Author's Note: Yo I know I usually save this thing for the end but this time I'm gonna start off with it. I realized the other day just how neglectful I've been to poor Rude in the past few chapters and I've decided to make it up to him by centering this next chapter around him.
Rude walked into the bar and sat himself at the table across from Matt while Jareth got their drinks, "Rough day?"
"More like a rough week." Matt frowned, "Been swamped in paperwork lately."
"That sucks." Rude agreed as Jareth walked back to the table, balancing a tray of drinks in his hands.
"It's a fuckin' zoo in here ain't it?" Jareth grinned as he placed the tray on the table and sat himself next to Rude.
"What the hell are these Jareth?" Matt picked up a glass and stared at it quizzically.
"Don't know what's in it but it's called a Chocobo's Delight." Jareth grinned and downed a glass of the purple-ish liquid, wincing as he did. "Holy hell!"
"Any good?" Rude grabbed a glass and sniffed it carefully.
"It'll put some hair on your chest." Jareth wiped his watering eyes.
"Best tell Nasira not to drink any then." Matt grinned as the woman in question walked up to their table, dragging a reluctant Eliza along with her.
"What can't I drink?" Nasira frowned as she took the open seat next to Matt.
"Those purple things. Jareth says they'll put hair on your chest." Matt grinned and threw an arm around her waist.
"You better drink some then." Nasira winked, "I like a hairy man."
"Save it for the bedroom guys." Eliza scowled as she sat on Matt's other side.
"What's your problem?" Jareth raised an eyebrow.
"She got turned down by that auburn haired Soldier over there." Nasira jerked her head in the direction of the man.
"The one in red?" Rude raised an eyebrow and looked over at the man currently slouched against the bar with a drink in one hand and a book in the other.
"That's the one." Nasira nodded and beckoned to a barmaid. "Bring a pitcher of booze please."
"That's why I love ya Sira." Matt grinned and kissed her on the cheek, "You don't give a damn what you're drinking so long as there's a lot of it."
"I think I see why you were rejected Ellie." Jareth grinned.
"Eliza." Eliza corrected automatically, "I don't want to talk about it."
"Suit yourself." Jareth sniggered, "Rude and I can talk about it."
"Like Rude ever says a damn word." Eliza scowled at him.
"Don't be a bitch Ellie." Rude grabbed a glass of Chocobo's Delight and sipped it carefully.
"Now you talk." Eliza frowned. "I was beginning to think you were mute."
"Just because he doesn't hit on you like you think he should doesn't mean he can't talk." Jareth placed an arm on Rude's shoulder and leaned against him.
"Shut up Jareth." Eliza grabbed one of the drinks and downed it, not caring what it was.
"Make me." Jareth stuck his tongue out at her.
"So you know," Rude smirked, "I think it's become plainly obvious why he rejected you."
"Oh really?" Eliza snarled, "Just why do you think I was rejected Rude?"
"One: you're a bitch. Two: his boyfriend is hotter than you." Rude grinned and downed the rest of his drink with a shudder.
"His what?" Eliza's jaw dropped as she looked over at the man snogging the Soldier she had tried to single out earlier.
"I assume it's his boyfriend seeing as they're comfortable enough to french about three minutes after he walked up." Rude chuckled triumphantly.
"Screw you Rude." Eliza grabbed another drink and stood up. "I'm gonna get wasted. See you fuckers tomorrow." She downed the drink and stomped away.
"Bye-bye Miss PMS." Jareth chuckled and grabbed another drink as Nasira's pitcher of beer was placed one the table.
"Thanks." Nasira grinned and poured herself a glass of the amber liquid.
"I get the feeling there's more going on with Eliza than I know?" Matt asked as Nasira started to sip at her drink.
"Yup." She licked her lips, "Gareth turned her down today."
"Did she not pick up that he likes Reno?" Jareth frowned.
"Guess not." Nasira shrugged, "She doesn't take rejection well at all."
"Doesn't get rejected enough to know how to handle it." Rude grabbed for another Chocobo's Delight.
"Those things are strong as hell Rude." Jareth's jaw dropped as Rude downed the glass.
"If you plan on catching up to me I suggest you order some more then." Rude chuckled as Jareth grabbed for the last glass of purple liquid.
"If you two are gonna have another drinking contest you can find your own ways home." Matt chuckled, "I'm not gonna play baby-sitter tonight."
Rude sagged under Jareth's weight as he tried to pull his inebriated friend down the sidewalk. They were both drunk out of their minds and Rude was having difficulties sobering up. "Don't go limp on me Jare."
"I'm standin' tall as a post for ya Rude." Jareth slurred drunkenly as he shuffled his feet down the sidewalk.
"A rotten post." Rude tottered unevenly down the narrow walkway.
Jareth giggled, "Some night eh?"
"Yeah." Rude agreed. He tried to rack his alcohol muddled brain for the cause of his current predicament but couldn't find one. He remembered that most of the Turks had been at the bar. Only three had been missing. Reno had skipped out as usual so that he would be sober for his flying lesson and Gareth had skipped with him and, Rude noted with distaste, was probably trying to get in Reno's pants again. He didn't know why this bothered him and his head was too foggy for him to try and figure it out. Tseng never showed up at the bar on Friday's and Rude was pretty sure that the man was anti-social.
"Are you listenin' babe?" Jareth lightly poked Rude in the side.
"Don't call me babe." Rude slurred.
"Whateva Rudey." Jareth giggled and tried to stand up straighter, "I asked if ya wanna come back to my apartment with me."
Rude hefted Jareth into the elevator with a strained grunt, "Ya sure as hell can't make it by yerself." Rude slumped against the side of the elevator and pushed drunkenly at the buttons while Jareth clung to him as if his life depended on it.
"Ya mean you can't make it ta your apartment by yerself." Jareth ran a hand down Rude's chest.
Rude groaned as the elevator jerked into motion, his head was spinning wildly, "I don' think I can."
"You should stay with me tanight." Jareth leaned his head against Rude's chest, hiccuping slightly as the elevator slid to a stop.
Rude slung Jareth's arm around his shoulder and staggered out of the elevator. "We are so fuckin' drunk."
"Is tha a bad thing?" Jareth struggled to put one foot in front of the other, his legs tangling together.
Rude tried to read the numbers on the doors but all he could see were shiny blurs. He usually stayed sober enough to get home but tonight he had overindulged.
"Ya passed it." Jareth grabbed onto Rude's jacket an tugged.
"Passed wha?" Rude placed a hand on the wall to steady himself and looked back down the row of doors that were shifting in and out of focus.
"We gotta go back a door." Jareth tugged on Rude's jacket again and Rude took a shaky step back.
Rude clutched the doorknob desperately as he tried to keep his vision steady, "This un?"
"Yeah." Jareth nodded and pressed a hand against the door.
Rude turned the handle and staggered inside the dark apartment, searching the wall blindly for a light switch.
"Yer waaaaaaaaaaaaay drunker than I am." Jareth giggled and shut the door behind them.
"I drank ya under the table." Rude placed both hands on the wall and continued looking for the evasive switch.
"Then how come yer drunker'n me?" Jareth slurred and reached around Rude to flick the switch.
"Dunno." Rude blinked fiercely as the light seemed to attack from all sides.
"Comeon babe." Jareth grabbed Rude's shirt and pressed him back against the wall.
"Don' call me-" Rude was cut off by Jareth's lips pressing against his and a warm tongue entering his mouth. He found himself kissing back greedily, pulling Jareth's warm slumping form closer as he did.
When they broke apart Jareth started to fumble with the buttons on Rude's shirt, "Gotta get ya outta this thing."
"Yeah..." Rude bent down and pressed his mouth against Jareth's again, craving the warm sweet boozy taste.
Jareth moaned against his mouth and Rude noticed that he was already hard beneath his clothes. He pulled at the buttons on Jareth's shirt and eventually ripped the shirt open in impatience. Jareth didn't protest and slid Rude's shirt and jacket off his shoulders before he slipped his hands under Rude's belt and undid his pants with practiced ease. Rude groaned and swayed a bit as he kissed a path down Jareth's neck. Jareth pulled back and staggered unevenly to the bedroom, pulling Rude along with him by his waistband.
Rude groaned and threw a hand over his eyes as soft morning light beat against his eyelids. He muttered a few curses and slowly cracked his eyes open to stare blankly at the ceiling. He frowned and looked down at the blankets, noticing that neither belonged to him. He tried to sit up but the motion caused his head to swim and his stomach to lurch painfully. He heard a small snore and looked to his left, finding the source of the noise to be a slender tousle haired brunette sleeping soundly next to him. He immediately racked his brain to try and remember the events of the previous night but the last thing he remembered was Jareth ordering another round of Chocobo's Delight.
He rolled to his side and watched Jareth sleep while his head pounded mercilessly against his skull. He spotted a watch on Jareth's wrist and groaned as he read the time. "Eight?" Jareth snorted in his sleep and rolled over.
Rude tried to sit up again and let himself rest against the headboard. He spotted several articles of clothing strewn carelessly about the room and noticed for the first time that he was completely naked except for his left sock which was dangling from his foot. He kicked it off and let his head fall back against the headboard. He stared at the ceiling and tried to remember the events of the night before.
"Rude?" Jareth's sleepy mumble roused him from his thoughts.
"Yeah?" Rude looked down.
"We should never drink that many Chocobo thingys again." Jareth grabbed his head with a pained expression.
"I agree." Rude groaned as his head swam.
"How much do you remember?" Jareth asked after a while.
"Not much." Rude admitted, "Only thing I can clearly remember right now is you ordering us another round."
Jareth chuckled, "I can remember more than that. You must've been really drunk."
Rude chuckled, "I was."
"So you don't remember..." Jareth let the sentence dangle.
"Don't remember what?" Rude looked down into timid brown eyes.
"The sex?" Jareth asked with a hopeful voice.
Rude frowned in concentration. He sighed, "No."
"Damn." Jareth winced and grabbed his head, "So you know, it was really good."
Rude chuckled, "I hoped so."
Jareth chuckled, "Next time lets be less drunk okay?"
Rude nodded. He didn't know if he wanted a next time. He couldn't even remember the first time.
"You okay?" Jareth winced and sat up.
"Yeah. You?" Rude didn't protest as Jareth leaned against his shoulder.
"Head hurts like hell and everything else is pleasantly sore." Jareth chuckled.
Rude humphed quietly, "Same here."
"Wanna get some breakfast?" Jareth nuzzled his head into Rude's arm.
"Sounds good." Rude felt goosebumps creep up on his arm as Jareth's breath brushed across his skin.
"Wanna go out or stay in?" Jareth looked up.
"In. It's not as noisy that way." Rude grinned down at Jareth.
Jareth giggled, "Hope you like toast." He pressed a chaste kiss to Rude's lips and crawled out of bed.
Rude got up and tried to sort his clothes out from the random piles on the floor. "Shower?"
"It's on your left. Towels are under the sink." Jareth said as he slid into a pair of sweatpants.
"Thanks." Rude found his pants and determined to find the rest of his clothes when he was clean.
Rude walked out of the bathroom half dressed and slightly damp. He walked through the living room, grabbing his jacket and shirt from the floor as he went, and followed the smell of cooking to the kitchen. "Jareth?"
"In here Rude." Jareth called out as Rude rounded the corner. "Found some eggs, ya want some?"
"Sure." Rude sat down and began buttoning his shirt as Jareth laid a plate in front of him, "Thanks Jareth."
"No problem." Jareth sat down next to Rude with a smile. "Feeling any better?"
"Loads better." Rude nodded and took a bite of his eggs. "You?"
"I'm a professional when it comes to hangovers." Jareth sniggered and rested his head on his hand. "Get over them pretty fast."
Rude chuckled and ate, "This is good."
"Thanks." Jareth grinned widely as Rude ate his toast. "Toast is pretty hard to fuck up."
"I always burn mine." Rude laughed.
Jareth jumped up, "Like I'm burning my eggs right now?" He limped to the stove.
"Kinda like that." Rude laughed as Jareth pulled the pan off the burner.
"That was close." Jareth sighed with relief as he gently scraped two slightly charred eggs onto his plate.
Rude chuckled, "I've cooked worse and eaten worse."
"Worse how?" Jareth sat back down next to Rude.
"Reno can't cook for shit." Rude grinned and wiped a few crumbs from his chin, "I'm not exactly sure what it was he was trying to make but it only vaguely resembled food once it reached my plate."
"And you still ate it?" Jareth snorted.
"Had to humor him." Rude chuckled, "He was so damned proud that he actually made lunch."
"Was it any good?" Jareth licked butter from his lips.
"It was burnt enough that it didn't taste like food anymore so it was pretty easy to choke down." Rude snickered, "I don't think I would've been able to eat it if he hadn't burnt it."
"That bad?" Jareth laughed.
"That bad." Rude smiled and went to wash his plate.
Jareth laughed and came up behind him, dropping his plate into the sink and wrapping his arms around Rude's waist, "Don't worry about washing it babe, I can take care of that later."
Rude turned, allowing Jareth to press him against the counter, "I noticed you've got a limp."
"Consider it a testament to your abilities." Jareth winked and pressed a kiss to Rude's lips.
Rude deepened the kiss, allowing the taste of his breakfast to be replaced by the sweeter taste of Jareth.
Author's Note Continued: Let me know what you think of the 'Rude centered' chapter. Hopefully I didn't totally fail this one. R&R please!