A drink to warm you up

[Joshua Bernstein]

Outside winter raged, snow drifts piling against the sides of the building. Inside, however, the mass of human bodies elevated the temperature above what the thermostat was set to.

Josh divested himself of his December wrappings as soon as the door was shut behind him, coat and gloves and hat and scarf all piling into the coat room at the front of the bar in exchange for a ticket.

He gave a smile to the man with him; not Sean tonight, but his friend Stefan.

"A good evening for a drink, I say!" He laughed. Even though he was cutting back, he could still afford a drink or two with friends.

[Stefan Spencer]

Stefan had been more than happy to go out for a few drinks with Josh. Although his conversation with Sean was still on his mind and he hoped not to go against what the two had discussed, he wasn't going to let that stand in the way of having a great night with his friend.

He stripped down as well, leaning heavily on his cane as the two found a place to sit. The colder weather was never kind to his leg, but that was nothing that a few drinks couldn't cure.

"Indeed, and I couldn't have found a more charming drinking companion if I tried," he said grinning back at his friend. "First round is one me, and fries or chips if you'd like."

[Joshua Bernstein]

Josh gave his friend a knowing grin. Although Sean thought Stefan drank too much, the attorney disagreed; he was sure that the journalist knew his limits better than any outsider could. Just because his partner could read minds and was a psychiatrist didn't mean he could diagnose alcoholism in someone he was friends with.

At least, that was what Josh told himself; it prevented him from feeling guilty about inviting his friend out for drinks with him, anyway. The other option would be to feel guilty for leaving him out when going drinking, and really that would have been worse.

"Aren't you in a generous spirit! What sort of dip do they have for chips? I'll bet nothing that rivals Riley's cheese dip."

[Stefan Spencer]

From Stefan's point of view, there was no reason at all to feel guilty about inviting him out for drinks. In fact he encouraged it and was always quick to clear his schedule when offered. Of course since his evenings often centered around a trip to a bar there wasn't much of a schedule shift needed. And whatever Sean might think, Stefan didn't see a problem with any of that.

"I'm a very giving person," Stefan said. Of course people didn't always want what he had to offer, but that didn't stop him from offering. Though he was trying to keep to only offering food and drink to Josh for the night. "I'll second that but I was in the mood for some spinach and artichoke dip, unless you're up for some queso blanco?" Stefan was always in the mood for a little spice, but like to check with his eating companions first.

As the two mulled over their appetizer and drink decision, Stefan's eye caught two lovely looking men standing by the bar. The were obviously brothers, or perhaps twins. From across the room, Stefan wasn't quite sure. When he noticed the two looking for a spot, he couldn't help but lift his hand and motion to the other two chairs at his and Josh's table.

"Hope you don't mind. I thought I'd spread around my generosity," he said to Josh. Besides it might help him to have someone else (two others in fact) for him to direct his flirting at. "The more the merrier, right?"

((hope this is okay with you guys, i can edit it if needed))

[Dio & Evan Thanos]

Going out and having fun was a rare occurrance for Dionysius and Evander. In fact, the only time they ever really went out was for school functions to chaperone or maybe once or twice if they were having a stressful day. Today happened to be relatively stressful for him after dealing with a handful of students that either hated their ability or abused it, he was frustrated to say the least.

Upon getting home from work, Dio and Evan promptly changed. Dio wore dark jeans ripped and worn in a few places with a white wife-beater and dark blue button-up where Evander wore lighter ratty old jeans and a thermal long-sleeved maroon shirt. Looking at them, it would probably be easy to mistake them for a normal pair of twins, but looking closely, they mimicked each other in perfection synchronization.

Dio's eyes scanned the left side while Evander scanned the right and the met at the same point, a man waving his hand and motioning towards two chairs. The twins looked at each other and shrugged at the same time before maneuvering through the mass of people before arriving at the table with two older men seated.

They exchanged another passing glance towards each other before speaking, "I hope I'm not intruding on anything." Dio looked at the man that had waved them over, "I'm Dionysius and Evander Thanos," he motioned towards his twin as he introduced himself. He looked at the other man and offered a friendly smile. He couldn't say he necessarily knew either men, so it was always a tad bit awkward trying to remember how to handle such things in public situations with non-powered individuals. If they even were non-powered.

[Joshua Bernstein]

"Spinach and artichoke dip sounds wonderful," Josh assured Stefan. As someone who had lived off poptarts and sandwiches for the better part of two decades, nobody could accuse the attorney of being very particular about his food; if his dining partners wanted something he was usually willing to accommodate. "Should I---" but before he could finish his question, his friend had waved two more people over to their table.

"Not a problem at all!" He laughed. Inviting strangers to sit with him was certainly no new thing for him; he'd met plenty of people that way, both in Pilot Ridge and back in The City, and so he saw no reason to discourage Stefan from engaging in the same habits.

But when the brothers introduced themselves, Josh realized that he had spoken too soon.

It was a problem.

It was definitely a problem.

Stefan had asked over a pair of gestalts.

He gave the pair a strained smile, trying not to let his anxiety show. It wasn't as if they were at fault for

the event

years ago.

Oh, he was supposed to be over this.

"I'm Josh, Josh Bernstein. It's nice to meet you."

[Stefan Spencer]

Stefan nodded at Josh's statement. Looking up for someone to give the order to. Although Stefan didn't need snack food to have a long night of drinking, he'd found that a lot of people preferred to have something in their stomach besides just liquor.

"No intrusion at all boys," Stefan said as the brothers sat down. "Pleased to meet you, I'm Stefan and this handsome fella is my dear friend Josh." He flashed a grin at his friend and that's when he noticed something off in Josh's body language.

Still Stefan didn't chalk up Josh being off with the appearance of gestalts, and Stefan was pretty sure on this from his ability picking up on from the brothers' in-sync actions. What was not to like about twins? Stefan found them intriguing and wonderful, especially when they were as fine looking as the Thanos brothers.

"I doubt Sean will mind you having a little fun night with some handsome company," he said, his voice lowered as he leaned over towards his friend. "I call dibs on Dionysius," he added with a chuckle.

"First round is on me," Stefan said, leaning back in his chair and motioning for someone to please take their order.