This Place About to Blow [Cloud/Fang]

[Gabranth]

One would think that a Judge Magister of the Archadian Empire would be a very busy, and very popular man. Noah Gabranth was a very busy man, but he was far from popular. His cold and business like personality often put people at odds with him. It was HIS fault that they were curs that betrayed Archadia and Emperor Larsa. Nor was it his fault that the law plainly stated that they should be promptly executed without a trial. After a few dozen executions of so called "traitors to House Solidor" people thought that Gabranth was a horrible person. They were probably right, but this left Gabranth as a very very lonely man.

So tonight he decided it was time to change that. He was tired of being alone, he wanted someone to be with him. Even if it was just a warm body in his bed when he awoke, specifically one that didn't demand money for an air-taxi... Or didn't force him to meet their parents. Oh how he hated parents. He lost so many good men to them.

But today wasn't a day to cry over lost dates, today was a day to get new ones! So Gabranth threw on his finest leathers, a nice black. He thought the tight and form fitting armor would attract all the men, and headed down to The Rogue Tomato. The simply bar had the front of a hunting clan, but beneath it's humble exterior was one of the largest gay bars in all of Archades.

Gabranth was very familiar with the locally scenery. He was a regular here. Swords and spears adorned the wall, most of which was mounted onto a shield. Dozens of lanterns hung down from the ceiling, the magic trapped within them changed the colors of the flames with each untz of the music. Making the ceiling more akin to a giant flashing rainbow then anything else. Everything seemed to be accented with a layer of neon paint and glitter, remnants of Tuesday night's rave. The Judge was not a fan of the raves, last time he went to one he walked away with one less wallet, ten more gallons of Madhua inside of him then he wanted, and a pair of stilettos on his feet. But that's a story for another time. The infamous Stilettos Story was best saved for a long rainy night.

The Judge slowly made his way through the crowd towards the bar. With a grunt the man took his seat and gave the bartender a nod. "Hey Mac, I'd love the usual." He said throwing a large sum of gil onto the counter. He always had a habit of over tipping the bar tender, he felt bad because he could never remember his name. So he always called him Mac, it sounded bar tendery.

"Here ya go Noah," 'Mac' said as he slid down Gabranth's drink, the exotic Bhujerban Madhua. Here the Judge was Noah fon Ronsenburg. It was a name he left long ago, but it was always nice to have a cover name. In case some pesky reporter decided to tell the entire empire that Gabranth spent his spare times int he Rogue Tomato. Besides this wasn't a place to execute traitors to the crown.... Unless it was a Tuesday. Noah shook his head, it's wasn't a good idea to think about work in such a lovely establishment. The man picked up his drink and took a large sip of the strong liquor. Tonight would be a good night.

[Cloud Strife]

Cloud had no idea how he ended up in the city of Archades, in fact he wasn't even sure if this city had any inns to stay in. The blonde had spent most of his day walking around the city, trying to figure out what the city had to offer. But most importantly if it had a bar, of all the things Cloud wanted right now a drink was at the top of his list. Gloved fingers rubbed at the bridge of his nose in frustration, the stress of trying to get home was getting to him. What he wouldn't do to have Tifa here right now, she always had some advice to give and when all else failed she had a knowledge of drinks and knew how to get Cloud drunk and fast.

He would even settle for one of Barrett’s poorly made drinks right now, hell he might even trust something Yuffie would offer him. He wore the same attire as always a high collar black shirt with no sleeves, black pants and boots, and black cloth covering his left leg and arm. The blonde haired youth found that this outfit suited everything, from travel to fights even to simple every day ernes around Midgar. As he turned yet another corner in the grand city, he found himself on a street much different than the others. It was less crowded and seemed to have nothing more than a few buildings; however it was the street he found interesting it was the half intoxicated citizen who was currently staggering out of one of the buildings.

That could only mean one thing, there was a bar and where there was a bar there was booze. He strode down the street making his way to the door, the sign above read "The Rogue Tomato" an odd name for a bar but none the less the bright blue eyed youth entered. Eyes quickly adjusted from the bright lights of the street to the sub-par lighting of the bar, the multi coloured lights that swung from above seemed to be the only light in the place. As bright blue eyes scanned the room he noticed the large amount of weapons on the walls, which would have made the bar have a rather manly feel to it. However the remnants of neon paint and glitter ruined that image or maybe it were the two men he saw holding hands that ruined it.

The display didn't affect the blonde; he wasn't as straight as some might think. So he found no problem with the place, as long as no one tried to get him into a dress then everything would be fine. Cloud didn't take notice of the looks he got as he walked through the crowd, he had spotted the bar and that was the only thing on his mind. Said bar was pretty much deserted except for the bartender, and one leather glad man with sleeked back blonde hair. He walked past the seat next to the other occupant and quickly took the next seat; he didn't want to sit next to anyone. He found when people got drunk they sometimes liked to talk, most of the time to the person sitting next to them and tonight Cloud did not want to be that person.

"I'll have the strongest you got, keep them coming" he spoke only loud enough for the bartender to hear him; a gloved hand placed a pouch of Gil on the bar. Eyes cast down at the bar top, both arms resting on the bar to look at him you would think he wanted no human contact what so ever which is why most people would think it odd to see Cloud in a place like this. A glass of strange liquid was slid down the bar and into his eye site, picking up the glass he titled his head back as he downed the drink in one go before placing the glass back down on the bar. Tonight was going to be a long night; he would need all the liquor he could get.

[Gabranth]

It didn't take long for Gabranth to finish his first drink. Then he ordered another, and another, and another. Before he knew it, and before Cloud showed up, the Judge Magister was filled with the strong alcohol known as Mudha. The Bartender was about to cut off Noah when Cloud walked in. Both men couldn't help but look at the young blonde, and better yet he took a seat near them at the bar.

Gabranth slyly watched Cloud place his order, or what his drunken mind THOUGHT was sly. The drunken man seemed to lose all his grace and dignity when under the influence. His brow raised in interest when Cloud wanted the 'strongest' stuff. That was serpent wine, probably. Gabranth could no long think straight, the Mudha already dissolved his mind into a swirling toilet bowl. Round and round until he puked. On the bright side he wasn't about to puke. Instead he leaned over towards Cloud, his muscular body laid flat across the bar stools in between the two blonde beauties. Bits of glitter and neon paint scrapped of onto Gabranth, piratically coating his leathers. Which ruined any sense of masculinity he held a few seconds ago.

The man looked up at Cloud as if he was waiting for something. "Ssssoooooooooooooooo........" Gabranth muttered, in a attempt to break the ice. "Can I buy you a drink?" He slurred as he raised his half empty glass with one hand. The distinct, and strong smell of the Mudha wafted up from the glass. It wasn't the strongest drink ever, but it was certainly stronger then an appletini. Gabranth hoped that Cloud would accept his offer. The strange blonde man was young, but the Judge wasn't about to let him run free.

[Cloud Strife]

The blonde only had one problem with public bars, the mass amount of people that crowded into them. It wasn't that he hated people or didn't enjoy having them around, it was just the fact that large crowds tended to force people to break his person space rule. There was nothing more annoying than having some girl or guy suddenly pressing against you, hell not even that just suddenly having people standing to close to him seemed to bug him. It was why 7th Heaven was his most visited bar, for one Tifa owned the place and on request would kick everyone out so they could enjoy a quit drink. However that luxury was currently not available to him, and might not be for who knows how long.

So for now the blonde youth would settle for this place, even if the music wasn't to his taste and the large crowd made him feel a little uneasy he knew that once he got a good buzz going he would relax more. As if thinking about drinking some more set a signal to the bartender another drink slid down the bar for him, bright blue eyes studied the liquid for a moment. He had no idea what it was called, all he knew was that it was the strongest this place had to offer and that was good enough for him. Tilting his head back he downed the drink in one go just like the last one, it was a new experience for him to taste the alcohol of another world. Which was both a gift and a curse, while it allowed Cloud to broaden his horizon about the new world the down fall was he didn't know how strong it was or how quickly it could affect him.

The sound of movement alerted Cloud to the other man, leather glad body moving to lie on the seat that separated them. His once clean black leather now tainted by glitter and random scrapings of neon paint, the man was clearly intoxicated and pretty much gone. Bright blue Mako infused eyes looked over the man’s face and body, he was clearly older however how older he was unsure. Even though the other blonde was older it didn't seem to hinder his appearance, in all honesty the man was attractive Cloud would never admit it but the unknown man was probably one of the top looking guys in the whole place. Slurred words broke the silence, as a soft sigh fell from Cloud's own lips. He had wondered how long it would take for someone to hit on him, however at that exact moment another drink slide down the bar for him.

The blonde downed it quickly, resting both his arms back on the bar when he was done. Casting his glance back down at the man lying next to him, a single blonde eye brown cocked slightly as he looked at him. Make infused eyes casted a sideways glance at his Gil, it had been diminishing rather quickly and Cloud was nowhere near the state of intoxication he wanted to be at. "Make it two Princess" as he spoke the last word a sly almost playful smirk tugged at his lips, he might as well get some free drinks out of the other and there was no harm to that. "Two more, however charge them to....." Cloud looked away from the bartender to look down at the man beside him; he was going to need the name of the man if he intended to be a thorn in his side for the rest of the evening.

[Gabranth]

oh, oh, oh, oh, ohhhh, oh-oh-e-oh-oh-oh,
i'll get him hot, show him what i've got
can't read my, can't read my
no he can't read my poker face
p-p-p-poker face, p-p-poker face
mum mum mum mah

For a while Gabranth simply stared up at Cloud. His mind fully claimed by the strong liquor that he was drinking all night long. Which rendered his mind nothing more then a swirling toilet bowl mixed with his most primal urges. Luckily the word princess was drowned out by the beating music of the bar, and Gabranth's intoxication. On any normal day he would take the Princess slur as a personal insult to his masculinity, which he still held proudly on to. But for now he was content with staring directly into those pretty little mako infused blue eyes.

"Y-you.. Got some pretty e-eyes." The man said, slurring his words even more. Cloud was a really beauty, a rare site in the Rouge Tomato. So Gabranth managed to pull himself up into a proper sitting position, with a shockingly large amount of effort. One of his arms found it's home around Cloud's shoulders, it supported Gabranth more then anything else. "Yo-your drinks tonight, t-there." His sentence was interrupted by another little hic. He paused a few seconds, almost forgetting what he was about to say. "All on Noah!" As he proudly finished his sentence he slapped his own chest with his spare hand, which almost sent him tumbling backwards.

That's when the beat of the music really started to pick up. The familiar "mum mum mum mah" soon followed the beat. It was none other then Ivalice's famous Lady gaga and her face of poker. A wide smile spread on Gabranth's face, he was clearly more excited then a child in a candy shop. He rose to his feet, which was an achievement of it's own considering the sheer amount of booze he drank, and grabbed Cloud's arm. "Come on lets dance!" He shouted over the music, which was growing louder as more and more people filled the dance floor. On the bright side, it looked like Gabranth was able to hold his lunch down.

[Cloud Strife]

Cloud had been stared at for a lot of things in his life, whether it is because he was wearing a dress or even just because his eyes gave away what he was. So as the older male continued to stare at him Cloud did nothing about it, he just assumed the other was taking in the fact his eyes had a strange glow to them. The blonde's own alcohol was starting to take effect; his body was growing more relaxed and the others presence was as annoying as it had been when he first sat down.

The compliment coupled with the alcohol in his system caused an odd effect, well odd for anyone who knew Cloud. A soft shade of red crept across his cheeks; the blonde was in fact rather bashful when drunk and easy to blush. "it's rude to stare you know" hopefully if he could distract the drunk male from noticing his blush then he would escape the night with most of his pride intact, however he had an odd feeling that the other even when intoxicated was a keen observer. The bartender form before came back over and placed two drinks in front of the blonde, they were both quickly skulled within seconds. Cloud wouldn't lie the arm around his shoulder felt nice, he had started to miss human contact recently or maybe that was just the alcohol speaking. The other male or Noah as he had been informed almost knocked himself off his own seat, which caused the now drunk Cloud to chuckle softly make infused eyes watching the other his head slightly tilted to the right. "Names Cloud, like the white fluffy things in the sky" the moment he finished his sentence he wanted to smack himself in the head.

The whole bar suddenly changed with the next song, people seemed to grow more excited it was almost like the woman who was singing could change the atmosphere of the very room. He was pulled from his thoughts when a strong hand gripped his arm; lashes fluttered a little as he tried to re-focus on the situation. "Dance....I don't think so......" blue eyes darted around the room trying to find something else to look at, but nothing was as interesting as Noah. The blonde leaned in closer the older blondes ear, a pink tongue darted out to lick his now dry lips before he spoke "Can't dance, maybe you should teach me" his voice was slightly playful, Cloud was clearly nothing like himself when intoxicated.