Sullen Nights Spent: (Belenos and Kiernan)

" Now get lost, you wanker!" And with that Kiernan was unceremoniously thrown out of the Two Roarers and into the damp and cold air of the street. It was the second time something like this had happened this evening. Something about breaking a couple of bottles over a couple of heads not going down smoothly with the inn owners. Kiernan, for himself, had fared pretty well all things considered. His nose was probably broken and during one of the scuffles, someone had managed to bite his left ear hard enough that it was now dripping blood along his neck. However, he had enough alcohol in his system that the pain had been reduced to a mere throbbing in the general area of his head.

Still, he wanted, no, he needed some more drinks. He wanted to pass out and wake up a day or two later, with a blinding headache that would scratch his mind blank. Anywhere he'd fall down would do, really. The best would be in a table or even a corner in an inn itself but he had known worse. Not a lot could beat being woken up in a literal garbage dump by a rat trying to gnaw on your fingers.

He picked himself from the ground, dusting himself off even though that made little difference considering the state his clothes were in. These pints weren't going to get themselves drank, now, were they? The last two inns wouldn't want to hear about him, even though he still had some coins to spend. Out of spite, he spat in the general direction of that last inn, shouted something about the owner's mom, a donkey and an ass, spun around to leave but not before relieving himself of some superfluous liquids on a nearby wall.
Now, where could he go? He didn't know this part of town that well. Ever since he had started frequenting with spirits, he had drifted away from the parts of town he knew well. There was bound to be another inn or maybe a whorehouse --yes, that would be nice too-- not far from here. This was, after all, an area near the port of Song Lu. He started down an alley that should lead him closer to the actual port, if his mind was capable of handling orientating the body to the nearest source of mead.

There was.... Someone else in that alley, maybe they would know where to find a decent establishment around here. Kiernan called out to that person "Hey mate!," he began in Common and then slipped in a drawling Canan without realising, "you wouldn't happen to know where someone can go to get a good pint?" And as he spoke, Kiernan closed the distance between them and in the end, he was almost speaking in the other's face, his alcohol laden breath making small white clouds in the little space between them.

Plastered as he was, Kiernan was in no condition to see the discomfort and distrust he was raising with his new companion. The shadows that the dim lanterns of that alley projected on their faces and the dank pavement did not help with that, but his empathy skills would have been only marginally better if he had been sober and it had been noon. He had to admit, having some company this evening could change things. How much it would was beyond what his mind could compute at the moment.

Ever since his tour of the bars and less reputable establishments had begun, he had mostly been alone, keeping to himself and lashing out at whoever came too close to him. Recently, no longer than a week ago, he had started having a more positive approach about this whole drinking himself under the table business. If he happened to not wake up after a well spent night, that wouldn't be such a loss right? So, he had decided to make the most of those nights for as long as Atros, or whichever god was looking down on him, wished him to last. The most notable difference was that he spent less than a quarter of these drinking sessions moping and weeping about what he had lost. A notable improvement. That he had picked up this new mindset after once more being denied to see or talk with either his wife or daughter was purely a coincidence. That he was drinking until he passed out more and more often since then was also another uncanny coincidence.

At the moment completely oblivious to whatever a thing like personal space was, Kiernan threw an arm across the others' shoulders and pulled him closer in an awkward stumbling hug. "Greaaaat, you're great mate, the beeeest." He released the smaller male a little but still did not let go entirely, keeping his arm slung on his guide's neck. "Lead on then, cap'n !" He exclaimed in the cold air and attempted a makeshift salute with his left hand, the wrong hand.

The lopsided grin that had settled on Kiernan's face seemed not to want to fade away at all. He was still as oblivious as ever to how uncoordinated and bothersome his actions could be. In his mind filled with alcohol vapors, he was a charming and agile fellow. He did not even register when Belenos shuddered.
When they started walking, he was still leaning on his guide, but as they progressed, he straightened up and began exaggeratedly marching, albeit sticking way too close to his soon-to-be drinking companion. His companion whose name he still didnt know. Something had to be done about that.

He stopped walking abruptly and grabbed the younger lad by the shoulders, spun him around and leaned closer with a grave expression on his features. He remained silent for an instant, as if he couldn't say what he had to or most likely he had forgotten what he was going to say.
"You...", his voice was a little rough and sounded harsher than he had intended to. Probably the result of the drinking and shouting he had done before. Even through his drunken mind, he could realize that wasn't right. When he scratched his throat and spoke again, his voice was more fit to what he had intended.
"You. I don't know your name. What is it?" Notwithstanding that he was asking that while he had not given his name himself.