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"Tell me why we're here again?"
Lights changed colors around them, from vibrant eye-straining hues to colors that almost left the room impossible to see through. The people around the booth they sat within were having the absolute time of their lives, status and money all coming to play at poker tables and glasses of alcohol as far as the eye could see.
Surely, the majority of the crowd outside their V.I.P seats were intoxicated in one form or another, flushed skin and stumbling feet. It made Mahiru glad for the glass barrier separating them as he took small sips from the same champagne glass he received when he first stepped inside.
Rowan chuckles, taking a much larger sip from his own glass before setting it on the table in front of them. "Because we both need information and I needed a plus one."
"I don't see why I have to stay here with you though. All I needed was a way to get in." Mahiru pushed himself further into the seat, head tilted to gaze out of the protective glass and to whatever caught his interest.
"And a way in I gave." Rowan reaches across the table's surface, a fresh pack of cigarettes having been placed down before they had arrived. A hand dips into his pants pocket and the raven-haired man pulls out a matching black lighter, lighting a cigarette before putting it away just as quickly. "But you didn't think I would let you off without payment, did you?"
His voice was a soft hum, a light rasp surfacing within deeper syllables. It was familiar now, those cords, and Mahiru found that familiarity rather annoying at times like these.
He groans, not facing the other. "Of course not. You could give me a penny and find a way to wrap me around your thumb."
"I'll take that as a compliment." He takes a drag from the cigarette, holding the smoke in his lungs before making a rather impressive cloud.
Mahiru cocks his brow. "You smoke?"
"Not often." Rowan replies, watching the shorter boy from the corner of his sharp eyes. "I rarely get the urge and I only ever smoke one."
He goes to take another drag, filling his lungs once more before the cig is plucked from his hands.
Mahiru glares at him chidingly. "You shouldn't smoke in the V.I.P. booth." He holds the cigarette between his fingers and making sure to keep it as far as possible while putting it out within the ashtray provided. “You’ll make the place stink-!”
A gloved hand reaches for his face, cupping his chin within its palm and long fingers pressing against his cheek. They pressed harder, forcing Mahiru’s mouth open and he barely had any time to question the other before he was tugged forward.
Rowan’s face was centimeters from his, lips nearly touching as smoke was blown from his lungs to the smaller boy’s mouth. It made him choke as the disgusting taste settled in on his tongue and burned his throat. He could do nothing but take it, having already made the mistake of breathing it in and being unable to escape Rowan’s inhuman grasp.
It made his eyes water and tears pooled at the edges of his open eyes. Meanwhile, Rowan’s were fluttered closed, treating it as a gentle kiss with his lips turned up in a smile while he blew the remnants of smoke from his lungs. The smell of tobacco filled their noses and stuck to their clothes but only one of them cared enough to struggle, even after their lips finally connected for a sliver of a moment. Mahiru groaned into it before he pushed himself a way, coughing and choking on the outrageous burn.
“We won’t be here for the entire night and I doubt we’ll be the only ones to use this booth today. It’ll end up stinking whether you like it or not, my dear.” Rowan opens his eyes, settling his elbow on the table and holding his face in his palm. “It would be doing it a favor to get it over with.”
“You’re-” He coughs. “You’re awful…!”
A chuckle echoes through his ears. “You flatter me, darling. And I realize I hadn’t said it before, but your outfit suits you. Who would have known you had such a lovely waist.”
“Shut up.” Mahiru growls, face turning red against his better judgement. “Shouldn’t we be focusing on why we’re here in the first place?”
The other throws their head back. “As serious as ever, I see. But don’t worry,” He leans close and points just out of the glass barrier separating them from the rest of the party. “The big man we’re here to see is coming as we speak.”
Following his gloved finger outside the glass, a man in a hard-pressed suit with slicked hair and hands covered in rings approached with purpose in every step. Two bodyguards and a particularly dressed up woman followed him and they confidently stepped inside the booth.
The man flashed a big, toothy smile at Mahiru and a hard shiver ran up his spine.
He could tell that it was going to be a very, very long night.