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Oliver followed Ian helplessly down the aisle. "N-no, I... I'm not even..."

He rummaged in his coat's inner pockets, and pulled out the wallet that contained his fake ID and whatnot. He found the ID quickly. "I'm not- Oh." The ID was not going to help his case. It listed him as 21. It made sense in a way, a secret organization with unknown technology that fought the forces of darkness unseen by the average human would naturally need it's members to have access to as many places as possible...

Oliver put the wallet away. As relieved as he was that Ian seemed a little more himself, there was no way he was going to let the older hunter buy him drinks. "I-I'm okay, please don't get that..." he pleaded, "I-I could just have a coke instead or something!"

Oh... that did make some sense. People usually did drink with other people, it was an activity Oliver had planned on spending several years in university avoiding. He never thought it would be this difficult though. His life plan had been to go through school being altogether too geeky for a social life, avoid the drinking and the drugs so he would have more time for videogames, and eventually graduate with honours and move onto bigger and better things. And newer videogames.

"A-are you s-sure I have to drink something alcoholic? Really, plain coke is fine..." He glanced wistfully down the junk food aisle as they passed, with the soft drinks all lined up on one side, the other holding racks and shelves and piles of potato chips and cheetos and pretzels. He really missed junk food...

The register was the worst part, knowing he was clearly underage despite his ID, Oliver thought it safer to just wait for Ian on the other side. It was perhaps the best control he could exert over his nervous tendencies, removing himself to examine a large advertisement on display with altogether too much concentration.

Oliver knew the time for protests had passed. As he stepped out of the grocery store he was no longer worried that Ian was taking him somewhere to dispose of him quietly, but he still had a lot of questions. A whole ton of them, as a matter of fact, and no courage with which to ask them.

"Th-this way, right?" He asked, making an educated guess and heading down the street in the direction of increased greenery. It felt almost surreal, walking down a normal street with normal people all around. It wasn't something Oliver had felt growing up, shadows or no shadows, but now that he knew what was out there... It was strange seeing everyone so oblivious.

Oliver took a seat next to Ian, and accepted the drink. He couldn't very well say no... "Um.. a-are you sure we should be doing this i-in a public park?" He muttered quietly, in a near whisper.

He lifted the bottle, and touched it to Ian's with a soft clink. But he didn't take a sip. Something about Ian's behaviour was hollow, like his good-natured insistence earlier had only been a distraction. Even a kid with no social experience could tell he was not himself.

"W-why did you bring me here?" Oliver asked quietly, raising the drink, but not quite taking a sip. The smell of the strawberry lemonade was pretty normal, only the slight edge to it hinted at it's alcohol content.

Oliver lowered the bottle, staring at it intensely. Ian was lying to him, that much was clear. Whether the other man knew it, or was trying to pretend it wasn't there, he had invited this elephant to the 'party' for one reason, and Oliver had yet to figure out the reason for his own invite. Instead of making a second attempt at taking a sip, he just glanced over at Ian from under dark eyelashes.

"Really?" His tone was doubtful, but not shaky like usual. Almost accusatory. If drinking away his problems was the best way to survive, he'd already resigned himself to his early grave. It wouldn't be hard, becoming an alcoholic before he died would only make things troublesome for everyone else.

Oh. Love problems.

Aside from a little crush in high school, Oliver knew nothing about it. As with most human-made concepts, it was only a description for a biological state that had grown over time to mean more than it did... and a great deal less. To imply that love existed, also meant there was a state in which it did not. And that was the state Oliver was more familiar with.

He stared at the bottle in his hands for a few quiet moments. "Is it a lie?" the kid prodded gently. Ian would find no good answers at the bottom of his rum, and although he was a poor substitute for a guiding figure, sometimes it helped to talk to someone about your problems.

The little Life trainee wasn't sure how to answer that. There were things he loved, had loved, but he couldn't remember having a person. At least not for a long, long time. Sometimes he could pull up a smile from his memory, but he was no longer sure if it was a real memory or just a composite of the photos around his house.

He shook his head, and glanced over at Ian again. "It must have been nice at one point, right?"

Oliver frowned, and took a sip. Just to say he was drinking. It wasn't as bad as he expected, to be honest. The taste was odd, like it was trying to be strawberry lemonade, but the distinct flavour added by the alcohol reminded the kid that he shouldn't just chug it down like any old soft drink.

"What happened?" He asked in a really soft tone, almost as though he knew the answer. There were only so many things that would drive a man to go out drinking and then start talking about the dangers of loving someone else. Oliver had seen it himself once before, but he hadn't understood it at that age.