Song Fic inspired by Eric Hutchinson's "Rock & Roll" [Listen on YouTube: watch?v=bm5TZX5hz3g]
"Lover's quarrel?!" shouted Jessie. She would have thought that meowth would know better than to push her buttons when she was already mad.
James chuckled, "I would feel sorry for the poor sap burdened to be Jessie's lover."
"WHAT!?" Jessie's face turned red hot. "Men rush over at the sight of my beauty."
"And they rush away at the sound of your voice!" James shot back. Meowth laughed so hard he fell of the rock he was sitting on.
Jessie stomped the ground, "I don't see you bringing any ladies to camp..."
"I just have too sophisticated of tastes..."
Jessie threw a pack of instant noodles in his face. "Sophisticated taste that. No one wants to go out with a broke loser like you."
James balled his hands into fists, "That shows what you know! Any woman would be happy to spend time with me; you're just holding me back."
"Holding you back!?" Jessie turned on her heel and stormed off. "I don't need this!"
"Well I don't need you!" James shouted behind her. He turned the opposite direction and stomped away.
Meowth pulled himself back onto his rock. "Heh, foinally I can get some peace'n quiet 'round here."
James stumbled along in the forest until he found a trail and followed it until it became a road and followed that until it became a town. Not a big town, but big enough and he could care less which one it was. He'd been all around the world and seen every city. There was nothing special this town could offer him. But he wasn't looking for special anyway. Digging around in his pockets he counted his change. He was broke, but he wasn't going to admit Jessie was right. He shrugged and peered in the window of a nearby house. Didn't look like anyone was home. He opened the door. It was unlocked, of course. James would think that with all the different criminal organizations in all the countries, more people would lock their doors. It only took James five minutes to rifle through some drawers and change out of his Team Rocket uniform. He grabbed what little cash he could find laying around and walked out casually. It was evening, and in a town like this... it might be small, but there would be a bar. Someplace to kick back and enjoy the company of anyone but Jessie for a change.
A walk was just what Jessie needed to clear her head. She had been following the winding walking trail for a while now and it seemed to end here in this little park. She took a deep breath and looked around. A woman sat on a park bench reading a book.
"Pardon me," Jessie announced as she walked up to her, "I'm feeling good this evening, do you know any place fun around here?"
The woman sat silently looking at Jessie with a smug face.
Jessie rolled her eyes. "No, I don't suppose you do."
She shrugged and started walking toward the buildings she saw in the distance. When she felt she was out of the woman's line of sight she casually pulled a tube of lipstick from the purse she snagged. Such a bright color for such a dull woman, Jessie thought, capping it and looking through the rest of the stolen goods. That woman wouldn't miss it at all.
It was past midnight and James had tripped over the line between tipsy and drunk. He'd chatted with several women already, but had no luck. The first had a boyfriend, the second was beautiful but wouldn't shut up about her snubbull, and the third spoke a completely different language and couldn't understand a word he said. James moved from the dance floor to the bar to pick up another shot. Maybe two or three more shots and he would try the snubbull lady again. He heard whispers as he passed a group of young women.
"Did you see that girl who came in last song?" "Ugh yeah, she's so pretty. Good luck getting a guy to notice us now." "Don't be like that Kim, I bet she can't dance as well as you..."
James took a seat and scanned the crowd. He didn't notice someone sit right next to him.
"I'll have a beer, please. That gentleman in red said to put it on his tab," came the voice from the next seat over, a voice that sounded... familiar?
Jessie skipped out of the first club when she noticed "the guy in the blue shirt" noticing that his tab had been run up more than he expected. But it wasn't hard to slide into the competing club down the street. James was so wrong, she could get any man she wanted. It was finding one she wanted that was the trouble. The men here thought they were too tough and that just wasn't going to work. She wouldn't settle for a man who didn't know his place. Even so, she was starting to feel very drunk a little desperate. She circled the dance floor, waving and winking at a man in a red jacket, before taking a seat at the bar. "I'll have a beer, please. That gentleman in red said to put it on his tab."
James turned toward the voice. A woman in a crop top and short skirt was downing a bottle of beer. She put it down on the bar with a sigh and stroked the long neck of the bottle with her brightly painted fingernails. James blushed. "Do... Do I know you?"
The woman looked at him, a bit confused. She laughed, "I don't know, you look like every other idiot I've talked to tonight." She seemed so familiar but his head was spinning.
"You're pretty," he said.
"Yes I am," she agreed. "Bartender? I think we need more drinks, for me and blue-hair over here."
They were kicked out of the club a little after one thirty. Drunk and giggling they somehow managed to outrun Officer Jenny and hide in an alley. They were going to rent a hotel room, but the combined change in their pockets couldn't afford even the cheapest one. So they just kept walking out of town until they found a small house that seemed empty. James tried to pick the lock but failed miserably. ("They're not usually locked!") Jessie laughed at him and broke down the door with a kick. They tumbled onto the bed. Jessie was starting to sober up and starting to remember why that blue hair was so familiar, but she'd come too far and wasn't going to stop now. James was realizing why he recognized that voice and that laugh, but if she wasn't going to admit it, he wasn't going to. They rolled beneath the sheets and feel asleep when the sun came up.
Around four o' clock the next day Jessie and James stumbled back to their camp together. Both looked a mess but neither one spoke. Meowth smiled at them. "Welcome back youse two. Get that out of your system, didja?"
Jessie glared at him but she was too tired to argue, especially not when there were hot noodles on the campfire.