Click-tik! Click-tik!

A thumb continuously pushed on a pens retractable button it an agitated fashion.

Click-tik! Click-tik!

Eyebrows furrowed together, as dark eyes squinted at a laptop screen, balanced upon a lap. Legs stretched out, one foot placed over the other, as the feet rested upon the coffee table.

Click-tik! Click-tik!—plunk!—the pen tumbled onto the floor.

'-ARGH!-' thought the man, as he watched the pen roll to a stop. 'Why was he holding a pen anyhow if he was working on the laptop?' Firm hands reach up to rub dark eyes, a sigh escapes his lips, a firm square jaw moves about to pop out -crick crick- the stiffness that had settled. He flops his head back against the couch, closing his eyes, he ponders.

"Damn it! Get it together already!", the dark-haired man mumbles to himself. He sighs again. Reaching up to scratch at his head, he places the laptop on the coffee table, stands and heads off to the kitchen.

'Perhaps some tea will help' he thinks to himself as he pads softly to the dimly lit kitchenette area. He plugs in the kettle, rustles though the cupboards and pulls out a tea bag and mug. He stares at the mug. He crosses his arms, turns and leans back against the counter as he waits for the kettle's signal. He snorts, smirks to himself and lets out a huff of a laugh.

"Sasuke Uchiha…38 year old teenager, dealing with a hormonal imbalance," he says to nobody in the room. Sasuke chuckles to himself at his outburst to, well, himself. He runs a hand through his hair and smiles a little. He has been trying to do his work for what..?.. a few hours now? And his mind just can't get into the grove of what should be a regular average assessment that he prepares... how many dozen a month? He lets out a big huff of air that blows his bangs that tickle his forehead. The kettle begins to whistle and Sasuke turns to prepare his tea and he begins to reminisce about last weekend.

-)00(-

Friday.

It had been…a most typical day. Sasuke pats himself mentally on the back while stretching his arms over his head, enjoying the small pops that come from his spine, as he thinks on a job well done. He had completed his tasks for the day and was ready for a well-deserved weekend off. He clears off his desk, picks up his flash drive that contains some extra documents to work on at home, gathers up a few folders with even more work that can be done at home and places them in his briefcase. Grabbing his phone to look at few blog sites while walking through the office, he glances up briefly to see some colleagues who have gathered into a small circle around a desk.

"Yo...Sasuke my man!" yells one of the colleagues. Sasuke cringes at the outburst. Kiba. A short haired brunette, 'scruffy mutt', Sasuke mentally snorts to himself, who has a mouth that never appears to know silence and at most times not even have a filter, appeared to be waving at Sasuke for his attention. Sasuke slows to a stop and raises an eyebrow, indicating that Kiba has his attention.

"We all," Kiba waves his hand around signifying the small group, "gonna hit up some drinks tonight, you in?" Kiba asks with bounce and vigor in his body language.

Sasuke cringes at the thought. Dark environment with annoying lights, people yelling at each other over music that is usually played at a level that isn't vibrating pictures off the wall but loud enough to make conversation a difficult task…strong stench of alcohol in the air, people over dressed and over 'painted' in hopes to score that lucky girl or guy that night and almost always…there is that one or 'sometimes more than one' person that is so ridiculously intoxicated, they end up falling all over, on whomever and making a bile gut retching mess on the floor. Sasuke instantly feels the anxiety -just thinking of the whole ordeal- rise up so fast that his eyebrows squash together and his eyes squint. He shudders.

"Come on Sasuke!" Kiba bellows and brings Sasuke back to the now, "We are going to a nice quiet new place called Sound. Karin says it's very … tasteful. She says even you could tolerate it!"

Sasuke looks at the beaming smile on Kiba. 'He looks so … hopeful', Sasuke thinks to himself.

Sasuke opens his mouth, "I really don't…".

"Aw don't finish that sentence man!" Kiba gives a small pout. "You are always burying your nose in work or books on weekends! Can't you just let loose and hang with your friends for once?!" Kiba slaps his hand on Sasuke's shoulder and Sasuke darts his eyes at Kiba's hand. Kiba quickly removes his hand, brings it up to his mouth and gives an uncomfortable cough. He looks up to Sasuke quickly, "look… just come out for an hour or so, have one drink, just relax for a bit…and if you feel it isn't for you.. no hard feelings when you leave." Kiba's big round brown eyes twinkled at Sasuke.

Sasuke sighed. He had been working with this group for several years now, and though they aren't fully his type of 'friends?' … he could admit to himself that the group of adults were sensible and respectful towards him. Sasuke knew he was all introvert. He suspected this group of coworkers knew this as well, and at the most respected his space and decisions. Sasuke's mental argument began…

'They aren't all that bad now are they?'

'NO! You know what will happen, it is inevitable! You know what happens at 'those places'! Let's go home, grab that novel that promises a twist, make tea and…'

'…but they have shown I can trust them…one drink…'

'Dammit! Someone may vomit on you! What if some overly dressed, overly painted woman sits on you thinking she's gonna get lucky? What if…'

'It's the weekend…I finished what I needed, no deadlines are due.'

'…'

Sasuke scoffed to himself. Well why not? He is a well off comfortable middle-aged man, 'big 4-0 soon eh buddy!?', settled in his life…sure he isn't married with 2.5 kids … 'and who ever came up with that stat?'... a simple yet tasteful flat, good vehicle, good retirement savings plan, he was healthy and somewhat fit … 'could tighten up that middle a little'…so why not indulge a bit in what society deemed 'the norm for a Friday night'?

Sasuke came out of his musings suddenly and glanced around him. The small group of colleagues were watching him, appeared to be waiting and 'holding their breath?' for an answer.

"Okay." Sasuke let out in a breath.

The group appeared to relax as they began chatting about who was driving whom and what time to meet. Sasuke listened briefly as Kiba asked him if he needed a ride. Sasuke assured him that he would most likely not be drinking a whole lot and he would just meet the group there at the designated time. Kiba smiled at Sasuke as the group turned to leave the building together. Sasuke followed slowly behind, a thought in his head chanting, 'just one drink…could be fun…'.

-)00(-

Sasuke arrived at the small bar that appeared to be decorated in the Old English Style Pub look. Sasuke admitted to himself that the décor was indeed 'tasteful' as Karin had informed Kiba; with wood siding and stone structure walls, wooden tables and chairs, soft lighting and a variety of framed pictures on the walls showing black and white photos of docks, sea fronts and ships. The bar appeared wooden with stone arches and had shelving that reached the ceiling filled with many shapes and colours of alcohol bottles. Sasuke looked about and saw his group of colleagues, sitting in leather type couches or wooden chairs, surrounding a small tasteful table and tucked into a corner of the pub. As Sasuke made his way over to the group, who waved him over, he thought to himself, this could be an okay experience and mentally patted himself on the back for -letting loose- for once.

Sasuke leaned back in one of the leather couches, clutching a light green drink in his hand that rested on his right knee. He watched his colleagues 'no…friends', he mentally scolded himself, chatter with each other easily and he felt himself relax more. He looked at his 'something special..?', he couldn't remember the name of it this sweet drink, but it wasn't overly sweet, it had a nice soft green glow about it and it went down smooth and wondered if he should order something different. Kiba had ordered him this 'something special', promising him it wasn't strong and overly sweet so if he doesn't like it, he should at least be able to finish it. He raised an eyebrow at it, contemplated a little about it and decided to order another.

Several 'something specials' later, Sasuke was feeling a warm glow in his cheeks. He found himself smiling a little more easily and laughed at some of the horrible pun jokes that Kiba shared.

"Anyone wanna do some shots?!"

Sasuke looked around at Karin, the fire coloured shoulder length hair administrator from his office, who expressed a giggle when bringing up the question. Her eyes sparkled behind her green rimmed glasses, as she flashed a smile at Sasuke and winked at him.

"Shots?", Sasuke asked with a questionable look towards Kiba. Sasuke was never one to know the drinking lingo and in his college years he had absolutely no interest in attending loud overzealous parties that often happened in and around campus. The whole thought of guzzling absurd amounts of alcohol, grunting at the top of one's lungs, beating your chest in a caveman like manner to show off God knows what and for what, never in an instant interested him. He was quite content to attend classes, visit the library to do his research and complete his work at his desk in a timely fashion.

Kiba let out a boisterous laugh. "Sasuke my man! I can't believe you don't have a clue!", Kiba slapped his knee and chuckled. Sasuke huffed and let out a small pout at Kiba, showing him he was not amused at this banter. Kiba grinned at Sasuke, reached over and slapped Sasuke's knee. "Well, no fear, Kiba is here!". Kiba held his arm up, pointed to the ceiling, trying to imitate a super hero's pose. Sasuke just stared at him, his face impassive.

Kiba waved over a waitress, who appeared to be carrying a tray of small plastic sealed containers, all filled with a variety of blue, pink, and red…to name a few, coloured liquid. Kiba proceeded to pick a variety of coloured containers, handed the waitress a few bills and then placed them on the table. Sasuke eyed the containers skeptically.

"Okay! Everyone pick one! Let's make a toast!" Kiba spoke slightly slurred, but coherently. Everyone reached from their seats and grabbed a coloured container, including Sasuke, so he could peer through the sides and see his liquid was green tinged.

"Sasuke…", Karin softly spoke at him. Sasuke looked over at Karin and waited for her to continue. "A shot, is just either an ounce of straight liquor or an ounce of mixed liquors that create a flavor." Sasuke raised his eyebrows and gave a slight nod. Karin smiled at him back and lifted the lid off her container, apparently showing Sasuke how it's done. Sasuke huffed a small snort and proceeded to take the lid off his container. "Now Sasuke," Karin's tone demanded Sasuke's attention, "with a shot, you drink it in one gulp, okay?" She looked at him, a red glow on her cheeks, it was obvious she was feeling the effects of the evening. Sasuke nodded and looked at the greenish type liquid in his container.

"Okay everyone!" Kiba spoke up to get the group's attention, "I want to say cheers to Sasuke, for joining us this evening!" Kiba held up his container, the group followed this example and Sasuke figured he should do the same, "Cheers!", Kiba expressed again and promptly placed the container to his mouth and tipped his head back swallowing the colourful liquid. The group yelled cheers, while looking at Sasuke with smiles and red cheeks, then followed suit. Sasuke hesitated for a moment, felt his cheeks redden at the attention but then took his colour liquid and tipped it back into his mouth. 'This isn't so bad', Sasuke told himself and let himself relax more against the couch listening to the chatter of the people who he now will call 'friends', as small smile graces his lips.

-)00(-

Sasuke glanced at his watch while his communitive partner sitting next to him got up to use the restroom. Sasuke squinted at the time… 'I've been here how long?' Sasuke mentally calculated, his eyes stared up at the ceiling, his lips moved slightly while he counted in his head. '...2…3… almost 4 hours? Wow!'. Sasuke looked at his half empty glass dripping condensation on the small table, 'how many of those have I had?'. His cheeks felt very warm, his eyes felt heavy but he didn't feel tired. Sasuke giggled, realizing he let 'time fly by', and Sasuke suddenly thought the meaning behind it was most amusing. He had a hard time controlling his head to stay in one place as his body started to shake with the giggles Sasuke produced.

"Ahhh… Sass-…keh!"

Sasuke tilted his head towards where he is sure he heard his name being called, still grinning at his inside joke. Kiba towered over Sasuke and appeared to be teetering like 'Leaning Tower of Pisa!' Sasuke's monologue filled in and then Sasuke began to giggle louder. Sasuke squinted his eyes so hard that they began to tear up.

"OH man… hehehe!…I cannot think…hehehe! Oh ho!…that…that…it's that funny!hehehe!" Sasuke tries to talk to Kiba while gasping in air between his words and laughter.

Kiba looks down at Sasuke, "Dude…are you…*hic*...are you…durrr..unk?!" Kiba slurs and tries to stare straight at Sasuke but is greatly failing as he continues to sway.

Sasuke looks up with glazed eyes that are watery from laughter, his laugh lines around his eyes very prominent, rosy cheeks that stretch right up to his ears showing off his strong solid cheek bones and just starts laughing and pointing at Kiba. "Oh…ohhh…HA HA HA!… oh…Kibzz… HAHAHA!", Sasuke slaps a hand across his mouth but he can't stop laughing and staring at Kiba. Kiba throws Sasuke a grin and cannot help to start laughing himself.

"Ohhh.. HA! HA! HA!… Sas-sas-... Oh my god… HA! HA! HA!.. Sas'k..HAHA! …ohhh… stop…Please stop…HAHAHA!.. I can't… I can't…", but Kiba can't get the words out as he continues laughing because Sasuke is.

Kiba ends up flopping down beside Sasuke on the couch, both men fall shoulder to shoulder, holding each other up as their laughter begins to soften.

"Hows…'ong youzz.. been sh-ittin' here Sass-keh?", Kiba slurred through the question, grinning at his coworker.

Sasuke put a finger up to his chin, imitating a heavy thought while he tried to stare somewhere else. Kiba snorted. Sasuke turned his head to look at Kiba, he could feel the weight of his grin and the heat of his cheeks and 'damn…why is it so hard to keep my head straight' he squinted his eyes at Kiba's face, "Dammit…I dunno Kibzz… I forgot! AH… HA HA HA! Oh!.. Ha! Ha! Ha!", Sasuke burst out laughing again, his head fell back against the couch, his one arm clutching his abdomen as he shook with laughter.

Kiba slapped Sasuke's knee, "Well then, lets…*hic*...lets getz up and …*hic*...and …get uzz another drinn-keh-eh!?" Kiba leaned over to Sasuke's ear, "I .. sink … I seen a pretteeee girrrrr-l up there…come..*hic*…come on Sassss-keh!". Kiba hoists his body up using his arms to push himself off the couch. He stands, his foot stumbles forward a bit, "WHOOPS! Oh.. oh… yup… I got it", Kiba slurs to himself while he catches his balance. He turns and holds a hand out to Sasuke. Sasuke accepts the hand and pushes up off the couch with one arm and allowing Kiba to give him a tug to the other.

Sasuke's vision is black. He blinks and tries to shake his head to clear, but his head is so slow and heavy. He begins to see Kiba's face. Kiba's mouth is moving. Sasuke blinks again, he feels like he is on a boat…it's rocking, 'Holy hell…what the…'.

"Du-…-…are - …-hey-…up!?...-…you alright? Sasss-Keh!", Kiba is looking at Sasuke, snapping his fingers in front of his face. Sasuke nods his head and looks directly at Kiba. "Dayy…AM!… Saww-see-Key! You can't … seriously … can't s-stand up … that fast dude! First -ule of drink-en…don't stand up *hic* to fast!", Kiba slurs out the best he can and starts giggling at Sasuke. Sasuke just lifts his eyebrows as high as he can and stares at Kiba's forehead. 'If I just can concentrate….right there…got it ', Sasuke continues to just stare while Kiba wraps an arm around his waist. "Come-on Sask-keh! Let's get zat drink!". Sasuke leans on Kiba's shoulder, 'Ahh… okay…this is better…', and both men wobble their way to the bar.

Sasuke leans heavy against the bar…'The wood…so smooth', Sasuke peers hard at the grains of wood, his fingers stroking the top, 'ohhh.. look at the grains'. Sasuke has suddenly found the lines of wood fascinating, ignoring those around him. Kiba looks over at Sasuke and snorts a smile as he waves over the bartender.

The bar doors burst open, loud calls of 'WHOOP WHOOP! All RIGHT!' can be heard from a group of men that enter the quaint English Style Pub. Kiba looks around. He leans over to Sasuke, who continues to fondle the bar top with his fingers, "Heyyy… Saass..", Kiba hisses. Sasuke pushes his head up and holds it with his hand, 'ugh…head…feels heavy', his eyes are unfocused, but he knows he heard Kiba 'where's Kiba's voice coming from?'. "Sauce! Looky man…", Kiba snaps his fingers in front of Sasuke's eyes to get him to focus. Sasuke manages to tilt his body, so gravity would assist in pulling his body completely around to see where the ruckus was coming from.

'Dammit… why…why is my body being so heavy… geezz…'. Sasuke squints his eyes at the group of loud and obviously overzealous group of drunks. Sasuke snorts, rolls his eyes and then looks at Kiba, "Letzzz… *hic*…get back oberr…*hic*… to dah crew… Kibzz.." and Sasuke nods his head in the direction of their group. Kiba nods and the two men lean on each other as they wobble back to the corner. Sasuke looks back at the group that came in, he snorts to himself and mutters, "…doze young punkss…*hic*..loud mouths…pffftt…sure can…can…ruin some good *hic* adult time…".

-)00(-

'Oh baby I love your way….'

Dark eyes twitch under closed lids.

'Everyday…ohhh ohhh…'

Closed eyes squint, nose scrunches, a tongue comes out from between dry parched lips and attempts to moisten.

'I wanna be with you night and day…'

Dark eyes peek open ever slowly, taking in the morning rays as a hand comes up to block the evil light on his delicate sensitive eyes.

'oh yeah…'

Sasuke rubs his eyes as he greets the morning light. He rubs his forehead next, smacks his lips together, realizing his mouth feels like it is full of cotton and he scolds himself for not brushing his teeth before bed last night.

'Wait…' Sasuke halts his movements as he thinks about last night, enjoying the décor, sitting with his friends, the laughter and jokes. He smiles to himself. '...yes…it was an enjoyable time wasn't it?' Sasuke begins to stretch out his limbs in the bed, enjoying the pleasant feeling of pops and snaps that his joints give.

'ohhhh baby I love your way...'

Sasuke stops his movements and listens. 'Ugh…the neighbor is singing in the shower again'. Sasuke huffs. This isn't the first time that he could hear his neighbor's antics in these piss poor insulated walls. Dismissing the muffled singing, Sasuke sits up and "Eyeee!", Sasuke lets out a sharp yelp. He sends his hand quickly to his lower back and pushes on it, as if pushing on the spot helps the discomfort. 'What the hell?! That fucking hurts!'. Sasuke grits his teeth and rubs his fingers on the lower area of his back. 'Holy hell…. I must have pulled a muscle or something…', Sasuke muses to himself while rubbing the area. Running a hand through his hair he thinks to himself, 'Damn it sucks getting older', he then lets out a snort and smirks to himself. 'Well… time to make myself mobile.', Sasuke disciplines himself and slides his legs to the edge of the bed.

Sasuke stops and looks at the bedding. 'Hold the phone…'. He grabs the comforter and looks closely at the plain brown with orange coloured flower pattern comforter. He looks at the pillows, the matching plain brown with orange coloured flower pattern pillows. Sasuke holds his breath.

'ohhh baby I love your way…'

Sasuke looks up from the bed to the sound of a shower running.

'I wanna tell you I love your way…'

Sasuke looks at a door where the shower noises and muffled singing is coming from, which must lead to a bathroom…'uhh…where the fuck…?' he asks himself, as he notices, he has never seen nor been in this room before.