Knull Meg Hardt, Pappa

Tokyo Ice Til Clementine

Alister was glad to take the trio of children, stuffed to the brim with Chinese food and, in Peter's case, mashed up carrots from the restaurant kitchen. Do Chinese places carry carrots? Well, they do now.
But with the kids gone, Arthur was yet again alone in an empty house. He hated this so much. Why did he have to send his only company away like that? How dumb of him.
There had to be somebody he could hang out with. What was Dylan doing tonight? How about Charlie and Aaron?
Yeah...maybe hanging out with his brothers wasn't the best idea. They could be pretty overbearing at times and he really didn't need that at the moment. He could really use a drink of something a little stronger than tea. But he didn't like going drinking alone and he didn't really have friends. Not since university. How many years ago was that? It had to have been at least a decade by now. Time really flies when you're happily married with three small children.
"I'll give you his number to call if you feel like it will benefit you."
He didn't know why those words came to him at a time like this, but maybe calling this stranger wouldn't be such a bad idea.
He reached for his phone, taking time to look longingly at the picture of Francis he had set his lock screen to before unlocking the device and typing the number into the text screen.
Wanna go out for a drink or something?
The message was whisked away into the Internet, off to hopefully make a worthwhile connection.
Who is this? It's 11pm???
Maybe he shouldn't have started like that.
This is Arthur. One of the elementary school teachers told me to message you.

You're the one who lost his husband?

Yes.

Luckily, Emil is with the neighbours. I have a few free hours.

Great.

Do you know that sports bar on Prince Street?

The one beside the music shop?

Yeah. Meet me there in an hour?

Sure. I'll go get ready.

I'll message you when I get there.

Wow. At least he was friendly.
Arthur saved the number into his contacts and rolled off the couch. He was wearing pyjama pants and one of Francis's old shirts, which really wasn't a bar night outfit by any means. He went upstairs to change into some more suitable clothing but then he realized that he didn't know what suitable was in this situation. What would one wear when meeting a stranger for the first time for drinks? Normally he would just ask Francis but the bastard had gone and gotten himself killed.
He groaned outwardly, frustrated.
Maybe a collared shirt and jeans would work? Was that the thing he said always worked when in doubt or was that the thing he said never to wear? This was so stressful. Clothes were stressful. Human interaction in general was stressful. Why did he have to live this way?
Arthur took a deep breath and finally decided to just go with the jeans and shirt like he originally planned.
"This better be worth it." He sighed to himself as he exited the house, locking the door behind him. The bar wasn't that far away so he just started walking, hoping that Lukas would be able to help him get his life together.