A/N: I'm not dead yet~! This is something I cooked up a while back, under a different penname, for a completely different fandom, in a faraway land known as livejournal. So, to any who have ever read the works of someone named "draculin," thank you...because that's also me. The version for the other fandom is...nearly identical, but I believed it was so versatile, that the content was good for more than one thing. Ya get me? Anyway, please enjoy this while I wrap up the next installment of Ink & Glory (for those who haven't given up on its completion yet!) Thanks again, guys & dolls~
It is highly recommended that you listen to "Gone To California" by P!nk (...on repeat) in order to get the feel for this oneshot.

xXx

He took a seat at the bar, glancing over his shoulder one last time before his eyes fell on the polished, wood surface of the bar countertop. Muscles were pained from constant tension; he hoped no one could hear the thump, thump of his heart, although it began to settle down. The young man felt so out of place, but anywhere outside the sidestreet dive would make him vulnerable.

"Can I get you a drink, sweetheart?"

The newcomer's reaction was sharp, almost threatening. Wait, did the bartender just seriously call him "sweetheart?" He brought his eyes up from the solid surface to look at his server. Time slowed with the music of the smooth jazz coming from the jukebox. Locks of hair in the richest shade of ebony, so well-styled – complete with a red strip of cloth around his head and a carefully wrapped "tail" fallen over his shoulder, irises of molten amber so full of soul, and a smile that could warm the coldest void, he was indeed beautiful.

Although obviously edgy, he could still comprehend softness in the other's expression; it surely helped that he wasn't half bad to look at either. The patron plunged back into reality. "A beer, please. The cheapest you have."

A sound of sympathy and light humor escaped his throat, "Hoo. .! Damn, either your date stole your wallet before she left, while you were still asleep, or this is just not your night." He set a chilled bottle of beer and a shot glass on the bar.

"You have no idea…" He ran his hand through his stone-colored hair and let out a light chuckle. For the thirteenth time in the past twenty-four hours, he questioned his sanity.

"So tell me, stranger," The bartender asked as he filled the shot glass with tequila, "what brings you here?" He slid it toward his patron along with the beer.

The customer looked from the server, to the drinks, then back to the server again; damn that smile of his. And are those…fangs? "I only asked for the beer."

"Don't you worry your pretty head over this. It's on the house. I know when a guy needs a shot to get by, and honey, by the look on your face, it is crystal clear." He pushed the little glass closer. "Go on. Take it straight up. You'll feel better."

And that's just what he did; in one fell swoop, the young man swiped the shot of tequila from the countertop and knocked it back. It was one of the more unpleasant liquors he consumed, but he welcomed the instant heat that spread throughout his body. He could hear the server laughing – at him. "What's so funny?"

"Your face..! I take it that you don't like tequila, but trust me. I know it's better than that thing you ordered." When a questioning look was thrown his way, the bartender had to back himself. "Hey, I work here. I have to know what cheap shit tastes like. Yet, we still sell it!"

The young man shrugged and took his beer. "Because some guys like me still drink it. We can't all be top-shelf VIPs like you."

Another hearty laugh spilled from the friendly server's lips. He poured another shot into the glass. "I'll drink to that!" His customer tried to object, to which the bartender assured, "Chill. This one's for me. Working in this place, you can't always be so stiff and sober." He took the drink with ease in a more graceful motion than the man before him. Never mind that glass was shared.

"Well, while we're here, how about you tell me your name, sweetheart?"

Just about to put the bottle to his lips, the merlot-eyed patron withdrew the motion. "If it gets you to stop calling me names, I'm Kai."

With a flirty wink, the bartender responded. "Name's Ray. It's a pleasure to meet you, Kai." And, good gods, with eyes like those, you belong on the wine list because I'd order a bottle and get drunk on you. He took a second to scan the room. If there was even a hint of activity amongst the tables, he'd sweetly excuse himself, but the night was almost at its peak; no one would be coming in now. Maybe this Kai character would give him some entertainment…

Ray leaned on the countertop to be at eye-level with his customer. The young man with the gray hair seemed to hold some aura of mystery himself. For starters, he can't be that old. There was something under that uneasy exterior. Not that Ray wanted him to crack. "Hey, I think you can relax now. Do you need another shot?"

Kai scoffed as he propped his lower jaw on his fist – his head at a slight tilt, eyebrow faintly raised, and the phantom of a smirk at the corner of his mouth. He looked into Ray's alluring eyes. "Are all city folk big drinkers?"

The neko-jin across the bar just kept his smile as he swept a lock of black hair out of his face, giving Kai a brief view of the subtle points on his ears. "You look like you could hold your own, Kai. I wouldn't be so worried about the rest of the kind that walks through this door." Regardless of whether Kai asked for another dose of tequila or not, Ray filled the petite glass once more.

Kai took a swig of beer. God, it was awful! He never knew what piss and dirty dish water tasted like until he drank that. It took every ounce of strength and willpower he had to swallow without his gag reflex going mad, and even more self-control to make sure his face looked as calm as could be. Too bad he failed at the very last second when his eyes blinked so tightly and his lips curled back to reveal his clenched teeth.

Ray couldn't help but to sigh. "Let's get you started on a running tab, hm? So you can stop drinking that shit and making those ridiculous faces. I wouldn't like you so much anymore if it just froze like that. Taking you to bed would be that much harder."

The patron finally laughed; the agony of that terrible beverage quickly faded with aid from the bartender's remark. He was catching on to Ray's rather interesting sense of humor. "Who said anything about sleeping with you, sweetheart?" A quick learner he surely was. Kai could feel the ghosting effect of what little alcohol he drank. He knew his body would start to relax, but his mind was still sharp. Maybe it wouldn't hurt if that loosened up, too.

"Ooh! Is that a challenge?"

"Is there an offer on the table?" Kai took the shot glass and drank its contents without hesitation – unfazed by its instant potency. He put the glass back on the bar with a bit of force. Ray determined he meant business. "Well?"

The bartender gave him an impressed look. "Game on."

For the first time in a long while, Kai felt like he won. No longer nervous about world outside, he stood up from the bar stool and adjusted his jacket. "Your place nearby?"

Ray commented as he completed a hasty clean-up. "Just a couple blocks over. Why? Yours still a rampant mess from your last flame?"

There was no response from Kai; he didn't push it, figuring he'd get the story in the morning. Still, that coldness Kai gave off was kinda making his blood run hot. Ray flicked off light switches and closed cabinet doors as he made his way to Kai at the end of the bar. "Ready?"

"You need to ask?" The neko-jin could tell his companion's true colors were starting to come through.

"Actually, I do need to ask you something."

"If you want to know, I'm clean."

"Well that's good to know, but…you never answered my question earlier."

Kai gave him a puzzled look before pulling the door open.

"What brings you here?"

"Oh…" The slate-haired man let out a breathy chuckle as he gazed at the streetlamp on the faraway sidewalk. "Have you ever seen movies where the outlaw makes a great getaway to some secluded place and he's never seen again?"

"Until the sequel is released."

"Well…that's the kind of escape I'm looking for."