Chapter Text
Wise was never one for alcohol.
The pretty boy sar near a bar table, his legs dangled off the tall chairs as he stared at the nearby retro-style TV display. Wise wasn’t really paying attention to what was on broadcast, his brain on autopilot. The cold, wet cup of Martini had started to numb his fingertips.
The loud music tore into his ears, the noise making his thoughts clearer than they usually were. Wise was here due to a favour he had promised the owner of this bar - Nicole - to help her take over the DJ position for the night. It was only 9pm, the night was still young and he had an hour to burn before heading on stage. Wise liked music, scratch that, he loved music. Music, movies, tv shows were all part of his little side hobby as a humble computer science major college student. It wasn’t like he didn’t have homework to do, it was just not urgent enough for him to panic about it yet.
“Excuse me,” a deep, butter-smooth voice jolted Wise out of his trance, “A shot of vodka please.”
The bartender was nowhere to be seen and it took a few seconds for Wise to register that the man was talking to him.
“Oh, sorry. I’m not a staff member.” Wise responded.
“Your name tag says otherwise,” the man slid into the bar chair next to him, raising an eyebrow, “Wise. Hm, funny name.”
Then it took another few seconds for Wise to remember that Nicole gave him a name tag a while ago for clearance to head backstage, maybe the alcohol was starting to get to his mind. The man in front of him, dark hair, broad shoulders, an eye-catching red scarf and arrogant-looking sunglasses. He wrinkled his nose as the smell of gasoline weaved itself into his senses, addictive and overwhelming.
Wise surely wasn’t one for social interactions either. He can be sarcastic, playful, but when it’s dealing with complete strangers…let’s just say customer service was never his forte.
“Right…sorry. I’m not the bartender.” Wise cleared his throat awkwardly, “And I don’t know where he is either, so you’re going to have to wait a bit for your shot of vodka.”
“I’ve got time to kill,” the man shrugged, “Lighter, good to meet you Wise.”
Lighter figured he should offer up his own name as well, provided it seemed a little unfair for mistaking his identity. He sat here purely to grab his shot of vodka after a particularly long meeting with everyone else in the boxing club back in New Eridu City University (NECU). Lighter doesn’t consider himself an alcoholic, he never was to begin with, but he does like the tingling feeling the drinks would leave in the back of his throat.
“Nice to meet you too.” Wise politely nodded, his gaze flickering back to the TV screen.
Lighter’s eyes follow, the silence making him squirm in his seat. He wasn’t usually one to pry, but it seemed a little rude to not start a conversation…
Lighter pursed his lips, leaning his head onto his arm, turning towards the curiously good-looking young man.
“So-”
“Nichole?” Wise had promptly dialed a number during Lighter’s little inner turmoil, “Anby isn't here and there’s a customer waiting.”
A couple seconds of silence.
“Right…so you want me to do another side hustle? This is gonna cost another favor Nichole,” Wise snickered, his eyebrows raised, “Alright alright, add that onto your ever growing debts you owe me.”
Wise hung up.
“Sorry,” he stood up, pushed back the bar chair and circled behind the bar table. Wise opened shelves up and down, facial expression getting slightly more annoyed every time he came up empty handed before fishing out a half full bottle of what he assumed was vodka. Wise met Lighter’s eyes that were hidden behind sun-glasses, “Is this it…?”
“You askin’ me?” Lighter chuckled, “Yeah, that’s it.”
Wise popped open the cork with a strangled expression, taking a small cup from the rack and poured the transparent liquid in.
Through the awkward interaction, Lighter was able to get his shot of vodka and Wise was able to continue his enjoyment of the quite underwhelming movie on display.
“Into the Hollow?” Lighter leaned crossed his arms, the small cup already empty on the table.
Wise whipped his head around, eyes slightly widened, “You know the movie? It’s quite old, not many people have watched it." At that moment, Wise’s eyes gleamed with excitement. The same kind when you finally met someone that seemed interested in your little niche hobby; the same kind when you finally met someone that can hear you rant about this and that and get into the nitty gritty nerdy things; the kind of excitement that made Lighter’s heart skip a beat.
Lighter smiled and shrugged, “I like movies. Just don’t really appreciate horror.”
Wise’s attempt to suppress his wide grin was failing miserably, “Wow. Really?”
“Yep.”
Then that word opened a can of worms which had the two men stuck on their chairs for the next hour. Blinking lights and loud music, yet now, another sound drowned the voices in Wise’s mind. A butter-smooth voice, accompanied with low chuckles that replied to every one of Wise’s little tangents.
Before long, Wise was called away.
“Leaving already, sweetheart?” Lighter grinned, his demeanor already warming up to Wise.
Wise shrugged, “Duty calls.”