Honda slouched in a chair in a darker corner of the barroom. He knew he could have found a cheaper place to get drunk, a place closer to his apartment, but he felt like splurging a bit tonight. He looked around over his glass. The place was nice enough, he supposed, although lacking the personality of the usual hole-in-the-wall the he went to.

Mokuba really didn't know where he was going. He had the limo drive him around, thinking maybe he would shop, but when he arrived in the High-End District he didn't feel like getting out. After that was the park, and then the arcade, and each ended the same. "Stupid mood," he mumbled to himself. The only cure he knew of was to get trashed. He would have dove straight for his pills, but those were neatly tucked away at home. When he looked out the window he spotted a bar and told the driver to stop and let him out. It didn't look like the best place, but he'd seen worse, so he let himself walk in.

Honda glanced up automatically as the door opened before remembering that this wasn't his usual bar, so it was unlikely that he'd get dragged into a fight. He was about to go back to his drink when his eyes focused on the figure at the door. He shook his head, that couldn't be who it looked like. He certainly hoped that wasn't who it looked like. If that was...he really hoped no one tried to card him.

Well, the place wasn't so bad, he thought as he slipped the guy just inside the door a few bills to keep his mouth shut. The lights were dim. That was even better. He walked up to the bar and tried to figure out what he wanted. The guy sitting in the stool next to him gave him a weird look, and Mokuba just glared and turned back to the waiting bartender. "Two Jack Daniels and a Coke," he said, leaning up so he could be heard over the house band. When the bartender handed them to him, he immediately knocked one back, cringing as it went down his throat. Before his throat could calm down he knocked back the other one, and then drank half the Coke. He turned around and began surveying the room, sipping on the rest of the Coke. Nothing too interesting, except, wait! Was that Honda?

Honda barely suppressed a groan. Not only was that who he thought it was, but he had apparently been spotted. 'Don't panic,' he told himself. 'Don't look over, don't make eye contact. Maybe he won't come over here. Maybe we can both just go the whole night ignoring each other. And maybe some piglets and elephants will choose this moment to start doing air ballet.' He had to smile a little at that mental image, and then shook his head. 'Might as well not delay the inevitable.' He set his glass down on an empty spot on the table, and then stood up slowly. He weaved his way around the other patrons, heading for the bar, trying his best to avoid Mokuba's eyes.

Mokuba kept staring because the figure that looked an awful lot like Honda wasn't looking in his direction. However, once the figure stood up and began walking over, Mokuba was sure that it was him. He never though he'd run into the guy at the bar. He glanced past Honda and to the table he was at to see how much he'd had to drink so far, but with all the other people sitting there and drinking, he couldn't tell. "Honda!" He waved, then turned toward the bartender and ordered a few beers and mixed drinks.

This time Honda couldn't completely suppress his groan. 'Great, draw the attention of the whole place, why dontcha?' The thought struck him as rather funny, despite the situation. 'He probably can't go anywhere without sucking up all the attention.' The smart thing to do would be to turn and leave, instead of walking straight into a situation that he was sure he'd be regretting in the morning. But he wasn't doing the smart thing, was he? If anyone asked later, he supposed he could blame it on the influence of the alcohol or a general lack of common sense. Instead of heading for the door, Honda walked up to the bar and slide on to the stool next to Mokuba. He leaned over, in order to be heard over the band and not overheard by the nearby bartender and assorted drinkers, "I didn't expected to see you here, hot stuff."

"Damn right I'm hot," he said and grinned before he took a drink from one of his beers. He hadn't really expected that to be coming out of Honda's mouth, but he didn't want to show surprise. "Sometimes I just like to visit places that the common folk come to." Except that he really didn't, but he couldn't exactly explain that he was here because he was in some weird mood and need to be drunk to push it all away. "And how long have you been drinking tonight?"

"Not long enough, unfortunately." Honda replied, not pulling back completely. "Certainly not long enough to believe you visit the common people on a regular basis. These all yours?" He gestured at the various glasses sitting on the bar without taking his eyes off the smaller boy.

"Yeah," Mokuba grumbled, looking away. Damn, so Honda didn't buy it. He downed the rest of the glass of beer and went next for a mixed drink. He leaned over to Honda, though still didn't look at him. "What are you doing here?"

"Same as you I supposed, trying to get drunk." Honda turned to the bartender, not caring if he was getting dirty looks. "Coke and rum." He turned back to Mokuba, amused that he was still looking away. He leaned in slightly before asking the most obvious question, "So, come here often?"

"Don't presume we're here for the same reasons. I don't think I want to be lumped in the same category as you." Mokuba took another drink, and then sighed. "And, no, this is my first time in this bar." He turned to face Honda--he wasn't some weak kid who looked away--and was very surprised when he almost whacked his head on Honda's. He threw himself back a little, not wanting to injure any part of his face. "Whoa!" He called out, catching himself on the railing that ran along the bar. After he steadied himself he looked back at him. "What about you?"

Honda chuckled at the reaction. "So you're not trying to get drunk? Maybe you should lay off the alcohol, then." He gave Mokuba a lazy, off-centered grin. "I already told you, I'm here to get drunk. This is the first time I've come here, though. Maybe I should have stuck with somewhere in the seedy neighborhoods, where I could be with people of my 'category'." He finally leaned back into his own space and quietly picked up the glass in front of him, still watching Mokuba from the corner of his eye.

He looked away and stared at the bottles that lined the back of the bar. Stupid conversation, and now his head was starting to feel a little heavy. He propped up his arms and let his chin rest in his hands. "Why are you trying to get drunk?" He figured Honda wouldn't tell him, probably just reply with some smart-ass comment that would piss him off, but he couldn't ward off that curiosity. And what the hell was he doing in a bar that wasn't exactly the cheapest around? Sure, he'd paid a lot more for a beer before, but he knew there were places that went a lot less.

Honda was silent for several minutes, letting his thoughts blend with the noise around him. He looked directly at Mokuba before responding. "Do you really want to know, or are you just asking for the fun of hearing yourself talk?"

The silence from him was expected, and Mokuba just continued to down some of his drinks. He had just finished his last mixed drink--should he order more? He still had a beer--when Honda just had to remark like that. He slammed his empty glass down and watched as a crack made its way quickly up the length of the glass. "I was being fucking serious." He really wanted to toss his broken glass at the guy's head. Damn him and his always being so irritating.

Honda shrugged, barely noticing the burst of anger. "Plenty of people ask questions without really wanting to hear the answer. Don't want to bother you with my problems if you were just making an attempt at being polite." Honda stared at his glass for a moment, and then drained it. He set the glass down carefully before continuing. "Since you're so insistent, I'll go ahead and tell you. I want to forget someone. He's stuck in my brain, and I don't particularly like it. That's all there is to it."

"Oh, really?" He turned slowly, though it seemed like it took forever for his head to move. "Who?" Mokuba had his idea of who he thought it was, though he wasn't quite confident in his guess. Honda was a little too mysterious, and he hadn't had the time to look up information on him yet because of busy business times. He only hoped the guy was drunk enough to just say it without really thinking about it.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but that's all I'm going to tell. You're welcome to guess if you like." Despite his calm behavior, inside Honda was nervous, worried that Mokuba would be able to guess correctly on the first try. Daring him to guess was definitely not the smartest move.

A game. Hmmm, that sounded sort of fun. He hadn't played any games in a while. He should play more often. "Let me think here." Not that he really had to think because he already had his answer. He began to tap his cheek. He had aimed for his chin, but his cheek was close enough. When he was done with his pretend thinking he opened his eyes and smiled. "Could it be...Otogi?"

Honda laughed, looking away. "And here I half thought you'd assume I was talking about you. Any reasoning behind your guess?"

"I figured I didn't have to name myself since everyone loves me." Mokuba had to use a little extra force to get his glass up from the counter. Damn sticky tables. How many drinks had been spilled there before it got that way? One? Five? Had it always been sticky and he hadn't noticed it until now? He tilted his head down until it was level with the table, but the light was bad so he couldn't see to well. With the force his glass was held down the stickiness must have been really thick. When he looked back up at Honda he had remembered that he had asked a question. "Oh, yeah!" He giggled, letting his hand whack on the sticky counter and peeled it back off. "Just because, you know, your posts and you met up with him and whatever. Stuff like that."

'Was he drunk before he got here?' Honda blinked a few times at Mokuba's response. "My posts? And here I thought I was being oh, so clever and vague. I'm pretty sure I don't automatically fall for every person I see at the mall, though." Honda decided to order another drink and continue watching Mokuba. 'Good, he doesn't seem to have any idea what's going on. Now if I can just keep it that way.'

It was like jelly. Yeah, that was it, only it had missed the sandwich and made a dry, sticky mess on the counter. "Then who is it, hmmm?" He didn’t' feel like guessing names. Too many people, and they were all starting to blur together. Maybe he needed another drink. Did he have one more? Well, there was a half empty glass of something right there, so that might be his. He took it and began sipping on it. Sort of warm, but that didn't matter.

"Any idea how many drinks you've had?" Honda couldn't keep himself from asking. While he didn't care much if Mokuba got himself completely blitzed, he did want some warning as to how he might react next.

That was a silly question for Honda to ask. Was he blind? "Just this many." He made a great, sweeping gesture with his hand to show that the many glasses in front of him were his. "And some shots." There really was no point to how much he had, because it clearly wasn't enough if he was still in a mood. Stupid mood, lingering around like a cat, rubbing against his leg, making his clothes are dirty with cat-hair and cat-germs and other cat-things. Didn't someone want a cat? Oh, Honda, right? Who was sitting right there, looking at him. Didn't he ask something? No, wait, that was him, with no answer. Tricky Honda. "Who?"

"Oh, I thought maybe the bartender had taken some of the glasses already, or maybe you had a few before you got here." 'Damn, persistent little drunk, ain't he? He's not as distracted as I'd hoped.' "Did you really think I'd tell you?"

"I was being hopeful that you would." He leaned up close and put a big smile on his face to show his pearly whites. "But who could deny a face like this? You know you really want to tell meeeeeee."

Honda wasn't sure whether to lean in closer or scoot away from the intoxicated boy. "I already said I wasn't going to tell you. This is one time your charms won't work. Deal with it. It's none of your business who I want to remember and who I want to forget, anyways."

"Asshole." Like it was really that hard to say a name. "You piss me off." Always mean to him, but making everyone else think he was a nice guy. "I hate you." He turned around to face the other way. Everyone had to be so secretive all the time, it was really annoying. How could he know everything if people were keeping their mouths shut? He'd just have to open them up somehow. Ah, that was it! He swiveled back around. "If you tell me, then I'll....I'll tell you something. Whatever you want to know." Have to give a little to get a little, or something like that.

Honda raised an eyebrow. 'Even drunk, he's still manipulative.' "And what makes you think you have any information I'd want?"

"There's nothing that peeks your curiosity?" Everyone wanted to know something, or have something. Life was just like that.

"Oh, plenty of things. I'm just not sure I know the right questions to ask. Here's a better deal: you tell me a secret or some fun little bit of information, and then I'll decide if I think it's good enough."

That wasn't the best deal, and Mokuba knew it. He wasn't a great businessman for nothing. It he stayed safe and told something silly, something that wouldn't matter either way, he'd get nothing. Where's the fun? Where's the gamble? It all reminded him of when he jumped out of that airplane, though not as much. And he was a little queasier and couldn't really center himself, but it was sort of the same. "Okay, deal. But no telling anyone what I said, or I swear I'll have someone hurt you really bad. Or maybe I'll even do it myself."

"I have a feeling one of us is going to be very disappointed."

"Just shut up. And you better stick to the deal!" Mokuba took a deep breath and let it out slowly. His stomach felt like it was going in circles, and he knew it wasn't from the alcohol. Could he really say it? Yes, he could, because he wasn't weak and it shouldn't matter at all. This would prove it how strong he was, that nothing could affect him. He nodded to himself and looked Honda straight in the eye. "The first time I was kidnapped was on this day. No one really knows about it. Just a few people." He felt that everyone could hear what he said, though he was as quiet as he could possibly be.

"What happened?" Honda asked quietly, worried that Mokuba would lash out at him again.

There was that tricky Honda again, wanting to know more, though telling nothing himself. And he really wasn't planning on saying anything because he held up his end of the deal. He shared a secret. The details were never part of it. But he was kind of tired, and...something. "Just, you know, the usual. Thought I had a friend but they were just pretending." He laid his head down on the counter and stared at the bar running along it. "We were walking home from school and he wanted to show me this place, but once I walked in they grabbed me and tied me up. Beat me up, even have a scar. I don't know how I got out, but I woke up and some doctor was stitching me up, and Gozaburo told me to never mention it."

"Hm, interesting. I've had pretend friends before, but nothing that bad ever happened. But I'm guessing you don't care to hear about that." Honda sipped his drink quietly. "Jacob Durand, that's the guy I'm trying to forget at the moment. I'm sure the name means absolutely nothing to you. Told you someone was going to be disappointed."

Mokuba just let himself lay there for a moment, taking in everything Honda said. It was nobody. He had shared something, and he got nothing. Lost the gamble. "Dammit!" He pushed himself up and grabbed the glass closest to him. "Quit pissing me off!" He hadn't meant to throw the glass, just wave it around like a threat, but the damn thing was slippery compared to the table. He watched as it went straight at Honda, and while he felt sort of bad, he couldn't help but laughing. The guy deserved it.

Honda was in shock. 'The drunk little bastard is laughing!' He was so busy watching Mokuba that he didn't notice the glass until it was right in front of him. And, of course, it was the broken glass. He instinctively raised his arm, hoping to block the shards. Luckily, most of them hit his arm and bounced off, a few staying. Unfortunately, one of the larger shards flew up at his face, scratching his forehead.

Mokuba had to hang onto the rail to keep himself from falling over. It was like a damn comedy show! And now he had a scratch and that just fit just fine to Mokuba. If the damn guy hadn't put his arms up it would have been even better. "Not quick enough, eh?"

The urge to bash the younger boy's head into the bar was overwhelmingly tempting, and the blood running into his eye wasn't helping. "You bastard! You little son of a bitch! What do you think you're trying to do, get into a fight? You think you're so funny, do you? Go ahead and drink yourself to death for all I care, it'd serve you right. I hope you die of alcohol poisoning. I'm leaving!" And with that, Honda stormed out of the bar.

"Fuck you to," he grumbled, then order himself another drink. He didn't care one way or the other what Honda said to him. Like he would die. He was young, and he still had so much stuff to do that the world wouldn't let him. And that guy at the end of the bar was kind of hot, with shaggy hair that fell into his eyes and leather. Oooh, he liked leather.