[June 18th]
June 18th, 205 SD
10:47 PM
“Rhys,” I said, slamming down a glass in front of my friend. “You look like you could use a drink.”
He looked up at me, a little surprised by the sudden appearance of the beer, then frowned. “I don’t. I was just worried about Lio and Lia.”
“What? Why? They just finished school, they should be here celebrating!”
Rhys gave me a pointed look from over the rim of his glasses, but gave up with a sigh. “They’re only seventeen-don’t suggest things like that.”
“Next year, then,” Lysander cut in and I laughed.
“That’s the spirit! Bring them along next year! I want them to have fond memories of me before I turn into an old man.” My attention was pulled away by a pretty little blonde that came up to the bar.
I could hear Rhys sigh again as I mixed the young woman a drink. “You’re the type that will never become an old man, Kaito. You drink too much to age.”
With a charming smile, I slid the glass across the counter and gave her a wink as I directed my words to my friend. “You’re too kind, Rhys.”
“Always a charmer,” Lysander agreed, scooping up the untouched glass of beer in front of Rhys. “I think the twins could stand to inherit some of your amiable personality. They’re a little too isolated from the rest of their classmates.”
Rhys opened his mouth to retort, but I held up my hands. “Now listen here: We are celebrating my birthday. There will be no squabbling or mentioning of unfortunate children that aren’t old enough to enter a bar.” I filled up another glass, knowing that once Lysander had taken a drink from the first one that it would remain untouched by Rhys. “As the birthday boy, I am ordering you to drink. I don’t require presents from men, so I reserve the right to boss you around.”
Grumbling under his breath, but with a far less grumpy expression on his face this time around, he took the glass and obediently drank from it.
“Now there’s a good boy,” I said, patting him on the shoulder. “And don’t worry; drinks are on the house tonight.”
“I thought they always were,” Lysander interjected innocently. “Or are you just falling victim to my boyish charm?”
I let out a short laugh, mixing a drink for myself. “I bet you could get away with murder with charming words like that.”
He grinned, pushing away from the bar and turning his back to me. “Not without your help, Kaito.”
“Clever bastard,” I called back. “Watch out, I might be falling for you!”
“Don’t let that pretty little thing making eyes at you hear you say that,” he returned before disappearing into the crowd.
Rhys was silent for a moment, studying the amber beer in his glass before taking another sip from it. “You’re twenty-four, right?” he asked me.
“But I don’t look a day over twenty. What do you think?” I touched a hand to my cheek. “Beautiful skin for a man.”
He frowned at his beer. “God, I don’t know why sometimes I even bother with you,” he said with a heavy sigh.
Suppressing an undignified snort, I said, “Everyone needs a bit of joy in their life, Rhys my friend. I am yours.”
“Bastard,” he said with a laugh. “I’m an accountant. We don’t normally have fun.”
My grin softened slightly. “That’s what I’m here for. I add a bit of fun to everyone’s lives. As long as the drinks flow, then I’m doing my job.” I gave him a reassuring nod. “And for that, I need your help, of course. So if you want me to keep making you happy, you need to keep making me happy, which means doing your job so that my people can be happy.”
“Your people,” he scoffed. “And Lysander?”
I reached out and pinched Rhys’ cheek. “Aww your jealousy is so cute~”
He smacked my hand away. “I’m older than you are; don’t call me cute. And jealousy is for little girls in middle school. Don’t lump me in with you.”
With a sharp laugh, I shook my hand as if I had been burnt. “Oh, ouch! Play nice!” I rested my chin in one hand and leaned against the bar. “You better not be letting your little siblings become as uncute as you are,” I said.
“I don’t want to hear that from you,” he told me just as Lysander reappeared and draped an arm over his shoulders.
“What, no cute girl with you?” I asked, a playful smirk back on my face.
Lysander laughed, placing the empty glass onto the bar and sliding onto the stool next to Rhys. “I’ve already got someone. Kind of.”
Considering that I had only known him for roughly five months, I thought I had figured the man out. This, however, was news to me. “Really?! Who? You got to bring her along next time. She must be a piece of work if she can put up with you.” I picked up his glass and scooted over to the tap to refill it.
And then I thought I saw something I never would have seen: Lysander looking rather bashful as he rubbed the back of his head with one hand. He made his hair stick out at weird angles with the motion. “I, uh... I haven’t seen her for awhile.”
“How long is awhile?” Rhys asked, his own interest in the story becoming obvious.
He looked up at the dark roof of the club and thought for a moment. “Nearly six years?”
Rhys spit out the bear he had been drinking as he burst into laughter and I almost lost the grip on the glass as I handed it back to him.
“Man that is some dedication!” I said, grabbing a rag to clean off the bar.
“I don’t think that counts as a relationship anymore!” Rhys said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
Lysander gave a rueful smile. “No, probably not. I wouldn’t be surprised if she moved on already-she always was the romantic type. So waiting around for me probably wouldn’t have been in her plans.”
“How old is she now?”
“She’d be nineteen now. Twenty in November.”
I let out a low whistle. “Hotdamn, you wooed a fourteen year old!”
“In my defense,” Lysander started, holding up his hands, “I was a pretty wild child. I managed to get a lot of women back in those days.”
Shaking my head, I let out a sigh. “And yet one of them stole your heart. Such a vixen at a young age. I would love to meet her.”
His lips twisted into a wry grin. “If only I could find her again. I have no idea where she is now. Probably still at home, though she told me of how she always wanted to run away.” His downcast eyes were focused on a pattern in the wood of the bar.
“Why don’t you call her home, then?” Rhys suggested.
“Don’t remember the number,” he confessed. “Though, I suppose it wouldn’t be that hard to look up.”
An idea came to mind that, for some reason, while it seemed like the most obvious thing, seemed rather absurd at the same time. “Why don’t you go visit?”
Lysander looked up at me, a rather confused expression on his face before his eyebrows lifted in surprise. “I dunno,” he muttered. “The thought never really occurred to me before. I spent so much time moving from place to place that I never thought of going back…” He paused for a moment, rubbing his hand over his chin. “Still, it seems like a foolish idea to go back there. Her mother never was too fond of me.”
The awkward feeling between the three of us passed as my suggestion was dismissed.