Amanda hauled Allistor onto his feet and dragged him over to dance with the others.  Then she mocked his dance moves with a sparkle in her eye.  “You should maybe stick to lifting heavy things and killing stuff.” Her smile was wide and warm.  When a slow song came on, she latched onto him and put her head on his shoulder.

With quite a bit of rum in him as well, Allistor was doing his best not to cross a line he wasn’t sure he’d been invited to cross.  So he whispered at the top of her head.  “Thank you for saving my cute butt today.  I’d have you as my wingman anytime.”

Her only response was to lower her hand from his shoulder to give his butt a squeeze.

*****

The next morning he woke up with a pounding headache.  When he blinked his eyes open, he found Amanda’s face inches from his own, drooling on his chest.  Grinning to himself, he closed his eyes again.  He had no urgent need to be up and about.  Though he would need to find the bathroom soon.

He pushed a strand of hair from her face as he watched her sleep.  He guessed she was about thirty years old, with long, ebony hair that glistened in the light.  He didn’t remember much about the events of the previous night, but he didn’t regret finding himself where he was this morning.

Eventually, she rolled onto her back and began to snore.  He took the opportunity to get up and use the bathroom.  He was just finishing a shower when she joined him.  It was a good hour before they emerged to seek breakfast and start the day.  And Allistor found he was quite hungry.

Meg was in the kitchen with Sam.  The smells of pancakes, bacon, eggs, and sautéed onions drifted out to the dining area.  Allistor tried to volunteer to help, but he was chased from the kitchen by Meg and her spatula.

Nancy and Chloe were already sitting at one of the foraged cafeteria tables with Ramon and Lilly occupying the other two seats.  Amanda took a chair at an empty table and Allistor joined her.  A moment later, Michael entered and sat with them.  Allistor scooched his seat close to Amanda’s and pulled over two more chairs so Meg and Sam could join them.  Everybody but Chloe seemed to have a hangover.

Breakfast was delicious and served in large helpings.  Allistor devoured a stack of four pancakes, several strips of bacon, three sausages smothered in onions, and a couple rolls.  There was water, sweet tea, and orange juice to wash it all down.

With their hugely successful salvage operation the day before, they had plenty of food to last them several weeks.  When folks were done eating, Allistor suggested a plan for the day.