The smell of spice hit his nose first and Gareth was forced to turn his head away as he sneezed rapidly three times, shaking his head after each sneeze.

"You all right there?" Tim asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Yeah." Gareth nodded. "Spices just hit me nose wrong is all."

He looked around for a moment at the small restaurant, cocking an eyebrow as he looked back over at Tim.

"Small."

"It has the best sushi around." Tim promised him as a waitress dressed in a floral kimono led them over to a booth.

"We're both going to have hot sake." Tim told her and she nodded and made a slight bow before leaving them with the menus.

"Sake?" Gareth asked.

"Rice wine." Tim explained. "It tastes great when it's hot."

Gareth nodded slightly and he then looked down at his menu, frowning slightly.

"I'm not sure what I should get." He admitted softly.

"Try one of the box sets."

"Box set?"

"It's like a sampling of different kinds of sushi." Tim explained. Gareth nodded and he looked back down at the menu before nodding to himself as he made his choice.

"So when should I pick you up for the wake tomorrow?" Tim asked, setting his own menu down.

"It starts at nine in the morning." Gareth said softly. "Can you pick me up at eight so that I can get there early?" he asked.

"Course I can, mate." Tim said with a nod as the waitress came back with the cups of hot sake. "I don't have to worry about work now do I?" he asked with a smile and a wink.

"I still don't understand why you did that." Gareth mumbled, looking down at the table as his cheeks burned.

Tim was about to answer when he remembered the waitress and he smiled at her.

"I'm going to have box set number three. What are you having, Gareth?" he asked.

"Box set five, please." Gareth told the waitress shyly. She nodded and took the menus back before leaving them once more.

Gareth hesitated for a moment and he then slowly picked up his small cup of sake and he gave it a tentative sniff before he wrinkled his nose and set it down again.

"It smells…spicy." He noted. Tim nodded and smiled as he downed his own drink in one easy gulp.

"That's what makes it good." He assured him. "Go on, try it."

Gareth looked down into his cup before he then set it aside.

"Why did you take me out tonight?" he asked.

"Is that what's bothering you?" Tim asked with a soft laugh.

"Well…Only a week ago you were being a right arse to me at work so…"

"Well so were you." Tim pointed out, and he couldn't help but snort softly at the indignant look Gareth gave him at this.

"I guess after seeing your home…"

Tim winced right away as Gareth looked furious at this.

"You think that I'm a charity case then?" Gareth demanded, getting to his feet right away at the supposed insult. "Well I'm not and I don't…"

"Oh just shut up and sit down." Tim laughed. "I'm not doing this just out of charity! I'm also doing it to make you fecking eat something for once! You're too damned skinny you know."

Gareth hesitated, one hand still resting on the back of the chair. He was mentally weighing something out when he finally nodded and then sat back down with a sigh.

"I know…" he admitted. "Me mum always told me that I needed to eat more. But…"

"But what?" Tim asked, looking a bit concerned at the look on Gareth's face.

"Me da'…"

Tim sighed inwardly.

"He used to ram food down me throat until I started to choke. He said that he was trying to make me build up some muscle." Gareth said. "I suppose that's why I don't eat so much…"

Tim could only look at him a bit sadly as their plates of food were brought over to them.

Without a word Gareth took a hold of his cup of sake and he downed it, wincing slightly as it burned all the way down.

"Another, please?" he asked the waitress.

"Bring us a bottle." Tim offered.

They ate in silence then, Gareth's thin fingers picking up the chopsticks and easily picking up the pieces of sushi on his plate.

Tim took a moment to watch how the man ate and for a brief moment he found himself staring at his lips.

Gareth's lips were full like a woman's and for some reason they were currently sharing the same shade of color as the black rings around his eyes. They opened up slightly to let the sushi slide into his mouth before they then closed again, allowing his teeth to do the rest of the work.

Gareth looked up and those lips frowned and Tim realized that he had been staring at them.

Gareth snorted and shook his head as he took another shot of sake.

"Bender…" he muttered.

That woke Tim out of it and he narrowed his eyes slightly.

He was going to get down to the bottom of that, one way or another.

"Why are you so afraid of people thinking that you're a homosexual?" he demanded.

"What? Who says that I am?" Gareth asked in faint anger.

"Gareth! Just answer the bloody question!" Tim said through gritted teeth.

Gareth's angry expression changed to one of sadness and he lightly poked at a piece of monkfish with his chopsticks.

"I…I don't really want to talk about it." He mumbled.

Tim opened his mouth to push the issue when Gareth suddenly looked up at him with pleading eyes and almost haunted eyes.

"Please don't ask me again, ok?" he asked. "I…I'm having fun right now with you and I don't want you to spoil it." He mumbled.

Tim shut his mouth and raised his eyebrows in slight surprise, but he soon nodded and shrugged as he leaned back.

"All right." He agreed.

They finished the bottle of sake together; Gareth drinking more of it than Tim since he was their driver.

"I've been meaning to ask you something." Tim said as they walked back to his car.

"Shoot."

"How come you never get a hangover?"

"Hmm?" Gareth cocked an eyebrow and laughed softly.

"You drink a lot but I've never really seen you that affected by it!" Tim explained. "It's just weird really." Gareth snorted softly as he got into the passenger seat and he then shrugged.

"I don't believe in hangovers." He said matter-of-factly. "That's why I never get them you see."

Tim looked at him and when he saw how serious Gareth was, he could only laugh and shake his head as he started to drive.

"You're crazy."

"I suppose." Gareth agreed and this caused the both of them to laugh together.

Giggling,(yes, Gareth was giggling), Gareth shook his head as Tim stopped in front of his apartment and then an idea suddenly came to him.

"Tim? Why don't you come up for a cup of tea?" he asked.

"Eh?" Tim cocked an eyebrow slightly and Gareth smiled at him.

"I can read the tea leaves for you." He explained.

Tim snorted out a laugh for a moment before he then shook his head and shrugged as he turned his car off.

"Why not?" he asked and he was soon following after Gareth to get his tea leaves read.