Music and Magic [Rick and Liz Saga, season 2]

[S02E02] - "Where Everyone Knows Your Name"

~~~Author's Notes~~~

Hey everyone! Welcome back! I'm going to try something new this season. Instead of having separate parts for the weekly update and next week's preview, I'm going to include it in the chapter like this note here. These will only remain during the time a chapter is current, after next weeks chapter, they will be deleted, so new readers can zoom ahead like a normal read.

I will leave this one up though, so that people know this. but other chapters here after, that is how it will work.

I hope everyone is having fun, thanks for the stars guys. They mean a lot to me. I literally value myself based on my star-to-read ratio! So if you love Rick and Liz, don't forget to leave 'em a star at the end of the chapter!

Thank you for reading everyone, I look forward to a really great season 2!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rick and Liz walked into Harry's. They were greeted by a young woman with a big smile.

"Two?" The woman asked holding two fingers in the air.

"Actually," Rick said, "I'm looking for Harry. Does he still own this place?"

The woman's smile dropped away.

"Hold on," she said, picking up the LAN line phone and hit the intercom button. "Yeah, is the boss in? Mm-hmm."

She pointed at the camera mounted in the corner of the room. Rick and Liz instinctively followed the gesture and turned their heads toward the camera.

"Okay..." The woman said. "Okay, I'll tell them." She hung up the phone and pointed towards the back of the restaurant. "Harry wants you to wait for him in the back bar, Mr. Randell."

"I know where it is," Rick said.

"I'm sure you do," said the woman.

Rick and Liz made their way though the dinning room and turned into the back hallway. Things were very different since the last time Rick was here. The back bar used to be a private bar. There used to be a door with one of those sliding peep-hole things you had to go though. Now it was all open. Rick couldn't help but be a little disappointed.

Maybe it was just Rick feeling his age, but it seemed like nothing was special anymore. They turned the corner into the back room. It had definitely changed, but not so much as to give Rick a heart attack on the spot. Where there was once card tables, there now regular tables. Where there was once the gang's collection of knickknacks on the wall, was neon signs advertising Asian liqueur.

At least the piano was there, even if it did look like it was collecting dust. Next to it sat an old Chinese man who was so drunk, he could barely open his eyes to read the karaoke screen. His cracking voice belted out a ballad in slurred Mandarin. Rick and Liz took seats at the bar.

"What can I get you?" The bartender asked.

Rick pointed at the neon sign.

"Two TsingTao, Large," he said.

"Coming right up," she said. She put two small glasses on the bar and then got two beer bottles that were each nearly the size of a wine bottle. Rick pulled out his cash roll from his pocket.

"That's alright," said the bartender, "Harry said to put it on your existing tab."

"Oh..." Rick looked nervous. "Okay..." He put the money back into his pocket. "Hey, Liz, let's grab a table."

They took their beers and scooted into a rounded booth. As they drank their beers, Rick was oddly silent. Normally this is where he would start telling Liz about some good old days and how things weren't what they used to be.