October 11, 2010
Nepenthe—anything inducing a pleasurable state of forgetfulness
I'm warning you now, this one's depressing!
Hiroki stared at his phone. Nowaki hadn't called him in a month. He hadn't come by, hadn't stalked him, hadn't bugged him. It was strange.
Annoying.
Infuriating.
The phone buzzed in his hand making him drop it. He scrambled to answer it. "Hello?"
"Hiroki, you haven't come out of your apartment in a month, did you die?"
"Akihiko," he breathed. His heart didn't tha-dump the way it used to anymore. "What do you want?" he growled.
"Come drink with me."
"I guess."
At the bar Hiroki waited for Akihiko at the end of the bar. "What's your pleasure?" the barkeep asked.
"Anything…"
"You want something to forget your troubles?"
"Whatever."
He accepted the nepenthe and took a sip. The stuff was sickly sweet but whatever, he didn't care. He took a long swig and sagged back on the bar stool. By the time Akihiko arrived, Hiroki was basically happy.
"How've you been?"
"I've been awful…but you know what? I'm great right now."
"Oh? How much have you drunk?"
"A lot." Hiroki smiled. Whatever that drink was, it was effective; he couldn't remember his own name.
"Where's your boyfriend, I didn't think he'd let you come out with me." Akihiko ordered a beer and looked back at his friend.
"What boyfriend?"
"The tall guy with blue eyes."
"Nowaki?"
"He's gone."
"I'm sorry, when did you break up?"
"Nnn," Hiroki rubbed his head, "we didn't."
Akihiko raised an eyebrow.
Hiroki elaborated. "He just stopped coming over."
"Oh."
"I want another one of these things," Hiroki muttered, shoving his glass across the bar.
"What is that?"
"Dunno, but it's good."
Akihiko sniffed it, it stank of sugar. "I'll take your word for it."
"Your loss."
…
Hiroki woke up with an unbelievable headache. He opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. He felt miserable again and Nowaki still hadn't called. He rubbed his head. "Nowaki, where the hell are you?"
This was a frickin nightmare. End discussion.
Sorry, couldn't think of anything else, but please review.
~Chey
