In which Hank gets pushy, the guys gamble a bit, and the best is made of a disappointment.
Nick woke up Saturday morning curled in a ball under a fluffy blanket in the master bedroom. Sean was curled up under another blanket at the foot of the bed. Nick's head still felt a little fuzzy as he got out of bed and made his way to the main portion of the suite. He found Monroe sitting at the table watching out the window with a newspaper and a couple of giant pitchers of orange juice and water.
"Morning," the Blutbad said quietly, pouring a glass of water and handing it to the Grimm, who sat heavily, rubbing his eyes. "How did you sleep?"
"How did we end up in your room?"
"You don't remember?" Nick shook his head and took a big gulp of water.
"You and Sean decided that chemistry puns were too funny to save for the morning... What's the last thing you remember?" Nick racked his brain.
"Dogpile on the floor..." Monroe nodded, then looked around warily.
"Nick, umm, last night, you said some stuff... about Juliette..." Nick froze. Monroe read the look on his face, and sighed. "It's true isn't it?" Nick tried to reestablish his poker face, but Monroe's expression got even more worried. He spoke quietly but urgently.
"No, no, no! No zombie freak out... But she does hit you, doesn't she? And she's taken over everything? You weren't making that up, were you?" Nick wanted to lie, wanted to smile and say it had been the alcohol talking. He certainly didn't want to ruin Monroe's weekend... But Monroe's understanding hazel eyes were so full of concern... Nick said nothing, and Monroe sighed and his head fell back. "I'm a terrible friend. Rosalee has been telling me for months that she suspected something wasn't right... I guess I just got caught up in this whole wedding thing... I'm so sorry, man." He laid a heavy hand on Nick's shoulder. "It isn't your fault. Rosalee and I will help you, whatever you need from us..." Nick wasn't sure what to say, but he wasn't surprised. Of course Rosalee had sussed out the situation, and whatever he told Monroe last night confirmed it.
"Can we enjoy the weekend? And we'll go from there?" Nick asked weakly. Monroe nodded.
"I'm serious, though, whatever you need, just ask... I don't know for sure if Rosalee would be willing to share the house with you after we're married, but we'll figure something out. But we'll get there when we get there. Let's have fun. Drink your water, and when everyone else gets up, we'll find some food, okay?"
The next man up with Sean. He wandered through the suite in his pajamas, and stopped when he saw Nick and Monroe sitting at the table.
"How did I end up in your bed, Monroe?" he asked.
"You and Nick were drunk and you wandered in. When you passed out, I went and slept in your room. Want some orange juice or water? You were pretty wasted last night."
"Orange juice is good... How wasted?
"You told a bunch of bad chemistry jokes. They got a real reaction." Sean groaned and rubbed his forehead.
"So it got to the chemistry puns?" He paused. "Nick, do you remember that?"
"No."
"The fact neither of you remember much is somewhat frightening. I had nearly twice as much to drink as you guys, and yet I was the one still upright, I was playing Drunk Mom, and I still remember what happened... Either I'm a super-heavyweight drinker or you guys are lightweights." Hank then shuffled in with Bud behind him.
"Water... Headache."
"Good morning to you two as well. Do you both remember last night?" Hank shook his head.
"I remember enough to decree that if we're going to get Monroe drunk at any point this weekend, we need to start NOW and then around dinner the rest of us can join. This is your weekend, you deserve to at least get a little loose."
"But it's only 9:30!" Bud protested. Hank wandered over to the bar and pulled out another bottle of vodka. He got a glass, walked over to the table, made a fifty-fifty mixture of vodka and orange juice and pushed it toward Monroe.
"You are going to start drinking now." Monroe raised his eyebrows.
"Really?"
"Yes, really. It's not fair, you should be the most messed up of all of us. So you're drinking now. Post!"
"You mean Prost?"
"Shut the hell up and drink already." Monroe shrugged and drank his screwdriver. Hank turned to Sean. "What do we have planned today?"
"Some casino time, then the CSI Experience at the MGM Grand..."
"Ummm, why?" Bud asked, "don't you guys do the CSI stuff as part of your day jobs?"
"We're curious about it, whether or not it's accurate..." Nick answered.
"Then we're going to see a Cirque Du Soleil show, and then we're going to see some burlesque dancers."
"And we're getting this man drunk, one way or another," Hank muttered, preparing Monroe another screwdriver..
"You really don't have to..." Monroe started to protest, but Hank shut him down with a withering glare that even made Nick flinch. Monroe took the drink. "Okay. Prost. Now, about breakfast..."
XxXxX
Half an hour later, the men were dressed and on the elevator going down to the casino. They would grab a quick breakfast and coffee on the floor and then indulge in some gambling. Monroe suggested that, in the interest of not going broke, each of the guys only carry the cash they were willing to bet, leaving their credit cards upstairs. Hank insisted on Monroe drinking a Bloody Mary with breakfast, which the Blutbad took without complaint. They split up, agreeing to reconvene in two hours time. Bud and Sean went in the direction of the slot machines, while Nick, Hank, and Monroe made their way to the card tables. Monroe kept pulling out his phone and playing with it. Hank stayed with Monroe, making sure he was getting a steady flow of alcohol, much to the Blutbad's annoyance. Nick blew his $100 pretty quickly on games of poker, and wandered over to where Hank and Monroe were playing Blackjack.
"How are you even doing this?" Hank asked as Nick came up behind them.
"Just a lucky streak, I guess," Monroe commented, tapping the table for a hit. The dealer, a cheery blonde whose name tag said "Dorothy" in a low-cut blouse, went bust, and Monroe won with 19. The next hand, Monroe had blackjack. He smiled. "Awesome. Last hand... How about we go double or nothing, mausi?" He flashed a smile and the dealer giggled.
"Your fiancée is a lucky woman," she commented with heavy German-accented English. Of course Monroe would ferret out a German-speaker.
"Not nearly as lucky as I am to have her, Frau Dorothea." Dorothea dealt the cards.
"House has 18."
"Well, I am sorry to disappoint you, mein zaubermaus, but I have 20."
"Aww, that is fine. You were most lucky today!"
"I had something worth playing for, so Lady Luck smiled upon me." Monroe collected his chips, pulled one out of the pile, and handed it to her as a tip.
"For you, Frau Dorothea." The girl's eyes went wide, and she momentarily woged Mauzhertz. That at least explained why he had chosen the endearment he had, calling her little mouse.
"But Sir, it is too much!"
"I insist. A lovely young lady such as yourself... For your schoolbooks? Ja?" She smiled and wiped her eyes.
"Danke. And many happy years for you and your Schatz."
"Auf Wiedersehen." Monroe carried his winnings over to the little window as Hank and Nick followed.
"Did you really just give her a thousand dollar tip?" Hank asked. Monroe shrugged.
"Why not? You were with me the entire time, wouldn't you? After everything she told us about herself?"
"What did I miss?" Nick wondered aloud as Monroe got a little slip in return for his chips that he immediately tucked into his wallet. They started walking toward their meeting place, looking for Sean and Bud.
"Miss Dorothea is an exchange student from Germany. Ulm, specifically, the birthplace of Albert Einstein. She's studying hotel management and tourism. She is interning here, living off her tips. It's sad, too, they made her Americanize her name tag... She was sweet, especially after the streak I just had, it seemed only fair."
"How did you do that, anyway? That was just... amazing. You weren't counting cards, were you?" Monroe froze, looked around, and said:
"I can assure you, I have no idea what you're talking about. I just got very lucky and I knew when to quit before my luck ran out." Hank laughed and slapped his shoulder.
"Why am I not surprised? Let's get you another drink!"
"Fine, whatever, but don't say shit like that unless you want to get us pulled into a room and interrogated, okay? Not how I'd like to spend today." They found Bud and Sean waiting for them. Sean looked a little sour while Bud was grinning.
"Hey guys, what happened?"
"Sean's mad because I won a hundred bucks."
"I'm not mad, but the machine I was using was clearly defective." Nick patted Sean's shoulder.
"Well, Monroe apparently flirted his way to big money at Blackjack."
"I was NOT flirting! She was a sweet young lady, an exchange student from Germany..."
"A Mauzhertz..." Nick interjected.
"So not important right now. Anyway, she's doing an internship, living off her tips..."
"And Monroe almost charmed her out of her pants by talking about Rosalee. You could see the poor girl falling in love with him as he showed her Rosalee's picture and was telling her all this stuff about her, calling her... what did you call Rosalee again?"
"Mein Schatz. My treasure."
"I don't even know how he did it, but he did. It was like he turned into a Ziegevolk all of a sudden... And then he gave her a thousand dollar tip," Hank said, and Bud's mouth fell open.
"You can afford that?" Monroe shrugged.
"Let's just say I won enough that I felt it would be a nice gesture. Anyway, shall we go back to the room and get ready to go out?"
XxXxX
Half an hour later, the group stepped out into the bright sunlight of the Las Vegas Strip.
"We're going to the MGM Grand, which is this way." Sean said, leading the way. They stopped multiple times to be tourists, taking pictures, including some very silly ones with the miniature Eiffel Tower across the street at Paris. They made their way down the bustling street until they reached their destination. As they were approaching, they head screams from across the street. Bud woged nervously.
"What was that?" the Eisbiber sputtered. Monroe saw where the noise was coming from and pointed up at New York-New York.
"Oh my God, they have a roller coaster!" He started bouncing up and down. "If we have time, can we ride it, pleeeeeeeeeease? It's been forever since I've ridden a roller coaster..." Monroe looked to Nick, who looked to Sean, who shrugged.
"If you'd like. We'll see how we feel after we do this, okay?"
"'Kay!"
"You really are a big puppy, aren't you?" Hank snickered. The Blutbad's smile disappeared.
"You can ask me again once we get inside if you'd like to become a permanent part of the exhibit." He stared Hank down, but couldn't keep a straight face long. "You should see your face right now! Don't worry, I'm not gonna bite you. Now let's go solve a murder like it's not our day job!"
"Well, it's not your day job," Sean muttered.
"Feels like it sometimes." They went inside and were ushered into a holding area. They were given a clipboard and some paper, but the experience was more geared toward children and families. At some point, while looking at the crime scene which involved a body that had been stabbed in the chest, Monroe started laughing so loudly it scared a nearby family with kids who could not have been older than seven.
"Care to share your amusement?" Sean asked, clearly disappointed in the experience. Monroe whispered something in his ear, and soon Sean was laughing, too. "Yes, that would make this much, much more interesting!"
"What?" Hank, Nick, and Bud crowded closer, whispering.
"Taureus-Armenta! Sic 'em, Nick!" Hank, Nick, and Bud started laughing as well.
"No, no, it's a Manticore!" Hank whispered and they started laughing harder.
"Or a Mordstier!" Sean commented, leaning on Monroe to keep from falling over as another family walked by giving them funny looks.
"Can you imagine?" Hank laughed, "'CSI: Wesen'?"
"Or 'Law and Order: Wesen Victims Unit'!" Sean added.
"I'd watch the hell out of it!" Monroe laughed. "Come on, let's see if we have any evidence we can submit to the Wesen Council..." The exhibit was much more interesting with this spin, although Monroe was slightly offended when Bud commented that the killer may have been a Fuchsbau because they robbed the victim as well. He got over it fairly quickly, though, after Nick suggested that the killer was a Mellifer because the exhibit made such a big deal about a certain type of pollen being left behind. They walked out of the exhibit, and Sean turned to the group.
"Sorry about that..." Monroe clapped his shoulder.
"Don't worry about it. We made the best of it. You can make it up to me by taking me on the roller coaster across the street."
"And then it's back to trying to get Monroe drunk!" Nick joked as they headed out toward New York-New York.