Disclaimer:
I don't own Xenosaga or its characters. Namco Bandai/MonolithSoft does.-----
Confession
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The danger of lending one's will to stress and insecurity, is that they leave themselves vulnerable to predators of opportunity.
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"HEY WATCH IT YOU IDIOT!"
chaos stumbled and immediately fell backward, barely missing an uncomfortable collision with a passing truck. The driver brandished an admonishing fist out of his window as the vehicle rumbled into the distance, leaving the adolescent sitting stunned and embarrassed on the sidewalk. How in the world did he get so distracted all of a sudden?
"Hey man, you alright?" a concerned voice eventually broke through the murmurs from a growing crowd of astonished pedestrians. The boy's attention immediately turned to the open hand hovering next to his right shoulder, and traveled up the arm, until finally settling on the owner of the voice's face. A lanky, blonde man, no older than his late twenties, stood to the right of chaos, and had gestured to help him get back up. chaos accepted the offer, and was quickly pulled to his feet.
"Thanks," he nodded. He then conspicuously occupied himself with brushing the dirt off of his pants, hoping that this open distraction would alleviate some of the stares surrounding him.
"C'mon," the man said, catching on to chaos' growing embarrassment. "It looks like you could use a drink."
"But I'm not 18 yet," chaos politely fibbed, hoping that the Galaxy Federation's legal drinking age law would deter this man's growing persistence. It had absolutely no effect.
"Nevermind that," the man brushed the hint away, and was now leading chaos through the crowd by his arm. They eventually managed to weave their way to the Iron Man - a bar most notorious in the Kukai Foundation as being a lively attraction for lost souls, novice artists aspiring for their big break, and puffed-up musclemen looking to recruit more puffed-up musclemen.
Once the two stepped inside, the older man quickly surveyed the bustling scene, and deemed an empty table tucked away in one of the bar's more remote corners to be the most appropriate spot for discourse. He called out to one of the harrassed-looking waitresses to bring them two pints of some obscure beverage, and gently motioned for chaos to sit down in the chair across the table from himself.
"What a day, what a day," the man finally sighed, realizing after a few awkward minutes that the strange teen was not planning on initiating the conversation. "First I get a week's eviction notice posted outside my apartment door, then I get chewed out by my boss for being an hour late... and finally my girlfriend calls me on the phone sayin' she wants to break up with me. Says she's tired of 'dating a bum with no ambition.' Tch! No ambition! I've got all the ambition a man needs - hey thanks, honey!"
"I ain't your 'Honey'," the waitress smartly retorted, setting on the men's table two frothing pints of beer, or at least that's what they looked like to chaos.
"I'm really sorry to hear about that," chaos said sympathetically to the man sitting across from him.
"Nyah, don't worry about it. It's just nice to have someone listen every now and then, don't get that too often you know," the older man said while casually lifting the foam-rimmed mug up to his lips. He eyed his company's expression keenly, apparently trying to elicit a confession out of the boy. "You seem like you could use an ear to talk to, yourself."
The silver-haired teen did not yet look up into the man's inquiring eyes, and instead remained fixed on his own untouched drink. The foam puffing out of the mouth of the cup popped and hissed softly, as if inviting his lips to bath in its light body, and discover the rich pool of intoxicating liquid waiting beneath it. chaos had never cared to try beer before, but he knew that it was at least courteous to oblige when offered a drink. He thus wrapped his fingers around the handle and brought the mug up to his mouth, letting the bitter liquid slide to the back of his throat. He then coughed, sputtered, and promptly put the cup back down.
"Not used to the KF Brain Curdler, eh?" the man chuckled heartily. "It's the Foundation's strongest drink. C'mon, finish it up and I'll order you another one."
"That's okay, I'm fi-"
"Waitress!" the man cut chaos off, motioning to the earlier waitress to replace his own quickly drained cup. He turned back to chaos, "C'mon, for a man who nearly got clocked by a truck, you're really gonna need to lighten up. Trust me, you'll feel a lot better after the beer takes over."
"No really, I'd rather n-"
"You should."
"What?"
"Drink."
"No."
"Scared?"
"I really should get going," chaos said flatly, growing a little tired of this dance.
"Where are you gonna go, huh? It's a Saturday, and whomever you're hanging with's probably doing their own thing right now. In fact, seeing as how you don't exactly fit into the "normal" category, they probably sent you off to go entertain yourself while they went and had their own fun."
chaos considered this for a moment, and his mind soon embarked upon the gradual realization that this man seemed for the most part right. He did not register at the time that when Tony jokingly suggested earlier to "go get lost wandering around the city for a while," the Elsa pilot had literally meant it. Now, with a thoughtful expression calmly drifting across his face, the tan-skinned boy had little doubt that the rest of his ship's crew was doing something that he would most likely disapprove of. Was he really that much of a prude?
"It seems that I've pressed the right button," the man said, smiling broadly over his victory.
chaos' eyes determinedly darted to the man, then to the still-full cup in front of him, and finally resigned to chugging the whole pint.
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The amount of people at the Iron Man bar remained undeterred by the ensuing night, and in fact seemed to have tripled over the course of the past three hours. In one of the more secluded corners of the bar, two men sat hunched over several empty mugs.
"Sso, izz there a lucky –hic- lady waiting up for you tonight?" the older man slurred to the younger. The silver-haired adolescent, now much more lethargic and slightly weaving sideways, slowly struggled to lift his heavy eyes from the table to the man. He hiccupped back, and clumsily shook his head.
"What? Well, that's not a ssurprize I guesss," the man continued. "Oh well, women! Who needs 'em!"
"I'd say you're the prime candidate for one," the waitress sarcastically sassed as she approached their table for the sixteenth time (though only the second according to the man) that night. "Bartender's about to do a last call. You got any more requests?"
The man swiveled his head toward chaos, whose wavering attention was currently hovering over the puddle of beer that had spilled from his last mug. The puddle now settled with dripping over the edge of the table and onto chaos' right boot.
"Nyah, I don't wanna kill him just yet," the man jested. "Just bring us the tab, honey."
"Noh… don't go," chaos suddenly said. Both the man and waitress looked at the boy, though the waitress soon decided that the rest of the 74, Gil-carrying people in the bar were much more interesting.
"Hey kid, you alright?" the man perked up, somehow miraculously overcoming his last 16 pints of beer and snapping to attention.
"Don't go… Yesh-" chaos continued.
"Yesh- Yes what?"
"Don't worry Yeshua… I am still here," chaos carried on, now apparently influenced by something much stronger than the alcohol. The man narrowed his eyes and keenly peered at the adolescent.
"Who are you?" he finally asked, his voice and thoughts saturated with suspicion.
"Who am I? I am the Alph-"
"chaos!" a nasaly voice abruptly cut the boy off. Both of the table's occupants turned their gaze toward the bar entrance, which was now filled with the three remaining members of the Elsa crew. Hammer (the one who had called out), Tony, and Captain Matthews hastily diffused through the inebriated throng toward the isolated table.
"chaos, we've been looking all over for you! What have you been doing?" the Captain asked, overcome with disbelief and concern. He looked from chaos to the 24 empty mugs huddled together on the table.
"Oh I was just talking to my new friend here," he explained as his eyes dragged themselves from Matthews to the direction across from himself, and nearly popped out of their sockets. The space across from him was empty. The man was no longer there.
Matthews, Hammer, and Tony exchanged concerned looks, and they decided that the night was done for their drunken crewmate.
"Man, I'd have expected this from the Captain, but not from you chaos," Tony commented as the pilot slung the boy's arm over his shoulder, and supported chaos to his feet.
"Hey now, don't you go implying that I had anything to do with this!" the Captain warned.
The crew made their way out the door, bickering among themselves, then sprinting into the nearby hotel when they realized that no one had paid the bar tab. The next day, a certain member of the crew would wake up with a throbbing hangover and no recollection of the previous night. He would then vow (and seriously adhere to it) to never, -ever- drink again. Finally, he would wonder who that mysterious man was, until meeting up with that very person much later down the road.
chaos vowed to never leave himself that vulnerable ever again.
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