It was Red’s twenty-first birthday and he planned on spending it how people normally spend their twenty-first birthdays: at the bar. The black-haired male got into his car and drove over to the closest bar, which was luckily in Viridian City. He didn't really like having to go to work on his birthday, but he was just glad it was over now.
Red had a job at the Pokemart and it was honestly probably the most boring job in the world. He liked his co-workers, but it was just so boring working from nine in the morning to five in the afternoon just stocking items and getting sass from trainers all day about not talking very much. He was on the verge of losing his job, but even if he did lose his job, he didn't really care. He could always just get another one.
On the way to the bar, Red thought about what he should have to drink.
Maybe I should just have a regular beer? Start off slow? Or maybe I could just go straight into the hard liquors like vodka or whiskey. Aren't you supposed to do this kind of thing with friends, though? And what about a designated driver? Oh well, I can just walk home. I'm pretty sure I'd know whether or not I'm able to drive, even if I'm drunk.
Red finally pulled into the parking lot of the bar and parked his car into a free space, conveniently right in front of the building. The raven-haired man walked out of the car and patted the back pocket of his jeans, making sure he had his wallet first. He looked up at the place and then back down at his watch. It was a little after five-fifteen PM. Red slowly pushed the glass door open and immediately began to start coughing. The air was thick with cigarette smoke. He looked around the place, seeing mostly just a couple of tough, muscular guys drinking, smoking, and playing billiards with each other.
Red finally spotted the bar and gave the bartender a polite smile, which he got one back in response. He walked over to the bar sat down in one of the tall seats.
“What can I get you, sir?” the bartender asked, cleaning one of the shot glasses with a clean cloth.
Red looked up at the various alcohol bottles behind the bartender. He still had no idea what alcohol he wanted.
Well, it's my birthday. Better go big.
Red scanned the different bottles of alcohol until one of them caught his attention. It was a clear bottle with blue letters, reading "Absolut Vodka." Red pointed at the bottle. The bartender turned around and pointed at the bottle as well.
"This one?"
Red nodded.
The bartender gave him a funny look. “You look pretty young. I need to see some ID."
Red pulled out his wallet and gave the bartender his ID. After a couple of seconds of scanning the card, the bartender handed it back to him. He turned around and grabbed the alcohol, pouring it into a shot glass and handing it to Red.
"That will be seven pokedollars, please," the bartender said.
Red put his ID back into his wallet and pulled out the seven pokedollars. He handed the money to the bartender, who placed it inside of the cash register beside them.
“By the way, happy birthday,” the bartender smiled before assisting another customer. Red looked down at the shot glass full of vodka before taking the whole shot at one. His throat burned, but he managed to keep it down.
So, this is what alcohol is like. It's nice. It's like a warm wave of comfort sliding down your throat, kind of like eating hot soup when you're sick.
Red really liked the drink, so once the bartender wasn't assisting any customers, Red tapped his fingers on the glass, getting the bartender's attention. He turned around to see Red pointing at the bottle of vodka again.
"Another shot?" he asked. Red nodded in response.
"Do you have any friends that are coming later? It's your birthday after all, you shouldn't be drinking alone," the bartender stated as he grabbed Red's glass and began to fill it up again.
Red pulled out his wallet and sighed sadly.
The bartender's face fell. "Sorry, I didn't mean to get too intrusive with your life."
Red shrugged and gave the bartender the seven pokedollars he needed. He downed the shot easier now. His mind was feeling slightly fuzzy already.
Am I getting that tipsy already? This must be some pretty strong stuff. I shouldn't order anymore.
About an hour later, Red had had about five more shots of straight vodka, obviously not taking his own advice from earlier. His head pounded as the bartender offered him another shot. Red shook his head no, slightly moaning from the pain, and struggled to get out of the tall chair at the bar. Finally succeeding, he looked at his surroundings. His vision was slightly blurry, but he could still make out some figures. The tough, muscular guys from earlier were still drinking, smoking, and playing billiards. Red frowned. It would have been nice to have at least one friend spend time with him on his birthday. Even if it was his old childhood rival, Green.
Speak of the devil.
Red chuckled as he saw Green. His drunken mind didn't really think of why his old childhood rival was in a bar. Green didn't really even like to drink much anyway.
Red figured he could spend some time with Green, maybe catch up a bit and see how he was doing at the gym. Even though they were still neighbors and even worked in the same city, they never really spoke to each other anymore.
That's it, I'm talking to him even if he doesn't want me to!
Red stumbled over to the older brunette and proudly tapped him on the shoulder.
"Ow!" Green hissed at the sharp tapping on his shoulder. He turned around and saw his old childhood rival, Red standing there.
“Hey, I figured you'd be here. How's your birthday going so far?” Green asked the raven haired boy.
Red didn’t answer him. Instead, he fell over, not being able to keep his balance anymore.
“Hey! What the hell?!” Green shouted, backing away from Red, letting him fall onto the dirty floor of the bar. He bent down and helped Red back up on his feet. Green held the man steady with his hands on his shoulders.
“Why are you acting so-“ Green stopped once he smelled the strong scent of vodka coming from Red’s breath.
“You idiot… you drank too much, didn’t you?” Red nodded before coughing violently.
Oh, god he’s going to throw up.
Panicked, Green rushed Red into the nearest bathroom and positioned him in front of one of the toilets.
As soon as Red relieved himself from all the vodka, Green helped him up.
“You’re too drunk to drive home. Give me your keys.”
Red reached in his front pocket and searched a little before he found the item Green requested. He handed Green the keys.
The brunet sighed and grabbed the keys, putting them into his pocket. He grabbed Red and helped him out of the bar. He opened the passenger door of Red’s car and placed him in there. Once Green got into the driver's seat, he buckled up his seat belt and started up the engine.
"When you're drinking, you really need someone with you to make sure you're okay," Green scolded the drunk man as he began to drive back to Pallet Town.
Red groaned in response.
"You should have called me or something. I knew you were going to do something stupid like this on your birthday. You always have to be so fucking independent, don't you? You're lucky I stopped in there to get a beer after a hard day of work. Do you know how many battles I won? ZERO! Do you know how many battles I had today? About fifty! Fifty battles, Red! I really needed that beer to relax after a hard day of work, but no, I have to take care of your drunken ass!"
After shouting his final sentence, Green pulled Red's car beside his house. He took the keys out of the ignition and let out a frustrated sigh.
Getting out of the car, Green moved over to the passenger seat and helped the drunk man out of the car. He slammed the door shut and walked Red over to his house. He fumbled in his pocket, trying to get Red's keys instead of his. When he felt them on his fingertips, he pulled the keys out of his pocket and put one into the door. Luckily, it was the right key.
Luckily, the drunk man's mother didn't live there anymore. About 3 years ago, Red's mother had needed help moving into an apartment, so Green and Red had offered to help. She felt like she didn't need all the extra space and she wanted her son to live on his own. He was 18 and had a job with a stable income. He was an independent adult, so Red's mother figured he could live on his own just fine.
Once the door was open, Green entered the living room and laid the drunk man down on the couch. He walked back over to the door, removed the keys, and closed it shut. Behind him, he heard Red moaning.
Crap, he’s going to get sick again.
Quickly, Green ran into the kitchen and grabbed a large bowl. He ran back into the bedroom just in time to save Red’s floor from a nasty stain. Once that was finished, he went back into the kitchen and searched for some bread.
He probably drank on an empty stomach. What an idiot.
Green thought to himself as he grabbed a slice of bread from a loaf inside his bread box. He grabbed a water bottle from the refrigerator and walked back into the living room.
The raven haired man was lying on his back, holding his stomach and moaning. Green walked up to him and practically shoved the slice of bread into Red’s mouth.
“Here, you need to eat. It will help you feel better.”
Red ate as much of the bread as he could, which was about half of the slice. Green handed Red the water bottle and watched as Red took two sips from it. Red panted and looked up at Gary.
“Sl…sleep with me tonight…” Red mumbled.
Green’s eyes widened in complete shock. He hadn’t heard Red mutter a word in years. Red could talk, but he chose not to most of the time. It seemed as if he only spoke to people he was extremely close to, like his mother. But then again, they had literally just reconnected after years of not talking to each other. Did Red really feel that close to him that fast? Maybe it was just the alcohol talking.
Green simply nodded and climbed onto the couch next to Red. It wasn't that big, but Green was able to fit next to the drunk man.
“You need to get some sleep."
Red nodded before closing his eyes, immediately falling asleep.
The next morning, Red woke up to a loud yell.
“WAKE UP, RED!” Green yelled.
Red moaned and sat up from the couch, looking over to Green, who was laughing hysterically.
“Aren’t hangovers so much fun?” he asked.
Red leaned over the side of the couch, letting out the rest of the alcohol and bread that he had consumed last night.
“How many shots of vodka did you have last night anyway?” Green asked, leaning against the couch's arm rest.
Red thought for a couple of seconds, trying to remember. Then, he held out seven fingers.
“You had seven shots of straight vodka?! You should’ve been more responsible, you idiot,” Green growled. Red winced from his pounding head.
Green sighed and handed Red his water bottle from last night. “Drink some water, you need to get hydrated.”
Red nodded and took a couple of gulps from the water bottle before putting it back down on the coffee table in front of the couch.
“You should stick to lighter alcohol or maybe mix your drinks with a soft drink. Plus, you should also never drink alone like you did last night. I hope you learned your lesson,” Green sighed, sitting down on the edge of Red’s couch.
A couple of seconds later, Red stood up and slowly stumbled upstairs into the bathroom. A couple seconds of silence later, Green heard Red turn on the shower.
The brunet stood up and decided to take the bowl into the kitchen to wash it. He made a face from the awful smell coming from it and considered just throwing the entire bowl away.
Why am I doing this? I’m not his mother, I shouldn’t be taking care of him and cleaning up after him. It’s his fault anyways, he was the one drinking irresponsibly.
Green thought, and yet, he continued to clean the bowl in the kitchen sink. Once the bowl was cleaned out, he put it in the dish washer. Red could take care of that later. Right now, Green was focused on scrubbing his hands clean, trying to get rid of the disgusting contents on his hands (and flashbacks of cleaning the bowl out).
Once Green was finished, he wiped his hands dry on a kitchen hand towel and went into the living room. He bent down and picked up the left over slice of bread on Red’s living room floor from last night. Green walked over to the trash can and threw it away before walking back into the living room and sitting down on the couch. He let out a frustrated sigh.
He better start drinking more responsibly. I don't want to deal with this shit.