Starbound: A Space Odyssey 32 Hangover 4

John rolled his eyes, annoyed by Lenny he browsed through the bar's menu. He tried to read the description of the things there, but he didn't have any prior knowledge about alcoholic beverages.

John stared at the menu for far too long and Lenny lost his patience, "Come on, don't be a p.u.s.s.y. Here take a sip, see if you like." Lenny took a gla.s.s cup from the barman's counter, poured a little of his Martini in the cup and placed in front of John.

John put down the menu and reluctantly reached for the cup. He took it and sipped a little of its content.

The moment the Martini touched his tongue, he felt the taste. He instantly frowned and his mouth started to have a slight burning sensation. He tried to swallow, but the burning sensation also followed and he soon felt the burning in his throat, all the way toward his stomach.

Lenny laughed without holding back after seeing John's grimace, "HAHAHAHAHA! Look at your face."

"What the h.e.l.l." After he finished swallowing it John exclaimed, "Is this type of thing really good? How can people enjoy such a thing?"

"Hehehe..." Lenny chuckled, "Don't worry, it gets better after you get used to it."

"I don't know... I don't see myself liking this type of stuff."

"OH MY G.o.d! Stop whining." Lenny then looked for the barman, "Hey! Get this lad here a Summerset beer."

"Right up." The Penguin jumped down from the counter and started to roam through the alcoholic beverages.

"When did I said I would continue drinking?"

"You didn't, I'm actually forcing you to do so. Let me teach you... How to have fun."

"Great..." John helplessly let Lenny do his thing. It isn't like he has something better to do anyway.

"Here." The barman brought a brown bottle with a label that was written 'Summerset'.

Lenny took the bottle, opened it and poured it in John's cup, "This is the most famous beer around the universe. As you might expect it belongs to the Letheia Corporation, but that doesn't matter. This is perfect for the types of you who are drinking beverages for the first time. It has only 2% of alcohol in it. Give it a try, I'm sure you will kind like it."

John suspiciously glanced at Lenny and then at the cup. He sighed and decided to go with the current. He took the cup and sipped.

"Huh?" John looked surprised for a moment.

"It's good isn't it?" Lenny let out a knowing smile, "it's my favorite beverage. It is cheap and good."

Indeed. The moment the beverage hit John's tongue, he felt a sweet and somewhat sour flavor, different from the overwhelming sour and heating flavor of the Martini.

John nodded, "It's indeed not bad... I could get used to it."

Lenny gleefully smiled, "My friend, Connor. I shall take this opportunity to show you the wonders of life..."

Lenny approached John and placed his arm around John's neck. John tried to create some distance because the stench of alcohol coming from Lenny was really perturbing him.

"How many drinks you had? It really looks like you are tipsy."

"Don't know." Lenny said casually, "Maybe about 4 bottles. I'm not drunk. Totally not drunk."

John curiously looked at Lenny. Apart from some awkward movements, a stench of alcohol, and overreacting, he looked almost normal. He wasn't drunk, but was surely tipsy.

"Hey, Connor. How did you noticed that the banker was cheating?" Lenny was still with his arm around John's neck, so he asked in a very, very low voice.

John frowned over the alcoholic stench from Lenny's breath, but he still answered, "I saw it. When he was shuffling the cards he was stealthily taking some cards from the middle of the deck and placing them on top. I don't know how to play the game and neither the conditions to win, but if he was doing something stealthy, I'm sure it isn't something good."

"Heh." Lenny unhappily snorted, "They advantage over me. Just because I'm a little tipsy, my eyes won't be able to follow fast movements that well. It looks like my suspicions were spot on. They offered me some free drinks and then introduced to the poker table only after I drank the whole bottle of beverage. I forgot the basic common sense, never fully trust in a Penguin."

"So that's the answer...?" John remembered that wondrous feeling of the world slowing down, [It was just a feeling? Or... Something else.]

"But this doesn't make sense." Lenny curiously looked at John, "Even though I'm tipsy that doesn't mean I wouldn't be able to follow such fast movements while you still could. How did you do it?"

"I... Don't know how to explain it." John thought carefully about that feeling, "It seemed like the world slowed down the moment I started to concentrate at the cards on the banker's hand."

"Oh?" Lenny exclaimed, "That's some good news."

"Why?"

"Why? You ask. Simple, this, if what you explained for me isn't wrong, is a kind of power that very few people have."

"Power...?"

"You know... Power, special abilities. They are quirks that you earn, or by birth, or by experience. In your case I'm not sure what it is. But the power you said to me, is a type of Kinetic Vision coupled with some kind of Thought Acceleration. I have it too, but I can't control it. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, it's pretty random. I don't know the scientific name for it, but I call it Bullet Time."

[Bullet Time...?] John thought, [What a chuunibyou name for it.] John strangely looked at Lenny, [I wondered why we always wear what appears to be a cowboy clothing. Maybe... He has... The chuunibyou syndrome...?]

"How is it?" Lenny broke John's thought process, "Can you freely control it?"

"I don't think so. When I stopped my concentration over the cards I tried to do it again, but I didn't work."

"Hmm..." Lenny hummed while scratching his chin, "You know... We can have fun later. Let's first test out your power."

"How are we going to do that?" John felt a foreboding sensation.

"Well..." Lenny let out an evil grin, "I will show you... The perfect place to test it out."