Her gaze lingered on the blue bottle. The man holding it was tall, with a funny stomach and a thin neck. He himself looked like a bottle.

"Do you want to taste it?" he said in a nasal voice.

Kas shook her heavy head. No way. It's probably too expensive. Her pocket wasn't that deep.

"It's a wonderful drink, really." the bartender insisted, opening the bottle with a pop,  "It will return you back to your younger days."

His eyes had a weird twinkle to them. Kas elbowed Toolho, her drunk friend, to wake up. Nonetheless, the person continued sleeping, leaving Kas to deal with the man on her own.

"What do you think?" The man leaned forward. His tiny head was dangling on his neck, making onlookers wonder if he had some kind of medical condition, and if it was contagious.

"Listen, old man. I'm fine with drinking it. However, " she added, picking up her empty glass and handing it to the bartender, "I don't have any money left."

The man didn't even try to hide his disdain, and quickly moved to the next customer.

She then shrugged her shoulders.

"Would you like to give it a try, Sir?" His nasal voice carried an air of respect that made Kas turn her head and glance at the person sitting next to her. She was curious who made this jerk of a bartender change his attitude.

The person was dressed in a long grey coat, made from a neat and sturdy fabric. The coat had four big oval buttons, red in color, that shone under the yellow light that was spilled from the bar lamps. Kas turned her gaze to the hands of her neighbor. His left hand had three chunky rings and was holding a glass full of orange liquid.

"Is that juice?" she mumbled, moving a bit closer to look.

She noticed that in his front pocket, there was a handkerchief nicely tucked in. The corner of it was embroided with flowers.

"Want some?" The male asked her.

Kas, without looking at his face, waved her hands in a refusal.

"I don't want that."

The thin bartender quickly stepped in, offering his services.

"We have a special offer today." He purred.

Kas shuddered, listening how the bartender tried to make his voice seductive to persuade them to buy the drink. The breathy nasal voice really wasn't her type of thing.

He quickly put down two clear glasses in front of them.

"I told you, ugly face, " Kas stressed, "I don't have money for that stuff."

The bartender ignored her, and quickly started pouring. It was a dark green, slimy liquid, with a cold metallic sparkle to it. Once it was poured into glasses, it bubbled, and then stilled, as if frozen.

The bartender then pushed the glasses closer to them, and quickly turned away, to take care of the next customer.

"You know, " her neighbor said slowly. "Since he already gave it to us, you might as well try it."

He was a lean male, not too big, but enough to make you wonder if he could lift four sacks of flour at the same time, like her dad used to. He was also quite handsome.

"What a dandy." Kas thought, looking at his styled hair, cut shorter at the sides. "Not that it's bad."

In fact, Kas was pleased. She liked to look at pretty things. This man was just the type she'd imprison in a small bottle and put on her shelf, to admire.

"Pretty thing. He'd totally cheer me up on a bad day." She giggled.

The man looked at her, a bit fearful.

Kas gave him one more glance, and then stood up from her seat.

"It looks weird. I don't want to drink that." She said, lifting Toolho up on her shoulders. They were both drunk, and it was time to get home already.

"That man said it will return you to your younger days."

Kas stomped her feet. "Which part of me looks like it needs to get younger??"

"Well, you can't exactly call yourself fresh either." He laughed, causing her head to hurt even more.

"Listen up, pipsqueak, " Kas dropped Toolho off her shoulders and grabbed the young man by his collar. " I thought your brain was bigger then those buttons of yours. Seeing it's not a case, let me give you an advice. Don't ever call a woman old. You never know how the future will turn out. In some things, this old granny can leave you far behind."

"Oh?" he smirked, "Prove it."

Kas trembled, and then laughed, loudly, without any restraint.

"Prove it, chicken-boy? Why should I? What's in it for me?"

Kas knew better then to get into needless arguments with strangers. She's not twenty anymore. Why should she prove something to this dandy?

"I'll pay for your drinks!" The man voiced out.

There was a pause.

Indeed, Kas knew better then to get into needless arguments with strangers, and indeed, having turned thirty five, she does not need to prove anything to those puny youngsters. However…

Damn, getting free drinks was too good!

"Fine!" Kas roared, and sat back down.

"Ugly face!" her commanding voice, like a thunder, startled the bartender. He turned around to see a fuming female looking at him.

"Come here!" she waved at him.

While the bartender was walking over, Kas already turned to the young man and continued:

"As long as I prove to you that I can outdo you, you'll pay for all the stuff my friend and I ordered?"

It was weird once she put it in words. Because it didn't make much sense. But in her tipsy mind, there was not much capacity for logical thinking left.

The man nodded.

"Then, how do I prove it?" she asked. 

"Let's make a bet." The man proposed.

"You wanna bet? I'm better than you anyway, chicken-head. But what do you wanna bet? Ain't fair if I can't do it."

"I bet that I will outdrink you." Said the man. "From what I've seen, you can drink."

Kas smiled. She was a very competitive person, AND, she was a good drinker! Kas knew she could win.

What Kas didn't know, however, was that this young man was a complete jerk. So, when she was busy drowning herself in liquor, he was casually sipping on his orange juice. Since he did not specify the type of drink, he wasn't breaking any rules. And Kas was too drunk to notice. What she also didn't know was that the bartender was also a jerk, and did not mind to point anything out. In fact, he kept giving Kas stronger and more expensive drinks.

Soon enough, the competition ended in her crushing defeat.

"How??" she started sobbing, causing the young man to feel guilty.

"Look, look, " he started comforting her, " we can make another type of bet. This time, you choose."

His soothing voice had quite the opposite effect on the drunk woman.

Instead of calming down, she jumped up, startling both the worried man and the judgmental bartender.

"Good! Let's make another bet then!" Her loud confident voice caused the other visitors to shudder.

The man, relieved to see her cheering up, quickly agreed.

"I bet I can punch harder than you!" Kas exclaimed in a triumph.

The youngster's face froze. "I…don't really want to argue on that…" He quietly said, confused if they were supposed to punch each other, or the bartender (although it's not like he was going to do any of that, of course).

However, the determined female didn't give him any attention. Laughing, like an old woodcutter in the forest, she looked around to take one last drink to brace herself.

Noticing the two untouched glasses of green liquid, she grabbed one of them.

"Wait! But if you drink that, then our bet doesn't have any purpose!.." the man tried stopping her.

"It's not about bets anymore, " she growled, "It's about honour!"

Then Kas proceeded to gulp down the cold liquid in one go.

"Uhhh…Now, let's see if I can punch harder." She stood up on her chair.

"You don't really mean that, do you? I mean, I don't want to punch you." The man quickly put some distance between them.

"What?" She scoffed. "First of all, who said anything about you punching me? You reeky snob, your nasty hands can't touch me! No one can punch me, except myself! I will punch myself!" Kas shouted, and, before anyone could stop her, gave herself a heavy blow into the jaw.

Bam! The chair she was standing on overturned, and she fell.

The bartender couldn't believe his own eyes. The young man was also stupefied.

Mesmerized, they watched as Kas lifted herself up, and spat out a mouthful of blood together with four teeth.

"I won!"

The blood was trickling down her chin, mixing with saliva. It looked very gory, and painful. It was also uncomfortable, and she wanted something to soothe her suffering.

She moved to the table.

"No! You mustn't drink that much! And you even mixed in blood!" shouted the bartender when he saw Kas taking the remaining glass of the pricey liquid.

However, Kas only gave him a glare, as she gulped down the drink, and then, reluctantly, passed out.