprised when they find out Remy and I are boyfriends and not brothers.

I took some sips of my Articuno and felt less alienated. Eventually, amongst the chattering in the bar, I heard what sounded like an Australian accent say,

"I know she's somewhat different as a 13 year old, but Satanica's upbringing was definitely evident for her to be capable when she was three."

Followed by a younger voice saying, "Well, I guess when you consider the fact that Man-die is clearly old enough to know what she's doing, then Angelica might be the lesser of the two evils in contrast."

I felt the tingling of Nickelodeon vibes as I followed the discussion and saw, at a table, a blonde college-aged guy with glasses munching on cheese curds and talking with an older guy with darker hair also munching on the cheese curds. I looked at the article on my phone and thought it would be amusing to order a drink from the article for the older guy. Ben and J looked in the same direction I was looking in and chuckled.

"I think those guys are vloggers, too. They kinda look familiar," Ben brought up.

"Well, I'm picking up some Nick Nick Nick Nick Nick Nick Nick vibes, so a special order wouldn't hurt. I just hope they have all the ingredients," I told them.

I flagged down the bartender again, pointed to the pair snacking on cheese curds and asked if he could get the older guy a drink with 5 oz. Orange Vodka, 5 oz. Peach Schnapps, 5 oz. Amaretto, 5 oz. Midori, 5 oz. Sweet & Sour Mix, 5 oz. Orange Juice, 5 oz. Cranberry Juice, and a Splash of Grenadine. I received a weird look and the bartender left to make the order. I continued talking to Ben and J and even joked that Remy would likely have their branded coffee if it was poured in a Starbucks cup.

Sometime later, I saw that the older man walked over to us.

"Howdy, folks. Did one of you get me this drink?" he asked, and his Australian accent was more noticeable.

"Oh, that was me," I answered.

The man looked at the drink and seemed pretty skeptical, understandably.

"Is there something about this I should know about?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing much except that it's apparently called the 'Nick-eloaded' and I thought it would be a good ice breaker since you were talking with your friend over there," I explained, wanting to make absolutely certain he understood I wasn't trying to be a creep.

Said friend walked over to us and I eventually said, "By the way, couldn't stand Angelica, but I'm guessing Man-die had a similar upbringing, but with the inclusion of royalty and homicidal tendencies to mix in with the entitlement."

J looked at the two and said, "Don't I know you for somewhere?"

The Australian man chuckles and says "Maybe as PhantomStrider. I'm Josh."

After the college guy introduced himself as Isaac and said he's probably more likely known as WotsoVideos, we continued socializing and talking about cartoons and then some. As we were all talking to each other, I couldn't help but feel glad I let Remy talk me into going to the bar.