It started with a decision that seemed completely reasonable at the time.
The bar had two sections — a main floor and a lower level with a separate entrance around the side that had, according to Mike, better seating. While they were sorting out who wanted what to drink, Sophie mentioned she'd seen a spa two blocks over that she'd been meaning to try and did Iralis want to come.
Iralis looked at the bar. Looked at the spa direction. "Yes," she said.
They both looked at the men.
"You'll be fine," Sophie said.
"Completely fine," Ryan said.
This was the last fully accurate statement made for approximately three hours.
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The lower level of the bar had better seating. It also had, as Mike discovered within six minutes of sitting down, a man named Gerald at the adjacent table who apparently knew Mike's cousin and who, through a chain of conversational logic that Ryan couldn't fully reconstruct, offered the three of them something from a small tin he produced from his jacket.
