shipping roleplay // closed

(lmao, so true.)

"His name?" Kaye asked, frowning as he saw the way that Simon watched the other man walk off and the smirk that crossed their face. Does he like them? A small scowl crossed his face for a few moments at the thought of that, though that only left him even more confused as to why he was so protective over Simon already. "It's Ashley," Kaye answered, his response a little clipped off.

"And the Painkiller is like a twist on the Pinã Colada, from somewhere in the British Virgin Islands. It's more of a tropical drink," he explained after a few moments of thinking. "I thought we could use a painkiller anyway," Kaye added, trying for a weak joke to lift his mood somehow as he motioned to the bruise on his face.

“Ashley…” Simon’s smirk only grew when he noticed the look on Kaye’s face. Was he… jealous? Or perhaps just homophobic. Either way, he felt the strange urge to tease him. “And that sounds delicious. The Pinã Colada, of course. Do you come here often?”

Kaye pursed his lips as Simon's smirk grew when they repeated his friend's name, though he easily covered it up with a carefree smile. Instead, he busied himself with answering Simon's question so the other man wouldn't notice the small flicker of emotion that had just crossed his face.

"Yeah, I suppose. Ashley was one of my first friends here, so I'll swing by every once in a while," he explained, fiddling with the strings on his hoodie. "What about you? How long have you been here for?"

Potential jealousy? This was new.. Simon’s smirk continued to grow, taking his bravado with it. I wonder if Ashley’s gay… he wondered distractedly, another thought following. I wonder if Kaye is.. Drawing himself sharply back to the present, he tried to remember what Kaye had last said. “Uhh.. I don’t think I’ve been here before,” he replied, eyes flicking back to the direction of the bar. “To this bar, I mean. I’ve been in this city for…. two years? Three? I don’t remember.”

Kaye nodded, wondering what is was like to stay in a city for so long. He had never gone for more than one or two years before moving around again, which led him to having to start over quite a lot. After a few beats of silence, Kaye opened his mouth to say something else, though a loud clatter of two cups on the bar's wooden table cut him off as Ashley made his way back over towards them.

"Here we go. Two Painkillers," Ashley announced, pushing the cups towards the two before he already started on cleaning the counter next to them.

“Thanks,” Simon told him, lifting the glass to his lips and taking an experimental ship, his eyes never leaving the other man. The drink was delicious, fizzing as it went down his throat and burning as it settled in his stomach. “This is really good, nice choice, Kaye.”

"Thanks," Kaye answered with a small smile as he took a quick sip from his own drink, ignoring how it burned his throat as it went down. At this point, all he wanted to do was drink.

After a few sips, Kaye finally set the cup back down, noticing the way that Simon kept his gaze trained on Ashley. He opened his mouth to say something, or maybe distract Simon, but quickly shut it once again, disliking the way that this already seemed to make him jealous. He had just met Simon anyway.

Simon took another sip of the drink, savouring the taste and the burning sensation that came with. He was also savouring two other things; Ashley’s slightly disheveled appearance, and Kaye’s jealousy, but he pretended otherwise for the moment, trying to enjoy his last few minutes of staying completely sober.

“So, how long have you two been friends?” he asked, leaning back against the wall.

"A couple months, right?" Kaye said with a small sigh, tilting his head towards Ashley in question as if he were asking them for agreement.

"Yeah, I think so," Ashley answered as he ran a hand through his hair and turned around towards the two. "Kaye's the one that got me this job. So these were the best couple months of my life," he teased, leaning over the counter and ruffling Kaye's hair as the younger boy wrinkled his nose jokingly.

Simon watched them, amused. “Cool,” he replied with a smile that was slightly less forced, doing his best to keep his glances between the two even.

He racked his brain to think of a conversation topic— small talk had never been his strong suit— and ended up with what he hoped was satisfactory. “How did you two meet?”

"Oh, that's simple," Ashley started, hopping onto the counter across from the two as he swung his legs back and forth in thought.

"I had come here on the night that my ex-boyfriend had dumped me, so my obvious solution was to drink. Skip a couple hours and I had gotten in a fight with another man at the bar. Kaye here managed to get me and fix me up," he explained with a short summary that got the gist of their first meeting, though there were a few more details that he left out. Not that they were very important anyway.

So he does like guys…. This was a huge plus. Simon would never had guessed that his mindless wandering would lead to rescuing some guy from being beat up on an alleyway, then going to get a few drinks and bumping into a cute, queer bartender.

“That’s admittedly a pretty awesome way to make a friend,” he said, rubbing at his knuckles. “Other than the dumping part. Sorry about that. And the getting beaten up part. You know what I mean.”

"It's fine, don't worry about it. He wasn't a great guy anyway," Ashley answered with a loose, carefree shrug, as if he completely forgot about his past boyfriend in the first place.

Kaye hummed in agreement, taking a sip from his drink as he glanced over towards Ashley. He had also had his share of terrible boyfriends, most of them trying to take advantage wilder, impulsive, and naive behavior. He had moved on from them of course, but it still made him a bit wary for new relationships.

Simon finished off his drink, the effects of the alcohol finally setting in. It took a lot to get him drunk, but he still wasn’t completely unaffected, slightly off balance by now. The colours of the bar seemed to pop, as did the sounds, which he knew even in his ever so slightly tipsy stage would make for one hell of a headache.

He nodded in response to what Ashley had said, directing his next question to both guys. “So, are you both with someone now? Or single?”

"Well, I'm currently single, but Kaye has heard all about Smith," Ashley explained with a light chuckle and sigh, jabbing his finger towards a taller, dark haired boy towards the back of the bar who was currently serving a few drinks. The blonde boy had liked them for a bit but had never come to close to actually initiating a conversation.

"Single here too," Kaye added, quickly draining the rest of his drink before he set it back down. He had been alone for a while anyway, so he honestly didn't mind it all that much. "What about you?"

Damn. Mission fail, Simon thought to himself when he followed Ashley’s finger to the boy in the back. He had to admit, though, he was mildly surprised that Kaye was simple, what with his good looks.

“Same here, I haven’t had a boyfriend in……. four years?”

"Four years?" Kaye repeated, his eyebrows raising in mild surprise. To him, Simon didn't seem like someone who would be single for so long; especially since everyone had been looking at him when they first walked into the bar. Plus, Simon had good looks, which just added to Kaye's disbelief.

Simon raised an eyebrow at Kaye, slipping his hands into his pockets. “You look surprised.” His words were slightly slurred from the drink he’d just finished, but they were crisp enough.
“People don’t tend to.. enjoy my company.” At all.

"What do you mean?" Kaye asked curiously as he glanced over towards Ashley, though the taller boy had already left to tend to other customers. Simon seemed pleasant to him, maybe a little detached, but that could be because they had just met. Most people didn't like to open up at first anyway.

Maybe it was the alcohol messing with his decision-making skills, maybe it was the fact that he was finally talking to someone who seemed to find him bearable, but Simon couldn’t help giving Kaye a small nugget of the truth. “They find me…. intimidating? Annoying? Both?” Obviously he couldn’t speak about his lineage, he had no idea how Kaye would react.

"I mean, I can see how you can be a bit intimidating," Kaye started, fiddling with the drawstrings on his hoodie as he thought. Even he was a little intimidated when they first met, though it was probably because of their height difference. "And even if I just met you, you still seem nice," he added, though quickly realize that his complimenting skills weren't great. Kaye had always had a hard time putting what he thought into words anyway, so he hoped that Simon understood.

Simon shrugged, strangely touched by the small compliment. “Thanks, I guess.” Suddenly very awkward, he glanced away, trying to figure out what to say next.
“How are those bruises holding up?”

"They're a little sore," Kaye answered with a loose shrug, wishing that he had more alcohol to numb the feeling, though Ashley would never agree to giving him that much. "It's just my lip that I'm worried about. It might need stitches." He explained, touching his bottom lip with the pad of his finger, careful not to press too hard. There were some supplies for stitches in the back of the bar, though he had never actually figured out to use them.

Simon frowned slightly, and in his tipsy state, made a stupid, irrational suggestion. "I can give you stitches when I'm sober.. I've done it before.." He immediately wished he could take the words back, but it was too late now. Sh*t. Goddamit.

"Are…are you sure? I don't want to trouble you," Kaye replied quickly as he glanced down towards his empty cup, trying to look at something else for a few moments. It was true that he didn't want to trouble Simon. If he needed the stitches quickly, he could go and find someone at the bar who could do them.

"It wouldn't be troubling me," he reassured the other guy, wishing he hadn't had that much to drink. "When do you think you'll need them? I don't think it's entirely safe for me to give them to you after that drink…" Simon shrugged, running a hand through his hair.

"I can wait. We can do it whenever you feel ready," Kaye answered with a small reassuring smile. He watched Simon for a few moments, trying to decide on what they could talk about. "So, why you walking around earlier?" He asked, referring back to when Simon walked into the alley.

Once again, Simon's drunkenness led to him spilling truths he would never have told sober. "I was frustrated.. I took a walk to clear by head. My dad was……………" he trailed off, the memory hitting him like a sledgehammer.

"What happened with your dad?" Kaye asked, his tone faintly changing to something a bit softer. He was a little confused as to why Simon was telling him this, though he guessed it might have been the alcohol. It was even making him a little tipsy too.

Simon finally got a grip on himself, realizing what he'd just let slip. Sh*t. He'd messed up, and badly.
"Never mind," he said quickly, pushing himself off the wall. "I need to go to the washroom, which way is it?" He cleared his throat, attempting to Sing Kaye into believing him. "Nothing happened~" He wasn't sire how well it would work, considering his current state, but it was worth a try.