Letting Loose [Tetsuo/Ahote]

It was admittedly a little lonely in this new country. He had no friends, and for the most part, his family had all but abandoned him, his father had tossed him out so that Tetsuo would be forced to prove his worth to the family. His father’s excuse for doing such an act was simply, Tetsuo was lazy and not worthy of the family name or riches. But honestly, Tetsuo felt like it was because of something else, the day before he was banished from his home his brother caught him with the servant boy. They did nothing sensual together, nay, a small kiss and comfortable cuddles under the cherry tree. Maybe that was why his father banished him, the great Danzo Oborozuki could not risk having a queer as his son. Honestly, Tetsuo did not understand why that would be the case, his father took away his claim as head of the family as soon as his mother left him. Why was he thinking about this? Tetsuo thought bitterly to himself as he walked the streets of Crocus. It was late at night, twelve in the morning to be exact, Tetsuo should have been in bed, but today was the day. The day that his father dragged him into the audience room screaming and yelling at this ‘transgressions’. Tetsuo remember starring at his father and wondering what in the hell had he done. From his point of view, he was a good son. Yea, he took the easy way out of things, but for the most part, he did what he was told. What did he do wrong?

Like a zombie mindlessly wandering the streets, Tetsuo continued to allow his thoughts to cloud his mind, until at last, a damning thirst occurred in his mouth. He needed a drink, he needed to forget his father, to forget his banishment, to forget him. The locals around here talked about a club called the Boomslang, rumored had it that it was the best place to get a drink. He was a little apprehensive though, mainly because he had never been to a club before. Tavern yes, they were all around Midi and well the world for that matter. But a club, never. He had heard rumors that things happened there, weird shit, and honestly, he didn’t want to do something stupid. But at last, he needed a drink, he needed to let loose and to forget all those good and bad memories. To feel actually normal for once, to have a nice night without regret, and without remembering. Who knows, maybe he would find that he enjoys the club, and that he would make new friends? Granted, they could not replace his old friends, and no one, and he meant no one could replace Mitsuki Hono. Tetsuo wondered what his father had done to his lover, no doubt it was something cruel and inhuman. With a long and exaggerated sigh, Tetsuo made a B-line for the Boomslang club. When he got there he was a little hesitant to enter, but then he remembered something his father would say, and immediately hatred would fill his heart and he would enter. 

[justify]That did not stop him from looking like a fish out of water. Tetsuo was like an innocent angle fish among a see of venomous sea vipers.  In his flowing white robes, he looked like a little saint, and well, one could easily tell that he was out of his element. Tetsuo tucked a strand of steel blue hair behind his ear, and sheepishly surveyed the area.  After a couple of deep breaths, Tetsuo placed on his calm and cool laid-back demeanor, the one he used in battle to make it seem like he had everything under control. Eventually, he discovered the bar and wandered over there, taking a seat and placing his hand on his jaw waiting for someone to serve him. "Can I ah - um, ah- have a drink please?" He held slight trouble articulating his words, not from shyness, but merely because the language was still new to him and he was still having a little trouble working around it. He reached into his robe and took out a picture, it was of him holding a flower with another guy, he paused for a moment and closely inspected it. He allowed a sigh to escape his lips and pulled his arms out of the sleeves of his cloak, revealing a black muscle shirt underneath.

Boomslang, a place to escape reality, as Ahote often advertised. With interior design as contemporary as his, the warm, bright lights, and the distant, disembodied music that surrounded them, it was easy to get lost in the sound of people dancing and prancing. It wouldn't have been too farfetched to say that people took the slogan to heart, as many of them entered differently than how they acted outside of the club. But for the most part, many of his customers were looking for a good time and looking for a means of forgetting it all—both of which Ahote could at least sympathize with.

The bar was surprisingly empty tonight, as the club had just opened an hour before now. Of course, this didn't mean that he was any less busy, only that people who got drinks made by him took it away to some booth or table, and Ahote wasn't complaining. However, one man found one of many open stools planted across the counter and took a seat there. Ahote had his back to him at first, polishing an empty drinking glass with an equally clean rag, wearing his traditional bartender's getup: a black vest, white dress shirt, and black slacks and shiny loafers—that sort of thing. He was going to acknowledge him soon, but the young man apprehensively asked for a drink before Ahote could wonder.

Ahote peered over his shoulder to look at this man, although not quite turning in full. It was a lean-looking man, despite being deceptively well-toned, with long blue hair and a soft white face—the polar opposite of his own appearance. On the other hand, Ahote had short, wavy black hair and dark hazel eyes that were almost as dark as his hair. His complexion was pale and his countenance was hard and aloof. Overall, he didn't seem like a very approachable man despite his attractive features and certainly didn't look like the type to strike up a conversation.

When the man asked for a drink, he didn't bother specifying what he wanted to drink, and Ahote didn't bother asking for clarification. Instead, he quickly prepared him something sweet and with a powerful aftertaste and carefully placed it in front of him.

Ahote was never one to start a conversation so casually, but looking at that man and the melancholy shrouding over him like a dark cloud left him feeling somewhat inquisitive, and it was funny what a little bit of curiosity could do to even the most disinterested of characters.

"Life not treating you well?" Ahote inquired, looking at him with that hard and deceptively deep expression on his face. He noticed the photograph he was gingerly holding just a moment ago, likey having some loved one's face printed on it. One could only wonder.

---

The man in the photograph was muscular, and he had a well-form tan from being in the sun a bit too much. He also had wavy black hair, and he was wearing much less costly clothes than what Tetsuo was; it mainly consisted of a red haori with no undershirt revealing his well-developed muscles, some baggy pants, and sandals. It was obvious that the two came from separate worlds, Tetsuo from the world of lavish riches, and the other guy from the world of harsh survival and servitude. In spite of the two vastly different worlds, the two seemed to be incredibly happy in the picture. Tetsuo studied the picture fondly, a little apathetic to his surroundings and he largely ignored the bartender. Instead his mind was focused solely on that day, he and Mitsuki went out of a picnic by the lake. Tetsuo had hired a man from one of those technology savvy countries to take a picture of them, of course, that was after his father hired him to take a family portrait. That was honestly, the best day of his entire life, they cuddled and wooed with one another under the sunlight, while the water was running about the lake. Seriously, he would kill someone to be with Mitsuki again. Well, maybe not kill someone but he would certaintly do nearly anything in order to be with Mitsuki again, that man was absolutely magical.

All good things eventually come to an end, unfortunately, Tetsuo knew that more than anyone. He gently folded the picture into a neat triangle, and then tucked the photograph into his robes; the top portion of which was now hanging from the seat. Life not treating you well, a man would question and place down a drink in front of Tetsuo, who was pulled back from his nostalgic remembrance as the music once again became audible. Tetsuo looked up a bit quizzically at the man, and the drink that was placed before him. The man was the exactly opposite of Tetsuo, honestly, if he weren’t so down in the dumps at this moment Tetsuo would have probe the stranger a bit more. Well, not probe in the sexual or naughty since, but simply appear a bit more approachable and not so downy; more talkative and questioning, that kind of probing. Though, honestly, he was not in the mood for someone to show pity to him, bah. Pity was what his mother and sister gave him as he left their compound, pity was not what he wanted, pity offered nothing, pity was terrible. “Thank you for the drink.” He answered as he pulled the mysterious beverage forward, and took a sniffed it with a raise eyebrow directed towards the dark hair bartender. “Ah-may days have um, been better, yes? But, how do you Fiorian’s say? Please ah spare me the water works? Yes.” He paused for a moment and shook his head and scratched one of his antler like horns. “No, that ah, sounds to mean, sorry.....Ah, what is this?”  

The young man seemed lost in the photo. While Ahote took no offense to being ignored, he felt even more inquisitive of what he was looking at and why he it made him so melancholy. Working here at Boomslang for nearly every hour of every day made him pine for stories and the tales of the customers who came by. He was hoping that this innocent-looking young man would at least humor him.

"The Banana Cream Pie cocktail—a cream liquor with a graham cracker rim," he simpered weakly, looking at the young man with a captivating gaze, "I'm sure someone like you would appreciate it..."

Ahote was ordinarily a passive man who found very little interest in the lives of others. But on the off-chance that he did find someone of particular interest, the elusive bartender seemed adamant on getting a good conversation out of them. Prying, praising, and everything in between were things he was willing to do and often succeeded in, and he was confident that tonight would be no different. After giving the young man his drink, Ahote picked up another idle glass and began to polish it with his rag. However, this time, he did not have his back to the man and instead stared at him with a light, charming smile.

"If I had to make a guess, I'd say that you were looking at a lover just now... or something like that, anyway," Ahote placed the glass down after finishing the polish, leaning onto the counter just in front of the young man, "yes?"

---

Hopefully the bartender knew that Tetsuo had nothing personally against him, but he was a stranger, and well he honestly did not know much about this handsome stranger, other than the fact that he was a stranger and a bartender and rather cute. But you know, you can never be too careful in situations like this, Tetsuo had heard some pretty dark rumors about what could happen in clubs, especially, clubs like this. Therefore, he was obvious a little too apprehensive about taking the drink, but then again, surely this guy would not test the patience of a rune-knight?  Then again, he probably did not even look like a rune-knight and his tag was not visible. Plus, this guy was doing his job and well, he didn’t really tell the man what drink he wanted. After a couple of more ‘inspections’ Tetsuo picked up the drink and starred the stranger down for a minute or two, debating if he should truly trust this man, and then took a sip. It was delicious at first, but then the after taste kicked in, and Tetsuo was coughing at the burn. “Oh damn.” He stated after a while and cleared his throat.

“I am ah, debating if I should be offended or not.” He murmured a little, and took another sip from the drink, this was definitely something that he could not chug down like some hooligan, plus the sweetness was rather enjoyable and he wanted to savior the taste, but he could without the powerful aftertaste. “But you were ah, right it is an enjoyable drink, but the aftertaste.” He stirred the drink with his fingernail and rested his chin on his knuckles. “tis strong.”

Ah, so this was the infamous wise bartender gig that often came with the job title, Tetsuo had seen it before back at home, and honestly, he did not really take a liken to people prying into his private life. Mainly because his relationship with Mitsuki had to be kept secret, or else they could have gotten into major trouble. Sexual relationships between two men were not unheard of in his country, however, romantic, and sexual relationships were a little different; but in both situations it was something to be ashamed of and the two men were seen as desperate if they engaged in romantic and sexual activities with one another. It was complicated and filled with hypocrisy, but it was the environment that he was raised in. He pursued his lips so thinly that they made a straight-line, and he leaned backwards and bowed out of his chest defensively. "Maybe but I guess I must ask, ah, what its to  you?"

Well, it's no surprise that the young man reacted in the way that he had. Not everyone would be so willing to unravel their hardships and troubles upon request, but Ahote would not have been coined as the prying type if he weren't good at it.

When the young man hesitantly replied, Ahote chuckled. Judging by the way he coughed after sampling the drink made for him, Ahote was nothing short of amused. Of course, he little right himself to find the scene humorous, as not did he hate alcohol and its flavor, but in the event, he did drink it, he was incredibly sensitive to its potency as well. It was a little ironic since he owned and operated a nightclub with a bar, but he also had promiscuous companions that did a lot of the 'taste-testing' for him.

"Oh, nothing. I'm just curious, and, well..." he laughed a peal of soft and quiet laughter through his nose, picking up another glass to polish as he looked at the young man with a charming smile, "your gloominess is so obvious that it's hard to ignore. Who knows? I might be able to assist you more than you think I can..." Ahote offered patiently.

---

Oh yea, this guy was the wise and helpful bartender who wanted to make a change in someone’s life. Though, Tetsuo started to wonder if all bartenders were like this, handsome and helpful, or was it just a ploy to get a tip? A low chuckle would escape his lips, yea, it was no doubt a poly to get a tip. In his country tips were considered an insult to the restaurant owner, as they actually paid their employees; granted he never had a job like this strangers. Tetsuo would clack his tongue, and take another sip from the delicious beverage. A warm smile would appear across his face for a moment, but once again, he started to cough as the burn singed his throat. He needed a little more practice in being able to take a drink.

“You ah, know what they say about curiosity right? It ah, unfortunately killed the cat!” Tetsuo would remark a sly smirk plastered against his delicate lips, he yawned softly. “Yea, it was a picture of my ah, eh, friend?” he paused for a moment, and sighed a bit. “Well, we were ah, more than friends, yea. But um, you know, my country is not ah, how do you say, open-minded? Advance?” he question curiously, but then waived the comment away, and chugged down the drink. Something which he honestly should not have done, at first he was fine, but then he suddenly coughed rapidly; choking on his own slavia, before slamming the cut down with a rather loose smile. “Zahahahaha, that is good.” He remarked.


Yea, he was a light weight, so what? “Can I have more please?” he asked a little cutely, and then pulled the picture out again, this time showing it to the stranger. “See he is really hot, ah, and a particularly good smoocher. But at last, I don’t get to see him anymore.” He paused for a moment and shook his head, “Ah, I doubt that you can eh, help me with that problem. Tonight I just want to ah, drown my sorrows? Yes? No, to ah loose myself, be someone um, different for once in a while. Instead of Oborozuki Tetsuo, the queer and deliquent son of Tobi Oborozuki, and the worlds laziest rune-knights.”  He paused for a moment and shook his head, “Another please? I don’t want to ah dwell on the past.”

Oh my, he drank it like water... and he's drunk, too... Ahote thought to himself, looking at that young man with a mildly amused smile on his face. Though he was entertained with how comically lightweight this man was, he couldn't help but fear that he may make a mess, so to speak. More than the fights and the sex that often happened here, Ahote seemed most adverse to cleaning up the 'messes', so when he asked for more, Ahote was about as willing as a sailor was traversing a stormy sea—reluctant but not completely unwilling. So there he went, preparing the same flashy drink that the young man had just downed moments before. It didn't take him nearly as long now he had just made it, and sooner rather than later, another cocktail was placed right in front of the irresponsible drunk.

However, not only was he greeted with the buzzed expression of that man, but he was also given a view of the photo in full. On it was the man he was no doubt fawning and wallowing over. He had olive skin, long walnut locks, and hazel eyes. He looked quite intense compared to the dovish drunk next to him, and Ahote could tell that long hair might have been common for men in that country.

"Oh... I see..." Ahote stared at it, but then suddenly smirking as he continued. He had sudden conjured up a devilish scheme, something that could prolong the entertainment a bit more. Carefully, Ahote had gingerly plucked the photo from the young man's fingers while simultaneously sliding him his cocktail, examining the photo one last time before neatly sliding it into his vest. "Of course. We don't come here to dwell, do we? Please, help yourself."

---