Watch me drink some bleach

At first, Kai tried to shove the conversation he'd had with Keegan out of his head and go on with his careless, possibly self-destructive behavior. But he couldn't stop thinking of the genuine worry he saw in Keegan's eyes. At first, he decided to go out anyways, just to spite Keegan. After all, he didn't owe him any peace of mind. Indignant, he entered the Tavern, and waited for someone to make their move.

But as he waited, he started to really think about Keegan, and how he'd begged Kai to stop hurting himself. And he realized, he was only doing this because of Keegan. He was hurting himself on purpose, making a mess out of himself, just to get back at Keegan. Was that really worth it? Would that really help him move on?

...What was he doing?

This was wrong. He shouldn't be doing this to himself. Even Kai had to have more self-respect than this. Maybe he should get out of here. He needed to be alone to think about this more.

August had a terrible headache. Ever since he had run into that girl, and she dropped that rock on his head, his head wasn't feeling too great. He went to the doctor, and they said it was okay, he just had a lump up there.

He decided to go to the Tavern tonight, because he thought maybe he could drink until the headache went away, and while he was there, maybe he could meet somebody, and take them home with him.

He entered the Tavern, and was greeted with the smell of whatever the Tavern might smell like. He walked over to the bar counter, and sat on a stool, next to a young teenage looking boy. He was really adorable.

Kai suddenly realized there was an older, nice-looking man sitting near him and kind of checking him out. Hm, maybe he should get going before anything happened. He definitely needed to just go home and be by himself tonight, and think about things. He kind of gave the man a small, polite smile before quickly standing up to go.

Uh oh, he was getting up to leave. "Hey where are you going?" August asked. "The night is young, stay and have a drink!" He smiled.

Crap. "What? Oh, sorry," Kai replied, smiling a little awkwardly and facing the man, not wanting to seem rude. "I wish I had time, but I just remembered some place I have to be. Maybe some other time." He said the last line out of habit, not really intending to ever meet this guy for drinks.

"Aw come on I'm sure it can wait," August replied, grabbing the boy's arm and pulling him back to the stool. "Sit down and enjoy yourself." He held his hand up, indicating that he wanted two drinks. "So what's your name?"

"Oh--" Kai said when he was forcibly pulled down into the seat. He was about to protest, but the man already ordered drinks. He felt like he should go anyways, but he didn't, lest he offend this handsome stranger. Besides, one drink couldn't hurt. Then he could politely slip away. "I'm Kai." He took a sip of whatever potent drink the man had ordered.

"Kai? Sort of sounds like 'koi', like the fish." August replied. "That's a nice name, my name is August, like the month." He took a sip of his drink.

"Mmhm. That's a nice name," Kai said absent-mindedly, trying to sound interested without sounding too interested, you know? He took another sip of his drink. It was some strong stuff.

August watched Kai for a couple seconds, took a gulp of his drink, set it down on the counter, made one of those, 'aahh' noises then said, "Look at you, you've barely touched your drink! Come on now, you don't want to hurt my feelings do you?"

Kai looked at August, then apprehensively lifted the cup to his lips and took a long gulp, forcing himself to finish it. Maybe now he could get out of here, now that he'd finished. Geez this drink was strong, good thing August had only ordered him one. "Thanks, but I think I really should go," he said, making a movement to get up.

August pretended that he hadn't heard Kai say he was going to go, and ordered another drink for him. "It's pretty good huh?" He asked. He looked at Kai, "Now what did you say?"

"I--" Kai stared at August, and then at the drink that had been placed in front of him. August had either ignored him completely or just didn't hear him. He had been talking kind of quietly, he supposed. And maybe August was getting a little tipsy and not paying attention to things. "I--I don't usually drink very much," he said in a small voice.

"Well that's okay," August replied in a large voice. "You can trust me, have a little fun tonight." GOD I'M SO CREEPY.

"I guess so..." Kai mumbled, slowly draining that drink too. Every time he finished a drink and tried to leave, August would order him another one and sort of intimidate him into drinking it. It wasn't long before Kai was too drunk to resist anything August said, and drank whatever he ordered obediently.

August ordered a good handful of more drinks for Kai, until he was drunk enough to do whatever. August wasn't drunk though, because if he wanted to do what he had planned tonight, he'd have to be sober.

"Hey," he mumbled into Kai's ear. "Why don't you come home with me tonight?"

Being drunk and all, Kai totally forgot about his conversation with Keegan and his recent revelation. He had come here to get picked up, hadn't he...? That sounded right. Why else would he be talking to this guy. He nodded sluggishly. "Okay," he said thickly. He started trying to stand up, but the floor wouldn't stop moving.

"Whoa," August said, while holding Kai steady. "Easy now, let's go." Then they left the Tavern.

TO BE CONTINUED IN DIAN
I'LL POST THERE FIRST