Bright Eyes belongs to Disney, or Simon and Garfunkle. Or Remy Zero. Someone like that, anyway. I think lots of people-slash-bands did a version. The Gambler belongs to Kenny Rogers. Final Fantasy belongs to Square Enix.
I wrote this for SapphireXSerpent's Rufus x Elena challenge. The option I chose was '4) Rufus decides to go to the bar with the Turks, and something happens…'
I think this turned out at about 2980 words. Wow that's long.
I'm afraid it's not very good, but… I hope you like it anyway.
Brawlers-For SapphireXSerpent's Elena x Rufus challenge-
"Where are you four off too?"
The Turks spun around guiltily. "We get off early today Sir." Tseng said. "We aren't skipping out."
"I know. I was only asking." Rufus said, sounding slightly put out.
"The bar." Reno said, shrugging.
"Ah…" the president of ShinRa turned to leave, then paused and turned back. "Do you think I could come?"
The four stared at him. They looked at each other. Reno shrugged. "Sure. Why not?"
"It's in the slums." Rude warned.
Rufus shrugged. "Not a problem. I'm just sick of staying here until late then getting takeaways on the way home."
"Well, come on then! We'll miss out on our table!" Reno said, dashing across the parking lot to his car. They'd pulled straws and he'd lost, so they were taking his car tonight.
Reno hopped into the driver's seat, and Tseng climbed into the front passenger's. This left Rude, Elena and Rufus to fight over the window seats in the back.
Elena was by far the smallest, so she lost and, grumbling, she climbed into the middle. Being squished in between Rude and Rufus all the way to the bar wasn't something she looked forwards too.
Reno's car was rather small, so all three felt like 400g of sardines in a 200g can.
The car spluttered to a start and then made it's way out the parking lot and onto the streets of Midgar. Reno was never the most patient driver, and the streets of Midgar were never a place for the impatient, so they were in for a rough ride.
Reno hardly ever took his hand off the horn, and ran a number of red lights. He left behind him a trail of angry drivers and even angrier pedestrians.
"Reno, slow down!" Rufus shouted at him.
"It's useless Sir." Elena told him. "He drives like this no matter what we say."
"On the way home, someone else is driving then!"
"That's what always happens Sir. Rude and Reno get blind drunk, so me and Tseng toss a coin for designated driver."
Rufus shook his head and stared out the window again. He had no idea why he'd asked to come, really. He'd never really liked Reno or Rude; Reno being a complete moron most of the time, and Rude was just… too quiet. Too serious. He didn't mind Tseng, but he wasn't the type you went out drinking with. And Elena was just the newbe. He'd only talked to he a few times, and she'd come across as shy, but very dedicated and hard working. Perhaps a little incompetent though.
So why had he come? Maybe he was sick of his usual routine, like he'd said. Maybe not. But what did it matter? After tonight, he'd probably never come again.
He was jolted out of his thoughts by a loud crash and a yell from Elena. "What the hell was that?" He demanded.
"Speed bump Sir." Said Elena.
"The whole point of speed bars is to make people slow down! His car won't last long!" Rufus told her.
"I know Sir. But this is how he drives, and he won't let anyone else drive his car. He even named it."
"Good grief. He really is insane, isn't he?"
"Oi! I heard that!" Reno shouted.
oOo
When they finally arrived at the bar, it was to a collective sigh of relief. "I really didn't think I'd live to see the end." Rufus grumbled.
"You get used to it after a while." Tseng said, on his way through the door.
"I hope I won't get the chance." He muttered back.
"Don't worry. Next time I'm driving." Rude said. He was a much more careful driver than the younger Turk was.
That hadn't been what Rufus had meant, but he didn't say anything.
Elena was the last to get out of the car, and she staggered over to the wall. She looked a bit green.
"Are you ok?" he asked her.
"I'm fine. Really. I just get a bit carsick."
"Oh. Perhaps it wasn't a good idea to make you sit in the middle then."
"Very funny Sir." Elena said in a slightly strangled voice.
oOo
The bar was crowded. That was an understatement, actually. There was hardly room to move, and definitely no tables left.
"What's going on here?" Reno was yelling. "They're never this crowded on Fridays!"
"They might have something to do with it." Tseng said, pointing at the makeshift stage that had been set up at one end of the bar.
"Who is it?" asked Reno.
"Probably a semi-famous underground band."
"They're called Whiteboard." Rufus shouted over the background noise.
"What?"
"That's the band's name. Whiteboard."
"How do you know that?" Reno demanded.
"Because I'm psychic. And there's a sign over there saying 'Playing Tonight: Whiteboard'."
"Oh. Let's go somewhere else. I don't like being crowded."
"Great idea! I know for a fact they're not very good. Mostly they just scream about how much life sucks." Elena said loudly. A few people around her glared.
oOo
They walked to the next bar. No one felt like getting back in the car if Reno was driving. It wasn't too far, anyway. Just a ten minute walk or so. This bar was much more run down, but according to Reno and Rude, it only looked crummy. It was kept clean and the drink was good.
As another bonus, there were only two other people there, a fat man who was sprawled over the counter snoring, and a miserable looking man in the corner, nursing a pint of something.
The Turks and their boss found a nice table by the big bay window and ordered their drinks. To Rufus's surprise, Elena ordered a glass of cola. "I don't drink." She said, when she caught his questioning look.
"What, not at all?"
"I've never seen the point. It's not like…" she glanced at Reno, who was already half way through a mug of beer. She lowered her voice. "It's not like it even tastes very nice."
Unfortunately, Reno heard her anyway. "What? 'Laney! What have we told you about this?"
Elena rolled her eyes. "Reno, look, to each their own, I don't care if you like getting drunk out of your mind, so you shouldn't care if I don't."
"What have I told you?" Reno repeated.
"Beer is good. There is no other drink like it." the Turks chorused. Even Tseng joined in halfheartedly. "Reno, shut up and drink." he said.
Sulkily, Reno did as he was told.
"Good grief." Rufus said.
"I have to put up with this every time."
"Why?
"What?"
"Why do you put up with it?"
The woman shrugged. "Once you start being a Turk, you stop being anything else. I've got a few friends from before, but I think they don't really like me, so this is my crowd now."
Rufus nodded. He didn't really have anything to say to that.
By the time he had finished his first glass of beer, Reno was on his fourth, and Rude his third. Tseng had ordered a glass, then he'd sat there staring at it. So far he hadn't taken a single sip. "How long do you think they can keep this up?" he asked Elena.
"Reno usually passes out around eleven, and Rude stops drinking before that happens, at around ten. Tseng just drinks whatever, and he seems sober as usual. It's weird."
"I see. I guess we've got a long night ahead of us then."
She sighed. "You have no idea. At around nine, Reno will start singing. Badly."
She was right, too. Rufus was impressed. She must have put up with this so many times that she could estimate when everything would happen. He found himself starting to like the blonde woman.
"Bright eyeeeees…Buuurning like fiiire… Briiiight eyes… how can you cloooose and faaade…" Reno sang.
"I always think I should bring earplugs next time, but I keep forgetting."
"He's butchered the song, hasn't he?" Rufus shuffled along the seat towards the window a bit, because Reno was waving his beer mug around almost in time with his singing.
Elena sighed and nodded. "I used to really like Bright Eyes. But this isn't too bad. You should hear his rendition of The Gambler.
"I don't think I want to." Rufus looked along the table. Rude was hunched forwards over his drink. Beside him, Reno was conducting an invisible orchestra with his beer mug and singing at the top of his voice. Elena had the window seat on this side of the table, and Tseng was on Rufus's other side. Still staring at his glass. It was half full now.
"Why does he just stare at his glass?" he whispered, pointing at Tseng.
"So he doesn't have to look at anything else. I think… He's just sad about something."
"Hmm…"
"Oh no!" Elena said, as Reno stood up on his seat. "This isn't good!"
"What's he going to do?" Rufus thought about this. "Do I want to know?"
"No, you don't. But you'll find out soon anyway."
Reno clambered from his seat and onto the table and faced the empty bar. "Is everyone listening?" he slurred. He was swaying slightly.
"Reno! Get down!"
"We don't know him." Rufus said vaguely to the other occupants of the bar, and the waitress and bartender. There was muffled laughter.
Reno held his hands up for silence. He was ignored, but Rude tried to pull him down off the table. "Ok! It's time for my favorite part of the evening."
"But no one else's…" Elena muttered, hiding her face behind her hands.
"Time for the singing!"
"You've been singing all night you drunkard!" The miserable man in the corner shouted at him.
Reno directed a scowl at him. "I'll have you know that I'm not the one who will be doing the singing!"
"He's not?" Elena said in horror. "Good grief. He's never done this before. What now?"
In answer to her question, Reno turned around. "My good friend Rufus ShinRa is going to sing for us!"
Four faces stared at him in shock. "Like hell," Said his good friend.
Then the bartender was looming over them. "If your friend continues to behave like this, I'll have to kick you out."
"Sorry Mister." Elena said. "Reno, if you don't get down from there now, something horrible will happen to you."
"Whassat gonna be then?" Reno asked. His eyes now had an unfocused quality.
"First off, I'll happen to you. Then probably the bartender, and he's got a club. Don't you?" she directed the last question at the tall man standing by the table.
"No. I don't need one."
Rufus was really starting to like the newest Turk.
"Boss! She's threatening me!" Reno whimpered, stepping back. Unfortunately for him, he knocked Tseng's glass over. It was still one quarter full.
"I will be too, soon." Tseng glared up at him.
"Ok. You four can stay, he has to go." The bartender said angrily. "I'm sick of mopping up after drunkards."
At that point Reno lost his balance and fell, right onto the poor man. They both yelled in surprise and toppled to the floor. "Get off me you moron!" yelled the bartender.
Reno was in a bad mood. He didn't quite know what was going on, three people had threatened him, Rufus had refused to sing, and now this man was calling him names. He did the first thing that came to mind. His fist came back.
His fist swung down.
His fist connected with the man's nose.
"Reno!" Elena screamed angrily.
Rude took one look, sighed, and went back to his drink, muttering something about getting it out of his system. Tseng, Rufus and Elena immediately were on their feet and leaping towards the two.
Reno was drunk, and the bartender was a man who had had enough. Reno's punch had been the last straw, and now the two were in a real live bar fight.
"Reno, stop it!" Tseng yelled, but Reno ignored him. "Fine, we'll do this the hard way! Elena, grab Reno, I'll get the other one."
Elena nodded. At the same time, they pounced, each grabbing one of the fighters and trying to drag them away from each other. Tseng got hit in the stomach by a flailing elbow, but managed to keep a grip on the bartender and haul him backwards.
However, Reno hadn't quite had enough, and struck out wildly behind him, managing to catch Elena a stunning blow to the face. She yelled in pain and fell backwards. Tseng's glass was lying on the floor, and she had the misfortune to stumble on it. The floor rose up to meet her with a jarring thud.
"Elena!" Rufus yelled, running over to her.
"I'm fine…" She mumbled, trying to get back up. "Jus' a bit of a bump." Her eyes closed and she fell back.
"Shit Reno! You're a real idiot, you know that?"
When Elena had let go of Reno, he'd looked back to see where his opponent was gone, but Tseng was already dragging him away. Hearing Rufus yelling at him, he looked back. "Wha' you say?
"You've really injured her!"
Reno managed to look a bit more sober. He had time to say, "What?" And then Rude picked him up by the scruff of the neck. "Hey! Hey! Let me go!"
Rude didn't say anything, he just walked over to the door and threw the protesting redhead out onto the pavement. "Is she ok?" he asked.
Rufus nodded. "She's just out cold."
"Let's get out of here. Are you ok?" Tseng was helping the bartender to stand up.
"I'm fine, let me go."
"Alright. We'll just pay for our drinks and go."
"And don't bother coming back!" the bartender snarled.
"Anything you say." Tseng let him go. He collapsed back onto the floor. In the end they gave the money to the waitress and left.
Rufus ended up, to his embarrassment, carrying Elena out to the car. Tseng climbed into the driver's seat. Reno was slumped in the passenger's seat, sulking. He looked pretty beaten up, but didn't seem to have any serious injuries past a black eye.
Rufus was fairly certain that Elena's nose was broken, and even if it wasn't, it was bleeding. She also had a split eyebrow, black eye, and a nice bruise on her cheek. There was a bump on the back on her head where it had hit the floor. Apart from that, she seemed alright.
"What are we going to do? Take her home, or to a hospital?"
"She's got no injuries that can be healed with much else than time, so we might as well take her home." Tseng said. "Hurry up and get in."
"I'll walk home." Rude said, "It's in the opposite direction, and it's not that far."
"Ok, see you tomorrow."
"Goodnight." He turned and headed off up the road, then disappeared around a corner.
Rufus carefully placed Elena into the back seat, closed the door, and went around to the other side. When he was in the car rolled out onto the street. Somehow, Tseng seemed able to stop it from sputtering and roaring like it did when Reno was driving.
It was a long way to Elena's house. They kicked Reno out at his apartment on the way there, and told him he could have his car back tomorrow.
"Here we are." Said Tseng, pulling into a park on the side of the road. Rufus lifted Elena back out of the car. She still hadn't woken up. He carried her up the stairs to the door, where Tseng was standing. "The door's locked." He said.
"Oh." Rufus looked down at Elena. "I am not going through her pockets for keys."
"Hmph. So what do we do then, hmm?"
"Uhm. We just need her to wake up, right?"
"Yes."
"So we can just wait here until she does, right?"
Tseng shrugged. "Ok." Then he squinted at Rufus. "Are you alright Sir?"
"Yes. I'm fine. Why?"
"You're just looking a bit red."
Rufus got the impression that Tseng was laughing at him in the depths of his mind. He certainly wasn't laughing, or even sniggering, out loud. He sighed. "I'll tell you what. You take Reno's car and go home. I'll stay here until she wakes up and then walk home. We can't just leave her here, and it's only a short walk."
"It's the other side of the sector."
"That's not that far. I walk to work every day."
Tseng's eyebrows shot up. "Really? Well, if you're sure, goodnight then." He left.
Rufus set Elena down on the steps, leaning against the wall, then sat down on the other side of the steps. After a while he fell asleep.
He woke up when Elena said, "I'd really like to know what happened in between the time Reno thumped me and now."
"Wha'?"
"What happened?" Elena repeated.
"Oh. You were out cold. Tseng said there was no point in taking you to a hospital, so we just bought you back home, but the door was locked. Tseng and the others went home, so I ended up staying here."
"Um. Thank you. Ow." Her hand went to her face. "I feel like crap." She said.
"You look it too."
"Gee, thanks." She stood up, a little unsteadily, then reached up and grabbed the key from above the door. "I would have thought one of you would have found this though."
Rufus's mouth dropped open. "Oh. I never thought of that."
Elena smiled. "No one ever does. Who would expect a Turk to leave her spare key in such an obvious place?"
"Heh."
"Well…" Elena unlocked the door, then paused before going inside. "Would you like to come in for a drink?" she asked. Then she went slightly red.
Rufus smiled. "I'd love to."
oOo
A/N: Finished! Well, sort of. I really don't think it's very good, but I'm not very good at writing this kind of thing. Does that count as an excuse? Oh well.