Fai grinned, as he leaned against the counter. He had convinced Kurogane to come with him to a local bar. Of course the younger –because there is no way that man was older than Fai –, was usually easier to persuade to come if that bar was involved, not that it wasn't easy already – Fai just needed to know how to ask. Fai really liked Kurogane, but would never say anything. After all, if nothing else, Kurogane was a warrior, and he was a magician, and being harassed for being what he is –what he couldn't change – was not something he liked, and frankly avoided, thank you very much. He wouldn't necessarily say he was a full blown gay, but really, most women he liked, he liked as a sister or as a good friend, a drinking buddy, and some, like a daughter. The only women he'd ever considered at one time, he quickly found out she was full blown lesbian, so she was off-limits, but they could be drinking buddies, and her own mage, Souma, didn't mind . But knowing her allowed him to meet Tomoyo and Sakura, two sweet little witches. And knowing that bright little dream seer, Tomoyo, she introduced him, perse, to Kurogane. Rather, Tomoyo decided to turn him into a pin-up model more than once, not that he minded as she was a great seamstress –and also a bit of a perfectionist – and he met Kurogane one particular afternoon, when Kurogane, who had been sentenced to gathering, purchasing, and bringing home supplies from the craft stores, getting things like a foot press specifically for jean fabric and another for suede and leather –because the one for the thinner fabrics like cotton and polyester just wouldn't do-, bobbins, needles, polyester binding and other sewing supplies, walked in on Fai standing in the living room and doing his darnedest to hold perfectly still for Tomoyo while she stuck more pins into the fabric of the dress she had him wear.
He chortled lightly as the drinks arrived. Here he was, a mage, with this considered normal drink, and there Kurogane was, right beside him and normal for what he referred to as normal, with what was considered a completely magical drink.
"What's so funny?" Kurogane grumbles out.
"Mm—mm, nothing…" Fai says, with a playful smile, flippantly waving his hand. "Just – y'know?"
Kurogane was fairly certain he knew what the mage was talking about. "…yeah."
Fai smiled, taking the daiquiri he had been served. It was a simple drink, a regular drink, a non-enchanted drink. He turned to his friend –because that's all they could be, were allowed to be, he would admit to being, unwilling to risk what they had by pursuing to be anything more – who was taking his own drink, a magical concoction that changed its flavor to whatever the drinker was craving at the moment.
"Mage?"
"What is it Kuroi?"
"…nothing. Forget I said anything."
"No, please tell me. What were you going to ask?" Fai says as he looks at him with a small pleading curious look.
"I guess, it's just … every time we come here, you only order that to drink, when you can have anything you want. Don't you get tired of it?"
Fai smiled softly as he gazed at the daiquiri before him, slipping the strawberry off the rim of the glass, and biting into its pink flesh. "…Some nights, I think I am. But then I order another. I guess you can say there's something alluring about knowing some things don't need magic, that some things are going to stay the same. Like it will always be there."
Fai then turns his gaze over to Kurogane, "What about you? Your choice is one that is magical in nature and constantly changes."
"True," Kurogane responds, "but it's always just what I need."
