smash_logs | so while you're here in my arms

Entry tags:

so while you're here in my arms

Who: Kiyotaka, Mondo
What: Happy Birthday YA JERK
When: June 9th
Where: SOME BAR. Not the Birdcage today. alas.
Warnings: Gettin' pretty wasted~~, gettin' pretty gay probably~~

It probably wasn't normal to go drinking with one's own so-called "worst enemy." Then again, nothing about their relationship had come even close to normal lately - a rocky road from brotherhood to estrangement to this new burning rivalry that brought the pair alive when they were together. And here they were now, their relationship status set to Drinking Buddies.

When Kiyotaka offered his attention to Mondo for the day (in a way that was definitely a sign of rivalry and not at all too eager and devoted, honest!), he hadn't anticipated that it would mean having to come with him all the way to an establishment like this. Now that he was here, he wasn't at all surprised, and he was even less thrilled. Even if they could drink legally, that didn't mean the former prefect was keen on the idea. But experience had taught him that Mondo Oowada needed constant supervision, so he was going to remain at his side. And drink water or something.

"One drink," he chided as he took a seat. "And then we can head back."

That would go over well. Truth be told, he was glad for an excuse to get out of the school and forget about it for a little while. Summer hadn't gotten off to a great start, what with the whole mess of personal woes and monster attacks. On top of everything else that happened over the course of the school year... Maybe, just maybe he could be goaded into boozing it up a bit himself.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Just one?" he echoed in a jocular mood. "You blowin' me off? We came out all the way here just to take a sip and leave? Not a chance!"

How long had it been since they hung out together so freely? In a way that they'd arranged? It felt like a year, not half of one. Everything else had been the product of just happening to run into each other, which was a lot when you slept in the same room. Because of the rarity, it felt out of place. It wouldn't have a long time ago. It was the kind of feeling like trying to walk on a leg that had finally healed after being broken. They proclaimed each other official rivals when spring arrived and since then gunned at every opportunity to see who was better at anything from swimming laps to who could keep their eyes open longer, but the nature of their relationship was built on a foundation that surpassed mere "enemies". It was almost as though it were just an act, a form of play used to bridge the gap that carved a space between them. Mondo was completely okay with it. If he felt like he lost his chance to be his bro, then this would patch up the hole he made. So when Kiyotaka petitioned him to spend his birthday with him, after pretending to be difficult to persuade, he opened up to the suggestion and hopped right on the invitation, then rode that sucker across ideas of where they could go. Without a gang to ride with but a love of riding never leaving his heart, it had become a kind of hobby to explore different sides of town for a while. By now, he had a lot of FDC mapped out in his thinkbrain. The first thing that popped into his head was the rich flavor of the meaty dishes at an izakaya he found. He just had to show him it! But of course, the prerequisite was also to sit around drinking for hours, something Kiyotaka seemed irrationally against.

"At least stay a while here with me," he added with a whiny edge sneaking in. "You can't hate me that much. It's my birthday; cut me a break."

Jeez, look how happy Mondo looked just to be here. It was painfully like the way things used to be. He couldn't pass that up so easily, especially since school was not in session and therefore there was no class to prepare for tomorrow.

"Very well! I meant it when I said I would spend today with you, even if it must be here. After all, it's fine to call a truce on a birthday."

Was it? It was now. Standard social conventions did not apply to their incredibly unique and ever-changing relationship.

Kiyotaka picked up the menu, his gaze skimming right past the drink section and moving onto something more appealing. Yakitori sounded pretty darn good right now, now that he thought about it. Maybe sticking around wasn't going to be so awful after all, especially in this company.

He'd kick up much more of a fuss if there was more than one drink involved anyway, though.

Edited (don't tag at 3 am dipshit) 2014-06-09 12:55 (UTC)

Anyone would be traumatized if their first major drinking experience involved a wicked hangover. Or if another dealt with watching Chihiro drink too much. (Nightmares.)

"You make it sound like it's gonna be a bad place to hang around for a while. Just wait. You'll forget you ever had second thoughts!" Either because he'd be enjoying himself or losing his mind. Maybe both. "I'm hungry and need a drink. Let's get started." He called over the waitress.

Definitely both.

"Well, I only need some steamed rice and a glass of water..."

As good as everything else sounded it was probably also more than he particularly wanted to pay. So he was going to be a world class party pooper from the get go. Perhaps intervention would be necessary.

There would be no party poopers on his birthday.

"Not if I can help it." To the waitress he said, "Start us off with two drafts for now. Oh, and get us some water and a bowl of steamed rice, please." She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and acknowledged his request with a modest smile and a nod, then turned to complete her task. Mondo watched her leave like a cat watches birds in the yard.

"Man, she's kinda cute..."

What the heck kind of drink was a draft. Why the heck was Mondo ordering two at a time. Ugh. UGH. There was so much drunk babysitting in Kiyotaka's future, he could feel it. He may have managed to keep quiet just for the birthday boy's sake, but his displeasure was evident by the ever-deepening frown on his face. It only got worse at Mondo's comment about the waitress.

"That isn't what we're here for! She is definitely not on the menu!"

He didn't so much as glance after her, though he did recall the glimpse he got while she was at their table, and wondered what made her particularly cute. Nothing really came to mind, not that he was thinking very hard about it at all. He did not want to think about girls right now, or dates, or how he was a complete moron who really should have kept company only with his textbooks because maybe then he could have avoided the humiliation-

He was. So sour.

Mondo laughed at Kiyotaka's severity. "Lighten up a little! I'm just sayin', that's all." Besides, even if he did try anything on her, it would probably wind up just another embarrassing disaster. He didn't need Kiyotaka to see that. It would murder the entire night.

...Yeah. Wow, talk about moodkilling thoughts.

Knowing Kiyotaka could actually land a girlfriend where he could not stirred up that resentment. He didn't even have to worry about that ache that something was missing from his life, or prove he had what it took to get one, so what right did he have to police him on whether he could be interested here or not? But even mentioning Aoi would put him in an awkward spot. He couldn't forget his behavior toward her, and even when he wanted to know how things were going between them like he did, his curiosity could not be sated by questions. It would only dig up reminders.

"Anyway, what's the big deal?" he mumbled bitterly, poking at the edge of the table. "Not like it's a fucking crime to think she's cute... "

"That itself is no crime, but it will lead to nothing but trouble. There is one more year until graduating, so let's focus on that."

That's what he planned to do from here on out. What he should have been doing from the beginning. And it was what ANYONE wanted to hear about on their birthday.

His focus did shift a little when the waitress promptly returned with their drinks, and after a polite thank-you he did watch her a little more closely with begrudging intent to solve the damn puzzle. Well, she was professional and responsible and efficient, so those were good, respectable traits. Right?? Still not enough to really hold his interest.

Mondo held his tongue for the waitress before lashing it out at Kiyotaka's last comment. And good thing, too, because it was going to rope Aoi in, like he had been previously trying to avoid.

"What a goddamn hypocrite," he still couldn't help but chide, grabbing his beer to suck down the first few gulps. Another thought hit him in his pause for refreshment. He trained his eyes back on the man in front of him and added, "Or do you think you're better than everyone else? Only you can handle both a girlfriend and some responsibility at the same time?"

Damn right he could. At least he could handle responsibility to begin with which put him leaps and bounds over SOME PEOPLE.

"That is no longer an issue," he muttered, grabbing his water. "Anyway, I won't argue with you tonight-" even if resisting the urge was painful- "as that is not what we're here for, either!"

He realized how their heated exchange of words had made the tension between them so thick he could snap it in half. He didn't really want that right now, not after the pleasant mood he walked in with. Despite that, he could not find it in him to let it go. There was something he needed to clear up about his wording.

"Whaddya mean, no longer an issue?"

He would have told him once, in that precious short time between his vow to tell him everything about his love life and the shattering of their own relationship. Now Kiyotaka just didn't want to talk about it with anyone, ever.

"It's nothing." But with a tell as obvious as breaking into a nervous sweat, it was pretty clear that was not the case. "Please just forget about it."

BOY THIS WATER SURE WAS DELICIOUS.

The bottoms of his eyelids cinched up as though he were attempting to bore through Kiyotaka's lie. It wasn't a question of whether he believed it or not, but if he should squeeze the juicy details out of him. He was left embittered, but not enough to make him that uncomfortable about what must be personal and probably painful to bring up. But DAMN if he wasn't going to take his nagging curiosity to the grave.

"Fine. I'll drop it. But I think I get the picture..." Maybe it was a break-up? That's what he suspected. He took another drink and thought about what else he might want to snack on.

No, Mondo, you had no idea about the true extent of the awful picture. A picture Kiyotaka wanted to turn over and forget about if he could. He was doing pretty well when the subject wasn't brought up, he supposed, so he eagerly grasped for a change of topic.

"Just how much are you planning to drink tonight, anyway?" Two glasses already seemed excessive to him.

He was turning into Mom again. Mondo shrugged.

"Guess we'll have to see. It's no fun if I'm the only one, though." That other glass was for you, moron. He pushed it closer to Kiyotaka's side.

Being a naggy mom/housewife was his natural state of being. Accept it. Embrace it. ~~Marry it.~~

He stared down at the glass, suddenly feeling very stupid. Of course that was why Mondo ordered two. It was true that the school year was over and he had no further responsibilities for the night, and he had promised to devote his time to Mondo, but still... He had a drink at new year's, even if it was more of an extreme method of saving Chihiro from himself instead of something Kiyotaka wanted to do, so he was all set for the rest of the year.

"Oh no, it's your birthday. You should be the one celebrating."

It did not occur to him that maybe birthday celebrations were more fun with more than one active participant. But he was the kind of guy who spent his own studying alone, so give him a break here.

Mondo's flat stare intensified, if "intensifying" was an appropriate word at all for such a face.

"Aren't you celebrating it with me right now?"

"Well... Yes..."

Okay, fine. He would celebrate.

He picked up the glass, took a single small sip, and placed it back down in the center of the table. His nose wrinkled a little in distaste.

"There! I have properly participated!"

CELEBRATION OVER.

His stare sharpened into a glare. Did he really just pull that? It was almost as though he were trying to make a show of not enjoying their night out, and okay, maybe he was a little offended. Just a little. That's all. "Are you a child?" he asked. "Christ, it's just a drink! What's the matter, can't handle it?"

Kiyotaka was only a small step above being in Daycare for Babies.

But he was mature enough to recognize that maybe he was being a bit of a buzzkill by refusing to achieve a buzz of his own. He really wasn't looking to piss Mondo off, especially not on this night of truce. Not that he was looking to get drunk either, but...

"No, I can handle it!"

He would prove it, too. Right, one drink wasn't going to get to him. He was pretty sure, at least. He'd stay strong and still drink enough to make Mondo happy and everybody would win.

"Alright, you've left me no choice! I'm doing this just for you, so please appreciate it!" Only Mondo could convince him to do things like this. Their entire relationship was based on doing really stupid shit together, after all.

There was no stupider way to handle this than to take the glass again and start to chug it all down at once. The sooner it was over with, the sooner he could stop worrying about it, right? WHAT COULD GO WRONG.

Mondo watched with eyes that just blinked, a hand that just hung like a useless hood ornament, popping up from his lap like it was going to make a move to stop something but instead did nothing.

"Uh..."

It was like watching a car crash. You know deep down inside that you want it to stop, but at the same time, you can't look away because you crave to see the disastrous aftermath. What Would Happen After Kiyotaka Chugged That Shit?

"You don't gotta... Man, you..."

Actually, that was kind of impressive. For someone who never drank the shit and made an obvious show of disliking it. Was it already gone?

Edited 2014-06-21 07:19 (UTC)

Yes, Mondo, he gotta. Even through the foul taste and the unpleasant feeling in the back of his throat and the occasional difficulty swallowing, he was determined to do this just to prove he was not out to be a big fat party pooper.

Almost, almost... There. He set the empty glass back down in the same spot as before with a little more force this time. One drink, over and done with. That was it, that was all. Surely he as a Japanese man would not soon regret his decision in any way.

"There, I'm sure I handled that even better than you could! Ha ha! How is that for impressive?"

Edited 2014-06-21 13:26 (UTC)

There was one phrase that stood out and stuck to him.

"Better than me?" That sounded like a challenge. A devilish grin wormed its way onto his face. "You're fulla shit tonight, aren't ya?" He grabbed his own glass and pressed it firmly to his lips, tilted it, then downed it in all of 4 seconds. Likewise, he rammed it against the table after he finished, expelling a sharp breath. He wiped his face with the back of his hand and looked across the table at his... rival. Truce my ass.

"I guess you could say I wasn't all that impressed."

"Wait--"

He hadn't meant to accidentally START A WAR. But, well. Here they were.

Except it was very shortlived, because all that remained on the table in the way of beverages was a lone glass of water. Kiyotaka stared incredulously across the table, a slow and steady warmth spreading through the back of his brain.

"Now you have nothing left."

"Hey, we'll keep 'em comin', won't we?" reminded Mondo, leaning over as he said so. "I wanna see just how much you can handle." Because the one time he could have seen that, he was too far gone to keep account.　

Yeah right. The drinks were gone, now they could go, and a potential trainwreck of poor decision making could be avoided.

On the other hand, he knew when he was being challenged. And a large part of him bristled at it, determined not to be shown up by some punk-ass delinquent with a cornhat. Besides, it was stupid challenges like these that stoked the flames of whatever their relationship was these days, and Kiyotaka wasn't going to let them burn out again any time soon.

Also, tipsiness was slowly ebbing its way through him. Gone was his stubborn refusal from before and with it any hope of being a paragon of responsibility.

"You're making a mistake," he warned, but was it because drinking any more would only lead to regret or because he was sure he would utterly humiliate Mondo? A bit of both.

"Am I? Then let's find out how big it is!" declared Mondo.

Their next round of food and drink was ordered and the waitress seemed stunned by their jugs being drained to nothing but bubble dregs the next time she saw them again. This time, yakitori skewers and chilled sake arrived at the table. Mondo was determined to slowly work him into a drunken stupor, then rub it in his face every time his words slurred or point out how red his face was getting.

He took the flask and poured Kiyotaka a cup. The snotty grin of his never eased up once.

Ah, yes. Mixing drinks would not lead to even deeper regret at all.

As hungry as Kiyotaka had been, he ignored the food in favour of just shutting Mondo and his dumb face up and showing him what happened when he made stupid challenges. Stupid challenges that had no place at a birthday outing. But if he had any knowledge of alcohol he would have known that filling his belly would have given him an advantage.

No, he was pretty boned as it was.

He oh so wisely too the cup, forcing himself to down it as fast as he could. It burned more than the beer did and therefore took a little more time, but his pride kept him going until the cup was properly emptied and he could show it off. He placed it in front of Mondo with less grace than he had with the earlier glass.

"There, that should be enough already!"

"Dude, take it easy," Mondo warned with a hint of a laugh. "If you keep pouring drinks down your throat, you're gonna puke it all up." And that would be the opposite of fun. "How 'bout you cool it on the sake for a bit? Eat some chicken." He grabbed one of the skewers and ripped his teeth into it because he was hungry and needed to put something in his stomach besides beer, or else he was sure HE might puke, too.

It was too late for him. His mind was still stubbornly set in COMPETITION MODE, and still convinced that he actually seemed to have a pretty high alcohol tolerance, since he was not passing out drunk the instant the drink went down his throat or anything. But considering the difficulty the last glass gave him, he was a little thankful for a break. Hopefully an end to it already.

"Then are you impressed enough after all?" Shut up, that was the most witty tough guy talk the world had ever known, okay. But now that the chicken was right there in front of him and he could smell the it, he was reminded just how hungry he was. So what if his fingers first grabbed the air just beside the skewer before he actually got what he was after?

"Come on. We're barely getting started," he said between chews, pointing his meat stick at him. "Now pour me a cup so I can show you how much more I can take than you."

It ruffled Kiyotaka's feathers to have Mr. Smug Guy over there tell him to slow down and then gloat about how he could beat him. Mondo was quite clearly intimidated and looking for an excuse to get ahead. Skewer in one hand, sake bottle in the other, he poured one out for Mondo, a few drops sloshing over the side of the glass in the process.

"Are you sure you can take it all?"

"You seriously asking me that question?" asked Mondo. "It's a tiny-ass lil' cup. Small enough for me to swallow whole." That said, he ~~actually ate the cup~~ picked it up and drank it all. The burn caused him to make a bit of a face, even though he was expecting it.

It was then, staring down at the table with the lights of the facility glowing around his outer frame of vision more distantly than they had felt before, that he recognized his own hold on sobriety had become tenuous. It all sank in at once like a mudslide. He latched his sights onto Kiyotaka as a kind of vision test and found that his features were still solid. He figured it might be due to drinking so fast without having much to eat that he was feeling a strong buzz kick in. He wondered how the world must seem to him.

He found himself wishing he'd brought his glasses, really. That was his first thought when he realized that the world beyond their table was slipping further and further out of focus, one dim haze that didn't really matter to him. All that mattered was showing Mondo up.

"It's too small to be useful, isn't it?"

His current cup, he decided, was not big enough to be very impressive. Good thing there was another one. So he took a swig of his water, draining most of it before deciding that it would be more efficient to just empty the last few sips onto the skewer plate. At least there was only one left on there to ruin.

"Wait, no," he muttered, furrowing his brow. Why the hell did he think that was a good idea?

Mondo tried to process this as an action that took place in reality. "What're you doing?"

"Well," his voice suddenly took on an overly defensive and exasperated tone, because as annoyed as he was with Mondo for daring to question his stroke of brilliance he was even more put off that he thought it was a good idea in the first place. "I was going to do this."

He dumped the last of the sake into his glass, only managing to fill it halfway.

The whole thing. It was a bad decision, but if he was so intent on showing him how much he could take at once, then let him have it. It wasn't like he had to clean up his mess.　The worst part of it all was, he wasn't sure whether he was pouring the whole think into his water glass because he was getting drunk or just Kiyotaka. He wagged his head back and forth with a snort.

"God, you're stupid. Okay, but don't say I didn't warn ya 'bout drinking, bro," Mondo reminded, not even noticing his weird slip-up. "Guess we're already gonna have to get more, you sponge."

Spoiler alert: Mondo was going to have to clean up his mess later. WHEN HE'D GET SICK ALL OVER HIS SHOES.

"No way, bro." It felt all too easy to use the word again, even with their present circumstances. "I'm finishing this so we can go."

HERE HE WENT. CHUG. CHUG. CHUG.

No, his pristine white penny loafers... okay, slightly-scuffed-with-wear-from-kicking-things-all-the-time white penny loafers!

"You won't even be able to find the exit," retorted Mondo unsympathetically. "Your head's prolly spinning by now. Bro." His wasn't, but with the way Kiyotaka was grabbing for drinks with an untrained alcohol tolerance level, he tried to imagine how far gone he would be after he downed even MORE. It just sort of felt like his own brain needed to catch up extra hard to make sense of stimuli.

The good news was he couldn't finish the glass.

The bad news was ~~he stopped to puke on the shoes~~ that Mondo was right. His head was pounding, his vision pulsing in time with his own heartbeat. He felt like he could float away at any second, pulled along on a string attached to the back of his brain.

He set the glass down and stared at it just for something to focus on, his normally severe face relaxed into something startlingly neutral.

"Bro... it is."

This was it. This was definitely a state of drunkenness.

"I'm done." He at least had the presence of mind left to make that decision, as late and useless as it was.

"Ohh no you're not," protested Mondo with a stifled laugh. "You're not goin' until I'm goin'. It'd be rude to ditch me here just 'cause you can't handle a few drinks."

He sure didn't feel like going anywhere. His inebriation was playing into his appetite and he had a cozy buzz, amused by Kiyotaka's rapidly depleting sobriety.

"I didn't say I was leaving!!"

He crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat, closing his eyes so he didn't have to keep watching things spin at the edges of his vision.

"Just-- finish your thing. Your drink."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

so while you're here in my arms

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject