Chapter Text
Chance wasn’t much of a drinker, but today was different. After patiently waiting for the past 4 years, Chance’s parents decided to let chance inherit their casino on his 21st birthday. This called for a celebration of course. Although he was 4 months short, Chance make sure to be extra careful as he approached the bar. They made sure their ID seemed real enough, snuck out of the house when his parents were away and made sure that no one was following him. Almost no one, that is. No one except for one.
Chance sat down on a stool. He tried to keep his poker face straight while their nerves slowly crept up. They’d drunken before but never in a proper bar. He ordered the first thing that came to mind; a Bloody Mary. While the bartender checked their ID, another person came into the bar. They sat down in the stool next to Chance and orders a beer. As the bartender checks the stranger’s ID, chance managed to catch a glimpse of them without looking nosy. The man wore formal attire; a suit vest, tie, dress shirt and pants. He also had a large bow on his back, attracted at the belt. He had brown hair and slightly tanned skin. The thing that threw Chance off guard though was the fact that the stranger had a piece of paper on his face. The stranger drew a crappy smiley face on it to make it feel “more natural.”
Before they could say anything, the stranger spoke to Chance. “Hey.. uh. How are you doing?”
“I’m doing alright. How about you?” They tried their best to sound casual.
“I’m doing good. So what brings you here today?”
Again, Chance lets down his cool for a brief moment. What kind of question is that? I’m pretty sure you don’t ask strangers at bars those kind of questions.
“Oh uh. I’m celebrating.” Chance replied.
The stranger seemed just as awkward as them. “That’s nice…”
The two went quiet. Chance had no clue why this guy was talking to him or why he was here. As soon as the bartender finished Chance’s drink, he immediately downed half of it. The bartender also gave the beer to the stranger so he began drinking too. All Chance could think in that moment was to never come back to that bar.
The silence was broken when the stranger spoke again. “I-.. I’m sorry if this is really awkward. I don’t really know how to start small talk. Especially in bars.” He mumbled something about wanting to forget about this moment under his breath.
Chance sighed. “You’re fine. I just wasn’t expecting someone to make small talk with me. I don’t usually go to bars.”
“Oh that’s a relief. I thought I screwed up my chance at talking to you. You know, this is actually my first time being at a bar.”
“Oh really? Mine too. Oh, I’m Chance by the way.”
The stranger nodded. “Nick.”
“So Nick, why are you wearing that piece of paper on your face?”
Nick instinctively reached for his paper. “Hm? Oh uh. It’s kind of personal. Medical conditions?”
Chance hummed in understanding. “Right. Right. Of course.”
The two went quiet again. The awkwardness of the situation settled in again. As Chance searched his mind for something to break the silence, a question lingered in his mind.
“So what made you want to start talking to me.”
“Huh?”
“The bar is nearly empty and yet you decided to sit next to me and start talking to me. Why?”
“Oh uhm.” Nick looked like he got caught in a lie. “I.. I thought you looked cool?”
“What are you saying?”
“I saw you walking and I thought you looked like an interesting person so I wanted to try and talk to you.”
“So that’s it huh?” Chance grinned. “Didn’t know I seemed like an interesting person to outsiders!”
Nick tugged at a corner of the paper mask. “I guess so. I just wanted to try and get to know you.”
Chance started laughing. “You seem pretty interesting yourself! You from out of town? Never seen you around here before!”
Nick got shy. “I guess you could say that.”
Chance wrapped their arm around the other. “You got somewhere to stay? I could bring you back to my place and treat you to a few rounds of black jack!”
“Oh! Yeah I’d be great if I could stay at your place for the night!”
“It’s settled then! That way, you can get to know me getting without having to use cheap small talk.” Nick nervously laughed at Chance’s response.
Chance slapped two 20s onto the bar before loudly announcing, “keep the change!” The two stumbled out of the bar as they made their way to soon to be Chance’s casino.