[Academy RP] Bogimé Nights

[Utogo]

Apologies for the delay - hopefully should I be accepted I’ll pull up later on with some better and longer prose, but this should be sufficient. If not, please let me know.

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Xotooko District, Bogimé Province, Utogo
Friday, July 9th
10:41pm

The club was on the outskirts of Bogimé, which meant that nobody who was actually from the city ever visited. But 22-year-old Xatesa and his boyfriend, 23-year-old Bedao, wanted to head someplace a little out-of-town to celebrate their anniversary.

The place smelled of alcohol and finished wood. The open floor in the center of the room, where a few people were dancing to pumping electronic music, had backlights underneath its plexiglass surface, not uncommon for urban establishments here in the north. Nearby, a bartender was blasting strong drinks into shot glasses. Multicolored plastic chairs were strewn about the venue, a few of which were lopsided on the floor and the rest of which were next to tables or arranged in fairly neat formations meant to accommodate groups of friends in conversation. Scantily clad men and women could be seen on the upper floor occasionally going in and out of rooms. Not the ritziest, as expected, but in this part of the province, you make do.

“Get my man over here a drink!” Bedao exclaimed in a half-holler as he gave Xatesa a long kiss, at which a few quiet cheers resounded from nearby. Xatesa put his head down into his elbows on the counter with a smile he couldn’t contain as Bedao downed his own drink expertly.

From an outsider’s perspective, they seemed like polar opposites. They would usually be mistaken for a couple of platonic friends; Bedao was outspoken, dominant, a little rebellious. Xatesa was reserved, timid, and conscientious.

“I can’t believe it’s been two years,” Xatesa said in a half-whisper.

“What, you mean you couldn’t imagine yourself lasting a whole two years with me?”

“No, of course I do. It’s just... gone by so fast.”

“Yeah… crazy, huh? Time flies.” He paused for a moment before raising his glass. “Well, here’s to many more, baby. Bàʃà!”

“Bàʃà, honey,” Xatesa replied with another smile as he raised his own against his.

The couple spent the next half an hour drinking and enjoying each other''s company. Bedao, in his typical outspoken fashion, ordered more drinks, and Xatesa fended off the occasional romantic solicitation from other clubgoers with a reserved "I'm taken." Bedao had always known that Xatesa had a beauty about him that was simply beyond comparison, and he couldn't object when others eyed him out. But he knew - at least, he thought he knew - that Xatesa loved only him because he saw beauty in him, too, and that gave him the same solace and sense of worth that he hoped he could give to Xatesa.

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Later, as they sat down on plastic chairs around one of the circular tables ringing the floor, Bedao pulled out a small bag filled with crumbled bits of a leafy plant, bundled with about a dozen square pieces of thin, opaque paper. He slid the bag onto the table nonchalantly, as if he weren’t breaking a law just by holding it; the contents looked to be a few dozen grams.

Xatesa was partly bewildered and partly concerned as he put a light arm on Bedao’s shoulder and trailed it down his back. “Babe, what is that?”

“Oh, this? I got it for us! It’s our special day, Xaa.”

“N-no, I mean what actually is it?”

“It’s… uh… I don’t really know. I got it from a friend. But it smells like zòbè, so that’s what it is, I guess.”

Xatesa recognized that term, the one used for a drug mostly grown just a few provinces down from Wodaa City, but he had never partaken in it himself. Usually harmless, but occasionally volatile. “You’re sure we should be taking that?”

“Yeah. I’ve done zòbè before, and all it gave me was a buzz.”

Xatesa paused, and Bedao broke his silence.

“You wanna? Let’s indulge a bit, just for a bit.”

Xatesa’s hesitance lingered just a moment longer as he looked into Bedao’s eyes for a second, and a smile widened onto his face. “Alright, alright... Happy anniversary, Bee. Love you.” He leaned over and kissed Bedao on the cheek as he opened the bag and carefully dumped its contents onto the table. The paper, the drug, a lighter. Xatesa and Bedao start rolling a couple of joints, occasionally glancing at each other.

“Here, I’ll roll you one, Xatesa,” Bedao said as he noticed Xatesa fumbling with the unfamiliar items.

“Thanks,” he replied as he passed the paper and a clump of the dark green leaves to Bedao. Sure enough, after a few dozen seconds, they both had tight rolls in their hands, raising them to their mouths.

“You ready?” Bedao said from the corner of his lips.

“Yeah.”