A/N: Important things to know. Yes, I know this fic is a bit on the humor side for being labeled "Romance/Angst". I suppose you're wondering why. It's because it's the way I write. Filled to the brim with irony. I love to mock characters. It's how I show I love them. Plus, I can't outwardly write humor. I can only incorporate it into other genres, so that is where my funny side gets out. If there were three categories allowed for stories, I guess humor would be the third for this fic. I mean, come on, even the title makes people laugh…
The thing is, I'm incredibly flexible when it comes to Sonic couples. I like all sorts, though I have to admit Rouge/Knuckles is near the bottom of my list. But the idea was too good to pass up. So, enjoy!
Also, I own plushies of Sonic and Tails. Anyone who can get me a Knuckles plushie would have my eternal gratitude. (It's worth a shot!)
~Raiegki Leviathan
~*~
Operation: Seduce EchidnaChapter Two: The Drinking Game
~*~
The second Rouge broke away; Knuckles pried her arms off his neck and forced them back to her. He looked flustered and tried to talk, but failed. He gritted his teeth and stared at the bat as if she was the devil, which in his point of view, probably wasn't too far off.
He appeared to be genuinely terrified of her. Rouge took secret delight in that look. It was like a snappy Kodak commercial to her. She wished she had a camera.
Sadly, the point here was to not make him terrified, but to somehow convert him into a hopeless, lovesick fool. Rouge didn't expect it to be easy, so she decided to put some feminine charm to work.
"What's wrong?" She asked, putting on an innocent look that would put even Cream to shame. "Don't you like me?"
Knuckles chose to say nothing. He knew little in the ways of women. Never really having much interaction with the female gender, he was sure he was one of the most clueless beings in the world about them, second only to Sonic, who took the prize for that. He was rather certain no matter what he said to her, he was asking for trouble. As oblivious as he may have been, he knew the number one rule about the opposite sex. Something Sonic always failed to learn.
Pissing women off is bad.
"Well, I can understand." Rouge smiled. "If I were you, I'd hate my guts, too." She realized all she was doing was scaring him. Though she liked that, that wasn't supposed to be scaring him. "I'm just going to have to show you how great I can be. Come on, Knucklehead."
Oops. Wrong name. Rouge thought, mentally slapping her forehead. Not giving him a chance to decline her offer, she snatched him by the hand and dragged him away.
~*~
It was then Rouge realized she overlooked an important question she should've researched before she started this mission.
What the heck to guys like? Especially guys that just sit around looking after jewels all day?
She figured she should have asked another girl on tips to capturing a guy's heart. But then Rouge realized that she didn't have to bother. Who was she going to ask on advice?
Amy? Yeah right. Rouge would've been better off consulting Cream. She was going to have to improvise.
"Where are you taking me!?" her hostage blurted out, disrupting her train of thought.
"It's a secret." Rouge winked at him. "You'll like it, I promise."
~*~
"Rouge…I don't drink." Knuckles said as Rouge brought him into the bar.
"We're not here just to drink!" Rouge insisted. "A lot of treasure hunters hang out around here once a week. Tonight is that night. I thought you might like to meet some of them."
Knuckles examined his surroundings. He never saw so many fortune seekers all in one place before. In fact, he had never seen so many of them period.
"Nervous, are we?" Rouge smiled. "Don't worry. All the people here are nice."
"Hey, Rouge!" One of them called out, waving at the bat.
"C'mon, I want you to meet them!" Rouge beckoned, again tugging on her unwilling companion's arm.
~*~
"I thought you said you didn't drink." Rouge laughed as Knuckles gulped down an entire mug of beer.
"I didn't." Knuckles nodded, slamming the glass down. "I guess I just wanted to try. It tastes kind of stale and watery. Makes me feel a little sick."
"So, you want another one?"
"Yeah."
"Another beer for my echidna friend! Put it on my tab!" Rouge called out to girl behind the counter. As the barmaid took the mug and refilled it, the bat turned to Knuckles. "Don't worry, you'll be drunk in no time."
"Whatever you say." Knuckles mumbled as he took a sip of his newly refilled glass.
"Betcha I can chug a beer faster than you can." Rouge challenged quite suddenly.
Knuckles stopped and put the cup back onto the counter. "Excuse me?" He asked seriously, turning his violet eyes onto the challenger.
"I said, "Betcha I can chug a beer faster than you can"." Rouge repeated, putting her hands on her hips. "So, you wanna play my drinking game or what?"
If there was anything Knuckles loved, it was competition. He accepted her dare as another beer was passed to them. The barkeeper, Rain the Fennec Fox [1], was to judge the contest.
With any luck, he'll get drunk before I do. Then he's all mine…
As soon as the signal was given, both competitors grabbed their respective drinks and began consuming them as quickly as possible. Both mugs were slammed down onto the counter at the exact same time with a resounding thud that echoed throughout the bar very clearly. Rain declared it a tie.
Unsatisfied with the results, the two of them decided to redo the contest. Again, there was a tie. Still not happy, they went on to two more rematches, until the vixen refused to serve them any more alcoholic drinks.
"Rats. Neither of us won." Rouge sighed in disappointment.
"Too bad." Knuckles agreed, shaking his head. "S'okay, I guess. Yer tab must be getting pretty big by now."
"I can afford it." Rouge huffed with a wave of her hand. "A couple a silly drinks aren't going to bring me down financially." She paused and took in a deep breath. "It's stuffy here, and ya sound a little drunk. Wanna go outside?"
~*~
Outside, Rouge tripped on an uneven part of the sidewalk and fell over, bringing Knuckles down with her.
"Sounds like someone is also a little drunk." Knuckles teased with a twisted grin on his face as he helped her up.
"I don't know whether ta hit ya for making fun of me, or ta kiss ya for being so nice." Rouge smirked with an intoxicated look on her face. "So, whaddya say I hit ya…" She gave him a playful punch in the stomach. "…and kiss ya?" She finished, embracing the echidna and bringing him in for another kiss.
Rouge didn't know whether it was a change in opinion or her drunken state, but this time, she did not have the urge to purge the taste of the echidna out of her mouth.
Knuckles himself still had little to no idea what he was doing. All he was sure of was that no girl ever got this close to him, and it was a new experience for him. And it was a bit exciting, to be liked more than just a friend (though he and Rouge never qualified for "friends") and being important for more than just protecting the Master Emerald.
Completely oblivious to the inner workings of the bat's mind, however, he was just setting himself up for misery. Should Rouge's brilliant scheme go as planned, Knuckles would soon learn that happiness is not without pain. Though this incident was thrilling to him, he was suddenly reminded this was Rouge the Bat kissing him here. She may love him, but it would take a while before he could love her, if he ever could.
"Ng…Rouge…I must go." He murmured as he turned in one direction and walked off, staring at his feet as he went.
Rouge smirked and sauntered off in the other direction, quite satisfied with her progress.
~*~
[1] – For those of you wondering, Rain the Fennec Fox is my own Sonic character. (No relation to Tails) I use her for roleplay mostly. However, she only plays the small role of a barmaid in fanfictions. I'm not too keen on putting original characters into fics. If I do, they always get small parts. Think of it as a little Easter Egg for me.