"Holy shit!" Jason said between coughs.
"I know, welcome to the Pub." Henry said straight faced.
"Wait, what?" Jason asked.
"You weren't just looking for the Pub were you?"
"Well…" Jason trailed off.
"I thought as much. We need a bar back, so go grab a cask of mead if you would?"
"Huh?"
"A cask of mead, Erik the Red will be here soon. On second thought, we'll need several casks. There's a dolly downstairs. Hop to it!"
Jason shook his head and took a step back.
"Really?" He asked again.
"Better make any cask you can find down there." Henry pointed to a hallway.
Jason stumbled into the hallway and down the stairs. He hit the ground and found several barrels with runes on them. He used his phone to scan the runes and pulled up a translation app. Erik Thorvaldsson's Celebratory Mead Stash popped up on the screen.
"I guess this is what Henry wanted?" Jason said aloud.
He grabbed the dolly and loaded three barrels onto it. He turned and looked at the stairs with a sigh. Slowly and carefully, Jason pulled the laden dolly up to the landing.
"And without further ado, THE MEAD!!!" Henry shouted from the bar.
A host of Vikings shouted in their native tongue making Jason stumble.
"Kan han fatisk fa dem?" Said an armor clad man.
"Now now, this is his first day." Henry replied.
Jason drug the dolly over to the bar and set the barrels on the floor. The vikings shouted in glee and quickly took the barrels from where Jason stood. They tapped the barrels and mead poured like rain on the pub floor. Jason jumped onto the bar and Henry laughed.
"Good work lad!" Henry said between laughs.
"What's so funny?" Jason asked.
"Vikings are a sight to watch. They tap the kegs and drain them with gusto. You might want to go back downstairs."
"Those were the only kegs with runes I could find."
"The Pub is crafty that way, pun intended."
Jason shook his head and with dolly in hand, descended the stairs again. He reached the landing to find seven more barrels with the runes on them. He cursed under his breath and went about loading them on the dolly. As he brought the first batch up, he noticed the vikings had their weapons drawn.
"I thought this was neutral grounds?" He looked at Henry.
Henry had his pipe back out with a wisp of smoke issuing from the bowl.
"Watch boy." He said simply.
A lone viking swung his axe at President Clinton only to have it shatter as the axehead touched Bill's head. The viking looked at his axe questioningly before disappearing in an unceremonious puff of smoke. Jason whipped his head to look at Henry.
"Like I said." Henry chuckled.
"Noted, don't attack anyone. Where did he go?" Jason asked.
"Back to wherever he came from? Not sure." Henry said.
"Wait what?"
"I'm pretty sure the Pub sends them back to wherever they came from, good or bad."
Henry said.
"So if they were about to die?"
"Then they would die, yes. Should've followed the rules of the Pub." Henry shrugged.
Jason stood with mouth agape.
"Well bring the bloody mead would you?"
Jason nodded and set the dolly down where the empty barrels stood. The vikings grabbed the barrels off the dolly and Henry motioned to the stairs. Jason sighed and walked back down the stairs to find more rune marked barrels. He brought them up and the vikings carried them off again. Jason looked to Henry and Henry merely laughed.
"What is it?" Henry asked.
"That's like nine barrels of mead, where did they come from?" Jason asked back.
"That's the magick of the Pub, it doesn't leave a proper customer hanging."
Erik approached the bar.
"Henry, you always throw best post-raid party." Eric looked to Jason. "Who is this?"
"This is our new bar back, Jason. He brought the mead up from the cellar." Henry replied.
Eric looked Jason over.
"You military man?" Erik asked.
Jason looked to Henry who gave a nod.
"I-I was." Jason said.
Erik laughed and slapped Jason on the shoulder. He dropped several coins on the bar.
"You do good work Jason. Skal!" Erik turned and rejoined his friends.
The vikings seemed to be playing a game similar to Quarters now. Jason set his back against the bar and looked at Henry.
"What's going on?"
"Erik just gave you a tip, thought I'd be careful how you spend it."
"How am I going to spend this?"
"Well, not outright, but I'm sure you're resourceful enough."
Jason gave Henry a blank look.
"Find a coin dealer or something, I don't know." Henry took another shot.
"Won't that be suspicious? A young guy with ancient money in perfect condition?"
Henry stroked his chin thoughtfully.
"You know, you're right. Here let me see them." Henry said.
Jason scooped the coins up and put them in Henry's hand. Henry counted them out and dropped them in a nearby till. He took paper money out and gave it to Jason. Jason took the money and counted it.
"A THOUSAND DOLLARS?" He asked incredulously.
"Is that too much?"
"Hell no, thank you both!" Jason shouted at both Henry and Erik.
Erik waved and slapped one of the Norsemen, making him spill his mead. That elicited a response from all the Vikings gathered.
"I guess the penalty of alcohol abuse is timeless." Jason said.