Sweaty palms found little relief against the dangerously low glass of whiskey, eyes dyed red from lack of sleep staring dully into space as his stomach sunk lower, twisting his insides in a knot.
It would be a good diagnosis if the symptoms were new, even the growing taste of bile in his throat would make sense. However, none of it was unfamiliar. Alexei had been sick for years, and no level of self-medication was curing him of the ailments that throbbed deeper than flesh and blood. But it didn’t stop him from trying. He was chronic by his own calculations, plagued with a persistent flu that was much stronger than himself, born in his bones ever since fate shoved him on a plane and booted the child from his homeland...both of them.
He was born sick, or so it seemed some days.
With near robotic absentmindedness the unlikely Russian brought the poison to his mouth, the glass smooth against chapped lips as he downed the last swig and eyed the empty crystal forlornly in response.
Too bad money was short these days, habits were expensive, and it took a lot of narcotics to numb memory and fact.
For the first time this evening the tall, slant of a man chose to gaze out at his surroundings, finding the whole experience about as draining as the music pounding sanity from his head, even despite it not being too terribly loud. Even though Alexei himself had abstained from the touch of smoke at his lips, the sort of thing bars such as these prided themselves in, he seemed alone in his refrain. Everyone had their own medication.
Smoke drifted through the space like a cloud at sunset, artificial light staining the air like food-coloring in a cupcake; bright and unnatural, but not unpleasing to the eye.
Alexei could have easily gotten lost in those visions, exhaustion and the distant buzz of booze doing little for focus and concentration. Who knows how long he would have stayed like that had a figure not edged into his line of sight, slipping into the booth and greeting him…. kindly.
“Hello young one.” Alexei replied with a light nod to the beer, taking it as a peace offering for the nickname as he slid his own, emptied glass away. “You come just in time.”
He tried to smile at that, but the expression didn’t come, it hardly ever did around Kade.
“I’m glad to see you.” He tried instead, a healthy compromise he conceded.
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