So Close...And Another Go 'Round

Previously...

"Nestor's Perfect Brew." His glass filled to just below the brim with the right amount of head to the beer. The glass even appeared to frost cold a bit. He took a sip and winced. "Damn. Still not right."

"It's called 'Nestor's Perfect Brew.' How could it be wrong," Tinka asked.

"There are more potential errors that could have possibly gone wrong. I mean, it's fine, but the idea is for it to be perfect."

Noah sat down with them, "Even I know there's no such thing as the perfect beer. There are great beers, but no perfect ones."

Tinka reached over to Noah and ran her hand down his arm. "Remember the day at the beach? We ate fresh shellfish and coconuts. You said that a beautiful day, seafood, beer, and me was the perfect day."

"Our honeymoon," Noah sighed. "That beer was not a bad beer, it's true. All of the factors made that beer taste great." Noah took Tinka's hand and gave it a squeeze.

"That's great and all, but I am not fond of open bodies of water. And what does that have to do with the spell?" Nestor said.

"It's called 'Nestor's Perfect Brew,' right?" Asked Noah. Nestor pulled out his small journal and opened it to the recipe and incantation page and turned the book to Noah.

He began to read Nestor's copied recipe, notes, and more. "It's based off this wizard's incantation, right?" Noah picked up the book, pointed to a previous page, and read the pages intently.

Noah was no wizard, sorcerer, or alchemist, but he loved figuring out a problem. While he was reading, Marie and Hazel joined them at the table too with another pitcher of beer and fresh glasses.

"You're going to get us kicked out of here if you keep brewing your own drinks and not buying them from here, Babe," Marie said to Nestor. "These bartenders aren't easy to distract."

"I did what I could," Hazel said. Tinka understood Hazel; Hazel liked flirting with the various bartenders at The Hall Tavern. "Why were we distracting? I would have done it anyways." Hazel laughed and made flirtatious eyes at the bartender.

"I'm trying to make the spell work for 'Nestor's Perfect Brew.' It's not working," Nestor bemoaned. "I've probably tried it a hundred times, and it still doesn't work."

"Why does it matter if you spell-out the perfect drink? The suds on tap here are great," Marie offered.

"Eh. It's a goal, I guess. I can master certain spells; plenty to help others. It would be great if I could have one, just one, that's for me, you know?" He answered.

Tinka looked over Noah's shoulder at Nestor's book. She read the page, pointed to a line, and whispered in Noah's ear. "I just saw that," Noah spoke. Noah raised an empty glass and was quickly stopped.

"What are you doing? It's bad luck to toast on an empty glass!" Nestor said quickly.

"Just wait," Noah offered with a smile. He paused before looking at everyone at the table again: Nestor, Hazel, Marie, Nestor, and Tinka, "When there are friends who are close and true, I will drink Noah's Perfect Brew." By the time he brought it to his lips to sip, the glass had filled itself with a bubbling clear cocktail, different than the beer that was in the pitcher. When he set the glass on the table again, there was even an orange slice in Noah's glass. Noah smiled playfully and looked at Tinka, "The Panchito."

Tinka got a heartfelt grin on her face. "My Deer Love." She hugged Noah in their chairs. "The cocktail the bartender named after you on our honeymoon."

"Wait. Did you do it? Did you make the Perfect Brew?" Nestor asked with a shocked look on his face. "How did you do it so easily?"

"Not my first time," Noah responded.

"He's an Intelligence Manager and former bartender himself," Tinka offered. "He also read the directions, the full directions."

"I had the full directions here," Nestor rebutted.

"Not quite. You had a note on your page of 'blood vs water,' most people don't interpret that properly."

"How so?" Marie asked.

Noah set the book down, turned back to the page in the book to the original wizard's spell. "It notes that blood is thicker than water. But people don't understand that means 'the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.' This is a recipe of choice - the bonds of friendship, or our little coven here, not family. That's why it's a party spell."

"I mean, my family are friends, and my friends are family," Nestor retorted.

"And that may be true. When I cast it, I thought of Tinka. She's my wife and my best friend. And the bonds of being among all of you, those I choose to be among makes the spell work."

"I wonder why it didn't work for me before," Nestor pondered.

"Maybe you were thinking too hard on something that was just supposed to be enjoyed." Marie said. "Remember when you bought that magic wand and it turned out it only had one spell in it: scratch."

"I can only use it on myself, but it's great." Nestor agreed.

"How does it work?" Hazel asked. "What was the original spell for the perfect party drink anyways?"

Nestor handed Hazel his book. "It's a basic formula. They said Mike could make the perfect lemonade..."