All Aboard

The exterior of the building had a railing made from a piece of old railway steel, held up by sleepers taken from the same place. John didn’t know for certain why the rail was right in front of the door; at a guess, he would say it was to slow down people going inside so as to not overcrowd the entrance.

It was quiet on the street but the soft light coming from the interior lit up the pathway in front of the place. As the two walked around the railing, John couldn’t help but slide his hand across it, thinking of how many trains might have passed over before it was decommissioned.

Opening the door and stepping through, lights flickered and danced mimicking flames dimly lighting the surroundings. A mixture of coffee, wine and fruity perfume filled John’s nose; it wasn’t overpowering and was even somewhat pleasant.

This was John’s first time here, so he looked around the mostly empty establishment. It was a quite long but narrow room. Immediately to John’s left and right as he entered were booths that could fit four people each.

The booths gave way to benches on each side of the room. On the right were three benches, a little wider than the booth benches but with the same design, each bench big enough for three people sitting comfortably or possibly four if you sat shoulder to shoulder. The right benches came to an end with another booth at the end.

On the other side of the room, there was another bench though it stopped at a single three-person bench. Beyond it was an opening in the wall that led down a hall that John couldn’t see down from this angle but he could see the white ceramic bricks that lined the wall; right after the opening was an antique free-standing clock maybe a metre twenty tall and behind that was another booth.

At the end of the bar was a door with mirrored glass, making it look like there was another identical bar beyond. The door had a plaque which read “Staff Only”, though right now he couldn’t see any staff.

The room had many little details to help further the train car-esque appearance. The long benches in the centre of the ‘car’ had large luggage trunks as coffee tables, three on the right and one on the left side; the left and right side had windows with screens behind them, each showing scenery passing by; there were metal poles that reached from the back of each booth to the ceiling like a handhold rail; and between them were pieces of rope with balls on the end, similar to the handles you’d find on trains and busses.

On the walls, there were baggage bins, as well as a route poster. Even the ceiling was made to look like the inside of a train. Finally, to really round out the atmosphere, speakers played music as well as, a little quieter, the sound of a moving train.

The bar itself wasn’t very full, though that was to be expected seeing as the clock said it was half-eleven. Closest to him was a couple sitting on the bench to the left; they didn’t pay much attention to him or Ellie, only looking up momentarily before turning back to each other. On the same side but at the far end was the booth with three women, loudly speaking and laughing, all in their late forties. The women looked at him smiling but then seeing Ellie the smile faded and they grumbled, turning back their conversation.

The last person was a man wearing a business suit and a fedora. He was reading a newspaper but John noticed the tablet he held behind it. Once the door closed behind them, the man looked up at the couple before standing and walking through the staff-only door.

Ellie pulled John into the room and sat them on the right bench closest to the exit. Now in a better vantage point, he saw that the hallway on the opposite side was made to look like a subway and only had two doors facing each other with a WC sign on the back wall.

Moments later the man returned, his jacket missing, leaving him with a waistcoat. John noticed he had a nice pocket watch attached to himself, not only that but he’d put on white gloves and switched his fedora for a chauffeur’s cap.

He hadn’t come alone. He was pushing a black metal cart with a wooden top, from the side John could see a cage which contained bottles of beer, wine glasses hanging from the top of and several bottles of **** lined the bottom of the centre, and the third compartment seemed to have a pot of coffee and a teapot as well as many tumblers and mugs. On top of the cart were cocktail shakers and a bucket of ice. The man stopped in front of the couple, placing a hand on his opposite breast pocket and giving a slight bow.

“Good evening, sir and madam. I will be your conductor this evening. May I offer you any refreshments or food, while you travel with us?” he asked in a generic British accent; it was clearly not his natural accent as he sounded Australian a couple of times.

“You serve food?” John asked, a little surprised.

“Indeed, sir. We offer a range of cold snacks and food items, from cheese boards to watercress sandwiches. We also offer many desserts, though as you are travelling quite late, we do only have our signature brownie as well as an espresso chocolate mousse, topped with a chocolate orange thin, served in a glass coffee mug,” he informed the two.

“I’d like a glass of red wine, please,” Ellie interjected.

The man nodded. “Would you mind showing me your boarding pass… identification.”

Ellie smiled and pulled out her ID showing it to him, causing him to nod again. Once he’d poured her a glass, he looked back to John. “And you, sir?”

John hummed. “What non-alcoholic drinks do you serve?”

“We have the typical assortment of carbonated beverages, and iced tea. We also serve a pleasant sparkling elderflower water, as well as mineral water. For hot drinks, we serve coffee, latte, cappuccino, espresso, Yorkshire Gold, green tea and oolong tea; we also have hot chocolate, either regular or Belgian.”

John thought for a moment. Ellie was having wine and the bar seemed to be a little fancier, so it didn’t feel right to just get a coke. “What flavour of ice tea do you have?” he asked.

“Ah, we have a nice selection. We have lime and peppermint; raspberry and hibiscus; pomegranate, elderflower and lemon; mandarin and rosemary; watermelon and apple; watermelon, raspberry and lemon; blueberry, blackberry and raspberry; and finally my favourite passionfruit, mango and orange,” the man rattled off.

“The last one sounds good, I’ll have one of those please,” John said.

The conductor smiled, nodded and began preparing John’s drink. It was poured into a tall glass, with ice, an orange slice and a straw which made it look a little like a cocktail. “Your fare is $7.98, please and thank you.”

John nodded, putting his hand into his pocket and pulled $10 out of his pocket handing it over. “Keep the change,” he said smiling.

The conductor nodded before wheeling the cart back towards the staff-only door, where he was stopped by the table of three.

“I know we just came from a night in a bunch of magic bars, but this place is kinda odd,” John mentioned, sipping his drink, to which his brow raised and he let out a pleased sigh.

As soon as his lips left the straw, Ellie pulled his hand and the drink towards herself so that she could taste it too; she similarly let out a content moan.

“That’s pretty good, it would definitely be perfect for a hot summer's day. I would probably be happier if it was a little sweeter though,” Ellie said, before sipping her own drink. “This isn’t too bad either, though I did like the wine from the elf bar way more.”

“This place isn’t exactly what I expected if I’m honest. I thought it was gonna be more run down, with a bunch of older women trying to jump us when we came through the door,” John said absentmindedly.

“Mhh, maybe if it was literally just a pick-up point, but I believe it was popular before the rumours spread. What do you think about the women in the booth?” she asked, nodding her head behind her; the group had gotten a little louder after getting another round of drinks and some of the laughs had turned to cackles.

John winced. “I… well, to be honest, and it might sound a little harsh… I think I’d rather just spend the night with you.”

“Aww, c’mere,” she said, throwing her arms around John, and pressing her lips against his, “such an adorable dork, so adorkable.”

John smiled dumbly, feeling a little fuzzy. He put his arms around Ellie’s waist and pulled her closer to him, cuddling her. “I’m serious when I say you’re the best thing that’s happened to me. If I was given a choice that **** me to choose you or magic, there’d be no hesitation.”

“Magic right? I’d definitely pick magic.” She laughed, sticking her tongue out.

Quest received: Put your money where your mouth is.

Choose one:
Magic | Ellie

Before Ellie had enough time to look over to John to see his reaction, he pressed her name.

Quest complete!

Reward: +1 Cha, gold star (It’s just a sticker), you get to keep your magic.
[You chose the right answer.]

Ellie blinked, looking at the reward and then at John. While she was still taken aback, John opened his inventory, pulled out the gold star, and put it onto Ellie’s chest.

“Just to be clear, I would have been bummed if I had lost it, but I wouldn’t have any resentment or regrets,” he said, leaning in and kissing his girlfriend.

“I love you,” Ellie said as she smiled. The two enjoyed their drinks when Ellie got a great idea. “Hey, what if we called Cyn? Like, I don’t necessarily mean we have to make a booty call, we can ask if she’d like to join or if she’d like to hang out, what do you think?”

“It’s a little late though, isn’t it?” John asked.

“Sending a text wouldn’t hurt, right? Worst case, I wake her and she says she’s not interested, maybe she’s a tad annoyed; best case, we have another amazing threesome.” Ellie smirked. “Unless you’re not interested in her?”

“What? No, she was fun and really cute… just, uh..." John hesitated. “You know what, sure.”

Ellie smiled, kissed his cheek and sent Cynthia a text. “I just said, ‘hey, are you up and interested in doing something?’ It’s not suggestive or anything, so we can see what she says first. Might be nice to meet her halfway or something? I’m gonna head to the bathroom; I need to change into some better walking clothing because I don’t wanna ruin this dress, and I’m not going to lie, my feet are starting to ache in these heels.”

“Sure, I’ll wait here,” John said smiling. He couldn’t help but stare as Ellie sashayed towards the bathroom.

John leaned back and heard the door open. A blonde woman walked through and took the booth next to the door on the opposite side of the ‘train’ to John. The ‘conductor’ stood and began walking over, but stopped and took John’s glasses instead.

“Would you like another round of drinks, sir?” he asked.

John rubbed the back of his neck not really wanting to say that they were ditching the place so instead said, “Oh, not yet, thank you.”

A minute passed and John took out his phone, loading up one of the games he’d neglected the past week. Five minutes passed and he’d done all the small quests and such he’d normally do to pass time, so he began scrolling down his usual sites. Ten minutes passed and John began wondering what was going on. He pulled his text chain up and sent Ellie a message.

< J: Hey, you alright? What’s taking so long? >

A few moments passed before a text came back.

< E: Sorry, the little ones got a little restless and they have been hidden all night so I thought I’d let them out for a little while to stretch their legs. I still need to get changed too. >

John let out a loud sigh.

< J: Alright, well, I’ll still be here. >

He put his phone away and ran his hand through his hair. He felt more than a little awkward and self-conscious sitting on his own. With the absence of Ellie, he felt like he was being watched from all sides, but he didn’t want to look up to confirm or deny that feeling.

His head shot up when the sound of the cart passing him reached his ears. He took another sigh and watched as the ‘conductor’ walked to the booth next to the front door. Curiously he realised how little voices carried in the bar. The only people he’d really noticed making a sound were the three women at the back; the couple across from them had been talking but they hadn’t really heard them.

For a moment he pondered if this place was another Abyssal business, but he shook his head. It was quiet, but not silent. The music and sound of train tracks weren’t extremely quiet either, which could help mask voices and chatter.

As the ‘conductor’ moved back towards the rear of the car, he stopped, placing a drink on the trunk in front of John. “Compliments of the lady by the door,” he said, continuing his travel without waiting for any response from John.

John for his part only barely managed to mumble out a, “Thank you,” that the guy nodded at. He looked down at the glass intently. ’Did someone really actually buy me a drink? What do I do? What’s taking Ellie so long?’ he thought.

Looking up and towards the woman, she had her head propped up on her hand. With her other hand, she picked up the cherry from her drink, brought it up to her lips and plucked it from the stem, before using a finger to beckon John over.

John froze up a little. Sure, he’d recently had somewhat of a boom of girls noticing him, but they were either Abyssals or people he’d at least had some interaction with in one way or another. _’What do I do? I’m supposed to be waiting for Ellie, I can’t just walk over, right? Could she actually be Abyssal? Is that why she’s interested? I can’t just walk over… What would Ellie do?”

Sexy older blonde giving you the fuck me eyes… Gee I wonder what your minx of a wife would say…

That interruption caused him to pause. ’...Not wrong, I suppose. This is going to be so awkward,’ he thought. He grabbed his drink, stood up and closed his eyes to take a deep breath before he began nervously shuffling towards the booth.

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