"Liam! You''re late!" She was definitely more than 4 cerzis in.


    "You''re early. It''s barely 3, how many have you had?" I asked and sat in the only empty chair.


    "Not enough." She giggled, "Oh! Zak, Jeremy: Liam. Liam: Zak ''m Jeremy."


    "Pleasure." I held out my hand.


    Zak was scrawny, pale, and his mop of a haircut almost covered his eyes. He was definitely in with the emo crowd in high school. Jeremy seemed like the typical traveler. Somewhat fit, tan, mannerisms that screamed ''upper/ upper middle class''.


    "Oh! This one for you." She took out a bottle from the ice bucket in the middle of the table and handed it to me.


    "Thanks." I unscrewed the lid and took a sip, "So, how''d you guys meet?"


    Jeremy and Tammy exchanged a glance then burst out laughing.


    "It''s kind of an embarrassing story." Jeremy said.


    Stolen novel; please report.


    I was still trying to place the accent. I was leaning towards general Australian but he could have easily been a drunk Britton.


    "Care to tell it?" I asked, looking at Tammy.


    She laughed and started, "I was with some girlfriends at a club in Playe di Carm. I see this cute guy walk in, alone, and head straight to the bar. I walked over and offered to buy him a drink. Spare you the details; my roommate was not happy with me the next morning."


    "Who was your roommate?" I asked.


    She pointed at Zak.


    "I didn''t sleep at all that night." He said.


    The New London accent fit him perfectly.


    "And how did you meet?" I asked.


    "Found him in Elysium City. I was checking out the anthropology museum with a friend and this guy walked past us like 7 times! He''d leave the exhibit, disappear for a bit, walk back in, mutter something to himself, then leave again! He looked like a kid lost at a department store. It was so cute. We asked him if he needed help. He couldn''t figure out the Elysian name for the exhibit he wanted to go to. I kind of kidnapped him after that and we''ve been traveling together since."


    "Since Elysium? Quite a while, no?" I asked.


    "Only a few weeks. Besides, I''ve got a shuttle booked to New London next week so that ''while'' will be over soon." Zak replied.


    "Don''t remind me!" Tammy protested.


    I finished the cerzi and offered to buy the next round. We chatted the evening away until night finally came and a heavier crowd started to filter in. I lost count of my cerzis somewhere along the way.