A Drunken Encounter? [Nordics]

[Berwald Oxenstierna]

Berwald’s expression darkened considerably as Mathias practically forced a bottle of beer into his hand. Truth be told, he had no problems with drinking and actually felt like getting a little drunk to, well, take the edge off. After all, it had been quite a while since he’d last had a pleasant amount of alcohol in his system. Still, the tall blond absolutely hated being in this part of town. At night, it was crawling with dangerous, dodgy people and even if it made him seem a little paranoid, there was no way he’d risk getting even just slightly tipsy here. He figured having a beer or two wouldn’t affect him too much, though, so he took a sip from the bottle Mathias had handed to him.

The bespectacled man purposely kept his eyes trained on the table they were sitting at. The bar the woodcutter had picked out was filled with the noise of people at various levels of inebriation and Berwald was in no mood to deal with drunk strangers. He shot Mathias a short sideways glance. They hadn’t been here for more than fifteen minutes but the rowdy blond was already finishing off his second beer. The younger man frowned, deciding that he didn’t feel up to dealing with drunk not-strangers either. He knew that he’d still have to drag Mathias’s drunk ass back to his cabin later on, though – even if he didn’t want to. Hell, he wasn’t even really obligated to. Sure, they were friends (sort of) but going out to drink had been the woodcutter’s idea. And since the bastard knew Berwald hated going out to drink, he had resorted to using a cheap, dirty trick.

“You know, sweetheart, Mathias phoned me earlier and told me about how you keep refusing to do anything with him. You’ve been friends with him for years, Ber, so that just won’t do! He suggested that you two go out for drinks tonight and I think it’s a wonderful idea!” Atalie said, smiling happily. Berwald stared at his mother, unable to come up with an immediate response due to a sudden rush of anger directed at his asshole of a “friend” who could apparently stoop low enough to use the mother card. “You’ve been working so hard these past few months, Ber… Too hard, I think. Go out and have some fun, will you?” his mother requested softly. The tall blond averted his gaze awkwardly. Well, shit. He didn’t think he had it in him to say no to that… but he could at least try.

“Think I’d rath’r jus’ go out fer coffee with Timo,” Berwald mumbled, his eyes on the floor. Atalie laughed and shook her head affectionately. “Come on, Ber! Humor Mathias from time to time. He’s going to need your help to get home later anyway.”

The tall blond nodded his head absently, only half-listening to Mathias’s ridiculous spiel about his “masterful, sure-to-work” pick-up lines. As the older man continued to chatter, Berwald played around with his phone out of boredom. He stopped listening to the woodcutter altogether to regard his phone’s wallpaper. It was the photo Timo had taken of the two of them the night they went out to watch the meteor shower. He still found his mildly surprised expression silly but Timo’s bright smile was so charming that he hadn’t been able to resist making the picture his wallpaper. He honestly didn’t think he would want to change it until he and Timo took another photo together. Berwald’s thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a particularly bad pick-up line from the blond next to him. His expression shifted into one of moderate distaste. “Yer goin’ ta die alone ‘f ya say tha’ sort’f stuff, Mathias,” he said bluntly.

[Mathias Køhler]

When Mathias offhandedly brought up the idea of a night out drinking, he only expected an outright refusal out of his scary blond companion. But against his expectations, Berwald shook his head and grunted negatively. This was a favorable response to Mathias, after all, he didn't say "no" exactly. The woodcutter only needed to find a way to convince him somehow. The solution didn't take long to come up with. Everyone knows Berwald's just a big Mama's boy sometimes.

"No worries, Ber!" Mathias reassured him as he ordered the opening salvo to their night; beer. It had actually been a while since he had gone drinking. Around this part of town especially. It was pretty dangerous to go alone. Story after story of guys waking up in dumpsters with their kidneys missing tend to get a guy a bit cautious. "Jus' drink! After a few beers ya'll lighten up!" the woodcutter said, passing down a bottle to Berwald.

After downing what he was sure to be his his fifth beer, Mathias was starting to feel a little light headed. He wasn't quite drunk just yet but it was a pretty good start. Somehow, their short conversations turned into a question of picking someone up at the bar tonight. Not for Berwald, of course, but Mathias hadn't really considered getting back out there as of late. Of course that was entirely his choice, after all, no man or lady could resist his masterful sure-to-work charms.

The woodcutter looked over in Berwald's direction and frowned. He had barely touched his first beer. On top of that, it looked like he was texting someone on his phone.

"Hey, come on Berwald, I'm serious. If I see a cute someone someone t'night I wanna' make sure I open up with the perfect line. Iffit's a guy I'll say, 'Hey there, nice penis.' and iffit's a gal I'll say 'Hey there, nice boobs.' Wha' do ya' think?"

It might have been the alcohol but Berwald's bluntness didn't make Mathias object at all. "Hmm, maybe yer' right. Too forward? More subtle, yeah?" he started to ramble, his speech degrading into something incoherent, almost as if he forgot what he was even talking about. He raised his hand to order two more beers. "But, eh, enough about that. None'a' this even matters if there's no one to even go for. See anyone hot, Ber?"

[Erik Olsen]

“Ah, well, this is a fantastic night to go out,” the Norwegian man decided as he returned home from doing his job. He had not had a drink in a while, and he thought that maybe going to the bar would not be as bad as people said it usually was. Not only would it most likely be cheaper on his wallet, it would help him get out of the Highlands for a bit, and maybe he could enjoy the sights along the way. Erik had not really been able to get out of work for too long, and because sleep evaded him most of the time, much of his time was eaten up by either doing nothing or working. On random days, he would just crash from exhaustion; it was never a fun experience. Now, he had all of the time in the world to sleep and relax until his “vacation” was over. What better way to celebrate than with booze?

To begin looking the slightest bit presentable in public, he decided to shower. Being covered by a couple of splatters of blood was never a good impression on anyone, and once he was out of the shower, he began to brush his hair and get his clothes out. For this night, a suit just would not do the trick. If he looked fancy at a public bar—let alone a Lowland bar—who knows what might happen to him. The stories were enough to scary any brave soul, and if Erik knew one thing for sure, he was not going to end up as one of the victims of the night and bar.

In the end, he decided a rather faded purple turtleneck would work along with dark grey pants would work well. He slipped on some white socks once he was done putting those clothes on, and the Norwegian walked towards the door, slipping on some sneakers that were in a small spot beside his door and grabbing a small notepad, a pencil, and his wallet before he walked outside his door.

As he graciously stepped into the cool night, he stopped for a moment to take in a fresh breath of air. Yep, this “vacation” would be nice. He decided that it would be nice to walk most of the way instead of riding his bike or taking the nearest train to the Lowland bar. The cool night air swirled around him as he walked, and he held a small smile on his face as he walked silently to the farthest train station. When he arrived there, he had gotten there just in time to catch a train that was getting ready to leave. He hurried into the transportation device, quickly picking his seat and receiving a few curious looks from others as they walked out.

He sat quietly, looking out of the window to see the cities during the night. Erik hummed a small tune and was about to lose himself in his musical-self if it were not for the train quite literally jerking him away from his thoughts. Once the doors opened, he got up, taking his hair clip out his hair and into his pocket. While walking out, he placed his hands in his pockets and began to walk towards the Lowlander bar. It was easy to tell where it was, as loud music pumped from a nearby club, and because he had been there a couple of times before, he knew that the bar was not far from the club. The Norwegian man felt bad for the people who lived nearby this loud place; it must be difficult to sleep with all of the loud music and probably loud people.

As Erik walked into the bar, he scanned the area to see where he could possibly take a seat. While he was trying to pick a seat, he heard a rather loud man speaking to the person sitting next to him. Geez, the man with the glasses looked bored out of his mind just listening to the other guy. Erik decided he would not bother with that... at all. First, he did not need a loud person in his life, and second, he did not need some party-pooper to ruin most of the fun in something. He decided it was not best to judge as of now, but by the looks of the situation, it seemed that his guess might be right for the most part.

He sat down at one of the tables, tapping his fingers against the wooden table to make some of his own music. Yes, he loved music; it was like a quick way to escape from his troubles and worries, and it worked better to accomplish that than drinking. He looked up at the person who was waiting on him, and putting on a small smile on his face, he asked for a bottle of beer, a shot of vodka, and some water to accompany the booze. He decided that it would probably be enough to make him happy, and the blonde slightly leaned into the seat to make himself comfortable.

To pass the time, he decided to listen in to the conversations that were going on around him. Some people were talking about their problems and what was troubling them, and others talked about either getting more drinks or finding someone nice to take home with them. It was one conversation in particular that he caught, and the Norwegian could not help but smirk and scoff at the proposition. “Nothing good here,” he muttered under his breath while his smirk returned to a smile. “Might as well enjoy the drinks... they might be the best part of this cool night.”

[Berwald Oxenstierna]

“Too forward’s a bit’f an und’rstatement,” Berwald muttered before taking a swig of his beer. He didn’t consider himself even the least bit knowledgeable about how to pick people up in strange bars (or anywhere else for that matter) but it didn’t take a genius to understand that saying ‘Hey there, nice penis’ was a good way to make a terrible first impression. “Yer on the right track with wantin’ ta compliment ‘em but… try sayin’ nice stuff ‘bout oth’r things. How’re ya s’pposed ta compliment a guy’s private bits if ya can’t ev’n see ‘em ‘nyway?” he scoffed lightly, rolling his eyes. “Really, though, ‘m sure yer aware tha’ ‘m not the best person ta ask ‘bout this sort’f stuff,” he added as he pocketed his phone again. He took a few more gulps from his bottle as he listened to Mathias break into a slightly unintelligible ramble. He couldn’t help thinking that the older man already sounded like he was very drunk. Berwald let out a soft, weary sigh as he watched the woodcutter signal to someone for more beer.

The tall blond grunted neutrally at Mathias’s question, lifting his head to scan the bar quickly. “Brunette with the colored vodka?” he suggested idly. He himself didn’t find her all that attractive but she looked to be Mathias’s type at least. He continued to look around the bar, pausing a couple of times to mutter to the older blond. After a minute or so of letting his gaze jump from one person to another, Berwald was neither disappointed nor surprised to find that no one really caught his eye. He knew he was gay but he also knew he was very picky. Well… he assumed he was very picky. He’d never really thought about anyone in a serious, romantic way after all.

Just as the bespectacled man finished off his first bottle, a waiter went up to their table to serve the beer Mathias had ordered earlier. The waiter then started to clear their table of the drinks they had already finished, his hand trembling a little as he reached over to take Berwald’s empty bottle. The tall blond sipped at his second beer quietly, paying the nervous waiter no mind as he left their table rather hurriedly. Out of boredom, he watched Mathias take a long drink from his beer, quickly and effortlessly emptying it to almost half. “S’not a race, Mathias,” he commented dryly, already dreading how inevitably drunk the rowdy blond was going to become.

Berwald flagged down a waiter and ordered himself a shot of vodka. He told himself internally that he wasn’t going to get drunk tonight but, god, he needed to wind down a little bit more – especially since the task of dragging Mathias back to his cabin was going to push his patience to its very limit. ‘Just a shot and a few beers. That’s it,’ he thought to himself firmly. As the waiter left their table to place his order, the tall blond finally noticed the young man sitting alone at a table not too far from theirs. He was mildly surprised that he hadn’t seen him when he’d been scanning the bar earlier. He quickly and discreetly took in the expressionless blond’s somewhat delicate-looking features. He didn’t find the young man unattractive exactly… He supposed that he just wasn’t his type. There was a coldness about him that Berwald didn’t particularly like. Still, he figured that Mathias could try going for him if he wanted to. “How ‘bout him?” he muttered to the woodcutter, subtly tilting his head towards the blond.

[Mathias Køhler]

Mathias stroked his chin and took a thoughtful swig of beer, taking the big lug's words into consideration. "Hmmm, maybe yer on ta' something here, Ber. So yer sayin' I should be tellin' them about their other places, yeah?" he mused. He wasn't looking at Berwald as he talked to him, though. His eyes were trained onto the surrounding area. There had to be someone who was his type out here tonight, right? "Pshaw," Mathias scoffed. "Ya' just proved yerself wrong when ya' gave me some actual good advice." Mathias said as he continued to scan the vicinity.

At Berwald's suggestion, he turned to look at the brunette. "Nahhhhhh...." Mathias said almost instantly. She looked way too young. Mathias didn't know if it was the long pigtails or the red ribbons holding them together but she didn't strike Mathias as mature enough. Berwald called target after target but none of them seemed to pique Mathias's interest so much. "Are ya' just calling these guys out at random?" Mathias complained. It's not that he was real picky about these sorta things but Berwald's scouting wasn't proving to be much use.

"Man, Berwald, ya' sound like yer mother. Loosen up!" he said as he put his fingers together and did a wavy motion along the length of his arms. "Ya'd be a much better drinking partner if ya did, you know?"

But then Berwald pointed to someone sitting at a table not too far from theirs. Mathias turned around to see someone who hot damn well well well he was actually pretty hot. God damn, Berwald actually came through for once!

Even from afar, Mathias found the odd expressionless face he had plastered on strangely, mysteriously sexy.

"Wow, okay, game. Target acquired, Berwald. Okay. okay. okay okay okay okay okay. Okay. Okay okay. Okay. Okay okay. I'm going over there." he said trying to sound confident, although with every 'okay' his voice started to falter and crack. He stood from the table, downed nearly half a bottle in one go and strided over to the solemn looking blond.

As soon as Mathias got closer to him, however, he stopped in his tracks. Shit, he wasn't just good looking, he was downright mesmerizing! The blond's eyes were blue and icy but instead of piercing Mathais, they seemed to draw him in.

Mathias then realized he had been staring. And the blond was staring back.

"O-OH. Uh, ah, uhm, a-ahhhhhhh...!" he spat, rambled and stammered out. Instinctively, he turned away to the bartender who had a huge grin on his face. "Shit." the woodcutter face-palmed and grunted. "Uhh, give that guy your most vodka filled cocktail on me." he told the bartender.

Mathias took a deep breath and pounded his chest with his fist. No way was he backing down from this. He turned to face the mysterious blond again and cleared his throat. "Ah, uh, I'm sorry for starin'. I got ya' a drink on me, m'way of sayin' sorry. ...If ya' want, ya' can go join me and m'friend over there later." he said to the stone-faced blond. He put his hand up sheepishly to say bye and walked briskly back to Berwald.

"Do. Not. Fuckin'. Say. A. Word." he immediately said to Berwald as soon as he sat back down. He just knew the big lug was about to burst out laughing.

[Erik Olsen]

Erik sat quietly in his seat, taking the little napkin that was tucked until his drink and toying with it to appease his boredom. His little brother used to make little toys and paper animals out of napkins and paper, and Erik had picked up how to do a few origami figures. He was not as good as his little brother was, but he had to say, he made some pretty nice looking flowers. Origami was not really a thing he liked doing even though he had the hands for it; he did it to keep remembrance of his deceased little brother.

Ah, now he was starting to get a little disheartened. He really should let go of the memory of his little brother, but he loved that child very dearly. It was hard to forget about him, his smile, his laugh, and just... everything. The Norwegian man shook his head and grasped at his bottle of beer, taking hold of it and bringing the drink to his lips. He took a few gulps of it, trying to get his mind off the memories of his past. There were some things that were better to be forgotten rather than to be remembered. He sighed, leaning back in his seat a bit more and yawning slightly. “Can’t blame someone for being bored. Everyone seems to have someone to speak to.” He chuckled. “Nice to see people actually getting along nowadays instead, but then again, we are all in the same boat in the end.”

It was not too long before the blond noticed something was off, or well, something was disturbing the air around him. As if it were some sort of signal, he looked out the corner of his eye to see some man beginning to approach him. “Alert, alert!” his mind told him. Panic slowly began to set in Erik; there was a man approaching him. Not just any man though, he was big, and the approaching man easily looked like he could snap him in half. Hopefully, the man was not too drunk or angry. In his mind, he had his fingers crossed.

It was time to put on his best “Leave me alone; I’m not the nicest person; don’t mess with me” face. When the man stopped not too far away from him, he looked at him with a small glare. Once he looked into the man’s eyes, he stopped glaring and just looked into the other’s eyes. They were blue, and yes, even though he had blue eyes as well, his were different. They were full of life and joy. The Norwegian man had not seen a look like that in someone’s eyes in quite a while.

Yes, what is it that you want to tell me?

"O-Oh. Uh, ah, uhm, a-ahhhhhhh...!" the nervous man let out. Erik relaxed almost instantly.

“Oh, at least you don’t want to pound my face in,” Erik thought.

When the other man turned his back to Erik, he quickly raised an eyebrow, folding his arms and tapping his foot on the ground slightly. Well, this night was going to be more interesting than he thought. “Might as well hear what the poor chump has to say before I turn him down too badly. Who knows, it might be laughable,” the man thought.

"Uhh, give that guy your most vodka filled cocktail on me.”

Well, that was an offer he could not refuse.

The guy turned to look at him, and after he gathered up his courage, the blonde began to apologize for staring. He did not seem too bad, and he even offered Erik to have a seat with his friend. Erik looked at the other man, and he began getting a little wary of the two. They were big. No, not fat big, but they were just large, not lithe like he was. At least he could make a quick escape if he needed to do so. He did not notice the other say goodbye, but he did notice that the other left.

When the drink that was ordered for him was set on the table, he eyed it, reaching over and sliding it closer to him. He lifted the drink to his lips, taking a small sip. It was not too bad, but he had had better drinks before. However, he decided to return the favor... but with his own little twist.

Taking the drink and the small paper flower he made with him, Erik got up and stepped over to the table where both of the men were sitting. “Hello,” he murmured, taking a seat next to the man with the glasses and setting the paper flower on the table. The man seemed like a safer bet to sit by. He began to smirk inwardly and slowly scooted closer to the man. He hoped he would not figure out what he was doing. “Thank you for the drink and for inviting me over,” he said. He wanted to say, “Hey, thanks for the free drink. Now I don’t have to pay for it, and you didn’t have to do that because it wasn’t necessary. Also, I came here since you wanted me to, but I’m here to see you make a fool of yourself.” He decided against it and gave a small smile as he drank whatever was left in the glass. He placed the empty glass down, sliding it to the edge of the table and then toying with the paper flower.

[Berwald Oxenstierna]

“S’not good advice. S’jus’ common sense,” Berwald said dryly, his eyes narrowing with slight irritation. Since Mathias could annoy him without even trying, he seriously had to wonder if he could get through the night without punching the woodcutter’s face in. At that thought, the more rational part of the bespectacled man’s mind immediately flitted to Timo. The small blond wouldn’t be happy with him at all if he got into another fight with Mathias. And he definitely didn’t want to upset his closest friend. Berwald took a few deep gulps from his bottle of beer. He needed to relax so that his temper wouldn’t flare as easily around the frustrating blond, and alcohol would definitely help as long as he didn’t have too much. After all, if he got too drunk, he’d become five times more likely to punch Mathias’s face in.

The younger blond rolled his eyes as the woodcutter shot down each person he inconspicuously pointed out. Who knew the idiot could be so picky? “Well, I think ya loos’n up too much. Somethin’ bad’ll happ’n ta you ‘round here if yer not caref’l. Not that I partic’larly care but havin’ ta find a new supplier fer the shop would be a pain,” Berwald said, smirking softly as he shrugged his broad shoulders.

As Mathias uttered out ‘okay’ after ‘okay,’ each one getting more and more feeble, the stoic blond gave him an uncharacteristically puzzled look. “Uh… ‘kay,” he mumbled, looking unsure as he watched the woodcutter walk towards the table where the expressionless blond was seated. He had never, ever seen Mathias react to anyone that way… He shot the seated stranger a quick glance and immediately had a feeling that the older blond was fated to crash and burn. Oh, well. This was certainly going to be very entertaining for him to watch at least.

It didn’t take longer than a minute of observing the woodcutter for Berwald to realize that ‘very entertaining’ was a severe understatement. With an almost cruel grin on his face, he watched Mathias stutter and panic. God, if only he had a video camera. When a waiter came over to serve him his shot of vodka, he could only nod his thanks for fear that he’d start laughing if he opened his mouth. He finished off his beer with a small smirk on his face, thoroughly amused at Mathias’s attempts to come onto the blond stranger. Eventually, the woodcutter walked away from his newfound object of infatuation. When he reached his and Berwald’s table, he essentially dared the younger man to say something. The bespectacled blond responded by snickering quietly. “Very smooth,” he commented unhelpfully in between soft laughs.

To his surprise, though, he noticed that the stranger was actually walking towards their table now, the drink Mathias had bought for him in hand. But he was surprised even further when the lithe blond sat down next to him and not Mathias for some reason. He raised a questioning eyebrow at the stranger before replying a little uneasily, “H’llo.” Deciding to let Mathias handle the conversation, Berwald let his unintentionally harsh gaze fall on the paper flower that the newcomer had set on the table. He studied it silently until he felt the stranger scoot closer to him. What the heck was this guy playing at?! He honestly hoped the lithe blond understood that Mathias was the interested one – not him!

The bespectacled man didn’t hesitate to scoot away from the stranger in response but he felt panic rise up in his chest when he realized that he couldn’t move much further away due to the older blond seated on his other side. He reached for his shot of vodka and downed all of it quickly, inwardly wishing that he could be having coffee with Timo in a nice café instead. Being trapped in between an idiot and a stranger in a noisy bar was not exactly his idea of fun. This was going to be a long night.