Title: Five Sheets
Author: Solarbaby
Disclaimer: All I own is the plot.
Words: 878
Summary: Five times Casey saw RJ drunk. Rasey. Minor RJ/Casey/Dominic and slight other various parings.
Spoilers: Um… One Master Too Many, Path of the Rhino, and speculative finale spoilers.
Notes: Yeah, another Rasey. There's some slight Dominic/Fran and Jarrod/Lily and more obvious RJ/Casey/Dominic. I wrote this one while listening to a friend talk to her drunk boyfriend.
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"A drunk man's words are a sober man's thoughts."
-Proverb
The first time Casey saw RJ stumble back to the loft drunk it was only a few hours after Master Finn had left. It was dark and everyone had gone to bed, himself included. However, he was awoken by a loud thunk and what seemed to be a mumbled curse followed by laughter. Casey jerked up to see a tall figure stumbling across the practice mats. His first thought was intruder but that dissipated when he realized who it was. Dragging himself from his hammock, he found himself standing over the master, who had apparently decided that making it to his room wasn't worth it.
"RJ." He muttered under his breath, letting out a sigh.
The man in question merely gave him an undecipherable look that turned into a grin. Casey merely shook his head and pulled the man to his feet. It took a little work and a lot of stumbling but he managed to get his friend to his bedroom. The two had unceremoniously collapsed on the bed since, for some reason, RJ had decided that letting go of his student was a bad idea. He finally detangled himself from far too many limbs and dragged himself backed to his own bed.
He also realized that RJ was a very friendly drunk, maybe uncomfortably so considering Casey knew for a fact the wolf master had grabbed his ass during a particularly rough lurch.
The second time Casey saw RJ drunk was on Theo's twenty-first birthday. The wolf master had drug Theo out for the night, saying something about a rite of passage. And the two returned hours later completely and totally smashed. He was by himself when the two returned, Lily having decided to stay the night with Fran for some girl time. Theo barely made it into his hammock before he fell asleep, but RJ was wide awake as he slid onto his recliner.
That night Casey found out that RJ tasted like vodka and the Thai food they'd had for dinner along with something warm and unidentifiable that was so completely RJ he couldn't help but moan in satisfaction.
The third time he saw RJ drunk, Casey walked in on him and Dominic sitting in front of the recliner with a mostly empty bottle of scotch. Dominic turned out to be even more of a clown drunk than he was sober. Both of them seen to find the simplest of things extremely hilarious.
Moments later, he found himself sandwiched between RJ and Dominic with their hands traveling up and down his sides. RJ caught the tigers mouth with his while Dominic seemed content to nuzzle into his neck. He found himself lost in the sensation for a time but he came back to reality as he felt a hand travel up his shirt. Casey realized just where he was and who it was that had latched themselves onto his body.
Panic overrode his senses and he took off, only pausing a second to look back at the top of the stairs. One look at the forlorn expression on the wolf master's face almost made him reconsider his decision but he headed down to the parlor to get to work before he could change his mind.
The fourth time he ever saw RJ drunk was months later. He stood at the foot of RJ's bed and watched as the man downed his latest bottle of unidentifiable alcohol. Unlike all the other times, RJ was long past that happy drunk stage he'd seen the man in. As a matter of fact, the wolf master seemed downright morose. Casey sat down beside him, leaning against the headboard, and plucked the bottle from his hands.
RJ just gave him a dark look. "Yo'l leav'."
"What?" The slurred words startled him.
"Yo'l leav'. Wh'n this 's ovr' yo'l all leav'. A'd I'll be al'ne."
It took a few moments for the words to click in Casey's mind. "It that what this is about?" Stunned, Casey grabbed RJ by the chin and forced the man to look him in the eyes. "RJ, I'm not going anywhere unless you make me."
RJ watched the tiger for a few moments before wrapping an arm around Casey's waist and pulling him close. "I'm s'rry. 'Bout bef're."
Casey just nodded.
The next time Casey saw RJ drunk was at the current moment from where he was sitting beside him in the bar with his former teammates. It was for Casey's twenty-first birthday that RJ had insisted he bring the lot of them there.
He grinned as another beer was placed in front of him. Casey glanced up at the man handing it to him. "You trying to get me drunk?"
"I hope so." RJ clapped him on the shoulder and gave a squeeze. "But that's for later."
Casey glanced at his friends sitting at the round booth with him. Dominic had his arm around Fran who in turn was lying comfortably against him. Lily was muttering something to Jarrod who sent her a look of fond annoyance. Theo was in deep conversation with Camille and Flit, helping them devour a large plate of chicken wings. A strange sense of contentment settled over him at that moment and he turned back to his mate.
"Promise?"